3. PLIGHTED

three

PLIGHTED

A loud crack vanished into the void. Oliver would have groaned in misery if he weren't so terrified of making a sound. His face throbbed, his neck hurt. Pain seared his whole body, slammed down like a rag-doll.

At least Tau had let go of him.

Oliver stayed as he was, foetal. A green coruscant circle encapsulated him and Tau on a blackened ground. Wherever he was, it was completely lightless, yet Tau was a shadow darker than their surrounding abyss.

He twitched, flickered, and flashed. Hunched over, then arched back. Clawed at his face—like a wounded animal. His agonised howls garotted Oliver's heart. He blinked away a gathering of tears and dared to sit up.

Tau was in so much pain. Oliver didn't know how to help. Could only watch. As Tau dropped to his knees, Oliver pushed himself up to his.

Knowing his life dangled by a thread, he shuffled closer, the depthless ground strangely hard on his knees. He reached out to touch the hunched-over figure, but hesitated. The vivid circle jerkily expanded and contracted, emanating with a threat that prickled his skin. Oliver had seen what it could do with a Nightmare Hag, and he wasn't looking forward to being sliced in two.

Chest tight and hand trembling with terror, he set his palm flat on Tau's back, and firmly stroked.

A gauntlet slammed into his stomach, pushing the air out of him in one ghastly, spit-slinging rasp. It sent him rolling into a searing agony. He cried out and scrambled away from the barrier, its fire-like green fading to nothing where his elbow had connected.

Oliver glanced down. The skin blistered, the fabric of his dirty shirt seared into it.

"That's some barrier," he sibilated, hand shaking where he let it hover over the burn.

Met with an eerie silence, he glanced over his shoulder—and his heart rocked backward. Tau was still on his knees, but watching him with those irradiant eyes. Oliver thickly swallowed, not knowing which version of Tau was looking at him.

He caught it, then. A sharp glint on the ground a short distance away. Like a tiny star, although it had several more points. His gaze flicked back to the Sentinel. Oliver lunged, fingers closing around Sigma's heart, and rolled over, narrowly avoiding the downward drive of sharp claws.

He squeezed his eyes shut. Whimpered unintelligible things. Poured every ounce of concentration into creating some kind of magic. He didn't know what he was doing, could only hope pure intent would do the trick.

When he saw red through his eyelids, Oliver knew he'd been successful. He squinted against the cluster of lights floating between himself and Tau—only a few steps away from him. Oliver faltered. He'd been within seconds of meeting a dissected end.

Now, Tau stood directly inside the glister, the smooth blackness of his face unveiled as the light vanished, sucked through under the mask. Oliver clutched Sigma's heart against his chest, feeling his heart hammering under his closed fist. His eyes watered, straining, as he focused on creating another light, trying to ignore how close Tau had shuffled. Sharp fingers reached for him. Scraped his cheek. Stopped, when a cluster of bright glimmers sprang up beside them.

It met the same fate, as did the one Oliver created after.

Tau couldn't resist them. Scuttled after each Oliver cast—further away from him. He didn't know how many more he could make, already wobbling where he stood, or if it did anything at all other than distract.

He calmed his breathing. Closed his eyes. Did his damndest to focus on healing instead. He still didn't have a clue what he was doing, operating on instinct alone.

Oliver felt it then, a soft breeze whisking through him, flowing outward. Peeking, he witnessed hundreds of tiny, flickering lights undulating through the air toward Tau, who had resumed his awful wailing, caught mid-twist when the coruscant wave reached him. He stilled, while Oliver took a hesitant step forward, willing Tau to return to his old self.

Another step, the wave continued. He was within arm's reach again.

Just as he thought he was making progress, Tau's tall frame arched back, nearly folding in half, emitting a cry so ear-splitting, Oliver jerked back and covered his ears. Tau doubled over, took to scraping his face, as if in desperate need to get something out from beneath it.

Finally, Oliver understood what his dreams had been about.

