So.

I don't watch nor ship any of these people anymore. It was all toxic and I grew out of it to be honest. I converted this into another fandom with major revisions to some parts in particular, so I will be going back to do the same to this version because this entire story has some major problems.

Changing this to fit a different fandom was the only way for me to come back to this and add to it. I've converted my new version back to this fandom for your benefit because I know I left you hanging for years and I absolutely hate having a favorite story and the author disappears.

But I'm still here. Life is fucked but I will get back to you with more.

-walk

--------------

It only took a government conspiracy, dying, and becoming a high-functioning monster for Jonathan to truly see the world as it was was meant to be.

The air was full of smells he'd never known before. The trees that were a mile away gave off the nicest scent when the wind blew. 

He almost felt at home.

It didn't matter if it was a new moon on the darkest of nights, he could still see as clear as day. His body temperature stayed perfectly balanced. His head never ached. 

He felt absolutely incredible.

But he was empty, forever missing a piece of himself. A piece that was a world away and Jonathan ached to know if he'd ever get it back.

From his usual perch high above everything else, sitting atop the statue of Christ the Redeemer, Jonathan soaked in the sunset and watched the stars come out before the echoes of familiar screams filled the air. 

He climbed his way down and took to the streets in search of glowing eyes because that was their only mission, their last mission and even though they could just as well make a run for it, he knew that these people didn't choose their fate. 

They were once humans and they deserved a better ending than what the military would no doubt inflict upon them if they were left to roam the streets of Rio.

The end was getting closer and closer as the days and weeks went by. In a way it was freeing to run so fast they nearly blurred in the wind. It felt like they were floating, feet touching the ground in slow motion knowing exactly what their next move would be. Like time slowed down.

Sometimes Jonathan would run until the sun came up just to feel even an inkling of exhaustion, though the true feeling never came. His blood, Evan's blood, pumped and replenished and absorbed oxygen so effectively he hardly felt the need to breathe half the time and the only way any of them slept was after three days of nonstop exertion and a handful of melatonin.

No rest for the wicked, he thought. 

But he was alright with having more time to sweep the streets and the sewers, every nook and cranny for the lingering nightmares that had once plagued the city so chaotically before.

For the first few weeks they did nothing but search for the dead and they had all agreed that no one else had to die.

Instead of killing, they began to herd them. They'd start a chase with any they came across, leading the screamers into small rooms where they were locked in and kept safe while they made more doses using Jonathan's blood. The others began donating their own once they kept finding more dead.

Their first subject had been tested on their second night as monsters when they'd all had some time to get a feel for their new capabilities.

Brock had insisted on being the one to inject Brian, wanting to be the first person he saw if it worked or to be the one to end his suffering if it didn't.

Jonathan had been the only one Brock wanted in the room when it happened and he'd accepted the invitation without hesitation and watched with a calm heartbeat as the subtle color returned to Brian's skin. His veins cleared, pumping full of clean and powerful blood.

Jonathan spoke up. "His skin is still very pale."

Brock had laughed softly as he watched his best friend breathe, alive. "He's Irish."

His ocean eyes opened slowly and his lips parted and Jonathan knew what kind of personality Brian had as soon as he looked up at a tearful Brock and asked, "Did you spike my fucking drink?"

Jonathan backed out of the room quietly as Brock's laugh turned into a heart wrenching sob, leaving them to their reunion.

It had been the surge of hope they'd all been waiting for. The good news that they didn't have to end anymore lives, that they could actually save someone when they'd thought death was the only option left.

Death was what they were used to. 

Having the option to stop the screams in the night and return people alive and more than well to their families was like a breath of fresh air after being held underwater.

A few days after Brian was fully rehabilitated, Anthony dosed himself. Mostly for scientific purposes, wanting to study himself and satisfy his naturally curious mind. The others weren't far behind.

Sark had cornered Jonathan one day and pulled him back into their makeshift laboratory to run tests on him. Each result made him groan in frustration.

