we'll be back later, lovies

best bet is to pretend this doesn’t exist. ((50/50 I will sober up and delete it later anyway.)) I was trying to see how many years ago Marissa & Bethany were removed and found this nonsense instead. TKM, after Neil sold Aaron out to Riko** Riko got his hands on Aaron & Andrew

** Neil, knowing Riko had Easthaven’s files on all of Andrew’s trauma & triggers, sent Aaron to Riko in Andrew’s place. Aaron went willingly, but Andrew was pretty pissed off when he found out and went after Aaron. If Neil pulled that shit in current!universe, he and Andrew would have had a trillion problems, since Neil would’ve undermined Andrew’s promise to protect Aaron, but. Either way it got pretty ugly and Bee had her hands full putting Andrew back together again. This is from a couple days later when the twins see the team again for the first time.

((Andrew flat-out refused to get on the plane afterward, wouldn’t even get within eyesight of the airport, so Wymack had to rent a car and drive the twins home))

..

For one second, Dan looked heartbroken, and Neil knew whatever script she and the others had planned was about to fall through. Maybe Andrew sensed that in the silence, because he was the first to speak. Hazel eyes flicked up to Matt’s face and he quirked an eyebrow at the tall backliner.

“I assume this makes us square,” he said, tilting his head at Aaron.

Matt needed only a moment to realize what he was talking about: last November, Matt’s mother had paid Aaron’s bail. Andrew didn’t believe in thanks; he believed in getting even. Giving himself to Riko to save the team fulfilled any outstanding debts, and Matt understood that. “Square,” he agreed. And then, as casually as he could, he added, “You two look like absolute shit." 

"You should see the other guy?” Marissa joked, but there was more hope in her voice than humor.

“You’re looking at him,” Andrew said, turning back on the computer. 

Neil didn’t know what it said about him that his teammates looked at him first. If Kevin and Nicky hadn’t flicked startled looks at Aaron, Neil wondered who would have corrected them. One by one all stares made their way to Aaron. Aaron refused to return any of the looks but stared steadily at the computer screen. Andrew smiled, slow and vicious, and clicked open a folder on the desktop.

The silence went from stunned to awkward to uncomfortable, and Andrew finally said, “Standing here isn’t going to win Friday’s game. Get the fuck out.”

“Quit stealing my lines,” Coach said, but he turned on the team and snapped his fingers to get their attention. “Listen up. We’ve got five days to get ready for our match against Nevada. You’ve got one chance to get this right. Lose on Friday and we’re out. You figure out right now just what it’s going to take for you to be enough, and you do it.

I’m not going to lie to you,” Coach continued. “This week is going to be an absolute bitch. I’m going to push you until you bleed and bawl and curse the woman who spawned me, and then I’m going to kick you when you’re down. You have a lot of slack to pick up. You’re down three players this week. Neil’s out for a couple days.” He sent Neil a death glare, anticipating a protest, and Neil swallowed what he wanted to say. “It’s too early to tell if either Aaron or Andrew is going to make it back on the court for Friday’s game." 

The Foxes’ faces had been set with fierce determination, but Neil saw a tense, grim edge take over when they realized what that meant.

"Neil?” Renee asked, gesturing to her own face.

“Forgot that concrete walls and skulls are not good friends,” Coach said. 

“Right, because I slammed my head into the wall of my own volition,” Neil returned. Andrew shrugged at that implicit accusation. 

Dan rubbed at her temples. “Neil, if you could go just one weekend without picking a fight with Andrew, I would appreciate it more than you would ever know.”

“The shiner’s not my handiwork,” Andrew said. He glanced at Neil, considered the overlapping bruises on Neil’s cheek, and amended, “One of them, anyway.”

“The concussion is all you and it’s keeping Neil off my court,” Coach said.

“He deserved it,” Andrew said.

Neil sent him a cool look. “I’m not apologizing for making the call I did.”

“I won’t ever ask you to,” Aaron said. “Neither will he.”

Andrew glanced over at his brother. They considered each other in silence, trying to figure out where they stood now. Neil thought about Aaron saying Riko had tried to use them to hurt each other, thought about the countless bruises and cuts that covered them, thought about Andrew hinting that most of them had been put there by Aaron’s hands. How they could look at each other like they finally understood each other, Neil didn’t know. He didn’t want to ask, because then he’d have to hear what Riko had made them do. 

At length Andrew lifted one shoulder in a shrug and turned back on the computer. “Whatever,” he said. “I’m sure as hell not going to thank him for it. I still despise him fifty percent of the time.”

“And the other fifty?” Dan asked.

“They’re macking on my couch,” Coach said, giving them the evil eye.

The silence that followed that was absolute.

Abby pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. Neil imagined she was counting to ten, but she didn’t make it very far. “David, a little tact from you from time to time would go a long way.”