In swift strides, he approached Tau, tucked Sigma's magic into his back pocket, and reached up. Briefly, he hesitated, fully aware this would get him killed.

He dug his fingers under Tau's mask by the jaw and gave it a hard tug, pulling it upward. Only enough to make room.

Oliver flinched at the powerful claws flying up to dig into his forearms, piercing skin. He knew what to expect, but the swarm of insects cascading out from under the mask like a cursed waterfall made him cry out in horror, anyway.

Thousands of them, chirring and snapping at his hands. He refused to let go even as they tore into skin, even as Tau's claws dug into the bone of his wrists. He grit his teeth. Blood trickled down his forearms, luring insects to nip and scratch and burrow. Oliver couldn't keep from whimpering, puffing sharp breaths past his sealed lips as they crawled across his face.

He had failed Tau before, he would not let it happen again.

With the remaining shreds of energy, Oliver flung himself into casting another wave of healing. Glistering stars flowed into Tau, who mercifully released his arms to dig under his mask as the deluge of pests fled. It could have been hours before Oliver saw the last remnants skitter away.

With violently trembling hands, he nudged Tau's claws away to press the mask back down, grimacing at the wet squelch. He shifted away, hopped from one foot to the other in an awkward dance, slapping the remaining bugs off himself with squawks of disgust.

His elbow knocked into something hard. Oliver pivoted, warily stepping back from Tau. He stood upright, watching. A claw extended toward Oliver and he flinched again, his shoulders cinching his neck.

Metal fingertips plucked a bug out of his hair and flicked it away. It pelted the barrier, flaring up in vivid green, its ashes floating away into the darkness like embers.

Oliver gazed up into his Sentinel's expressionless eyes. His throat clenched around a sob, heart punching his ribcage with such force it drummed his ears. He reached for him, ignoring the pain in his wrists, and traced the edge of Tau's large collars with a whisper of a touch.

No longer was Tau the darkest shadow he'd ever seen, the charred grey he gained after their second encounter with Emergence returned.

"Are you back?" Oliver managed, voice atremble.

"Beholden."

Biting his lower lip quelled the need to weep. He twisted his fingers into deliriously soft fabric by Tau's stomach and yanked. His mouth collided with the smooth face as his Sentinel stumbled forward, muffling his sob.

Oliver kissed him with a shuddering gasp and poorly concealed desperation.

"I'm so sorry I let Ondine take you," he croaked, wiping remnants of blood running in rivulets down Tau's front, coating his fingers in dappled sunlight.

Large arms wrapped around his neck, heavy on his shoulders. Tau sank to the ground, forcing Oliver down with him. He clung on, crawling to straddle muscular thighs, and curled his own arms around Tau's ribcage to bring them closer together. He pressed his face to the Sentinel's chest, unable to hear a heartbeat, yet feeling the strum of life run through him. Weakened.

Delivering a squeeze to Tau's ribcage, Oliver pulled back to cast another wave of curative sparks. Silently, he watched Tau lean forward to bask in the light gathering between them.

As his hands shook with exhaustion, Tau's arms slackened their hold on him. "Cease."

Oliver's eyelids had grown heavy. He shook his head to pull himself back up while unconsciousness worked to drag him under. Maji hadn't been lying about Sentinel magic being a drain. "No, I want to heal you."

Tau's large hands slid past his shoulders, down to his arms, and to his aching wrists. He eased Oliver's hands down.

"Cease," Tau said again, his tone so tender, voice like a cradlesong.

The glimmers gradually dissipated as Oliver gave in. Were it not for the flickering green circle around them, they would have been in absolute darkness.

"I'm sorry." Oliver leaned in to rest his forehead against Tau's collarbone. "I'm bad at everything. Are you okay?"

"Alleviated. Beholden."

"No, you're not. I only did what you've done for me for years."

The faint sound Tau made was strange. Oliver could only think to describe it as a thoughtful hum, even though it was nothing like a hum. It was adorable, anyway. In particular, when he lowered his head to nuzzle the side of Oliver's face.

