All I See Is A Corpse

On the other side of the city.

A man was furiously breaking anything and everything in his sight. He threw and smashed every painting, chair and lamp that he could get his hands on. Even a number of his men were injured and sent to a place from which they would never again step out of due to his anger. The luckier ones were killed on the spot.

His ebony like eyes were windows into his beyond salvageable soul as he shouted at the man who was now gasping for air after having received the most gruesome beating of his life.

"AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A SHADOW?" He yelled at him as he once again slapped his face with so much force that the loud sound it made on impact was on par with his own raging voice.

"Si-si-sir!" The man painfully stuttered since his broken lip and fractured ribs made it feel impossible to talk. "The ta-target was to-to-too fierce. I was the o-o-only sur-survivor!" He had barley managed to dodge the dozens of men aiming for his life after witnessing the bloody massacre that was made out of his comrades. Even his elite seniors met their ends at the hands of the people that were supposedly not even important enough to be considered challenging. Let alone threats. His boss had sent them out on a suicide mission. That much was evident.

But he would never dare say such a thing out loud. His life was on the line, and anything else that would add fuel to the growing flames of his boss's fury would definitely end him.

"Survivor?! HA!" The man who's voice never ceased to send fear shooting down the poor man's spine replied. Looking down at him, his lips morphed into the most frightening grin he had ever seen in his life. "All I see is a corpse."

Hearing his fate had been sealed, the injured man began to tremble as a mixture of sobbing and panicked shouting emerged out of him. "NO! PLE-PLEASE! I DID AS YOU ASKED! PLEA-" His desperate pleas were ended when a bullet made it's way from his forehead to the back of his head.

The now profusely bleeding body on the floor was being swiftly picked up by two men to be disposed of with the rest of the parted souls that had been tasked with informing the man that his ordered abduction was a complete and utter failure. Claire had avoided yet again falling into his grasp.

"Will." The man said as he irritably threw the gun he had just fired onto the floor.

"Yes Boss." His loyal follower, who had been silently watching his boss' temper tantrum from the doorway, answered as he kept his distance. Being too close to him right now was the same as asking to be killed on the spot.

"Get me a meeting with Villan Enterprise's CEO and clean this mess up." He ordered who'm he considered to be his favorite lap dog while he made his way out of the blood stained and completely trashed room. Pausing right in front of him, he turned to look down at him with such an intense glare that Will's knees almost buckled in fear. "Make sure my father hears nothing. If he does, I will personally make sure you never breath again."

"Ye-yes Boss."

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City's Center's Base

The sun hadn't come up yet, but Colton had already downed his third cup of coffee. He was sitting on the sofa while he worked the hours away on his laptop.

He had struggled to sleep for a couple of hours before he understood that he wouldn't be able to properly rest. So with that in mind, he got up from his bed, got dressed, with great difficulty due to having done it on his own, and made a working space out of their living quarter's lounging area. But since he worked everything from his computer, he simply looked as if he were writing the longest essay known to man. Making the tapping of his fingers against the keyboard the only thing that could be heard.

Colton was concentrated on the code he was encrypting when he heard a door open. He looked up from the screen and saw the cutest little red head hugging a plush bunny with a confused expression on her face. A tender smile made it's way to his face as he closed the laptop and pushed it aside.

"Hey Kiddo." He said as he patted the space next to him. It wasn't strange for her to wake up after a few hours or to have trouble sleeping, so he didn't find her being up at that hour the least bit odd.

Lily made his way towards him and climbed onto the sofa to cuddle up against him. Once she did, she looked up at him with a thousand questions and worry written all over her face. Colton couldn't help but lower himself down to give her forehead a kiss because of how adorable she looked. Her strawberry red hair was a mess, her eyes were still dewy from being half asleep and the way she hugged her favorite stuffed animal against herself made him want to scoop her up and shower her with loving kisses. But seeing as his body was still too sore for that, and the fact that she was obviously distraught, he opted to simply wrap his good arm around her while he soothed her unease.

After checking if she had her hearing aid on, which she did, he began to try and clear up her disoriented state. "You must have been confused when you woke up huh?" Lily nodded as to say yes while she lifted a hand to rub her sleepy eyes. "Didn't Ben explain what happened when you saw him?"

Colton knew that Ben was currently in her room, probably still sitting on the chair he had placed next to her bed, just in case she woke up in the middle of the night. Exactly like she had done. So he was somewhat confused as to why he hadn't explained. Or why he hadn't come out to join them either.

'He's sleeping.' Lily replied after loosening her grip on her pink bunny. As soon as she woke up, she looked around to notice she was no longer enjoying a movie night with Lucas at Aiden's house, but sleeping in her bed back at the base. Feeling surprised and extremely confused, she got up to look for Claire when she noticed Ben had seemingly dozed off while sitting next to her bed. Not wanting to wake him up, she decided to go in search of somebody else for an explanation.

