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heartsdesire456When Patrick started out to work that morning, he sure as hell didn’t ever expect to find himself pinned to a brick wall at the end of the day with two things digging into his back. One was a knife and the other was most definitely not a knife.
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Patrick Stump had a simple life. He lived in a small but functional apartment. Alone. He worked as a print editor for Hourglass Magazine, a modern music journal, where he spent the hours of nine to five in his tiny office (NOT a cubicle, thank you very much! He had something to be thankful for) five days out of the week. Also, for the most part, alone. He spent his weekends composing sheets and sheets of music that, sadly, was never heard by another human’s ears because he was So. Utterly. Alone.
The only friend he could possibly claim was the receptionist at Hourglass, Brendon Urie. They generally spent their lunch hour every day either sitting in Patrick’s office or going to the café on the corner. Basically the only things they ever talked about were music related. Personal things rarely came up simply owing to the fact that Brendon, like Patrick, was also completely and absolutely alone.
The day in question, a Tuesday just like any other, found Patrick and Brendon at the café, discussing nineteen seventies glam rock. Patrick had noticed the dark haired man two tables over almost entirely because of his ridiculous sunglasses and vibrantly blue hoodie. He could tell the man was watching him and Brendon, but he didn’t dare speak to him.
It would jeopardize his and Brendon’s amazing aloneness, after all.
However, in his current position, pinned to a brick wall on his walk home, clearly about to either die or be raped, possibly both, the sight of the strange blue-hoodie clad man was definitely a relief. He saw the man running the length of the alley and really hoped that, despite being almost as small as Patrick, something about him (maybe even his blinding choice of outerwear) would scare away the man currently pinning him down.
What he didn’t at all expect, on the other hand, was to see the man wave his hand at a pile of rubble and watch as a few bricks flew through the air apparently on their own and begin whacking the mugger in the back and head.
The man screamed and dropped his knife, turning to run away as fast as his feet could carry him, even with bricks still chasing after him. Patrick let out a soft sound of shock and relief before sliding down the wall to catch his breath and get his bearings back. His brightly dressed rescuer rushed over to him and knelt down. “Are you okay?” he asked gently, catching Patrick’s hand in his as he helped him sit back against the wall. “Are you hurt?” he asked insistently, and Patrick just flapped his and at him, trying to catch his breath. “Patrick?”
Patrick froze, going wide eyed as he looked up at the man in his seriously insane sunglasses and hoodie. “Who are you? How do you know my name?” he demanded.
The man cringed, ducking back. “Um, maybe I didn’t think that one through,” he admitted, then sighed, taking off his sunglasses. Patrick’s breath caught when he looked into the warm, kind, friendly brown eyes hovering in front of him. “I’m Pete. Pete Wentz,” he said, then ducked his head. “And- and I’m sort of maybe stalking you,” he admitted. “But! But I totally just saved you from a mugger, so um, please don’t hate me?” he tried weakly, and Patrick sighed.
“Well, you’ve had your chance to hurt me so I see no reason to not trust you enough to let you help me up,” he said, and Pete beamed, stepping back to pull Patrick to his feet. “Since you seem to have superpowers-“ Pete paled and Patrick smirked. “Want to at least walk me home?”
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Patrick let Pete Wentz talk about everything and anything he could as they walked to his apartment. When they got there, Patrick turned back to him and eyed him curiously. “Were you gonna ever get around to telling me what the hell you’re doing stalking me tonight, or is all this babbling just your way of avoiding?” he asked, leaning back against his door with his arms crossed.
Pete cringed. “I sorta can’t,” he said, biting his lip. “Not out here where people can hear,” he said and Patrick hummed.
“Everything in me is telling me to not do this, but,” Patrick eyed Pete. “If I let you in will you tell me what the fuck is going on, or am I gonna let you in and they’ll find me sliced up in little pieces tomorrow morning?” he asked apprehensively.
Pete smiled in amusement, eyebrow raised. “You watched me move something without touching it, what makes you think they’ll find anything left?” he asked, and Patrick’s eyes flashed with fear. “Shit,” he said quickly. “No, I’m not going to kill you,” he said quickly. “I couldn’t ever hurt you,” he admitted, then cringed when Patrick eyed him curiously.
“Huh… I’m suddenly feeling my curiosity getting the best of me.” Patrick turned and unlocked the door, leading Pete upstairs and down the hall to his apartment. He turned back quickly one last time. “If you kill me, I swear to God, I’ll haunt the fuck out of you,” he threatened, and Pete rolled his eyes.
“I let you see me using my-“ he lowered his voice and leaned in. “My powers. I really doubt you’d let a normal person in… I hope,” he said quickly.
Patrick snorted. “How do you know I’m not going to offer you a drink with something in it and have my way with you?” he asked, and Pete rolled his eyes.
“Roofies don’t work on me, my DNA doesn’t line up,” he said dismissively, and Patrick just stared, and then opened the door to walk in without another word. When he lead Pete in, Pete looked around curiously. “Hmm, looks different from the inside,” he said, and Patrick turned around quickly, gaping. Pete gave him innocent looks. “What? I told you, I’ve been following you. I’ve been sleeping on your balcony every night,” he said, and Patrick just shook his head, putting his keys on the countertop.
“Why is it that I live my whole life as a blip on the radar and then I’m being stalked by someone with odd powers who seems to think he has to sleep on the balcony of my apartment?” Patrick just shook his head. “This is my life? Really?”
Pete smirked, hopping on the couch to pull his knees up. “Don’t worry, I love your X-Men pajama pants.”
Patrick sat down across from him on the other end of the couch. “As someone who can apparently move things with their mind, that doesn’t offend you?” he asked. “The whole X-Men thing?” he asked.
Pete shook his head. “No, Jane Gray would kick my ass big time,” he said, smiling widely. “Alright, so what do you want to know?” he asked.
Patrick scoffed. “Well, for one, why the hell are you stalking me?” he asked.
Pete cringed. “Getting straight to the point, I see,” he said, then sighed. “Look… I can’t tell you everything without putting you in danger, but-“ He looked up, and then bit his lip. “Okay, I swear this isn’t a come on, but… I’m your guardian,” he said softly.
Patrick looked at him skeptically. “Uh-huh… from what?”
Pete bit his lip. “Look, it’s a long story, and you’re in danger now that you know about it, but there is a group of us. We are all people with powers. It’s not like X-Men, we aren’t ‘mutants’, we’re just… different,” he said. “That guy you have lunch with doesn’t know it, but he’s got a guardian as well,” he said, and Patrick’s eyes widened.
“Brendon? The receptionist?”
Pete nodded. “You are both Keys. I got assigned to you six months ago when we found you. I was the one who told them about him. His guardian is a bitch who isn’t nearly as thorough as I am, but I mean-“ he blushed. “It doesn’t hurt to watch you all the time because you’re sort of beautiful,” he admitted and Patrick hummed.
“So I’m a Key, you’re my guardian, Brendon is a Key too but his guardian isn’t as worried about him as you are me because you’ve got some weird attraction to short, fat, and ugly and apparently Brendon’s hotness isn’t as appealing to his guardian?” he tried skeptically and Pete rolled his eyes.
“Well, Brendon is younger and less likely to be targeted, and his guardian is younger and has his own social life and shit. I’m pretty much a douche so even if I’ve got tons of friends, they all don’t miss me very much when I spend days at a time not checking in because I’m with you.” Pete looked at him curiously. “Speaking of which, have you noticed anything… odd lately? About yourself or people around you?” he asked.
Patrick blinked. “I’m sitting in front of my ‘guardian’ being told I’m a Key,” he supplied pointedly, and Pete grinned.
“Yeah, but I’m not odd… much.” Pete smiled. “Look, it’s like… we don’t know what Keys are for,” he said vacantly. “We can’t figure out who you guys are supposed to be a Key for only that some people like us who are bad want to use Keys to do something bad. All we know is it involves the end of the world.”
Patrick blinked. “Whoa… heavy,” he said, and Pete nodded. “So, who are you guarding me from? And how are you supposed to be a guardian for someone who doesn’t know you’re there?”
Pete shrugged. “This is pretty heavy too but… basically I would die for you,” he said, and Patrick’s eyes widened. “I know it sounds really intense, and it kinda is, but like… as a Key, you’re something precious. If someone from the other side of this equation got you, they could use you in a process to bring about the end of humanity. Because of that, our group is sort of devoted to find and protect Keys. So far, you’re the first we found six months ago. I was the one who found you, so I was given the task to protect you.” Pete cringed. “Now that you know about me, chances are they’ll be more likely to try and get you if they know about you.”
Patrick waved a hand. “Who is ‘they’ and ‘we’ in this situation?” he asked curiously.
Pete smiled. “I am part of ‘we’, and we don’t have a name or anything killer like that, but we’re a group of friends and hangers on who have gifts and we kinda banded together so we would have some sort of ‘normalcy’ in life.” He took a breath. “There are eight of us so far. I mean, there are more friends who have gifts and a few friends who don’t, but the eight of us living together are our little ‘Super Friends’ type group. We have it set up like an organization, but to be honest, it’s just a group of friends dicking around and protecting people,” he said simply.
Patrick nodded. “Okay, and ‘they’?” he asked, and Pete’s eyes darkened.
“We… don’t know,” he said weakly. “We know the leader… or who we think is the leader,” he explained. “Her name is Victoria. She’s the only one we run into, but there are all the time reports in the news of people being beat up and robbed and even killed in ways that seem suspicious and I can only imagine are done by people with powers.”
Patrick nodded, looking at Pete. “You’ve been stalking me for six months and I never noticed you before today?” he asked, and Pete ducked his head.
“I was trying a new fashion choice?” he offered, and Patrick snorted.
“Yes, the blue was what did it. The vibrant blue and then I noticed you staring and wearing giant weird sunglasses,” he said. He sighed. “So wait, you’d die for me?”
Pete nodded quickly. “Oh yeah. I mean, at first I was sorta ‘ew, what?!’ but I mean…” He shrugged. “Six months of devoting the bulk of your life to someone and you kinda get attached and protective. I mean… I feel like I have to, of course, because of the whole ‘save the world’ thing, but also I’d probably lose my shit if something happened to you at this point,” he said, and Patrick smiled a small smile.
“Really? You stalk me for six months and you’re attached?”
Pete shrugged. “You feel like my best friend. I mean, you didn’t know I was ever there, but… I know everything about you,” he said, and Patrick just stared, not sure how he felt about that. “It’s weird but it’s like a one-sided friendship in my head. I can’t explain it and I know it has to freak you out, and I’m sorry, but… I can’t help it,” he said. He shrugged. “It’s just weird cause nobody else has done it with their Keys. Well… by nobody else, I mean Brendon’s guardian, cause he’s the only one besides me, but still… he doesn’t even like Brendon,” he said, shrugging. “I mean, I guess he’d die for him too just because it’s in the job description, but he bitches about like… everything Brendon does and it’s not like that for me.”