"Will you tell me what happened?" Oliver looked up into those pitch black triangles again. "What did Ondine do to you? It was her, wasn't it?"

Tau's hands twitched where he had them curled around Oliver's hips. "Yes." The pause that followed felt strained. "Pain. Lost mind."

Oliver scrunched his face in an attempt to clear the fog from his head. On the rare occasion he'd heard Tau speak, he had always been limited with what he said. His voice was mellifluous as ever, masculine. Like a plate full of roast meats but for his ears. Still, making sense of what he was trying to say wasn't easy.

"You mean…she caused you to lose your mind by hurting you?"

The responding nod, though curt, shattered him. He grasped both of Tau's hands to bring them up to his lips, the metal knuckles an odd mix of cold-warm. He doubted Tau could feel the caress, but hoped the intention would be understood.

He kissed along the gauntlet, up to a wrist. Slid his cheek against the back of Tau's hand and squeezed his eyes shut against the throb in his chest.

He should have never listened to Lucetta and Maji. He should have gone to beat Pavlov until Ondine decided to come out.

There were so many things he should have done. Could have done.

A thumb pressed against the knot between his eyebrows, and Oliver eased his frown. He forced himself to swallow against the festering anger and guilt.

"I'm sorry I froze." Sorry he was so damned useless. "I missed you so much." Being without Tau had felt like losing an arm, maybe even a piece of his soul.

Tau pressed his face close, and Oliver kissed him again, taking comfort in the tingle coursing through his lips as he reached to brush his knuckles over the hood's edge.

"Will you tell me what happened with Emergence?" Oliver thought he understood what had happened, but wanted to make sure. Unfortunately, Tau didn't respond, only lowered his head as though ashamed. His silence confirmed Oliver's suspicion.

"I'm sorry you got tricked. I guess it's not just people who lie."

"Lie?"

Oliver's heart twisted with further realisation. "Yeah. It's…when you say something that's not true."

Tau tilted his head. Oliver hadn't thought a godlike being at least half a century old could be so innocent. He didn't think it possible, but he loved Tau so much more for it.

"Instellation," Tau said, pointing a deadly fingertip at Oliver's hip.

It took a good while for his head to whir into motion, during which Oliver stupidly blinked up at Tau.

"Oh, yeah." He freed the tiny, weird star that had been digging a divot into his arse cheek. "It's not your fault. You didn't know what you were doing."

Tau moved his head. First from one side, then the other. "Aware. Needed alleviation."

So, killing Sigma had been on purpose. An act of desperation, but very much deliberate. Oliver pressed his lips into a line.

"I know I'm not supposed to say it, but…I'm glad you did it. I wouldn't have been able to bring you back without this."

He held the thing out for Tau to take. When he didn't, Oliver pressed it into one of those large palms, only for Tau to press it back into his. Deciding not to argue, he slipped it into his overall's front pocket this time. Then he glanced up, nervousness taking hold. Oliver bore his teeth into his lower lip and flicked his tongue against the abused skin.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask and I might not get another chance, so I'll do it now. Okay?"

He paused, quickly deciding to take Tau's silence for permission.

Oliver inhaled, deeply, to fortify himself.

"Is it okay if I keep calling you Tau? I know your real name is Light of Day, but it's kind of a mouthful."

"Mouthful?"

It did not escape Oliver's notice that Tau's hands slid up his thighs to the slight curve of his backside, and he nearly lost the thread of what he wanted to say.

"As–As in, it's a lot to say."

A single nod and Oliver assumed Tau understood. Who better to understand than his Sentinel, who was so sparing with words? It was a miracle Oliver could even understand half of what he was trying to convey.

"That reminds me, why won't you talk to me in our world?"

"Cannot."

Oh.

Ruefully, Oliver muttered, "I thought it was because you didn't want to."

