Trigger Warning: This chapter may have mentions of self inflicted or physical harm; consciously or subconsciously.

I'm not even sure if this is worthy of a warning but just in case.

I love each and every single one of you; we made it to 10k! Hbsjhsvxhsjshk thank you so much. »_«

꧁____꧂

"Alexander Kane has finally found the one?" Tadashi read the headline of the news article.

"So you've seen it too?" Alexander shifted in his seat and turned his attention to his assistant.

"Probably before you did. We couldn't shut it down in time unfortunately, it was published in the blink of an eye." Tadashi made himself comfortable on a leather couch in the office.

The picture following the article was one of the Master and Riley lost in their own world. Hugging like they drew life from each other.

Small mercies; Riley's face was hidden in his shoulder.

"They'll publish another one soon," Alexander said. "To compare it with the first one."

"Oh no one's forgetting Kinky and Vanilla anytime soon. Ballsy move. You already have a fan page. Shut down of course."

"I don't care about that."

"I know you don't, I'm only doing my job."

Alexander didn't say anything about that.

That particular article had made it look like he was married to Mason for the sake of pleasure. It even suggested that they'd rushed to leave because they couldn't keep their hands off each other which was sort of true.

Mason had only smiled when he saw the article. "They have no idea, we make quite the pair," he'd said.

He noticed Tadashi looking at him expectantly. They stared at each other for a while.

"What?" Tadashi asked.

Alexander shook his head and got up, walking around his desk.

"I'm leaving early today," he said.

He'd left early the day before and a few days before that.

"You've got a meeting," Tadashi simply said.

"In about an hour or so. I'll be there."

"Are you– Is everything fine?" Tadashi asked.

Alexander nodded as his head went back to the men in his house. It was slowly becoming all he could think of lately.

He noticed a drift between them. Whatever it was, he chose not to comment on it.

Everyone did what they had to in order to win. As long as no rule was broken, he wouldn't be obligated to intervene. But more than anything, it irritated him.

It didn't make sense the way Jet was so sour all of a sudden. Almost angry.

Maybe he should take him out. Maybe that would help him cool off. But he'd talk to him first. Maybe he'd ask what was wrong first. Fuck, he was losing himself.

"I'll call you," said Tadashi.

"Hm."

"Where have you been going lately?" His assistant asked. "Just out of curiosity."

The words were out of his mouth before Alexander could think better of it. "I just want to see them."

It wasn't awkward silence that followed them like he'd expected. The other man only raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Maybe the media got it right this time," Tadashi said before walking out.

꧁___꧂

No one was inside the house when Alexander got back, he figured they'd be in the back.

His desperation intensified in the anticipation of seeing them. He still had no clue what he was doing.

Lately, they did it all the time. Hung out together like being apart didn't make sense anymore.

He more than liked it but the way Jet was drifting away on his own worried him.

His feet carried him in the direction of the back door but then he stopped dead in his tracks.

It was more than tempting to keep walking where he knew Zel would jump in his arms the moment he saw him, but he stopped.

There was a sound coming from upstairs and for a minute he forgot the back of the house.

Taking off his coat and loosening some buttons from his crispy white shirt, he walked up to find the source. He still couldn't make out exactly what it was.

It got louder when he got closer. Something smashed.

When he got upstairs, he noticed the sound came from either Mason or Jet's room; they were too close together.

He was at Jet's door in a flash. Because it came first but mostly because it was Jet he was currently worried about.

As soon as he was inside, a few seconds in and something was thrown at him.

The shard of glass sailed swiftly through the air with sharp edges dangerously closing in in Alexander's direction.

He caught it squarely in his hand, tilting his head a little to the side to dodge it at the same time. Two seconds later and the glass would have either nicked or cut the side of his face.

Opening his hand, he let the glass drop heavily on the ground. It fell among other pieces but distinctly stained red with his blood.

Every single thing in the room was broken. The table, nightstands and the lamps on them, all broken.

With a quick sweep of the room, Alexander's eyes roamed around for about two whole seconds.

For some reason the rules remained untouched on the wall where they were hung.

The bed was flipped over but from where he stood, he couldn't tell if it was broken or not.

Anything else that couldn't be broken was shredded or ruined in some way. It was a whole mess.

