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Fandom [CLOSED] Tokyo Ghoul: Dead Enmity

Seeing Jackson raise his arm in annoyance was strange to Adrian, though out of instinct he'd immediately taken a step back. Not that he really thought the other was going to hit him or anything, he just naturally moved when an arm was raised towards him. Of course, the other put his arm down not long after, informing his companion that it was nothing. Although it sure looked like something. Jackson said he was only looking, but he was looking for something in particular... 


The boy watched as numerous names were scrolled through, he saw picture after picture, attempting to read some of the profiles as Jackson scrolled down. He knew quite a few of the faces, but obviously not all of them, a few people from their old squad were in the database, probably all of them were, did this hold the information that the CCG had on everyone? How could Jackson see this? Adrian never got to see any of this when he went online, did Jackson have different privileges? 


The other was scrolling quickly, not giving him enough time to read names, statuses, and everything else he could see. Oh well, they could always go back later, Jackson was in a hurry. 


Adrian must have leaned over him for quite some time before the man finally stopped on a name, his own name. He had all the correct information, age, date of birth, name, status, even a photo, which wasn't very fun. For a moment the boy just stared at his friend's profile, there wasn't really much they didn't already know about him on there... So maybe there was nothing wrong after all? Everything seemed normal, maybe Jackson was just a little worried and so he'd panicked, he did that sometimes. It all seemed fine. 


With a smile, Adrian pushed himself away from the computer and went back to walking around the room, there was no crisis, they were all okay. Jackson didn't seem to be done, but the boy wasn't paying attention to his friend's work anymore, instead he was playing with the glass shard in his hand, reflecting the light from the bulb above their heads off of it and into different corners. It was entertaining for a little while, plus being able to hold glass so easily without getting cut meant he could do a lot of different things. 


He would have kept playing with the glass and moving around had Jackson not called his name. 


His arms dropped, head turning as he was asked a question. Did he know why his name was red? What? 


"Huh?" The boy blinked, completely confused, what name? He walked over to the computer screen, eyes locking with his own file.


'Adrian Sanister, Alive' 


It didn't look like Jackson's...


"Where's my picture?" He asked, tilting his head to the left as he leaning in to look at the profile closer. Where...was his rank? Why did it say not available? "Jackson... Jackson, what's going on..." He didn't get it, he didn't get why they'd done this to his profile. "Jackson...Jackson I don't understand..."
 
"I don't know," Jackson admitted, the half-true words falling out of his mouth as easily as a breath of warm air. Even looking at that shade of red light was beginning to bring his throbbing headache back, but even the sound of blood pulsing in his ears could not distract him from the words on the screen.

'Adrian Sanister, Alive.'


It was written in red. The name, the status, every other attribute listed in the database - all in that garishly bright colour that stood out against everyone else's white like a big, glowing warning stripe. Why? Why did Adrian's name have to be written in red? Jackson had seen asterisks next to some investigator's names, he even had one himself, and that was more likely a signal for care than whatever this meant. How could it be the same thing? Adrian's name was not marked with a star. It was just red. Nobody else had a red name. It was Adrian. Only Adrian, the investigator who was alive but faceless, titled with no rank and missing from the force. Their bosses were not stupid, and they had noticed that something was amiss.


What kind of thing were they debating about his friend? Adrian, a small, skinny young adult who would never dare to lay a bad hand on an ally - how could he of all people ever be called suspicious? Was it his background? Jackson sincerely hoped that the CCG had not somehow obtained records of the Sanisters' imprisonment, an upbringing with people like that would not likely leave a good impression on the higher-ups. But no, it still didn't make sense. They could not suspect Adrian. Unless they had some kind of medical records of him post-surgery, they had no proof that anything would happen, and Adrian had avoided the medics. Had somebody noticed him fleeing the scene after that battle?


No, no, no, no, this was not the time to be puzzling over trivial details like this. He couldn't carry on dwelling on the why; the simple, naked truth was that Adrian was in trouble. Jackson needed to start working on the how, the how they were going to escape this hole they had fallen into.


A new thought suddenly crossed Jackson's mind. Work had their address. Work knew where they lived. What if somebody came knocking for Adrian and instead found what they thought to be a ghoul? No CCG investigator would let something like that slip under the radar. Adrian would be taken, tortured, imprisoned, starved, killed... It could not be allowed to happen.


There was one solution that Jackson could find in the depths of his shock-hazed mind, and it was not an answer that he liked. But what else was there? If they wanted to be sure that nobody would find Adrian, it was their only choice. 


They were going to have to leave.


Only for a little while, Jackson promised himself as he worked on how he should begin to tell Adrian, When they stop looking we can come back and pretend it was all a mistake. We could even move somewhere else in London, change our names, start afresh...


After a minute or two, Jackson decided to feed Adrian the instructions in small pieces, leaving him to uncover the bigger picture by himself. This way would lead to fewer objections. "Adrian," he said again to gain his friend's attention, "I th- I think we should go out. Err, I just remembered - there are some things, that, uh, that we need to buy. Can you put on some shoes? Uh, I'll get my wallet."
 
He didn't know... So...no one really knew why, apart from the people who had done this. Adrian couldn't take his eyes off of the screen, in particular he own name, he didn't get why they'd do this. They knew what rank he was, they knew what he looked like, it even said he was alive, yet...everything had pretty much been taken out for some reason. It was like...being fired but never being told you were fired. 


Another thing that was puzzling him was why they would ring up and ask to see him if they'd done this to his file, it was obvious that they were thinking about doing something or other since nobody else's file was the same. So why ring and not tell him that? It didn't add up and it was starting to scare him more than a little bit. Jackson was right...he was glad he hadn't picked up that phone. 


Whilst Adrian didn't always get what things meant, he knew that this wasn't good. Jackson had said they might do bad things to him if they found out about...well the fact that they practically turned him into a ghoul, or something did, was that what they were planning? Was that why his name was in red? But how would they even know? He hadn't been to work since the first day of Quinx, the only other time they'd seen him was in that battle with...Leo... Was it because he didn't attack the man? Did they think he was trying to betray them or something? He wouldn't do that, he just didn't want to hurt his brother! That was all! It wasn't like that. 


The boy pushed himself away from the computer and turned around, shaking his head, this wasn't happening, it couldn't be happening. Everything was going wrong, it wasn't meant to go like this...he never wanted this to happen. Why now? Why when they'd just sorted everything out did it have to mess up again? He hated it...he hated it all... This wasn't real... 


"Mn." Adrian stopped walking in circles when he heard Jackson say something to him, for moments he just stood there, listening, not saying a word. What was he meant to think? He didn't want to be put in this situation, he didn't want to have to run from the CCG, he had friends there...but...they weren't really going to be his friends anymore if he was a ghoul, were they? This was why he hated getting close to people, he hated making new friends, but he couldn't help it... They'd all hate him now... They'd all despise him and there was nothing that he could do about it. 


Jackson said they needed to go out to buy some things, but Adrian wasn't that stupid, he knew it wasn't safe. He knew now that there was definitely something wrong and that Jackson was panicking about it too. Still, he didn't object, instead moving out of the room to go and grab his shoes and put them on. He'd take his phone too, just in case, well, if Jackson let him...maybe they wouldn't need it... Actually, was that even really a good idea? Whilst he didn't know where they were going, he knew it wasn't out to buy something, so maybe he shouldn't, just to be safe. 


"Jackson..." With his shoes now on, Adrian leaned up against the wall outside his friend's room, "What're they gonna do to me?" 'Bad things' wasn't enough of an explanation, he wanted to know...but it was unlikely Jackson would tell him anything, well, he could at the very least try to weed something out of him. 
 
Having heard the sounds of Adrian's feet shuffling over the glass-littered carpet, Jackson nodded to himself and finally tore his gaze away from that screen. His head was throbbing from staring at it for so long - even if he wanted to, he would not be able to work any longer. Jackson was no professional hacker, the chance of passing that firewall was hair-thin, and he would have to leave in a minute anyway. After all, it sounded like Adrian was almost ready to go out.


"Huh?" Jackson grunted lightly in response to Adrian's unexpected speech. With his left hand he pushed at the desk to turn around, expecting to see his friend's wiry frame looming in the doorway, but he was surprised to find it empty. Adrian must be just outside... That was probably for the best, though. After hearing something like that, Jackson didn't know if he could bear to look into those eyes again. He might not have been as quick as the older of the two, but even Adrian had no trouble spotting danger when Jackson raised the flag. "Nothing," the man promised to the empty space ahead, "N-nobody going to do anything to you. I won't let them, I promise."


***


'OFFER MUST END THURSDAY! UP TO 50% OFF ALL SWIM GEAR!'


Jackson squinted through his own image to try and read the oddly-small writing behind a thick wall of glass. Perhaps a sportswear shop was not the best idea for their first stop out in town after all... What use would snorkels and shin pads be for them? Maybe they would have some more protective clothing, though. It would be useful to have something thicker and more durable to wear when they were out in the wilderness of urban England.


"Adrian, what do you-" Jackson began to ask his friend something about the stock in store, but was quickly cut off by the tinny chime of a bicycle bell. A pair of red-clad cyclists skimmed over the pavement at an alarming velocity, parting the sea of shoppers and tourists crowded around the sports shop and leaving knots of confused older people in their wake. At an impressive speed that surprised himself, Jackson managed to whip his hand down to his side and then swerve backwards out of their way, just in time to avoid being flattened on the spot (though he did wonder if he had rolled over Adrian's toe afterwards). The breeze that followed the red racers had dragged several locks of his nearly-combed hair out in front of his face, and he had to brush several stray strands of gold to the side before he could get a clear view of the area again.


It was like this all over London. Full of people of every kind, every shape and size and age and race, nobody recognised each other or spoke the same language, and yet for some reason each citizen appeared to hold some sort of grudge against all others in their line of sight. Maybe there was just something about living in such a cramped and over-populated place that made residents cranky, but whatever excuse London had for its hostile aura didn't make life in the city any less hectic. The only people who knew how to take themselves slow and easy were the children and the tourists.


How are we even going to survive out here? Jackson wondered as he watched the rest of the street wind back into a shoal of people swimming through tiny gaps in the mass, now that the area was clear and safe again. Navigating the city on a daily basis and then going home at the end was one thing, but spending entire stretches from dusk until dawn out and about? Without the right equipment, that would be near impossible, especially for people like Jackson and Adrian, who were slow and naive compared to the average English male. But that's why we're here, he reasoned with himself, feeling a sudden burning sensation in his face as it turned a deep red. He dared to cast a glance at Adrian for what must have been only the second time since leaving the apartment, worry for the boy briefly overtaking Jackson's fear of seeing dread in those grey eyes. They would get supplies for a few days out, just in case, and then they would be okay. After all, it wasn't like they would be out for that long. Two days. Two days was the most before it would be safe again, and then they could go home.
 