Patrick bit his lip. “Why?” he asked, and Pete shrugged, looking like he really didn’t know. “When you say it’s more dangerous now… what do you mean?” he asked.
Pete sighed, standing up to pace. “If you don’t know you’re a key, it’s not as important that they get their hands on you. If they know you know, they might think it’s more important they get you now before you get cautious.”
Patrick nodded. “So… what are you going to do now? I mean… do we just… keep going like nothing happened and hope they don’t know I know?” he asked.
Pete shook his head. “I already devote most of my time to protecting you but now I’m gonna have to just never leave you,” he said, and Patrick hummed. Pete paled. “Sorry if you don’t like that, I can stay discreet but I can’t let you go alone. I mean I’ll have to do my check-ins with the rest of my friends while you’re at work. In a really public place, you’re in less danger.”
Patrick nodded. “Well… to be honest it’s not like anybody will notice you any way you do it so like… you can totally sleep on the couch or something if you want? I doubt a concrete balcony feels nice,” he said, and Pete beamed.
“So you don’t hate me?!” he asked brightly.
Patrick chuckled. “Dude, I live the most boring life in history… at least now I have a meaning in the world,” he said, and then shrugged. “And you’re creepy as hell, but I sure as hell don’t want to piss off the person who is going to be protecting me,” he said, and Pete smiled.
“Sweet!” he said happily.
Patrick stood up, shaking his head. “Alright, I’m hungry, make yourself at home or whatever, I’m ordering Chinese,” he said, going towards the kitchen to get a takeout menu.
It was as he was ordering his food that Patrick realized he was letting a complete stranger who claimed to be his ‘guardian’ have free run of his house. Patrick finished ordering, and then calmly walked back out, almost expecting to see his television gone and the door hanging open. However, all he saw as that Pete had barely moved, sitting patiently staring at the magazines beside the couch. He knew he was crazy, but he just couldn’t find it in himself to really freak out and kick Pete out. Something about Pete seemed easy to trust, even if Pete himself seemed slightly annoying and more than a little weird.
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A few days of Pete bunking on his couch, Patrick was curious. “So I have a question,” Patrick started, sitting down beside him. “When you say you know everything about me, exactly how ‘everything’ are we talking?” he asked suspiciously.
Pete shrugged. “You’re twenty-seven, your middle name isn’t your real middle name, you grew up in Glenview, you’re named after your mom, and you have a degree in production, even though you’re stuck as an editor because your first degree was in English.”
Patrick eyed him. “Okay, so you know the basics, not like… stalkerish things,” he said, nodding.
Pete cringed, blushing. “You mean like… how you like to hum Prince in your sleep?” he tried, and Patrick gaped.
“I- I-“ Patrick spluttered. “I do not hum in my sleep!” he cried, and Pete nodded.
“Yep. Usually it’s the one about doves crying. I don’t know the song but I recognize the tune. You hum it sometimes in your sleep,” he said, and Patrick just stared. “And- and you stare at yourself in the mirror and keep sucking in your stomach and looking all bummed but it’s sorta stupid, cause you’re pretty much hot,” he added. “Seriously, just cause you’ve got a tummy doesn’t make you fat,” he argued, and Patrick snorted.
“Yes… having excess body fat doesn’t make you fat… riiight,” he said, rolling his eyes. “So, you really are a stalker?” he asked, and Pete nodded brightly.
“Pretty much.” He shrugged. “There’s other stuff like… you’ve got a brother named Kevin that came over once and that’s the only person who’s even been to this apartment since I’ve been following you,” he said. “You don’t have friends,” he said, eyeing him curiously. “Why not?”
Patrick shrugged. “Well I’m not the most outgoing person in the world, am I?” he asked.
Pete shrugged. “Eh, it doesn’t matter. If I had ever met you as a normal person somewhere, I’m pretty sure I’d have been all ‘oh shit you’re awesome, let’s be friends!’ so whoever doesn’t do that is just lame and doesn’t deserve you to be their friend,” he said, and Patrick laughed.
“You’ve been my guardian for way too long,” he said, shaking his head as he turned and walked out.
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Patrick had felt mostly safe with Pete watching him, especially since Pete admitted that he was not only telekinetic, but could adapt the powers of any of the ‘bad guys’ (Pete’s exact words) who came near them and use them against them. However, the day he and Brendon were on their way to lunch and the sky above them suddenly darkened, he sort of knew that they were probably more than a little screwed.
Brendon looked up at the sky then around at the street, where a mysterious wind whipped through. “Dude, where did this weather come from? I thought it was clear today,” he said, and Patrick just grabbed Brendon’s arm and looked around for Pete. “Patrick? Patrick?! What’s going on!?” he cried, only to gasp as Patrick spotted Pete coming towards them and broke into a run, dragging Brendon with him.
“Pete-“
Pete looked more worried that Patrick had ever seen. “Run,” he said simply, and then spotted Brendon. “Keep running along this street, his guardian will catch up to you,” he said, and Patrick caught his arm before he ran. “Patrick, go!”
“How do we know it’s his guardian, not someone after us?” Patrick asked quickly, and Pete stopped.
“Blue eyes. You’ll know what I mean when you see him,” he said, quickly, and then shocked Patrick by shoving him and Brendon before rushing past them in the direction the wind was coming from.
Brendon looked terrified and confused, but followed Patrick as he dragged Brendon into a run. “Patrick, what’s going on?!” he cried as they ducked under a flying umbrella.
“Can’t talk now, it’ll all come out later, I promise,” he said quickly, tugging Brendon as they continued to run.
They were running around the corner when a car pulled up behind them. “Get in!” A man cried, and Patrick looked at him skeptically, only to immediately understand what Pete meant by ‘blue eyes’. This kid had the bluest eyes Patrick had ever seen. “GET IN!” he shouted, and Patrick nodded, shoving Brendon in the backseat before diving in after him.
“You sure as hell better be Spencer,” Patrick said and the guy nodded as they careened down the road.
“I guess Pete told you about me? He mentioned you found out about him,” he said, and Patrick nodded.
“Was it me or Brendon?” he asked, and Brendon looked scared, confused, and alarmed.
Spencer looked at Brendon in the rearview mirror. “It was you, but we think they clocked Brendon too since he was with you.”
“Patrick, what’s going on?” Brendon asked, looking at him with fear in his eyes.
Patrick cringed. “It’s a long story,” he said, and then looked at Spencer, who nodded. “Okay, so the thing is we’re not… normal.”
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Patrick was amazed when Spencer took them to the old rail yards and pulled the car into an old, seemingly abandoned warehouse. He turned around and looked at them. “Look, this is kind of our hideout, okay? We’ll keep you guys here until we find out what all they know and if it’s safe for you to go back to your houses,” he said, and Brendon and Patrick both nodded.
As the climbed out of the car, Patrick bit his lip. “Hey, do you think Pete’s okay?” he asked in concern.
Spencer shrugged. “Hopefully. I mean, he was just supposed to hold off anybody who came after you guys. If he’s not back in a few hours, we’ll worry then, but I’m sure he’s fine,” he said.
Brendon frowned. “So wait, you’ve been letting your guardian live in your house?” he asked, and Patrick nodded, shrugging. “Why?”
“Well, the poor guy was sleeping on my balcony most nights! He’s there to keep me safe so the least I can do is let him sleep on the couch,” Patrick supplied.
Brendon eyed Spencer. “How come I’ve never noticed you?” he asked curiously.
Spencer scoffed. “Because Pete fails at subtle.”
Patrick shrugged. “He got away with it for six months. The only reason I noticed him is because he was wearing bright blue and then on the way home, I got jumped by a mugger and he saved my ass,” he said, and Spencer hummed.
“How did you not notice someone living on your balcony?” he asked, and Patrick shrugged.
“Who really looks out on a balcony facing a brick wall?” he countered.
They were distracted by a large black dog running up. It barked at Spencer, who rolled his eyes. It looked up at them and Brendon squeaked, ducking behind Patrick in fear. The dog, which looked more like a wolf, huffed at them and then turned to head back through the warehouse.
Spencer spotted Brendon’s fearful eyes and snickered. “Don’t worry, Brendon. That’s just Mix. He’s a sweet wolf,” he supplied, confirming Patrick’s thoughts. “Come on, I’ll take you guys to meet the others and work out what happened,” he said, leading them to the hallway the wolf had disappeared down.
When they got to a room with lights, Patrick was strangely relieved to hear Pete’s voice. They walked into the room and saw it appeared to be some sort of common room. There were couches, tables, a television, a pool table, and a door leading into what appeared to be a kitchen. Patrick spotted Pete walking in from a door to the left with a short guy with bushy hair and the wolf who had greeted them. “Patrick!” he said quickly, rushing over. “Are you okay?” he asked, grabbing Patrick’s hands to look him over, as if, searching for injuries.
“Pete, Pete-“ Pete tugged him in a circle. “PETE!” he cried angrily, and Pete stopped. “I’m fine, fuck, stop twirling me around!”
Pete stopped and smiled apologetically. “Sorry, but I was worried when I got back before you guys,” he said, and Patrick smiled.
“You’re obsessed, Wentz,” he said, and Pete shrugged but didn’t deny it.
“So,” the short man started. “I’m assuming, then that these are the Keys?” he asked, looking at Brendon and Patrick.
Pete nodded. “Yeah, this is Patrick, that’s Brendon,” he said, and Brendon crossed his arms.
“They explained but I’m still confused what the fuck happened on the street,” he said, looking around. “And who the hell are you people?” he asked, nudging closer to Patrick.
Pete looked at Patrick. “So, Patrick, this is our headquarters sorta, and you guys will be okay here,” he said, and then looked at Brendon. “And these guys are my friends,” he said, nodding at everybody. “You met Spencer, and Brendon, he’s your guardian, if you don’t know already.”
Brendon nodded. “Yeah, we had that talk in the car, but continue,” he said, and Pete nodded.
“This is Andy,” The curly haired, short man nodded. “He’s our leader, sorta. The wolf is Mix, but in human form his name is Matt Mixon.” The wolf wagged his tail and nudged Brendon’s arm affectionately until Brendon shrugged and petted his head.
“Oh God, don’t do that,” said the tall one with the massive amounts of curly hair. “He’ll follow you around for head pats,” he said. “And don’t even start on belly rubs,” he said, rolling his eyes.
Pete smiled. “This is Joe,” he said, nodding. “He’s totally one of my best friends.”
Patrick looked at Pete. “So, what the hell was that on the street?” he asked, and Pete cringed.
“It was her,” he said, turning around. “Andy, it was her. She was after Patrick. She didn’t figure Brendon out, but she saw them together so he’s not safe either.” Pete tugged Patrick’s sleeve. “She was trying to make it dark and stormy so she could snatch him. I didn’t have to fight her, but I saw her running away,” he said.
