Chapter Text
Aemond
It would be a full ten minutes before Aemond finally bullied Daemon into sitting back down on the couch…and promptly realized that Aegon was no longer sitting there.
Aemond blinked, staring at the indent in the black leather and frowning.
Did he go to the bathroom…No. No, he couldn’t have. Aemond would have seen him go into the hallway…or maybe he was too distracted with his fight with Daemon to see.
“Where’s Aegon?” Aemond asked, brow furrowed.
“f*ck if I give a sh*t,” Daemon spat. “A f*cking serial killer has Helaena. He’s not a toddler; he can take care of hims-”
“He wouldn’t have just left, Daemon,” Aemond cut him off. “Not with Helaena missing. I didn’t see him go to the bathroom. And…” He reached over and picked up the Starbucks cup that Daemon had brought back for Aegon. “Still half full and warm. He didn’t go get coffee. So where is he?”
This is an FBI building; he’s not allowed to just wander around on his own. He might see…
“Oh no…”
Throat seizing, Aemond turned and ran back to his desk, swearing loudly as he immediately saw his error.
I didn’t f*cking lock it!
Cursing himself, Aemond pulled up video footage of the bullpen, calling himself an idiot the entire time…and then swearing twice as loudly when his fears were confirmed.
You f*cking idiot! Screaming, Aemond balled his fist and slammed it down on his desk, rattling his keyboard and sending his mouse clattering to the floor. “IDIOT! YOU f*ckING IDIOT!”
But it was not rage that sent him frantically grabbing his FBI badge from his desk drawer, silently cursing Cole for taking his gun. It was fear.
If I don’t stop him before he gets into one of those buildings…If Reynard takes him the way he took Helaena…
His hands shook so violently as he tried to put his credentials into his pocket that he fumbled twice, then dropped them.
“You just said we couldn’t go anywhere!” Daemon spat, though his uncle didn’t exactly seem opposed to the idea. Not if the way he was hovering over Aemond’s elbow was any indication.
Daemon’s words were like a bucket of ice water over Aemond’s head, and he stood frozen. Blinking.
He’s right.
No…no, Aemond didn’t want to go searching inside any of these buildings for Aegon. He wanted to chase after him in the street and stop him before he could do anything stupid.
It’s just as dangerous.
It was MORE dangerous to let Aegon go…
Then call him to stop him. Call Cole to tell him what happened. But if you go flying off after Aegon, chances are far stronger that you’ll get him, yourself, and Helaena killed.
His brother was in danger…His brother and his sister both.
But as badly as Aemond wanted to say ‘f*ck it’ and chase after him, bringing him back here where it would be safe, Special Agent Targaryen knew he couldn’t. And so with another scream, Aemond threw his badge at the computer that he’d stupidly, stupidly, left unlocked, sank back down into his chair, and buried his face in his hands, letting himself cry and not giving a sh*t who saw. Or heard. He made no effort to stop his tears before he pulled out his phone to call Cole, advising Daemon to try doing the same for Aegon.
He’s going to die. He’s going to die, and it’s my fault…
Aegon
The last building on the list yielded no results. Nor did the second from last. Nor the third. The fourth, however, made Aegon’s pulse quicken.
Whether it had been the pandemic or just natural deterioration over time, the neighborhood as a whole had effectively become a ghost town. No pedestrians wandered the streets, and half the dilapidated apartment buildings had been boarded up, windows covered in graffiti. The only security cameras on the street had long since been broken. A place Aegon would have avoided like the plague had it not been for the address on his list.
Perhaps a street where no one would think twice if they heard screaming…if there’s anyone around to even hear it. A thought that made his pulse race with trepidation and fear.
Trepidation and fear that only escalated when he reached his destination: a shop that had clearly been a bookstore once upon a time. The signage was so faded and the exterior so neglected that it must have closed its doors long before the pandemic struck. An abandoned building the world had long since forgotten.
It’s perfect…And there’s an alleyway leading to the back!
He would not lie and say he wasn’t afraid. He wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t terrified. But Vance Reynard had taken Helaena hours ago. God only knew if she was still alive at all. And if she was, she might only have minutes left to remain that way. Certainly not enough time for Aegon to sit around and wait for the police to eventually work their way down the list to this address.
