Dante glanced around the conference room, no surprise that they had yet to see Lucius. He had barricaded himself in his bedroom for the past two weeks, and none of them had really been around one another since their return. He hadn't seen Nate ever since the visit to his bedroom door, hence there was surprise when he found Nate leaning against one of the walls in the room, mumbling curses under his breath as he sharply turned his head and lifted his chin.
As much as Dante felt a sudden flicker onto his nerves at Nate's high and mighty behaviour, as if he had done nothing wrong, Dante couldn't resist the thoughts of how much he missed him. They had practically grown together at this point; he had completely shifted his character and that was because of Nate. That was why it took a moment for his eyes to turn away from the gorgeous ginger curls that always made his blood rush.
They averted to the irritated Reno who slammed his elbow into the side of Bronsted's torso, which caused him to yelp and fall over. "I told you to stop touching me," Reno scolded, furrowing his brows at the Bronsted who was grunting, holding his abdomen. However, he suddenly stumbled backwards when Bronsted reached for his ankle, tearing it from the floor.
As Reno slammed his back onto the floorboards, Bronsted bursted into cackles as he began pushing himself to his feet. "That's what you get."
In an instant, Reno had lunged towards Bronsted and they were soon throwing punches. At first, Bronsted had been giggling, but when Reno landed his knuckles directly across his jawline, the pain electrified a sudden anger that made him send his own flying knuckles, which started their brawl. None of them involved themselves; Jake rolled eyes at their scuffle, Dante stepped further away not to get mingled in the mess, Lori exhaled a sigh and Nate cheered them on, wanting to see who would win.
They only tore apart from one another when the door burst open and the cackles of their father's boots echoed across the room. As if they had known their father would've been displeased by their scuffle, they immediately stood to their feet, close enough that their shoulders were touching, ignoring the fact that Bronsted had a gash on his lip and Reno had a cut across his eyebrow. The reason why they had completely ignored that fact was because of the body their father was carrying over his shoulder. He had his wrists tied behind his back, his ankles strapped together and tape wrapped around his mouth, all the way around his neck.
Jules was thrown at the feet of the Hercules troopers. He didn't appear in distress whatsoever, rather annoyed that he had to go through this again. Reno glanced at his father before returning his studying gaze onto Jules, attempting to find any evidence of injuries; thankfully, there were none.
"He's staying alive." That was Draco's first say, harsh and bold that it echoed across the room. It was not only a suggestion but an order, and he wasn't surprised when he saw furrows cross the eyebrows of all of them, especially Dante. Hence, Draco stepped forward and tilted his head, the clinks of his golden armour making Lori flinch. "If anyone has a problem with that, I'm allowing you to speak up now."
Dante was the first to comment. "Molly died for no reason, is that what you're saying?"
"Who's Molly?" The Hercules boys were not appreciative of that question, Reno's fists squeezing tightly enough to cut his blood circulation. And the worst of all was the fact that Nate couldn't stop himself from chuckling, which warranted a few glares from them. It took a few seconds for Draco's eyes to shift from confusion to realization, but the bridge of his nose wrinkled when he thought of his dead daughter. "Melissa died before Wolf knew about Jules. He didn't kill Melissa over Jules being dead, he killed her because we infiltrated their base, that's a given in this world."
"He didn't hesitate to strangle Molly and throw his body on the stage for all of us to see," Reno growled, his teeth gritting as the disrespect from his father about his younger brother was starting to make his blood vessels burn. "Why are you showing any mercy? And for the hundredth fucking time, it's Molly, and goes by he."
Draco shook his head, dismissively waving his hand. "This isn't mercy."
"Is there a reason you're keeping him alive?" Jake asked, folding his arms. None of this was making any sense.
However, it started to make sense when the doors to the conference room burst open, and they heard another set of boots clacking as the individual entered the room. The sight of him made them all step back, listening to the dissonance in his footsteps as he stumbled back and forth, almost tripping to the point that he slammed into the wall, his forehead hitting the metal harshly. Although they worried—except Draco—none of them stepped forward to be of aid.
Lucius' droopy burgundy gaze glanced at each of them, before he closed them, tilted his head backwards and gulped down as much from his liquor as he could. He had already finished one pint to himself, and along with the blunt stuck behind his ear, reason in his mind had completely vanished from the inducing substances. His entire appearance was disheveled; his hair strands unaligned, prickles of his trimmed beard already starting to grow too long, dark bags under his eyes and he appeared much skinnier than two weeks ago.
As he redressed his spine, raising his eyebrows at all of them, he walked over the body of Jules that was still on the floor. Then, with the closed liquor bottle, he pointed it directly at Draco's face and said, "I know why he didn't kill Jules." He was slobbering his words that it was barely coherent, but they all wanted to hear the answer to his question. Never had they mentioned this to Draco, but they all had their speculations. Which was why all their eyes widened when Lucius roared, "It's because you are a fucking hypocrite, Draco!"