Andy sighed. “Alright, we’ll work it out, but for now let’s make call everybody in and see what we can do about finding room for these two to stay,” he said, and Patrick raised an eyebrow at Pete.
Pete cringed. “Yeah, about that-“
“Stay?”
Spencer shrugged. “You guys have to stay for a while. It’s for your own safety.”
Patrick gave Pete a look, and Pete shrugged innocently. “If you really want to go home, I’ll come with you and when we both die-“
Patrick rolled his eyes. “Oh shut up, Wentz,” he said, shoving him with a smile.
“Alright, Joe’s gonna take care of you and Brendon and trying to find a spot for you guys. Later we’ll get someone to pick up some of you guys’ stuff but for now I’ve got to go talk to Andy and Mix,” he said, and Patrick nodded.
“Alright, just figure some shit out,” he demanded and Pete nodded.
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Pete flopped down on the couch in Andy’s office, smirking when Mix went and sat beside Andy, laying his head in Andy’s lap pointedly. Andy chuckled and stroked his head as he flipped through some papers on his desk. “So, you’re involved with your Key?” he challenged, raising an eyebrow at Pete.
Pete gaped. “No!” he cried, and then flushed. “Well, we’re friends,” he tried, and Andy hummed.
“The way me and Matt are friends, or actually just friends?” he asked, and Pete rolled his eyes.
“I’ve been sleeping on his couch, not sleeping with him,” he said, crossing his arms defensively. “Now how about we work out how to keep my Patrick safe?” he asked.
Andy snickered. “Yep, definitely friends only,” he said, nodding with a smirk.
Pete glared. “Fuck off, you’re in love with a dog,” he said, and Andy snorted.
Mix, however, growled. Andy smiled, stroking his head. “Don’t piss Mix off, he’ll eat you,” he said, and Pete just pulled his legs up from the floor.
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Patrick looked at the room he and Brendon had been given. There were two beds and two dressers in the room. Brendon sat on one bed and looked around. “This is like being in dorms all over again,” he said, and Patrick laughed.
“Somehow I doubt your dorms were down the hall from guys with super powers,” he pointed out and Brendon chuckled.
“True.” He looked over at Patrick. “So… what’s up with your guardian?” he asked, and Patrick frowned.
“What?”
Brendon snorted. “He’s been living with you?” he asked, and Patrick waved a hand.
“He’s been sleeping on the couch, not living with me,” he said, and Brendon eyed him.
“He was freaking out when we got here,” he said, and Patrick shrugged.
“I don’t fully understand, but the whole guardian thing is a big deal, really. I mean, he’s spent seven months of his life following me and protecting me and looking out for me. He’s like… devoted to keeping the ‘bad guys’, whoever they are, from getting a Key and he’d die to stop that from happening. So I mean, if he’s spent all that time and effort on me, of course he was freaked out when he got back and I hadn’t,” he said, shrugging.
Brendon nodded. “And yet my guardian, who took the same ‘oath’ or ‘assignment’ or whatever, didn’t really seem to like me,” he said, and Patrick nodded.
“He doesn’t. Pete says your guardian is a bitch and hates everybody,” he said, and Brendon snorted.
“Great, you get the attached guardian, I get the annoyed guardian.”
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. It opened and Pete came in with a tall, dark haired guy. “Hey Patrick!” he said brightly, and Patrick smiled.
“Hey, so what’s up?” he asked, and Pete came over, hopping up on the bed beside him.
“Well, you’re staying here for a while, under our watch.” Pete looked around. “This room kinda sucks,” he said, making a face. “It reminds me of college.”
Patrick eyed Pete skeptically. “You don’t strike me as the collegiate type of guy,” he said pointedly.
The guy from the doorway laughed. “He dropped out after a year,” he said. “Political science was his major,” he said, and Patrick snickered. “Hi, I’m Matt. You met me in my other form,” he offered, smiling as he nodded his head.
Patrick smiled. “Yeah, I’m Patrick, as you already know,” he said.
Brendon snorted. “Yes, we all know each other’s names, now tell me something… are we gonna be here long?” he asked, and Matt cringed.
“Not too long but a while. We’ll all be trailing you guys to work and back every day. Pete and Spencer will walk with you guys, so you need to make up a fake story for that for anybody who might ask. Friends, coworkers, whatever.”
Brendon sighed. “You obviously don’t know much about us,” he said, and Patrick nodded.
“We’re sorta pathetically boring and friendless. Our coworkers barely know we’re alive,” he said.
Matt smiled. “Well, either way, you need a story ready. Now, they’ll walk you, but at the same time, someone else will be walking along trailing behind or ahead. If you guys go to lunch, meet up with Spencer and Pete and we’ll be around as well.”
Pete snorted. “Generally if Andy and Matt are following us around, it’ll be tiny ass Hurley walking Mix on a leash like he’s the family pet,” he said, snorting. “Let’s just say the kinky images it induces are both hot and terrible,” he said, and Patrick laughed.
Matt rolled his eyes. “Wentz, we do not bring my collar and leash into the bedroom,” he said firmly. Pete opened his mouth and Matt held up a hand. “And for the last time, we do not have any sort of interaction that could be conceived as bestiality,” he added, and Pete sighed.
“You take the fun out of teasing, Matt,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s so fun to imagine kinky leash-play,” he said, snickering.
Brendon just hummed. “Collars are hot,” he said absently, earning disturbed looks from the others. “What?! It’s true!” he defended, ducking his head bashfully.
Pete just smiled. “I like you, Brendon,” he said, sliding his arm around Patrick’s shoulders. “I think he’s gonna be a fun roommate for you,” he said, and Patrick snorted, but didn’t make Pete move his arm.
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“This sucks,” Spencer said, grumbling as he held Brendon’s hand. “Ew, your palms are sweaty,” he said, and Brendon huffed.
“Well I’m living with a giant target on my back, wonder why that would make me nervous?!” he hissed and Spencer glared.
“Hey! Play nice,” Pete directed. “You’re supposed to be his new boyfriend. You have to at least pretend to like him some,” he argued.
Spencer hummed. “Can’t I just be his new fuck-buddy? I can pretend to think he’s hot much easier than pretend to be sickeningly in love.”
Pete smiled, curling his arm around Patrick’s waist delightedly. “It’s very easy to do this cause I know everything about Patrick and I can totally be a good fake boyfriend.” He kissed Patrick’s cheek with a smack. “Hey, can we have funny pet names?” he asked and Patrick snorted.
“You’re enjoying this way too much, Pete,” he said, groaning when Pete tried to kiss his face again. “Really, I don’t do PDA in a real relationship, I’m not letting you hang all over me for a fake one.”
Pete sighed. “I’m wounded, fake-boyfriend. You are a mean fake-boyfriend.” He let go of his waist and held his hand, lacing their fingers together. “So, I’ve worked it all out!” Pete started. “You and I met at the park. I was walking my dog-“
“You don’t have a dog,” Spencer supplied and Pete shushed him.
“I was walking my dog and you were reading on a park bench. My dog ran over to you and jumped in your lap and you freaked out but then thought he was adorable so you cuddled him and petted him and when I ran up to apologize, you looked up, I saw your smile, and instantly fell tragically in epic love with you,” Pete said, and Patrick chuckled.
“Oh yeah? That’s how you see our fake-dating happening?” he asked
Pete nodded. “Yes. And when I told you you’re beautiful, you blushed and ducked your head and I asked you out and we had a romantic dinner and I walked you home and you kissed me and then fell passionately in love with me and invited me inside under the pretense of coffee but then when I got inside, you threw yourself at me and we had hot, passionate, sweaty, dirty-“
Patrick gaped at the filthy glint in Pete’s eyes. “PETE!” he cried indignantly. “Don’t you dare imagine hot, dirty anything with me, and really! Do you think I put out on a first date?!” he asked and Pete shrugged.
“You fell madly in love with me, it doesn’t count!” he said cheerfully.
Brendon just snorted. “Great, my fake-boyfriend only wants to be my fake-fuck-buddy and yours wants to have your imaginary babies,” he said, and Patrick chuckled.
“Pete must not get laid often,” he answered and Pete cried out in contempt.
“I so totally get laid! All the time! With more than one person even!” Pete defended and Spencer snorted.
“Pete, you have barely come home any in the last seven months. You spend all your time shadowing your Key. Unless you’re getting some from random hookers, you seriously aren’t,” he teased and Pete huffed.
“Fine,” he admitted. “But it just proves dedication to protecting the world! If I take a break to have a girlfriend, Patrick would be all alone and unsafe,” he said, laying his head on Patrick’s shoulder. “I’d be a bad, bad superhero if I did that.”
Patrick snorted. “You’re lucky I like you,” Patrick said, and Pete beamed.
“Of course you do, I’m small and have a big smile and puppy eyes. You have to like me! It’s human nature.” He looked wiggled his eyebrows at Brendon. “I’m like a little baby doggy.”
Brendon just giggled. “You’re funny, is what you are,” he argued. “Why couldn’t I have the fun fake-boyfriend?” he whined. “Sure, Spencer, you’re hotter than Pete-“
“Hey!”
“But you’re a jerk. At least Pete’s fun. And he’s cute enough since there’s no actual dating stuff going on,” he said, and Patrick chuckled.
“Hey, stop trying to steal my fake-boyfriend!” he cried with a wink. “Besides, at least if we ever, for any reason, have to fake a kiss, you have a really hot dude to kiss, I’d have to kiss a horsey smiled puppy,” he said, and Pete gasped.
“I am wounded, Patrick. WOUNDED!” he cried, clutching his heart dramatically.
Patrick smiled in spite of himself. “You’ll live.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick and Brendon’s work day went as well as expected. Nobody noticed the extra hangers-on chilling with Patrick and Brendon at their respective workspaces and when they walked down the street, they blended in with the other couples strolling along.
After they went to collect some stuff from their apartments, Patrick and Pete returned to find Spencer and Brendon were still out. Pete went to snoop through Patrick’s things, or so he told Patrick, while Patrick went to talk to Andy about Brendon and Spencer.
When he got to the office, Andy was alone at his desk. “Oh, Patrick, come in,” he greeted when Patrick knocked on the open door. “What’s up?” he asked as Patrick took a seat in front of his desk.
“Have you heard from Brendon and Spencer?” he asked and Andy nodded.
“Yeah, Spencer called to say Brendon demanded they go shopping for some stuff before coming home,” he said, then chuckled. “You’re worried?”
Patrick shrugged. “Well yeah, why wouldn’t I be? I know you guys know we only ever talk at work, not outside of it, but he’s the only friend I have, so of course I’m worried.”
Andy smiled a genuine smile. “Yeah, I know that feeling,” he said, shaking his head. “No, he’s fine. Don’t worry, Spencer may have an attitude, but he’s good at what he does.”
