Junior was in a conference.

The four boys who weren’t Junior had a conference of their own. The common room had become their center of operations. In a sense they were saying goodbye to the building. With the compound so thoroughly compromised the organization had decided to move headquarters to one of their other bases.

It was quiet.

Ren had difficulties finding order in the ever drifting emotions in the room. Aron was mostly angry (at not being able to do anything), Baekho was kind of sad (at having been knocked out when his friends had needed him and becoming a burden), Minhyun was uncomfortable (because he hated confrontations) and Ren himself… well that was the most difficult one to figure out.

There was a piece of paper in front of Aron where they had planned to write down questions they had for Junior, but none of them had felt like preparing things to say. They didn’t want to read a script, they wanted to actually talk.

After what seemed like hours Ren finally gave a warning. No one else would approach the room at this time feeling like that.

“He’s coming. And he’s gloomy.”

Junior entered trying to make little noise. They had told him they wanted to talk, but it was clear that this was more of an interrogation. The leader looked appropriately anxious as he sat down on the only available chair.

Ren hadn’t even noticed that the others had moved closer together. Now it seemed as if they had prepared it so that Junior was singled out. The empath scooted his chair a tiny bit closer to the leader before things settled.

The newly arrived boy took a deep breath and began to speak without looking anyone in the eyes.

“So I’ve come back from the… um, board of directors. They had a lot to say about how I should have exploited the time loop but after that was off the table we talked about the Shadow. It’s unsettling to them and the whole organization is working overtime to find out more about him. When we have him, we can strike. Or you can join him if you want.”

“We would never,” Minhyun said firmly.

They had not discussed the option. They didn’t need to.

With a slight hint of a smile Junior continued. “It’s settled that we’re moving to a new location. And catching moles and double agents has become a priority. The board of directors wants nothing more than to expose them.”

Baekho raised his hands. “How do we know those directors of yours aren’t moles?”

Junior shook his head unconsciously. “The Shadow told us he made sure nobody who could trigger my abilities to tip me off about him was in contact with me. Which makes perfect sense. The agents working for him have to be at other locations of the organization. And I’ve been in contact with the directors a lot. I mean, today was a video conference, but I’ve met each of them a couple times.”

No one had any questions about that particular topic and so it got quiet again with everybody wrecking their brain for anything to say and avoiding everybody else’s gaze.

Ren flinched as Minhyun poked his mind. The boy sent “Shouldn’t we continue telepathically? Just in case there are bugs installed. Not to be paranoid, but I don’t like the idea of someone knowing exactly what our next moves are.”

He had a point. A little paranoia now could safe them a lot of trouble later.

“I’ve been stupid,” Junior sent into the group, tear welling up in his eyes. “I’m so sorry. I brought you here and let you think we’re some kind of superhero team and you’re joining to catch some bad guys. I should have been honest. I… I haven’t…”

Ren spoke – well, thought – over him. “Junior? How long have you been here?”

“…pretty long.”

“And… have you always been… alone?”

The tears were answer enough. Ren got up and gave Junior a hug which turned into a group cuddle until the chair under the leader made dangerous noises and they let up.

Junior rubbed his temples. He dared to look at the boys standing around him. “I was so dumb about the time loop. But I thought it was the end of the world and once we realized what was happening I was already all about stopping it. I never considered to change my, I dunno, my mode of thought.”

“No one’s blaming you,” Minhyun sent.

“The board of directors is.”

Ren sat back down on his chair. “Who are those people anyway? And if the organization isn’t a superhero meetup, what is it?”

There was a long silence from Junior before he sent something again. “It’s a money making scheme.”

“What?” Aron leaned back in his chair, his head thrown back in frustration. “Seriously, if you want money I’ll trane you some gold. Why is there a problem?”

“You see,” Junior sent, “When I discovered my powers, I did what everyone would have done with them: Gamble. I couldn’t lose in betting games and roulette and poker and… really anything. I was too young to play at the casino but I had friends who could pass for legal age. I helped them win a lot and got my share. Then we turned to other thing like horse racing. And a few years later, the stock market.”

Aron whistled. “That’s seriously messed up,” he said out loud.

“And then,“ Baekho sent, “You founded the organization?”

