Meanwhile...

"ARGH!!"

An I.O guard flinches as Slone slams her fists into her keyboard in rage. She had just received the news from her subordinate that Rocky Reels had been taken back by the Seven.

"How could such imbeciles lose to the Seven this badly?!" Slone yells, looking over recorded footage of the failed takeover.

"Ma'am please try to calm down-"

"Shut up!!"

The guard jumps as Slone turns to them. She had quite the bruise on her nose where Jones punched her and her glasses were still slightly broken. They decide to leave her alone and run out of the room, going past a quiet Ares nearby. The doctor sighs and sits back in her chair and groans, looking up at her screen as someone begins calling her.

"I sincerely hope that the device will be ready soon." She says, answering the call. "Speak."

"Uh, Doctor Slone ma'am." A gruff voice cuts through with a cough.

"Gunnar. I see you're still alive." She sighs, leaning back in her chair. "What happened to your face?"

Gunnar rolls his eyes and sighs. His face was completely scarred red on one side.

"I'm pretty embarrassed to say a small child with fire abilities burned my face...as well as making my pride plummet..." He admits. "I'm sorry for disappointing you ma'am."

"Ah, the same girl that was with Jones I assume. Who knew a little brat had that much power?" Slone hums. "Anyway, back on track, what's your reason for calling me?"

"Ah, well... Our forces and defenses at Tilted Towers were blown to smithereens by the blimp exploding... So they've been forced to retreat because the Seven would overpower them instantly..."

Gunnar can tell immediately that his boss was fuming. However, she keeps her anger hidden as best she can.

"I see. How is the progress on the device? It better be finished soon." She questions, her eye twitching.

"I was just getting to that actually. We've made great progress thanks to the Intel that your cyborg stole from that book he found which belonged to Midas. We should be done in a few weeks at the latest."

"Then speed it up! I want the damn thing on the Island by the end of the week. You can continue working on it on the island can't you?!"

"Yes ma'am..."

"Then fucking get on with it!"

She slams her fist on a button, ending the call. Slone continues to scream in frustration, pulling at her hair. She hadn't lost her cool this much before.

"UGH!! THOSE TWO STUPID LOOPERS!!"

Slone storms over to a draw filled with folders and pulls out the one on Midas and another on Jones, freshly made after he betrayed I.O 2 years ago.

"These men are driving me insane. I'm so fucking tired of them interfering with my plans!! I just want them dead!!"

She slams the files onto the table, stomping around the room and pulling at her hair before slumping back into her chair. Yet another call was coming through so she begrudgingly answers it and is greeted by him of all people.

"My my, someone's agitated today."

Slone sighs, looking up at the screen.

"Genō... Of course you'd call me at a time like this." She chuckles slightly. "Couldn't you have called me to your office?"

"Unfortunately no. I'm not in my office at I.O at the moment. I've had to leave as my form is... deteriorating..."

Slone could see what he meant, even if she couldn't see his face. His hands were slowly turning black with smoke coming off them and a single orange glowing eye could be seen.

"I see."

Silence fills the room for a moment.

"Slone, you disappoint me. How do you keep letting those two slip from under your nose?" Genō asks, unamused.

Slone, shocked by his insult, goes to answer but Genō continues.

"You have a cyborg henchman that was created with the intention of taking both of them out. And yet they've failed at that."

Slone sighs.

"Well there's not much I can do since Jones has that god-damn perk from joining I.O. Plus Islanders have the same thing..."

She folds her arms.

"I'm wondering though if Jones has even told Midas of it..."

"I'd think not. But even if you can't kill the two of them, I know you can think of many ways to make them suffer." Genō hums. "Besides, if you and your cyborg can't wipe them out... my Collider device certainly will try when it destroys the whole Island."

With that, Genō ends the call and disappears from the screen. Slone glares at the pictures of Jones and Midas on their respective files, her superior's words running through her mind.

"Make them suffer eh?"

She looks over at Ares who is staring longing at the wall. The human side of his face was a little burnt from earlier. He seemed...lost...

"Ares."

He looks over at the doctor.

"Ares... I have a mission for you..."

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

The next day...

The sun shining through the window to Midas and Jones' sleeping quarters is what wakes the mastermind up. He hisses through his teeth as he stretches his arms and opens his eyes, a groan leaving him.

"Ugh, fuck...my head... What happened last night?" He asks himself.

Midas looks over to his left to see Jones wasn't in bed with him. He was alone.

He was also pretty sore down below.

"Why am I completely stripped of clothes except my boxers? How drunk was I last night?" He mutters, lying back down and holding his head. "And why do I feel sore?"

His head hurt like hell to the point that he didn't want to get up. He desperately tries to remember what happened last night. Midas' memory slightly returns as the door opens and two people walk in.

"Hey, there's my little golden boy." Jones smiles, holding a mug of coffee. Jules follows after holding a bag of good smelling food. "You okay Midas?"

"Ngh, not really... What happened to me last night?" He asks. "How long was I out for?"

"Well you and Jones disappeared a little after 10 last night and didn't come back. I assumed you both went to bed or something." Jules says. "Jones will probably explain it better. Anyway, it's 1 in the afternoon right now so him and I popped out and got some lunch for the two of you."

"Ah... I see... Thank you for your kindness." Midas smiles a little while taking the bag and Jones helps him sit up in bed. "By the way, Jules. Could you get my wallet from on top of the clothes draws?"

"Uh, sure."