Patrick nodded. “And what do you do?” he asked curiously. “I mean, what’s your power or whatever?”
Andy shook his head, putting his hands on his desk to shift in his chair. “I don’t have any powers,” he said, getting comfortable. “I just manage everybody’s comings and goings. I’m the leader of the group, I guess, though we’re pretty much all equal.”
Patrick raised an eyebrow curiously. “So you’re the leader but you have no powers? How did you even get involved?”
“I was working for the CIA,” Andy said and Patrick’s jaw dropped. Andy grinned. “Yeah, I know right? I was something of a child genius at math and science so I got recruited out of high school and trained for gathering intelligence by the CIA. About eight years ago I was promoted to a group with the express task of capturing and detaining people with powers.”
Patrick shifted, interest increasing. “Why did they want to detain them? Not everybody is bad, clearly.”
Andy chuckled humorlessly. “Yeah, well not all the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor but our ‘lovely’ government still locked most of them up in camps during the war, didn’t they?”
Patrick tilted his head. “Alright,” he allowed. “But how did you go from detaining people with powers to leading a group of them?”
“My first mission after promotion was to go undercover as a college student. Pete was actually my target,” he said and Patrick’s eyes widened. Andy chuckled in amusement. “I was sent in as a student in Chicago at his school. He was really popular but try as I might I couldn’t really get to really talk to him. I wasn’t the most socially adept person, as you could imagine,” he said and Patrick snickered.
“Oh trust me, I know that one.” He looked at him curiously. “How did you finally get to know him? I mean hell, why didn’t you detain him?”
Andy smiled at something on his desk in a fond way Patrick wasn’t expecting. “Because of Mixon, actually,” he said and Patrick shifted.
“Okay, I’ll take the bait,” Patrick said. “You guys are together, right?”
“Yeah, I saw Matt with Pete a lot, they were pretty good friends, so when Matt flirted with me when I was at a party Pete threw, I figured I could get close without much trouble if I started dating one of Pete’s friends,” he said and Patrick looked surprised. “I was trained to be callous, I was trained to be emotionally detached. I had to be,” he explained. “I was getting intel to possibly detain a person who did no wrong just because he had powers. I was meant to be cold.”
Patrick smirked. “If you tell me you changed sides because of love, I reserve the right to tease you,” he warned and Andy grinned bashfully.
“Well, it was more complicated, but basically I did.” He shrugged. “I started dating Matt to get in with Pete, and it worked. But Matt was really sort of awesome. I didn’t expect to actually like him, you know? I was surprised someone that hot flirted with me, but we had a lot in common once I got to know him, so I guess he recognized that in me when he hit on me at that party. We ended up getting really close. We’d been together about two months when I had all I needed for Pete, and I was meant to be there a few more weeks before we moved in on Pete. I’d noticed Matt had stuff around his apartment that made it seem like he had a dog. Fur on his jacket, a strap on the bedroom door so that a dog could turn the handle, stuff like that. And when I asked, he mentioned he had a big dog so he had to keep it from his landlord. I saw his dog a good few times when I was over, but eventually I realized I never saw them together and I got suspicious, you know?” he said and Patrick nodded.
“That would be suspicious, your boyfriend leaving and then a dog coming out of the room he went in, then the dog leaving and your boyfriend coming back,” he said and Andy laughed.
“Yeah, and when I started thinking ‘oh shit, what if he’s one too?’ since we knew animal transformation was a power, I got really conflicted,” he admitted. “Because I liked Pete, he was a great guy and I hated to turn him in, but even if I’d never let myself think it, I knew when I was faced with the prospect of turning Matt in that I couldn’t. I loved him. I knew all along better than to fall for him since it was all a cover and I would never see him again after the mission was over, but you don’t spend three months getting to know somebody who is pretty much perfect for you and fully shut off your emotions.”
Patrick smiled. “So what did you do?”
Andy groaned. “I held off on my suggestions of when to move for too long and they decided to bust Pete without my say-so. Only I found out about it and I knew Matt and Pete were both at Pete’s house that night so Matt would get found too.” He shrugged. “I went and warned them, got them to leave. I had to explain then, and they both were so hurt,” he said with a wince at the memories. “Pete wanted to kill me and Matt was hurt so bad that he had been a cover. It took me quitting my job to prove I wasn’t still on the government’s dime and to convince him I really did care about him. After that, though, I had to go into hiding.” He gave Patrick a grave look. “You don’t just resign from undercover CIA work, you know?”
Patrick cringed. “Ew, I bet not.” He smiled in amusement. “So you’re telling me you’ve been dating Matt Mixon for eight years?” he asked and Andy nodded, grinning.
“When I put myself in danger just to prove I loved him, Matt realized I wasn’t lying. He forgave me and since Pete was already on the CIA’s radar, we all ran for it. We hid out and started meeting people to ask to join us,” Andy said simply.
Patrick grinned. “That’s really cool. And seriously sweet, God, if I was a romantic kind of guy, I’d probably be all gushy about how cute your story is-“
“Please, don’t,” Andy said, cringing.
“Don’t what?” They both turned to Matt walking in, slapping the door casing on the way in. “What’s Patrick doing?” he asked, going to sit on the edge of Andy’s desk.
Andy smirked. “I was explaining why I have no powers and still run this operation and he decided that if he was a more girly guy, he’d find our story super romantic.”
Matt smiled at Patrick. “Fuck yeah it’s romantic! I managed to make a hardened CIA operative give up his job and basically give up his life all for loving me. How awesome am I?!”
Andy shoved him some, rolling his eyes. “I lied, I hate you. I never loved you-“ Matt cut him off with a kiss, cupping his cheek.
“You do too love me, admit it.”
Andy grinned. “Alright, you’re not so bad.” He smirked. “You still can’t beat me in a race,” he said, then flew out of his chair, running for the door before Matt even stood up.
“I have four legs!” Matt shouted, running across the room only to transform mid-step and rush out as a massive wolf.
Patrick just chuckled and stood up to go find Pete.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick went into his and Brendon’s room only to find Brendon and Pete snooping through his things. “Pete, what did I tell you?” he asked and Brendon jumped back like he’d been shocked by Patrick’s record collection.
“I’m sorry, Patrick! Pete was doing it and I’m curious and I wanted to see-“
Patrick smiled. “Dude, I’m teasing.” He walked over and sat on the bed beside Pete’s box he was snooping through. “Found anything good?” he asked and Pete smirked.
“Oh, the usual. Your underwear, a notebook full of song compositions- those are good, by the way, Brendon sang them to me-, a picture of you where you look about twelve, stuff like that. I hoped you had a diary but I guess you aren’t actually a twelve year old girl,” he said, pouting as though he was really sad he couldn’t read Patrick’s diary.
Patrick rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m a grown man who lives the most boring life ever.” He shot Brendon a look. “And you sang him my compositions? How do you sing a composition?”
Brendon shrugged. “Mostly just make the sound with your voice. Pete requested ‘lala’s instead of humming,” he said and Pete snickered.
Patrick looked impressed. “You sight-read and sang my compositions? How?”
Brendon smiled shyly. “I have perfect pitch. I can pretty much hear a note and name it, and at the same time, I can read a note and make it,” he said, trying to shrug it off.
Pete beamed. “Isn’t it cool?!” he asked Patrick excitedly. “He’s got a great voice, too.”
Patrick smiled. “I didn’t know you could sing, Brendon,” he said and Brendon nodded.
“Yeah, I can pretty much sing and play anything really,” he said offhandedly. “I was the youngest of the family and my parents wanted to keep me occupied,” he admitted.
Patrick grinned. “I was in band in high school. I got a music scholarship when I went to college. I’m good at learning instruments too.”
Pete shoved the box out of the way and lay down, absently laying his head on Patrick’s lap. “So wait, if you guys are friends why don’t you know this stuff already? It’s pretty basic information.”
Patrick flushed. “Well… we’re work friends. I mean, we have lunch and talk about work things, really. I don’t really know much about Brendon, just that he likes good music and stuff,” he said and Brendon grinned shyly.
“I’ve never even called Patrick after work or anything,” he confessed.
Pete hummed. “But… you’re both cool, why don’t you have tons of friends? Hell!” He leered at Patrick from his lap. “You’re gorgeous and Brendon’s pretty hot too, why are you guys single?”
Brendon scoffed. “Are you kidding? I am so spastic the only reason I ever got laid is because in college everybody was too drunk to care how lame I was,” he said and Patrick laughed.
“Same here, dude. I finally lost some baby fat in college and people noticed me for a little while before I got fat again,” he said, shrugging.
Pete frowned up at Patrick. “What about like… real relationships?” He glanced over at Brendon. “Both of you actually.”
Brendon shrugged. “Not really. I had a girlfriend for about five months once in college, first girl to every really notice me, but she ended up just telling a bunch of people all about the nerdy virgin she ‘corrupted’ so everybody in my dorm laughed at me all the time,” he said and Patrick cringed.
“That sucks, man.” He shook his head. “I had a girlfriend all through college, actually,” he said honestly. “Met her my first year and dated her for three years. She wasn’t that cool really, but I was too grateful to leave her and she enjoyed me treating her decently so she didn’t leave me either.” He chuckled. “And then she cheated on me and I finally left her,” he said, shaking his head in amusement. “It was terrible then but now it’s just amusing to look back.”
Brendon sighed. “I was so traumatized I never went out with another girl after that,” he said, grimacing. “Only boys. And even then, they never lasted very long.”
Patrick grinned. “I dated some guys too after my girlfriend, but same thing, I was lucky if I got a second date.”
Pete just shook his head. “God, who the hell were these people? You’re both really awesome. And pretty damn hot. I’d have been all over you guys!” he said seriously. He looked up at Patrick. “What about since college?”
Patrick shook his head. “Nobody. Not a single date. You?” he asked Brendon, who shook his head.
“No. I haven’t so much as got flirted with in about two years,” he said simply.
Patrick grinned. “Pete flirts with me all the time, so I can’t say that,” he teased, poking Pete’s side to earn a smile. “But yeah, not a single date in… God, four years I guess? Yeah, about that.”
Pete sat up. “And I don’t get that,” he stressed, looking frustrated and confused. “Patrick, you’re sort of ridiculously beautiful,” he said, reaching out to pet his face. “You have the whitest, most perfect skin and big, sexy lips! And your eyes! God, you have the prettiest eyes,” he gushed. “And freckles and red hair, and you sing pretty and you’re cute and tiny!”
Brendon giggled. “Oh come on, Pete. You’re biased. You have some kind of reverse Stockholm syndrome after all these months devoting your life to protecting him.”
Patrick laughed, turning to smile at Pete. “Dude, that’s totally the best description of your obsession yet! Reverse Stockholm Syndrome!”
