Marek had never thought he'd be this nervous while in the SOPISOC HQ. It was like that time he stole all that food from the kitchen. Thankfully no one had caught him then. Hopefully they wouldn't today either because the consequences would be a hell of a lot worse.

"I really hope my baby bro doesn't get in trouble," Aira said quietly, sighing as they reached the archive. Marek patted her shoulder.

"My baby will protect him."

Aira looked at him, nodding slowly. "You...you really believe that. And...I think I do too. He doesn't seem so bad anymore."

"He's not," Marek confirmed, opening the door and stepping in. There were so many shelves full of boxes of papers that it made Marek want to cry just looking at it. He'd say this was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but that didn't cover it.

"I was just worried about you, Mar," said Aira once they closed the door. "I still am. I don't...I don't know. I thought he did something to you to make you like him."

Marek grinned. "Yeah, he sure did something. Stole my heart."

Aira snorted, covering her mouth. "Idiot."

Marek beamed more. It was so nice to be jokey with Aira again. He'd missed her a lot.

"What I'm saying is he...seems okay. But why is he an Undertaker then? I thought they were all bastards. Kinda a job requirement," Aira said, shaking her head.

Marek sighed sadly. "I think he just has nowhere else to go. I mean think about it. I joined them because what else could I do?"

Aira frowned as she thought about it. "I mean...you could have just not picked a side, right?"

Marek frowned, thinking that through. How would that even work. "I don't know. Is that an option? How would that even work? Would I just fight against everyone?"

Aira shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just thinking. I've not been all that happy at SOPISOC lately either. But I wouldn't have joined the other side."

Marek grimaced, shrugging helplessly. "But what then? You quit SOPISOC and then what? Just...hang out until you starve to death? Or get a normal job?"

He shuddered just thinking about it. He was not meant for a desk job. Or customer service. He'd set someone on fire for being annoying.

Aira hummed as she started looking through the boxes, checking the labels on them. But Marek knew her well enough to know when she was focused. And right now she wasn't focused.

"Well?" he said, prompting her to sigh.

"I don't know, Mar. There has to be something else to do."

Marek chuckled. "Well, tell you what. We can figure it out after this. Together, huh?"

Aira smiled at him, her gaze turning soft as she went and hugged him. Marek hugged back immediately, closing his eyes for a moment.

"I'm so happy you're okay, Mar. Despite everything. I'm sorry I wasn't a good enough friend to make you think you had to run away without explaining."

Marek shook his head, squeezing her closer. "No, no, hey, that's not...it's not you, Air. I was just...worried you wouldn't like me anymore if you knew." He heaved a sigh, annoyed with himself. "I don't think there's anything you could have done to assure me otherwise." He smiled sadly. "I'm a dumdum."

Aira pulled away, smiling fondly, tears in her eyes. "You're my dumdum."

Marek beamed as Aira petted his head. He couldn't help but bearhug her and spin her around.

"Careful, though, my baby boy is a little possessive," he joked. "He might get jealous if you call me yours."

"I'll explain to him why he should knock that off, then," Aira said, grinning. Marek couldn't help but laugh despite trying to stifle it, and Aira joined him, sniggering into her hand.

"We need to stay quiet," he hissed, still choking back laugher. "Or we're screwed."

Aira nodded, taking a few deep breaths. She couldn't seem to stop smiling, but she was staying quiet now. And so was Marek.

"Okay, okay, let's just try to find something."

They went around joylessly searching for anything that could be related to whatever deal SOPISOC had made with the people who had been attacking the city, though Marek doubted they would find anything. It was much more likely that evidence would be in Morrey's office. He really hoped that Varen was okay.

The longer searching took the more nervous Marek became. Surely someone would come in here sooner or later. They needed to go faster. But no matter how fast he went, he couldn't find anything.

When he and Aira met in the middle of a shelf, they paused to give each other questioning looks. But both of them shook their heads.

"You think we're gonna get caught before we reach the end of this?" Marek whispered to Aira.

"Nah, we're not getting caught. I'll be dead before I let soppy sock hurt my bestie."

Marek blinked at her, then snorted. "Soppy sock. Damn, I never realized SOPISOC sounded like it had sock in it. That's hilarious." He smirked. "Sloppy sock? Sloppy cock."

Aira sniggered quietly. "Sloppy cock is what you'll be getting from your boyfriend later. Now shush."

Marek sniggered too, grinning. "Hey, maybe he'll be getting the SOPISOC. You don't know."

Just then the doors to the archive flew open. Marek instinctively ducked, hiding behind the rows of larger boxes at the bottom, dragging Aira with him. They didn't dare breathe.

"Guys? It's me," came the gentle voice of Nerry. Marek sighed in relief, pulling himself and Aira up again.

"We're here," Marek called back in a whisper. Nerry immediately rushed to them.

"Earthcarver was captured!" Nerry said once he stood in front of them, looking absolutely distraught. He was clutching a folder to his chest.

"What?!" Marek cried. "Let's go. We gotta save him."

Marek moved, ready to run off to the cell block. Aira however put an arm in front of his chest, stopping him.

"What happened, Nerry?" she asked, checking her brother over. Fussing, really. "You weren't hurt, were you?"

Nerry shook his head, taking a deep breath. He was still panting. "No, no, he told me to hide. Didn't mention anyone else working with him. He protected me. But he isn't in the holding cells here. He...he got dragged off somewhere else. With Mr. Morrey."

Marek frowned. "Why would the bastard do that?"

Marek's poor baby boy. They needed to find him this instant. Hopefully, SOPISOC hadn't hurt him too much. He didn't like this at all.