I have to take the chance.
He wasn’t completely without a weapon. Ever since once of the actresses at Intermedia Entertainment was attacked with red paint, he insisted that all of his employees carry tasers with them just to be safe, himself included. He drew the small black weapon from his pocket now, holding it in front of him defensively as he made his way down the alley towards the back door. His heart thudded in his ears with every scrape of his sneakers along the pavement, fearing he’d be overheard.
But it was not his shoes that gave him away. Aegon, like all civilians, was not trained in tactical operations like his brother. He certainly did not know he had to be on the lookout for hidden monitoring systems. Not until well after he passed the point in the alleyway where he tripped a silent alarm, completely unaware he was sending a picture of himself straight to Reynard’s phone.
Nor did it dawn on him that it was far too easy to jimmy open the back door. He tested it and found it locked, but only with a simple privacy lock, not a proper deadbolt. A privacy lock that was easily pried open with a credit card.
I’m coming, Helaena, he promised her silently as he eased the door open, heart pounding in his chest. I’ m coming. Please be ok…
He raised the taser in front of him protectively as he crossed the threshold, looking to the left and to the right as he slowly made his way further inside. But once again, Aegon lacked his brother’s tactical training. He’d never been taught the golden rule. The rule every FBI agent had drilled into their heads from the very first day at the academy.
‘Always check your corners.’
Aegon didn’t check the corner. And that’s why, the minute he entered the storage room, he barely had time to hear Helaena cry out a muffled warning from behind her gag before he felt a tiny pinprick in his neck.
Aemond
I can’t risk calling him again, Aemond thought fearfully as he stared down at his phone.
At last, Aegon’s number was no longer blocked, and Aemond had called it frantically for the first five minutes of his and Daemon’s mission, but after that, it was no longer safe. If Aegon had actually entered an abandoned building from the list, a ringing phone could give away his position.
He wouldn’t be in any position if I wasn’t so f*cking stupid…
Cole hadn’t even ripped Aemond a well-deserved new one when he called to confess his blunder that very well might be both career and life ending. That fallout would come later. Instead, Cole assured him that they were working their way through the list quickly, the police and FBI pooling their resources for an all-out manhunt. But while it gave Aemond hope to cling to, it did nothing to dry his tears.
Aemond was not a religious person. He followed neither his mother’s faith nor his father’s belief in the gods of Old Valyria. He had no idea what afterlife awaited them, nor had he ever given it much thought.
But on the off chance some sort of higher power was listening, Aemond closed his eyes while he leaned back in his chair, saying a silent prayer.
Please give him back to me safely, he thought. Please give both of them back to me safely. I swear on my life, I’ll forgive what he did. I’ll be a brother to him again. But please, please, don’t let them die…
No sooner was his prayer finished than his phone buzzed in his lap, and he frantically grabbed it, heart pounding when he saw a text from Aegon.
Oh thank…
And then he saw that the text was a photo.
Aegon and Helaena lay side by side on a hard concrete floor. Both were bound hand and foot in duct tape. Helaena wore a white gag, eyes wide with fear as she stared at the camera. Aegon…
Unconscious. He must be unconscious. Reynard wouldn’t have restrained him if he were dead.
Eerily, every trace of Aemond’s fear faded away as he stared at the photo. Horror vanishing. Anxiety easing into calmness. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he identified his own symptoms.
Fight or flight response. My body is preparing me to fight.
And fight he would.
5:50 PM Aegon’s Phone: You come alone. You have one hour. If I see cops or anyone with you, both of them die.
Aemond didn’t hesitate.
5:50 PM Aemond: Give me the address.
Putting his phone in his pocket, stood up and sighed convincingly.
“I need a second alone. I’m going to get a bottle of water,” he said to Daemon, not that his uncle cared. He didn’t even respond.
Nor did he notice when Aemond took a detour on his way out of the room. His gun was locked up where he couldn’t get to it, but he could not risk facing Reynard without a weapon at all. A weapon…or perhaps a bargaining chip.
Once the Valyrian steel dagger was tucked discreetly into his suit, Aemond made a beeline for the exit, grateful that Cole had trusted him enough to follow orders to not assign anyone to watch him.