She does what she's told and passes it to him. Midas opens it up and pulls out two £50 notes and gives them to her.

"There you go. I lost that bet we made back in January. Spend it on whatever you wish."

Jules' eyes widen and she begins to giggle.

"Oh my gosh, you actually..."

She laughs harder as she turns to leave.

"Just don't tell anyone please Jules." Midas calls out.

"I won't, haha! Although to be fair, the marks on Jonesy's neck make it easier to tell."

Midas looks over to Jones, noticing a lot of hickeys strewn across his neck.

"Do those go away at all Jones?"

"Eventually they do. Don't worry."

Midas sighs in relief and looks inside the bag. There were two cheeseburgers, some large fries and two drinks, one being a bottle of water and the other being diet coke, plus a couple of ketchup sashes. Midas looks up at Jones.

"Huh. Just like what we never got to eat when the war started." He remembers. "Why did you buy this for me may I ask?"

"Well an hour or so after we fell asleep you woke me up and told me that you weren't feeling too good." Jones explains. "The next thing I knew you dashed into the bathroom and started throwing up in the toilet. You had WAY too much whiskey last night and that's why you were sick."

"Ah, I see." Midas hums, a hand near his stomach. "No wonder my stomach feels empty and is begging for something to eat."

Jones sits down beside Midas and hands out the food.

"Yeah, well I ended up cleaning you and the mess up and helping you back into bed with a sick bucket on standby." He says, putting a couple of fries in his mouth and chewing. He swallows before speaking again. "You slept like a log the rest of the night and so I left you to sleep in for the morning."

He passes the water to Midas.

"Thought it would be better if you had some water instead of a fizzy drink by the way."

"Well, thank you for helping me my dear. And for the lunch you got too." Midas smiles softly before removing the cellophane wrapping from the cheeseburger.

"You're welcome Midas. Anything to make you feel better."

Midas is about to take a bite before he turns to Jones again.

"I didn't...say anything stupid while I was drunk, did I?"

Jones shuffles closer to him.

"Well, you did tell me a lot about how the stress of this war is taking a really bad toll on you, how tired you were of fighting all the time... You gave me not so subtle hints that you've been having..."

He pauses before sighing sadly.

"Some... suicidal thoughts...for a pretty long time."

Midas looks down, ashamed of himself.

"I'm... sorry you had to deal with me like that last night..."

"No, it's fine. I'm glad you said all that. Because now I know what you're going through inside, I can try to help you even more than before." Jones reassures him, wrapping his arms around him. "I want to help you. Even if I can't magically make your pain go away, I'll do everything I can to help you."

Jones turns away and mutters under his breath.

"I... don't want to lose anyone else..."

Midas didn't understand what he meant by 'anyone else' but softly melts into his touch and takes a big bite of his cheeseburger.

The two of them continue to eat in silence, enjoying the food and each other's company. Midas knew he never really had junk food very often, but in the moment it just felt right. That and he was just really hungry.

After a little while, Jones looks over at Midas.

"Say, what's this bet you and Jules made by the way? You said you lost it. What were you betting on?" He wonders, dipping his fries into the ketchup.

Midas blushes slightly and swallows his food before answering.

"Well during the beginning of January, Jules pointed out that despite the fact that we've been together for nearly a whole year we haven't... y'know..."

Jones blushes, understanding what Midas meant.

"I told her I probably wouldn't do it because we're both guys and I was also terrified." He continues. "So we made a bet. If I ended up doing it with you between January and June, I'd have to give her £100. If I didn't, she'd have to do my paperwork for an entire month."

The blond snickers, laughing lightly.

"I guess your drunken brain forgot about the bet yesterday then." He grins.

Midas can't help but smile a little.

"Talking about last night... I didn't mention it before, but I had quite a lot of fun." He says, a red blush covering Midas' face. "I just hope that next time we do it we're both not drunk."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. I wanted your first time to be good and it seems like I managed to do that." Jones grins. "Maybe next time YOU'LL be the dominant one now you have a good idea of what goes down."

"Is that a request?" Midas smirks, raising an eyebrow.

Jones laughs, resting his head on Midas'. In return he presses a kiss against his cheek.

"I'm kidding Jonesy. Besides, with me still slightly sore from last night I'm not exactly in the best shape for moving about." Midas chuckles before finishing the rest of his cheeseburger.

"Oh, you just reminded me of something!" Jones says fishing into his pocket and taking out a small box of tablets. "Here. Some paracetamol to ease the pain if you need it."

Midas thanks him with a nod as his mouth is currently full.

"Once we finish up our lunch I'll get some clean clothes out for you, how does that sound?" He offers, taking another bite of his cheeseburger.

A thumbs up from Midas gives Jones the answer.

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

Half an hour later...

Jones scrolls through his phone as he patiently waits for Midas to finish in the bathroom.

He then emerges, having brushed his teeth, wearing his normal professional clothes, his hair neatly combed to the side as it always is. Jones smiles warmly at him.

"Now that's a handsome man right there." He compliments him while taking his hand.

Midas chuckles lightly.

"Are you sure you're not just talking about yourself my dear?" He questions, folding his arms and looking up at Jones as they both walk outside.

"Hey! Cheeky!" He snickers before posing valiantly. "Though you got a point."

The two of them laugh to themselves. Jones' humor once again never ceases to make the mastermind crack a smile.

However, the moment is short lived as they turn a corner and see Jules at the entrance of the Sanctuary, struggling against someone. The boys recognize the attacker instantly.

"...Ares..."

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