Pete just smirked at Brendon with a filthy wink. “I’ll Stockholm your Syndrome, Urie,” he said and Brendon burst into amused giggles, which only made Patrick and Pete both smile brighter.
Part 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick Stump had a simple life. He lived in a small but functional apartment. Alone. He worked as a print editor for Hourglass Magazine, a modern music journal, where he spent the hours of nine to five in his tiny office (NOT a cubicle, thank you very much! He had something to be thankful for) five days out of the week. Also, for the most part, alone. He spent his weekends composing sheets and sheets of music that, sadly, was never heard by another human’s ears because he was So. Utterly. Alone.
The only friend he could possibly claim was the receptionist at Hourglass, Brendon Urie. They generally spent their lunch hour every day either sitting in Patrick’s office or going to the café on the corner. Basically the only things they ever talked about were music related. Personal things rarely came up simply owing to the fact that Brendon, like Patrick, was also completely and absolutely alone.
The day in question, a Tuesday just like any other, found Patrick and Brendon at the café, discussing nineteen seventies glam rock. Patrick had noticed the dark haired man two tables over almost entirely because of his ridiculous sunglasses and vibrantly blue hoodie. He could tell the man was watching him and Brendon, but he didn’t dare speak to him.
It would jeopardize his and Brendon’s amazing aloneness, after all.
However, in his current position, pinned to a brick wall on his walk home, clearly about to either die or be raped, possibly both, the sight of the strange blue-hoodie clad man was definitely a relief. He saw the man running the length of the alley and really hoped that, despite being almost as small as Patrick, something about him (maybe even his blinding choice of outerwear) would scare away the man currently pinning him down.
What he didn’t at all expect, on the other hand, was to see the man wave his hand at a pile of rubble and watch as a few bricks flew through the air apparently on their own and begin whacking the mugger in the back and head.
The man screamed and dropped his knife, turning to run away as fast as his feet could carry him, even with bricks still chasing after him. Patrick let out a soft sound of shock and relief before sliding down the wall to catch his breath and get his bearings back. His brightly dressed rescuer rushed over to him and knelt down. “Are you okay?” he asked gently, catching Patrick’s hand in his as he helped him sit back against the wall. “Are you hurt?” he asked insistently, and Patrick just flapped his and at him, trying to catch his breath. “Patrick?”
Patrick froze, going wide eyed as he looked up at the man in his seriously insane sunglasses and hoodie. “Who are you? How do you know my name?” he demanded.
The man cringed, ducking back. “Um, maybe I didn’t think that one through,” he admitted, then sighed, taking off his sunglasses. Patrick’s breath caught when he looked into the warm, kind, friendly brown eyes hovering in front of him. “I’m Pete. Pete Wentz,” he said, then ducked his head. “And- and I’m sort of maybe stalking you,” he admitted. “But! But I totally just saved you from a mugger, so um, please don’t hate me?” he tried weakly, and Patrick sighed.
“Well, you’ve had your chance to hurt me so I see no reason to not trust you enough to let you help me up,” he said, and Pete beamed, stepping back to pull Patrick to his feet. “Since you seem to have superpowers-“ Pete paled and Patrick smirked. “Want to at least walk me home?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick let Pete Wentz talk about everything and anything he could as they walked to his apartment. When they got there, Patrick turned back to him and eyed him curiously. “Were you gonna ever get around to telling me what the hell you’re doing stalking me tonight, or is all this babbling just your way of avoiding?” he asked, leaning back against his door with his arms crossed.
Pete cringed. “I sorta can’t,” he said, biting his lip. “Not out here where people can hear,” he said and Patrick hummed.
“Everything in me is telling me to not do this, but,” Patrick eyed Pete. “If I let you in will you tell me what the fuck is going on, or am I gonna let you in and they’ll find me sliced up in little pieces tomorrow morning?” he asked apprehensively.
Pete smiled in amusement, eyebrow raised. “You watched me move something without touching it, what makes you think they’ll find anything left?” he asked, and Patrick’s eyes flashed with fear. “Shit,” he said quickly. “No, I’m not going to kill you,” he said quickly. “I couldn’t ever hurt you,” he admitted, then cringed when Patrick eyed him curiously.
“Huh… I’m suddenly feeling my curiosity getting the best of me.” Patrick turned and unlocked the door, leading Pete upstairs and down the hall to his apartment. He turned back quickly one last time. “If you kill me, I swear to God, I’ll haunt the fuck out of you,” he threatened, and Pete rolled his eyes.
“I let you see me using my-“ he lowered his voice and leaned in. “My powers. I really doubt you’d let a normal person in… I hope,” he said quickly.
Patrick snorted. “How do you know I’m not going to offer you a drink with something in it and have my way with you?” he asked, and Pete rolled his eyes.
“Roofies don’t work on me, my DNA doesn’t line up,” he said dismissively, and Patrick just stared, and then opened the door to walk in without another word. When he lead Pete in, Pete looked around curiously. “Hmm, looks different from the inside,” he said, and Patrick turned around quickly, gaping. Pete gave him innocent looks. “What? I told you, I’ve been following you. I’ve been sleeping on your balcony every night,” he said, and Patrick just shook his head, putting his keys on the countertop.
“Why is it that I live my whole life as a blip on the radar and then I’m being stalked by someone with odd powers who seems to think he has to sleep on the balcony of my apartment?” Patrick just shook his head. “This is my life? Really?”
Pete smirked, hopping on the couch to pull his knees up. “Don’t worry, I love your X-Men pajama pants.”
Patrick sat down across from him on the other end of the couch. “As someone who can apparently move things with their mind, that doesn’t offend you?” he asked. “The whole X-Men thing?” he asked.
Pete shook his head. “No, Jane Gray would kick my ass big time,” he said, smiling widely. “Alright, so what do you want to know?” he asked.
Patrick scoffed. “Well, for one, why the hell are you stalking me?” he asked.
Pete cringed. “Getting straight to the point, I see,” he said, then sighed. “Look… I can’t tell you everything without putting you in danger, but-“ He looked up, and then bit his lip. “Okay, I swear this isn’t a come on, but… I’m your guardian,” he said softly.
Patrick looked at him skeptically. “Uh-huh… from what?”
Pete bit his lip. “Look, it’s a long story, and you’re in danger now that you know about it, but there is a group of us. We are all people with powers. It’s not like X-Men, we aren’t ‘mutants’, we’re just… different,” he said. “That guy you have lunch with doesn’t know it, but he’s got a guardian as well,” he said, and Patrick’s eyes widened.
“Brendon? The receptionist?”
Pete nodded. “You are both Keys. I got assigned to you six months ago when we found you. I was the one who told them about him. His guardian is a bitch who isn’t nearly as thorough as I am, but I mean-“ he blushed. “It doesn’t hurt to watch you all the time because you’re sort of beautiful,” he admitted and Patrick hummed.
“So I’m a Key, you’re my guardian, Brendon is a Key too but his guardian isn’t as worried about him as you are me because you’ve got some weird attraction to short, fat, and ugly and apparently Brendon’s hotness isn’t as appealing to his guardian?” he tried skeptically and Pete rolled his eyes.
“Well, Brendon is younger and less likely to be targeted, and his guardian is younger and has his own social life and shit. I’m pretty much a douche so even if I’ve got tons of friends, they all don’t miss me very much when I spend days at a time not checking in because I’m with you.” Pete looked at him curiously. “Speaking of which, have you noticed anything… odd lately? About yourself or people around you?” he asked.
Patrick blinked. “I’m sitting in front of my ‘guardian’ being told I’m a Key,” he supplied pointedly, and Pete grinned.
“Yeah, but I’m not odd… much.” Pete smiled. “Look, it’s like… we don’t know what Keys are for,” he said vacantly. “We can’t figure out who you guys are supposed to be a Key for only that some people like us who are bad want to use Keys to do something bad. All we know is it involves the end of the world.”
Patrick blinked. “Whoa… heavy,” he said, and Pete nodded. “So, who are you guarding me from? And how are you supposed to be a guardian for someone who doesn’t know you’re there?”
Pete shrugged. “This is pretty heavy too but… basically I would die for you,” he said, and Patrick’s eyes widened. “I know it sounds really intense, and it kinda is, but like… as a Key, you’re something precious. If someone from the other side of this equation got you, they could use you in a process to bring about the end of humanity. Because of that, our group is sort of devoted to find and protect Keys. So far, you’re the first we found six months ago. I was the one who found you, so I was given the task to protect you.” Pete cringed. “Now that you know about me, chances are they’ll be more likely to try and get you if they know about you.”
Patrick waved a hand. “Who is ‘they’ and ‘we’ in this situation?” he asked curiously.
Pete smiled. “I am part of ‘we’, and we don’t have a name or anything killer like that, but we’re a group of friends and hangers on who have gifts and we kinda banded together so we would have some sort of ‘normalcy’ in life.” He took a breath. “There are eight of us so far. I mean, there are more friends who have gifts and a few friends who don’t, but the eight of us living together are our little ‘Super Friends’ type group. We have it set up like an organization, but to be honest, it’s just a group of friends dicking around and protecting people,” he said simply.
Patrick nodded. “Okay, and ‘they’?” he asked, and Pete’s eyes darkened.
“We… don’t know,” he said weakly. “We know the leader… or who we think is the leader,” he explained. “Her name is Victoria. She’s the only one we run into, but there are all the time reports in the news of people being beat up and robbed and even killed in ways that seem suspicious and I can only imagine are done by people with powers.”
Patrick nodded, looking at Pete. “You’ve been stalking me for six months and I never noticed you before today?” he asked, and Pete ducked his head.
“I was trying a new fashion choice?” he offered, and Patrick snorted.
“Yes, the blue was what did it. The vibrant blue and then I noticed you staring and wearing giant weird sunglasses,” he said. He sighed. “So wait, you’d die for me?”
Pete nodded quickly. “Oh yeah. I mean, at first I was sorta ‘ew, what?!’ but I mean…” He shrugged. “Six months of devoting the bulk of your life to someone and you kinda get attached and protective. I mean… I feel like I have to, of course, because of the whole ‘save the world’ thing, but also I’d probably lose my shit if something happened to you at this point,” he said, and Patrick smiled a small smile.
“Really? You stalk me for six months and you’re attached?”
Pete shrugged. “You feel like my best friend. I mean, you didn’t know I was ever there, but… I know everything about you,” he said, and Patrick just stared, not sure how he felt about that. “It’s weird but it’s like a one-sided friendship in my head. I can’t explain it and I know it has to freak you out, and I’m sorry, but… I can’t help it,” he said. He shrugged. “It’s just weird cause nobody else has done it with their Keys. Well… by nobody else, I mean Brendon’s guardian, cause he’s the only one besides me, but still… he doesn’t even like Brendon,” he said, shrugging. “I mean, I guess he’d die for him too just because it’s in the job description, but he bitches about like… everything Brendon does and it’s not like that for me.”
