Eli had to wonder sometimes, at the speed with which things could go to hell. It was almost impressive.

For example, he'd started off his college life on a relatively good note. Granted, he was broke and had to work for a year before actually attending. But still, things had gone pretty well even if his boss was an asshole and his friends were unfairly tall. And then Matthew had gone and fucked it all up.

Not that he was particularly upset about that. It worked out in the end, and he liked being with Matthew. So really, even if things were not as perfect as Eli wished they could be—namely, his boyfriend being a weirdo—life wasn't terrible. To be honest, he'd actually been enjoying it as of late. He should have known better.

"What the fuck is it with you crooks and warehouses?" Eli asked, climbing out of the car Adria Fisk had sent to pick him up from the hospital and looking up at the warehouse in front of him. Granted, it was a nice warehouse. At least, it didn't look like anyone was up to anything particularly shady. Then again, neither did Matthew so appearances could be deceiving.

"Some of us run legitimate businesses, you know?" Adria said, walking over to him and Matthew—who was quick to stand next to Eli. Probably to keep Adria from stomping the redhead to death with her admittedly nice heels. Eli appreciated the gesture.

"Like your dear old dad?" Eli asked. And sure, he probably shouldn't be such an asshole, but he was still just a little bit upset about Fisk having his goons kidnap him. Also, having his giant boyfriend next to him usually made him feel just a tad bit braver.

"You know, now I get why someone would want to kill you." Fair enough. Still rude. "Just get inside, you little shit." She turned with what Eli was sure was a roll of her eyes and walked into the warehouse.

"How likely do you think it is that we'll get murdered in there?" Eli asked Matthew, pointing to the warehouse.

"We're not getting murdered," Matthew said with a tired sigh. "But please stop trying," he added after a moment.

"Rude," Eli muttered, but he did as told and moved to go in, all the while hoping this would be a better visit to a warehouse than the last. Granted, the bar was on the ground with that one.

They got up to a promising start, at the very least. The place looked like a genuine place of business. Or at least, it didn't look like anyone had ever been murdered there. Eli felt faintly relieved at that. Just not enough to not expect things to go to hell at any moment.

Adria was waiting for them. Apparently, they'd been taking too long, but it wasn't Eli's fault his paranoia was acting up after getting stabbed. If anything, it was a wonder he hadn't dragged Matthew out of the country to start a new life. He was just glad Adria didn't say anything as she led them to what could only be her office.

It was a simple room set up on stilts, with a narrow metal staircase leading up to it. The room itself was brightly lit, the windows lined up around the room provided a good view of everything going on in the wide space. Eli briefly thought that at least if Adria decided to murder them, there'd be plenty of witnesses.

She took a seat behind the wide, mostly cleared off desk, and motioned for Eli and Matthew to take a seat as well. As Eli sat on one of the cold plastic chairs on the other side of the desk, he couldn't help but think of how much it felt like he was there for a job evaluation. The thought almost made him laugh at how ridiculous it was. Especially given the situation they were in. At his side, Matthew gave him a weird look, the kind that told Eli he wasn't being all that successful at hiding his amusement—which, fair enough, was pretty weird all things considered.

It just wasn't his fault he had the most ridiculous thoughts at the worst times possible. Clearly, there was something wrong with the way he processed danger and high stress situations if he was dating Matthew, of all people.

"Alright idiots," Adria began, which Eli had to admit, wasn't the best way to start a conversation. "I figured we'd discuss some more details in private. And stop looking at me like that, I'm not going to shoot you," she added, looking right at Eli.

"You saying you're not going to shoot me doesn't really mean you're not going to shoot me," he said, because he didn't have a great track record with people not shooting him. Adria chose to ignore that which was probably for the best.

"What do you know about the guy trying to kill you?" she asked Matthew.

"Not much. There weren't many people willing to talk," which was impressive, given crooks usually tried to cooperate with Vigilante, if only so they wouldn't get the crap beaten out of them.

