The first thing Gabriel noticed was the smell. Smoke. Charred wood. Stale water. Even before he rounded the corner, before The Den came into view, his instincts told him something was very wrong. Then, he saw it. 

The club was dark -- too dark. No music, no neon glow bleeding onto the sidewalk, no bouncers stationed at the door. Just a burnt out husk of what used to be Beckett's. Gabriel slowed to a stop in the middle of the street. The Den was wrecked. The front doors were boarded up, but scorch marks climbed the brick walls, reaching like claws towards the second floor. Soot clung to the windows. The scent of fire lingered in the air, buried beneath the stench of stagnant water from whatever effort had been made to put the flames out. 

And then there was the graffiti. Bold, ugly words sprawled across the entrance and the surrounding walls. 

'OMEGAS DON'T OWN SHIT!'

'STAY DOWN.' 

Gabriel's fingers curled into fists, nails digging into his palms before he even realized it. His tail flicked sharply behind him, muscles coiling. His pulse thundered in his ears, but he forced himself to move. Think. He needed information. The most important of all being, where the hell was Beckett? 

Trying The Den's side entrance first, but finding it locked up tight. The windows were also covered from the inside, blocking any view of what was left inside. A neighbor across the street was watching him, an older beta who owned a coffee shop two doors down.

Gabriel quickly crossed the street, causing the older woman to tense up, "If you're looking for the owner, he ain't here." she blurted out. 

This statement made the alpha pause, "What happened?" 

She scoffed and huffed as if the question was rediculous, "What do you think happened?" she chided, ears twitching, "Fire department came two nights ago. Smoke everywhere. Took 'em hours to get it under control." 

Two nights? Gabriel felt something hot and ugly coil in his stomach. He'd been on his trip then. "And Beckett?" he asked. 

The woman shrugged, "Haven't seen him since, if you ask me; he probably ran off or worse." 

Gabriel tried to take a steady breath but it only came out as a frustrated growl. He thanked her for the information before storming off. Pulling out his phone, scrolling through his contacts, it didn't look like Beckett had called or texted. Surely Gabriel would have seen it. 

Beckett wouldn't answer, not after that night. Which meant Gabriel had to do this the hard way. He started with  calling Vincent first. The bouncer answered on the third ring, voice wary. 

"Gabriel?" 

"Where's Beckett?" Gabriel asked, he didn't have the time nor the patience for pleasantries. 

A beat of silence, then...

"You don't know?" 

Gabriel's blood ran cold, that was not what he wanted to hear, "If I knew, I wouldn't be calling you." 

There was a heavy exhale on the other end, "Shit..." 

"Where is he?" 

"I don't know," Vincent sounded just as frustrated as Gabriel felt, "No one does. The cops came after the fire, but Beckett wasn't here. No one's seen him since." 

Running a hand through his hair, this was wrong. Gabriel paced back and forth, trying to think. Beckett wouldn't just disappear, not willingly. The Den was everything to him. If he wasn't here, something had happened. 

"Did anyone check the hospitals?" Gabriel finally asked. 

"Yeah," Vincent replied, "Nothing. Either he didn't get admitted under his name, or..." 

Or he wasn't found at all. Gabriel clenched his jaw, "Who did this?" 

Vincent hesitated, but then, "You already know." 

Victor. 

====

Three days of searching, calling in favors, shaking down anyone who might know something, and still -- nothing. Beckett was gone. No hospital records, no police reports, no sign of him at any of his usual spots. It didn't make sense. Beckett was too damn stubborn to just disappear. If he was lying low, Gabriel would've found a trail by now; and if he wasn't lying low. Gabriel shut that thought down before it could fester. He would find him, because the alternative wasn't an option. 

Gabriel found himself back at The Den, pacing the cracked sidewalk in front of the burt building. He wasn't even sure why he was here. There was nothing left but charred walls and the ghost of Beckett's presence. But something in his gut told him to stay. And then --

A figure. Standing near the club's side entrance, surveying the damage. Gabriel's heart lurched. Beckett. He barely took the time to think before he moved. Two quick strides, closing the distance in seconds. His hands grabbed the figure -- warm, solid, real -- and pulled them in, arms locking tight around their shoulders. 

"You asshole," Gabriel breathed, his voice shaking more than he wanted to admit, "Do you have any idea --"

PSHHHHT ---! 

Pain exploded across his face. Reeling and staggering back, Gabriel felt as if fire seared his eyes, his nose, his everything. 

"What the fuck!?" he roared, hands flying up to his face.

"Oh, hell no -- who the fuck are you?!" 

Gabriel blinked through the agony, vision blurry but clearing just enough to make out the figure standing in front of him. Not Beckett. Not even close. Same height, same sharp features, same pissed-off expression. But the eyes were different. The stance was different. 