Patrick bit his lip. “Why?” he asked, and Pete shrugged, looking like he really didn’t know. “When you say it’s more dangerous now… what do you mean?” he asked.
Pete sighed, standing up to pace. “If you don’t know you’re a key, it’s not as important that they get their hands on you. If they know you know, they might think it’s more important they get you now before you get cautious.”
Patrick nodded. “So… what are you going to do now? I mean… do we just… keep going like nothing happened and hope they don’t know I know?” he asked.
Pete shook his head. “I already devote most of my time to protecting you but now I’m gonna have to just never leave you,” he said, and Patrick hummed. Pete paled. “Sorry if you don’t like that, I can stay discreet but I can’t let you go alone. I mean I’ll have to do my check-ins with the rest of my friends while you’re at work. In a really public place, you’re in less danger.”
Patrick nodded. “Well… to be honest it’s not like anybody will notice you any way you do it so like… you can totally sleep on the couch or something if you want? I doubt a concrete balcony feels nice,” he said, and Pete beamed.
“So you don’t hate me?!” he asked brightly.
Patrick chuckled. “Dude, I live the most boring life in history… at least now I have a meaning in the world,” he said, and then shrugged. “And you’re creepy as hell, but I sure as hell don’t want to piss off the person who is going to be protecting me,” he said, and Pete smiled.
“Sweet!” he said happily.
Patrick stood up, shaking his head. “Alright, I’m hungry, make yourself at home or whatever, I’m ordering Chinese,” he said, going towards the kitchen to get a takeout menu.
It was as he was ordering his food that Patrick realized he was letting a complete stranger who claimed to be his ‘guardian’ have free run of his house. Patrick finished ordering, and then calmly walked back out, almost expecting to see his television gone and the door hanging open. However, all he saw as that Pete had barely moved, sitting patiently staring at the magazines beside the couch. He knew he was crazy, but he just couldn’t find it in himself to really freak out and kick Pete out. Something about Pete seemed easy to trust, even if Pete himself seemed slightly annoying and more than a little weird.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days of Pete bunking on his couch, Patrick was curious. “So I have a question,” Patrick started, sitting down beside him. “When you say you know everything about me, exactly how ‘everything’ are we talking?” he asked suspiciously.
Pete shrugged. “You’re twenty-seven, your middle name isn’t your real middle name, you grew up in Glenview, you’re named after your mom, and you have a degree in production, even though you’re stuck as an editor because your first degree was in English.”
Patrick eyed him. “Okay, so you know the basics, not like… stalkerish things,” he said, nodding.
Pete cringed, blushing. “You mean like… how you like to hum Prince in your sleep?” he tried, and Patrick gaped.
“I- I-“ Patrick spluttered. “I do not hum in my sleep!” he cried, and Pete nodded.
“Yep. Usually it’s the one about doves crying. I don’t know the song but I recognize the tune. You hum it sometimes in your sleep,” he said, and Patrick just stared. “And- and you stare at yourself in the mirror and keep sucking in your stomach and looking all bummed but it’s sorta stupid, cause you’re pretty much hot,” he added. “Seriously, just cause you’ve got a tummy doesn’t make you fat,” he argued, and Patrick snorted.
“Yes… having excess body fat doesn’t make you fat… riiight,” he said, rolling his eyes. “So, you really are a stalker?” he asked, and Pete nodded brightly.
“Pretty much.” He shrugged. “There’s other stuff like… you’ve got a brother named Kevin that came over once and that’s the only person who’s even been to this apartment since I’ve been following you,” he said. “You don’t have friends,” he said, eyeing him curiously. “Why not?”
Patrick shrugged. “Well I’m not the most outgoing person in the world, am I?” he asked.
Pete shrugged. “Eh, it doesn’t matter. If I had ever met you as a normal person somewhere, I’m pretty sure I’d have been all ‘oh shit you’re awesome, let’s be friends!’ so whoever doesn’t do that is just lame and doesn’t deserve you to be their friend,” he said, and Patrick laughed.
“You’ve been my guardian for way too long,” he said, shaking his head as he turned and walked out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick had felt mostly safe with Pete watching him, especially since Pete admitted that he was not only telekinetic, but could adapt the powers of any of the ‘bad guys’ (Pete’s exact words) who came near them and use them against them. However, the day he and Brendon were on their way to lunch and the sky above them suddenly darkened, he sort of knew that they were probably more than a little screwed.
Brendon looked up at the sky then around at the street, where a mysterious wind whipped through. “Dude, where did this weather come from? I thought it was clear today,” he said, and Patrick just grabbed Brendon’s arm and looked around for Pete. “Patrick? Patrick?! What’s going on!?” he cried, only to gasp as Patrick spotted Pete coming towards them and broke into a run, dragging Brendon with him.
“Pete-“
Pete looked more worried that Patrick had ever seen. “Run,” he said simply, and then spotted Brendon. “Keep running along this street, his guardian will catch up to you,” he said, and Patrick caught his arm before he ran. “Patrick, go!”
“How do we know it’s his guardian, not someone after us?” Patrick asked quickly, and Pete stopped.
“Blue eyes. You’ll know what I mean when you see him,” he said, quickly, and then shocked Patrick by shoving him and Brendon before rushing past them in the direction the wind was coming from.
Brendon looked terrified and confused, but followed Patrick as he dragged Brendon into a run. “Patrick, what’s going on?!” he cried as they ducked under a flying umbrella.
“Can’t talk now, it’ll all come out later, I promise,” he said quickly, tugging Brendon as they continued to run.
They were running around the corner when a car pulled up behind them. “Get in!” A man cried, and Patrick looked at him skeptically, only to immediately understand what Pete meant by ‘blue eyes’. This kid had the bluest eyes Patrick had ever seen. “GET IN!” he shouted, and Patrick nodded, shoving Brendon in the backseat before diving in after him.
“You sure as hell better be Spencer,” Patrick said and the guy nodded as they careened down the road.
“I guess Pete told you about me? He mentioned you found out about him,” he said, and Patrick nodded.
“Was it me or Brendon?” he asked, and Brendon looked scared, confused, and alarmed.
Spencer looked at Brendon in the rearview mirror. “It was you, but we think they clocked Brendon too since he was with you.”
“Patrick, what’s going on?” Brendon asked, looking at him with fear in his eyes.
Patrick cringed. “It’s a long story,” he said, and then looked at Spencer, who nodded. “Okay, so the thing is we’re not… normal.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick was amazed when Spencer took them to the old rail yards and pulled the car into an old, seemingly abandoned warehouse. He turned around and looked at them. “Look, this is kind of our hideout, okay? We’ll keep you guys here until we find out what all they know and if it’s safe for you to go back to your houses,” he said, and Brendon and Patrick both nodded.
As the climbed out of the car, Patrick bit his lip. “Hey, do you think Pete’s okay?” he asked in concern.
Spencer shrugged. “Hopefully. I mean, he was just supposed to hold off anybody who came after you guys. If he’s not back in a few hours, we’ll worry then, but I’m sure he’s fine,” he said.
Brendon frowned. “So wait, you’ve been letting your guardian live in your house?” he asked, and Patrick nodded, shrugging. “Why?”
“Well, the poor guy was sleeping on my balcony most nights! He’s there to keep me safe so the least I can do is let him sleep on the couch,” Patrick supplied.
Brendon eyed Spencer. “How come I’ve never noticed you?” he asked curiously.
Spencer scoffed. “Because Pete fails at subtle.”
Patrick shrugged. “He got away with it for six months. The only reason I noticed him is because he was wearing bright blue and then on the way home, I got jumped by a mugger and he saved my ass,” he said, and Spencer hummed.
“How did you not notice someone living on your balcony?” he asked, and Patrick shrugged.
“Who really looks out on a balcony facing a brick wall?” he countered.
They were distracted by a large black dog running up. It barked at Spencer, who rolled his eyes. It looked up at them and Brendon squeaked, ducking behind Patrick in fear. The dog, which looked more like a wolf, huffed at them and then turned to head back through the warehouse.
Spencer spotted Brendon’s fearful eyes and snickered. “Don’t worry, Brendon. That’s just Mix. He’s a sweet wolf,” he supplied, confirming Patrick’s thoughts. “Come on, I’ll take you guys to meet the others and work out what happened,” he said, leading them to the hallway the wolf had disappeared down.
When they got to a room with lights, Patrick was strangely relieved to hear Pete’s voice. They walked into the room and saw it appeared to be some sort of common room. There were couches, tables, a television, a pool table, and a door leading into what appeared to be a kitchen. Patrick spotted Pete walking in from a door to the left with a short guy with bushy hair and the wolf who had greeted them. “Patrick!” he said quickly, rushing over. “Are you okay?” he asked, grabbing Patrick’s hands to look him over, as if, searching for injuries.
“Pete, Pete-“ Pete tugged him in a circle. “PETE!” he cried angrily, and Pete stopped. “I’m fine, fuck, stop twirling me around!”
Pete stopped and smiled apologetically. “Sorry, but I was worried when I got back before you guys,” he said, and Patrick smiled.
“You’re obsessed, Wentz,” he said, and Pete shrugged but didn’t deny it.
“So,” the short man started. “I’m assuming, then that these are the Keys?” he asked, looking at Brendon and Patrick.
Pete nodded. “Yeah, this is Patrick, that’s Brendon,” he said, and Brendon crossed his arms.
“They explained but I’m still confused what the fuck happened on the street,” he said, looking around. “And who the hell are you people?” he asked, nudging closer to Patrick.
Pete looked at Patrick. “So, Patrick, this is our headquarters sorta, and you guys will be okay here,” he said, and then looked at Brendon. “And these guys are my friends,” he said, nodding at everybody. “You met Spencer, and Brendon, he’s your guardian, if you don’t know already.”
Brendon nodded. “Yeah, we had that talk in the car, but continue,” he said, and Pete nodded.
“This is Andy,” The curly haired, short man nodded. “He’s our leader, sorta. The wolf is Mix, but in human form his name is Matt Mixon.” The wolf wagged his tail and nudged Brendon’s arm affectionately until Brendon shrugged and petted his head.
“Oh God, don’t do that,” said the tall one with the massive amounts of curly hair. “He’ll follow you around for head pats,” he said. “And don’t even start on belly rubs,” he said, rolling his eyes.
Pete smiled. “This is Joe,” he said, nodding. “He’s totally one of my best friends.”
Patrick looked at Pete. “So, what the hell was that on the street?” he asked, and Pete cringed.
“It was her,” he said, turning around. “Andy, it was her. She was after Patrick. She didn’t figure Brendon out, but she saw them together so he’s not safe either.” Pete tugged Patrick’s sleeve. “She was trying to make it dark and stormy so she could snatch him. I didn’t have to fight her, but I saw her running away,” he said.