He sat in a chair across from him and sighed. "Can you describe how you feel, like energy wise? And do you ever get a rapid heartbeat? Anxiety?"

Jonathan gave a small grin and shook his head. "It's impossible to describe it in a way you'd understand. I wouldn't have understood if I was still normal. I think we've all agreed on saying that it feels like we swallowed the sun. Anxiety comes and goes."

He squinted, pursed his lips, and then jumped to his feet before he called for David.

The Irishman poked his head through the doorway. "Yes?"

"Give it to me."

His eyebrows crawled up his forehead. "Excuse me?"

Sark stared at him, unperplexed.

David sighed and disappeared momentarily and came back with three syringes.

"I only need one."

"David and I are doing it, too." Brock said from behind her when he walked in the room with a still vaguely jittery Brian tucked under his arm.

Brian stepped away from him and pointed a finger in his chest. "Before you do this, let me make one thing clear."

Brock smirked. "How clear?"

"Walter White." Brian poked his sternum. "No Naruto running."

Brock gripped Brian's hand and chuckled. "You enjoy crushing my dreams, don't you?"

Jonathan had never seen Jake smile so much. His dimples were cute.

----------

For a while they were all like kids on a playground. They knew eventually they'd have to run and leave the security and familiarity of Rio behind, but it didn't stop them from soaking in every last drop.

It was always a race down to the ocean and then to see who could catch the biggest fish which usually ended in a contest of who could hold their breath the longest. But there was never a winner.

They'd stay under too long and eventually get bored because no one would give up.

It was those nights especially when Jonathan would feel the sting of emptiness clawing at his insides, walking along the beach in the bright moonlight as the tide lapped at his ankles.

Jonathan was still empty but he wasn't alone. 

Before, he could've been surrounded by millions and still felt like the most isolated man on Earth. 

Now they were all connected, by Evan no less. Figuratively and literally. He brought every single one of them together in the end and his blood ran through their veins, multiplying and amplifying them every fraction of a second.

They were tethered by an invisible string and it was the only piece of Evan that Jonathan had left to hold onto.

----------

"Okay, so . . ." Scotty cleared his throat.

"Here we go again." Lui groaned and let his head fall back against his cot where they all lounged in the lobby like they'd always done for well over a year.

And that was a fucking wild thought.

Scotty launched a pen across the room and Lui swatted it away without looking. "No one wants to hear another one of your theories, dude."

Marcel ran a hand up Scotty's arm until he sat back down beside him, then he stuck up for his boyfriend. "Well, we have nothing else to do but brainstorm about what we do after this and where the hell we go."

Murphy passed around bottles of water, a weekly ration since their food and drink intake had decreased by about eighty percent. They ate twice a week and slept even less.

She dropped down to the floor beside Lui and cracked open the plastic cap on her bottle before taking a short sip. "Doesn't matter, but we stick together. Always."

Langley nodded. "We are all we have left. Maybe one day make it home or contact family, but I'm sure we'll be hunted for as long as we live."

"So we run and never stop. We could see the world." Jonathan said softly as he closed his eyes letting images flash in his mind of Evan dancing in a crowd. "But I have to find him first."

Scotty clapped his hands once and sat up with renewed excitement. "We know and we are going with you. That was always the plan once we got out of here. The world can wait. So, back to the theories."

Lui chuckled. "Sometimes I wish your jaw was still broken and sealed shut."

"Fuck you. Anyways, any thoughts on where they would've taken Evan?"

Arlan sat forward in his chair, elbows on his knees, and hands steepled beneath his chin in deep thought. "Depends on what they classify him as. An experiment or a biohazard?"

"If he's an experiment I'd say Area 51 at least. Technically we are foreign beings now and the first of our kind." Marcel suggested.

Jonathan shrugged. "I mean he's definitely a biohazard, too. We're infected with what I would assume is an undocumented virus which would send him straight to the CDC and locked in a hot lab."

