The time to put the plan they'd devised in such a short amount of time had come and Harvey was unusually lively for someone who was about to possibly get shot at.

"I've wanted to be like the men in black all my life, you think they'd make me an agent if they were real?!" Harvey cheered gleefully as they all sat in the van going over any last details.

"If you pull this off without injuring yourself, I'll make you an agent myself" Silver grumbled sarcastically and Harvey gave him a suspicious look.

"It wouldn't feel real coming from you" Harvey said and Silver just shook his head.

In the short time he's known Harvey, it was clear that everything upstairs wasn't functioning properly. Sure it was funny at times, but Silver could also only take so much so he wondered how Eros and the others dealt with him on a day in day out basis.

"Can we please just go over the plan one more time?" Jamie asked.

"Harvey is going to distract the guards in front with our little gift for them and it should be enough to grab the attention of even the people a few blocks away" Silver said as he handed Harvey the 'gift', the man pocketing it quickly so as to not forget it.

"From there, sir Jamie and I will be heading towards the entrance on the left side of the building as Mikhail and Elliot will have already disabled the alarm" Silver continued before pointing to the building through the van window.

"Lastly, Eros has already been 'taken hostage' so all Cole has to do is look for the clue he left to find him while we handle the loose ends" Silver finished and everyone nodded in understanding of their parts.

"I'm glad we're all on the same page, but let's get this show on the road. I forgot my laptop charger so we're on borrowed time" Mikhail said and Jamie frowned at him.

"Some mafia FBI you are" He said and Mikhail shooed him with his left hand as he steadied the laptop in his lap with his right.

"Harvey, you're up. We'll follow you shortly" Silver said and Harvey just nodded as he pulled his coat tighter around him, the nippy wind piercing his skin as soon as he opened the door.

"All this snow, we could have made a freaking snowman as a distraction" Harvey grumbled as he shut the door behind him.

He had to march through the snow for a bit, their van was parked quite a ways away so as to not cause any suspicion before their plan can even be put into motion. Eros' hunch that this whole thing was a rogue operation was clearly correct, nothing more than 3 guards standing in front of the door to the considerably small 'mansion'.

Harvey figured it was a vacation home or something but he sure hoped no one was thinking of getting in the iced over pool.

Once he finally got within hearing distance, Harvey had to pluck up what was left of his strength as he cleared his throat.

"Hello all! Come, gather around please!" Harvey shouted as he waved wildly to the guards who immediately became alert and rushed over to Harvey, brandishing their guns without a second thought.

"Put your hands where we can see them!" One of them yelled and Harvey played along for just a moment, lifting his hands in a manner that said 'wait'.

"No, no. No need for guns, I come bearing a gift. I just need you all to look into this tiny little device for me and say cheese" Harvey said as he slowly reached into his pocked and brought out the 'gift'.

The men watched warily and only one of them caught on as Harvey pulled the safety pin, his eyes widening as it all happened. As soon as Harvey threw it, he let out a screech before he retreated, a loud bang going off behind him as he did.

The men were immediately immobilized by the sudden ambush, their senses being thrown off as they held their ears from the sound wave impact.

Even Harvey's ears were ringing as he was still within close proximity but he still managed to get the job done as he ran back to the men and knocked them all out with his gun.