I’m going to get fired, even if I do survive, he knew as soon as his feet hit the pavement, but I don’t care. If I don’t show up on time, alone, they’re both dead.
He did draft a group text to send to Kennedy, Cole, and every member of Cole’s ViCAP squad, telling them exactly where he would be, but he didn’t send it. Not yet…
Aegon
Where am I? was Aegon’s first groggy thought as he slowly blinked his way back to consciousness. What…what happened? Why am I asleep?
He frowned, trying to blink his eyelids open faster. He tried to lift his hands to rub the blurriness from his eyes, but they were heavy. So heavy. I can’t be asleep. I need…I need…someone needs me…But it was like his brain was trudging through cement. So much so that he nearly let himself drift off back to sleep, vowing to try again in ten minutes. He was halfway out when a muffled cry snapped him back to attention.
Who…
And then he remembered. “Helaena!” he cried, though it came out as a groggy mumble. Nonetheless, his memories came flooding back, and he forced himself awake, staring at the grimy stone floor beneath his face, but when he tried to lift his arms again, he found them too heavy to move.
No, not heavy. Bound. Bound behind his back with duct tape. And his ankles as well.
Oh f*ck…oh f*ck, I’m screwed…I’m seriously screwed…
His brother’s voice echoed through his mind. Aemond had warned him of exactly this. Not only had he failed to save Helaena from danger, but he landed himself right there beside her.
So be it. Maybe I can convince him to just take me and leave her alone.
Craning his neck, the only part of his body he could move freely, he looked up enough to see his teary-eyed sister sitting next to him, a white gag in her mouth as she stared at him, saying something he couldn’t make out.
“Helaena,” he said again, clearer now. No gag impeded his own voice. “Helaena, hang on…”
Not liking his vulnerable position lying on his stomach, Aegon shimmied his knees in closer to his chest and tried to wiggle forward. It took three, four, five failed tries, but eventually he was able to squirm up onto his knees and shimmy forward until he was directly next to her. Unable to use his hands but determined to get the gag out of her mouth, he leaned forward and snagged the fabric with his teeth, yanking downwards until it fell around her neck.
“Aegon,” she whispered tearfully, coughing, her entire body trembling with fear. “Aegon, you shouldn’t be here.”
Neither one of us should be here. And he was every bit as afraid as she was, but he forced himself to smile comfortingly, rubbing his forehead against hers in a manner he hoped was soothing.
“It’s going to be fine,” he promised her in a low whisper. “It’s going to be fine. Aemond knows we’re here. He’s coming for us.”
“Sure, go ahead and hang your hopes on that,” a low voice taunted from over his shoulder, causing Aegon to whip his head around just as Vance Reynard slowly walked into the room, a smug smile on his face. “Not that it matters. There won’t be anything left to save.”
Five years had passed since that night at the hotel, but Vance seemed to have aged more than double that. Gray had begun taking root in his blonde hair, and a web of crow’s feet gathered in the corners of his eyes. He was still a handsome man, but he didn’t look like a Valyrian in his mid-twenties; he looked like a normal man pushing forty.
Killing almost a hundred people must be sucking the life out of him, Aegon thought as he grimaced. Unfortunately, not fast enough.
How could I ever have thought he looked like Aemond?
“Regardless, the rest of the FBI won’t be joining us,” Reynard continued as he strode in closer, gesturing around the room. Aegon took his eyes from the killer briefly and looked around as well, his heart sinking. This wasn’t the abandoned shop he’d broken into before he’d been drugged. This building was far larger. An abandoned factory, perhaps.
“And not on any realtor’s list,” Reynard confirmed, smiling a toothy grin that made every hair on Aegon’s body rise. “They’ve long since stopped trying to sell this place.”
f*ck…Oh god, we’re so f*cked…Because the police and the FBI would be focusing all their efforts on the hundreds of addresses on the realtor’s list.
Reynard’s smile faded ever-so-slightly as he added, “Especially when they’ll be distracted by the sheep I had to sacrifice in the last building.”
Sheep? Aegon glanced at Helaena out of the corner of his eye, and he saw that she’d started crying all over again, a look of haunted horror on her face.
He killed another one, he immediately realized, his heart breaking for his sister. He killed another one, and he made her watch.