I promise. 


Adrian looked down when he heard those words, Jackson promised. He promised that nobody was going to do anything to him, but how did he know? The boy sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, if Jackson said so then he had to believe him, he had no reason to lie and he wouldn't have said it if he didn't believe it himself. He'd just have to trust Jackson, there was nothing else he could do, no one was going to hurt him...no one was even going to come near him... 


Although having lived there for around a third of his life, Adrian couldn't say that he necessarily enjoyed London that much, especially not being out on the busy streets for longer than he needed to be. There were just a little too many people, and everyone always seemed to push and shove each other, or roll their eyes at one another, they...just didn't seem to want the other people around. The atmosphere wasn't very inviting and he didn't like it, but he guessed that's what happened in big cities. Then again, he wasn't sure he'd want to live in the country either... Maybe a smaller town of some sorts. 


The two were standing outside of a rather large sports shop, Jackson was looking at the items through the windows, whilst Adrian's eyes darted from person to person as he tried to avoid getting in people's way. Even though he hated large crowds all moving in one direction, he didn't usually feel so...segregated from everyone else. Sure, no one was looking at him, they were all minding their own business, apart from the odd person now and again, but he still felt as if he was different...and like someone was going to point it out at any second. It was honestly quite frightening and made him want to run back to their apartment and lock himself in his room for a while, he didn't like being outside when there were possibly people out there who wanted his blood. Sure, he could be overreacting by saying that, but it wasn't like he hadn't worked for the CCG, he knew what happened there...he wasn't blind.


Jackson was saying something, but Adrian couldn't say that he was fully listening, anyway, the man cut himself off halfway through and never finished...so...it wasn't much of an issue. It can't have been that important. 


How long were they gone for? Adrian already knew it was unlikely they'd go back to their apartment, so what were they going to do? What did Jackson have planned? He guessed they needed to buy some stuff, and then see where it went from there... Hopefully this wouldn't be permanent, or for too long. He didn't want to have to run from people he'd once called friends.


It was all moving too quickly, one minute they were just average CCG investigators, the next they were on the run from people who were their colleagues on the day before. It was almost alarming how fast someone could turn on you... Or...again, maybe he was just blowing it out of proportion, after all, he hadn't even seen what everyone was doing, all they knew was that Adrian's files had been edited...so the higher-ups were thinking about doing something... They didn't know what it was, he couldn't assume like this. 


Cradling his broken wrist with the opposite arm, Adrian turned and walked over to behind Jackson again. What did they need from a sports shop? It was probably just something simple, since they sold most things, but still, what exactly did Jackson want? 


"H-Hey... Jackson.." Adrian's voice was quiet, his head turning from left to right again. He wanted to get off this street. "Are...Are we going in?" Being on the street with so many people was uncomfortable, maybe he'd feel better once they were inside.
 
"Deuh - uh, yes," Jackson suddenly gulped back at Adrian, jolting in his seat and causing his glasses to slide forwards down the bridge of his nose. The unexpected question had jerked the man out of his cocoon of thought and into the sudden loudness of the real world. It was surprising, but he rushed to re-compose himself, straightening his shirt and pushing his shoulders back out of a slouch.


Slowly, Jackson's eyes traced back to the sign.  For some reason he doubted that '50% OFF ALL SWIM GEAR' would be of use to them. They weren't planning on making any trips to the riverbank, at least not as far as he was aware. They shouldn't do, anyway. What would going swimming achieve for two day-long fugitives? 


Despite the fact that anything they could use would be twice as expensive than the roughly-made swimwear, Jackson ended up waving for Adrian to follow him through the automatic doors - and he immediately regretted his decision. It was busy inside, and whilst he was thankful that none of the faces he saw were familiar, the odd, sharp looks he received from the shoppers and assistants upon entering did make him feel strangely uncomfortable. Even though the logical part of his mind knew that the strangers were probably just curious as to why Adrian had just taken Jackson into a sports shop, the panicked part of him kept wondering if they were really all moles from the CCG set out to follow Adrian around and send his whereabouts back to headquarters. 


Eventually Jackson failed to stifle his paranoia and ended up rushing Adrian to the other end of the store. "Forwards, forwards," he kept hissing back up at his friend, "Someone's going to see us." It was unclear as to whether it was because of the speed at which they were moving or if it was up to the store's lack of merchandise diversity, but by the time they had made a full circuit of the shop and come back around to the counter Jackson had only picked up two pairs of gloves - one gripped leather pair for himself and a thicker, warmer pair for Adrian to wear. Jackson began to chatter about leaving immediately after making the purchase.


To Jackson's relief, their exit was swift and well-timed for they had found a gap in the hour where the street was only half as populous as it had been minutes ago - most shoppers had flocked to their favourite clothing chains for the afternoon sales or gone to a fast food restaurant for a mid-outing snack. He even briefly considered doing the same, the thought reminding him that he had forsaken a breakfast and would likely be ravenous by this time of day, but in the end he decided against the idea. Adrian would not be able to eat with him, which would no doubt draw attention even from people who had never seen a ghoul in their life. Instead Jackson took Adrian to several smaller shops to buy torches, whistles, chemical-powered heat packs and a few pairs of large socks, which he stuffed inside a new travel-sized rucksack that had been slung over the back of his chair.


Each stop seemed to take the two farther away from the buzzing hive of London's centre, and shortly after dipping into a clothing shop to buy some jackets that Jackson figured could double as waterproof blankets, the older of the pair let out a great sigh. He pointed a finger at a bench on the opposite side of a residential street lined with Victorian-style iron fencing and several rusted red post boxes. "You want to sit down?" he chirped up at Adrian, thinking that after so much walking his friend must have sore feet. Jackson had not done much moving around for himself, but all of the exchanging of cash and goods and all the carrying of heavy bags and torches had made his arm feel soft and weak, as though it could melt away at the slightest touch. That area looked much quieter; very few people in sight, more open air and plenty of space and time to unwind and discuss their plans. Jackson had a niggling sensation that Adrian had already worked out the plan to camp out, but it would still be a good idea to lay everything out clearly for him, to help everything make better sense in his companion's head.
 
Eventually Jackson had replied and the two had gone in the shop, they spent a lot of time looking at nothing, but Adrian didn't really complain. He was just happy to move around, people were less likely to notice you if you didn't stay in one place for very long. He felt like everyone's eyes were on them, even though it was very obvious that they weren't, he was paranoid, he couldn't help but be. 


They'd done a lot of shopping by the time Jackson finally asked if Adrian wanted to sit down, the boy didn't really mind it, but he did just want to go somewhere that was a little quieter and rest for a moment. They'd bought a lot in his opinion, did they really need all of it? It was just starting to worry him, how long were they going to be away from home? Did they have to stay out at night? Couldn't they just...maybe go back once it was really dark? He wanted to ask about it, but he didn't, he knew what the answer was, and it was a sensible answer. Of course they couldn't go back. 


"Mhm." With a slightly forced smile, Adrian pushed Jackson over to a bench nearby, sitting down on it himself afterwards. He was a little conscious of being out in the open like this, but the street was rather quiet with very few people around, which was always a good thing. Still, he couldn't help the way his eyes darted backwards and forwards, or how he had to listen to any conversations that were going on around him. After all, he could hear a lot better than before, and it got annoying... He didn't want to hear all the individual sounds, they were loud than he was used it, he'd ignored it so far, but when he was in a more nervous state they were harder to ignore. 


People kept moving and the street got more and more empty by the second, Adrian finally thought that he was going to get some peace, that he didn't have to hear anyone else speak for once. Maybe he could even talk to Jackson for a while, he needed to ask some more questions, he thought this would be possible, until he zoned in on two people walking down the street in their direction. 


"So you know Kedin's birthday is on the fifth next month right?" A man with rather striking green hair and a strange haircut looked down to a woman a little short than himself. Her long, straight red hair fell down to her waist, and whilst Adrian couldn't see her face, her could tell that she had rather pale skin that seemed to have an abundance of freckles across it. He deduced this from her hands, which she was holding a clipboard with and tapping a pen as she talked to the green haired man next to her. 


"Yeah, I got it." His reply was short and simple, he turned his head to look behind the two for a second, almost like he was checking for someone. "Why?"


"Well, I'm just checking you're going to be around is all." 


"I will be, why wouldn't I be?"


"Hm..." The woman took a few steps forwards until she was in front of the man, "It's just you're a little unreliable." 


"C'mon, I'm not that unreliable." He crossed his arms and furrowed his brow, sighing, "I'm around when you guys need me." 


"Okay, so where were you yesterday when Danny came crashing through our door shouting about tags, again? Huh? Where were you then?" 


"I told you, I was busy. I owed a guy a favour." 


"You owe plenty of people favours, like you ever repay them." 


"I get around to it."


"Eventually." 


By this point the two were a lot closer, Adrian was trying to keep his head down and wait for them to pass, but he really couldn't help but be intrigued by the two. They smelled...strange... Not like everyone else. 


"Anyway," The male waved it off, swatting a hand at his smaller companion, "We can talk about it later, it's not a big deal right now."


"Mhm." 


"It really doesn't matter, remember where we are. Besides we-"


The sounds of footsteps halted, the voices silenced, what was going on? 


"Daryl? Daryl, we what? Hey!" The woman tried to get his attention, but it seemed like the male was completely focused on something else at that point. 


Adrian was tempted to look up, he wanted to know why they'd suddenly halted. He pulled his legs up onto the bench, crossing them and placing his arms on his knees, they still hadn't moved. His grey eyes ran across the pavement, finding any place to look but up, but eventually the temptation because too great. 


He lifted his head, just to be met by slightly surprised green eyes. The boy's eyes widened and he took in a breath, that guy...was staring directly at him. His heart sped up ten fold, he wanted to break eye contact but he couldn't... Why was he looking at them? 


"Daryl, what is it?" The red head had a puzzled look on her face, hazel eyes darting back and forth between her companion and the boy sitting on the bench, "Daryl..."


Adrian didn't known what to do, he felt himself freeze up, who was this? He wanted to leave but he couldn't. It felt like there was a lump in his throat that he just couldn't get rid of, he could see recognition in those eyes, yet...he didn't even know who the man was... 