He stood and paced for a moment. "But then again this was all done for a reason and that was to create a weapon. That would make it a military matter and he'd have to be put in some sort of impenetrable fortress. Honestly, he could be anywhere. Antarctica, Nevada, half a mile underground in the desert."

Langley shrugged. "So we make a list and check it off as we go."

Marcel ran his blade lightly across his fingertip just to see his skin heal itself in a second. "We could, once we know more specifics about where to look. But we'd have to research and strategize or else we could also become prisoners or experiments." 

Cody came out of the stairwell door and held up a flash drive. "We won't have to look too hard."

"What's that?"

Cody grinned triumphantly, a piece of hair falling on his forehead. "It took me a while to decrypt it but it was thrown in with the things the Major left us. It's basically a back door into the military's database. Like, Pentagon level shit."

Langley snorted. "Wow. I can't believe Patterson had a conscience after all."

Jonathan felt his heart stutter for the first time in months. "Can we find him with that?"

Cody sighed. "Possibly. I need a network to work off of first, a stable one. Obviously we don't have internet access here. So we'd need some good tech and a good hiding spot once we leave here but once I get in we'll have to start moving and never stop or else they'll track us down."

Jonathan nodded more to himself than to anyone else before he looked out the front doors at the sun going down. He could feel everyone's gaze on him, a sense that had amplified tenfold since the changing. Sometimes he wanted to shut it off.

"How do you wanna do this, Anjo?" Lui asked patiently.

At times they still treated him so carefully, but they kept looking to him for answers, a solid goal, a waypoint, and Jonathan knew he had to deliver or everything they'd worked for would crumble.

He would fall apart and sink into the pit of despair and self loathing that Evan had pulled him out of. A place he swore he wouldn't go to again.

Jonathan breathed in the still air and squared his shoulders. "Figure out what you'll need, Cody. It doesn't matter where we have to go, we'll get there. For now, we'll keep sweeping the favela and the city until we're sure there's no one left. Once they've all been changed we'll meet with Marzia in the next town over and they can take the people from there. We'll alert the military that we're done and then we run. It's what we're best at."

"Sounds like a plan." Cody smiled and gave a lazy salute before he ran back upstairs to spread the news.

Murphy jumped to her feet. She was antsy and full of energy, Jonathan could literally feel it coming off of her. She rubbed her hands together giddily. "Let's go give more blood and then do a sweep."

"Right behind you." Lui pushed himself from the cot in the corner and followed their small group up the stairs.

Langley was last, aside from Jonathan and she knew his mood was cloudy as he stood at the doors, looking out at a clear deep purple sky with Lucah a constant presence by his side.

"Hey."

Jonathan blinked slowly.

"What do you need right now?"

If his mouth still had the capability to go dry, it would've in that moment.

He closed his eyes, seeing a certain face each time he did. "Evan."

Langley leaned into him, resting her head against his arm. "I know."

"There's a void in everything. When I breathe and when I sleep. It's in the air and in the walls. It's massive and looming and it's trying to swallow me. But I can still feel him on my skin, in my bones."

Langley reached out and squeezed his fingers. "We'll get him back. I can guarantee that regardless of his situation, he's giving anyone and everyone absolute hell right now."

Jonathan snorted and smiled. "Oh, one hundred percent he's being an unholy terror."

Langley looked up at him and watched his smile falter and his gaze grow distant. He bit at his lip, trying to hold his emotions back.

"It's hard." Jonathan said quietly. "Having him and then losing him just like I always knew I would."

Langley brushed his hair away from his face to find his eyes shining with hot tears. She cupped his jaw.

"It's not the end."

----------

Evan's empty, echoing enclosure was cold.

Steel.

It was hard for him to feel cold and yet they managed.

