The sun is setting over Rushville - a town about two hours away from Novalectrum - as the two young performers drive to a small club.

  Océane and their sibling Jacinthe are psyching themselves up. This isn't their first solo performance, not by a long shot, but despite that they're still a little nervous. They want to make Etienne proud of course; he's done a lot for them in the years since they first met him in Stilt City.

  They've changed and he's changed. A lot of trust has been built between them all, even if they still have their moments. Still, he's like a dad to them - better than their biodad. Of course they want to do well.

  Their stock in trade is still their acrobatics feats, which they've been perfecting ever since the days they were busking outside in Stilt City. But they've learned a lot from their surrogate father; juggling and sleight of hand mostly, though also some knife tricks - even a bit of self-defense, which Etienne was happy to teach them and they were happy to learn. They haven't ever had to use it really but there's always the chance.

  Better to have it and not need it than otherwise.

  The dark-haired teenagers arrive safely at the club they're going to perform at, their white-and-gold bodysuits not doing much to protect them from the chill of evening. But they scoot into the club and check in with the owner before it can really start to seep in.

  Their performance goes reasonably well, save for a few minor flubs - something they notice or Etienne would, but the audience would take no note of them. Professionally, the twins continue their act. After the applause and the bows, the twins collect their pay, including tips.

  The tips are pretty good tonight.

  Living in Stilt City taught them caution if it taught them nothing else. It truly did, but after the drive and their performance, they're both tired enough to be just that bit less attentive to their surroundings. Unfortunately that proves their undoing.

  Some time ago Etienne gave them each a signal device that he's told them will send him a message from anywhere to his personal comm device that they're in trouble. He's impressed upon them the importance of using the thing if they need to, no matter what time of day or night - that he won't be angry with them. He's said that he'd rather them use it and not have to than not use it at need.

  Océane naturally took this to heart, perhaps more than their sibling did. And that is why, as dark shapes rise up out of the shadows with grasping hands, their first instinct to to trigger the signal, even as Jacinth readies their weapons.

  --------------

  Etienne lies dozing naked with his boyfriend. It's earlier than they'd usually go to bed but Torvald sort of dragged him, a consequence of them not seeing one another for a while. He isn't complaining.

  His dark eyes snap open when he hears his comm device's buzzer go off.

  He feels Torvald twitch in reaction almost before he registers what he's hearing. Etienne knows the man's reflexes are razor-keen due to a life of corporate espionage missions, but perhaps sometimes he wishes his lover could relax completely more than he ever actually does.

  That thought dies a-borning when the performer realizes exactly which signal he's hearing.

  With a wordless shout the dark-skinned man sits bolt upright, ignoring the residual soreness in his thighs in favor of grabbing for his comm device. He fumbles for the thing, almost drops it over the side of the bed; then grips it firmly in both hands regardless of how they shake, staring aghast at the simple message.

  It's the one he's always dreaded receiving, one the twins have never yet used; the emergency signal he programmed into the simple devices he gave them. In short, a call for help.

  Firmly Etienne clamps down on the panic welling up in his throat; he can't afford to be anything other than his usual collected self, no matter how badly he wants to lose his shit.

  "What's wrong?" Torvald shifts beside him, and he feels warm, strong hands clasp his shoulders.

  The touch grounds him, at least enough to let him think semi-rationally. "The twins," he manages. "They hit the panic button I gave them. Something must be wrong."

  The hands on his shoulders tighten briefly. "I see. Well, of course we must leave at once."

  Etienne looks around to give his partner a grateful look in the dimly lit room, trying to convey all his love and gratitude in a single glance. That's not possible of course, so he places his hand over Torvald's.

  The other man keeps Etienne grounded more than he knows as they dress themselves quickly in dark clothing meant for stealth. Fortunately they washed up after they were done with one another, not that it would matter in the moment.

  "Let's take my car," Torvald suggests, pulling on his boots.

  Etienne's heart is racing as he arms himself but he's present enough to see the sense in the suggestion. He shouldn't like to drive right now after all.

  How thoughtful of his partner.

  Bog is busy with their own doings and neither of them wants to call him in, especially considering the urgency. So Etienne shoots him a message while Torvald's starting the car, something they can easily ignore if they want or need.

