Phil needed a few minutes to register what happened when Dan grabbed him from the kitchen. His boyfriend now had a bit of a beard? Did he shave his head? He'd only been gone for a couple of minutes, what happened?

The anxiety wasn't helped when Seán came bursting into the door. According to him, it had only been a couple of seconds.

The trio now sat on the floor in the living room. Dan held onto Phil as if he would disappear again, and Seán ran a hand through Freddie's fur occasionally. No one said anything for a while.

"What did I miss?" Phil asked quietly.

"I moved in with Tyler for a few years after the Blip, he got married after I moved out, uh..." Dan ran a hand through his hair, biting his lip. "I came out last year during Pride month..."

Phil raised an eyebrow, "Did you tell them about us?"

Dan nodded, "A lot of people were happy. I even managed to find that clip you recorded and posted it to your channel."

Phil laughed, "What else?"

Dan pulled Phil closer, resting his head on Phil's chest, "Mark and Thomas collaborated."

"Fuckin' finally," Seán mumbled from his spot. 

Dan laughed, and Phil couldn't help but watch as he continued to talk to Seán. He had grown so much, when did he start laughing openly like that?

It was cut off a moment later when Seán looked out the window. "Uh, what the hell?"

The trio stood and walked to the window. A ripple of energy cascaded over the city, approaching their building very fast. As it grew closer, Phil registered that people were screaming outside.

"Oh fuck-," Seán managed to get out just as the ripple reached them.

When the ripple touched Phil, he fell over in pain. It laced his entire body, and he suddenly understood why the people were screaming. He cried out, gripping his head. Everything hurt so much. 

Dan laid next to him, curled up. Through the pain, Phil crawled over, rolling him over. Dan's eyes were screwed shut, and his jaw clenched. Phil hugged him, hoping the pain would end soon.

It didn't take long, but when paramedics started running into buildings they found the trio passed out. Dan and Phil's arms were littered in burns, and Seán had still been curled up, clutching his head in one hand and his stomach in the other. They were lucky to be alive.

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Ethan and Stephanie were sipping on sodas when Mark and Amy joined them. The couple hardly left each others' arms as they all talked, catching the women up. The only time Mark even let go of Amy was when Chica came running down the stairs.

Amy and Stephanie were left gaping when Mark and Ethan finished their recounting. Ethan helped Stephanie sit on a bar stool, talking quietly with her.

"Is Ollie okay though? And what about Matt?" Stephanie kept asking.

Ethan sighed a little, "We've video called Matt at least once every week since they moved. They're okay."

"Was he depressed?" Stephanie asked.

Mark spoke up, "He lived here for a few months with me. He did get fairly depressed, but nothing ever happened."

Stephanie nodded, finally happy with the answer. Ethan rubbed her back as Mark and Amy talked quietly. Amy kept her arms around Mark's waist, and he kept running his hands through her hair. 

Ethan smiled a bit, watching as his phone lit up with texts from friends and family. He called his mom for a moment, telling her that he was okay. As soon as he hung up though, he heard something crash in the living room. 

Mark detached himself from Amy as Ethan stepped foot into the living room. He barely had time to register the wave before it hit him.

The first- and only- thing Ethan could think to do was scream. His chest hurt, and the younger adult collapsed onto the ground. Knives stabbed into his chest and dragged away into his limbs. It stabbed and tingled at the same time- like he had been hit by lightning.

He could barely see Mark run in before Mark also collapsed. Amy and Stephanie followed quickly, and upon seeing both men screaming in pain they got to work trying to help. They couldn't do much, seeing as both passed out within a couple of minutes.

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By the time they arrived home from Joan and Talyn's old apartment, Thomas really needed to pee. So, as Joan and Talyn were being passed around for hugs Thomas excused himself upstairs.

He decided to wipe his make up off as well, standing in the mirror for a moment when he heard something crash in his bedroom.

Thomas opened the door, peeking out just in time for a wave to hit him in the face.

Thomas slammed into the counter, falling over and hitting his head on the corner. He passed out before he hit the ground.

Joan and Talyn led the pack to go check on him. All they saw were burn marks wrapping around his forearms, and blood dripping down his forehead from where he hit it.

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Ollie played with his stuffed bear as his dad packed their things. He said they were going on a really big trip across the country, which seemed really fun!  Ollie continued to talk to Beary as he threw his crayons into his backpack.

As Ollie threw one of his coloring books into the backpack, he heard his dad start screaming. Ollie dropped everything, running to his dad's voice.

Dad laid on the ground in the bathroom, clutching his head and groaning. Ollie ran over, shaking his dad's arm. "Daddy?"

"Remember who to c-call during scary times?" Dad managed to gasp out. 

"911!" Ollie said, puffing his chest out.

Dad laughed a little, then groaned, "Call them."

Ollie nodded, grabbing Dad's phone. He pressed the button, watching as Dad's eyes rolled into his head and he stopped moving.