The walls smelled of metal and grime like when his dad would come in from the garage with engine oil practically embedded in his hands. They were always a darker shade, seemingly dirty, but Evan had realized that oil was just more difficult to clean entirely before his dad went back to doing the same thing.

Rinse and repeat.

He breathed in the memory and on the exhale, he willed away the thought and focused on the cold instead.

The cold that was faintly sinking into the soles of his feet. The pale blue medical scrubs he wore did nothing to keep his skin warm. His new body normally regulated his temperature so that he was never cold nor hot, a perfect balance.

A perfect machine.

But they were slowly cutting down his defenses.

He watched the only door in the cold room. His own footsteps echoed around him while he paced endlessly to keep himself busy. There was nothing else to do. He figured these past few weeks had been an attempt to starve him out before the real torture began.

He'd wanted to fight them off the moment the helicopter had landed near the Santos Dumont Airport, the same one he had entered Brazil from. Then he'd left from the same place in a cargo plane like luggage.

He'd wanted to fight, but knew he couldn't risk it. They would use Jon and everyone left in Rio against him. Instead he plotted, keeping them from taking samples of his blood for as long as possible.

That was the very reason he was in the isolated metal room to begin with. Anytime they'd come at him with needles and threats, he pushed them away, kept them at arm's length, doing his best not to harm anyone. He didn't want to know what they'd do if he did. He also didn't want them to know entirely what he was capable of, didn't want to give away his strength.

They tried slipping powerful sedatives into his food and drink, but he could always smell it as soon as they brought it in the room. He refused to eat it.

They tried gassing the room, but he could go without air longer than the fumes could stay in the room.

So this was where they were now: starving him and attempting to make the cold drain his strength and energy. They were trying to make him an empty shell.

Evan wouldn't let himself be a weapon that they exploited and used to hold over the world's head. But his heart was pumping slower than usual and he was growing tired and for the first time in weeks he began to lose confidence. The self-doubt seeped in and clutched him firmly, holding him hostage. But he knew that no matter what happened he had to keep fighting and if they won he hoped it was because he had died trying.

He had to hang on, had to focus.

