It would have been much kinder, I think.

If I had stayed unconscious just a little while longer.

"You always were one for dramatics Jack." Alan sighed, sending a glance back at his brother, whose only response to the revelation was to glare angrily down at the floor.

The cheerful smile slipped, revealing the concern in Alan's gaze, and something else, an emotion stuck between regret and pity.

I had asked Alex once, why he never hung out with his brother. Alex had given me a simple, curt answer.

"Alan is a patronising bastard."

When I had mentioned this to Alan, trying to see if I could get a rise out of the cheerful boy, Alan had bashfully rubbed the back of his neck and said.

"Can't say I disagree."

A playful king, sitting aloof on his throne. An amused smile on his face as he watched the children squabble beneath him, fighting petty battles over nothing.

He never got caught up in the drama, never got emotionally involved in the conflict.

The only thing that ever touched him was the pain.

No matter how stupid or irrelevant or easily solved, the problem was, if it caused Alex pain.

It pissed Alan off.

And Alex was undoubtedly in pain right now. Among all the uncertainties and lies, that much was still obvious.

The way his shoulders hunched, the way he glared at the shattered glass on the floor, as if he couldn't bring himself to look at the damage in the room.

That's why I knew, the moment Alan looked back and saw his brothers grief.

That Alan was done playing.

"Jack." Alan murmured, his gaze slowly shifting to the boy, without moving his head. "In a moment, I am going to ask you to go outside and set off the signal, letting our boys know that it is time to retreat. But before I ask this simple task of you, I want to remind you of something."

He turned his head slowly, and as he did, the glass fragments on the floor shifted.

And begun to rise up into the air, floating weightlessly in the room around us.

Blue eyes glowing, there was no amused smile on Alan's face as he spoke to Jack.

"We have hacked into their system, Jack. We can see everything that is happening in this building. We told you where to find them for pity's sake. Now, tell me the truth here Jacky..."

He tilted his head, blue eyes cold

"Did you really think that we wouldn't see what you did to her?"

The glass shifted, rotating in the air like fragments of a deadly mobile.

Jack to his credit, only offered an indulging smile

"Of course not Alan. In fact..." He took a step closer to the taller boy, hands tucked neatly behind his back and a coy smirk twisting his expression. He gestured towards me, where I lay bleeding on the floor.

"I was under the impression that I was warming her up for you."

Even before he finished, a shard of glass shot past his face, leaving a line of blood where the razor's edge sliced his cheek.

Jack stiffened but otherwise made no move to acknowledge the injury.

"Hush, Alex." Alan reprimanded, sending his brother a wry look out of the corner of his eye. "Let's not make a fuss. We have better things to be focusing our energy on."

Ignoring his brother's cautious words, Alex stared at Jack, blue eyes impossibly cold. He looked about ready to kill the smiling boy.

So of course, Jack had to push it just that last step further.

"What excellent aim you have Alex." He commented dryly. "Though I should expect nothing less, considering the state you put your precious little friend in."

He tilted his was curiously "Tell me, was hurting her juuuust enough to make sure neither she nor Nigel would fight against you, was it worth it? Even after seeing that look on her face?"

In an instant, all the glass in the room surrounded him, pressing in only a fraction away from his skin. Jack froze, not breathing, not daring to move lest he risks cutting himself to shreds.

"Alexander." Alan hissed, his shoulders hunched inward with tension. His hand was extended, as if physically stopping the glass in its tracks "Would you kindly stop being an idiot."

He flung his hand out to the side, and the glass responded, flying out across the room.

Heading straight for the injured supervisors.

Before anyone could move to avoid the attack, the glass melted into a water-like substance, surrounding each supervisor and solidifying into a glass-like bubble. Trapping the men inside.

Cool... Wait, no, not cool. Baaaad.

I saw Winkle banging furiously against the glass of his bubble, his muffled voice demanding to be let out.

Along with some very very naughty words. I would shield Nigel's ears if I could move right now.

Peri and Havoc had been trapped in the same bubble, and Reece had made a leap for the injured Garmen when the glass started flying.

Mr Green lay unconscious in a bubble of his own.

"I think... That we've indulged your fantasies enough for today Jack." Alan murmured, his voice strained, whether, with concentration or anger, I couldn't tell.

He lifted his head, a very diplomatic smile curling his lips. "I tried to give you a hint, but apparently, your ego is so thick that you have difficulty hearing it." His smile became a little colder as he raised a knowing eyebrow "Or perhaps, you thought that you could distract me. By being an imbecile."

He held his hand out, twiddling his fingers playfully.

"We are watching you Jacky, so of course we are completely aware of what you have in your pocket. Hand him over, without making a fuss." When Jack bulked, Alan's smile grew into a grin, mocking and full of teeth. "Come now, Jack. Alexander's impatience is quite infectious, you know. I suggest you make an effort to comply while I'm still asking nicely."

Without another word, not a single cocky remark, Jack slowly reached into the pocket of his jacket.

And pulled out a resisting Artemis.

Silently he dropped the small body into Alan's raised hand, not waiting for further instruction before turning on his heel and storming towards the exit, passing the statue like Alex on his way.