"Who," Gabriel coughed, voice raw, "Who the fuck are you?" 

The guy gave him a disgusted glare, "Nuh-uh, I asked first, speak up or it get's the spray again!" 

Gabriel growled, blinking rapidly against the burning that only seemed to worsen, "I was hugging you -- why the hell would I hug someone I don't know?!" 

The guy's expression shifted slightly, "....wait" he surveyed Gabriel for a moment as the alpha rubbed at his eyes. Red hair, bold yellow stripe, kinda hot, the dots connected. 

"Oh, oh! Shit!" the young man quickly put the pepper spray away, "Jonas, Jonas Lockwood." 

Gabriel finally managed to force his eyes back open, just enough to really look. 

"Don't tell me Beckett never mentioned me? His dearest and easily better mannered twin brother?" 

Gabriel groaned, "You've gotta be fucking kidding me." 

Jonas smirked, "Nice to meet you, sunshine." 

Wiping his face with his sleeve, Gabriel blinked furiously, "I hate you already." 

"Heh," Jonas grinned, "Yeah, I get that a lot." 

The new omega was now just watching as Gabriel slowly recovered, his expression unapologetic, "Don't look at me like that," Jonas crossed his arms, it was uncanny how much he still looked like Beckett, "You don't just grab people out of nowhere. What kind of psychopath runs up and hugs someone they haven't seen in days?" 

Gabriel scoffed, "A psychopath who thought he'd just found his missing friend, maybe?" 

This caused Jonas to raise an eyebrow, "and your first instinct was hugging him?" 

Exhaling sharply, shaking off the last of the sting in his eyes, "Look, as much as I'd love to keep doing this, where the hell is Beckett?" 

Oh? Now this was interesting, Jonas tilted his head, studying Gabriel for a long moment. Partly deciding how much he wanted to share. In the end, he sighed, "He's staying at my Airbnb." 

The alpha stilled, "What?" his voice came out quieter than he expected. 

Jonas just looked at his nails as if completely uninterested, "He was in the hospital after the fire." 

Gabriel's stomach dropped, "The hospital?" he looked confused, if he'd been in the hospital surely Gabriel would have found evidence, "for how long?" 

"Few days..." 

"Why the fuck wasn't I told?" 

Jonas looked up and gave the alpha a flat look, "Because, you're not family." 

Gabriel's heart pounded. The words hit harder than he wanted to admit. Jonas must have seen something in his expression because his voice softened, "Look, man. I get it. But with the kind of attack this was? Only family was allowed to be informed. That's just how it works." 

Gabriel was silent. His whole body was wired, adrenaline still running hot, every instinct screaming at him to do something. Beckett had been in the hospital. Hurt, and Gabriel hadn't been there. Damn his pride. His tail lashed once before he forced himself to speak.

"How bad?" 

"Bad enough." 

Gritting his teeth, "Tell me everything." Gabriel didn't leave room for argument, something Jonas had picked up on. 

"Let's walk, you're not gonna like this." 

Gabriel already didn't, but if walking meant answers, he followed the omega without question. 

Jonas led Gabriel down the sidewalk, hands stuffed into his pockets, walking at an unhurried pace; completely unaffected by the fact that Gabriel was barely holding himself together. Gabriel, for his part, was doing everything he could not to grab Jonas by the collar and demand answers faster. 

Forcing himself to match Jonas' pace, Gabriel growled, "Talk." 

"Yeah, yeah, keep your tail on," Jonas hummed, noting the way Gabriel just growled, "Alright. He's fine, relatively speaking." 

Ears twitching, "What does relatively mean?" the alpha's patience razor-thin. 

"It means he's alive," Jonas said dryly, "He's banged up -- few minor burns, smoke inhalation, bruised ribs, busted lip. Docs were more concerned about the smoke, but he responded well to treatment. They kept him a couple of nights to monitor everything, but he was real eager to get the hell out of there." 

Gabriel exhaled sharply, processing. It couldn've been so much worse. 

"Spirits aren't broken then?" Gabriel muttered. 

Jonas let out a flurry of laughs, it was a little eery, "Oh, not even close." 

That, wasn't surprising. But something in Jonas' tone made Gabriel glance at him. 

Jonas just smirked, "Hell, I had to sedate him just to keep him from throwing himself into round two." 

A stunned, 'You did what?!' expression was on Gabriel's face. Jonas shrugged, "Man was ready to go back out there and rip some throats out. Even banged up, he was making plans, talking about taking The Den back, finding out who did this -- like he was barely able to breathe right." 

Jonas glanced at him, that curiosity flickering in his sharp gaze, "You're real worked up over this." 

"Yeah," Gabriel's tail flicked, "No shit." 