Sweet Helaena who didn’t have a violent or cruel bone in her body. Who’d become a doctor, subjecting herself to long, grueling hours, solely because she liked helping people. This f*cker had forced her to watch as he murdered a helpless victim.
Like he very well might be murdering them.
Aegon wheeled on him with a snarl, nearly toppling over as he tried to lunge forward. “Evil f*cking sack of sh*t!” he spat. “I swear to god, when Aemond finds you…”
But Reynard merely rolled his eyes.
“I’m only doing what hundreds of our ancestors have done, cousin,” he scoffed. “How is it you think we became dragon riders? How is it you think we forged Valyrian steel? Modern sentiments have weakened your stomach,” he said coldly. “It takes blood sacrifice, and in massive quantities. Fire and Blood are not our House words merely because they sound fearsome.”
Aegon shook his head incredulously. “You’re talking about things that happened two thousand years ago.”
Reynard snorted. “Back when the world was as it should be. A world of magic and dragons and kings and conquerors. Not this rancid cesspit we’ve devolved into. Polluting the very world that sustains us with garbage and chemical waste. Technology desperately trying to fill the void that magic left behind.”
He looked at Aegon drily. “Can you tell me honestly, cousin, that the world is a better place without those wonders?”
It wasn’t a fairytale world of wonders, you f*cking idiot. It was a world where nations were conquered and their people enslaved. A world where commoners were crushed beneath the heel of the powerful. A world where people lived in a constant state of fear for their lives. A world of rampant sickness, starvation, and short lifespans. The only people who were happy were the people in power.
Viserys had drilled that lesson into his children’s minds long ago. But Vance Reynard was not one of Viserys’s children.
“A world where all Targaryens were highborn,” Reynard added bitterly, his eyes flashing.
Shifting until he was in front of Helaena, half shielding her with his own body, Aegon met his gaze defiantly.
“So that’s why you’re doing this?” he said, eyes narrowed. “You’re slaughtering people, innocent people, by the dozens because you can’t handle the fact that your Valyrian blood doesn’t make you special?”
It was exactly the wrong thing to say. Exactly the wrong thing to say. Aegon realized his horrible error even before Reynard drew back his fist to slam it into Aegon’s jaw, near blinding him with white-hot pain. He would have gone flying to the floor again were it not for Reynard’s hand grabbing his hair, yanking so hard Aegon felt his scalp begin to tear.
“THAT WAS BECAUSE OF YOU!” Reynard shouted, droplets of spit flying from his mouth and spraying Aegon’s face. His fist tightened in Aegon’s hair, and he gave him a violent shake, but Aegon refused to show any pain. Any sign of weakness.
“I had EVERYTHING!” he roared. “I was about to finish my senior year at NY-f*cking-U. I was in that stupid bar as one last hurrah before I started cramming for exams. But because of YOU!!”
Aegon barely had a second to brace himself before Reynard’s fist slammed into his jaw again. His mouth filled with blood, and he barely had a chance to spit before he swallowed his own tooth, sending the molar clattering to the hard stone floor. Instinctively, Aegon’s tongue poked into the hole his tooth left behind, wincing at the still-raw nerves.
“YOU!” Reynard snarled, oblivious to the bloody saliva that now coated Aegon’s chin. Tears collected in his eyes as he grabbed Aegon by his hair again.
“You said you f*cking LOVED me!” he roared, crying harder as he shook him again. “My blood saw me! Welcomed me into his heart. Accepted me. I’d finally taken back a small piece of what was stolen from my grandfather, and then you…”
Aegon thought Reynard was going to hit him again, bracing for it, but instead, he shoved him violently backwards, toppling him into Helaena as he loomed over him.
“Why did you do that?” he whispered, his voice innocent, almost childlike as he cried. “Why? Why would you f*ck with my mind like that? Dangle that false hope?”
You killed all those innocent people. You killed Katya. You took my sister. And you want me to feel sorry for you?
Aegon didn’t. Not at all. This f*cker deserved to be stuffed feet-first into a woodchipper.
But while he felt no sympathy, he did feel guilt. And so he attempted to wipe some of the rage from his face before he shimmied back up to his knees, meeting Reynard’s eyes again.
