WHO: Tragos, Kaden, Apollo, Marcie WHEN: Sunday evening, just before sunset WHERE: The Hole, to begin with WHAT: So we meet again... WARNINGS: Danger, Will Robinson (and some desperate smutty interludes later)
Tragos never thought he had a safe life, and if anyone had ever asked him about the concept of home being safe he would have snorted, barely gracing the stupidity of the question with a response.
And yet, though he'd never say it out loud or even think it consciously, there was a belief inside him: that there was a certain kind of familiarity about their home in the Hole that allowed him to let his guard down.
The Murphys had enough of a reputation that all the locals left their place alone, so they only had to worry about break ins from crackheads who didn’t know up from down. The War Dogs had an even harder reputation and no other gangs had ever tried attacking them at their home. There were the cops, always, that might come knocking. But most days the most dangerous person in their house was Cy and they’d lived with him all their lives and had managed so far.
It was as safe as he could make it but it wasn’t safe. Still, you couldn’t live all your life in a constant state of fear and it was at home – especially when Cy was out – that Tragos felt himself relax..
He was giving Kaden a lesson on engines, hood up in the middle of their drive while they made use of the last of the light. Kaden’s phone was sitting on top of the car, blaring music, and both boys were bent over the engine, shoulders together. There was no need to split his attention and focus on the sound of a slowing car; instead, he asked Kaden questions and watched the growing confidence on his face as he answered. No need to pay attention to footsteps on the cracked sidewalk while Kaden was explaining back to him about engine coolant. Not till he heard the creak of their chain link fence, the rattle as it was pushed open.
Tragos straightened up. On the other side of his car stood Apollo.
Apollo, with his thumbs through his belt loops, Apollo, smiling at the pair of them. He was dressed for a date, not a war, and there was nothing planned about his arrival - he’d simply cast his eyes out of the window on his way to pick up Cin, and couldn’t resist stopping when he’d seen the boys.
Pure dumb luck.
Grabbing Kaden by the shirt, Tragos yanked him backward and planted himself between his brother and the golden god who was grinning harder now, a catlike grin at cornered mice. “That’s sweet,” Apollo said, stepping forward and forcing Tragos to step back, his hand behind him to make sure Kaden backed off too.
“Get outta here,” Tragos growled, grabbing a wrench from the top of the car and holding it in front of him. He held it dangerously, the threat backed up by his posture, the look in his eyes, the warning in his voice. “Now. Fuck off my driveway.”
Apollo’s eyes dropped to the wrench but he didn’t stop walking forwards, keeping the same pace as Tragos as he backed, circling the car. Kaden didn’t say anything, it was obvious this man was a god too. He was so out of place here in the Hole, in fact he carried an air with him that made him seem out of place in the whole world. An absolute certainty. An aura of fearlessness about him. That confidence. And he was so clean.
“Is this your little brother?” Apollo asked, looking over Kaden’s oil stained shirt. “You a little war pup too, are you?”
“I said fuck off,” said Tragos, and Apollo slapped his hand down on the roof of the car so loud Kaden jumped (Tragos didn’t) and Apollo grinned a little wider.
“Nah, you’re not one of Ares’,” he said, speaking through Tragos to Kaden. “You belong to anyone?”
“No-” Kaden started, bristling at the idea of belonging to any god, but Tragos spoke too fast, without turning to look back at him.
“Shut up, K-”
“C’mon Tragos, let him speak while he still can,” Apollo said, and both the use of his name and the threat that came after made Tragos reassess how fast he could beat Apollo to death with this wrench. Especially when Apollo raised his hand to his own throat, stroking his fingers across it. “How’s that throat feeling, K?”
“The fuck do you mean-” Kaden hissed out, stopping when Tragos’ hand swiped at him, reminding him to shut up.
“I mean: it’s going to be a little hard to speak after your throat is ripped open,” Apollo explained. He spoke so lightly, but his words hit all the harder for it. “Don’t you think? Might as well make the most of a voice box while you have it.”
His words struck a deep fear into the heart of Kaden, and he looked toward his brother, wanting badly for Tragos to have some power to make Apollo stop.
“You wanna start a war?” Tragos growled, and his voice was not light. “You wanna lose one? Touch him and the full weight of the War Dogs comes down on you. You want Ares to beat you to a pulp again?”
Apollo laughed in delight and it made Kaden’s blood run cold. “This kid has no protection from Ares!” He shook his head, highly amused by this threat. He didn’t stop stepping toward them.
His hand trailed along the top of the car as they all continued to circle.
“You’re an idiot. You gotta kill me to get to him and if you kill me your truce is fucked.” Tragos remembered what Athena had said, the parameters of the peace she’d brokered. It was a desperate grab for a War Dog, relying on a truce. About as desperate as wielding a wrench against an Olympian.
Apollo laughed again at the attempt. “Oh you’ll die first, for sure,” he agreed. “But no one is going to war over it. Ares’ won’t avenge your death, trust me. I’ll give you those prophecies for free.”
