Chapter Text
Jon wandered from nightmare to nightmare, avoiding the door. He knew what would happen if he went through it. And he wasn’t sure if he liked the outcome. His current predicament wasn’t optimal, of course.
He was still there, not quite dead and not quite alive. He was still tormenting others. Feeding on their fear. A parasite.
The state he was in was not sustainable, though. If he could stay stubborn enough the humans he was feeding from would die eventually. And he… Well he hoped he would perish then as well. Starve to death and be taken by the End.
It sounded so scary and yet so soothing. Maybe because he was currently listening to an avatar of the End.
Oliver. His tale was delicious and gave Jon enough energy to see the way out. He’d been wandering around aimlessly for who knew how long with no door in sight. And now it was here because of the Power that had nothing to do with new beginnings. Was the polar opposite of them.
The kindness was touching.
Jon laid his hands on the smooth wood and felt it rumble like the purr of a cat. The Captain would be so angry with him if he didn’t turn up to feed him soon. Jon almost felt his searing gaze on him. Watching. Judging.
One of his hands wandered down to the door knob as Olivers tale came to an end. Jon let the silence creep back in. Aside from the distant wailing of his victims.
In this eternal form Jon wasn’t able to breath. He mimicked the gesture anyway.
It was time to face the world again.
He twisted the knob and stepped into the darkness.
His eyes had always been open. That was the first thought that came to his mind. He was staring up at a bright white ceiling and his eyes had always been open.
“Thank you.”
It wasn’t very clear which one he said it to. The Captain purred on his chest, never taking his eyes off Jon. And he was rewarded for his vigil with pets and ear scratches. Olivers clothes rustled as he stood and Jon turned his head to him.
“Thank you.” He repeated with a smile.
Oliver looked tired. He must still avoid sleep then. At least it couldn’t kill him now. He still managed a smile and a wave back.
“Mike called me. Said you were too incompetent to wake up on your own. You had all their tales and the ones from the Archives weren’t fresh enough. So here I am.”
“They called for your help… And you came? To help me?”
Oliver shrugged, the movement seemed to take a lot out of him. Jon wanted to drag him into the bed and make him take a nap.
“Making that choice… Going through it alone… It’s not good.”
Jon carefully picked the Captain up and put him in his lap so he could move into a sitting position. “I guess. It didn’t feel much like a choice, though.”
Again Oliver shrugged. “It’s not much at this point, is it? Maybe it never really is. Just the illusion of one.”
“Michael would have a field day, hearing that. Say, is my phone here?”
“Yes.” Oliver bend down and opened the night stand, retrieving the phone and handing it to Jon.
“Thank you. May I have your number?”
It took a bit before Oliver processed the words. “Pardon?”
“And your favourite animal, if that is fine with you.”
“Uhm… I feel like I should have been warned about this. All things considered, those are not the questions I thought you’d ask first thing after waking up.”
“Sorry, did I come on too strong?”
This was awkward. Jon had never been the one to take the initiative when adding avatars to his friend group. And Oliver was starting to fidget nervously now, making a curious expression.
“No? Wait, speaking of. I got you some get well flowers.” It was bordering on comical, the way Oliver moved to the little bag at the door without turning, always keeping Jons curious gaze. After a few failed attempts at grabbing the bag and untangling it from the contents within the “flowers” he’d brought were finally revealed.
They were the red vines Oliver had talked about seeing on everyone given physical form. Only that they were carefully woven into shapes that vaguely resembled blossoms.
“This… I’m sorry they are a bit ugly. Normal flowers don’t stick around when I touch them, though.”
Jon stretched out the hand that wasn’t busy petting the Captain and hestitantly Oliver gave them to him. The vines felt cold and dry and were an odd mixture of sturdy and fragile.
“They are beautiful. Do they need water?”
Oliver shook his head. “No. They’ll stay like this.”
An immortal gift from an avatar of the End. Jon felt his heart flutter with fondness. “Beautiful. Thank you. Do you want to keep in touch maybe?”
It was so easy to keep the compulsion from his voice now. He felt it crackle stronger than ever, somewhere behind his vocal cords. But he learned from Jude, Mike and Michael how to ease up and reign in his powers.