“I didn’t know you were Valyrian,” he said. “I didn’t know you were family. I thought you were just some random guy in a bar. But even so, yes, I’m sorry…”
Reynard barked a laugh. “Sorry,” he echoed hollowly.
“I’m sorry for treating you the way I treated you,” Aegon repeated. “I was VERY drunk and very heartbroken when I told you I loved you. So much so that I tricked myself into thinking that you were the man I loved. I swear, I did not go into that bar with the intention of hurting you or f*cking with your mind. And I’m sorry that I did.”
Reynard laughed again, softer this time. His stream of tears still flowing. “Sorry,” he repeated yet again. “And you think that’s going to save you? You think that fixes anything?”
His laughter grew louder. Crueler. And he stepped back to look at Aegon fully, shaking his head.
“Treating me like your living sex doll aside, you broke my heart right before finals season started,” he continued. “f*cked with my mind right before finals season started. I failed every f*cking test. I failed every f*cking class.”
I don’t feel sorry for you. I don’t.
“Instead of graduating, they told me I had to repeat every class, AND I got put on academic probation,” Reynard sneered. “But I COULDN’T repeat those classes because I lost my scholarship, and I had no way to pay for them.”
Student loans exist…But he bit his tongue. Rubbing salt in the wound would only get him punched again.
“I never finished school,” he said darkly, lunging forward and grabbing Aegon’s hair again. “One f*cking night with you, and four years of work got flushed down the toilet. My future got flushed down the toilet. I was going to be a HISTORIAN! I should be CURATOR at the Targaryen museum, not the f*cking CUSTODIAN!”
I ruined your semester, and I’m sorry that I did, but I did NOT take away your right to graduate. You could have gone back at any time.
“And don’t even TELL me that you’re f*cking sorry, because it’s bullsh*t!” Reynard spat. “You knew. You knew exactly what you did to me. I saw you at the museum’s grand opening. All proud and happy by your father’s side. Firstborn son of the man who stole everything from my grandfather. And you saw me too. In my f*cking jumpsuit. You looked straight at me…and then walked away as if I didn’t f*cking exist. As if I were beneath you.”
I did? Aegon didn’t remember that. He knew himself well enough to know he’d never behave that way towards someone that he felt guilty for hurting. But it was entirely possible that he hadn’t recognized him in the crowd. Or that he’d been busy and distracted and hadn’t seen him properly.
If he was being truly honest…after taking so many partners to bed over the years, he likely could not pick most of them out of a crowd. The thought pushed through his anger and panic. That can’t be healthy…
“If you felt half as guilty as you claimed, you could have come to talk to me that day,” Reynard spat. “Helped me, instead of turning your back and walking back into your charmed life without a second thought…”
Sneering, he added, “You certainly were all-too eager to pay for your slu*tty little p*rn queen to go to college.”
Don’t react. Don’t react. You’ll get yourself killed. Katya wouldn’t want you to get yourself or Helaena killed defending her honor…
“slu*tty little p*rn queen?” he said, despite his efforts to hold it back. “Is that how you justify what you did to her? Is that how you sleep at night after murdering an innocent college student? On top of the scores of other innocent people you butchered?”
For the smallest fraction of a second, he thought his words might have appealed to whatever shattered humanity Reynard had left. Perhaps humanizing Katya, reminding him that she was a college student with hopes and dreams, as he’d been once, affected him in some way. But if he felt anything, if he was still capable of feeling anything, it wasn’t enough to change anything.
Reynard gave his hair one last yank before releasing him, pushing him backwards yet again and pacing away, chest puffed out proudly.
“The dragon does not weep for a flock of dead sheep,” he declared coldly. “None of that matters anymore. Including what you did to me.”
No, it doesn’t. Because Aemond was right. None of that excuses what you did.
“Because soon the world will see me as I am. Soon they will see that I am the true heir to the House of the Dragon. Azor Ahai born again just as the world needs him most. And that I alone can lead them when The Song of Ice and Fire comes to pass.”
Aegon glared at him drily, but he didn’t comment. Sick f*cker.
“They’ll be released soon,” he continued as he paced. “The Others. From the icy prison in which they are incased. We have months, maybe years, and the ice will be melted enough for them to be free. Free to engulf the entire world into an eternal winter whilst they reign. The end of the age of men.”