"Well, that's not surprising," Adria said with a sigh. "As far as I know, he kept to himself for most of the time he worked for my father. His job was simple, keep my father safe, keep the cops away, and most importantly, get rid of you whenever you turned up."

"Until he decided he was bored of the job," Eli said.

"Apparently. He really put up a good act for a while, made it seem like he was fine with the job. Even managed to chase you away," she nodded to Matthew.

"So what changed?" he asked, brow furrowed, like he was thinking back to all the times he'd run into the guy. Or maybe he just didn't like being reminded of the way he'd been chased off before.

"He saw his chance, as far as I can see. My father trusted him enough to ease up a bit on other security measures. A stupid mistake, but I guess he was trying not to call attention to his dealings." Eli could see how having a small army of vaguely shady men lurking around a warehouse could do that. "It's probably why he hired him in the first place. He figured it would be easier to have someone more capable around than to have a shitton of incompetent idiots."

"I thought he got hired to kill Vigilante," Eli pointed out, because the way she said it made it sound like the guy was just a glorified bodyguard.

"What are you talking about? He was hired to make sure Vigilante wouldn't be a problem if he showed up, there was nothing about him actively hunting him down in the agreement he made with my father. At least, not as far as I know."

"But your father put out a reward for anyone who managed to kill me," Matthew added, brow furrowed at Adria's words. "That's why everyone was after me. They wanted the money. Then Fisk got tired and hired someone who had a chance to get the job done."

Adria looked at Matthew like he was crazy. Which, he was, but still.

"Clearly, you were misinformed," she said, looking from Matthew to Eli. Probably to make sure they were serious. "My father wouldn't bother with that. Especially after the trouble you gave him last year. He just wanted to make sure you weren't going to be a problem if you showed up. Where did you hear that?"

"Around town," Matthew said vaguely, as if they couldn't figure out he'd beaten the crap out of some crooks until they talked. He just shrugged at the unimpressed looks he got from both Eli and Adria.

"Well, don't rely too much on the rumor mill. My guess is there was a reward supposedly put on you, but it wasn't my father that did it." It didn't take a genius to guess who it had been instead. "It matches up with him wanting to put the blame on my father, get you to focus on him." Adria looked away, seemingly lost in thought as the last part was said more to herself.

"He wanted me to go after Fisk to get him out of the way," Matthew said, realizing he'd been used. It didn't do anything for his admittedly already shitty mood, if the scowl he had was anything to go by.

"Most likely," Adria said. "It's why he leaked the news of my father's business meeting. He wanted you there to make sure my father was caught."

"Then he could take over while using his position as someone Fisk trusted."

Eli watched both Matthew and Adria lay out all the facts and couldn't help but think they were screwed if the guy was thinking that far ahead. He'd actually used Vigilante to further his plans. Which unfortunately meant that Matthew wouldn't be letting him go any time soon.

"Well, good for that guy. I mean, great job with the scheming and all, but how does that help?" he asked, because he really just wanted to leave soon. There was only so long he could spend in a warehouse with someone so closely related to Fisk.

"Anyway," Adria said, completely ignoring Eli. He glared, but it wasn't like that did anything. "Seeing as he knows so much about you, it's no wonder he went after this guy." She motioned to Eli, like he was just some potted plant they were talking about.

"Do you think he'll try that again?" Matthew asked, also completely ignoring Eli. Adria just shrugged.

"Maybe. He already has your attention, so there's a chance he won't. Then again, he might just like to fuck around with you." Eli thought that was more likely. "Either way, as part of the deal I'll do my best to make sure the little shit stays alive."

"How generous of you," Eli deadpanned. Adria just gave him an exaggerated smile.

"I've set up a safe place for you to stay until this is all over. I'll also give you some guards and the very valuable advice of not doing anything stupid. I don't expect you to actually listen, but at least I tried." She didn't. Eli could tell she just wanted to be a jerk.

