pastel prince ; phan

xviii; turn your victory around

xxviii; turn your victory around

Dan had assumed he'd won the fight, finally, but when he let his eyes flutter open, he frowned. He went to speak, but something muffled it, and then he screamed around the rag that had been tied into his mouth. He wanted to scream, to cry for help, but it he couldn't, and he turned his head from side to side rapidly. Hayley was tied up too, and beyond that, he saw darkness. Then he heard laughter, and his eyes flew to a man in front of him.

Raze, and as he took off his goggles and tossed his mask aside, Dan confirmed it was Phil's friend Benji. "You weren't part of the plan," Benji said firmly, and he dropped to his knees in front of Dan, tilting the other boy's chin up  after he'd removed the rag, to glance at him curiously. "Why'd you start?"

If Dan was going to die, he'd go out a truthful hero. He dropped his head to look at Benji, and then he scowled, let his eyebrows angle downwards. "I was scared." He said firmly, "I had a right, you're a murderer."  At this, Dan saw the man flinch back, lean to sit on his haunches, as if to rethink the life he'd lived up until this point. 

"You know," He whispered, "I was trying to be a hero. If you control the crime, it's safer. That's all me and Phil wanted to do--Save people."

"Awful way of doing it," Phil agreed, and when he got to Benji, he sat down next to him, stared at Dan. "But we were trying to do something good, I promise." He extended a hand, brushed his index finger across Dan's knuckles, wrists tied to the chair. "I promise." He repeated, and his striking blue eyes were soft for a moment, as he looked at the man. 

Dan paused, and when he saw the genuine looks on their faces, he almost smiled. "I understand." He said softly, and Phil blinked, baffled. "I understand."

Phil leaned forward, untied all of the ropes keeping him there, and sat on the ground. "You can call the police on us." He said, offered, and Dan leaned forward, pulling Phil to him to press their lips together. 

When he drew his head back, forehead on Phil's, he sighed. "I want to help you." He said softly, and helped the two to their feet after he'd stood. They untied Hayley, and turned away from the scene.

They all left that warehouse, left Dan's phone for Hayley to call someone, and disappeared into the city, to be heroes for one moment longer. 

The loose ends they'd left behind, the people, they would be missed, their problems hopefully solved in the future, but now, it was the time of heroes, the time to fight and the time to win, and no one was missing out on this.

The End.

no, i'm not kidding, this is the end.