For a moment, Alan calmly studied the small figure in hand, silently appraising the boy for injury.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that Artemis appeared mostly uninjured. If it weren't for the shaking, I might have been convinced that he was alright.

Artemis was even more afraid of the dark than I was, and his time spent in the pocket had obviously rattled him. Alan seemed to notice this, from the gentle way he smiled at Artemis as the tiny boy curled up in his hand.

"Hello Art, long time no see." He greeted cheerfully, his voice enthusiastic, but kept at a soothing tone. "It's been nearly four years. It really is a shame that we couldn't have met under... Better circumstances...."

Artemis said nothing, didn't react to the friendly words but to turn his face away. Anxiously looking down at Nigel and me from his uncomfortable perch in Alan's hand.

Which obviously brought Alan's attention to the elephant in the room.

Slowly, almost reluctantly the giant boy allowed his gaze to rest on us. For the first time since they had entered the room, one of the brothers finally looked at us.

Small and broken on the floor.

And he smiled. Not a cruel smile, or even a fake one. Just a rueful smile, gently excepting our betrayed expressions

At the attention, Nigel shifted, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into his lap. I winced but was grateful to find that the movement didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would.

Whatever Peri's nano-tech was doing, it seemed to be working... Or I was in shock... Yea... That's probably it, knowing my luck...

"Put me down, idiot," I muttered, too light-headed to pay much attention to what I was actually saying. "This dying swan position is so not cool. How am I supposed to scare away the baddies for you if you don't let me pose like a gangster ninja?" I struggled weakly against his iron-like hold, wanting to stand but not quite able to convince my body to do so.

Plus my stupid neck wouldn't hold my head up properly, forcing my head to loll onto Nigel's shoulder. Fine, you can rest there for a moment, but as soon as the ceiling stops spinning, you have to get up and go kick some giant backstabbing ass.

In the meantime, I settled for glaring reproachfully up at Alan, intending to intimidate him into surrender with my haughty gaze alone.

Instead, he started making his way to us, with steady, giant steps. The closer he got, the harder it became to hold the cold expression on my face.

It wasn't easy after all, pulling off a scary expression when your face is pale and withdrawn from blood loss... And when your eyes a just a tiny bit teary...

Soon enough, Alan stood directly before us, his long legs seeming to stretch far above. With the bright spotlight at his back, it was difficult to see his shadowed expression.

A problem he obviously didn't share.

"Come on, guys." He murmured softly, almost pleadingly. "You don't have to look at us like that. I know it seems bad at the moment, but you know us better than that right? I admit that we had ulterior motives, but that doesn't mean that we were faking everything." Alan suddenly crouched down, as if proximity would convince us of his sincerity. "Sure we lied... a lot, but that doesn't mean we don't care..."

"Was he telling the truth?" Nigel suddenly interrupted, the question bursting from him even as he refused to look up at the giant he had considered a friend. Only I was able to see the heartbroken expression on his face as he stared down into my dazed eyes.

"Did you really do this to Maddison, intentionally?"

Alan opened his mouth to reply, only to have someone beat him to it.

"Yes."

The small, simple statement brought my gaze to where Alex stood behind his brother, staring down at me over his brother's crouched form.

He looked sick. Haunted as he stared at the blood, staining my side.

"But..." Alan began about to justify their actions when Alex shook his head.

"Don't bother Alan. Actions speak louder than words after all, and our actions, the way we chose to hurt people for our own convenience, have told them a simple truth."

With one last look, he turned his back.

"This who we really are."

Alan stood, reaching his free hand out to Alex, who roughly shrugged the comfort away.

"Grab them." He snarled over his shoulder. "And let's get out of here. The Underground is waiting for our return."

Alex started to walk off, leaving Alan standing alone, hand still half extended.

Eyes still on Alex's retreating back, Alan crouched down once more. When his brother didn't say anything further, Alan sighed, turning his gaze down to us once more.

"Wait! Please, you don't have to do this!" Reece cried, pressing up against the glass of his bubble. Dully, I realised that there would be no rescue from the supervisors this time.

Slowly, Alan reached his free hand down toward us. As it drew close, Nigel suddenly stood, lifting me in his arms and backing away from the approaching hand.

Idiot shouldn't pick me up like that. He could pull his back out and not even notice...

Escape was impossible for us, but still, Alan hesitated, not closing the small distance it would take to grab us against our will.

"Please Nigel. Resisting here won't help anyone."

"I think the only thing my resistance does is make you feel uncomfortable," Nigel growled in a rare moment of anger. "And in this case, I really couldn't care less."

"Nigel..."

I don't know if it was the blood loss or just the ridiculousness of this whole situation, but I really couldn't help it.

I started giggling.

It started out as a snicker but soon grew to hysterical laughter, mixed with half sobs.

"It's not fair." I giggled to Nigel, who was looking down at me in alarm. "He was the one who lied. He was the one who tricked me." My voice began to slur.

"So why does he look like the one hurting?"

As blackness began to swirl before my eyes, I couldn't remember if I was talking about Alan or Alex.

Or.

About Vain.

"It's not fair. To betray me, then look at me like your heart is breaking."

End of Part Three.