He probably would have said something, if they hadn't been interrupted by someone knocking on the door. Adria called for whoever was out there to enter, and the door opened a moment later to reveal a very average looking man holding a package. Eli was only a little surprised to see someone who didn't look like a crook, if only because Adria's business actually looked legitimate. Not that he would trust her, but at least if she was lying, she was very convincing.

"Here. This should keep you from dying before you do your part," she said, holding the package out to Matthew. "Open it later, now get out. I have actual work to do."

Eli scoffed at that, which earned him a threatening look. It was probably a good thing that Matthew led him out of the room before he could get stabbed again.

It felt good when they finally stepped out of the warehouse. Not that the place was all that unpleasant. For all intents and purposes, it was just an ordinary warehouse, but Eli couldn't help it when his mind wandered to images of flames and smoke. Feeling the cool wind outside did a lot to help him feel better.

"You okay?" he heard Matthew ask next to him. Eli looked up at him, taking in the mildly concerned look on his face, brow furrowed and the edges of his mouth tilting just the slightest bit down. He could also feel Matthew's hand resting on his back, and the warmth from it was enough to remind him things were alright. Or, as alright as they could be.

"Yeah, just tired." Matthew looked at him, almost unconvinced, before deciding to believe Eli. Which was good because Eli wasn't really lying.

He'd spent long enough in the hospital that just being out of bed for a while was proving to be a tiring ordeal. Eli just hoped he'd get back to his usual—if still low—energy levels soon enough. Just in case some asshole decided to try to kill him again.

"Well, you can rest soon. Are you ready to see our temporary safe house?" Matthew asked, a smirk just starting to show on his face.

"No, but I'm gonna have to, aren't I?" Eli didn't look the least bit excited, but at least he was trying not to show just how much he was not looking forward to moving into some unknown place until they didn't have some freaking assassin after them.

"Yep." At least Matthew was back to sounding annoyingly chipper. Eli wasn't sure if it was because he was out of the hospital or if he was just faking it, but it was still better than having him look like a depressed mess, so he wouldn't complain. At least not yet.

Still, Matthew being in a good mood made it easier to get into the shady looking car waiting to take them to their temporary hideout. And sure, maybe Eli had no clue as to where they were going, but things could be worse.

"Well, at least we're finally getting a hideout," Matthew said with a stupid grin on his face as he held the car door open for Eli. The kind that made Eli want to groan and leave the room—or general area, in this case. This time, he found that it wasn't all that irritating.

"I mean, as long as it's not another freaking warehouse," Eli said. "Why do you think she dragged us out here anyway?" he added as he slid into the backseat.

"Probably to show us she's not lying. At least about her not being involved in her dear old dad's business."

"Oh, was her shiny warehouse supposed to make us trust her?"

"At least trust that she won't actually kill us," Matthew said with a shrug as he sat next to Eli and shut the door.

"Then she should probably try to sound less like she wants to strangle us."

"To be fair, she mostly wants to strangle you," Matthew said with a little smirk that Eli didn't appreciate. "Aw, don't look at me like that. You're probably cute enough that she won't. Maybe."

Eli just rolled his eyes while Matthew tried not to laugh. He supposed he should just be glad that Matthew was back to his annoying self.

Yep, things could definitely be worse, Eli thought as the car drove off. 

###

Hello everyone! I still love Adria, lol. She just amuses me. I like to think of her and Eli in this chapter as the meme of the lady screaming at the cat. Anyway, hope you've all liked this chapter! Remember you all are getting one more and then I'm going off to hibernate until next year (I like to think of this as the end of season one). I'll still write some prompt fills though, and if you have any holiday prompts, send them in. I do love my Christmas specials, lol. 

Also, I set up a shop on Redbubble! So if anyone wants any Vigilante stickers, you can get some there. Link is on my profile and I'll be adding some Christmas stickers soon. :D

So yeah, check that out and the next chapter will be up on Friday, December 3rd. As always, thank you all so much for your continued support and please stay safe!