Tau squeezed his arse and Oliver's head purged itself of coherency. He licked his lips, his hands already drifting up, greedily rubbing that broad, muscular chest. His wrists hurt worse for it, but he didn't care. Not when the next tilt of Tau's head suggested he was staring at his mouth. The nervousness jostling Oliver's stomach worked to upend him, once he remembered just how close they had gotten before— everything .

He drew in a long, trembling breath, reminding himself that now was definitely not the time. Tau was still unwell, for a start. He could see it in the missing lustre, could feel it slog through him like exhaustion.

"An–Another question, sorry," he stammered, hoping to distract himself. "Do you remember what you did with Sam?"

Tau paused. "Misplaced."

"Uh… Where?"

"Home."

"Er, whose home?"

"Home."

Oliver sighed, not sure what to make of that. Samuel was probably still alive. Just…a bit lost. They would have to figure it out later. For now, he wanted to relish having Tau back. He spilt forward to press his face into the covered neck and inhaled.

Fresh, springtime rain. Delicate, and uniquely Tau.

His eyes drifted shut, content as he was to just be with his boyfriend. In a way he'd never before been allowed.

"Love."

He might have imagined it. Maybe Tau had told him he loved him in his dreams.

Oliver hadn't meant to fall asleep, didn't know he had until his eyes opened, vision blurry with streaks of grey and green. Groggily, he brought up a hand—and smacked himself trying to rub the sleep from his face. He grunted.

Plants trailing across the ceiling looked healthier than last he saw them. Maji's hovel was better lit, too. Oliver turned his head, and smiled up at the best pillow in the world. Tau. Motionless, staring down at him, his thigh delightfully cool and warm and firm under his head. He reached out to run his fingers across Tau's chest—

"Finally!"

Oliver jerked upright so fast, he thought his head had snapped off. Lucetta stood right by the bed, Maji walking up behind her, relief relaxing both their faces. Dazed, he squinted at the enchanted sun floating inside the carved, window-like hollow near the hearth, beautiful and bright with the faintest halo of blue. Midday.

"You were asleep for three days," said Lucetta.

"Poor Tau hasn't moved at all," added Maji.

"Yeah, he's good at that," Oliver mumbled.

An abrupt yawn near enough split his face in half. He rubbed his eyes again, then dropped back down to Tau's thigh. Languidly, he stretched, smiling coyly at the way a large hand came to stroke his forehead.

"I think I had the best sleep of my life."

"You snored so loudly, people were asking what animal I was keeping in here. Tau seemed very worried about you," said Maji and Oliver hoped she was joking. "Your wrists and elbow are nicely healed, but you'll have to fix the shirt yourself."

He raised his arms, no traces left of the puncture wounds or burn on his elbow, only tattered cloth revealing pale, unflawed skin. His gaze flicked to Tau, mouth once more curving with a smile.

"Thank you," he said in a nigh whisper. Louder, he added, "That reminds me, I have this for you, Luce." Without sitting up, he dug around the breast pocket and procured the oddly shaped star. Lazily, he deposited it into Lucetta's open hand. "Sigma's magic."

She looked stunned. "Why me?"

"Maji's already got one." Oliver grabbed Tau's hand and curled his fingers around the long, pointy digits.

"Okay, but why not you ?" Lucetta's chestnut eyes flicked from Oliver's face to their hands, then back.

"'Cause I'm a delinquent. Tau made me keep it, so I guess he doesn't want it."

Lucetta snorted. She stuffed it into the pocket of her grey tartan shirt. "Well, thank you, Tau."

"What happened?" Maji pushed at Oliver's legs until he relented and sat up. She drew her legs up to her chest once she plopped down beside him.

"We honestly didn't think you'd come out of that alive," said Lucetta.

"Oh, yeah."

While divulging what had happened, Oliver kept the details of why Tau killed Sigma to himself. They didn't need to know.

"Tau said he misplaced Sam in home ."

"Misplaced? You mean transported back here somewhere?" Lucetta regarded Tau from where she sat among plants on the floor, legs crossed.