Nerry grimaced but shrugged. "I don't know."

Marek frowned. That sounded like a lie. But Nerry never lied. This was weird.

"But I think he might have been taken to Mr. Morrey's house. That...seemed to be the implication."

Marek was even more confused now. Why would Morrey do that? It made no sense. But it was about the best clue they had. If only they knew where Morrey lived.

"Okay. We find out where he lives and get Varen then," Marek said, deciding not to waste time trying to understand.

Thankfully, Aira nodded, agreeing. "Earthcarver protected my little bro, so he gets protected in turn." Then Aira pointed at the folder Nerry was still clutching. "What's that?"

The man blinked, looking down at it as if he'd forgotten he was holding it. "Oh! The evidence! Earthcarver got trapped when trying to open a drawer in Morrey's table. So once he was dragged off, the trap was already sprung. And I just rummaged. I thought...." He sighed, hanging his head. "Make the situation worth something at least, you know?"

Marek nodded, hugging Nerry briefly. The little man always felt sympathetic about everyone's struggles. Marek was sure that if Varen and Nerry hung out for some period of time, Nerry would become very attached. The grumpy, angsty energy would be like flame to a moth.

"I'm so happy you're okay," said Aira, hugging Nerry when Marek let go. "What does the file say?"

Nerry sighed. "It says that SOPISOC really did hire random superhumans to attack the city. To fix their image. Mr. Morrey really did do that."

Nerry looked a little uncomfortable then, grimacing and avoiding their eyes. Marek would have assumed it was simply because he was upset about the situation, but with the way he'd been acting, something more seemed to be going on. Still, there was no time to think about that right now.

"Bastard. Come on, we gotta go save my husband," Marek said, resolute, already walking off.

Aira chuckled. "Have you told him he's husband?"

"I'll tell him the moment he's free," Marek called back, blushing a bit. He couldn't deny how attached he was. Varen was the love of his life. It was obvious that they should be married.

If Varen wanted that....

The twins rushed after him, catching up just as Marek reached the door.

"We need to be smart about this," Aira said, humming. "There's still guards out there. And we don't have Earthcarver to hide us in the floor again."

Marek nodded, frowning in thought. That was when Nerry spoke up.

"I don't think we'll get much trouble. I listened in," he said. "From what I heard, they assume that Earthcarver was the only intruder. Because of the earthquakes he caused. They don't know about us working with him."

Marek nodded, worried for his poor baby who was now taking the fall for everyone. But there really was a bright side. "Right. So as long as we don't act suspicious, and no one sees me enough to recognize me, we should be fine. How's the guard situation?"

Nerry shrugged. "I got here without much problem. Just gotta be a bit careful."

"Right. Good." Marek took a deep breath, grabbing the doorknob. "Okay. Let's go save my man."

++++++++++

Marek felt weird about bringing his friends to Varen's supervillain lair. Or as Marek liked to call it, the love den. It annoyed Varen so much every time he'd said it, which was why he enjoyed calling it that so much.

But there was no other way.

"If anyone knows where Morrey's house is, it's my baby," he told the twins as he unlocked the door. He hoped Var wouldn't be too mad about it afterward.

"Why would he know?" Aira asked. Meanwhile Nerry grimaced again. Nerry definitely knew something he wasn't telling them, but Marek wasn't questioning him. The truth would come out sooner or later anyway. The poor guy never could hold things that bothered him to himself for long.

"Because he's done a ton of research on SOPISOC. He knew who you guys were already." Marek sighed as he led the twins inside. "Before I accidentally let a name slip. He just treated it as confirmation."

Aira looked around curiously, taking in all the red string boards and meticulously and alphabetically organized folders of files upon files. Marek had no idea how Varen could organize this well. It made his head hurt just thinking about trying to do the same.

"And he hasn't told the Undertakers?" Aira questioned, humming.

Marek shook his head as he started rummaging for files on Morrey, and hopefully find a location. "Nah, he doesn't tell Flesheater much when he doesn't have to. I was surprised too because that guy is terrifying. But Varen keeps to himself a lot. I don't think he wants anyone at SOPISOC to get their face melted off. Except maybe Morrey. Fuck, he really hates that guy."

"Varen's his name then?" Aira asked, smiling.

Marek cursed when he realized he'd just let Varen's name slip. He'd managed to hold it back for so long. "I did it again!"

Aira patted his shoulder, chuckling. "Nah, it's fine. I'm sure your boyfriend will forgive you. Besides, it's weird referring to him as Earthcarver at this point."

Marek shrugged and nodded. "True. It was really hard not to tell you his name anyway. I let down my guard around you guys too much." He clapped his hands together. "Now, let's go find out where Morrey brought Varen."

They all started going through files, looking for any mentions of Morrey. It took precious time, but eventually, Marek discovered a file on Morrey specifically. And it was insanely thick.

He paged through the collection of notes, newspaper clippings, schematics, trying to find anything useful. There was a large section with floor plans, but a lot of it was simply places Morrey had been to and why.

Marek kept going, though. Surely, surely there must have been information about Morrey's residence. The more schematics he went through the more his stomach sank with anxiety. Surely, surely....

Marek gasped when he finally found what he needed. A stack of photos of a building titled Bastard's house, with an address, floor plans, aerial shots, everything.

"Got it!" Marek cried, grabbing the file with the address and running out. He was going to save Varen this very hour. And then Marek was going to carry Varen to safety, and they were going to spend the next year snuggling. Marek wasn't going to be reasonable about this at all.

"Let's go."