"Damn, I'm hungry" Harvey muttered after he disarmed the guards.

~~~*~~~

Inside the room with Noel and Eros, Noel was obviously startled by the loud sound that just happened, however Eros remained unbothered.

"What was that?" Noel asked but Eros didn't answer, choosing to just stare at nothing.

Maybe if he daydreamed long enough, Cole would eventually appear and get them out of this god forsaken room.

Seeing as he had already broke the silence that seemed to last from the moment Eros arrived, Noel looked over to Eros timidly.

"So...care to tell me how you ended up in here with me?" He asked, testing the waters to see what kind of mood Eros was in.

Anyone could tell from the look of boredom on his face that he was just about at his limit.

"Shut up" Eros said monotonously.

Noel let out a dry chuckle, his thoughts that'd been occupying his mind coming to surface as the words blurted out from his lips.

"I was just wondering if the great and mighty Eros Azure fell for something as cliched as 'we're gonna kill your lover'." He said and Eros glared at Noel.

"I didn't fall for anything" Eros' voice was gruff as he spoke, a tone that he didn't use with many people but Noel was beginning to piss him off.

It was already bad enough he's had to spend the last few hours in a room with no view other than the face of a man he doesn't like.

"Then why don't you tell me how exactly it is you ended up here?" Noel badgered.

"I don't have to tell you shit" Eros said sharply.

Eros' one wish in this moment was that Noel would stop talking to him so that he wouldn't have the constant urge to break all of the dude's teeth. It sucked that he had to play the waiting game but for the smoothest possible way to finish this, this ploy was necessary.

Eros didn't see the big deal.

So what, they kidnapped Noel, not the hardest thing on the planet to do but just knowing that their end goal was Cole was quite literally the only reason Eros agreed to this.

"You know...now that I have you here" Noel started and Eros stiffened.

Oh fuck no, not again.

"Please, please, please. Just shut up and make this easier for me" Eros said as he rubbed his hands down his face irritatedly.

"You don't have to say anything! Just listen" Noel whined.

"I don't want to, that's the point. Do you really want to leave out of here with no teeth?" Eros asked and Noel said something that instantly had Eros ready to get off the ground he'd been sitting on.

"You won't do anything" Noel said and he kept his eyes trained on Eros as he tested his theory.

"I won't?" Eros asked menacingly, his glare only getting darker as the conversation continued.

"N-No...not unless you want an angry Cole on your hands" Noel said as he stuck his nose up in the air, but still kept one eye open just to watch Eros.

The man's face was obviously that of confliction, his urge to throttle Noel being quickly overpowered by his loyalty to his lover. Noel knew that the moment Cole was mentioned, Eros would simmer down as if the heat under his ass had been turned off.

Huffing, Eros just turned his head away and Noel took the opportunity to continue. He had to articulate his words in a way that would help him get his point across to Eros without having the man ready to kill him.

Easier said than done obviously.

"You gave Cole a chance...can't I get that same opportunity?" Noel asked softly.

At those words, Eros wanted to make a quip back at Noel. How dare he put himself on the same level as Cole? Their situations were entirely different and Cole was never inherently a gullible dumbass nor was he a negligent asshole.

Taking a deep breath, Eros closed his eyes.

Eros could only compare this situation to that of the one he had with his aunt. He was frustrated with her and didn't even give her the chance to apologize to him but he knew exactly why he had done that.

Eros wasn't really fond of apologies, people say them so effortlessly with no meaning behind it at times that he just began to hate the sound of 'I'm sorry' from someone who didn't even know what they were apologizing for.

But it's clear to Eros that Noel wants to apologize, the way he takes any opportunity that they're alone together to do so only proves his point further.

He figured he might as well just give the bastard a chance to get it off his chest, who knows, maybe Eros will actually believe it.

"Five minutes. Make it quick" He said and Noel's eyes widened before composing himself.

"Uh...first thing I should say..." he muttered as he tried to articulate his words in his head before letting them out.

"I just want to say thank you" Noel started, gaining no reaction from Eros as he said that.

"For taking care of Cole when he was on his own. I don't know the 'why' or the 'how' but that doesn't matter. Cole's happy and it's all I've been thinking about ever since..." Noel trailed off, not really wanting to bring up the whole thing with their father so he just figured it'd be best to end it there.

Eros remained silent as Noel tried to bring his words together once again and the silence only made him more nervous but Noel decided to push through.