Jonas tilted his head, "I mean, I get it -- the whole place went up in flames and Beckett got put in the hospital. It's a mess. But I thought you were just a business associate." 

Gabriel froze. Bingo. 

Jonas pressed, "But you're not, are you?" 

Gabriel clenched his jaw, "That doesn't matter." 

A grin spread across the twin's face, "Oh, it definitely does." 

Gabriel shot him a warning look, "Drop it." 

Jonas hummed, clearly not dropping it, "I knew there was something weird about the way Beckett talked about you." 

The way Gabriel's ear twitched at the mention of Beckett talking about him only served to further confirm what Jonas was thinking. Gabriel just rolled his eyes, "You're an ass." 

"Runs in the family." 

Gabriel ignored him. His focus was already shifting forward, to the airbnb where Beckett was recovering. 

Jonas, apparently, had other priorities. 

"So," Jonas drawled, hands tucked back into his pockets as they walked, "When exactly did you start crushing on my brother?"

Gabriel nearly tripped before shooting Jonas a glare, "I don't have a crush on Beckett." 

Oh, this was going to be fun. "Uh-huh, sure. That's why you look like you're about to kill a man just thinking about what happened to him." 

Gabriel's eye twitched, "I'm pissed because someone burned his damn club down. That's not the same thing."

Jonas was unconvinced as he hummed, very much enjoying his new toy, "Right, right. Totally just business. That's why you hugged me like a long-lost lover the second you thought I was him."

Gabriel just groaned, rubbing a hand over his face, "I will throw you into traffic."

Cackling, Jonas elbowed Gabriel, "Damn, you are so defensive!" 

"I don't have time for this."

"Oh, but I do dear alpha." 

Gabriel just fixed his gaze ahead; Ignore him, ignore him, ignore him....

"Did you take one look at my surly big brother and think, yep, that's the one? Or did it sneak up on you? Slow burn? Rivalry turning into tension? Give me the deets." 

Gabriel continued to ignore him, but Jonas was not someone that could be ignored forever. 

"But serioiusly, I need to know, what is it? The attitude? The resting bitch face? The constant threat of violence?" 

Gabriel opened his mouth, then closed it. If he was being honest with himself, he wasn't entirely sure when it started. Maybe it was the first time Beckett stood toe-to-toe with him and didn't back down. Maybe it was the way he ran The Den with such fierce, stubborn determination. Maybe it was the fire in his eyes every time someone underestimated him. Or maybe it was just...him. 

Jonas was watching him carefully now, as if waiting for the realization to hit. 

The alpha lasted another full minute before he finally snapped. 

"Fine!" he threw his hands up, "You wanna know why I give a shit? You really wanna know why I've been tearing this city apart trying to find him?" 

Jonas grinned like he'd just won the lottery, "Oh, absolutely." 

Gabriel exhaled, "Because he's -- fuck -- he's the most infuriating, stubborn, relentless person I've ever met, and I can't stop thinking about him." 

Jonas just let out a delighted little hum, nodding, "Go on." 

This earned him a glare from Gabriel, but now that the words had started, he couldn't seem to stop.

"He fights me on everything," Gabriel continued, pacing slightly, "He never listens, even when it's for his own damn good. And when he should be lying low, letting someone else handle things, he's already planning his next move like he didn't just barely survive a fucking fire." 

Jonas' smirk widened, "You sound so in love right now." 

Gabriel groaned. 

"You love my brother." Jonas clapped him on the shoulder. 

Huffing, Gabriel shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away in a poor attempt to hide the red slowly spreading across his face, "I don't even know what to do with him." 

Jonas snorted, "Join the club." 

"I just, he doesn't let people in. Ever. I don't even know if he can." 

This time Jonas decided that Gabriel had earned a little sympathy, "He does. It just takes time." 

Shaking his head, Gabriel skuffed his boot on the ground, "We don't have time. This shit with Victor -- if Beckett doesn't start thinking strategically instead of just reacting, it's going to get him killed." 

The twin's expression softened, something more thoughtful behind his eyes, "You really give a damn, huh?" 

Gabriel sniffed, "More than I should..."

"Seriously though," Jonas added, "I get why you're worried. If anyone can crawl out of this mess, it's him." 

Gabriel didn't respond right away. That wasn't what worried him. It was whether Beckett would let him help. Before Gabriel could say anything else, Jonas gestured ahead. 

"Alright you love-struck puppy, we're here." 

The airbnb stood just ahead, tucked into a quiet neighborhood. It was completely unassuming, cozy even. But inside, Beckett was there. Hurt. Recovering. Likely pissed as hell. Gabriel steeled himself. Here we go.

Jonas clapped him on the back, "Ready?" 

"No..."

Jonas grinned, "Too bad." 

And with that, he knocked on the door before opening it. 

The Lockwood Twins