Davis and David

In a room with no windows that was dimly lit with a yellow night light, two shadows were seen leaning against the wall. One had his eyes closed with his head resting on the wall while the other was using his finger to scribble what seemed like codes and equations on the floor. They seemed relaxed and carefree, not having the anxiety and fear that a normal person would have in such a situation. These two were the men Penny and the group were worried about, Davis Winters and Jeremy Willows.

Davis and Jeremy have been friends for years, they are both in their mid-40s but that didn't make them look less attractive, if one didn't know any better they'd think they were in their 30s. This might be mostly because of the way they were trained since a young age at Cube, a place where mutants were created.

After few seconds, the man scribbling on the ground, Jeremy stopped and looked sideways at his best friend and said while dusting his palms together, "It's rare to see you this quiet, I thought you'd have talked my ear off by now worrying about the kids' safety".

The kids in this instance were Penny, Cyrus, Avi and Timmy, the special ones that were brought out of Cube.

Davis who had been quiet since he was brought in here finally opened his mouth after few seconds, "You and I have taught them well over the years, I trust their ability to protect themselves".

Hearing Davis's reply, Jeremy snorted, "It's like we've switched places huh?, you're saying exactly what I've been trying to tell you for over 2 years now. Now I'm the one worrying about the kids.", Jeremy said while shaking his head with a bitter smile.

"Trusting their ability to protect themselves doesn't mean putting them in danger", Davis said with his eyes still shut.

"What danger? I've never put them in any danger, I'm the most renowned scientist and engineer in the whole of Azalea, a very responsible one at that.", Jeremy said feeling quite pleased with himself.

To which Davis scoffed and said, "You tried to make them jump off a waterfall, you tried pushing them over a cliff into a waterfall, you also tried to make them fall from a plane without a parachute INTO a waterfall, you even tried...."

"Alright, alright that's okay!, Sheesh!",Jeremy said trying to quickly interrupt Davis's narration of the many times he tried to put the kids in danger.

"Seriously Jerry, what's with you and waterfalls?", Davis asked seemingly perturbed by Jerry's obsession with waterfalls.

"It's nothing, just a childhood attachment", Jeremy said sheepishly before remembering an event when a baby was crying in his arms and his eyes dimmed.

"Do you think they'll recognise the kids?",Jeremy asked after chasing the depressing thoughts away.

"We intentionally adopted many children to make them blend in just in case they find us, so it shouldn't be easy but still we can't be too sure.",Davis said matter-of-factly before he continued, "But even if they did find them, they won't kill them."

"I know but isn't dying better than being turned into a mutant?", Jeremy muttered under his breath but was still heard by Davis who clenched his jaw and fists.

*Clang*

The sound of metal hitting metal, interrupted their thoughts as Dev Marson walked into the room with Ann and Damian in tow. Separated by invisible laser beams, Dev looked down at the two men sitting on the ground with an evil smirk on his lips.

When Jeremy saw who it was that came in, he went back to scribbling on the ground whilst Davis remained the way he was, leaning his head on the wall with his eyes closed, not even bothering to give Dev any audience.

Damian, the last person to come into the room was about to close the metal door but was stopped by Dev.

"Wait, Donald! It's been two days, let my brothers here enjoy and bask in the treasure mother nature has gifted to us-the sun!", said Dev somewhat exaggeratedly.

'Its Damian!', murmured Damian as he left the door open to stand behind Dev while Ann rolled her eyes at his 'dramatic' declaration.

Illuminated by the sunlight pouring in from the door, Dev said heartily with an amiable smile on his face,

"So how are you dear brothers, enjoying your time here? I would have loved to join you but I really don't want to."

"...."

Irked from not getting any response from them, Dev decided to tear at their deepest secret.

"You know, Father and Princess still miss you, Davis..."

Still not getting any response after waiting for a while, he continued, "They were so worried about you that Princess and her friend Daisy actually went looking for you....", he said sluggishly while focusing on Jeremy when he mentioned Daisy. He thought if he couldn't get any reaction from Davis then he could at least get one from Jeremy.

To his frustration, he didn't get what he wanted so he decided to drop 'the bomb'.

"...that was 16 years ago, few months after you left and they haven't been found till today!",Dev exclaimed still looking at them for any reaction, however...there was none. But what he didn't know was that Davis had his hand clenched into a fist which was trembling and Jeremy had stopped scribbling for a while.

Jeremy tried to contain his emotions to prevent exploding in Dev's face, however, he failed and couldn't help but yell, "Traitor! After everything Davis did for you, you still have the guts to show your face here?!"

Hearing that, it was as if a chord was struck in Dev's brain and he yelled back with bloodshot eyes while pointing at Davis, "SHUT! UP! He never did anything for me! All that he gave me was mine in the first place!

While Ann and Damian flinched from the intensity of the sound echoing in the room, Dev continued,

"He gave me shelter at MY father's house, he made me use MY training centre, he gave me access to MY father's properties! So tell me, what DID he give to me that wasn't mine already?!

The only thing he gave to me that wasn't mine was his useless sympathy while he took everything away from me! He even took the girl I loved most in the world!

I was the best at everything, I was supposed to receive that recognition, I was supposed to be elected leader of the elites at Cube! I was supposed to be married to Princess! I...was supposed to be...the next heir of Cube!

But what did Father do?!, he gave it all to him! When he had nothing! Absolutely nothing! Except for his similarity to Father's biological son, David Leo Daniels.", Dev exclaimed exasperatedly.

Hearing the name David Leo Daniels, Davis finally opened his eyes and gave Dev an icy cold stare while Jeremy chuckled and also gave him a look that was more of pity and ridicule like he was looking at a clown.

"What?! Why are you laughing, does it seem funny to you?! Are you still looking down on me?! Well, let me tell you, the tables have turned and I am the one in....what..what are you doing?", Dev said before he stammered when he saw Davis standing from the ground and walking close to him.

"Nice to meet you, I'm David Leo Daniels."