468 Old and New

Damien took his chances in trusting the two men from Shadow who were now sitting in his car. He sat in the middle of the backseat, sandwiched between the two men while letting Katherine take the front seat. He would have never thought this was how their day would go—not especially after she proposed to him earlier in the day. 

The two men ruined it for him and he couldn't help but count their sins in his head. To his left was Chris—whose very existence just made his blood boil. He was the man who took Katherine away that night many years ago. The same man who put her in Shadow and the same man who wiped out her memories.

When Damien convinced himself to set aside his hatred towards Chris temporarily, he had already anticipated that he'd have to exercise restraint. However, he hadn't expected it would be this difficult. Would it have been easier for him if he took advantage of the situation and ended Chris's life right here, right now? It would have been, but it wouldn't be the best choice. 

And the same goes for the man to his right—Gus—who kidnapped Katherine right under his nose. The nerve of this man. Damien didn't want to trust him too much so when they boarded the car, he had Gus handcuffed to the handle bar on the roof of the car.

Damien stopped her from killing Gus earlier, but now, he was carefully considering if he should have just let her. Letting out a small sigh, he slightly turned his head to the right and asked, "What did you do with that video you took that day?"

Gus didn't have to probe to know what Damien was talking about, but before he could answer, Chris's perceptiveness took place and he questioned, "What video?"

Having met hundreds of people in his life, Gus had experienced and felt different types of aura. However, it was the first time that he had encountered one like Damien's. Gus could easily say that Parker was a daunting man, but Damien—especially at this moment—was entirely different. He couldn't tell what it was, but he was definitely wary of the other.

Turning his head to Chris, Gus answered, "Parker wanted to see how Queen was, so he asked me to film it when I…" He cleared his throat. "When I took her away."

"Sick, bastard," Chris mumbled to himself when he thought of Parker. "And?"

"What did he say?" Chris and Damien asked in unison.

Glancing at the two men, Gus shook his head. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Damien cocked a brow. "What do you mean 'nothing'?"

"What do you want me to say?!"

"Gus," Chris called. "How did he react when he watched it?"

Damien and Chris's brows knitted as they listened to Gus's explanation. Even Katherine, who was silently listening to their conversation, found it odd that Parker didn't say anything. She expected Parker to either catch her in the lie or believe it and then be vocal about his thoughts. But hearing that he didn't say anything at all only made it even more worrisome. They couldn't know what that man was thinking!

She wanted to stay quiet because she was still pissed at the thought of Gus being there and she hadn't really gotten back at him for abducting her. But after hearing what he said, she couldn't help but raise her thoughts, "Is that all? Or are you hiding something? Why should we believe that that's all that happened? For all I know, you're still probably doing his bidding. You're a great liar."

Gus furrowed his brows. "Oh, yeah? Am I as good as you though?"

Katherine snapped her head around and glared at Gus. She had almost forgotten how he made her skin crawl. What an annoying person.

"Probably not, but that doesn't change the fact that I still don't believe you," she bit out and Gus stifled a chuckle.

"You still haven't changed," he remarked.

Seeing the two interact, a crease formed on Damien's forehead. He didn't like the thought of Katherine and Gus having anything in the past even if it was just rivalry. Brushing that aside, he could only hope that Parker believed what they wanted him to believe. Because at the moment, they still needed more time.

…

Damien and Katherine had decided to house Chris in her old, empty apartment as they couldn't let him stay where Amelia was. So while they waited for him to wake up in the hospital, Damien's men prepared the place.

When they arrived, they saw Styles working on his monster laptop with two men from the Beta Team guarding him from behind. Damien and Katherine, along with the rest of the team, stood at the entrance as they watched how quickly he worked on his computer.

Styles noticed their arrival but he kept his eyes on his monitor as he wiped out any traces of them as they entered and left the hospital. And just as he finished, he let out a long sigh and muttered, "Man, I could use some Ben \u0026 Jerry's cookie dough ice cream." He stretched his arms up and turned to Noah. "I know you want some too, I'll give you a scoop if you buy it for me."

Noah scoffed and mumbled under his breath, "Stingy. At least make it three."

"Ha! Why, you—"

"What the fûck?" Gus cursed. "Styles? You're alive?! How?"

Styles snapped his head towards the man's direction, and he knitted his brows at him. "I don't die easily, you dîckhead."

Gus felt nostalgic seeing his old team together—Katherine, Styles, and their mentor, Chris. He hadn't really thought about it before but being in the same room as them for the first time in many years, he had never felt this normal—comfortable even. It was as if he was 'home'. Softly chuckling, he responded with a sharp yet amused tone, "Nerd."