That focus always wandered to Jonathan.

~~~~~

"I was a band nerd."

Evan looked over at him while they sat on the roof of a hotel by the beach, legs dangling over the sides while they ate.

"Shut up, no you weren't."

Jonathan laughed. "I was."

Evan shrugged. "I can't say much. I was on the debate team and ran cross country for the private school I had to go to. Lacrosse, too. But only because my mom said it made us look more prestigious."

"I never would've taken you for a private school boy."

"Just a bunch of sexually repressed guys being assholes. I was the quiet one off to the side."

Jonathan handed him a bottle of water. "I'm sorry you had a shitty school experience. Mine was uh, wild and enlightening. That's when I figured out I liked both girls and guys."

Evan pulled one leg up beneath him and wiggled, rubbing his hands together conspiratorially. "Ooh, did you have one of those come to Jesus moments or was it gradual?"

Jonathan bit at his lip and looked out at the sea spread out in front of them. The breeze was making his hair sway, tickling his cheek. "It was gradual and then a come to Jesus moment."

Evan grinned slyly. "It was cliche wasn't it?"

Jonathan looked over at him for a moment before he broke into a laugh. "It was under the bleachers after the homecoming game."

"Football player?"

"Football player."

Evan let his head fall back with a laugh. "You were a trope!"

"He was so fine." Jonathan bit into another granola bar. "He never came out. Married a woman and has three kids now."

"He missed out." Evan's smile slowly dropped and he turned his gaze back to the horizon. "I never had an aha moment, I just always knew. Of course my family was the reason I never came out. When I left California I felt like Rapunzel. I'd finally escaped my tower."

Jonathan watched Evan's silhouette in the fading light of the sunset and saw bad memories hanging over him. His handsome features were shrouded in regret so Jonathan swung his legs back over the edge and got to his feet.

Evan followed and was quiet as they packed up their bags and headed back inside to trek down the stairs and into the nicest hotel room the building had. The utilities were obviously useless, but it was a king size bed and the view was to die for.

Evan made his way to the balcony, shirtless and barefooted as the stars started to shine. He stood alone in the silence and swam in his thoughts for a while. Jonathan waited and it wasn't long before Evan came to him, searching for comfort and distraction.

Jonathan gave it to him.

He pulled him into a deep kiss until Evan was pulling his shirt over his head, fingers pressing into his hips.

"Tell me." Evan tucked his face beneath Jonathan's chin and squeezed at his ribs anxiously.

"Tell you what?"

"Tell me what to do." Evan nipped at his collar bone and Jonathan pulled back to look down at him.

Evan's pupils were blown wide and it was impossible to say no when he wet his bottom lip and pleaded. 

"Please."

Jonathan took a deep breath to steady himself, calming his excitement. This was about Evan and what he needed and not how fast they could get off. 

He slipped his fingers through Evan's hair and once he reached the back of his head he gripped his roots and forced his head back, making him look up.

Evan's eyes were half open, like he was already drunk on the feeling of letting Jonathan lead him without question.

Jonathan let the heat fill his body and ordered, "Get on your knees."

A flush ran across Evan's skin as he pressed himself against him while he slowly lowered himself to the floor. They never broke eye contact and Evan sighed in what sounded like relief. Maybe because he didn't have to think and only had to listen.

Jonathan gripped his chin. "Tell me to stop at any time and if you can't speak just tap me twice. Nod if you understand."

Evan nodded once and Jonathan ran his thumb across his wet lips, soft and waiting.

Jonathan breath was coming quicker. "Now, open that pretty mouth."

He saw a shiver run through Evan's entire body and could see his chest rising and falling with anticipation. 

Evan's mouth was feverishly hot. 

By the end of the night Jonathan had made him come three times and Evan left a nice purple bite mark on his left shoulder. He was pretty sure every screamer knew his name by now.

Evan could recall that they didn't run the next day, they had stayed in the massive bed, naked, talking for hours as the breeze rushed in from the balcony doors.

Evan could picture them in that exact moment in a seaside condo on the beach back home with salt dusting a thin layer across their skin. The sun kissing Jonathan into a deeper shade of tan and sand getting everywhere unfavorable.

Evan wanted that more than anything.

God, he just wanted him.

~~~~~

It was then that he heard the metal door open and light flooded the cold room. He couldn't remember when he'd sunk to the floor but he could barely hold himself up and he was so fucking tired.

The kind of tired that hit you after getting home from the first day of school when you were a kid. The kind that had you wanting to close your eyes for only a second.

Just wanted to rest his eyes.

Just a second.

He felt hands on him.

"Don't -"

But they did.

There was nothing he could do but let them drag him from the cold room and down an old dilapidated hallway that went on for miles it seemed like. The tops of his bare feet were sliding across filthy concrete, breaking the skin and almost making him bleed but his body was still able to heal quickly enough that he didn't.

He could already feel some warmth spreading through his body again now that he was out of that room. His arms and legs feeling less stiff the longer the two armored men pulled him along.

Evan looked to the left through drowsy eyes, seeing barred cells, dark and empty. It reminded him of the police station, Jonathan's hands, and the smell of death.

He looked ahead and forced his eyelids open despite the exhaustion wanting to take him under. There was a light at the end, much brighter than the dingy yellow ones that lined the ceiling. He knew he still had the strength to kill both men of needles came into play and make a run for it but he knew he had to play his cards right.

For one, he didn't know where the hell he was though he was certain they were underground. He could feel the vibration of rain pounding against the earth above and could hear the thunder rattling walls of a building.

Second, he needed his energy back before he could even think of attempting an escape. He needed food and he knew that they would want something in return.

----------

There was no one left to find and those that they had saved weren't many, thirty-seven to be exact.