“The Others?” Aegon said sarcastically. “White Walkers? From those Westerosi ghost stories?”
“Warnings,” Reynard corrected. “Passed down through generations so that I would be ready when they returned.”
There was nothing amusing about their situation. More like than not, he and his sister were both about to die. But Aegon could not help himself.
“Will they be hijacking Santa’s sleigh on their march south?”
Luckily, it did not earn him another punch.
“Laugh if you want,” Reynard said. “It is a future you will not be here to see.”
The thought sobered Aegon instantly, even before Helaena let out a frightened sob behind him.
“It isn’t a future that you will see either,” Aegon said darkly. “Because as we speak, my brother is hunting you. He will find you. And he will put you in your f*cking coffin long before the Others, Santa, and whatever other mythical creatures that you believe in show up to put an end to the age of men.”
Reynard quirked an eyebrow at him, then slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a cellphone. A phone Aegon quickly recognized as his own, and he didn’t have time to turn his face away before he accidentally unlocked it.
f*ck.
But it seemed Reynard had already unlocked it while Aegon was unconscious, and now he held up his most recent text chains for Aegon to see.
His heart stopped when he saw the one at the very top was with Aemond.
He unblocked me, he realized. He must have unblocked me when he realized I left.
“Aemond is indeed on his way here,” Reynard agreed. “Because I told him to come. Alone.” Smiling darkly, he tucked the phone back into his pocket. “I want my blood-traitor cousin to witness the ascension that he tried to prevent. Before Lightbringer tastes his blood as well, of course.”
His ascension? f*ck, this guy is insane…
“The ascension that I pray will begin with your death.”
Faster than a snake, Reynard grabbed hold of Aegon’s hair again, but this time, he did not merely yank, instead using it as leverage to pick Aegon up like a ragdoll, flopping him over his shoulder. Helaena screamed behind him, thrashing to get free while she begged Reynard to stop. Aegon fought like hell, squirming and kicking as best he could with his arms and legs restrained, but it was useless. There was nothing he could do as Reynard carried him across the room…
And flopped him down roughly in the middle of a circle painted with blood.
“I made a mistake with the others,” Reynard admitted. “Hoping to find my Nissa Nissa. A needle in a haystack. But I was going about it the wrong way, wasn’t I? Nissa Nissa did not grant life to the sword because there was anything special about her. She was special only because Azor Ahai loved her.”
No…
Reynard stepped away from him for a fraction of a second, and Aegon tried to roll to his knees again, to find a way to crawl to safety, but he was stopped with a painful kick to the ribs. With his foot, Reynard rolled him over onto his back and pinned him in place.
“And even now, after everything you’ve cost me…” Reynard continued.
His words barely registered. Aegon’s gaze was fixed on the four-foot longsword in his hand. A medieval replica, perhaps. It looked new. Shiny and sharp with some kind of red gemstone gleaming in the pommel. A replica of the Targaryen sword, Blackfyre.
“I still feel something for you,” Reynard finished.
No…no, no, no, no, no…
Animal panic blinded him, and he thrashed to get free, but there was nothing he could do. He was bound. Pinned. And Reynard raised the sword…
He never believed the myth that one’s life flashes before their eyes when they’re about to die. Drama and hype, he once dismissed. But that was before he was pinned to the floor of an abandoned factory, a sword poised over his heart, his sister screaming and sobbing, begging for his life to be spared. Before he began to see the flickers.
Snippets of his childhood in the mansion, surrounded by the people he loved.
Snippets of his job, of the employees who were like his second family.
But above all were his memories of his brother. His Aemond.
His beautiful brother, snuggled happily in his arms, smelling of peppermint.
His brother smiling and laughing as they teased each other, joking well into the night.
Aemond looking up at him with love and adoration shining in his eyes, a way no one else had ever looked at him.
The night they made love beneath the stars. The night he told Aemond he loved him. The night he thought bonded them forever as lovers.
I’m going to die without ever seeing him again, he realized as the light flashed off Reynard’s blade. I’m going to die without telling him how much I still love him. That I would do anything if only he would forgive me.
Aemond. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I love you…
“Reynard, DROP THE WEAPON!” a voice commanded, as if emerging from the depths of his memories. A voice he would know anywhere, even now, blind with terror.
He’s here!