He has finally been given a chance so he knew he had to make the most of it.

"I obviously wasn't the best brother...and I know that I'll never be able to hold that title. I'm just really glad that he found someone who can give him the things he wishes for" Noel finished before moving to his next words.

"And secondly, I want to apologize. You're probably tired of hearing it but my past apologies probably sounded like they were done without proper reflection of my actions" Noel said and he noticed that Eros had finally seem to give some kind of reaction as their eyes finally met for the first time since Eros was thrown in this room.

Eros' azure eyes held nothing in them, no judgement or anger. He was simply listening as Noel had asked of him.

"I can now really say that I am a terrible person and that I genuinely am sorry for the many wrongs I've done towards you and Cole in the past" Noel finished and he waited for Eros to say something, anything really.

The silence was unnerving for Noel, his heart hammering in his chest after lying the organ bare to a man that hated him.

"...you said 'I am'. Not 'I was'. You expect me to accept that half assed apology?" Eros finally spoke, his words clear as they reached Noel who furrowed his brow.

"Huh?" He asked and Eros folded his arms.

"I won't accept an apology from someone who hasn't changed. If you've truly changed, then I don't want to hear you saying that you're still a terrible person" Eros said, eyes trained on Noel's as he spoke, a sign that he was being extremely serious with the other man.

"Apologize as someone who's recognized their wrongs and has moved past them. The kind of apology I want to hear is one where you're confident you've grown. It gives me the confidence to believe in you" Eros finished.

Noel couldn't believe what he was hearing. Eros wasn't ripping him a new one nor was he being a sarcastic jerk, if anything, this was the kindest thing Eros has ever said to him in a...weird way.

"I see...then please allow me to apologize again later" Noel said and Eros shrugged.

"...do what you want" he said.

The room fell silent again but this time, the gears were turning in Eros' head.

"What was he like before we met?" Eros asked.

"What?" Noel said, surprised at the sudden question.

Eros figured that it was only fair that he gets to ask something after sitting through Noel's thesis statement.

"As a kid...or even a teenager. Has Cole changed much?" Eros asked.

"Do you really want to know that?" Noel said and Eros nodded.

"Yeah"

Sitting up, Noel cleared his throat before speaking.

"He was just...beyond anything my father had ever expected" Noel started as he thought back to their childhood.

If you could call it that.

"No matter how many times he'd been berated or put down, Cole took it all with a grain of salt. He lacked the emotional connection that a regular child would have to their family but it's obvious that he was never given the chance to grow one" Noel explained.

"He never cried, or smiled, he would only do what was necessary of him. And that's whatever father ordered him to do"

Eros' ears were trained solely on the sound of Noel's voice, the new information sinking his heart to the bottom of a pit. He knew what Cole went through was a burden that the man would never allow anyone but himself to carry, but even hearing about the tiny bits and pieces of it had him ready to exhume Gabriel's body and burn it.

"I always wonder if things could have been different. If I could have been a better brother to him, could I have been strong enough to protect him from the life he lived?" Noel asked as his eyes went off to a far place, the reminiscence being anything but sweet for him.

"You're doing your best to make up for it so don't get started with that crap now" Eros said and Noel gave a small smile.

"Are you trying to comfort me?" He asked and though he expected a glare, Noel got met with silence as Eros averted his gaze.

His smile widened.

Noel would have never guessed that he'd ever be comforted by Eros and although it didn't really feel that way, Noel figured that Eros was just the pick and choose kind of guy with his kindness.

"Stop smiling, you're creeping me out" Eros said and Noel felt confident enough to brush the words off.

"For fuck's sake what is taking so long? I knew I should have kicked the door down" Eros said as he rested his head against the wall.

"That's pure metal though..." Noel weakly protested.

"You saying I can't?" Eros asked and Noel tilted his head.

"It's not really physics abiding but if you wish to try be my guest" Noel said and as he said that, the door suddenly went flying open with a loud bang.

"Cole?!" Noel shrieked as his brother appeared at the door, foot lowering after having kicked the door open.

"No time for talking, Silver has the place rigged to blow so we should get out of here before he gets trigger happy" Cole said and just like that Noel was up.

"Rigged to blow?! How did you place bombs?!" Noel asked.

"Harvey was making a distraction— still is actually" Cole said.