The lessons helped because Oliver relaxed at the apparent freedom of choice, gifting Jon with another little smile. “I’d love to.”
Oliver didn’t stick around for much longer, not used to talking for long periods of time. But Jon wasn’t left alone for more than half an hour before the door to his room opened for a new group of people.
“Tim! You’re alive!” Was the first thing out of Jons mouth.
“Jon! You’re awake!” Tim parroted back with faked surprise, but strode over to hug him anyway.
Jon couldn’t help but flinch back at the sudden approach, but was quick to reciprocate. “Are we friends again?”
“I’m considering it. But you’re not forgiven.”
They tightened the hug for a second. Jon wanted to hold on longer. Never wanted Tim to slip away from him ever again. But Tim could only be affectionate for so long and drew back, making sure there was an appropriate amount of distance between them again.
Jon had to distract himself with the fragile hope blooming in his chest again. “Did everything go well?”
“As well as it could given what we were dealing with.” Basira piped up from the door, standing there like a guard blocking the exit.
“I was allowed to pull the trigger. So I’m happy with the outcome.” Tim said, drawing back so Jon could focus on the small cluster of people.
Basira stood at the door with Melanie at her side. Martin had inched further into the room, but had hesitated in the middle. For a brief second Jon wondered if he had wanted to go in for a hug, too before Tim had cut him off. But if so then why wasn’t he coming closer now?
The look on Martins face was very peculiar, too. As was the sour note in his voice when he asked “Who are those things from?”
Jon grinned. “The flowers? Oliver gave them to me as a get well soon gift. Honestly he shouldn’t have. He was already kind enough to talk me out of my coma, after all.”
“Yes, he really shouldn’t have.” Martin muttered low enough that Jon barely caught it.
“Oh wow I’m sensing a murder aura. And it’s not coming from me this time.” Melanie cooed.
“Martin is everything alright?” Tim asked with a smirk.
Really Jon was a fully fledged avatar now. He should not have this much trouble following a conversation anymore. Especially if Michael wasn’t anywhere close by.
Speaking of the other avatars. “Is Jude okay?”
“I’m fine.” Martin huffed before turning to Jon. “Jude’s great. Had fun burning things down, apparently.”
“Hadn’t been able to let loose like this for years.” Melanie added.
“The avatar squad wanted to give you some space after Becoming. Said it’d probably be a bit overwhelming for you at first. But they’ll be stopping by later. We called bullshit and went to check if you were alright anyway.” Tim finished the update.
A breath of sheer relief left him at the good news. “That’s… that’s good. Much better than I thought. I’m so glad you’re all okay.”
Basira grimaced. “Most of us anyway. Daisy is… She’s coping.”
“You mean pacing around the archives like a caged tiger.” Tim pointed out.
Martin threw Jon a tired look and mouthed “They are driving me mad.”
Jon suppressed his giggle, knowing far too well what the constant bickering could do to ones sanity. He patted the space next to him and mouthed back a “Come here and watch.”
Tims smirk grew as Martin inched over. Jon watched the two exchange a silent conversation, but even with his new Beholding Knowledge he could not decipher their grimaces. Basira must have said something in retaliation. And Tims mouth had moved and spewed out more words.
But Jon didn’t much care to listen. He enjoyed the warmth Martin gave off and the Captains purring, which had gotten louder as Martin had joined them on the bed. This was all that mattered.
The world was still standing. Everyone was alive. Well as alive as one could be. Everything else could come later.
~~~
More apocalypse rituals were on the way. Peter had happily relied that message upon Jons arrival back at the Archives. And he’d not seen the man since. Jon had not known about the plot to get Elias arrested. He was still a bit confused about the details. Only that Martin had pulled it off somehow. With a bit of set up help from Melanie and Basira.
Now they had a socially awkward, washed up captain, who liked to disappear staff and seemed to love to bother Martin when no one was looking. So Jon made sure that he was always looking. There had been complains via e-mail. Which Jon ignored.
It was still slightly better than before. Especially because no one was complaining about the animals anymore. Jon had made it his priority to take statements from them as they didn’t end up trapped in his nightmares and their tales of horror were enough to sate his growing appetite.