Luckily he wasn't the one to break eye contact, instead the other male did, his dark green eyes switching their focus to Jackson. For a few seconds they stayed there, staring at the man in the wheelchair, then they returned to Adrian agian. He knew them. It was obvious. He knew them both. 


"Hey Bella, do you smell it?" 
 
Jackson allowed himself a faint smile. For him, a quick rest stop by the bench was a good enough reason as any to finally get to what he had been putting off all day so far: talking. Talking about themselves, their plans, what they and what the CCG knew and how they were going to keep under the radar until the flag had lowered once more. He certainly owed his friend one mammoth of an explanation. Keeping things this huge secret... No, it was a bad habit he had always kept and one that he had never been able to kick. But this? Something like this, something that was entirely for Adrian's sake was too important to go ignored by the boy in question himself.


Adrian's name was in Jackson's mouth when he caught sight of his friend sprawling backwards over the whole bench. Even naive younger adults had bad habits, too, it looked like - did Adrian not understand that he could only do that on his own sofa? He couldn't let him do that in public. Somebody else might need that space, and he didn't want to be attracting any unwanted attention - even if there were not that many people in sight, at this point they could not afford to take more risks. Not wishing to embarrass his companion, Jackson simply elected to give him a subtle jab in the ribs with his elbow, but froze with his arm mid-air upon seeing the boy's eyes shoot open.


Instinct told him to follow Adrian's gaze, and when he did he almost jumped where he sat, for he had not been expecting to find a pair of searching green eyes fixed so stiffly on Adrian's image. "H-hey!" Jackson called up at the intrusive stranger, feeling the strings of anxiety tightening around his throat, his own shock making him forget to breathe for several seconds until he grew dizzy. Suddenly those eyes shifted and turned on him, and then the man's dark figure was looming over Jackson, the dark shape obscuring his vision and suddenly making him feel very powerless compared to what must have been somewhat thick-set muscles lining the stranger's every limb. The hairs on the back of his neck rose and he felt his shoulder blades prickle with unease. He shrank back into his chair, pressing his neck against the back until he was finally freed - only for Adrian to be granted another turn at this inspection. What did this person want? What did he want with Adrian?


Maybe he's just a weirdo, Jackson hoped as he could only watch, petrified. There are lots of weirdos in London. He's just looking. It's nothing to worry about. But his heart seemed to have different ideas, because it was hammering so hard in his chest that he could feel the blood pulsing in his red-tinted ears, hear the fast-accelerating beating that echoed through his whole body. The police. The CCG. What if this man was with them? He could have been lurking around every corner after them, tailing them, hiding right beneath their notices without either of them catching so much as a whiff of their presence. Playing cat-and-mouse behind their bosses' backs for the sheer fun of watching the blood drain out of Adrian and Jackson's faces. Jackson was quite sure that he had turned a ghostly white, but his ears were burning so hotly that he could not be sure. He hoped that he had maintained some ordinary colour in his face. If these people fed on fear, he did not want to tease them with a first glimpse of blood.


No, he could not give them the satisfaction of seeing their fear. Jackson rested his hand against his lap to stop it from trembling, and, making an attempt to keep his voice cool and steady he said, "Hey, ex-excuse me." He had not been loud enough, he realised as soon as the words were out. They had been barely audible himself, let alone to anybody nearby. It sounded even worse compared to the noise of the stranger's rushed words after he spoke to somebody else. Wait. Somebody else. He had just spoken... To a person named Bella? There's more than one!? Desperately he searched the area with wild, rolling eyes in seek of what he imagined to be a female version of this man, likely with the same skin tone and padding of muscles. There weren't many young women around this street, but somehow he just didn't seem to have the patience or stillness to find what he was looking for. Bella was hidden in his line of sight, and yet he did not notice her presence. Great. There were at least two moles out for Adrian now. That wasn't good; Jackson somehow had to try and keep a level head whilst shielding his friend from every angle - which was difficult when they were both cornered against a bench. Nevermind, nevermind, he had promised to protect Adrian. Even if he hadn't said it out loud, there was no way he could just sit and watch and not try to intervene. He had to be louder. "You. Uh, y-you there," Jackson tried again, adding some force to his words. He could try to act cool, catch them off guard. Good idea. "What - d-do we know you? What's this, what's - can, err, can I do something for you?"
 
"Daryl... Daryl you can't go up to strangers like that." The girl that had been addressed as Bella walked forwards, grabbing onto the male's wrist and attempting to pull him away, but he wouldn't move. "Daryl, don't be so rude, come on." Obviously she was trying to dispel this situation before anything happened, although you couldn't miss the way her eyes moved from Jackson to Adrian every now and again. She was doing her best to keep her gaze on her friend though. 


Adrian didn't understand. Did she smell what? He could smell them...and they smelled weird, they didn't smell like Jackson, or anyone else he'd seen on the street. He couldn't explain their smell, but it just wasn't the same as the other citizen's. Something about them was off. However, his panic had taken over and he was unable to decipher why that was, instead he was left staring up at the man looming over him with innocent, baffled eyes. His jaw clenched as he walked the other, no move was being made to grab either of them or anything.. Were these guys CCG? It might make sense...but at the same time, the girl... She seemed just as confused about the whole situation as they were, a CCG investigator wouldn't act like that. Would they?


"You'd think the CCG would have an age minimum..." The man with the green hair muttered the words, almost as if it was to himself, he was staring directly at Adrian as he spoke, "Hiring children seems low...even for them..." 


"Huh? CCG? Daryl? What?" With ever sentence the man seemed to be confusing his female friend even more, she didn't have a clue what was going on, her head now turning between the two males on the bench and the one she'd moved up to stand next to, "Hey! What're you..." She seemed a little bit wary after the mention of the Commission of Counter Ghoul, by the look on her face she wanted to be anywhere else but there. She fidgeted awkwardly, small sighs escaping her every now and again, all she wanted to do was leave, but it seemed her acquaintance had other ideas. 


"Hm?" Ignoring the woman, the taller and more intimidating of the two turned his attention to Jackson, who had just asked him a question. For what seemed like an obscenely long time he simply stared at the other man, almost as if he was analysing him, working out everything there was to know, and then finally, he spoke. "No, not really. I know you, you...don't know me." He replied, he seemed to have no fear speaking his mind in front of the two, when most people might have avoided saying things the way he did, "I was just wondering, when did the CCG start hiring children?" There was a short pause, "And ghouls."


Adrian felt his heart almost stop. Suddenly he'd jumped from sitting rather casually to being in a position that would allow him to move without damaging his wrist or his arm even more. How did...how did he know that? There was no way in hell he could have known that right? It just didn't make sense. The boy's gaze moved from the tall, green haired individual and over to Jackson, he didn't say anything, but he didn't need to, his expression spoke for him. 'What do we do?' He wanted to get up and leave, but he didn't know who this man was, or what he could do... Was he meant to say anything?


"G-... Hold up, what?" Now the girl had stepped up, nudging the man to the side, "Say that again, you can't be serious..." Her shock seemed genuine, but could you really take anything for being genuine anymore? She might just be a good actress. Still, Adrian was inclined to believe her, she still had no idea what was happening. 


"A-A..." At first he had an issue speaking, his words just didn't seem to want to form, but after a moment his voice came back to him, "Are...you gonna hurt me?" He asked, tilted his head to the side. The question only provoked a strange look from the woman, and no reaction from the man. 


"Huh?" Raising an eyebrow, the male standing over him shook his head, "No...probably not... As long as someone answers my questions." Adrian couldn't tell whether he was being genuine or not this time, but he didn't dare ask, instead he just sat there, staring. 
 
Run. That was all that was going through Jackson's head, the only thought that he could manage in that second that seemed to stretch into minutes and hours. He had almost failed to notice when the girl who must be Bella had entered the scene, her flowing red hair falling behind her as she laid a hand against her companion's wrist, for his own eyes were tirelessly flitting between Adrian and the green-eyed stranger whose name he took to be Daryl. 


How did they know? About Adrian, about how he was - or used to be - an investigator for the CCG, about the way he had been cursed with a transformed biology? They didn't sound like agents; the way they spoke was too casual, too light-hearted. Maybe they were just nosey, but that still didn't explain how they could understand things that they should not, nor did it excuse Daryl's sudden wild interest in Jackson's friend. But they did know, and that meant that all the while they were within a ten mile radius of either man or boy, Adrian was in danger. He could still get hurt - unless 'someone answers my questions'.


Jackson squinted through the dust-spotted lenses of his metal-rimmed spectacles, observing Daryl as his eyes narrowed to slits. For a dangerous man, this person seemed rather talkative, letting slip information that might have been better kept secret. But it was Adrian's question he had answered. Had he intended for the boy to know this all along? That he would supposedly be safe as long as he sat for some kind of interview? It could be a trap, some kind of deception. They would ask the questions, then hurt him anyway... After all, agents aren't bound by any rules not to play dirty, and these two would be no exception.


'My questions'. Adrian would be unhurt 'as long as someone answers my questions'. Jackson turned those words over and over in his mind, and each time those same seven letters seemed to jump out at him until he found the sight he had needed. 'Someone'. It could be a substitute for Adrian's unknown name, but there was also the chance that it could mean its own definition - would Jackson be able to step in for Adrian and take his place as the interviewee? They could both just try to run, but these people looked strong. Definitely stronger than Jackson, maybe not as quick and nimble as Adrian but certainly heavy enough to overpower him should they ever meet in a tangle. The fact could be that their best chance was to simply oblige.


"Adrian," Jackson tried mouthing to his friend, deliberately angling his face away from Daryl and the red-haired Bella. An idea had just crossed his mind. Adrian... He was small, skinny and quick, he might even be faster than their opponents. If Jackson could open up an opportunity to flee, then Adrian had a chance of escaping for good. That was too good a chance to pass up, and now Jackson just had to get Adrian's attention somehow - after all, unless he was looking, what chance of communication did they have? There was no way that he could ever speak out loud, certainly not so close to two strangers who might just as well have blackmailed them with the threat of death. "Adrian, Adrian!" he mouthed silently again. Nothing. He wouldn't be noticed like this.


Another idea crossed Jackson's mind. He quickly walked his fingers over to Adrian's shoulder and tugged lightly on the boy's shirt, attempting to be discrete and go unnoticed by anyone but his friend. Had it worked? Surely Adrian would pay him some attention now... Either way, whether he had or hadn't, they were almost out of time. Jackson would just have to hope and pray.