"Don't think so," said Oliver.

"Do you mean your own homeworld?" Maji peered up at Tau.

"He can't talk to us in this world," said Oliver. "But he can wherever we were." And in the Wandering Horror realm, he remembered. He grabbed hold of Tau's hand again, stroking the armoured knuckles with his fingers, fighting the urge to kiss them.

"I wonder why," Maji murmured.

"Can you take us to the same place, so we can talk to you?" asked Lucetta.

Tau moved his head up, stopped there for several moments, then dipped. Oliver smiled. Bless him, he was nodding again. Pointed a sharp fingertip at Lucetta, too.

"Me? Oh, sure." She pushed up with a grunt. "Come on then, take me there."

Oliver didn't want to let go of him, but Tau was already rising, clawed sabatons scraping old wool rugs. With a soft snap , he and Lucetta were gone, leaving Oliver to sigh.

He leaned back, closing his eyes, grateful for the mantle blocking out the stone wall's chill. It didn't feel like he'd slept for three days. He was still exhausted.

"Why did you really give Lucetta the magic?"

Oliver cracked open an eye to peek at Maji, then shrugged. "Just seems right. I have the mantle, you got that dead tree's magic."

"I guess." Maji leaned back too. "What's his voice like?"

This time, the sigh that left Oliver was wistful. "That's right, you haven't heard it yet. It's probably one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard. It… It makes my heart hurt and sing at the same time, you know? I'm so in love with him."

Just saying the words made him ready to explode. Oliver ground a palm into the centre of his chest, as if that would ease the intense ache.

"You really are, aren't you?" Maji watched him in that observant way she sometimes did.

"I'd die for him." After everything Tau had done for him, Oliver would do anything . "He's… My Sentinels, Maji, he's so innocent. I'm pretty sure he didn't know what lying was until Emergence."

"Really? His homeworld must have been nice, if it had no liars."

"I don't know. Emergence said they were deceived, so maybe not that nice. Then again, that ugly dummock was probably lying."

Snap .

Lucetta and Tau returned, standing within the centre of the hovel, Tau bent so low he was curled over her.

She sucked in a breath that suggested her patience had already been tried. "Okay, from what I managed to get out of him—and my goodness he doesn't say much—Tau transports all Dire entities and artefacts to his homeworld."

Oliver frowned. That didn't seem right.

"Why?" Maji asked. "I thought it was all being destroyed by him."

"To be taken care of safely, I think." Lucetta crossed her arms, ducking out from under Tau. "We could assume that's where Sam is."

"Hope that means Sam wasn't taken care of, then. Does that mean there are survivors even after Emergence did their thing?" Oliver leaned forward, his gaze fixated on Tau.

"And," Maji continued, "If you can transport things to your homeworld, can you do that for yourself?"

Lucetta clicked her tongue. "Hang on, let's try this again. Take me back?"

"No, it's my turn!" Maji cried.

Her knee knocked into Oliver's in her rush to scramble off the bed. Gently, she pushed Lucetta out of the way. Now stood beside Tau, she was only marginally taller than a gnome. Once the two vanished, Lucetta flopped down to the bed with a grunt, face buried in the pillow.

"How come we're in Maji's hovel?" Oliver asked.

"She wanted help recovering some of her plants."

He huffed, knowing he could have guessed that. "Does that mean everyone knows Tau's back?"

"No." Lucetta turned her head, unmuffling her voice. "We didn't think it was a good idea to let people know he's back." When Oliver cast her a confused look, she added, "He might have escaped Ondine. And if he has —"

"Ondine might not know about it yet or if she does, she hasn't found him." Oliver's lips thinned into an angry line. If anyone else saw Tau, Mister Pavlov would hear about it and then, inevitably, so would his wife. "Good thinking. What are we going to do with him now?"

Of course, Oliver had plenty of ideas for what he wanted to do with Tau, and none of them included Maji and Lucetta. "We can't keep him here like a forbidden pet."