A million pieces of broken glass littered the floor, in every direction while a very tired looking Jet stood shirtless in the midst of it all.

Alexander couldn't focus on them when he caught sight of Jet's feet. He was barefoot and standing right on the shards like he couldn't feel anything.

His feet were bleeding. Fuck.

Alexander only hoped Jet would remain right where he was. That way he would keep pressure under his foot and not bleed excessively.

His hands were bloodied, Alexander tried to keep a cool head at what he saw next.

There was another broken glass in Jet's hand. It was so huge it shouldn't have fit in his hand but one end of it was cut small enough for his fist to close around it.

He gripped it so tightly in his hand that it looked like he was trying to cut his fingers off.

Alexander was more frustrated than ever. If he rushed, Jet might overreact and even end up doing something worse. And there was no way in hell he was going to just stand there.

The Master didn't hesitate when he walked towards him cautiously. He kept a slow pace, but not too slow. "Put it down Jet, let it go."

Jet breathed hard as his unfocused eyes looked forward but not actually looking at the Master.

Fucking hell, he wasn't getting through to him. Jet was too far gone. Almost like he didn't even know himself.

His chest heaved while he took shallow breaths as he gripped the glass tighter in his hand.

Alexander finally got close enough to him. Words weren't going to work, he knew.

"You need a timeout," he said. Jet probably didn't hear him but his voice was so thick.

Alexander didn't know if there was a gentle way of doing it, but he tried his best. He knocked him out cold.

Jet fell forward, pliant in his arms as he caught him. Relief briefly washing over him as he caught the piece of glass before Jet could drop it on his own foot.

How the fuck had this happened?

He couldn't help but pull Jet closer to him, holding him tighter than was necessary.

Jet's breathing finally evened out as he lifted him in his arms, walking towards his room.

Alexander dropped Jet on the bed as he quickly got supplies to take care of him.

He needed to think. Jet's condition wasn't critical, he just had to act fast. It felt like his heart could not slow down its beating.

Alexander wiped the blood off Jet's hands, a lot of it dripping onto the bed. The cuts were a little deep, but not that deep. When he was done, he wrapped bandages to stop it from bleeding.

His phone rang suddenly and he ignored it.

He went ahead to remove every piece of glass stuck under Jet's feet and cleaned the wounds, then bandaged them up the best he could.

His phone rang again.

"What?" He growled regardless of whoever was on the other side.

"The meeting is in fifteen, I said I'd call–" Tadashi said.

"Cancel it."

"What? That–"

"Fucking cancel the meeting."

"Hmm, it's better if we settle for another date. I'll get it done." Tadashi was good at his job. Extremely good so he knew that was what would happen exactly.

"Tadashi," Alexander said.

"Hm?"

"Sorry... uhh–"

"We all have bad days. I'll make sure you aren't disturbed and I'll call you later."

The line went dead.

The Master was grateful. But he focused on Jet again. He dropped the phone as soon as the conversation was done and went to pull out one of his shirts.

He made sure Jet was no longer half naked then gathered him in his arms.

He kissed his cheek then his lips. "You're going to be fine," he said, even as he felt his hand slightly tremble.

He got up with Jet in his arms and walked towards the door.

Jet was fine, he told himself over and over. He was fine.

He still wasn't going to take any chances.

You could just call Jen.

He wasn't taking any chances.

It couldn't happen again. It just couldn't.

"Give him to me," he heard Mason say from no where.

The Master shook his head and held Jet tighter.

"Then give me the keys," said Mason. He was smart if he'd figured out everything that was going on.

His eyes darted from Jet to the Master and back again, assessing all the injuries he saw.

The Master didn't budge.

"I saw the mess, then followed drops of blood to your room. If you haven't even changed your bloodied shirt then it means it's a desperate situation. You are not fine and that's only natural at the moment, I'm worried too. Fuck, I'm trying so hard not to fall apart right now Alexander. Give me the keys or let me hold Jet."

He seemed to snap out of his daze. "Fuck. Get in," the Master said, to his relief, then put Jet in his arms and climbed in behind the wheel.

"I'm so sorry Jet," whispered Mason. "I'm so sorry."

Inside, Mason believed it was all his fault. He just hoped Jet could forgive him, because he was having a hard time forgiving himself.

More than anything, he just wanted him to be fine.

Please. He prayed.