"Run," he hissed sideways at Adrian in his quietest voice before clearing his throat and facing Daryl once more. "Wh- Qu- You said there, uh, there were questions?" he stammered upwards at the man, making an effort to keep a steady voice. He kept silently urging Adrian to make a move - Jackson could only bluff for so long, and he didn't want to have to resort to real, truthful answers. Come on, he thought, but then went back to speaking again. "Oh, err, what - what are they? I might be able to help..."
 
It was probably best they just answers the man's questions, what else could they do? That wasn't that much of a problem, he said he probably wasn't going to hurt anyone if they just answered questions... They were only questions. Although there was a lot he could ask about, he already knew some...strange information about the two, he knew they worked for the CCG, and that Adrian was a ghoul, but there was no logical explanation for it. Unless they were CCG investigators, how had they obtained such knowledge? And even investigators might not know about Adrian's surgery going wrong, half of them hadn't seen him after all. 


"So," Still, he continued, "Are you going to answer them?" Piercing green eyes rested of the younger of the two sitting down, even as Adrian looked into them he knew that no wasn't an answer, yet at the same time he didn't feel all that threatened. Intimidated, yes, but threatened... Whilst what the man had said originally did sound like a threat, he didn't feel as if he was going to get beaten up when he looked into his eyes. Maybe it really was safe to answer some questions for him, it was better than anyone potentially getting hurt, plus Jackson could help answer things he didn't know, right? 


Adrian nodded, continuing to stare up at the man. His companion still had that perplexed look on her face, but still she listened. At one point he saw her nudge the other and whisper something to him that sounded like the words 'you're harrassing a child, stop it', but she wasn't paid attention to. It was actually rather rude of the taller, shouldn't he at least acknowledge that she was there? He wasn't even looking at her... Adrian didn't know, maybe he was just too deep in thought to realise what he was doing. Oh well, it was none of his business. 


If it wasn't for Jackson's voice in his ear he probably would have asked when the questions were going to start being asked, but his friend had told him to do something entirely different, something he hadn't been planning on doing at all. Run. Was that smart? Should he really run? As he debated this, he heard Jackson start asking questions to divert the two strangers' attention to him, maybe it was the right thing to do... But...leave his friend, should he really do that? They could do anything. Surely they wouldn't hurt a disabled man out in the open, no, Adrian didn't believe he was going to get hurt, and...Jackson really wanted him to run... Okay, why not, it wasn't like there was much else open apart from answering their questions. 


"Hm?" Just as intended, the stony looking male turned to face Jackson, raising an eyebrow, "That so?" He replied, "Okay, well I guess-"


Whilst he was distracted Adrian had taken the opportunity to jump up from his position, he was fast, much faster than your average person would be. In seconds he'd jumped up and positioned himself on the bench's metal arm rest, about to jump. However, it seemed someone else was quicker. 


Without even looking away from Jackson, the individual named Daryl had reached his hand up the minute he saw movement. As Adrian was about to jump from the bench he grabbed the back of the boy's shirt, pulling him towards the wooden seat below. Adrian's eyes widened as he yelped and fell from his position, crashing back onto the hard wood. Well...that hadn't worked. Without missing a beat, Daryl continued his sentence, "you could answer instead." His eyes only landed on Adrian once he'd finished speaking, they locked with the boy's own fearful, grey orbs, but the look he was getting was less angry and more...'don't do that again.' It was a strange authoritative look that made Adrian want to stay where he was, but didn't make him feel scared out of his goddamn mind. 


"Daryl, stop man handling him." The red haired woman had stepped forwards again, hitting her friend's arm away from Adrian and giving the man a disapproving look, "You're going to hurt someone." 


"Get over it. Kid's fine. He was already hurt before hand, any injuries he have aren't my fault." 


"Huh..." Adrian blinked, looking up at Daryl from his position on the bench, the two made eye contact again and Daryl raised an eyebrow. 


"Confused?" He asked, "You got hurt in a fight, did you forget or something?" He looked down to Adrian wrist, "Should probably put something on that or you'll never keep it in the same position. What if it healed wrong huh?" His gaze then moved to Jackson, "And you're awfully dumb, jumping on someone twice your strength isn't exactly a normal thing to do. Do you have a death wish or something?" 
 
Jackson had been steeling himself for the unexpected, trying hard not to let his gaze flicker or his chin wobble. He could not afford to give anything away - least of all his plan to keep Adrian out of danger's reach. One look at the boy, even to check that he had heard the command to run, and everything would fall apart.


As it turned out, however, Jackson need not worry about the ending outcome at all, because his plan had failed before it had barely even begun to unfold. Naturally with his head turned away he did not see Adrian's attempt to flee, but when he caught Daryl reach out he could not help but follow the man's movement with his eyes. Adrian had made a start. But Daryl, quick as lightning, had snapped his arm outwards and yanked the boy back in his seat as easily as if he were a rag doll. 


Jackson could not stop himself from making a tiny, high-pitched wailing noise which sounded something like the words, 'oh no he,' though when he realised that he had squeaked out loud in defeat he quickly clamped his mouth shut again. The fingers on his right hand twitched continuously, flexing and grabbing at nothingness until he covered his abdomen with his left arm and gave his hand a wrist to hold. 


It hadn't worked. His plans always worked... Why now? Why did he have to fail now of all times, the one occasion in which real danger was involved? He didn't like the look on Daryl's face, and whilst Bella had said something that eased Jackson's tension just a little, her tone of voice still made the man want to shudder.


"Wh-what?" Jackson blinked and swallowed, snapping his head to the side as another voice caught his attention. He seemed unable to control the way his forehead had creased in the middle, so affected by his own failure and panic that he had forgotten about his own existence in the material world, but there was something about those words that just reeled the blond back to the present. 


A fight. 'You got hurt in a fight.' How... Did he know? He must have guessed, there was no other way. Adrian's wounds were healing at an alarmingly fast rate, but that broken wrist was obvious - the way his hand flopped around like a piece of dead rubber... No ordinary accident could cause an injury quite like that, so it was obvious. Right? Surely this stranger hadn't tailed them back from yesterday. It was a coincidence. That or Jackson had simply misheard Daryl, which was quite possible; Jackson always misheard Adrian when he was deep in thought. He had just heard what his paranoid mind had expected.


For a while he actually believed it, having managed to convince himself that nothing was out of the ordinary, but all of that came crashing down in flames when Jackson himself had been addressed. 'Jumping on someone twice your strength' wasn't normal. He knew that. It was so abnormal that... Well, Jackson could not even remember doing anything like that in the past seven years - except for during the battle with Prince, the same time at which Adrian had broken his wrist, when Jackson had climbed on the ghoul's back to prevent it from killing his friend on the spot. No, Jackson had no death wish, only a potent desire to be of use when it came to rescuing Adrian. But that thought was swiftly washed away by more concerning ideas, and he didn't even bother to react to Daryl calling him an idiot. All that mattered was that all of this was a coincidence. Right? The chances of guessing all of these things, they were so slim, but possible. They were just very lucky - or very unlucky - or a confusing mixture of both. At least, that's what Jackson kept telling himself.


It didn't last long, however. Somehow, in the strangest way possible, Jackson felt like there was nothing deeper underlying Daryl's words. He could not find any facial cues that signified the actions of a liar, and those words did not sound so carefully selected as to be too forcefully natural. They were genuine, and that was perhaps the most unsettling thing he had dared to consider yet. It was true, all true, and Jackson knew that everything he had been trying not to believe was so painfully obvious.


The stranger named Daryl knew about the fight.


He knew Jackson and Adrian from yesterday. He knew that they worked for the CCG. He knew that they had fought Prince and Jester together at the abandoned clearing with their teammates. 


Why had he come looking for them? How much more did he already know? And, most importantly, what were they going to do to Adrian now that they had him imprisoned in an open space?


"I don't know what you mean," Jackson blurted, suddenly losing the ability to conceal his fear as his mouth dropped open and breathing began to speed up almost to the level of hyperventilation. "I don't - I don't understand, i-it - how? How did you know? Adrian... We - y- they didn't... We didn't s- tell..." He tried to form something that made sense, but for once in his life Jackson was truly lost.
 
"Stop stuttering already, what're you trying to say?" Daryl made a hand motion as if the prompt Jackson to continue, he knew the other was confused, but the way he was acting showed that he either wasn't good at understand other's emotions, or her just really wasn't bothered. Of course they were confused, they couldn't help but be, he knew things that he shouldn't know, they didn't understand how he knew. The joys of wearing a mask. 


"Daryl, leave them alone already, you're going too fast for anyone to keep up with." Despite telling her friend off, the girl named Bella never did address Jackson, nor Adrian, she just talked to Daryl, speaking almost as if they weren't there. She just wanted to leave, it was obvious, by the looks of things she didn't want to involve herself with Adrian or Jackson. It was almost as if she was slightly worried about it, like they'd end up being the source of trouble or something. "Daryl." She grabbed his forearm in an attempt to walk him away from the scene, "Don't get yourself anymore involved, come on." Her voice was quiet at that moment, she didn't intend for Adrian or Jackson to hear her, she just wanted to get out of there. 


"Two seconds Bel, don't worry so much." The man looked down to her and the two stood there looking at each other for a couple of seconds, it was the smaller of the two that broke eye contact, nodding and letting go of the other's forearm, taking her phone out of her back pocket instead to occupy herself. 


"Okay. Fine." She replied, deciding to take a step back from the conversation, "But don't think I'm gonna back you up if you get into some shit, okay?" 


Without replying to her, Daryl turned back to Jackson and Adrian, his gaze constantly moving between the two, there was no smile or grin that indicated he was having some sort of fun with confusion them, but his eyes said otherwise. 


"Don't worry. I'm not done yet." Daryl kept his gaze cold and stern, "You might be dumb, but your friend, he's the real idiot here." He turned to the youngest of the three males, "Hugging an infamous ghoul had got to be the most imbecilic action I've witnessed in my whole life! Like, who does that? Who is that stupid?! You're lucky he didn't kill you outright kid, if he'd want to he could have snapped every single bone in your body, not just that wrist of yours." 


Adrian swallowed, looking down almost guiltily, Leo would never kill him... What did this guy know. He knew nothing about his brother. It wasn't fair, they hadn't given him enough time, he just wanted to see his brother again, that was all... The boy's hands balled into fists and he clenched his jaw, he didn't want to get upset now, but...but no one understood...no one got how much he missed Leo and how much he wanted to see him again. 


"He wouldn't kill me..." He mumbled, voice quiet now, "He's my brother, he wouldn't do that..." 