No matter how much he wanted to.

Another snap startled him out of that thought.

Maji slapped her hands over her mouth, hiding a grin. "He's gorgeous ."

Oliver cast Tau an appreciative look, trailing it over the Sentinel's long body. "He sure is. Don't go getting any ideas though. I'll piss on him if I have to."

"Oh, I don't know," Lucetta drawled. "You might have to share him with us now, marked or not."

She sat up and lifted a leg up to her chest, wrapping an arm around the shin. Oliver caught sight of a splinted and bandaged hand. He would've asked her about it, but since she had just teased him, he decided he didn't care right then.

"What did you find out?" Oliver asked instead.

"You weren't kidding about him not using a lot of words!" Maji awkwardly patted Tau's vambrace, then reached down her shirt to pull out the leather cord, revealing the vial containing Nu's magic. "First of all, the only reason he can take us to that really dark place is because we're holding these."

Oliver smacked himself across the forehead. "I never even thought to ask."

Maji smiled at him, a little smug. "As for transporting, I think he said he can't go there himself, but doesn't seem to know why. Just that he was designed that way?"

Both Lucetta and Oliver echoed, "Designed?"

"Can he transport us into his homeworld?" asked Lucetta.

"I did ask, but all I got was ‘confinement,'" said Maji. "I think he can only transport things into a prison?"

Lucetta's eyebrows shot up. "Sam's in prison?" Briefly, a smile tugged at her mouth. It looked… pleased , but vanished just as quickly. "Is there a way to get him out?"

"I didn't get that far. I'll ask him now."

"No don't," Oliver cut in. "If he could get Sam back, he would've by now. If we get drained using magic, think about what it's doing to him. We'll find a way to get Sam back, but let Tau rest first."

He held out a hand, heart leaping with joy when Tau took it without pause, allowing himself to be guided to sit back on the bed beside Oliver. He smiled, fingertips drifting across the ridges on Tau's gauntlet.

Maybe he could sneak Tau into his hovel. Or maybe he could convince Maji and Lucetta to go away, so they could have some time together. He brought the large hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it. Tau curled over him, the other hand coming to scrape through his hair.

Something prodded him in the side and Oliver grunted.

"You've not bathed for too long," Lucetta muttered, pressing her elbow harder into his side. "Hit the water, polecat."

Oliver made a face. He didn't want to leave Tau. He wanted to get naked and rub himself all over that muscular body.

He would have to be clean for that, though. But he wasn't ready to leave Tau.

"Later," he said dismissively, clutching Tau's hand to his mouth.

Lucetta slid off the bed, snatched Oliver by the ankles, and stared, the threat igniting those chestnut eyes.

"Okay! Okay." A quick kiss to the back of Tau's gauntlet before he released the buckles of the mantle and shrugged it off, rising to his feet. "I'll be back in no time, okay? You just relax."

He grunted again at the terry cloth and soap bar shoved against his chest, then yowled in complaint as Lucetta gave him a firm push out the hovel.

"Wash, now !"

Oliver sulked outside the door, now closed, convinced Lucetta only wanted Tau for herself. Maybe he would have to lift a leg up on Tau. Not that she didn't have a point. He couldn't remember the last time he'd bathed, and he couldn't very well be that dirty with Tau.

With a sigh, Oliver turned.

Then stopped.

Red uniforms cluttered the lodgings passageway, a guard stationed every few feet. Unique lanterns hung above each, along the walls. Within, lights fluttered in pale pinks and yellows. Work didn't appear to have stopped, miners returning from lunch hour to head back into the mountain's bowels. Had another Sentinel appeared, already, or were they somehow faring without one?

Oliver trekked down to the communal hot springs on tired feet, several levels below the lodgings. He was annoyed to find the cave occupied. Bathing was a precarious task and he hated it, especially when others were around to witness him injuring himself. At least he had Tau to help him again, should he break a rib while running soap across his chest.