Colton's eyes widened in shock. Ben was practically a machine. He would never fall asleep while being on guard, regardless of how safe the environment was. And seeing as the purpose behind his being in the room was to prevent Lily from getting worried, he would have been even more attentive. As he always was when it came to her. But, seeing as they were all under some very unexpected stress, he simply decided to assume it was due to their current situation.

"Well your mom suddenly had to deal with some things and decided it was best for you to come back here and stay with me until she was done." He simplified the situation as much as possible without straight out lying to her. Lying was never the was they did things. And his extreme abbreviations usually did the trick, but to his surprise, this time Lily had more to ask.

'Couldn't I have stayed with Aiden or uncle Lucas?' She asked as she couldn't imagine either men wanting her to leave. And much less without saying goodbye. It didn't take a genius to understand that they were smitten with her, and Lily was smart enough to realize that waking up in a completely different place after having been with Lucas was very odd.

Colton was taken aback by her question. Sure is was logical and beyond reasonable for a person to think that was a possibility, but this was his favorite kiddo. The shy little girl that suffered from some serious stranger anxiety and would only comfortably be around a hand full of people. The same kiddo who was now asking why she wasn't left in the care of two men she met only a few months ago.

Not wanting to question her new found fondness for them, after all it was an amazing feat for her and he would hate for her to revert to being extremely guarded, he brushed his curiosity aside for the moment.

"Well since it was so unexpected, they offered to help her so that she wouldn't end up being too tired. They really dote on you two don't they?" Regardless if he hadn't had the chance to get to meet this new "uncle" Lucas, or not having shared a lot of time with Aiden to get to know him better, he would have to be blind to not see how happy his girls had started to seem after the Villan duo started to be a part of their lives.

Lily immediately smiled up at him and nodded in agreement. She had been beyond happy the last few weeks thanks to all the new things she had gotten to try with her Mommy's new friends. Visiting the zoo, going shopping for books, riding horses, making a handcrafted present, playing with amazing dogs and so many other things had brightened her days thanks to having held on to Aiden's hand. She had truly began to hold him dearly in her heart.

"Hey now." Colton lifted his hand and softly squished her adorable little cheek. "Don't go forgetting about me just because you have some big ugly dudes fawning over you." He said with his iconic goofy grin.

Lily giggled as she felt Colton's hand gesture for her to climb on his lap. She had avoided to do so ever since he got hurt, so her smile got even wider at his request. Gently climbing on top of him like a koala, she nuzzled into his chest as his good arm wrapped around her. Since she was so small, even one of his arms felt like an entire warm blanket. She hugged her bunny close as her eyes closed. It had been far too long since she last got to enjoy his embrace.

"No need to worry Kiddo. Aiden said we would all meet up for lunch today so you'll get to see everybody in a few hours." He kissed the top of her head as he felt her relax in his arms. Surely enough, she wouldn't feel relieved until he assured her that everything was alright and that she would get to see Claire in a bit. He felt her squeeze his forearm three times in a row before pulling her hand back into their cuddly position. Knowing what it meant without her having to look up at him, he simply smiled down at her. "Me too Kiddo. Me too."

Not five minutes passed when Colton felt her breathing even out and her entire body relax. He knew he should place her down, but he too had missed holding her so closely. The fact that his body would be sore from her weight in the morning, thanks to not having recuperated completely, was the least of his concerns. He would gladly deal with a little more pain if it meant he could stop missing out on their little cuddling sessions.

About another hour passed as he continued to work from his phone. Not wanting to move an inch, he had covered Lily with the blanket he was using for himself and simply let her sleep as he tapped away on his phone. He would only take breaks to fix the blanket the times it slipped and to tenderly caress her from time to time. Since sleep wasn't really an option for him that night, he was enjoying his uncle niece time. Even if it consisted of her sleeping over him while he worked in silence. Silence which was interrupted when he heard a door opening again. But this time, it came from behind him. It seemed like another one of his girls was having trouble sleeping.

"I guess sleep isn't on anybody's side tonight huh?" He practically whispered as he sensed her behind him.

"Apparently so." Anna replied in an equally hushed tone to avoid waking Lily. After doing so, she made her way around the couch and sat next to them. She didn't bother offering to take her from him since she knew all too well how he had been dying to have her in his arms like that.

After taking a quick look around, she found herself wondering since she didn't see Ben anywhere.

"He's asleep in Lily's room." He answered her silent question. Once he saw her confused expression, he slightly chuckled. "I know. Weird."

A few minutes went by silently as Anna softly moved her hand up and down Lily's back. A pensive expression was on her face when she suddenly asked. "Do you think she told him?"

"If she didn't, today is going to be awkward as hell. But if she did...." He began to reply as his eyes sadly gazed down at their silly Lily. "She left out some of the most important parts." At that, they both sat silently looking at her as bitter sweet memories invaded their thoughts.

Not long after, Ben stepped out of Lily's room in search for her. Unlike the rest, he was not in the least bit surprised with himself for falling asleep.

As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted with a tender image that brought a smile to his face.The trio had all fallen asleep together as they leaned against each other. An image far more to his liking than the one he could imagine was created when his companions came back with the rats that were spared during the Villan Estate raid.