"Brother?" The green eyed man scoffed, turning his head to the side, "Prince doesn't have siblings, and even if he did, you'd be surprised what he'd do to someone in the CCG. He probably didn't kill you 'cause you're a ghoul, probably assumed you'd be killed anyway. How come you're not dead anyway? How come this guy hasn't killed you? There's no way they don't know." 


"Uh... I-..." Adrian didn't know what to say, just because he didn't know about it didn't mean that Prince didn't have siblings, it was definitely Leo...he knew it the minute he saw him. It couldn't be someone else. "Why...Why would they kill me?" 


"Well...you're a ghoul kid, you know that's how it works, right?" 


"I-I mean...I..." 
 
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As the confrontation between he, his friend and the strangers progressed, Jackson began to find it progressively more difficult to ignore the passersby. People on the streets were starting to turn their heads, taking quick, nervous glances at the freaks by the bench before quickly averting their eyes and trotting away from the scene like frightened sheep. The eyes that stared were wide and rimmed with fearful circles of white - not quite the kind of looks Jackson had been afraid to find, but they certainly did not ease his tension. If they kept on like this, somebody was bound to get involved eventually.


However, no matter how deep his searing desire to intervene, Jackson's tongue just wasn't working. The words were there, hanging unsaid in front of his face clear enough to read, but whenever he tried to speak he could achieve nothing but looking like a goldfish as he opened and closed his mouth over and over, dazed into a state of stupor by his own uselessness. 'I'm not stuttering, shut up, he wanted to say. 'How the hell do you know who we are?' he longed to ask. But the only sound that the man made was a pathetic, trembling whimper.


Jackson had almost given up trying to speak, having decided to simply accept that he had been driven into a corner, when he was jolted by the sound of somebody's vicious retaliation. "Don't you goddamn dare talk to Adrian like that! You shut your mouth now, or I'll fuck you up." the voice snapped in a harsh, dark and serious tone, and Jackson spent several seconds trying to work out where it had come from before he realised that he was the one who had said it. Instantly his face flushed from white to red and he put his hand over his mouth. Oh no. He had wanted to object to Daryl's odd, unsettling ways, but not like that, not with an uncontrolled outburst of violent language. What had he been thinking!? It was his anger again, just like it always was, his anger always had to mess things up. Damn it... Not the right tone to use against someone who looked fit to pop someone's head off with one finger. And a threat? That was even worse.


"N-no," Jackson began, speaking through his parted fingers in a feeble attempt to cover up or perhaps even revoke the harshness with which he had spoken, "I mean, oh, uh, y-you - Adrian's not - he..." What now? He could almost feel himself melting back into his chair, he even wished that he could just to escape from this horrible moment, but alas - Jackson remained very much solid, if suddenly glowing with blush and far too warm. Of course the man was still prickly about the way Adrian had been spoken of. Real idiot, my ass, Adrian had thought he had found his long lost brother for the first time in five or so years. Who wouldn't forget their position in that situation? Nevertheless, however, Jackson decided that to say anything more would only land him and his friend in further trouble. He could not risk saying something else stupid and losing Adrian to these creeps - not even answering a question.
 
"Gah." Daryl threw a hand up in the air, "You're not a stuttering mess too, are you?" He sighed, crossing his arms and shaking his head, "How am I meant to communicate with you guys if all you do is give me incoherent nonsense to deal with? Come on. Spit it out kid, do you know what they'll do to you? Do you?!" He leaned forwards, making Adrian want to move backwards, but of course he couldn't, he was sitting down. What was he doing? Why was he asking about this? He already knew that Adrian was a ghoul, most people didn't like ghouls. Shouldn't he turn him in? Why was he so confident? He knew, so he knew that Adrian was much more capable of killing him that he was of killing Adrian, he knew that he couldn't hurt the boy with a knife or any weapon he might have. So why was he still trying to intimidate him? 


Unless... 


Adrian's train of thought was cut off by a sudden serious growl from next to him, he couldn't say he wasn't surprised by the tone, was that...really who he thought it was? The boy had to turn his head just to check, but indeed, that clear and rather threatening sentence defending Adrian had come from Jackson. That was right, Jackson always got mad when someone insulted him... He'd stabbed Matthew in the hand that one time because he'd upset him, and whilst Matthew could be dangerous, Adrian had a feeling that this guy was even more so... 


It seemed he wasn't the only one shocked by the tone of voice that Jackson had chosen, the tall, green haired man had turned his full attention to Jackson just as he began stuttering again. There was absolute silence from him as the man in the wheelchair tried to defend himself, but of course he just stumbled over his words again and again. Probably out of nerves, he had just spoken to someone who looked much stronger than himself in a very threatening tone. He'd thrown a threat out there at him, and a rather serious one at that. Who was to say this man wouldn't think that if he didn't do something it would damage his pride and honour, or...whatever excuse people gave for beating others up on the streets. 


The silence continued on for too long, no movement, no reaction, just green eyes staring at blue, completely emotionless. Then there was the sound of a footstep, then another, then another. Daryl walked to stand directly in front of Jackson's wheelchair, never breaking eye contact as he did so, he leaned down, placing both of his hands on the arm rests of the chair. By the time he stopped moving his face was inches away from Jackson's, and then...then he grinned. 


"Oh man." His voice was low, quiet, but...amused? He shook his head, letting of a slight chuckle, "That's some threat. You don't like that huh? Nah, I don't blame you. I wouldn't like it either. Gotta protect your own, right?" There was a pause, and finally Daryl broke eye contact, his gaze moving to Adrian, who was nervously looking on from the edge of the bench, but his head staying in the exact same position. "So...why're you protecting a ghoul? Ain't you a part of the CCG, huh? Don't you slaughter guys like him? Every. Single. Day. Kids like that who don't have a clue how to protect themselves? The innocent who never did shit to you? So, why isn't he dead where he stands? Well?" His eyes realigned with Jackson's, his look questioning, prodding, he was looking for answers, but he wasn't looking for Jackson to speak. "And there it is." He smirked, before standing back up straight and pushing Jackson's chair back slightly.


There was silence for a few more moments as the man looked up at the sky, contemplating something. "Y'know, I like to call it karma." He laughed, "You failed to see the lives you were ruining, you failed to care, and so the world made you care. It put that alarm against your ear and yelled 'Wake up, bitch!' Until you were forced to silence it." The smile on his face was something between that look you get when you win first place in something and...pity... Adrian couldn't make out the exact emotion, this man...was confusing. "Now you're gonna have to go through the same shit that every single one of those fucking families did thanks to your fucking company, thanks to the assholes that get a kick outta killing innocents! Or...I mean...you could just walk away. I mean, you're scot free, nothing a little lie or two can't fix." He raised an eyebrow, looking at Jackson instead of the sky, "But you won't, you won't cause you don't wanna watch him die. I can see it. Would that kill you? Huh? Would it?" He looked at his hands, that smirk still present across his lips, "Whatever.  Just gotta warn ya, get ready for the shitstorm, bitch! You're either gonna come out dead or too traumatised to tell the tale, and you know, deep down, whose fault that's gonna be." Once again he got up in Jackson's face, but this time his voice was just a whisper, an amused whisper, "As much as you'd like to believe I am, I'm not the enemy here, so save your bullets. And point your gun in the right direction." 
 
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It might have been his imagination, but Jackson, who was beginning to feel very small as he squirmed uncomfortably within the borders of Daryl's shadow, couldn't help but notice that there was a certain sharpness to the strange man's words that he could not detect before. This new tone wasn't cold, exactly, and nor was it blazing with anger of any level that could compete with Jackson's own. It was just... Difficult. Difficult to figure out.


After feeling the words rising out of his throat, Jackson managed to bite his tongue on a blitz of a retaliation against Daryl's next insult against Adrian. Adrian was not a mess. Adrian was frightened, as anyone with a shred of a brain would be when faced with an unfamiliar maniac and bombarded with information that nobody else was supposed to know. He wanted to spit that kind of intimidation back at Daryl. 'You're a sick mess.' 'Bastard.' 'Say another word and I'll kill you.'


Luckily for either Daryl or himself, the bespectacled man managed to somewhat suppress whatever rage he could feel brewing within his core, caging his threats behind rows of bared teeth and a clenched jaw. He could not move as his aggressor loomed closer and closer, took hold of the arms of his chair and glared straight through him with those eyes that seemed almost to glow with threat.


Protecting a ghoul. I'm not protecting a ghoul, Jackson thought to himself, his left hand tightening into a bony, white fist as he facaded bravery to Daryl's face. No matter how much this stalker of a man knew, he would always be wrong about calling Adrian a ghoul. He was a human. A human, even if a human with a ghoul's body, Adrian would never lose who he was to become whatever savage monster the world thought him to be. He would not.


When Daryl finally switched his gaze from Jackson to Adrian, though it was barely for a second it felt as though an enormous weight had been lifted. He could breathe, and before he could stop himself the words came out: "Adrian is not a ghoul."


Had Daryl not continued to relentlessly berate Jackson, the man cowering in the shadow might have slapped a hand across his own mouth as if doing so would put the statement back as though it had never been said. But Jackson - who could do naught but listen to the endless string of words - forgot about his mistake in an instant, for he found the speech that followed surprisingly awakening, and not in a positive way.


'Now you're gonna have to go through the same shit that every single one of those fucking families did thanks to your fucking company.'


Ghouls. He was talking about ghouls... Wasn't he? It didn't make sense, none of it was logical. Karma didn't exist. Ghouls were not civilised enough to form constructs as humane as family - they could only pretend to be human and lie to themselves and the world. It wasn't right. Ghouls did not have families. Ghouls deserved all of the 'same shit' they got.


Didn't they?


There was a faint image flickering in the back of Jackson's mind - a face he knew, a pale face with a wide, yellow grin and white, round eyes that reminded him of a ghost. Ghouls can only pretend, he reminded himself. Some ghouls were very good at pretending, but the way they acted in front of their prey could never change what they were. Was Daryl trying to guilt trip him? Why? Ghoul sympathisers were rare, they were criminals, the way they protected that race... He could be working with the ghouls who had tried to exterminate the Quinx squad. That would explain how he knew about Adrian, and how he knew about the fight.


If that was true, it meant that Daryl was here to attack Adrian. He was going to kill him, but first he had to do this - torture them with words, play with them like flies caught in the web, make them suffer before the final strike. 


What is this guy's problem!?


 Jackson could not control it now. He felt both his left arm and right jerk forwards, causing a spear of agony to sear through his right side, but the man did not stop to wince. His right arm could not move, but almost without noticing he wrapped his left around Daryl's right and dug his fingernails in through the skin. He did not look to check if he had drawn blood, or if the attack had done anything at all; he simply did not care.


