Well, shit
Bartys pov: 2016
He had been sneaking out of his house undetected for two months now, leaving to visit Regulus, cry to Regulus, laugh with Regulus, to visit Dorcas, cry to Dorcas and laugh with Dorcas but no matter what he did or felt, he was always missing something, maybe everything was missing but he couldn’t tell, either way, a massive part of Barty had disappeared, had disaparated from existence as far as he knew.
Well, actually he knew that was sort of over exaggerating it but you get the point, Barty was hollow from the inside out, and the reason behind his despair? The lack of Evan in his life.
Barty hadn’t seen Evan since he first arrived home, in the backseat of his fathers car, watching from afar as the love of his life walked away from his house, wiping at his eyes and not seeing Barty as he left.
Barty hadn’t talked to Evan in over a year, the day before he woke up in Azkaban where they were talking about their future together, they were going to get a flat together, a flat picket out for a year prior leading up to that moment, far away enough from both of their parents but close enough to see Regulus, Dorcas and Pandora whenever they felt like it, they were going to leave in a week, have time to pack and tell their families of their departures, and they would leave together, hand in hand, as happy as they could be, together. And now, they were so far from the other, it made Barty physically sick to think about it.
Seeing Evan that day had been eating at Barty ever since he left, it was tearing apart every little aspect of Barty that made him Barty which only existed due to this forever loving feeling he felt for no one but Evan Rosier, and now with Evan practically gone from his life, Barty barely felt alive, the only thing left to remind him that he was, in fact breathing was the pain the inhaling and exhaling caused.
So, the only reasonable thing to do in situations like this was to cry about all of his loses, all of his loses that amount to nothing when you think of the things other people in Barty’s life has lost.
You have Regulus, who barely can get out of bed these days, with no brother to save him from his mothers wrath, no cousin to make him smile through the tears as Sirius took the blow in the next room, no, Regulus lost both Sirius and Andromeda and was left alone to pick himself up after his parents took their anger out on Regulus for Sirius leaving, on Regulus who had helped get Sirius out, Regulus who promised himself he’d follow Sirius out of the window, Regulus who got caught and Regulus who Sirius forgot about. Regulus who was still fighting for his life every time he opened his eyes.
Then you have Dorcas, who couldn’t even leave her house without being escorted by her fathers many men who only used her for things her father undoubtedly knew about, with no one to help her as they screamed for help. Dorcas had Lily, Marlene and Mary, now though, Lily was in the hospital barely alive, Marlene was raising a kid that didn’t belong to her and Mary was no where to be seen, Dorcas basically had no one, no one other than Regulus who’s slowly losing himself to his parents madness, and Barty, who was dead until a few months ago. Dorcas had Pandora, who almost died twice at her cousin’s hand before running away to go start her own life and raise her daughter and get married, living the life Dorcas could only dream of.
Pandora, who now has a metal implant in her left arm to keep it from being completely useless, Pandora who had a C-section only a few months ago and was told her baby wasn’t going to make it, Pandora who was in and out of the NICU non stop for three months before being told her daughter could breathe on her own again, Pandora who’s husband was considered to be insane by anyone who crossed him, her husband who almost took his life when he believed both his baby and Pandora weren’t making it out of that hospital alive. She lost everything and then worked so hard to get everything back as soon as she could fight.
And then, well then there’s Evan, who still believes Barty to be dead, who had to listen to his parent’s debate whether he was even worthy to be considered their son. Evan who lost all balance in his legs when he was thirteen and Evan who had surgery on his legs so he could one day use them again, Evan who cried his eyes out when the Doctors asked what happened, Evan who, despite all of what his parents did to him, took the blame for his injuries instead, Evan who still got punished for lying about it, Evan who now could walk on both feet with barely a limp to his steps. Evan whose laugh was enough to cause Bartys breathing to stop right there and then, Evans laugh which he’d never hear again.
Point is, compared to the people he loved, all Barty lost was his lover, at least he knows Evan is alive. He has no right to mourn his loses when his friends had it so much worse, He had no place to cry, yet he kept crying anyway, crying into Regulus’ shoulder as Regulus read him to sleep, crying in Dorcas’ lap as they plaited a strand of his hair, crying into the empty feeling of losing everything when he knew he barely lost anything, just a lover who was mourning his death, that was nothing compared to everyone else’s problems. He had no right to come back into their lives and do nothing but cry.