Andy sighed. “Alright, we’ll work it out, but for now let’s make call everybody in and see what we can do about finding room for these two to stay,” he said, and Patrick raised an eyebrow at Pete.
Pete cringed. “Yeah, about that-“
“Stay?”
Spencer shrugged. “You guys have to stay for a while. It’s for your own safety.”
Patrick gave Pete a look, and Pete shrugged innocently. “If you really want to go home, I’ll come with you and when we both die-“
Patrick rolled his eyes. “Oh shut up, Wentz,” he said, shoving him with a smile.
“Alright, Joe’s gonna take care of you and Brendon and trying to find a spot for you guys. Later we’ll get someone to pick up some of you guys’ stuff but for now I’ve got to go talk to Andy and Mix,” he said, and Patrick nodded.
“Alright, just figure some shit out,” he demanded and Pete nodded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pete flopped down on the couch in Andy’s office, smirking when Mix went and sat beside Andy, laying his head in Andy’s lap pointedly. Andy chuckled and stroked his head as he flipped through some papers on his desk. “So, you’re involved with your Key?” he challenged, raising an eyebrow at Pete.
Pete gaped. “No!” he cried, and then flushed. “Well, we’re friends,” he tried, and Andy hummed.
“The way me and Matt are friends, or actually just friends?” he asked, and Pete rolled his eyes.
“I’ve been sleeping on his couch, not sleeping with him,” he said, crossing his arms defensively. “Now how about we work out how to keep my Patrick safe?” he asked.
Andy snickered. “Yep, definitely friends only,” he said, nodding with a smirk.
Pete glared. “Fuck off, you’re in love with a dog,” he said, and Andy snorted.
Mix, however, growled. Andy smiled, stroking his head. “Don’t piss Mix off, he’ll eat you,” he said, and Pete just pulled his legs up from the floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick looked at the room he and Brendon had been given. There were two beds and two dressers in the room. Brendon sat on one bed and looked around. “This is like being in dorms all over again,” he said, and Patrick laughed.
“Somehow I doubt your dorms were down the hall from guys with super powers,” he pointed out and Brendon chuckled.
“True.” He looked over at Patrick. “So… what’s up with your guardian?” he asked, and Patrick frowned.
“What?”
Brendon snorted. “He’s been living with you?” he asked, and Patrick waved a hand.
“He’s been sleeping on the couch, not living with me,” he said, and Brendon eyed him.
“He was freaking out when we got here,” he said, and Patrick shrugged.
“I don’t fully understand, but the whole guardian thing is a big deal, really. I mean, he’s spent seven months of his life following me and protecting me and looking out for me. He’s like… devoted to keeping the ‘bad guys’, whoever they are, from getting a Key and he’d die to stop that from happening. So I mean, if he’s spent all that time and effort on me, of course he was freaked out when he got back and I hadn’t,” he said, shrugging.
Brendon nodded. “And yet my guardian, who took the same ‘oath’ or ‘assignment’ or whatever, didn’t really seem to like me,” he said, and Patrick nodded.
“He doesn’t. Pete says your guardian is a bitch and hates everybody,” he said, and Brendon snorted.
“Great, you get the attached guardian, I get the annoyed guardian.”
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. It opened and Pete came in with a tall, dark haired guy. “Hey Patrick!” he said brightly, and Patrick smiled.
“Hey, so what’s up?” he asked, and Pete came over, hopping up on the bed beside him.
“Well, you’re staying here for a while, under our watch.” Pete looked around. “This room kinda sucks,” he said, making a face. “It reminds me of college.”
Patrick eyed Pete skeptically. “You don’t strike me as the collegiate type of guy,” he said pointedly.
The guy from the doorway laughed. “He dropped out after a year,” he said. “Political science was his major,” he said, and Patrick snickered. “Hi, I’m Matt. You met me in my other form,” he offered, smiling as he nodded his head.
Patrick smiled. “Yeah, I’m Patrick, as you already know,” he said.
Brendon snorted. “Yes, we all know each other’s names, now tell me something… are we gonna be here long?” he asked, and Matt cringed.
“Not too long but a while. We’ll all be trailing you guys to work and back every day. Pete and Spencer will walk with you guys, so you need to make up a fake story for that for anybody who might ask. Friends, coworkers, whatever.”
Brendon sighed. “You obviously don’t know much about us,” he said, and Patrick nodded.
“We’re sorta pathetically boring and friendless. Our coworkers barely know we’re alive,” he said.
Matt smiled. “Well, either way, you need a story ready. Now, they’ll walk you, but at the same time, someone else will be walking along trailing behind or ahead. If you guys go to lunch, meet up with Spencer and Pete and we’ll be around as well.”
Pete snorted. “Generally if Andy and Matt are following us around, it’ll be tiny ass Hurley walking Mix on a leash like he’s the family pet,” he said, snorting. “Let’s just say the kinky images it induces are both hot and terrible,” he said, and Patrick laughed.
Matt rolled his eyes. “Wentz, we do not bring my collar and leash into the bedroom,” he said firmly. Pete opened his mouth and Matt held up a hand. “And for the last time, we do not have any sort of interaction that could be conceived as bestiality,” he added, and Pete sighed.
“You take the fun out of teasing, Matt,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s so fun to imagine kinky leash-play,” he said, snickering.
Brendon just hummed. “Collars are hot,” he said absently, earning disturbed looks from the others. “What?! It’s true!” he defended, ducking his head bashfully.
Pete just smiled. “I like you, Brendon,” he said, sliding his arm around Patrick’s shoulders. “I think he’s gonna be a fun roommate for you,” he said, and Patrick snorted, but didn’t make Pete move his arm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“This sucks,” Spencer said, grumbling as he held Brendon’s hand. “Ew, your palms are sweaty,” he said, and Brendon huffed.
“Well I’m living with a giant target on my back, wonder why that would make me nervous?!” he hissed and Spencer glared.
“Hey! Play nice,” Pete directed. “You’re supposed to be his new boyfriend. You have to at least pretend to like him some,” he argued.
Spencer hummed. “Can’t I just be his new fuck-buddy? I can pretend to think he’s hot much easier than pretend to be sickeningly in love.”
Pete smiled, curling his arm around Patrick’s waist delightedly. “It’s very easy to do this cause I know everything about Patrick and I can totally be a good fake boyfriend.” He kissed Patrick’s cheek with a smack. “Hey, can we have funny pet names?” he asked and Patrick snorted.
“You’re enjoying this way too much, Pete,” he said, groaning when Pete tried to kiss his face again. “Really, I don’t do PDA in a real relationship, I’m not letting you hang all over me for a fake one.”
Pete sighed. “I’m wounded, fake-boyfriend. You are a mean fake-boyfriend.” He let go of his waist and held his hand, lacing their fingers together. “So, I’ve worked it all out!” Pete started. “You and I met at the park. I was walking my dog-“
“You don’t have a dog,” Spencer supplied and Pete shushed him.
“I was walking my dog and you were reading on a park bench. My dog ran over to you and jumped in your lap and you freaked out but then thought he was adorable so you cuddled him and petted him and when I ran up to apologize, you looked up, I saw your smile, and instantly fell tragically in epic love with you,” Pete said, and Patrick chuckled.
“Oh yeah? That’s how you see our fake-dating happening?” he asked
Pete nodded. “Yes. And when I told you you’re beautiful, you blushed and ducked your head and I asked you out and we had a romantic dinner and I walked you home and you kissed me and then fell passionately in love with me and invited me inside under the pretense of coffee but then when I got inside, you threw yourself at me and we had hot, passionate, sweaty, dirty-“
Patrick gaped at the filthy glint in Pete’s eyes. “PETE!” he cried indignantly. “Don’t you dare imagine hot, dirty anything with me, and really! Do you think I put out on a first date?!” he asked and Pete shrugged.
“You fell madly in love with me, it doesn’t count!” he said cheerfully.
Brendon just snorted. “Great, my fake-boyfriend only wants to be my fake-fuck-buddy and yours wants to have your imaginary babies,” he said, and Patrick chuckled.
“Pete must not get laid often,” he answered and Pete cried out in contempt.
“I so totally get laid! All the time! With more than one person even!” Pete defended and Spencer snorted.
“Pete, you have barely come home any in the last seven months. You spend all your time shadowing your Key. Unless you’re getting some from random hookers, you seriously aren’t,” he teased and Pete huffed.
“Fine,” he admitted. “But it just proves dedication to protecting the world! If I take a break to have a girlfriend, Patrick would be all alone and unsafe,” he said, laying his head on Patrick’s shoulder. “I’d be a bad, bad superhero if I did that.”
Patrick snorted. “You’re lucky I like you,” Patrick said, and Pete beamed.
“Of course you do, I’m small and have a big smile and puppy eyes. You have to like me! It’s human nature.” He looked wiggled his eyebrows at Brendon. “I’m like a little baby doggy.”
Brendon just giggled. “You’re funny, is what you are,” he argued. “Why couldn’t I have the fun fake-boyfriend?” he whined. “Sure, Spencer, you’re hotter than Pete-“
“Hey!”
“But you’re a jerk. At least Pete’s fun. And he’s cute enough since there’s no actual dating stuff going on,” he said, and Patrick chuckled.
“Hey, stop trying to steal my fake-boyfriend!” he cried with a wink. “Besides, at least if we ever, for any reason, have to fake a kiss, you have a really hot dude to kiss, I’d have to kiss a horsey smiled puppy,” he said, and Pete gasped.
“I am wounded, Patrick. WOUNDED!” he cried, clutching his heart dramatically.
Patrick smiled in spite of himself. “You’ll live.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick and Brendon’s work day went as well as expected. Nobody noticed the extra hangers-on chilling with Patrick and Brendon at their respective workspaces and when they walked down the street, they blended in with the other couples strolling along.
After they went to collect some stuff from their apartments, Patrick and Pete returned to find Spencer and Brendon were still out. Pete went to snoop through Patrick’s things, or so he told Patrick, while Patrick went to talk to Andy about Brendon and Spencer.
When he got to the office, Andy was alone at his desk. “Oh, Patrick, come in,” he greeted when Patrick knocked on the open door. “What’s up?” he asked as Patrick took a seat in front of his desk.
“Have you heard from Brendon and Spencer?” he asked and Andy nodded.
“Yeah, Spencer called to say Brendon demanded they go shopping for some stuff before coming home,” he said, then chuckled. “You’re worried?”
Patrick shrugged. “Well yeah, why wouldn’t I be? I know you guys know we only ever talk at work, not outside of it, but he’s the only friend I have, so of course I’m worried.”
Andy smiled a genuine smile. “Yeah, I know that feeling,” he said, shaking his head. “No, he’s fine. Don’t worry, Spencer may have an attitude, but he’s good at what he does.”
Patrick nodded. “And what do you do?” he asked curiously. “I mean, what’s your power or whatever?”