  Then they're on the road.

  Guided by the signal devices he gave the twins, Etienne directs his boyfriend. The skycar shoots off into the uncertain night of Novalectrum City.

  --------------

  Groggily Océane wakes in stinking near-darkness, their surroundings only illuminated by the light shining under the door. It takes them some time to remember what happened and why their head is aching so much. Looking around they see their sibling next to them tied to a chair.

  Shit.

  Océane doesn't have much more time to take in their surroundings before the door bangs open. A short, balding man steps through, lips twisted in a snarl.

  Oh no. It's Arnie Bauer from Stilt City - and just why the hell is he this close to Novalectrum now? "Did ya miss me?" the middle-aged man growls. "Or did ya think I forgot about the debt you and Etienne owe me?"

  There was no debt, the dark-haired teenager wants to protest - but they know damn well Arnie thinks they owe him for Etienne running him out of town, never mind that it was his own actions that brought that on his head.

  Océane wants to protest even though they know it'd be useless. Arnie was the man who ran them out of the square in the main part of Stilt City to the Shoreside. They suspect, but cannot prove, that he's the one who sent thugs after them and their sibling, the thugs that Etienne saved them and Jacinthe from.

  They stay quiet, frightened of what this man might do. But Jacinthe speaks up defiantly. "Etienne will come for us, then you'll be sorry!"

  Their captor gives a harsh, grating laugh. "You think he'll find you? I smashed your watches, he'll have no choice but to pay the ransom I set if he ever wants to see you again."

  "No!"

  Océane and Jacinthe both act like they didn't expect this, like they're frightened that it happened. But they know something Arnie doesn't. The real signal devices, reinforced heavily, are in the band of the watches, so it doesn't matter that they got smashed.

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  All they have to do now is hold on. Surely their dad will come for them.

  -------------

  Despite the roiling anger in his gut all the blond man can say as he starts driving the skycar in the direction Etienne told him is "Buckle up."

  Torvald wishes with all his heart that he could do something for his partner. He's never seen Etienne so fucked up before; usually the man is the most put-together out of all of them. He's usually the one taking care of them when something happens. The very heart and soul of them all.

  Whoever took the twins is going to pay.

  The blond man bares his teeth in the farthest possible thing from a smile, disengages any and all safeties, and stomps on the accelerator. He wouldn't usually drive this way when not on a mission - he cares too much about his partners, even if it's so incredibly difficult for him to show it after everything he's been through. But he can't show his care any other way.

  From the gentle hand Etienne places on his knee he understands.

  He always does.

  After two very tense hours the two men reach Rushville, parking in a ground lot just in the outskirts. The town is so small it has hardly any skyscrapers, a throwback to Torvald's own youth in Sweden. He hopes it's not an ill omen, then clamps down on the thought.

  Etienne has gotten quieter and quieter along the way. Usually, stoic silence - or any other kind of silence - is Torvald's calling card. But with the twins he's been caring for for years taken by some unknown party and their safety an unknown quantity, Torvald doesn't blame his lover for being quiet.

  The smaller man has been staring at his comm device this entire time. "They're in here," the smaller man says suddenly, pointing the place out for Torvald. Here is a rather nondescript, largeish warehouse in the more run-down part of town.

  Torvald puts the car down nearby; far enough away to be out of sight but close enough that they can easily go in on foot. "I'll go in by the front and create a distraction," he says distantly, clasping his boyfriend's shoulder. "And you can go in through the vents, see?"

  The blond points out a vent over an old-fashioned air conditioning unit; easily accessible. Etienne gives him a short nod.

  The two men step out of the car, closing the doors quietly. "Good luck," Torvald whispers in Etienne's ear; then, shortly after, "be careful."

  The other man returns the sentiment. They kiss briefly.

  Then they part ways, each going to do what he has to for the most critical mission Torvald's ever been on in his life.

  ------------

  Etienne's lover often describes a freezing feeling that takes hold of him in battle. He himself has thought it might be similar to the feeling that comes over him before a major performance, but that comparison only applies to a point. Now, at last, he knows how far it truly goes.

  It isn't just their own lives depending on this battle, but likely the twins' as well.