"Quit talking shit," he spat upwards, pressing his face up against his newly-decided enemy's. "I don't know what the hell you're trying to do. Turn us away from humanity? Fucking ghoul sympathiser." He tightened his grip around Daryl's arm and pressed his hand down against the arm of his chair, expecting the green-haired man to burst out wailing in pain. "Here's a news flash, creep: karma doesn't exist. But if you think you can do anything to Adrian and get away with it, I'll remember whose throat to slit next time we meet."


When he was finally done, it was as though somebody had flicked a switch and turned off whatever sudden, stupid courage Jackson had felt as he delivered another foolish threat to a more powerful man. His eyes darkened, and though he did not let go, his grip on Daryl's arm wavered as his own hand began to tremble in shock and fear of himself and whatever consequences he might have just asked for. 


What the hell did I just say?
 
Was Daryl trying to provoke Jackson? That really was a good question. Adrian couldn't work it out. He was saying a lot of...well strange things, the boy didn't understand it all, but the bits he did understand...they made him feel guilty. He didn't know why exactly he felt guilty, but he did, and it wasn't just that, he felt nervous too. Nervous of what was to happen to them. Daryl said there was going to be a shitstorm, what kind of shitstorm? Were they going to get hurt? What was going to happen? He didn't want to hear it anymore! But...what if he was right? Was there more he could tell them? If they asked nicely...would he...help them? Adrian could smell the two, both Daryl and Bella, he knew something was going on that man wasn't just some human... He wasn't a stranger, he knew them, he knew everything, and...he hated the CCG and stuck up for ghouls. Adrian knew what they were, they were like him, and maybe Daryl was right, maybe he wasn't the enemy, maybe they needed his help. 


Before Adrian was even able to recover from his shell shock Jackson had already taken over the situation, and he was pissed. That was never good, something bad was going to happen and they were going to regret it. Jackson couldn't mess with a ghoul, he just couldn't. Neither of them were in a condition to take on that man... He seemed threatening, but he could be weak, uncoordinated, easy to take down...or he could be more powerful than either of them knew. If Jackson got mad then they could have the same situation they had with Matthew. Adrian didn't want that, it was the last thing he wanted. 


Daryl had waited. He had waited for Jackson to finish his little outburst. He had stood there and taken the other's shit, but he didn't give Jackson the satisfaction of hearing anything from him. Not a single noise. Despite the grip on his wrist, the man stayed focused on his target, completely ignoring his surroundings, completely ignoring how the other grabbed at him and forced his arm down. It didn't hurt enough. He waited for that switch, he waited to see Jackson's blood run from his face, to realise he shouldn't have done that. This could have been easier. 


"Listen, 'buddy'." All the amusement had drained from his features, his eyes unreadable, his face completely emotionless. "I don't know who you think you're dealing with, but let me tell you. I would happily end your pathetic, useless life right this second. You're scum, fucking scum, all of you CCG agents are exactly the same. You shit on other people because you can't come to terms with the fact that some people just aren't the same as you, but you don't care that it ain't their faults. You kill them anyway. You just love the bloodshed, you want to watch them plead before you even though both of you know that they ain't gonna get what they ask for. I'd rather be a ghoul sympathiser than a heartless pig any day." His tone was low, aggressive, he wanted Jackson to fear him at this point, and so he should. This was a goddamn smart time to be scared. 


For a few seconds there was silence, before Daryl grunted, "Y'know, I really regret not ending your life that one night. I really fucking regret it. And it sucks man, because I can't do that anymore. " He gritted his teeth, looking to the side for a moment, eyes landing on Adrian, "Because he cares about you, and I don't split up family like that...or...whatever you guys wanna call yourselves. I wouldn't kill you because it'd destroy him, and I don't do that, I don't hurt people like that." His gaze landed back on Jackson, "Can you say that about yourself? Or any of your fucking friends? Nah. I don't think so." Another pause. "You've got some fight, I respect that, you're trying to protect him, and I respect that too, but you ain't gonna be able to do that. News flash. Sorry. I don't know what happened, but I know you're in fucking denial, and until you get over that you're both walking fucking sacks of meat. That's it. Grow up, go into the real world, and stop trying to hide behind walls that don't exist. The more you fucking insult me, or any of us, the deeper you're digging your own grave. I don't know your motives, or what you're doing out here, but you guys were terrified when I came over. Which makes me think you don't plan on going back to wherever you came from, trust me, I've seen that look before. You've got no one to go to and you're fucking up your own chance at survival because you care more about hating a race than you do about staying alive. If you plan on keeping him safe, then show me what you're willing to do, because right now all I see is an arrogant dick who thinks he's all high and mighty sitting up there in society with his normal life, normal family, decent job, all because he was born to the right people. If you care about him you'll cut the crap and man the fuck up. Get the fuck over yourself and start focusing on priorities."


With that final sentence, Daryl yanked his arm upwards and took a step back. His jaw was clenched, he looked angry, but he didn't hit Jackson, he didn't touch him, he just stood there, staring. 


"I already told you. I'm not your fucking enemy, but you're damn well treating me like one." 
 
What have I done?


What have I said?


Daryl kept saying the same things, he kept spitting that same spiel back at Jackson over and over again. Even if he had the thought to change the words, the meaning behind them was never any different. Always just the same 'you've caused people suffering, and now you should feel guilty', the same 'you've done something bad and I'll make sure you pay for it'. He had managed to ignore it the first few times, but by the point at which Daryl had finished speaking, Jackson was pale as a sheet and trembling almost uncontrollably. His fingers were wound, rigid, around the arm of his chair.


For a thousand seconds the man did not dare to speak, he did not dare to move. Those eyes were too mean, too frightening - Daryl insisted that he was not the enemy, but the way he kept looking at Jackson and his friend... It made him feel as though his entire body were made of ice. Even if he had wanted to, he would not be able to move or speak - only blink wildly and stare back with his own nut-brown eyes, which were glistening and wet and alive with unease, but luckily still hidden behind the thick lenses of his spectacles.


"Stop, stop, yo-y-you're l-lying," Jackson finally forced out, all of the fury and passion having drained out of his voice. Why couldn't he speak properly anymore? Now that fear had overtaken his rage, it was as though his mouth didn't want to work. It was too afraid to. 


Is Adrian afraid? he wondered, shooting a quick glance at his friend. For once it was difficult to tell what the boy was thinking. Jackson could normally see almost straight through Adrian, see what was going on inside his head, but this time was different. He could at least tell that the boy was attempting deep thought... But no more, and Jackson's silent question remained unanswered. There was no time to be contemplating things like this; he had to step up and face Daryl head-on.


"You're lying," he finally croaked upwards after loudly gulping down a breath of cold air, his words rolling very slowly off his tongue so that his stutter wouldn't catch him off on that first statement. "It's f- it - it's not true, you're lying. What - wait - what do you know, what do you know about us? We haven't d-done - Adrian hasn't done anything. Nothing. An-and I'll protect that! Do - do you think I can't? 'C-cause I will, and you won't touch him!" He dared to look away from Daryl to check Adrian again. Adrian was still okay - for now, at least. There was nobody else around who could do anything to hurt him but that red-haired girl, and she had edged out of sight. Good. Adrian was still okay. Everything was still okay. "Sacks of meat... You... Y-you think that's us, right? You called - you called us 'meat'. Why? Do I - does he-" - he jabbed a finger in Adrian's direction - "-look like a dead cow to you? Is that what he is? W-we're human, damn it! And I... I don't know what you are. If y-you're not our - our enemy - then stay away. Leave us the fuck alone."


Jackson dared to stop for a moment of rest after having finished speaking. Finding the words he needed to say had exhausted him, and he was struggling to find his breath after such a long time spent talking - although that might have been the fault of his own fear. He had managed to control himself this time... But how far was too far, and had he made the mistake of crossing that line without realising it? Whatever, he thought. Whether he had or hadn't, it was too late now. He couldn't take it back. "Come on, Adrian," he muttered sideways, using his one arm to propel himself something close to forwards, "Let's move, I don't know what the hell this creep wants. Come on, come on, let's go, what are you waiting for?"
 
Of course Daryl listened to Jackson, he wasn't that rude, but he couldn't help rolling his eyes. The man was acting like a scared animal, he didn't even want to consider that there was any other option than what he already had imprinted in his head, and that was what was pissing off the larger male. Jackson needed a slap in the face, he didn't realise what he was risking by acting so goddamn stupid.


"What? Do I need to give you a live demonstration or something?" Daryl muttered, sighing, "You're not strong. You're weak. Weaker than half of the people I know. You think ghouls aren't as smart as you? Think again buddy, you'd be dead in seconds if you got into a fight with any of them without backup. You can act tough all you like, but you know as well as I do that it's a fucking facade, look at you. You're scared as shit of me right now, and I haven't laid a hand on you." He was impatient, that's what Daryl was, he wanted people to get the point quickly, he didn't like hassle, and he hated prejudice. "As for your question, I don't know. What's a ghoul to you, huh? Maybe he's just an animal. Is that why you keep him? Is he your goddamn pet?" 


The man stopped talking at that point, watching Jackson instead. He was telling Adrian to go, wanting to leave, but the boy wasn't moving. Instead his worried grey eyes were darting between the two his addled brain unable to make sense of all the insults throw this way and that. He wasn't quick enough to keep up. 


"Uh." Adrian blinked, looking towards Jackson. He was about to say something else when he felt a hand on top of his head, it wasn't pressing down, or grabbing at his hair, or anything like that, it was just...sat there. He looked up, his eyes meeting with Daryl's, although they were a lot less aggravated than they'd seemed a moment ago. What...was he doing? 


"If I was to snap his neck you wouldn't even be there quick enough to catch the body." Whilst the green haired man's head stayed facing Adrian, his eyes flickered over to Jackson, "I could kill him right now and there'd be nothing you could do, and then before you could even scream, you'd be dead too. So don't fucking tell me you can protect him again." At that he turned his gaze back to Adrian, now completely ignoring Jackson. "So kid, since your friend is obviously hostile as fuck, what're you doing out here? Don't you have to work?"


"I can't tell you." Adrian replied, sitting still as Daryl still had his hand on his head. 


"Why's that?" 


"I'm not allowed to." 


"Okay, then don't tell me." The man grinned, crossing his arms, "I'll tell you. You don't work for the CCG anymore, because they know, don't they?" 