Honestly, who did Barty think he was to deserve this? To deserve friends who, despite going through far much worse than he could ever imagine, stayed by his side in understanding, according to Dorcas it was expected to react this way, Dorcas who hasn’t smiled properly since she heard the news of Lily Evans. Regulus said he could cry for a million lifetimes and not a single tear would fix anything, Regulus who lost his brother the same day he lost his will to live. Barty didn’t deserve them, they helped the hollow feeling feel full, that was more than he felt since he first laid eyes on Evan all those months ago once again. He truly didn’t deserve his friends, they were his everything, so maybe he didn’t lose everything, Dorcas and Regulus were here and they were helping, even when they had their own problems, they were still there even if all they did was listen, that was more than Barty ever deserved from them. He owes them so much.
Barty had been sneaking out of his house undetected for two months now, or so he thought.
He was on his way to Regulus’ when he noticed two shadowy figures following his every move, he couldn’t get a good look at them from where he was but they were definitely on his trail. He attempted to misdirect them a few times to see if them following him was just a coincidence but nope, they followed in toe.
He picked up his pace and yes, just as he suspected they would, they sped up as well. He jogged for a bit too just to see if that’ll make him lose them but no, they walked faster, not quite jogging but not slow enough for people to not notice. Barty was even stopped once by a girl, no older than fourteen, who questioned if he was aware two people were following him, he just responded with a simple “yup” and continued on his way.
He turned around a corner to find two other men blocking his path, he went to walk around them, saying a mumbled sorry as he did, only to be blocked again, he went to turn around but was met face to face with the two who had been following him since he left his house. Three men and one Women. Great. How on Earth does one fight four people by himself? Maybe they mistook him for someone else, he often gets mistaken as his father and plays that role to downgrade suspicion so maybe that’s what this is. Another thing he has to sort out for his father, amazing.
“Crouch. Funny seeing you here” The women spoke, leaning against the brick wall, leaving him enough space between her and the guy she was accompanied with for him to run, that was probably a trap though. Either way, it wasn’t worth the risk.
“Yes, I’m sure it would’ve been hilarious if you weren’t following me”
“You left through the window. You father doesn’t know of your absence then?’ The man besides the lady spoke. Well shit.
“Do I know you?”
“Not yet, but you will” Responded one of the guys from behind him, he turned around again to find himself being held at gunpoint, well knife point but that’s not exactly a word, is it?
“You see Crouch” The last man said, standing besides the one with the knife to Barty’s throat. Barty walked backwards away from the knife to bump into the other guy now behind him “Your father made us a deal, we kill you, we get paid”
“How much?”
“What?
’
“Well if my life’s on the line here, I would like to know how much I’m worth” He says, attempting to ignore the lump in his throat at his fathers involvement with them.
“Well, aren’t you funny? Listen, don’t fight and we’ll make it easy for you” As far as Barty could tell, this man was the ring bearer of the group, he was doing the most talking, the most everything really, he was also the only one to be covering his face entirely, as if his identity was something to be suspicious about. The man with the knife only wore sunglasses, the entitled prick in all his glory but even the lack of a disguise doesn’t reveal much about the man, the lady only wears a mask, her eyes sending daggers to anyone who looks at them no matter what way, eyes that he recognises but again, not enough to put a name on it. Now the final man, the one stood besides the girl, has nothing to hide apparently as proven by his appearance being on full show, nothing that anyone would want to look at for more than seven seconds but Barty still feels its important enough to make a note about it.
“What’s the other way?” He questions instead, the leader of the group looks down, hands on his waist and looks back up. Something tells Barty that the man is unimpressed by his words, maybe its the tone of his voice as he speaks next, but either way, its unsettling.
“This isn’t a game, Crouch. Don’t make this hard on yourself”
“You reckon the hard way is the better option here?” He asks, looking at the shades of the man holding the weapon to his throat. Suddenly an idea came to his mind, an idea he would only put into action if they made any move on his life, an actual move, not just threatening words that his father could easily repeat to him later on, just words that mean nothing without an actual portrayal of the words happening.
The blader (Barty decided that would be the best way to word the man with the knife. Blader. Because its funny) didn’t show any emotions towards the question, just digging the knife further into his neck.
"So, you’re the leader?” Barty directed his question to the ringleader who replied with “Do as we say here Crouch”
“I don’t do drugs” Was what came out of his mouth next, maybe not the best thing to say in a situation like this but its done now, might as well go in further. “So, whatever you’re trying to sell here, I don’t want it” The leaders hand went up in a swiping motion which must’ve been the signal to dig the knife in further so... Bartys never been good with ideas, they never work out first try.
He knees the blader in his dick, causing him to hunch over slightly and before anyone else could move, he grabbed the handle of the knife and twisted it out of the mans grip, slicing off the mans hand as he does so (It wasn’t his fault the knife was at an awkward angle, ok?) , he heard footsteps behind him and so he did the only rational thing he could think of in that moment, he turned around on his feet and stabbed the women directly in her face, causing her to freeze in place, and as the man besides her stepped forward, he got punched, directly in the same place he had stabbed the lady.
