Dan pokes his head into Jack's room, grimacing when he sees that the Irishman is asleep, but with wires attached to his body that will shock him the moment he makes a noise.  His bandages are dirty and spotted with old, rust-coloured blood, and bruises line the portions of his arms that aren't covered by blankets.

This is what he'll get if he ever tells anyone about Phil. Jack's beaten form is living proof that Dan's relationship has to stay a secret until they're freed from the institute or death does them part. The Brit exhales, feeling incredibly exhausted even though all he's done today is sit around and wait for Jack to be released from his torture. The boss' cronies even managed to drag Mark in here, which Dan wasn't supposed to see but did anyway. When he left, Mark wasn't even badly beat up, but he was unconscious. What happened in that room?

Dan heads to the living and dining room, ruffling his hair and trying to hide the pain behind his eyes. Cry paces back and forth, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, and Dan covers his grimace with something he hopes looks like boredom. He settles at the breakfast bar and pulls a candle towards himself, blowing out the existing flame before lighting it again with his finger. Matthew and Stephanie sit together on the nearby couch, speaking with one another under their breath. Dan concentrates on his fingertip, the reflection of the flame dancing in his eyes, and continuously extinguishes and relights the candle in front of him. Every once in a while his focus is diminished by Cry, who huffs exasperatedly and continues to pace.  After about the sixth time, Dan glares over at him.

"Jack's such a freaking moron!" Cry finally blurts, throwing his hands up in the hair. "He's... he's just... UHG!"

"We get it," Matthew says, glancing over. "Just give him a break, okay? He's been through a lot."

"He didn't even try to escape! Why does nobody but me care?!" Cry retorts, his fists clenching at his sides.

An image of Jack's bandaged chest and bruised arms flashes through Dan's mind and he grits his teeth, lifting his head from his hand. "Can we stop discussing Jack for three seconds?"

Cry looks over at him, his mask hiding what is undoubtedly a glare. "I hope we get sent out soon so I can think of something other than Jack, but right now all I can think about is how BIG OF AN IDIOT JACK IS!" With that, Cry groans and flops onto the nearest chair, running his hands down the side of his mask.

"Geez, you're whiny," Stephanie mumbles, successfully making Matthew grin.

"Shut up, Steph," Cry snaps. "You don't know the struggle I'm going through."

Dan nearly laughs as he starts imitating his movements from behind him. Matthew and Stephanie look in his direction, biting their lips in an attempt not to laugh. Immediately, Cry whips around to face Dan.

"I was doing nothing," Dan insists, a cheeky grin on his face.

"You're imitating me again, you massive douche!" Cry exclaims.

Dan shrieks and leaps off his chair as Cry gives chase, racing around in circles through the living room. His terror dissolves into laughter as he leaps over chairs and couches in an attempt to get away from the masked villain, who starts laughing as well.

"I've told you so many times not to imitate me!" Cry yells breathlessly.

"You know I'm never going to listen to you!" Dan retorts with a grin.

Cry's fingers brush Dan's shirt and the villain shrieks again, picking up the speed as Matthew and Stephanie laugh. The Brit vaults over a chair and freezes, Jack standing with his back to them as he searches through the fridge. He didn't even notice him come in.

"Hey, Jack," he says tentatively.

"Hey," the Irishman replies monotonously. He turns and settles at the breakfast bar, a slice of leftover pizza in hand. Cry huffs and sits himself down in one of the slightly displaced chairs, refusing to even look at Jack.

"How are you feeling?" Stephanie asks. "Will you be ready to go out if we get called?"

Jack shrugs. "Probably."

Matthew glances at Stephanie for a moment before nodding, a weak smile on his face. "That's good, right?"

"Sure."

Dan sighs and sits beside him, one hand travelling automatically to Jack's shoulder. "Come outside with me."

He expected some sort of protest, but Jack just nods and leaves his food on the counter as he gets up and exits the room.  Dan trails him, watching as he plants himself against the wall in the hallway and crosses his arms over his damaged chest, eyes trained on the ground. Dan remains silent for a moment, eyes piercing.

"How are you feeling?"

"We're seriously talking about our feelings?" Jack asks incredulously, blue eyes meeting brown.

"It gets to a point where every man has to talk about this no matter how awkward." Dan smiles for a moment before the gesture disappears again. "I've never seen you so emotionally distraught before."

"You were there when I was dragged from my home country and forced into the back of a sketchy van, right?" Jack asks, sarcasm dripping from his words. Dan glares and Jack sighs, leaning even more against the wall and tilting his head back. "Fine, I'll give you an actual answer. A person I really care about probably hates me, okay? Is that good enough for you?"

Dan resists the urge to smirk and instead just raises an eyebrow. "Mark?"

"Ding ding ding! Give the man a prize."

Dan can't even bring himself to smile.  Between Mark getting dragged in and out of the institute and Jack's current state, nothing good occurred.  "What happened in that room?"

Jack exhales, his blue eyes flickering with pain. "They took of my eyepatch. Anti gave them information about Mark, then they kidnapped him and brought him in. Anti fed him lies about me and made it so that he'll probably never trust me again."

"Christ..."

"Yeah." Jack falls silent and his eyes close, his bottom lip quivering slightly.

Dan leans against the wall beside him, eyeing the Irishman beside him. "Why would they do that?"

"To make me loyal," Jack replies without a moment of hesitation.

"Oh."

"It worked."

Dan's eyes widen. "Seriously?"

Jack nods, every emotion he's feeling obvious on his countenance. "I would rather be loyal than get Mark killed because I was being selfish."

Dan wants to respond, to tell him that he feels the same way about Phil and that he's not a freak for loving a hero, but Matthew's voice crackles over the intercom and cuts him off.

"All villains are now on call. I repeat, all villains are now on call."

Dan and Jack lock eyes for a moment before heading off, changing into their respective super-suits. The Brit hates the lycra and polyester material and the way it clings to his skin, but there's really nothing he can do about it. At least I look good for Phil, his brain supplies, making his face heat up. He shakes himself, regains control, and follows the other villains out. From their concealed entrance, Dan can see the antiheroes firing their weapons into the sky as civilians run from the scene.

"Come on down to join the fun!" Arin and Danny's joined form yells.

"Are you kidding me?" Cry mutters, his voice close to Dan's ear.

The heroes walk down the streets and Dan finds his eyes locked on Phil, his heart fluttering in his chest. Jack gasps softly and takes a step back as Mark appears, and Dan pulls his focus from Phil in order to place a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"It's gonna be fine. Don't think about him."

Jack nods and Dan returns his gaze to Phil. At Matthew's order, the villains race into the street.