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Percy was quiet for a moment, as he studied his boyfriend’s face. He hadn’t moved from the ground yet, too overwhelmed with everything that had happened. His sponsor had told him he’d likely face increased challenges when he returned to school - but he doubted Harry had this in mind. He could play dumb, pretend he didn’t know what Dorian wanted to talk about, he could try to avoid the problem and insist on pursuing any leads they had on Nemo. They hadn’t even been together very long, just three months. And already, there was so much weight on their relationship, so much stress… 

[color=ed1c24]“Of course. Did you wish to speak on this plane? Is there somewhere I can bring us?”[/color] 

He then paused briefly. [color=ed1c24]“Perhaps somewhere where I can be the only one at risk of being slimed.”[/color]

[Color=CC99FF]”Is now really when you want to start workin' on tryin’ to get a sense of ‘umor mon amour? Let's just go somewhere more private. For now.”[/color]

Percy frowned, staring down his boyfriend. [color=ed1c24]“I have a sense of humor,”[/color] he grumbled, before taking Dorian’s hand. The blue energy that enveloped them was uneven, sparks of static flying off, before the world seemed to twist and churn, and they stumbled back into existence underneath the bleachers, rather than on top of them as Percy intended. And as they had never changed out of the skates, his weak ankle twisted and he yelped, falling to the ground - yet again - with an unceremoniously thud. [color=ed1c24]“...Right. Skates…”[/color] 

Dorian phased out of his skates as soon as he felt the ground beneath their feet. Now standing in his socks, within the snow that littered under the seats. [Color=CC99FF]”A dry one worthy of Nemo I'm sure.”[/color] He looked around their new surroundings, a strange pick for him but private nonetheless. It felt very…teen, which he supposed that they both were even if the problems they faced felt much larger than getting acne before a big dance. Was this how the Young Avengers felt?

Percy grimaced, as he untied the laces on his skates slowly and pulled them off his feet. The cold underneath his toes was bitter and unforgiving, his socks immediately becoming soaked as he stood up. He had to incline his head up to look Dorian in the eye. He’d expected to see anger and disappointment there, for him to have failed yet again. Every time they had needed to talk, it had been about something Percy had done - when he’d pulled out of the contest, when he’d confessed his alcoholism. But while there was sadness and hurt… it wasn’t directed at him. 

[color=ed1c24]“Dorian…”[/color] Percy reached out and took his hands gently. [color=ed1c24]“What’s going on in your head?”[/color]

[Color=CC99FF]”I – Perce…I just found out I kill myself in t'e future and…and…I don't think it's t'at far away eit'er.”[/color] Tears welled up in Dorian's eyes as his mind shot forth images of the graves once more. This year, this would be their last year and it was all his fault somehow. [Color=CC99FF]” ‘ow am I supposed to be a ‘ero if I can't even keep you all safe…”[/color]

[color=ed1c24]“What do you mean it’s not far away?”[/color] Percy choked out. [color=ed1c24]“Are you… are you thinking about killing yourself?”[/color] His head felt incredibly faint again and it took what willpower he had not to collapse. His poor boyfriend, his poor sweet boyfriend, suffering alone… Nemo - Percy - he had tried to prevent this, hadn’t he? But it must not have been enough, he must not have been enough. [color=ed1c24]“Why didn’t you tell me?”[/color] He gripped Dorian’s hands tighter, as if that could keep him from disappearing, from fading away. [color=ed1c24]“What do you mean, keep us all safe? You always protect me - you protect everyone, I don’t… I don’t understand.”[/color]

[Color=CC99FF]” I didn't quite realize at first, what I'd seen, it made no sense, didn't seem prophetic and…well it ‘appened while I was awake, at t'e start of school but…Perce I t’ink we all die by t'e end of t'is year. I ‘adn't told anyone and maybe my silence is why it comes to be, I ‘eld it in too long and now it's too late and if I cant stop it t'en why should I be t'e one to keep livin’ I don't deserve to, I don't deserve t'at. I think maybe t'at's why I…”[/color]

They all die by the end of the year. 

The news hit Percy like a truck. Not only was Dorian’s fate to go by suicide, but everyone else was going to be dead, too. He’d be the only survivor, the only living soul in a friend group of ghosts. [color=ed1c24]“Do you…”[/color] He shook his head. That wasn’t the right question - as much as he wanted to fix this, as every instinct of his was telling him to get organized, to make a plan. [color=ed1c24]“But you…”[/color] He swallowed again. He needed to comfort him, even as he felt like he was going to fall apart. [color=ed1c24]“I won’t let you,”[/color] he hugged him tightly. [color=ed1c24]“Я не позволю тебе умереть, Дориан Грей. Ты понимаешь? Я отказываюсь.”[/color]

[color=ed1c24]“If you die… I’ll follow you. I’ll follow you and bring you back. I’ll drag you back.”[/color]

Dorian held onto Percy tight, his eyes closing as he squeezed the small Russian mutant. [Color=CC99FF]”If t'e world dies because of my inactions, I do not deserve to live. But t'at will be a problem for anot'er day, one in which we've already saved Poissan-pas and I can see just ‘ow much ‘e can tell me.”[/color]

[color=ed1c24]“And what about me?”[/color] Percy asked, his voice shaking. Anger curdled up inside him, as much as he did his best to stopper it all. His grip tightened. [color=ed1c24]“If the world dies, you would leave me all alone? I’m not enough to live for?”[/color]