The man kept punching Barty until he was hunched over on the floor, face drenched in his own blood and probably some blood from the puncher’s knuckles.
Everything went suddenly dull and quiet as the punches came to a stop.
Barty looked up in a blur and all he could make out was another person speaking to the three stabbing men, one of which was clutching his arm tightly to his chest, as if that would stop the bleeding and the pain that was surely pouring through him right now. As Barty’s vision resumed to its previous and original state, Barty looked at the culprit who potentially saved his life. Dorcas. Thank fuck.
Before he could even get a word in, Dorcas punched the leader in the face, giving Barty enough time to reach for the knife still planted in the women’s face, he slowly got to his feet as now the leader was trying to get to Dorcas but was being stopped by the Blader who noticed someone from afar watching, he kept repeating the phase “Someone else is watching” And “Police, love, if they see us” but all he got in response was “move” or “I’ll kill you bitch”, that last was definitely directed at Dorcas.
Barty, with the three of them being distracted, stabbed a clear hole into the man who got him to the floor. No one else seemed to notice until the knife had been removed and the man fell almost instantly to his side, landing at Dorcas’ feet.
All three of them turned towards Barty as he remained focused on the body in front of him. The leader backed away before hesitantly grabbing the bladers arm (The one still intact) and ran off, as if Barty hadn’t just killed two people, not innocent people, but people nonetheless.
He was still slightly conscious of Dorcas watching him but he couldn’t care, he fell to his knees and rested his hands on the mans cheek, feeling terribly sorry for the man but himself too, because shit, he’s a murderer. At the thought he turned his attention to the women and crawled to her, it was barely a crawl as she was right there, barely a foot away, but crawl seemed appropriate for Bartys current situation.
“Shit” He heard an extra voice but didn’t dare look up to know who had joined them. The voice was more of enough clue anyway. Regulus had come down to join them.
"He needs a doctor” Dorcas said to which Regulus responded saying “I can fix him. For now, though” That’s all he said, Barty assumed he meant the bodies, to which Barty was now placing his hand slightly above the wounded face of which he stabbed only minutes ago, seconds would seem better fitted for this situation.
Barty was suddenly proven wrong though as he was brought to his feet, away from prying eyes and his own guilt clenching at his lungs, forcing them to almost stop altogether but to his clear dismay, they refused to calm to a holt.
“Dorcas, you can climb through my bedroom window, yes? Awesome, go. In my wardrobe you’ll find a box filled with medical supplies, bandages and all that. Bring me the box if you can. Go. I’ve got him” Dorcas must’ve left because in his eyesight now was nothing but his own bloodied hands interlocked with Regulus’ cleaner ones who refused to leave his side no matter what, the only time Barty found himself alone was when Regulus brought the bodies closer to them, hiding them behind a stack of black bin bags in hopes no one would notice them.
Regulus brought his hands up to cup Barty’s face, causing him to look up into solid grey storms of which possessed Regulus’ cold yet comforting eyes, Barty was doing this with a dead body only moments ago, that thought never did truly leave his brain as Regulus spoke
“Listen to me Barty, ok? You’ll be ok, I promise. We’ll get you out of here, ok? You’ll be ok, I promise” All Barty could do was shake his head in response because no, how could he possibly be ok with blood on his hands? physically there or not, the blood would still continue to haunt him for the rest of his days. As they say, your first killing is usually the most memorable. It would surprise you how much that statement underestimated the word most.
Regulus spoke again, his hands never leaving the spot they’re placed at “You will be fine. No, stop disagreeing with me. I’m right. I am” Before he could finish, words finally returned to Barty’s vocals.
“I killed them... How can I be fine after that?” Regulus looked down at Barty hands and instantly moved his hands, cleaning Bartys hands into his own shirt, it wasn’t exactly affective but it was enough to make Barty feel even guiltier. Because now they have to clean it all up, chances are their families wont even know, just suspecting them to be missing, or will the bodies be returned? Either way, Barty wants to be as far away from it as possible, which of course had its bad affects to it, because you feel that? Even more guilt. If Even were to see him now...
Of course, even in moments like this, Evan was still pushing his way to his thoughts, it got so bad he had to tell Regulus. “Evan would hate me” He whispered, watching as Regulus’ freezes at the sentence, causing Bartys hands to still, causing Barty to notice the red stain that would certainly haunt him forever and more.
“Evan would help you”
“He wo- “
“Barty. He loves you, he would” And then he continued cleaning, or attempted at cleaning, the remaining blood off Bartys knuckles, struggling as the blood settled within the creases of his fingers, every stain resembling an event that could’ve been easily avoidable if he accepted his fate, but of course, even death was hesitating Barty’s arrival.
