Chapter Text
Kevin woke up drenched in sweat, the last images from the nightmare slipping through his fingers. The ghost taste of blood filled his mouth. His stomach churned, and he ran for the bathroom. Coughing and sputtering, nothing came up, just painful dry heaves that made his body ache. His hands shook as he held himself over the toilet. The usually dull throb in his leg intensified the more he stayed crouched in his bathroom.
There was a knock at the door. "You okay in there, Kev?"
Fear pooled in his stomach, only further agitating his nausea. He had to think of something quick to explain why he was locked in the bathroom before his dad forced his way in the small space.
"Yeah, I'm good. I think the new pills make my stomach upset." Kevin said, trying to sound confident in his answer since it was plausible.
There was a moment of silence before his dad answered. "Okay, when you are feeling better, breakfast is ready. Do you want me to make you some toast to help settle your stomach?"
"Please," Kevin croaked, his throat tight with guilt at the lie.
His dad meant well but Kevin couldn’t face the disappointment that he knew waited him if his dad found out what was wrong. No, this was something he had to deal with himself. It was his stupid decisions that got him to this point, not his dad's. It was difficult enough to let his ex-bully help him.
After rinsing out his mouth, Kevin wondered downstairs. Breakfast had been set up by the time he slid into his seat. Worried his stomach might not be able to handle a lot of food, Kevin grabbed two pieces of toast and a little bit of scrambled eggs. His dad's plate of food was a full as usual. The older Barr usually ate his food slowly as he tried to read the paper at the same time. It was a painfully slow process to watch especially when food kept falling off his fork. But today the newspaper was abandoned on the counter.
"Do you want me to call the doctor to see if we can put you on something else? I don’t want you to get sick every time you take one." Mr. Barr said casually.
"No, I'm good." Kevin said a little too quickly. "My body just isn’t used to them yet. The same thing happened with the pill I got when I was released from the hospital. I'll be fine."
His dad looked at him doubtfully but let the subject drop for now. Kevin let out a slow breath and focused on spreading jam on his toast. The rest of the meal went by with no more conversations. They rinsed the dished and put them in the dishwasher. It was turning out to be a nice morning.
When Kevin went back up to his room to get ready for school, he saw he had a notification on his phone.
Edd: How are you feeling this morning?
Kevin frowned at his phone before sending a response.
Kevin: It's been a rough morning. Do you want to walk to school together?
It was disheartening to see his addiction put into text format. If anyone read his messages, they would see two friends making plans to walk to school together. But Kevin knew that there was an underlying code starting. This was an outcry for relief, the scare pulsing painfully.
This phone buzzed again.
Edd: Meet you outside in 5 minutes.
Packing up his homework, Kevin plodded down the stairs. His dad was still in his room, getting ready for work. He called up the stairs that he was leaving before stepping outside. At the end of the driveway, Edd stood with his hands in his pockets, watching a bird fly overhead lazily. There was a softness to his swimmer's face as he observed the world around him, innocent almost. Kevin knew he was seeing a rare sight and felt disappointed when Edd's usual mask slid back onto his face as he noticed Kevin watching him.
"Let's go, Marie is going to meet us half way there." Edd said, walking down the sidewalk.
Kevin jogged to catch up with Edd, his leg still bothering him. When he finally caught up, Kevin stumbled straight into Edd, who caught him easily. Embarrassed, Kevin disentangled himself and brushed nonexistent dirt off his shirt.
"You really did have a rough start, didn't you?" Edd said slowly, unslinging his backpack off his shoulder.
The swimmer produced a bottle of water and a mint container. Mixed in with the mints were Kevin's pills. If anyone just glanced at the pair, it looked like Edd was offering him a mint. The water might raise an eyebrow, so Kevin declined it. Carefully, Kevin picked one of his pills and quickly swallowed it. It stuck to his throat for a moment before it finally went down. Hopefully the effects would kick in before they got to school.
Marie met the duo at the split in the road. She slung an arm round Kevin's shoulder, chatting about some drama she heard the other day. It was easy to be around the blue-haired girl. Topics were never really anything too important, usually just gossip and rumors and a few fun facts thrown in the mix. It took little effort to keep up with her even though the names were unknown to him, but it was easily to follow. The pain in his leg slowly receded and Kevin thought the day was starting to look up.
The sun was slowly descending to the horizon when Michael walked behind a strip mall. There weren't many cars in the parking lot, but he found exactly who he was looking for behind the shops. The red head was leaned against the building, smoking a cigarette.
"Sup Lee," Michael called out as he approached.
Looking up, Lee smiled at him and offered him a cigarette. "Hey Mike, what are you doing in this neck of the woods?"
"Just doing some round," he shrugged, taking the slim cigarette that Lee seemed to prefer.
Lee just hummed at the response and went back to smoking. She knew him well enough that this little adventure was not without reason. Michael only sought people out if he wanted something. But she wasn’t going to make it easy for him. It was the little game they played.
"So," he stared, trying to sound casual as he lit the cigarette. "I saw this guy with your sister yesterday."
Lee cut in, "Which one?"
"The dark-haired one."
Lee blew smoke out of slowly. "Marie."
"Yeah Marie," Michael quickly amended. "Do you know the guy she was hanging out with? He dresses in all black and wears a beanie, kinda tall and lanky."
"With a look that says he's ready to kick someone's ass? That would be Edd, some snobby son of doctors that we grew up with. What's the interest in the dork?"
The word doctor drew Michael's interest. "What's his last name?"
Lee looked at the lanky guy next to her from the corner of her eye. Something didn't seem quite right.
"Who wants to know?" Lee asked cautiously.
Lee knew who Michael worked for and this could mean trouble.
"I'm curious, just humor me." Michael said innocently.
"Is this going to any way effect my sister if I tell you?" Lee said, her tone neutral.
"Not at all, Lee. I know better to get anywhere close to your sisters. Everyone knows that."
Satisfied with the answer, Lee nodded. "I think his last name is Vincent. His mom is like some big shot researcher and his dad was a doctor."
"Was?" Michael asked, his heart dropping into his stomach.
"Yeah, there was a scandal a few years ago where he was caught writing fake prescriptions to sell on the streets. He's been in jail ever since."
Michael stood impossibly still. This was bad, really bad. Carter would not be happy about this development. Just the thought of having to tell his boss sent a shiver down his spine. Carter hated bad new and his was beyond bad news.
"Thanks Lee, I'll see you later." Michael said, quickly walking away from Lee.
When he was out of Lee's view, Michael dropped the half-smoked cigarette and ground it out then pulled out his phone. His fingers flew over the numbers. It was a number he memorized. Carter was carful to not have his burners saved into other phones. If any of his underlings got caught or lost their phone, a name would not be attached to the numbers. He was paranoid like that.
Carter picked up on the third ring. "Anything new?"
Michael took a deep breath before answering. "It's Vincent."
There was a long pause on the line before an order was barked. "Get back here now. I want to know everything."