No one complained about the smell of ozone and the flickering of lights, either. Or the doors that appeared all over the place. The most he’d seen were signs hung on those, cautioning others with words like “Not a real door” or “If you hear scratching open, but do not step through.” or even “Not a broom closet”.
The heat Jude brought with her was actually welcome. It was a great weapon against the cold mist that had conquered every nook and cranny of the building.
Oliver never visited often and when he did he would come at night, when no one but Jon and sometimes Basira or Martin was left. He brought with him an atmosphere of calm and sadness, a shadow that had nothing to do with the Dark following his every step. And while he was always tired he was pleasant to hang out with. Even though it was curious how he never stuck around long when Martin was still there.
Stepping into the Magnus Institute had truly become something magical, like breaching a barrier into the haunted and forgotten. If they had a bit of eerie music and some more plants they might even count as a magical forest-
Jon rubbed his tempel. Ah. The nonsensical thoughts were back. That meant Michael was close by.
“I’m trying to work here.”
Tim and Martin looked up from their work. If you could call playing table football with pens and crumbled up paper “work”. Jon shook his head at them. “Not you.” And pointed somewhere into the darkness between the shelves.
Their presence was a bit distracting, sure. But Jon could have just gone into his office. Even though they were trying to combat the Lonely no one would fault him a little bit of isolation every now and again. Probably.
A door creaked open. “Jooooon~ I’ve brought frieeendsss.”
Michaels high pitched giggle was nearly drowned out by the onslaught of meowing that followed that sentence. Jon sprang up in a hurry when he heard the first things fall over. Tim and Martin followed him, Tim holding one of the pens that had been used as a goal post like a knife.
Jon didn’t fault him for still being cautious. Jons avatar friends could get mischievious when they were in a joking mood. And their methods of having fun weren’t always human friendly.
The Captain was already present, rumbling at the panicked and frightened horde of cats. He’d probably already Known Michael was coming.
Jons main advisor had changed a lot with his human. Jon couldn’t ignore the similarity between them anymore. Especially after Oliver had gently told him about the Captains demise somewhere during Jons coma.
Cats could walk where humans could not. They were natural twilight creatures. Which is why most of them were so attuned to the supernatural, even though they mostly ignored it in favour of doing cat things. Like taking naps in the sun.
The Captain was no such cat. He loved his sunny naps and crying for food and pets as much as any other. But he had long since stopped shying away from the supernatural. And he was fiercly loyal to Jon.
So when his human didn’t wake up after the Unknowing, he tried to go where Jon went to get him back. Tried to follow into the nightmare realm and lost his way. But like Jon he’d already been transforming and so he merely Became.
Sadly the Captain did not get the ability to speak like a human. He was still a cat and his vocal chords just didn’t work like that. Instead he now understood all human languages. Which made him a great translator for Jons fuzzy friends whenever he wasn’t around.
And if Jon woke up to glowing eyes in the dark that were a bit more intense than was natural? Well then he couldn’t complain as he slept with his eyes open, too.
“Hello Michael. Hello darlings. How did you end up in Michaels hallways?”
Michael curled its long, long fingers in an imitation of a wave, a proud smile splitting its face almost in two. It watched curiously as the horde of cats zoomed towards Jon, the Captain dragging a few stragglers along.
The noise got louder, with screamed explanations. Jon could make out a few common words in the mess. Like “Bad man” and “Cages” and “Hungry”. Jon knelt down to give the ones who wanted a good pet. Others he let hide, purposefully looking away for them to find a good hiding spot until they calmed down again.
Tim had done the same as soon as he noticed that Jons two hands weren’t enough to satisfy the needs of the furry masses. And Martin, sweet, sweet Martin was already back in the kitchen rummaging through their food stock and preparing bowls of water.
Jon eyed Michaels still grinning and giggling form with a frown. He’d gotten much better at estimating the moods of his friends and Michael, despite looking cheerful, had that edge to it that spoke of violence.
Terror wafted from its doorway like the smell of freshly baked bread. “Are there any more in your hallways, Michael?”