The silence that followed could have thrown all of them into fits of heart attacks from the suffocating tension that engulfed the room. They could practically hear the heartbeats pounding through their eardrums; the only one that didn't have any sort of reaction was Draco, who stared condescendingly at his son who hadn't been able to yet overcome his grief. Lucius' teeth gritted, a rage exploding through his arteries as he stepped forward and shrieked, "You condemn us for letting our emotions cloud our judgments when you have been doing the same all along!"
"If I was you, I would think about the next words I'm about to say." Draco's tone deepened, resonating with such rage and blood-thirst that even Dante flinched. Dante attempted to reach out for Lucius, seconds from grasping his wrist when Lucius swung the bottle around, almost smashing it across Dante's face.
That instantly caused Nate's gaze to turn sour.
"Do not fucking touch me," Lucius snapped at them, eyeing all of his brothers. All of them were watching him cautiously, wanting to intercept but also knowing none of them were strong enough to restrict Lucius of anything. The only one who was absolutely not going to step in was the frightened Lori, who leaped towards the furthest corner of the room. "Unlike any of you pipsqueaks," he almost tripped over his own footing, "I am strong enough to fight this monster."
"You're also drunk, and I don't think—"
"Shut the fuck up Dante, you have no right to speak, you know why?" Dante inhaled a sharp sigh, his lips sealed instantly. "Because Raphael was right there in front of you and you didn't do shit. You let him die."
Dante's eyebrows furrowed. "I didn't let him die—"
"If I was there, you know things would've been different and he would've survived." That made Dante quickly shut his mouth, since as much as he wanted to argue back, part of him did believe that to be the truth. Lucius was not one to be taken by surprise; he would have probably been able to prevent Raphael from getting shot. If anything, he would have fought off all three of them, even if they had pistols and he didn't. That was why Dante couldn't hold his gaze, turning away from him and lowering his chin. "If I was there," this time, Lucius turned his eyes to the other ones, noticing Nate further away and spat, "I wouldn't have been captured onto a chair like you weakling." Nate was seconds from responding, but when Jake shook his head secretively, he kept his mouth shut.
"And you two..." He stepped in front of Reno and Bronsted whose spines instantly straightened, feeling shivers crawl along their backs as Lucius pointed to them with his bottle of liquor. "You tore me off of him when I could've gotten his pulse back. It had been gone for not even ten seconds."
"You had been out there for forty minutes before we found you, Lucius." Draco's boots clacked as he drew nearer to him. "Raphael had been dead for almost an hour."
"You don't fucking know that," Lucius twirled on his heels, facing his father. Before he could say anything more, he felt the need to tilt his head backwards and finish the rest of his bottle, the warm liquid giving him a sense of false sanity. "And if you had decided to come save us within those nine fucking months that we were gone, then we would've never have been in that god damn situation! And Raphael would've been alive!"
"You insolent little brat." Draco's tone was much harsher and sterner, invoking such a presence that even Lucius halted. "You put our name to shame. I thought you were a prodigy but no, you're a mistake." That caused Lucius heart to thump in his chest; his entire life had been to please Draco, to listen to his teachings and engrave them into his brain as his own thoughts. The lack of emotions, the physical achievements, following his orders robotically; that had been all for him. Hence, hearing that he had been a mistake made his mind blank. "You dare sob over a trooper after you've killed dozens? And you dare call me a hypocrite?"
"Oh fuck Draco!" Lucius laughed, widening his arms. He appeared completely delirious, his entire face stretching with such enthusiasm, as if it was a gimmick. "I guess we've all falling ill to fucking emotions, am I right? I guess we're all hypocrites!"
"What is he talking about?" Nate asked, stepping forward. He wasn't understanding what they were referring to, but it was clear from the faces of Reno, Bronsted and Dante, that they knew exactly why Lucius kept saying Draco was a hypocrite. "What's going on?"
"Ladies and gentlemen, let me point to you the biggest hypocrite of us all!" With a delirious smile plastered across his lips, he bowed towards Draco and couldn't settle his own cackles. "Ever since we were toddlers, you embedded into our brains how much emotions are useless! Makes us weak and spineless!" He motioned towards Jules at their feet. "But the only reason this fool is this alive is because of your own emotions, Draco!"
"Lucius," Dante ushered. "Maybe you shouldn't—"
"Maybe I fucking should," Lucius bellowed, dismissing his brother. "The only reason Jules is still alive is because Draco is in love with Wolf! He's been letting Wolf fuck him for God knows how long!"