"That was far too long. He was talking my ears off and everything" Eros complained to Cole and his lover just looked at him.

"I hope you had an interesting conversation" he said and unknowingly, the two men looked at each other.

"Let's just go" Eros said with a sigh.

As the three stepped out of the room, Noel could only look with pity at the few bodies on the floor.

"They're just unconscious" Cole spoke up, noticing the look on his brother's face.

"Well it's their fault for being in the way really" Eros said and Noel could only let out a nervous breath.

He couldn't believe they could be so nonchalant about these things.

The trio had only walked a few steps before a loud alarm began to sound throughout the house and the men grimaced.

"Oh god they're gonna come for us" Noel said.

"The place doesn't seem that big, hopefully there aren't that many left. If anything just stand to the side or something" Eros said as he waved off Noel's fear.

As the trio walked through the house, it wasn't long before the sounds of footsteps reached them.

Only four men seemed to be left of the guard squad and luckily for them, the guards were unarmed. Eros just figured that the rogue operation didn't have enough budget to supply every guard with a gun.

"This is almost a fair fight" Eros chuckled as he noticed the disadvantage of numbers.

"I'm just gonna let you guys do your thing" Noel said as he stood back.

Tying the hair that had grown out once again back, Cole wasted no time in making light work of the men, entering the fight with a strong kick to one of the men's abdomen's who in turn went flying to the ground.

When another came at him, Cole sidestepped him before gripping the man's hoodie and yanking him back into his arms, squeezing around the man's neck tightly and bring the two of them to the ground.

Eros joined the fray with a swift punch, his target dodging and trying to land a kick on him to which he just grabbed the man's leg. Going straight for the jewels, Eros kicked them in with no mercy, letting the man fall to the ground in pain.

A shriek caught Eros' attention as he noticed the fourth guy going for Noel. Clicking his tongue, Eros grabbed the back of the man's head before shoving it into the wall a few times rather violently, the man falling to the ground in an unconscious slump.

"You saved me..." Noel said and Eros made a disgusted face.

"Don't remind me" he said before heading back to Cole.

He noticed that the first man Cole had laid out was trying to sneak up on him so Eros lifted his leg and leaned it on the wall to made a barrier between them and Cole.

"Ah, ah. I really don't think you value your life as much as you should. I should kill you for even thinking of touching him" Eros said, his words accompanied by a smile that really should not be present.

The man gulped but nonetheless tried to continue the fight as he pulled out a knife and Eros just stared at it.

"Is that a butter knife?" Eros asked.

"I was making a sandwich when you guys came..." the man muttered.

"Hm. Tragic" Eros said before swiftly landing a kick on the guy's face, the man falling to the ground and didn't move after that so Eros knew he got the job done.

Turning his head to Cole, Eros' eyes widened as another guy had rounded the corner behind him, a knife in hand.

"Cole, knife!" Eros yelled and Cole immediately went down into a split to dodge the knife that was about to be jabbed into his back, legs swinging back around to sweep the guy's feet off the ground before getting on top of him and knocking his lights out.

After the whole sequence, Eros could only stare in shock at his lover.

"You never told me you could do that" Eros said as Cole approached him.

"Do what?" Cole asked and Eros nudged his head back to where the unconscious man was.

"That split" Eros said and Cole tilted his head.

"I didn't know that was something you wanted to know...?" He said.

"Yeah and I'd be really interested if you do it again...later" Eros said, his face completely serious but his head was filled with other things that were less than appropriate at the moment.

"Uh...okay?" Cole said, not really seeing what the big deal was.

Noel could only watch the two in disbelief.

"What the hell am I listening to right now?!" Noel whined as he covered his ears.

Thankfully, they finally moved on from that area and as they were walking, the sound of movement from the kitchen had the three on high alert but upon walking in, they lost it immediately as they started at the culprit.

"Harvey" Eros called out, unamused at his subordinate who was happily munching away on some food as if he lived here.

"Oh hey guys, glad to see you all made it out okay though with Cole we never had to doubt it" Harvey cheered.

"Are you seriously eating a sandwich right now?" Noel asked.

"Why the hell not? Someone left it out, I felt like Santa with his cookies" Harvey said, snickering at his own words.

"For heavens sake, put the sandwich down and let's find Silver" Eros chided and Harvey frowned.

"Fine but no sandwich left behind, I'm taking her with me" he said as he joined the trio.