"How do you-"


"Save it. The first time I saw you you were human. Unless you're somehow extremely good at covering up your own scent, you definitely smelled different." 


"We never met. Did we? Sorry, I forget everything... Do I...know you?"


"Kinda. We didn't really meet. You tried to kill me, and I guess I tried to hurt you." 


"Oh. I'm sorry."


"Doesn't matter. Anyway, the next time I saw you you didn't smell the same, and you ran off from that battle field instead of seeing medics." 


"You were...there?"


"Of course I was there. I watched until you guys left, kinda my job." 


"Oh... So, does that mean-"


"Yeah." Daryl crossed his arms, taking his hand off of Adrian's head, "Scared?"


"No...Not really..." 


"Good, you have no reason to be." He held his hand out, "My name's Daryl. The girl over there, that's Bella."


"My name's Adrian." Adrian couldn't help but stare at Daryl's hand for a moment, then he took it, managing to smile. He was...nice...surprisingly nice. "And that's Jackson, he doesn't mean it, I swear... He just...-" 


"Don't bother. I don't care, this is like the least hostile situation I've been in all week. Where do you guys plan on going?"


"I...don't know..." 


"I see... Huh... Do you know exactly what's made you have to get away?"


"Kinda...I guess... Maybe... Not really... I don't know..." 


Suddenly Daryl's gaze was off of Adrian and onto Jackson, his brown furrowed, he didn't seem to be happy with that answer. 


"So have you told him anything of your 'plan' to keep him safe huh? Do you even have a plan?" 
 
"Wh... What do you..." 'What do you mean? Of course I can protect him!' Jackson wanted to carry on, but he didn't bother, because he already knew the answer. He hated Daryl, he hated the green-haired man for being correct when he was pulling apart everything that Jackson had barely managed to convince himself of just moments before. Daryl's hand was on Adrian's head. He said that he could break the boy's neck. Was that a threat? If it was, Jackson would not be able to do anything to stop it. He would not be able to bear that sight. He couldn't even think about watching that. This guy is so twisted, he thought, Who the hell could talk about murdering an innocent kid like it's nothing?


He nearly spoke aloud to express these thoughts, to call Daryl twisted and sick to his face, but when he looked up to meet those eyes again they had disappeared. For a moment there was a frantic search to find where that dark green gaze had gone, but it didn't take long for Jackson to find that Daryl's new target was Adrian. "H-hey!" he hissed. One arm waved violently towards Daryl and then back at Jackson himself in a strange beckoning motion. He couldn't let Adrian talk to somebody like that. Something would happen, the boy would get attacked - or worse. But no matter how many times the man called out, trying to be the protector he had promised, his voice seemed to get quieter and quieter, disappearing beneath the sea of words exchanged between the two others in front of him.


It was a sudden movement, a quick flash of motion which shocked even Jackson. He had heard the words - 'I was there.' 'I watched until you guys left.' 'Scared?' His body had jolted and suddenly his hand was at his side. He hadn't even seen himself move, but by the time Daryl had presented Jackson with that final question the blond man was almost rolling over Adrian's heels.


"None - n-none of your business! I thought I said to l-leave us alone, didn't I? Fuck off," Jackson growled through gritted teeth. "Don't t-tell him, Adrian, he's not your friend." His hand was still shaking, so he put it back to rest on his lap. Daryl already knew he was terrified, but there was no glory in letting him have the satisfaction of proving himself right. He had already done the unthinkable, he had already said the unbelievable. 'Yeah. Scared?' If Adrian had implied what Jackson thought he had, this was very, very bad news for them both. 


I should do it, he told himself. I'm a ghoul investigator. This man - this thing is a ghoul. He should kill him right there and then, just like he was supposed to, but... There was something amiss that made Jackson think again before resorting to violence as he often did. Adrian was in danger, and the ghoul had been right about Jackson being too slow to protect him if they ever got in a fight. If they tried to kill Daryl and the man retaliated, what would happen? If Jackson died first then Adrian could escape, but if Adrian was the first target then they would both go down. They couldn't fight when their only real hope at this point was to run and hide, and if they were going to go with their second plan then Daryl could not know their plans, ever. If they let slip on their location, it would be far too easy for them to be found, for them both to be hunted down and killed...


"Adrian, Adrian, listen," Jackson whispered. He grabbed at the back of his friend's shirt and pulled so as to turn the boy around. Adrian wasn't moving, he hadn't listened to Jackson's command before. He would have to have it spelled out for him. "L-look at me. You know what this guy is, right? I know he seems nice, but please just trust me, he is bad. He - he's a ghoul, I think." Jackson dared to cast Daryl a sour look before turning his attention back to Adrian. "D-don't let him trick you, okay? We have to go, right now, it's our best chance, just trust me."
 
Adrian felt very conflicted, he didn't know who to listen to at this point. Yes, Daryl had said he was a ghoul, and he'd been rather nasty to Jackson, but that was only because he was angry with him...plus...he was being really nice. Jackson, however, just wanted to get away, Adrian knew he should stand up and leave, but a part of him didn't want to do that. These people were like him, so maybe they could help them, because Daryl was right, Jackson couldn't do it alone, and Adrian had no idea what was going on. No one had told him enough. He wanted to ask Daryl for help, he just didn't know how well that would go down with the man or Jackson... 


"Ah." The boy turned, hearing Jackson say they should leave again, "But...Jackson..." They had to go, but they didn't know where they were going, did they? Were they going to get hurt if they kept running around like this? Maybe Daryl and Bella could keep them safe, it was a better option than running aimlessly. They were ghouls, they were used to this, but that wasn't what Jackson wanted. 


"You're gonna die if you keep skittering back and forth like scared animals." Daryl butted in, "You look way too suspicious, if anyone who knows you sees you where are you even gonna go? You're both injured. Is that really a good idea? Think about it." He sighed, "All I'm saying is that if you continue following this blind idiot around neither of you are gonna make it and I think you know that." 


Adrian attention turned back to the man standing over him, then he looked down. He guessed he did know that... He knew that if they didn't have anywhere to go it was going to be a problem, and...at this point he didn't think that they did. It was a tough decision to make, he didn't want to make it, either defy Jackson and ask for help, or don't and walk away... Neither were good choices. The boy shook his head, pulling his knees up to his chest and laying his chin on top of them, he didn't want to choose.


"I see." Daryl seemed to catch on rather quickly that Adrian didn't want to make a decision that could divide him from anyone, in fact he didn't seem to want to make a decision at all. His attention moved back to Jackson, "What? Did you keep him in a cage half his life? He's too worried to make a decision that ensures his own survival. Or, is he just not able to?" Now Daryl had met indecisive people, he'd met people that were worried, but Adrian was straight up unable to choose. He could see him constantly looking over at Jackson as if about to ask him about it, and then realising that he already knew the answer, but at the same time he didn't want to go with that answer. So...how did he put this in a way that would be easier for the guy. "You want to ask me something, don't you?" 


"Mmn..." Adrian didn't really reply, instead just turning his head away from both Daryl and Jackson, he didn't want to deal with this. 


"Okay, well, if you do you can. It doesn't mean you have to actually go through with what you ask. We could just leave it open." 


He seemed to gain Adrian's interest again, as the boy's head turned back to look at him. Should he ask him? He wanted to...but Jackson wouldn't like it. He looked over to his friend, then Daryl again. Jackson had said Daryl wasn't his friend...so...should he trust that? Still, he did want to ask. Maybe he played safe first. 


"Are...you gonna hurt me?" 


"No."


"Do you promise?"


"Yeah. I promise." 


"Do you swear on your life?"


"Yeah, I swear on my life." 


"Are you lying to me?" 


"Nope."


"Okay."  Adrian sighed and shifted awkwardly, he didn't have any reason not to trust his answers... "Um..."


"Yeah?"


"If...If I did... I'm not saying I am...but if I did...hypo...hype...um..."


"Hypothetically." 


"Yeah, would you...help me?" 


"Depends. What do you need help with?"


"I don't know. I just need help with something...hypo-the-ti-cal-ly."


"Well, as long as we're not doing something too illegal, or slaughtering a whole town. Sure." 


"Really?" His head jerked up, a smile appearing on his face, but as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared and he dropped his head again. "But...would you help Jackson too?" 


"Huh?" Daryl looked over to the man he'd just been arguing with, he seemed ambivalent about helping the other, but after a second with debating with himself he turned back to Adrian. "If that's what you'd want, sure. As long as you think you can trust him." 


"I can."


"Okay, then yeah, sure." 


Adrian's smile returned and he turned his head towards Jackson as if those answer would change his mind, he hoped they would. 


"He said he'd help us Jackson, did you hear it?" He was trying to study the other male, see if he could work out what he was thinking, "He said he'd help both of us." They needed it, whether Jackson wanted to admit it or not, they did, and Adrian hoped that they could take the help. It would be nice to talk to people like him again, since Claire probably hated him for letting Jackson almost kill her... 
 
"Wh-what? No, no, no, Adrian, we can't, absolutely not-" Jackson jolted and spluttered out the words almost without thinking in time to choose them. He had forgotten that he was part of the situation by now, instead completely absorbed by his own confusion and concern as he watched the exchange happen before his eyes. What was he even doing there? He was slow. He couldn't protect Adrian, and Adrian wouldn't listen to him... Why wouldn't Adrian just do as he said? He was going to get himself killed, and Jackson would have nobody but himself and that ghoul to blame afterwards.


Before he gave anybody else a chance to react to his poorly-uttered words, Jackson cleared his throat and locked eyes with Daryl. He wondered for a moment just how long it would take for those eyes to turn black and red once they were somewhere hidden from the sight of the public. He wondered how long it would take for it to turn. It was a ghoul, of course it wasn't just going to sit around and let them live their lives - let alone help them of all things. What the hell was Adrian thinking? No, no, it wasn't his fault. It was never Adrian's fault, he was just doing what he thought was right - heck, the guy even took the time to ask if the ghoul would aid them both and not just himself. Was he really just trying to help? Poor kid. He couldn't tell when he was being deceived, there was no way he would ever make it on his own out here...


Well, Jackson thought, If Adrian can't manage the situation himself then it's my job to help... That was right. Jackson was Adrian's mentor, it was his duty to rescue his friend from things like this, things that he didn't know could kill him. "Adrian," he said quietly, tugging on the boy's shirt again. "Stop, stop a minute - l-let me talk." He grabbed at Adrian's side and made a motion with his hand to usher the boy backwards. Jackson wanted to be able to face this ghoul head-on, face-to-face, just him and Daryl without having to worry about Adrian. "You," he finally managed, deliberately avoiding use of the ghoul's name, "Wh-what the hell are you trying to do? We don't need your help, I know what you think that means... You - y-you want to use him, don't you? B-because he's too nice. You think you can... No, n-no, I won't let you, you won't touch us."