There was a gun in the car, in the glove box. If Tragos could get the door open next time he backed past it, he could reach the gun. He could do this before Apollo lunged at him, he was confident.
At least eighty percent confident. But... he’d seen how supernaturally fast Apollo could move.
Sixty percent, maybe. But it was better odds than going up against Apollo with a wrench.
Bullets were fast and Tragos could not see any other option. He had to kill Apollo, he had to do it now, and he had to figure out a way that he stayed dead. Bottom of the East River, concrete boots, something like that.
But they were around the wrong side of the car to do anything when Apollo’s phone rang, and Apollo stopped right in front of the passenger door when he answered it. It was so unexpected Tragos felt his stomach flare with panic – he didn’t like an opponent he couldn’t predict, and someone threatening your life shouldn’t stop in the middle to take a phone call.
“Cin! Beautiful!” Apollo said, grinning at the boys. “No, I’m just around the corner, actually. You live in the same neighbourhood as a couple of friends of mine.”
Cin? Warmoth Cin? Tragos didn’t know what this meant but he didn’t like it. He had no loyalty to Cin, but she was close to home, and he was horrified that Apollo was talking to her.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Apollo said. “I just popped in to say hi. Well….” He lifted his hand to wave his fingers at the boys, giving them a conspiratorial wink. “To say goodbye, really.”
Neither brother moved, and neither relaxed, even when Apollo finally broke his circle and stepped backwards, still chatting to Cin like he hadn’t just threatened both their lives. Tragos desperately wanted to lunge for his gun and take Apollo out, damn the consequences, but Apollo was currently putting space between them and Tragos wanted that to continue as long as possible.
Just in case Apollo had a gun too.
Just in case Apollo was as quick a draw as he was with his punches.
Just in case one of the consequences was Kaden as collateral damage.
Apollo got back into his car, and with a roar of the engine, sped around the corner toward the Warmoths. Their house was close enough that Tragos could hear the engine cut out again in front of it.
He turned to Kaden, who was white as if he’d been stuck with a knife and bled out. “What the fuck just happened?” Kaden asked, pressing his hand against his throat.
“That was Apollo,” Tragos said, and Kaden went even whiter – on top of the things he knew about Apollo from Marcie, he’d read about him as much as he’d read about Ares. I’ll give you that prophecy for free. Fuck??
“Let’s move,” Tragos continued, hurrying to pull the gun from the glovebox first, push it into his belt, and then shut the hood of the car. “Now. Go inside and pack. Everything you might need. Anything. We’re leaving tonight.”
“Tonight?” Kaden said, running to catch up to Tragos as he strode back toward the house. “But what about what you said – about moving too fast. We’re not ready!”
“Yeah well, there’s also such a thing as moving too slow,” Tragos said, holding the door open for Kaden to move inside, and shutting it behind them, as if a flimsy door that stuck in the damp was going to do shit against Apollo. “You pack, I gotta make a couple calls.”
~
Kaden stood in the middle of his room trying not to flip out. Leaving?? Leaving now??
Leaving because the god who’d nearly killed Marcie had been standing right outside their house?
Leaving with all the money Aphrodite had given him. Not at the end of the school year, but now?
Leaving with Tragos?? Is that what Tragos meant? Was he coming too?? Please please please let Tragos mean he was coming too.
Kaden’s heart was thumping and his vision had tunneled down to the task in front of him. “Okay dude, do your job,” he told himself. “Pack some things. Pack some things...”
How do you pack to run away? Kaden dumped out his schoolbag onto his bed, picking through the collection of items for anything he’d need. Spare charger, check, couple of protein bars, check.
Biology textbook, chemistry notes… not check.
“Ahahaha shit,” Kaden laughed nervously, holding his workbook in his hands. Last time he’d walked out of the school gate, he’d been expecting to be away for a week… not forever.
He had just over two more months left at school. He had exams coming. Important assessments that would shape his future!
He had to sit down on the side of his bed, his body was going all weird, jittery and panicked. In the other room he could hear Tragos’ voice as he spoke on the phone, too low to make out words, but the movement around the room told Kaden he was packing things up as he spoke.
Tragos’ voice anchored him a bit, but Kaden still felt like he was looking at his room around him from a very very long way away.
You’ll die first - the memory of Apollo’s voice snapped him out of it, hard.
They had to go. Tests were not important. Tests could be retaken, futures rebuilt. But they wouldn’t have a future if Apollo ripped out their throats, it was as simple as that.
Tragos had to go with him. There was no question. They were getting out. They were all getting out.
Kaden pulled on a hoodie and started shoving things into his bag in earnest. They had to go, now.
~
A cold night had fallen in the hours that passed, and now Kaden sat in the passenger seat of the car with a coat over him like a blanket. There were no lights on in the car, no heat, no music, and Kaden hadn’t even put his headphones in, he was too nervous for that. Tragos had parked outside a restaurant and gone around the back, and Kaden was braced for a long, long wait – but three minutes after he’d disappeared, Tragos was back.
