On the drive up to the correctional facility, William just stared quietly out the window as the world moved by.
He had his car impounded and license suspended until the trial began - which was meant to happen within the next four months unless the jury were intent on prolonging the case.
Still, it sucked to no longer be able to drive his beloved Aft-mobile.

Instead, Henry was the one who mostly drove him around and today Henry was the one driving him to see his brother.
They had stopped by the cemetery early that morning to lay flowers for Michael before they began their road trip up to see Vincent. William was not looking forward to it. Vincent was the last member of his family that he wanted to see and yet, Vincent was the last living family member that William Afton had.
He had last seen him just under two years ago.

It wasn't a case of William wanting to forget about Vincent. Sure, he despised the man but he couldn't forget him. It was a fact of William not wanting to make the long drive just to see someone who didn't like him anymore. Hell, had his brother ever even liked him?

Nothing was clear when it came to Vincent.
All members of the Afton family had problems and all of them were trouble. An enigma of themselves that the townsfolk absolutely avoided. With William's accident three days ago, he believed that the town no longer saw him as friendly and harmless.

They probably saw him in the same way that his father did. Just another shadow hiding behind Vincent.

Henry had the radio turned down as they pulled up to the facility and had their IDs checked.

It took a little longer than usual - just over an hour actually - but eventually, William was separated from his friend and taken to the visitation booth. Unlike small-time criminals who could sit and eat in a room with their loved ones, William and Vincent had to speak to each other through a phone and glass was the only thing that separated the brothers.

William was walked back into that room as a few of the guards recognised and greeted him with small smiles and clipped words. It felt strange for them to be acting nicely towards him, then again, they knew who he was. And they most likely knew just how different he was from his own flesh and blood. No matter what the townspeople thought they knew of the Afton brothers, the guards holding Vincent captive knew better than to let judgment get the better of them.

William felt his heart flip as he soon saw someone on the other side of that glass wearing his face. But unlike William's normal and cheery grin, the wide smile staring back at him was sadistic and lazy. Normally, it would be cruel but the fact that his eyes seemed to hold exhaustion rather than fire proved to William that Vincent was in a rather good mood today.
Timidly, William took his seat across from him but did not yet reach for the phone. His brother had the phone already lined up to his ear as his wide smile continued to stare at William. William stared back to study his brother's face for a moment, a face that he could never forget because it was his own.

Like William - Vincent had a tall and narrow nose. His eyes were the same steel-ghastly grey as well. His hair was the same shade of chestnut brown but unlike the soft curls of William's locks, Vincent's hair was straight and spiky in some areas. Both of their skin were equally as pale in comparison. Vincent had the shadow of a beard and mustache but William's face was clean-shaven. William's cheeks were plump and Vincent's were taunt. Vincent's lips were thinner but only if one could squint. Their ears were the same though.

"Ah, brother! I knew you'd come back."

William heard his voice after slowly bringing the phone up to his ear. His eyes never left Vincent's face as he held it, however. He was worried that his brother would move if he dared look away. William was caught between fear and longing when it came to Vincent Afton.

The man might've done something horrible to those around him but at the end of the day - William and Vincent Afton were identical twins.

Put on this Earth at the same time to torture the same people. William wondered what life could've been if the boys weren't dealt such a bad hand and had actually grown up to be best friends.

"What calls for this special occasion?" Vincent leaned back in his chair and inspected the fingernails on his free hand as he gave a slight chuckle.
The problem with the Afton twins was that if one were to try hard enough - he could flawlessly mimic the other's voice. Vincent wasn't doing that now but William could feel the snake crawling through the phone and into his ear. Their voice - one that had always been soft-spoken, subtle, and velvety. Like chocolate that was poisoned.

"I came to visit you." William spoke softly.

"Yes, I know." Vincent nodded.
Strange. He was being surprisingly patient with his brother today.

William stared into thin air and Vincent sighed through the phone before he leaned forward again and dropped his smile. "A little bunny told me that you've gotten yourself into some trouble."

William looked over his shoulder to the guard standing by the door. It was just the two brothers talking to each other in the room that day and the silence was beginning to unnerve William a bit.

"I can't... The trial hasn't started yet." William didn't know what he could or couldn't say to his brother in front of the guards. He was told explicitly by Henry not to incriminate himself.

"Oh, that's a shame then, isn't it? Court cases are usually a lot of fun." Vincent chuckled and leaned back as the sadistic smile crept back onto his face. "They bring families together."

"Those are family reunions." William quietly corrected him with a worried look.
He knew what his brother was hinting at and he did not want to have this conversation again. It was one of the reasons why he had stopped visiting him.

Vincent growled and slowly balled his free hand and William was powerless as he watched a flicker of anger seep its way into those grey-blue eyes. "Are you mocking me, Billy?"

"No. I... I don't want to talk about Michael today." William gave his brother a pleading look as he kept his voice soft and calm in hopes of not agitating the other.

