Three
“I got eyes on the target.” Regulus said. He was above the objective, in the vent. He was halfway merged with the shadows, but out enough so that he could breathe and talk to Dorcas through the transmitter.
“Okay, I got confirmation from Pandora that the target is staying in place for 3 minutes, before being locked up. If you can’t get it before then, this whole mission will go to waste.” Dorcas responded, her voice blaring in Regulus’ ear.
“I understand. I should be able to grab a hold of it before time is up, but I need a distraction. Barty, do you copy?” Regulus asked. Barty responded right away with a “copy.”
Regulus watched as the front door swung open, making a noise to let the workforce know that someone had entered. A middle aged man with a balding head and pot belly walked in. He was wearing a Hawaiian T-Shirt, tan jorts, and long socks with sandals. Regulus knew despite the looks that this was Barty.
“Oi, I have something to tell you guys.” Barty said in a slur, attracting the attention of the workers. Both workers on shift went up to him and asked what he wanted. “Why I just wanted to tell y’all that I love you. I dun’ know what I would've done if I couldn’t see your beautiful mugs tonight. Gimme a kiss.” As Barty grabbed the face of one of the workers, Regulus conjured the Target’s shadows to lift it up near the vents. Regulus broke through the vent, and the noise made one of the workers turn in his direction. Barty let out a yell as soon as he heard the noise, and grabbed the second worker by his hands, dipping him low and kissing him.
That shifted the focus away from Regulus and he was able to retrieve the package. Carrying the target, he merged with the shadows and into the nearby van that Dorcas, Marlene, and Pandora were in. Just as he arrived, he watched Barty get ushered through the door by the two men inside. Barty made his way over to the van and ripped open the door, changing his physique to his regular one.
“Did you retrieve it?” Dorcas asked and everybody looked at him.
“Damn right I did,” Regulus smiled, and the entire van breathed in relief. “Mission accomplished.” Dorcas gestured for Regulus to hand her the package and he did.
“Hell yeah,” Dorcas said, opening the package and pulling a Bud Light from it. “We did it.” She handed a beer to the rest of the crew. “Let’s get fucking wasted tonight!” She yelled and took a sip. Everybody except Pandora drank with her.
“I still have to drive us back, and we should wait for Evan.” Pandora said, putting the van in reverse and driving out of the parking lot.
“If Evan wanted us to wait for him, he should have come.” Barty replied. “Plus we totally could have used his time stopping powers for this, instead of making poor Regulus sit in the vents like a creep.”
“Oh, I’m not the creep here,” Regulus retorted, “You’re the one who started kissing those guys. Nowhere in the script did it say to do that.”
“It’s called Improv, Stormcloud. You can’t expect a renowned actor like me to abide by your boring script. Plus, anyone would want a kiss from me. I was doing those guys a favor.”
Regulus, Marlene, and Barty bickered all the way home. Pandora drove with Dorcas riding shotgun, they were having a small conversation amongst themselves. Soon, they pulled up to the house where everyone excluding Evan lived, although he visited regularly. All villain teams were forced to live together to form bonds and increase productivity. Some teams hate each other, but not this one. They all already felt like family, they decided that living together as one wasn't that bad.
Everybody shuffled from the car to the attic. They liked drinking there because if someone came, they would have to look for the group, giving them time to hide their drinks. They were all under 21, but underage drinking was hardly their biggest crime. Still, better safe than sorry. Most of them had lived their whole life hiding things from their parents and old habits die hard. Plus, they had a nice little set up there. A TV for watching movies while drunk as fuck, bean bag chairs and a bench they stole from the park to sit on, and a neon green fuzzy carpet that Pandora said she’d die without.
When everybody got up, they found that Evan was already waiting for them. Barty yelped in surprise, having thought he’d be the first one there.
“Shit! You goddamn Ninja, why do you just lurk in places and wait for people to come by? Why don’t you ever announce your presence. It’s just to scare us isn’t it?!” Barty said.
Evan laughed at Barty’s reaction, “I didn’t mean to. Usually you catch on quicker than that. Booze dulling your senses already?”
“Hey, don’t get mad at me for having a bottle or two. You could’ve come had it at the same time as the rest of us, but you refused.” Barty stated.
“I don’t do unpaid missions. Plus I don’t mind that you all started without me. I have fun seeing you guys have fun. I’ll catch up.” Evan answered.
“The payment was the beer. Besides, Pandora waited for you,” Barty pointed out. Evan looked at her with his eyebrow raised.
“I did not wait for you. I was driving and then you happened to be there as soon as I opened my first one. It was a coincidence.” Pandora replied, fitly.