Thirty-seven new super humans. Men and women who were just grateful to be alive and swore not to reveal their strengths. They didn't need anyone else using their bodies to achieve someone else's goals. All they wanted was to go home to their families.

It could've been more than thirty-seven but there were the ones that were beyond saving and to try and change them would've been cruel. They were the ones with too many limbs missing or their guts dragging behind them.

Those were the ones they sent into the next life and for the most part Jonathan was the one to do it. He'd insisted since other than Evan, he had the most experience with putting a screamer down.

Now it was finally done and there were no more places to look.

Jonathan was gathered with everyone else in the mess hall, helping pack small bags consisting of a suit of clothes and a few things to eat. It was the last of the rations and somehow he found that funny in a dark way.

Everything was running out and coming to an end all at once, like it was always meant to be that way. 

The food was gone.

The screamers were gone.

Evan was gone.

Rio was about to be gone, too. To them at least even though it would stay there dark and empty, full of tragic memories, and the smell of death. What was once one of the most beautiful places on Earth was now an abandoned city full of dark and twisting empty streets. The only sounds left were the blue sheets in the safehouses above flapping in the wind.

It was heavy in his chest and he thought the emotions would be easier to manage with their new and improved minds and bodies, but it ended up being quite the opposite.

They felt things more deeply. Each emotion was amplified when it filled them. Ninety-five percent of the time they were all collectively in a good mood but there were of course times when they all had a bad day.

Langley would get anxious and it would send her into a repetitive state of pacing the halls and picking the skin from her nails until it bled and healed, bled and healed, over and over until Arlan helped her out of it.

Brian turned out to be just as bad and Brock had quite the time getting him to stop pulling his hair out which usually led to him mindlessly scratching at his thighs. Once he'd made holes in the fabric of his pants, he'd dig into his skin. When Brock found something durable that he could fidget with, Brian was fine.

Everyone else seemed to have a handle on their feelings for the most part.

Jonathan liked to pretend he did but he knew that the fact that he was wearing his bandana again and only speaking when necessary was a dead giveaway that he was far from okay. He was well practiced in keeping the emotions at bay, far enough in the back of his head that he could focus on the task ahead of them: guiding everyone to the rendezvous with Marzia in the town further inland.

It was the only way he knew how to cope without Evan. He had one foot in that pit of self loathing and the other was hanging on to everything good in his life that he still had. 

He still had a mission.

So he led them through the dense forests at a quick sprint, quietly avoiding leaves and branches so as not to disturb the wildlife and create too much noise. What would have been a five hour trip on foot normally, took them only one.

Marzia was waiting in a small cabin on the outskirts of the town as she said she would be. She hugged Jonathan tight and kissed his cheek, trying to take away some of his negative energy and she wouldn't let him leave until he smiled.

"Take care of yourself and take care of each other." Marzia said sweetly then turned to guide the others to safety and their people that were waiting.

Jonathan watched them go, so tempted to just follow and see what life was like again in an unaffected town.

He stepped backwards and turned, running full speed through the trees and back to the tower, to the place he'd called home, a place he knew wouldn't be there after they used the satellite phone.

It wasn't a hunch, it was a fact. After a long swim in the middle of the night a week ago, he spotted a flicker of light so far in the distance that even he could barely make it out with his enhanced eyesight.

It wasn't the stars on the horizon.

It was a military carrier, Navy if he had to guess, the kind that launched aircraft. Just like the ones that had flown overhead the day their hell had started. So it wasn't a question of how, but when and they all thought back to when Luke told them not to trust anyone once they finished their job and called it in.

They knew no one was coming to pick them up and fly them home. It was nice to entertain the idea but it wasn't realistic. The military had Evan. They had what they wanted and were just waiting on the cleaning crew to mop up the mess they created before tying off loose ends.

----------

In the lobby, packed and ready to run for the hills, their group was standing around in a circle preparing themselves for what was about to happen. They all stood silently glancing around at each, taking one last gander at the lobby and their home for past year and a half.