Dorcas returned with the necessary equipment to clean Barty up, who just sat there in silence as Regulus fixed him up, starting with the blood pouring out of his face and making his way to his hands. Dorcas had also brought a spare set of clothes and allowed Barty to change, and then together, they came up with an idea of what to do about the bodies.
Dorcas and Regulus were set on lighting the bodies ablaze but that idea only sickened Barty who disagreed with disposing the bodies altogether so instead, they were to somehow return the bodies to their families, and whilst going through their pockets, Regulus came across ID, all the while Barty sat and watched, his gaze never leaving the gaping holes he inflicted upon the face and chest of people who originally planned to have him killed. Did his father really plan this?
Alesha Sage and Roger Brody.
Two people who actually worked with Regulus’ parents, not Barty’s father, which just didn’t make sense at all really. Dorcas found the destination of their families who just so happened to be spending their week partying in a mansion not far from where they currently were.
“Put them in here” Regulus said, directing his question to Dorcas who obliged without saying anything else putting the bodies into the back of a van that was sure to go unnoticed, especially as it was nothing special and would be considered to be from the lower ranks according to anyone within the party.
The party was to celebrate the strength and power everyone present had, a party to show of their wealth and the fact none of them really had to work for it, A party all three of them would surely hate. Regulus helped Barty to his feet again and directed him to the passengers seat besides him, whilst Dorcas sat in the backseat.
The plan was to have all lights in the building switch off at the exact same time, causing a distraction for everyone inside and whilst they’re all fumbling with the lights in an attempt to turn them on once more, Regulus and Dorcas would bring the bodies inside, sat against a wall with nothing but blood oozing out of them, Alesha was barely even recognisable.
To help with the fingerprint’s aspect of their current problem, they threw a shit tone of gasoline over the bodies beforehand, and did actually set parts of the bodies aflame, only leaving the faces alone.
They allowed Barty to stay back the moment their plan was in action; however he was to drive away as fast as he could the moment they were both in the van again.
The lights went off and Barty was left alone in his own misery because, holy shit, Barty is a murderer. There’s no way he’ll ever be able to recover from this.
In the years that come, he begins to think that dying that day would’ve been more beneficial to him and everyone else instead of living and killing two people in the process, those two people later turned into thousands of ungrateful, powerful dictators, if you will, who found their deaths to be a message for anyone else who followed that dark path, if you do go that way, just know there will be consequences if you abuse your power.
Alesha Sage and Roger Brody didn’t deserve to die, however they were the first known to history who fell victim to who would later be known as The Carty Junior, a serial killer who’s true identity remained a secret from even those who were to come face to face with him, The Carty Junior, a twist of his own name that would later haunt his fathers dreams and nightmares with questions that made it believable that he, Barty Crouch Senior, was the man behind the slaughter, that he was the one hiding something. Everyone was so close yet so far at the same time, Crouch Senior wasn’t the man behind the crime, but he certainly was hiding something. What was he hiding? The murderer, his dead son, and the best part of it all was that he had no idea.
That was until some detectives questioned him years later about the criminal, and all he could think of was the similarities between this hidden man and his own son, who, as far as everyone else knew, was dead. Now that’s a great plot to go of off, isn’t it?.
When Dorcas and Regulus returned, Barty sped off, barely hearing the screaming coming from the building as he did so, the sound of the engine being all his hearing was picking up.
“They didn’t see us” Dorcas spoke first “The lights didn’t turn on again until we were in the car”
“Good, best we let that settle with them then, assuming the murderers in the building will certainly cause some sort of problem” Regulus responded
“Can we not use that word?” Barty asked, keeping his eyes on the road. As solid as this plan may have appeared to be at first, they forgot one crucial part that could truly fuck them over, Barty can’t drive.
“Murderer? Barty! Hands on the wheel!” Dorcas basically screamed as he turned around to stare at her due to the word that left their mouth. Barty instantly turned back around as the car began to swivel out of his control
“Ok fine, Killer?” Regulus asked to which Barty shook his head, “Well that’s what you are now mate, welcome to my world. Bartemius!”
“Sorry!” He apologised as he barely missed another car coming straight for him, now why would they be directly in front of him unless he was... Fuck, he’s driving on the wrong side of the road. Shit.
“Can you drive?” Dorcas questioned once again
“Of course, they’re on the wrong side of the road” At that statement, Regulus reached for the steering wheel, asking Barty when to press the brakes and when to press down on the clutch. Of course, Barty had no idea which was which, this sort of caused more problems but they all made it back to Regulus’ unarmed, so really, what was the problem here? There basically was none.
Apart from the bodies that was sure to make it news by the time they turned on the channel.