A few weeks later...

With the Seven still working on a plan to take out the Imagined Order, it left nearly the entire island vulnerable to be taken over. A total of 5 places had been taken hostage by Slone's forces, with the streets ridden with tanks and guards and a blimp above each place.

For now, The Seven focused their forces at the Daily Bugle. Their idea was to drive out the I.O forces in each hostage area one at a time. Meanwhile, they sent in spies to infiltrate their bases to figure out what Slone might be up to.

And Midas was one of those spies.

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Since their home had been taken over by I.O, he couldn't get any fresh clothes to wear. So he was wearing the same clothes, that were washed regularly, he wore when Slone attacked him and Jones.

Luckily, the Seven were happy to accommodate them until the war was over. While he and Jules had gotten themselves known to the other Seven members, Jones was still bedridden and recovering from Slone's attack.

The mastermind had thankfully fully recovered and was currently outside with his staff, trying to practice his power.

He had been doing a lot of training lately, resulting in his clothes slowly beginning to rip in places.

But lately, he's been training something else as well...

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"C'mon. Let's try this one more time." Midas mutters, wiping the sweat off his face.

Clasping his hands together Midas closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He makes a face of intense concentration and slowly opens his hands, revealing a small golden orb floating in the center.

"Haha, yes!"

Unfortunately it disappears before Midas can fully remove his hand from above it, much to his frustration.

"Ugh. Damnit. I'm getting close though." He grunts, running his hands through his parted hair. "I just need to keep trying until I can hold it for more than two seconds."

Putting his hands together Midas prepares himself to try again. As he opens his hands, the same orb appears again though slightly bigger this time. He slowly removes his hand hovering above it and to his surprise, it stays there this time.

Midas smiles a little, chuckling slightly and holding it close.

"Haha, I did it!"

"Hey Midas!!"

Midas yells in shock, letting the orb fly out of his grasp and into a nearby tree. It explodes with a resounding boom and leaves a hole in the side of it. He coughs away the smoke and turns to the source of the voice.

"Ugh, what?"

He finds Astra standing there. She scratches the back of her neck with an embarrassed smile.

"Sorry. Did I interrupt something?"

Midas sighs, brushing off his hands.

"No, it's fine. What do you need Astra?"

"Uh, I was wondering if you could help me with something."

Midas walks over to her and crouches slightly to match her height.

"I'm listening."

"I'm not sure why, but I've been having some...weird flashes. They started when I saw I.O appear and I noticed their tanks."

He raises an eyebrow, somewhat intrigued by Astra's explanation. He knew what it was like to have strange flashes of the past invade your mind when you least expect it.

"What I saw...they seem like memories. But I have no recollection of them."

She looks up at him.

"You've had memory flashes before, so you know what it's like. Do you think you can help me figure out what they are and what they mean?"

Midas looks down for a moment, pondering the thought. He eventually turns back to her with a small smile.

"Whenever I get the free time, I'll help you then. Maybe in the meantime you can figure out that nifty little eye trick you used against Slone and her little experiment a couple weeks ago."

Astra smiles.

"I think it's something to do with this staff Orelia gave me before she left. But sure! I could do that."

With that she happily skips away. Midas sighs and turns back around, cracking his knuckles.

"Right. Where was I?"

Grabbing his staff Midas tightens his grip on it and waves it in the air and swipes it to the right. It leaves a streak of gold in the air that morphs itself into a bigger orb of gold, like the one he formed in his hands. Though before he can do anything else, he's interrupted once again.

"Midas."

He flinches slightly and turns around, the orb poofing out of sight. To his surprise, it's The Foundation who greets him this time.

"Oh, Foundation. What can I do for you?"

"We're having a debriefing in 5 minutes, and I want you there. If you're quick enough you might catch Jones before joining us."

Midas' eyes widen while The Foundation leaves him alone. Jones had finally woken up!

He drops the staff, it promptly disappearing too, and frantically dashes inside to the med-bay. He looks around and smiles as he finds Jones sat on the hospital bed, dressed up in a white vest and his slightly torn work trousers. Plus, his red tie was tied up on his right arm.

He notices Midas standing near the door and smiles brightly.

"Midas! You're okay! Oh man I was so worried about you-"

Midas practically runs over and throws himself into Jones' arms, not letting him finish. The blond sighs happily and deepens the embrace by giving him a soft peck on the lips. Midas melts into it and smiles warmly at Jones, though it fades somewhat.

"I'm... sorry, Jones. I never meant for you to get that badly hurt. I never meant for you to get sent into a coma for 2 weeks."

Jones shakes his head and cups Midas' face in his hands.

"You have nothing to apologize about. You did your best. Besides, next time we see Slone and that weird ass cyborg, I know you'll go all out and kick their asses." He chuckled with a wink and a grin.