“No shame in admitting you love me.” Evan smirked. Pandora scoffed and hit his arm.
Eventually, all the beer was gone and everyone had gotten into a deep conversation about their parents.
“I just don’t see why they had to be Death Eaters of all things. I mean we’re all villains here, so why am I the only one in a cult?” Regulus complained.
“I mean at least they stick to one thing.” Barty said. “My dad spoke out against Voldemort but is more than happy to fill his place. He just keeps up this act of hating villains, because that’s what everybody else does, but behind the scenes he’s worse than anybody he’s ever put away. He’s a crazy hypocrite. No, he’s worse. He’s a politician.”
“Well, COV did place him in power for a reason.” Marlene shrugged. “Maybe once he tears down the current system, he’ll start showing what he actually believes in.”
“Yeah, right. He’ll always play on both sides, he’s no gambler. I don’t even care what he does behind the scenes, just don’t lecture me about my public image.” Barty whined.
“To be fair, your public image is pretty bad. You need to stop shifting yourself into celebrities and then kissing their siblings.” Dorcas said.
“But it’s fun! And it’s shocking! My dad and I both have our place in the press. He controls it and I make it go wild.” Barty winked. Everybody sighed, except Marlene. She laughed.
Evan looked out the window. “I mean, we get it man. Villains kind of suck as parents, that’s just the way it goes. That’s why I avoided all of it, at least until I met you guys.”
“Yeah but we make it fun.” Pandora said. “I mean, you guys made it fun for me. It used to be all about the numbers. How many things I could predict, how much money they could make off of me, how many people I could kill. But with you guys, it’s a lot mellower. It’s like I can breathe, because it’s not that big of a deal. It seems more like a hobby than life or death.”
Dorcas let out a breath. “Well I’m glad that’s how it feels for you, but it is life or death for me. I genuinely believe my mom would kill me, or at least get rid of me, if I ever started failing to complete missions. It’s like all I am to her is a tool. And when tools don’t work anymore you replace them.”
Marlene looked sad and put her hand on Dorcas’ knee, trying to comfort her girlfriend. “See, my parents aren’t like your guys’. I didn’t grow up with all of this put on my shoulders. But I did grow up with Dorcas, and I know how hard it’s been for her. I got to join of my own free will, but after meeting you guys, I would join again. No hesitations. Sure, the organization kind of sucks, but you guys are part of it. So I’m glad I am too. Plus we get a shit ton of money for our missions so it’s not all bad.”
Barty laughed. “That’s just because you didn’t grow up in the organization, Mar. We were already loaded from our parents.”
“Speak for yourself, Barty.” Pandora joined in, “I don’t have any parents to be loaded from. And the organization only started paying me once I started demanding it. I swear they regretted putting me with you guys once I started asking for compensation. I hadn’t even considered it before you pointed it out to me, Regulus. So I’m with Marlene on this, I love getting money.”
“You all need to stop bragging. I don’t get to keep shit. Since I’m a Death Eater- on a technicality might I add- half of my money goes to supporting Voldemort. What he needs with money while in prison is beyond me, but at least I’m giving to a deserving charity.” Regulus rolled his eyes as he spoke.
As the group was talking, the TV they were letting play for background noise tuned into something interesting. A picture of Sirius, Lily, and Remus in front of a demolished building came into view.
“And you're saying the villain made this mess?” A reporter asked the trio.
“Yeah, it did,” Sirius replied. “My power allows me to control light and dark, so I can make things- including myself- invisible. I totally invisi-fied the building and BAM! He smashed head first into it!” Sirius laughed.
“How did you apprehend such a large man?” The reporter continued.
“He wasn’t always that big.” Lily said. “He had a power where he could control his size. At first he got small to evade us, but my partner here could still smell him out. So he became big. Once Sirius stunned him, I wrapped him in a large cocoon and forced him down to his regular size.”
“And what would you say to the people today? To inspire them to keep going despite the many villains?”
This time, it was Remus’ turn to speak. “I would say that everything is okay. Trust us heroes to take care of it and we’ll make sure you don’t get hurt.” Sirius laughed and high-fived Remus.
Regulus turned the TV off. The entire attic was dead silent. Regulus used the TV’s shadows to grab it and drag it down into the darkness. It sunk into the shadows and the group could hear it fall through the floor beneath them.
“I think that’s enough of that.” Regulus said, breaking the silence. He took a sip of his drink despite the fact that he had accidentally crushed it in his grip.
Pandora let out an awkward laugh in agreement. “Yeah, let’s just forget about that.” She said.