It shook its head. “Noooo.”
Tim and Jon flinched when a faint call for help echoed from the darkness behind Michael. The entity didn’t even glance back as it stepped out and let the door fall shut. While Tim scowled Jon just raised an eyebrow, already feeling tired.
“Do I want to know?” He asked and Michael shrugged.
“You’re Beholdings pet. You probably should.”
Jon hummed. He did want to know. The tip of his tongue was tingling. But he’d eaten already today so it was easy to ignore.
He didn’t need to ask anyway. Michael liked to tell him things. It also liked to tell things in the most confusing way possible most of the time. It showed how much of a bad mood Michael was in that it stayed relatively straight forward.
“It’s nothing much. I was playing with this human. Rotten thing, already spiralling so nicely. Drugs are so fun to play with, you know? As are broken hearts. And cell phones. Oh the messages I faked. He thought he’d killed his wife. And he did! But getting messages from her made him doubt so much that he even dug her up again!
He’d been hoarding cats like crazy, too. And I thought they’d be better off here. Live up the gloomy space a bit more. Bring you some food along with it.”
Jon played with one of the kittens, face an unreadable mask. The poor thing was missing an ear. And he saw the state of the others, too. Not all were injured quite as badly. But neither of them looked healthy. The whole place was clogged with terror and stress.
Without his bidding scenes started playing in his head and suddenly he Knew how horrible this man Michael had trapped had been. It probably didn’t excuse the trauma Michael had inflicted on him and would continue to do so. But it did snuff out most of Jons empathy for the human.
“You have him in your hallways?”
“Yessss~”
“That sounds like these are staying here.” The mass of fur suddenly shifted, most of the cats sprinting towards Martin, who had come with food.
“We are turning into a petting zoo.” Tim added. “Also we don’t have much place here.”
“I’m sure we can renovate a bit.” Jon mused. “The tunnels could use some fierce defenders. We’d just need some easier accessable ways in and out so they can roam free. We’ll also have to take all of them to the vet.”
“You wanna add cat doors to the tunnels?” Tim asked, unimpressed.
“I can provide those!” Michael proposed.
“Let’s please install normal ones. You know how the tunnels screw with our powers.” Jon shot him down.
“Peter will not like that.” Martin mentioned. He’d somehow weaseled the companies credit card out of the man and was not afraid to use it.
Jon didn’t know if he should have been sad that Martin had become… well… more of a bastard, really... with the experiences he’d gone through. Especially his mothers death had done a number on him. It probably should have scared him. Martin usually was such a kind and helpful soul. Aside from the few lies in his CV.
And yet Jons heart only beat faster at the small smirk and the mischievious spark in his eyes. He felt his face heat up a bit when their gazes locked. Tim groaned half heartedly as they found themselves grinning at each other like fools again.
“Oh my- Go on a date already!”
They both flinched and looked away from each other, causing both Tim and Michael to groan again. Although with Michael, Jon couldn’t be sure if it was just an imitation or true annoyance.
Jon cleared his throat. “Well… ah… thank you Michael. This was… unexpected, but a welcome surprise.”
“You sound like an awkward business man again.” Tim snorted, earning a put out pout from his boss.
“Anyway!” Jon hissed. “Would you mind sharing a bit more? I think Daisy could use a good meal again. Maybe let her play catch in your hallways for a bit?”
Michael tilted its head with a crack, grin growing impossibly wider. “If she’d like.”
“I’ll text her.”
Tim shifted and made a disgruntled noise. He didn’t like this part of Jons existence in the least. There was no argueing anymore, though. He had come to understand and accept certain aspects of their lifes. And he had grown good enough friends with Jon, Jude and Mike to play favourites.
Jon smiled as he send Daisy the invitation for a good hunt. It was odd how his life had turned from abysmal to actually quite alright. The lights above him flickered, the smell of ozone filling the air along with a heat that could only belong to Jude. He giggled at the timing. Of course these two would show up now.
He shook his head and stood, scooping up the little kitten, who mewled up at him in question of where they were going.
Jon wouldn’t get much work done today it seemed. That was quite alright. He’d much rather spend time with his friends anyway.