“Did it… not work?” Kaden asked, wishing he knew more about the criminal underbelly Tragos was involved in so that he’d have some kind of idea about what to do if it hadn’t…
“It worked fine. Can get anything for the right price,” Tragos said, and passed over an envelope before starting the engine. He’d been desperate though – and the ‘right price’, tonight, had been more than he’d wanted to pay. He’d paid it, sure, because they didn’t have a fucking choice, but Tragos was pissed. If they’d been able to stick to his original schedule, and leave over summer – well, shit like IDs wouldn’t be so goddamn rushed and expensive.
Eyes widening, Kaden opened the envelope, and slowly pulled out a collection of documents, a car registration, a full license for him, and sitting on top, the passports.
“Thomas,” he said, opening one up and staring at it, his hands shaking. “You went with… my middle name? Is that… smart?”
Tragos shook his head, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to look down at the passport in Kaden’s hand. The picture stared back up at them, asking, were they really doing this?
“I didn’t. It’s random. The first names and social security numbers that my contact could get. Didn’t get to pick. Thomas is a common enough name.”
“Thomas,” said Kaden faintly. Tragos looked at him, trying to get a read on him. He looked petrified.
Same, he wanted to tell Kaden. Hard same. But he was the older brother, here. No way he could let Kaden know he was feeling it too.
But he tried to find a way to ease it… “We don’t have to-”
Even as Tragos was saying it, he was trying to take it back. It would have been nice to believe they had a choice, but Tragos had looked at all the options spread out in front of them and…
Kaden finished his thought before Tragos could get there. “Yeah we do,” Kaden said, and he met Tragos’ eyes with a fire in his, Tragos didn’t think he’d ever seen such an expression in his brother’s face before. “We’re getting outta here, Ro. We ARE doing this. I will say it over and over: why should I be the only one who gets to escape? We’re doing it! Show me yours?” Kaden grabbed for it, pulling it open and forcing himself to find it all funny. “Ahaha, Kevin?! You’re gonna sound like a dick.”
Tragos swatted his arm, but Kaden had punctured a tiny hole in the tension and it was starting to leak back to survivable levels. “You have to look older,” he said, flicking a lock of Kaden’s hair. “This hair has to change.”
“Should I stop shaving? A beard would help, huh?” Kaden asked, raking his hand through his hair and inspecting the ends. “Maybe I should dye it? Are you gonna grow yours? Holy shit, what is Marcie going to think.”
Tragos – on the verge of making fun of Kaden’s ability to grow a beard – went quiet, and the whole conversation fell right into a hole.
“We’re gonna go see her, right?” Kaden asked, his voice quieter this time. “Before we go… right?”
The silence deepened. Seeing Marcie… there was nothing Tragos wanted to do more, tonight. But was it stupid? Was it getting her involved in danger from Apollo all over again? Would it get her mixed up in danger from Ares, afterwards?
Yes. Maybe. All of these things.
But he still really, really wanted to see her. Some parts of Tragos were still very, very selfish.
“We gotta do some shopping first,” Tragos said, already wondering if he was making a bad decision… But Kaden relaxed so much when he said it, the relief audible in his sigh. And besides, they’d need to sleep somewhere tonight. “Yeah,” he said. “Message her? Tell her about Apollo but… nothing else, yeah?”
If Marcie said no, don’t you dare, don’t you dare come here if Apollo might be after you, then fine, they wouldn’t, and he’d hate it but he’d understand it. He’d wrapped her thin, dying self up in a towel after a bath she hadn’t been strong enough to take herself, because of Apollo. He’d watched her throw up blood, seen the mortal fear in her face, because of Apollo.
He’d understand it, completely, if Marcie said no.
As he drove toward the Walmart, Kaden read the message out loud. “I’m gonna say, ‘hey, Apollo’s dating our neighbour so he knows where we live, can me and T stay with you tonight?’ how’s that? Too caj?”
Yes, thought Tragos. It wasn’t how he would have phrased it, but it would have to do. “It’s okay.”
“Good, cos I sent it already.”
“Alright,” Tragos said, taking a corner at speed. “Find a list now. Everything we might need. Anything you can think of. We don’t want to stop once we hit the road.”
Kaden nodded. His neck was stiff, his whole body so anxious he wanted to pee, but Tragos had given him a job, and he was gonna focus, and make his brother proud.
~
By the time the boys arrived at Marcie’s it was late, approaching eleven, and they’d spent more money at Walmart than either of them had ever spent there in their lives. The trunk of the car had been carefully packed, Tragos unwilling to just throw shit in there and frustrate themselves later, and the back seat was just as carefully arranged.
Kaden had stopped making jokes, Tragos had stopped saying anything at all. Tension strangled them both.
Tragos knocked quietly on Marcie’s door, and Kaden, arms wrapped around his backpack, kept watch for danger down the hall.