Midas blushes a bright red, smiling a little. Though, he can't help but feel his work trousers get a little tight after Jones gives him those compliments. He clears his throat and readjusts his slightly wonky tie. Jones notices and chuckles.

"Heh, you okay there golden boy?" He asks.

Midas' trousers tighten a little more.

"Uh, y-yeah. I'm okay."

"You sure? You look a little... bothered something."

Midas nods, giving him a thumbs up and a quick peck on the lips.

"I'll be fine. Now come. The Foundation is expecting us."

He takes his boyfriend's hand and they begin walking out of the med-bay and to the debriefing room.

------------

"So, our plan of driving back the I.O forces one location at a time is working as we hoped it would?" Jones asks.

The Foundation nods.

"Yes. And if the Scientist's calculations are correct, we could have them backed into a metaphorical and literal corner in roughly 2 and a half months time."

Midas sat beside Jones as The Foundation continues to talk to everyone else including The, Scientist, The Origin, Jules and The Imagined.

"So, what can the rest of us do while our forces push the I.O scum back?" The Imagined questions, folding her arms.

"I was just getting to that actually Imagined. I'm sending out a few people to be spies and try to uncover what I.O is up to." The Foundation explains. "I already have a couple out and about already, the other one I want to do this job...is you, Midas."

All eyes turn to the mastermind. He looks up at the Foundation, slightly surprised.

"I need you to sneak around I.O bases and gather whatever intel you can get your hands on. Anything will be of use to us."

Midas nods in understanding. Jones smiles and wraps his arm around him, making a red blush appear on his face.

"I'll go with him then. So we can cover double the ground! Me and Midas are the best duo and we work together great!"

At that moment, Midas feels his work trousers tighten again. He bites his lip, a drop of sweat sliding down his face. The Foundation simply shakes his head.

"Jones, as much as that offer is a good plan, we need you to remain here in the Sanctuary where you're safe." He says. "Besides, if you two were to work together, I fear you'd both get... distracted quite easily."

The blond goes to respond, but Midas takes his hand and shakes his head. He eventually sighs and listens to The Foundation's request.

"However, I'm willing to allow you permission to speak to Midas over a phone when the device uplink is activated." He offers, passing Jones a thin looking phone. "You can provide him with advice and help. I may even ask you to send him on important missions."

He smiles with a thumbs up.

"Heh, alright! Thanks Foundie."

"Please don't call me that ever again, Jones."

"Whatever you say Foundation, hehe."

The Origin turns to the Foundation, though still keeping his glance over at Midas.

"Foundation are you sure we can trust Midas? I'm not so certain." He asks, folding his arms.

"Rest assured Origin, Midas' goals are the same as ours. Taking out the Imagined Order, liberating the Zero Point and freeing the Island and its inhabitants."

He turns to Midas yet again, still unsure, while Midas has a look of uncertainty in his face too.

"Very well, Foundation."

As the meeting goes on, Jones can't help but sneak glances in Midas' direction. He seemed to be trying to conceal something under his golden hands, his face slightly red and readjusting his tie. Jones couldn't help but be curious about what Midas was trying to hide.

---------

After the debriefing...

As everyone leaves the room Jones quickly goes to catch up with Midas before he leaves for a mission.

"Midas, hang on a sec!"

He pauses at the door exiting the main building of the Sanctuary, turning to face Jones.

"Yes my love? What can I do for you?"

"Could I ask you something real quick?"

Midas smiles, putting his hands behind his back.

"Of course darling. What's on your mind?"

Jones sighs and puts his hands together.

"Were you okay during the debriefing? I saw you looking pretty red in the face and you seemed to be covering something under your hands ."

Midas blushes a bright red, a look of embarrassment on his face.

"Uh... it's.. it's nothing. Don't trouble yourself about it."

Jones is persistent however, and won't take 'nothing' for an answer.

"It's not 'nothing', Midas. You seemed bothered about something, like you were earlier before the meeting."

Midas hugs his arms, remaining silent. Jones sighs, reaching out and softly taking his golden hands and uncrossing his arms.

"C'mon baby. You know you shouldn't need to hide anything from me. I'm your boyfriend. Whatever it is that's bothering you, I'll understand and try to help you in any way I can."

Jones gives him a compassionate smile while Midas bites his lip, unsure of what to do or say.

"I... I'll tell you later. I need to meet The Origin for a mission." He says.

Jones sighs but respects Midas' request.

"Alright then. Do you promise you'll explain later?"

Midas nods and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Promise."

He then dashes out of the building while Jones remains behind. A nearby Jules passes by and notices him.

"Heya Jonesy. Something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, no. I'm fine." He chuckles, turning around. "Just not sure what to do with myself while M's busy."

Jules scratches her head for a second before getting an idea.

"Well I could use an extra pair of hands with something me and the Scientist are doing. Wanna help?"

Jones smiles, liking the idea.

"Sure, why not!"

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