To suddenly uproot and take off into the unknown was honestly terrifying. None of them had ever been in this situation before but being in a zombie land for so long had them numb to it almost. The excitement to run and find something new outweighed the fear.

Jonathan tossed Lui a radio. "I'll meet you all in an hour at the Guanabara Bay Bridge. If I'm even a second late don't wait for me, just go. Stay close to the coast and keep heading northeast until you reach Salvador. If I don't meet you there in at least a day, then I'm probably dead. The plan doesn't change without me."

He caught Langley's glare and knew she wanted to argue with him again about staying behind. It was only logical for someone to actually still be in the tower when they called because Jonathan knew they'd want to know their target was still where it should be.

Jonathan shook his head once at her and she pursed her lips and looked away with a quiet huff.

They'd left lights on in the upper floors and would occasionally turn them off with the breakers to make it seem as if they were up and down and all over the tower and not congregated in the lobby ready to bolt out of the door at a moment's notice.

"Well. I'm not saying goodbye to you because I know your dumb ass will come back no matter what. You're a cockroach." Langley crossed her arms and was the first to leave the tower, followed closely by Murphy who stopped to pinch Jonathan's cheeks first before she gave him a hug. Lucah nudged his palm with her nose and followed the girls.

Slowly they filtered out and none of them spoke, none of them said goodbye, and Jonathan was silently grateful for it.

Marcel was last. 

Marcel was also the first to find him on day one with Lui. They had a deep respect for one another and Jonathan took a deep breath before reaching out to the guy he considered a brother. 

"Thank you, Marcel." He pulled him into an embrace. "For everything."

Marcel smiled when they stepped back. "No, thank you. You were the one that found Scotty out there and I never would've met him otherwise."

"I guess we're even then. Take care of them for me while I'm gone." Jonathan grinned and watched Marcel turn and walk out the doors where the others were waiting.

Then he was alone.

Everything echoed around him as he made one last round, just for himself. He pulled Evan's camera from his pack and took pictures of everything he wanted to remember: the bunk they shared, the surgery room, the mess hall, the showers, and the nursery whose walls were still covered in children's artwork.

He kind of missed Laffy the cat curling his grey tail around his ankles.

Jonathan went into the laundry and pulled Evan's stupid holey cat shirt over his own head before he made his way to the roof to watch and wait until the sun went down completely. He pulled his phone out while he waited and his home screen came up, the last picture Evan had taken with Lucah while Jonathan was still recovering.

He replayed Evan's video for the first time in weeks and didn't crumble to pieces like he usually did.

Everything he'd experienced with him came flooding back and he slowly sat down against the wall that displayed his mural. He let his head fall back and took it all in, letting the memories and all the emotions that came with them fill him up entirely. He wanted to uproot every place in Rio that meant something to him and take it.

He wanted the intersection, the garage, and the police station.

He wanted the hotel room on the beach and the safehouse where he and Evan had shared a lot of firsts.

He wanted the rooftop, his getaway, his quiet space away from the others. The rooftop where he told Evan he loved him.

The wind gave a sudden and cool gust that made him open his eyes and find the stars shining up above. It was a perfectly clear night and a little too quiet. He only heard the crickets chirping and the first thing he wanted when they all got out of there and to a place with electricity, was a god damn box fan.

It was dark enough now, he figured, so he got to his feet and took the elevator down to the lobby for old times sake. He stepped off into the quiet open space and turned the lights on, knowing it was the only thing in the entire city that would be lit up like a Christmas tree.

He picked up the satellite phone and called the only preset number on it. He listened until he heard the click of someone answering.

"Is it done?" The person on the other line asked.

Jonathan could feel the anticipation and adrenaline spinning up inside of him as he stepped into the doorway, looking out at the sea just on the horizon.

He replied, "It's done."

There was an immediate response of, "Affirmative. Stay where you are for evac, we have transport on the way."