Andy shook his head, putting his hands on his desk to shift in his chair. “I don’t have any powers,” he said, getting comfortable. “I just manage everybody’s comings and goings. I’m the leader of the group, I guess, though we’re pretty much all equal.”
Patrick raised an eyebrow curiously. “So you’re the leader but you have no powers? How did you even get involved?”
“I was working for the CIA,” Andy said and Patrick’s jaw dropped. Andy grinned. “Yeah, I know right? I was something of a child genius at math and science so I got recruited out of high school and trained for gathering intelligence by the CIA. About eight years ago I was promoted to a group with the express task of capturing and detaining people with powers.”
Patrick shifted, interest increasing. “Why did they want to detain them? Not everybody is bad, clearly.”
Andy chuckled humorlessly. “Yeah, well not all the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor but our ‘lovely’ government still locked most of them up in camps during the war, didn’t they?”
Patrick tilted his head. “Alright,” he allowed. “But how did you go from detaining people with powers to leading a group of them?”
“My first mission after promotion was to go undercover as a college student. Pete was actually my target,” he said and Patrick’s eyes widened. Andy chuckled in amusement. “I was sent in as a student in Chicago at his school. He was really popular but try as I might I couldn’t really get to really talk to him. I wasn’t the most socially adept person, as you could imagine,” he said and Patrick snickered.
“Oh trust me, I know that one.” He looked at him curiously. “How did you finally get to know him? I mean hell, why didn’t you detain him?”
Andy smiled at something on his desk in a fond way Patrick wasn’t expecting. “Because of Mixon, actually,” he said and Patrick shifted.
“Okay, I’ll take the bait,” Patrick said. “You guys are together, right?”
“Yeah, I saw Matt with Pete a lot, they were pretty good friends, so when Matt flirted with me when I was at a party Pete threw, I figured I could get close without much trouble if I started dating one of Pete’s friends,” he said and Patrick looked surprised. “I was trained to be callous, I was trained to be emotionally detached. I had to be,” he explained. “I was getting intel to possibly detain a person who did no wrong just because he had powers. I was meant to be cold.”
Patrick smirked. “If you tell me you changed sides because of love, I reserve the right to tease you,” he warned and Andy grinned bashfully.
“Well, it was more complicated, but basically I did.” He shrugged. “I started dating Matt to get in with Pete, and it worked. But Matt was really sort of awesome. I didn’t expect to actually like him, you know? I was surprised someone that hot flirted with me, but we had a lot in common once I got to know him, so I guess he recognized that in me when he hit on me at that party. We ended up getting really close. We’d been together about two months when I had all I needed for Pete, and I was meant to be there a few more weeks before we moved in on Pete. I’d noticed Matt had stuff around his apartment that made it seem like he had a dog. Fur on his jacket, a strap on the bedroom door so that a dog could turn the handle, stuff like that. And when I asked, he mentioned he had a big dog so he had to keep it from his landlord. I saw his dog a good few times when I was over, but eventually I realized I never saw them together and I got suspicious, you know?” he said and Patrick nodded.
“That would be suspicious, your boyfriend leaving and then a dog coming out of the room he went in, then the dog leaving and your boyfriend coming back,” he said and Andy laughed.
“Yeah, and when I started thinking ‘oh shit, what if he’s one too?’ since we knew animal transformation was a power, I got really conflicted,” he admitted. “Because I liked Pete, he was a great guy and I hated to turn him in, but even if I’d never let myself think it, I knew when I was faced with the prospect of turning Matt in that I couldn’t. I loved him. I knew all along better than to fall for him since it was all a cover and I would never see him again after the mission was over, but you don’t spend three months getting to know somebody who is pretty much perfect for you and fully shut off your emotions.”
Patrick smiled. “So what did you do?”
Andy groaned. “I held off on my suggestions of when to move for too long and they decided to bust Pete without my say-so. Only I found out about it and I knew Matt and Pete were both at Pete’s house that night so Matt would get found too.” He shrugged. “I went and warned them, got them to leave. I had to explain then, and they both were so hurt,” he said with a wince at the memories. “Pete wanted to kill me and Matt was hurt so bad that he had been a cover. It took me quitting my job to prove I wasn’t still on the government’s dime and to convince him I really did care about him. After that, though, I had to go into hiding.” He gave Patrick a grave look. “You don’t just resign from undercover CIA work, you know?”
Patrick cringed. “Ew, I bet not.” He smiled in amusement. “So you’re telling me you’ve been dating Matt Mixon for eight years?” he asked and Andy nodded, grinning.
“When I put myself in danger just to prove I loved him, Matt realized I wasn’t lying. He forgave me and since Pete was already on the CIA’s radar, we all ran for it. We hid out and started meeting people to ask to join us,” Andy said simply.
Patrick grinned. “That’s really cool. And seriously sweet, God, if I was a romantic kind of guy, I’d probably be all gushy about how cute your story is-“
“Please, don’t,” Andy said, cringing.
“Don’t what?” They both turned to Matt walking in, slapping the door casing on the way in. “What’s Patrick doing?” he asked, going to sit on the edge of Andy’s desk.
Andy smirked. “I was explaining why I have no powers and still run this operation and he decided that if he was a more girly guy, he’d find our story super romantic.”
Matt smiled at Patrick. “Fuck yeah it’s romantic! I managed to make a hardened CIA operative give up his job and basically give up his life all for loving me. How awesome am I?!”
Andy shoved him some, rolling his eyes. “I lied, I hate you. I never loved you-“ Matt cut him off with a kiss, cupping his cheek.
“You do too love me, admit it.”
Andy grinned. “Alright, you’re not so bad.” He smirked. “You still can’t beat me in a race,” he said, then flew out of his chair, running for the door before Matt even stood up.
“I have four legs!” Matt shouted, running across the room only to transform mid-step and rush out as a massive wolf.
Patrick just chuckled and stood up to go find Pete.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick went into his and Brendon’s room only to find Brendon and Pete snooping through his things. “Pete, what did I tell you?” he asked and Brendon jumped back like he’d been shocked by Patrick’s record collection.
“I’m sorry, Patrick! Pete was doing it and I’m curious and I wanted to see-“
Patrick smiled. “Dude, I’m teasing.” He walked over and sat on the bed beside Pete’s box he was snooping through. “Found anything good?” he asked and Pete smirked.
“Oh, the usual. Your underwear, a notebook full of song compositions- those are good, by the way, Brendon sang them to me-, a picture of you where you look about twelve, stuff like that. I hoped you had a diary but I guess you aren’t actually a twelve year old girl,” he said, pouting as though he was really sad he couldn’t read Patrick’s diary.
Patrick rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m a grown man who lives the most boring life ever.” He shot Brendon a look. “And you sang him my compositions? How do you sing a composition?”
Brendon shrugged. “Mostly just make the sound with your voice. Pete requested ‘lala’s instead of humming,” he said and Pete snickered.
Patrick looked impressed. “You sight-read and sang my compositions? How?”
Brendon smiled shyly. “I have perfect pitch. I can pretty much hear a note and name it, and at the same time, I can read a note and make it,” he said, trying to shrug it off.
Pete beamed. “Isn’t it cool?!” he asked Patrick excitedly. “He’s got a great voice, too.”
Patrick smiled. “I didn’t know you could sing, Brendon,” he said and Brendon nodded.
“Yeah, I can pretty much sing and play anything really,” he said offhandedly. “I was the youngest of the family and my parents wanted to keep me occupied,” he admitted.
Patrick grinned. “I was in band in high school. I got a music scholarship when I went to college. I’m good at learning instruments too.”
Pete shoved the box out of the way and lay down, absently laying his head on Patrick’s lap. “So wait, if you guys are friends why don’t you know this stuff already? It’s pretty basic information.”
Patrick flushed. “Well… we’re work friends. I mean, we have lunch and talk about work things, really. I don’t really know much about Brendon, just that he likes good music and stuff,” he said and Brendon grinned shyly.
“I’ve never even called Patrick after work or anything,” he confessed.
Pete hummed. “But… you’re both cool, why don’t you have tons of friends? Hell!” He leered at Patrick from his lap. “You’re gorgeous and Brendon’s pretty hot too, why are you guys single?”
Brendon scoffed. “Are you kidding? I am so spastic the only reason I ever got laid is because in college everybody was too drunk to care how lame I was,” he said and Patrick laughed.
“Same here, dude. I finally lost some baby fat in college and people noticed me for a little while before I got fat again,” he said, shrugging.
Pete frowned up at Patrick. “What about like… real relationships?” He glanced over at Brendon. “Both of you actually.”
Brendon shrugged. “Not really. I had a girlfriend for about five months once in college, first girl to every really notice me, but she ended up just telling a bunch of people all about the nerdy virgin she ‘corrupted’ so everybody in my dorm laughed at me all the time,” he said and Patrick cringed.
“That sucks, man.” He shook his head. “I had a girlfriend all through college, actually,” he said honestly. “Met her my first year and dated her for three years. She wasn’t that cool really, but I was too grateful to leave her and she enjoyed me treating her decently so she didn’t leave me either.” He chuckled. “And then she cheated on me and I finally left her,” he said, shaking his head in amusement. “It was terrible then but now it’s just amusing to look back.”
Brendon sighed. “I was so traumatized I never went out with another girl after that,” he said, grimacing. “Only boys. And even then, they never lasted very long.”
Patrick grinned. “I dated some guys too after my girlfriend, but same thing, I was lucky if I got a second date.”
Pete just shook his head. “God, who the hell were these people? You’re both really awesome. And pretty damn hot. I’d have been all over you guys!” he said seriously. He looked up at Patrick. “What about since college?”
Patrick shook his head. “Nobody. Not a single date. You?” he asked Brendon, who shook his head.
“No. I haven’t so much as got flirted with in about two years,” he said simply.
Patrick grinned. “Pete flirts with me all the time, so I can’t say that,” he teased, poking Pete’s side to earn a smile. “But yeah, not a single date in… God, four years I guess? Yeah, about that.”
Pete sat up. “And I don’t get that,” he stressed, looking frustrated and confused. “Patrick, you’re sort of ridiculously beautiful,” he said, reaching out to pet his face. “You have the whitest, most perfect skin and big, sexy lips! And your eyes! God, you have the prettiest eyes,” he gushed. “And freckles and red hair, and you sing pretty and you’re cute and tiny!”
Brendon giggled. “Oh come on, Pete. You’re biased. You have some kind of reverse Stockholm syndrome after all these months devoting your life to protecting him.”
Patrick laughed, turning to smile at Pete. “Dude, that’s totally the best description of your obsession yet! Reverse Stockholm Syndrome!”
Pete just smirked at Brendon with a filthy wink. “I’ll Stockholm your Syndrome, Urie,” he said and Brendon burst into amused giggles, which only made Patrick and Pete both smile brighter.
Part 2