Vincent sighed and shook his head with a 'tsk' and unclenched his fist. "But what would poor Michael think? Now both of his brothers are killers."

William couldn't suppress the flinch his body made when Vincent said that and he kept his eyes closed as he heard his brother's cruel laughter.

"It's alright, Billy. Nobody thinks you're a killer." Vincent hummed. "Not yet anyway."

William reopened his eyes to glare back at his brother. "I'm not like you."

Vincent's grin widened as he tilted his head. "Oh? Really?"

"I did not kill anyone. A-and if I did! Th-then it was an accident. I did not kill anyone because I wanted to. I did not kill anyone because I felt like it. I am not cruel like you."

Vincent threw his head back and laughed as he realised that he had once again gotten under his brother's skin and ruffled his feathers. "Oh! I have missed you! Hey, hey. Have you heard of something called the 'Twin Theories'?"

William's face contorted into one of confusion. He wasn't confused by the sudden change of topic - that was normal when it came to Vincent. He deflected and changed the subject rapidly in order to confuse others and trick them but William knew his brother's tricks and seemingly went along with them most of the time because the change in attitude was so normal for Vincent that William believed that even he hadn't meant to do it half the time.

"No... Maybe? Was it a book that you had?" William briefly remembered that his brother had a collection of books on a big, wooden-oak bookshelf in his old room.

"Yes!" Vincent leaned forward with a happy smile and clicked his fingers together as his eyes lit up with joy. "Yes, you do remember! Oh, that's wonderful! Because I actually have that book right here."

William watched as the other Afton soon held up the old book that was ripped around the edges and gave a nod. He had missed this; just casual conversation with his brother over the small things that got them excited.

"I have a theory - don't worry, Billy, it's just a theory!" Vincent chuckled and soon opened the book with both hands whilst the phone was caught between his ear and his shoulder. "I got that call from Emily last night and I was wondering - why on Earth would an Afton do that? I mean, if he's going to kill someone, he should go out there and at least do it right!"

William frowned as he felt sick to his stomach.

"But then I realised that you do know - our father died in a car accident." Vincent giggled like a schoolgirl as he flipped through the pages. "Our brother almost died in that accident so... What if you still had a connection to our dear, old family?"

"A connection?" William bit his lower lip and tilted his head to try and see what his brother was looking at.

"You're the science guy, Billy, you figure it out." Vincent scoffed.

William looked down at his free hand in thought and studied his handprint before Vincent sighed through the phone again to get his attention. William looked up and frowned as Vincent smirked as he leaned forward.

"What if - just a theory - what if you are like dad?"

"What do you mean?" William felt hot shame soon crawl under his skin as his eyes widened and his shoulders tensed.

"Hmm, nah." Vincent leaned back and placed his feet up on the small table. "You're not... Angry enough - to be a dad."

"I never want to be like our father." William frowned as he clenched his free fist.

"Is that why you don't have any children?" Vincent pointed at him. "So you don't have to worry about locking them outside of the house whenever they misbehave? Or so you don't beat them when they cry or piss you off? That's... An admirable quality, William. It's sad but admirable."

"No!" William felt heat rush into his cheeks as his voice raised in pitch. "No, that's not why I-"

"I mean, it's a strategy that definitely works. Let's just not give ourselves a problem by outright avoiding the topic altogether, right?" Vincent chuckled almost breathlessly as he shook his head and soon he was laughing and wiping tears from his eyes.

William growled as he clutched the phone tightly. "That's not why I don't have children!"

"Oh!" Vincent's eyes widened as he quickly removed his feet and leaned forward. He looked like an awe-inspired child at a circus. "Is it because everyone still thinks you're a freak, Billy? Oh, you poor thing. Hey, if it helps - they'll love you in here. You look soft and small. It makes someone have this strange urge to protect you. Don't worry, I can hook you up with the big cats if you need?"

"Just fuck off, Vincent!" William spat.
He had the urge to get up and leave his brother behind the glass after that jab but then he said something that shook William to his core.

"Hey, hey now." Vincent leaned back and held up his hands after setting his book down in mock surrender.
"Look, lil' bro. I know what it feels like to be a monster. Those people out there? The ones who look at you like you're nothing but a piece of shit? Yeah, they don't understand us. They never have! We're Aftons, Billy, they'll never understand us. Where there's one monster in the family - heh heh - they'll think that the rest of our family is made of nothing but monsters. Do you honestly wanna prove them right?"

Vincent smirked with a devilish look to him as his brow darkened and William could see the ghastly fires behind his eyes. William knew that he was being pulled back into his brother's grip but he shook his head regardless. Who could he trust? What if Vincent was right?

What if they saw Wiliam as a monster too?

"Then leave this place and keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, you're going to be stuck in here with me. You don't want that now, do you?"

William muttered quietly. "No."

"Good. Now go back and run off to your little robots."