[Color=CC99FF]”Perce…if t'e world died t'en t'at would…include…you? Wait…”[/color] Dorian thought back to the vision, the graves, the ruined world, Percy didn't have a grave. His eyes went wide. [Color=CC99FF]”You didn't ‘ave a grave. You didn't ‘ave a grave! What if t'e TVA kidnapped you because of your power? T'at's why you didn't get one, ‘ow did i not see t'at before? Days of Future Past me may ‘ave been in too much grief to see t'at you weren't dead you were missin’! Now all I ‘ave to do is find you in t'e future non?”[/color]

Percy stopped for a moment, considering everything that Dorian had said. He hadn’t been thinking as much about the possibility of a new timeline, rather he was focusing on what they knew about Nemo and his Dorian. Although… he supposed that they didn’t know the circumstances behind how Nemo joined the TVA. [color=ed1c24]“So you are proposing that everyone died, you are the only survivor, and that I am kidnapped - presumably tortured and molded into an assassin for the TVA?”[/color] It was horrible, but the idea was strangely comforting - that Dorian hadn’t chosen to leave him, that he had just been driven by grief. He couldn’t help but sniffle and tremble softly. 

[color=ed1c24]“But why would I come back here and become a coach? That doesn’t make any sense, and if you’ve had that vision, then I haven’t changed anything, I failed, I…”[/color]

[Color=CC99FF]”Except you didn't. You ‘aven't. What if t'is is what Poissan-pas was workin’ towards. ‘E can't directly change t'e past or we get a splinter and as we learned t'at splinter gets pruned. But if t'e information gets coded into someone some'ow in t'e past and knows what to look for, t'en future me can avoid what ‘e would normally do and find you. T'en we can reset t'e timeline while ‘avin’ up to date information on t'e TVAs doin's. It's simple time manipulation Perce.”[/color]

Percy frowned, lifting his head up from Dorian’s chest to look him directly in the eye. [color=ed1c24]“You’re suggesting we go to war with an organization that has mastered time, that aggressively controls past, present, and future, and eradicates those who defy them. The same organization that is about to execute me.”[/color]

[Color=CC99FF]”And t'e same organization who managed to get a sentient AI to war against t'em. T'ey ‘ave to be able to measure time some'ow. Buggin’ t'ier code could mess wit’ it enough to fly under a radar for a while. Besides, no one should be able to dictate who lives and who dies like t'at. Its not right.”[/color]

[color=ed1c24]“You’re insane,”[/color] Percy shook his head in disbelief, even as he was smiling. He had a death wish, no sense of self preservation. They were just children. They’d barely managed to defeat other kids and had almost been murdered by an incel with bad acne. What hope did they have against a shadowy organization beyond space and time? They should have been talking about how to run away, how to hide so that the TVA would never find them, how to grab every person they loved and cared about and bring them along. This wasn’t the time to be the hero. 

Percy pressed a soft kiss to Dorian’s lips. [color=ed1c24]“We’ll get killed doing this. But okay.”[/color]

[Color=CC99FF]”Did you miss t'e part where we die anyways? What do we ‘ave to lose now?”[/color]

[color=ed1c24]“You. I don’t want to lose you.”[/color]

[Color=CC99FF]”Well t'en, it sounds as if we need to take em down. Ot'erwise t'ey take you and you'll lose me t'at way instead. If you don't t'ink Excelsior can ‘andle t'em t'en what good could I do alone?”[/color]

Percy tried to imagine the others fighting the TVA. He winced at the image. They’d managed to survive Arcade through luck - through the intervention of friends who were no longer with them. And at the Contest of Champions, almost everyone had given up in the final battle. Granted, the stakes then had been lower, it was just winning a contest, not life or death. But still, he could hardly imagine Danni and April focusing long enough, Sabine showing up properly equipped, Leah not having unexpected traumatic flashbacks, Gideon not just charging at the boss, leaving just Andy and Dorian locked in, ready to go… 

[color=ed1c24]“We need to train more then - and more seriously. Excelsior could barely hold our own against other children. I can’t really fight. Half of us don’t show up prepared. The other half can’t focus for longer than the length of a Snikt video.”[/color] 

[color=ed1c24]“And if they do take me…”[/color]

[Color=CC99FF]”If t'ey do take you, t’at'll be t'e last mistake t'ey ever make. T'e Kingston Grays don't back away from a fight so easily, t'ey've taken down gods, immortals, and worst of all bigots, so don't you worry. Knowin’ you're still alive out t'ere somewhere means I ‘ave somet'in’ to live for. Even if it takes a while before I find my way to t'em, you just gotta wait for me.”[/color]

Percy’s heart fluttered in his chest, the last bit of his anger and hurt soothed away. [color=ed1c24]“You would live for me?”[/color]

[Color=CC99FF]”Dyin’ is easy Perce, livin’ is ‘arder. Of course I'd live for you mon cœur.”[/color]

He nodded, his gaze averting down as he blinked rapidly for a moment. [color=ed1c24]“I had assumed that I wasn’t enough to live for… That without the others, you didn’t have enough to hold on for.”[/color]

[Color=CC99FF]”T'at's why you should never assume t'in's. Cuz it makes you look silly.”[/color] Dorian said as he lifted Percy's face by his chin to meet his eyes. 

[color=ed1c24]“If I look silly, it’s because of the hat your sister made,”[/color] Percy scoffed. 

[Color=CC99FF]"[i]I[/i] ‘appen to like t'at ‘at. If anyt'in’ I'm t'e one who suggested t'e design t'ey make…”[/color] Dorian grumbled. [Color=CC99FF]”Besides, t'e ‘at stays on.”[/color]

[hider=Translations]Я не позволю тебе умереть, Дориан Грей. Ты понимаешь? Я отказываюсь. = I won't let you die, Dorian Gray. Do you understand? I refuse.[/hider]