It took Jackson a few seconds to decide what he was going to do next. He could continue to deny Daryl the help they had been offered. Help, yeah, he thought bitterly to himself. 'Help' himself to their money, possessions and lives. There was no chance this could end well... But how far could simple words go? If they continued to talk at Daryl for much longer, surely the mad animal would snap and go wild. It would attack and kill them, right in front of everybody else. Maybe that girl would join in, too. Was she a ghoul? It was hard to say... She had stood back now, but even from this distance Jackson could see her face. It reminded him of how she had acted before, pulling Daryl the ghoul away and defending Adrian when he was first attacked. Maybe that was deception, too. Can't be too careful.


It was clear by this point that Adrian wasn't going to give up talking now. He had ignored Jackson twice in a row - something Jackson could barely remember happening before - and not only that, but done exactly the opposite of what he had been told. Maybe Adrian would respond to 'doing' rather than 'saying'. It was risky, leaving Adrian alone even for a second, but perhaps he would follow along if only he thought Jackson was really leaving...


"Adrian, I'm serious, you know," he mumbled in a last-resort attempt at convincing his friend to leave. "We can't - h-he's a ghoul. Don't trust him, we can't stay. If you won't - if - if you don't go then, then I will."


Jackson had almost forgotten that he was half-stuck, and it had made the moment last far too long when he tried to back away with one arm, but once he was back behind the bench the man cast a glance back at Adrian - as if to say 'come on, or I'll leave you'. He didn't have to go far... Did he? Adrian would follow him. He had to, he always did, he always trailed behind Jackson like a curious little lamb when it wasn't the other way around instead. They were always together... And it was dangerous, but at that moment the man just couldn't think of another way - so he continued on, forwards and always slightly, annoyingly to the right, constantly checking back behind him every few inches to see what Adrian was doing and whether or not he would finally follow on.
 
Every time Jackson opened his mouth Daryl seemed to let out a sigh, he knew what was to come, it was the same shit over and over... This time, however, he elected to stay silent whilst Jackson went on his meaningless little rant of how ghouls were bad. It seemed he really was exasperated by the man and he definitely made no effort to hide that, however he at least made an effort to keep his mouth shut for a little bit whilst the other talked. Even though he was so damn irrelevant to everything. He hurt Daryl's head, his ideas and thoughts quite literally were giving the man a headache. 


"Racist bastard." He muttered under his breath, probably not loud enough for either of the other two males to work out what was said, "He's probably better off trust me than you, after all, you're in the CCG, you'll probably get scared and turn him in at some point...but whatever." After shrugging, Daryl looked back down at Adrian, "Your call kid." He'd wanted to make it easier for the boy, but it seemed that that wasn't happening thanks to his douche bag of a friend. "Honestly, I feel sorry for you, can't seem to catch a break. He's awful controlling, don't you think?" 


Adrian didn't want to listen to what either of the men next to him were saying, they both just didn't get it... They were confusing him even more and he hated it. Jackson wasn't letting them stay near Daryl, and Daryl was awful angry at Jackson for being mean to ghouls... Which was understandable really, Adrian could see why he was mad... He just didn't get why Jackson didn't want to take their help, they were nice, he'd met nice ghouls before, like Claire! But...Jackson had tried to kill her. The boy wanted to talk to him, to tell him that if they got help then maybe they'd be okay, but Jackson didn't seem to like the idea of even staying near the green haired man for too long, he wanted to leave again, yet this time he really was threatening to. 


"Jackson..." Turning around on the bench, Adrian watched the man try to move away in his wheelchair, whilst he couldn't do it properly without the younger male to help, that threat still hung in the air...and he hated being left alone. His parents had left them. Leo had left him and never come back. He wasn't going to sit there and be defiant whilst Jackson continued to move away from him. He felt extremely conflicted, wanting to take Daryl's offer, but at the same time wanting to stay with Jackson. The situation was forcing him to make a decision, and it was obvious that he was very uncomfortable and distressed by it. It was Jackson or them...and he didn't even know them, even if they could help him... He didn't really have any choice but to go with Jackson, there wasn't really much of a choice involved in it in the end, he was always going to follow Jackson and the blond knew that. 


Adrian looked over at Daryl apologetically before smiling slightly and putting his good hand down on the top of the bench, "Sorry..." He mumbled, looking down, "It was nice to meet you though...Daryl. I'll remember you." As a person Adrian was a lot less hostile than Jackson, Daryl did seem dangerous, but he seemed to be fine with ghouls...it was just the CCG and...humans? But Adrian doubted it was all humans, no one hated everyone for no reason, right? People...didn't do that... That would be cruel. 


"Yeah," Daryl sighed and nodded, playing with a small metal tag around his neck."I get it. Good luck." 


"Thanks." With that Adrian jumped the back of the bench and ran towards Jackson, leaving the two ghouls to go their separate way. 
 
Jackson wanted his threat to look serious; he needed it to work, he needed Adrian to pack up and get away from that ghoul once and for all. But no matter how much he hated himself for picking the act apart, he could not help but stop every few metres to twist around and check to make sure nobody had been killed, each time only to find that the two were still only exchanging quiet, non-hostile words with Bella still watching from afar.


 Why on earth the boy insisted on staying to converse with the monster was a mystery - he seemed so fascinated and friendly with Daryl, he was practically having a tea party with death. Not good. Adrian only ever meant well, Jackson knew that, and that's one of the things which made the kid so likable. But he was just so difficult sometimes! Of all the situations Adrian had to get lost in, he had to pick the one where there were ghouls involved...


Wait a moment. Jackson blinked - he had just turned away from the sight once more out of habit, but after a second it clicked in his brain that something else was happening that he had not seen before. He dared to look again without stopping, barely noticing that he had broken through a passing gaggle of parents with young children. Is he..? Yes!


It was only seconds after the group of now-disorientated strangers had cleared that he felt the warmth of a new presence behind him. Maybe he hadn't needed to keep his eyes forwards, after all - clearly Jackson had underestimated his friend's loyalty. Adrian had finally come through.


"You're here," Jackson breathed, watching Adrian with wide eyes. He had managed to escape, Daryl was in sight but nowhere nearby. Where was Bella? She wasn't here either, the man realised with a tiny flutter of triumph. Adrian was safe. Jackson had kept his promise, and he didn't need to worry anymore. "You're here, y-you made it, you... Man, what in the hell were you doing!?" He had raised his arm up at his friend in the beginnings of some violent move of frustration, but managed to catch himself before he could do anything. Instead of hitting Adrian, he simply balled his fist and shook it at the boy before slamming it down by his side again. "We could've been killed! Adrian, do - do you even know what that was? Listen to me, what the hell - what would I do if you stayed there a minute more and got in a fight? Look at you! You c-can't fight with a wrist like that, you can't, you would just..."


Jackson could not finish speaking, instead finishing the sentence by shaking his head from side to side and smacking the side of his chair with a hand. He knew that the things he was saying could be hurtful - and knowing Adrian, they would not be received the way Jackson had intended. Why couldn't he just say what he meant? 'I don't want to lose you, I'm just trying to help' never came out as anything other than an insult - and Adrian did not look like he was in the mood to take a direct hit.


Stupid idiot, he scolded himself bitterly, wiping his arm across his face to push up his glasses, which had begun to slide down his nose again. Even if he was a ghoul with intent only to hurt, Daryl might have had a point when he called the man useless. That thought was painful, and not in the same way as his healing wounds and broken arm... What would happen if he really couldn't protect Adrian? This was why he was so afraid; Jackson couldn't rescue Adrian from a violent situation, and that was why he had to be so brutal at times like these. He just wished there was a way to say it that wasn't so harsh.
 
The threat of being abandoned was feared more by Adrian than anything else, they might die, but they might not, being with Jackson was a better option than being alone. He needed someone he could definitely trust, someone he'd known for a long time, and that person was Jackson. He wouldn't have ever let him leave and not have followed, it wasn't a scenario that could ever come true.... At least Adrian didn't believe it was. 


"Yeah I-" Upon reaching Jackson Adrian had tried to speak, but the other male beat him to the punch. He asked the boy a question, which would have been answered had Jackson's hand not have been raised, instead Adrian's voice caught in his throat and he flinched, stumbling back a step. Of course, Jackson never actually hit him, instead he just made an annoyed gesture, before his fist returned to his side. He guessed he had a right to be annoyed, Adrian hadn't really listened to him, so he couldn't blame him for getting at least a little angry at that. Although, it was odd for him to not pay attention to his friend, so maybe Jackson should have thought about how much Adrian really did want to take Daryl's help... He supposed it didn't matter now, the other was gone, they were going. Maybe they'd see him again at some point... 


"I know..." The more Jackson spoke, the more guilty Adrian felt. By the end of the man's speech he'd hung his head and was only looking at the ground. "He wasn't being mean or anything..." He replied, "He was really nice to me, and he seemed to care..." A lot of people called Adrian naive, maybe he was being naive in that moment, but that's how he saw it. He never saw Daryl actually wanting to hurt him, and he'd even said to Jackson that he wasn't going to strip Adrian of the man because he knew that he was important to him... Did that show that the man wasn't particularly bad, some ghouls were friendly... You just had to give them a chance. It wasn't like he'd given them any reason to hate him, not apart from shouting at Jackson, but he was defending his own race...and Jackson could get just as hot headed. 


Of course, that didn't matter to Jackson. The man didn't like ghouls, he didn't want Adrian near them, despite the boy obviously showing every trait of a ghoul, but Jackson didn't want to accept that. So, he should just listen, if something went wrong and he didn't listen then it would be his own fault for ignoring Jackson when he was trying to help him. "I...won't do it again, I'm sorry..." Adrian chewed on the inside of his cheek, he couldn't say he was disappointed, but he supposed he'd get over it eventually. They'd probably meet some other people eventually, maybe people Jackson could trust. 


Though something Daryl had said struck something with Adrian, did they...have a plan? Did they even know where they were going? They needed to go somewhere...but where? Should he bring that up, it sounded important. They were running away, but they'd left so suddenly, so...unless Jackson had a plan, no one really knew what was happening.


"Hey...um...Jackson..." He felt awkward having to ask such a question, but knowing was better than not knowing, "Where are we even gonna go?" 
 
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