The rest of the group complied, everyone except Regulus, who couldn’t stop thinking about his brother. He sat there, fuming. He spent everyday working on or pulling off dangerous missions, all just to avoid the festering wound that was his home life. Now that wound was reopened, and for what? A stupid interview. Maybe Sirius should consider never putting his traitorous face on TV, because one day Regulus might just kill him for it.
He couldn’t stop the flashbacks, the fear he felt when he looked for his brother but couldn’t find him. The confusion when he realized that Sirius hadn’t been busted, but was still never coming home. Regulus had been worried for the wrong reasons. How dumb of him.
Regulus doesn't know when it all started. The beginning of the betrayal. But he knows the night it ended. Sirius had always been a model Death Eater. Everything he did was for the group, he loved serving Voldemort. Regulus tried to follow in his footsteps, he tried to love his way of life. But it was hard. He could never be Sirius.
One day, Sirius got promoted to a higher role in the leadership. The Death Eaters were going to break into the White House to get an antique called the Cruciatus Drill, and he was the team lead. It was a small drill that allowed you to make a hole in the top of a person’s skull, and it was infused with a superpower of torture from the 1800s. A person will feel the most pain they have ever felt, and it usually resulted in a confession. It helped win the Revolutionary War because they could make a single captured man tell where his troops were hiding and if backup was coming. The Death Eaters could do a lot with a tool like that.
However, as the best members of the Death Eaters were suiting up, HUF broke in. Somehow, they knew exactly where the operation was taking place. The location, the date, the time. They arrested 25 exemplary Death Eaters, and made the rest of the cult lay low for a long time. When Regulus had heard that Sirius’ team was arrested, he freaked out. He merged into the shadows under one of the trucks from the bust and followed to the prison the Death Eaters were being taken to. He hid under that truck, holding onto the bottom of it, for a long 45 minute drive. But he was so determined to rescue his brother that he thought nothing of it.
As soon as the truck stopped, He merged back into the shadows and made his way under a tree. He watched the Death Eaters be taken out and brought in for questioning and subsequent imprisonment. But he never saw his brother. Every truck’s back seat was empty. He panicked. Started thinking of the worst case scenario. He thought that maybe the leader would be taken someplace else. Maybe he missed the single truck that Sirius was in. He began spiraling until he heard his brother’s laugh.
He ran towards it. But instead of seeing his brother struggling in handcuffs, he was laughing with some boy with glasses. Regulus was confused, he couldn’t process what he was seeing. He couldn’t make sense of it. Nothing made sense, there was no logical explanation to explain why Sirius was okay. Regulus took a step into the light. That’s when Sirius saw him. He took one look at him and instead of being overjoyed for the rescue, his brother's face went pale. It was in the eyes, the fear in them when Sirius looked in his direction, that made him realize exactly what happened.
“Regulus.” Sirius muttered.
“You aren’t in handcuffs.” Regulus said. His breath stopped.
“Regulus, it’s not what it looks like-” Sirius tried to explain. Regulus gave him the time to, but Sirius didn’t continue.
“You. TRAITOR!” Regulus lunged at his brother. He wrapped his hands around his throat and began to squeeze. Sirius let him, he didn’t pull away nor shake him off. Somehow this made it hurt more, like a confirmation. He would have kept going. He would have choked him until he didn’t have a brother anymore. Sirius' face turned blue and it was such an unnatural color on him that Regulus began to cry. Suddenly, he felt something pull his collar. It was the boy that Sirius had been laughing with. A hero boy. He decided that he would kill him too. He used his shadows to wrap between the boy's legs and he pulled. The boy fell down. He should have stayed down. But he got up again and this time his hands were on fire. Regulus tried to go for the legs again, but the boy shot out his flames and it dispelled that shadow around him. Regulus couldn’t think of what to do, but the boy pulled his collar again and got him off of Sirius.
Now, being free, Regulus tried to uppercut the boy. But instead of fighting, the boy ran to Sirius. He was worried, he watched Sirius begin to take large breaths and forgot about Regulus. It was such a strong moment of friendship - of a forbidden friendship. Or at least a friendship that would have been forbidden if Sirius had actually been who he claimed to be- that Regulus ran away from it. He sunk into the shadows and traveled through them until he couldn’t anymore. He would stay fully submerged until he had to breathe, then he would put his head out of the shadows, take a deep breath, and submerge himself again. Regulus did this for at least an hour, traveling back the way he came. It didn’t take too long to get home since traveling through the shadows is faster than running.
When he got home, he locked himself in his room. Later, he would tell his parents. Later, Sirius would be shunned from the Death Eaters. Ignored. They would pretend like he never existed. But tonight Regulus could hardly stand the loss of his brother, let alone the loss of everything his brother had ever been. So he told no one. And he cried.