  The purple-haired performer checks his weapons before unlatching the cover to the vent and crawling in - and damn but he's never been more grateful he isn't claustrophobic. Bog would find this work almost intolerable but he dismisses the thought as irrelevant to the task at hand.

  He crawls through the metal duct as quietly as he can - which, after his years of controlling his body to the utmost for his performances, is very quiet indeed. Adding to his caution is the fact that the Jacinthe's and Océane's lives might depend upon his silence.

  Following his own watch's direction - he's silenced the device of course - he creeps forward, takes a series of turns, and finally comes upon a grate below him. Etienne looks down through the grate and spies the twins' watches, mostly smashed upon the ground below. Unfortunately for whoever's taken Océane and Jacinthe, the main signal device wasn't in the watch itself, but in the band of the thing.

  Etienne gives a tight grin. Sometimes it pays to take these precautions.

  Finally he locates the room the twins are being held in through a combination of persistence and hearing one of their voices. There are an awful lot of guards; but he looks down at his own comm device, seeing that the time his lover has given him to locate the twins has almost elapsed. He grins fiercely to himself, seeing the seconds tick down.

  A sudden explosion rocks the small building. Etienne's grin broadens. Trust Torvald to casually bring explosives around with him in his car.

  The performer sets his amusement aside in favor of watching most of the guards run towards the source of the commotion. Of course he's concerned for Torvald, he always is; but he's seen him in action. He can very much handle himself.

  Time for some action of his own. The slim man draws his pistol. He opens the grate below him and immediately drops through, startling the hell out of the remaining guards.

  Etienne doesn't usually think of himself as a violent person. But in this moment of need he more than manages, immediately felling two men, and then the third after a brief fistfight.

  Quickly he frees the twins from their bonds with one of the knives he keeps concealed on his person and waves off their greetings. "Who took you?" he demands.

  "Arnie Bauer," Jacinthe says simply.

  Etienne grits his teeth. That no-good son of a bitch. He remembers the man only too well from the time he ran the twins into the worst part of Stilt City, where Etienne had to rescue them from a group of thugs.

  On one hand if that hadn't happened they wouldn't have become a family. On the other...well, he's not going to thank the man for putting the twins into danger, either then or now. "Where is he?" he asks tightly.

  Jacinthe points rather than speaking - indicating a closed door on the other side of the hall from where they were being kept. It's the work of a moment to kick the door down, angry as he is.

  The door slams open, revealing a familiar face, and a short greasy man who whimpers in terror and tries to open the window to climb out.

  "I wouldn't try that if I were you," comes a deeply unamused voice behind Etienne - it's Torvald. He doesn't need to turn around to know that his lover has his back.

  As he always does.

  "End of the line, Bauer," Etienne says sternly.

  "W-what? You're not gonna kill me are you?"

  "That is what 'end of the line' means," Torvald replies sarcastically.

  "Take the twins down the hall, if you please," Etienne tells his boyfriend while the man who stole his children blubbers and begs on the floor. "I don't want them to see this." A strong hand finds his shoulder again, squeezes, and then Torvald and the twins retreat.

  He does Bauer one favor; he makes it quick. Then he turns his back on the corpse and goes to rejoin the people he loves.

  It's no more than the man deserves.

  The little family takes a moment simply to hold one another. Torvald tries to hang back, but Etienne waves him over, tears in his eyes. "Come, you're one of us too." Part of his little family.

  He doesn't care to think about what would have happened if Torvald hadn't been with him when he got the signal.

  -----------

  Bog is - perhaps predictably in hindsight - pretty angry that they got left out. "Next y'all go harin' off into danger I want in!" he grumbles, arms crossed over his chest, cyan eyes glaring at them.

  Unspoken behind the anger is their concern for their partners as well as the twins. Perhaps a bit of pique at being left out too. Etienne gathers him into his arms; Bog resists for a moment but ultimately he gives in. "I was worried about you," he mutters into Etienne's narrow chest. Behind them, Torvald stands, rubbing one of his shoulders with an arm slung around him.

  It's an admission Etienne wouldn't have ever gotten years ago when they first started seeing one another. But now? This is an indicator of how far they've come, even if they've still got a long way to go.

  And truly? He can't wait to see how far that is.