"We're in the hospital. Tall building, the only one lit up. You can't miss it."

A moment of silence.

Then, "Roger that."

Jonathan saw the small flicker of light on the horizon, a flame, and only a few seconds later he heard the missile piercing the air.

He dropped the phone and disappeared into the favela as the explosion billowed smoke and ash into the sky moments later. Once he was safely out of the city, he scaled a tree and watched the tower fall in on itself taking a small piece of him with it.

----------

"Ready to talk?"

"Not particularly feeling chatty at the moment, no."

Evan was sagging forward in the chair he was currently cuffed to. It was day nine of the same bullshit and no food again. He wasn't tired or hungry, just bored out of his fucking mind.

Before that it had been thirty-one entire days of being stuck into rooms with new fun things each and every day, like venomous snakes. 

Another day, an actual bear.

He was desperate at the time after so long without food that he had to expose his strength and kill the grizzly. It was quick because he didn't want it to suffer and he knew he only had a minute tops before they rushed in and took the opportunity away from him.

Evan ran at it but not too fast so he wouldn't give that trait up too. The bear swung a giant paw in his direction. Evan ducked down and slipped beneath it before gripping it by the arm and slinging himself up and onto it's back.

He was probably the first person in history to ever straddle a bear's back and put it into a chokehold before snapping it's neck.

All within ten seconds.

The white scrubs behind the observation glass seemed flabbergasted and Evan knew for a fact that no one was expecting or prepared for him to rip the bear open, tear it's liver out, and eat it.

There was a shocked pause when he stood, looked one of them in the eye and took a second bite. It wasn't until the fourth bite that they started to scramble.

The blood was sweet when he'd been expecting the normal bitterness of iron. It was almost syrupy. He got through three quarters of the liver before the guards rushed in and detained him.

It was worth it though. In the end he'd gotten back his energy and he wouldn't need to eat again for a while as they had already found out.

That's when he was put into the bright white room with a metal chair in the middle, cuffed only because he let them believe that would hold him when in reality it would only take a flick of his wrists. 

"Clear the room."

Evan sat up at the sound of Luke's familiar voice. He hadn't seen him since the day he kicked him off the helicopter and moved on to his next obligation.

The man in the white coat left, followed by the guards at the door and then it was just the two of them. Luke squatted down in front of the chair and looked up at him in amusement.

It was the same expression he'd worn the first time they met: condescending and narcissistic. That smirk made his blood boil.

"We both know you can do more than what you're giving them." He said in a quiet, barely there voice. A tone didn't match his face.

Evan furrowed his brows and gave him a questioning look.

"You have to give them something or they'll start testing your pain tolerance and escalating the shit they do to you."

Evan shook his head. "I won't be a weapon. They'll have to kill me before I give up even a drop of my blood. I'll draw this out as long as I have to if it means that they never know what I can do."

His face dropped a fraction and Evan could finally see beyond the facade and realized he was putting on a show for the camera in the corner of the room behind her.

"Give them something, Evan. But not everything." He stood when his colleague opened the door.

"Sir. You have a call waiting."

He nodded at him and looked back at Evan. "Think about what I said. Do that for me and I'll get you a nice new place to sleep and a full meal. Empanadas perhaps?"

Evan eyes locked with his and sat back. He tried to ask a question without saying a word and he knew Luke was intelligent enough to understand.

Empanadas. A thing Jonathan had promised to make him if they got out.

Luke winked and Evan gave a sarcastic laugh to make their conversation believable as they tried to communicate underneath it.

The man stepped through the doorway and before he shut the door he turned and said, "I'll get you a box fan, too."

Evan slowly smiled as the door closed behind Luke and then he broke into a laugh. He probably sounded hysterical but he was suddenly full of hope when he thought he had none left.

He broke the cuffs like they were made of nothing and pulled the door off its hinges where he was met with guns in his face.

"I'm ready to talk."