Junior shrugged. “A few very rich, very powerful people figured out that it was me who made my friends win all that money and things got ugly. But when they realized that I could help them get even richer, they offered to make things easy for me and leave my friends alone. But I couldn’t see them again and…”

“So,” Ren sent, trying to sound casual with his mental voice, even though he was freaking out inside. “What is the purpose of the organization?”

“To cover my tracks. I predict outcomes for all kinds of stuff the directors get involved in. Mostly the stock market and other investments. In turn they run a multinational, hidden, semi-legal organization that exists only to keep me and my activities a secret.”

Ren had a realization. “Going by your tiny, old room I suppose you don’t see any of that money?”

“I… um, I wanted to do some good so the directors told me they were using the money for other stuff. Sending vaccines to poor countries and stopping drug traffic and-“

Aron leaned in. He spoke slowly with his mental voice. “Have you ever seen proof of that?”

“Y- but, I… I was so young.“

Junior buried his head in his hands as he realized what the others had already understood. The directors were greedy, barbaric monsters who had socially isolated and manipulated a little kid to gather untold riches. There was no good being done. The organization existed to keep the rich conspirators safe and comfortable. It was hard to say how much power the directors had amassed. The Shadow’s talk about ‘world domination’ sounded slightly less ridiculous now.

Minhyun established a link without Junior and within seconds they had agreed to do something about this crime.

Drastic changes were in order.

Aron lifted the pen and slid his empty paper into position. “Junior, we need names. All of them.”

***

After this one, the boys held yet another conference – without Junior. It was agreed that he was too involved and shouldn’t be burdened with the events that were to follow.

Aron, Minhyun and Baekho boarded one of the aircrafts the organization owned, plus an operative as pilot, and spent the next few days talking to the directors. And take a few things apart if necessary.

Ren volunteered to stay behind. He wasn’t comfortable splitting up again already but it seemed preposterous that the Shadow was going to engage just one day after the last fight. Especially if his offer had been serious. The offer, by the way, turned out to be a godsend. If the directors didn’t only have to fear the boys leaving, but joining a threatening opposition at boot, well that was all the scarier.

***

[Mature content from now on for the rest of the chapter]

It was past midnight and the two boys were in Junior’s old room drifting in and out of sleep.

The leader looked up at the faux sky, Ren had his eyes on the other boy. There had been no more interruptions. They had shared the night. On the small bed it would have been impossible not to lay skin on skin. The same blanket covered their bodies.

“How do you feel?”

Junior tore his eyes away from the plastic constellations. “About what?”

“…Just… you know.”

“My emotions? Can’t you sense them?”

“I’d still like you to say it.”

It was true that Ren could not have overlooked the burning love and adoration radiating from his bed partner. And all the other little thing, too. The small worries that kept surfacing.

Junior hummed non-committally. “Well, I’m a bit hungry.”

“Junior!”

“What?”

“This is supposed to be a romantic moment,” Ren said with a groan. This boy was unbelievable.

“Why? What’s romantic about being sticky?” Junior stuck out his tongue. “I should take a shower before falling asleep or I’ll wake up with dried come streaks everywhere. And I need to get the taste out of my mouth. That romantic to you?”

“You’re impossible. And it’s pointless anyway. If you take a look into the future I’m sure you’ll see us humping each other again in ten minutes.”

Junior sighed. “It’s more pain than pleasure at this point. Little Junior is going to fall off.”

“Then you better use it before that happens.” Ren patted Junior’s crotch through the fabric, making the boy giggle and curl up. The ensuing tickle fight was a tangled mess of limbs until Ren conjured new restraining Conmotes. Junior could have evaded since he certainly saw them coming, but chose not to.

What position should he pick this time? Ren asked himself. They were basically through the whole catalog of things that didn’t require penetration. Sixty nine again? Actually, his constructs could carry a lot of weight…

“Say Junior, have you considered hanging from the ceiling?”

“…No?”

“Sound fun?”

The boy got up to let his wrists be tied behind his back. He grinned brightly. “Let’s find out.”

A/N: These healing time chapters weren’t supposed to be full of massive reveals but I think I just turned a lot of things upside down. Including Junior in the end.