He stripped, leaving his clothes on the damp floor. Steps leading up to the basin were treacherously slippery, the air was too humid, and the water always too hot.

"You've been gone a while."

Oliver grimaced, glancing up from dipping his toes into the water. He hadn't even seen Anna, or Helen, too busy minding his own business, which those two weren't. Helen's long legs kicked up, breaking the steamy surface, while Anna leaned back against the stone edge, watching him with a dead look. Tiny droplets in her rounded hair sparkled like diamonds in the strange new lights freely flitting overhead.

"Came down with something," he mumbled, sliding into the water.

"Hope you're feeling better and not spreading sickness around."

Sweet Anna, always so blunt. Oliver didn't take it personally, she was just like that. He gave her a pallid smile. "Feeling loads better, thanks."

Anna's keen grey eyes watched his every move. It was a little unnerving, really. "We thought you might have been upset, with that Sentinel Tau look-alike roaming the mine. Do you know where They've gone to?"

Oliver cast his attention across the blue water, away from them. "Couldn't tell you."

"Are you okay bathing yourself? I can help, if you like," Helen said.

That was nice. "No thanks, I'll take my chances today."

"Okay, but we don't have a Sentinel to help." Anna's voice chased him as he deliberately waded through the too-hot water to the other end of the basin, near a cascade where he could scarcely make out Helen's bright red hair through the thick steam.

Unfortunately, Oliver belatedly realised he had positioned himself near Lauper.

Out of all the people to survive the Wandering Horror attack, it had to be him and his friends. It didn't take Lauper long to notice him, or for the man to approach with a sneer, broad chest puffing out, thick brows haughtily arched.

"Not got your mantle with you now, or your friends to protect you?"

Oliver cast him a baleful look, unable to help from flicking his gaze over broad shoulders and the smattering of dark hair on that chest. Not an unattractive man, with his long hair, prominent nose and broad jawline, but damn, if he wasn't an annoying one.

"Still cursed, could still sock a hole through you." Oliver silently congratulated himself on sounding so nonchalant. "Except now it'll be a surprise when."

He set to scrubbing himself with the lavender-scented soap. The sooner he got this over with, the better.

"Could, but it's not definite. That's how it works, right?"

"A surprise, like I said." Oliver did not like how close Lauper had gotten.

He edged away, turning his back to the nearest wall, rough stone digging into his skin. He didn't like the way Lauper's friends were surrounding him, either.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright? I wasn't thinking and mucked things up."

"I remember," said Lauper, features twisting in mock sadness. "You were so heartbroken because your pretend-boyfriend Sentinel left."

Oliver sneered. "Congrats, you're the reddest of redcaps."

So, maybe he shouldn't have said that. Maybe he should have been paying attention, instead of trying to wash his hair with soap. At the very least, he should have expected retaliation. But he hadn't expected anything, having grown too complacent with being able to control his curse, with Sentinels always there to stop infighting.

A fist connected with his jaw, sending Oliver reeling sideways, and under. He gasped, receiving a lungful of scalding water. Someone grabbed his hair, yanked him back up. Another pair of hands trapped his arms behind his back.

"Get off me!" Oliver managed between violent hacks causing spittle and water to fly past his lips.

Another wallop to his temple made Sigma's stars appear in his vision. He collapsed against someone—shoved away and resubmerged. Hands pressed down on his head and shoulders, keeping him under until he couldn't resist struggling, then pulled him up again. His lungs rattled as he gasped, unable to see, fists raining down on him from every angle.

Blinded by pain and panic, Oliver pushed whoever was nearest. He whirled. Swung his fist. Heard a crunch. Felt the crack of bone under his knuckles, in his own hand. Saw Lauper, flying backwards. Watched in horror as the back of his head connected with the basin's edge.

Water turned red, spreading like angered fog around the limp, floating body. There was so much blood, so many shouts of shock and anger.

Oliver dragged himself out of the water and ran.