Chapter Text
“You’ll be fine,” Anubis said as he clapped Horus on the back while they waited in one of the main sitting rooms in Osiris’ principal residence: a mansion in the rich part of the city. “He’s a bit weird on a first meeting, but he’ll like you.”
“I’m still not sure I’m dressed well enough,” Horus said as he tried not to fidget. He’d bought a new suit for this, though it was a bit on the cheap side, given what little funds he had left after dropping out of school. It was dark blue and professional. His short hair was brushed, and he hoped he looked neat. None of the guards around the place had given him any odd looks about it, anyway, but they were all focused on their jobs, not whether or not some random 20-something was up to their standards.
Anubis wore a very expensive tailored black suit, and had his long wavy hair tied back for once, rather than just down. The suit looked very sharp on him, and emphasized his musculature. But then again, he looked good in most everything. Now he chuckled at Horus’ discomfort amidst their rich surroundings and said, “He’ll be fine with you. I promise.”
Horus smiled awkwardly at him as someone new stepped out of the nearby hallway. Horus automatically straightened.
“Ah Anubis, you’re home. And who’s this?”
“My friend from grad school I was telling you about. Remember? Horus?”
“Ah yes. A pleasure to finally meet you, Horus.” Osiris put out a hand, which Horus shook, and Horus met his eyes and smiled, which Osiris returned. Osiris was a little taller than Horus, with slightly paler brown skin, and long hair that he tied back. He wore a well-tailored dark green suit, and Horus could see something of Anubis in his facial features. “So, you’ve been looking after my son while he buried himself in his legal studies?”
Horus’ cheeks warmed. “Well… we looked after each other, Sir.”
“So formal,” Osiris said, his smile widening. “I like that. Now what can I do for you?”
“I was hoping to get him a job,” Anubis said with a smile. “Remember? Like we talked about? He just needs a start.”
“I’d be honored to work for you, Sir,” Horus said, meeting Osiris’ thoughtful gaze. “If you’ll have me.”
“Horus is taking a break from school,” Anubis said for clarification. “He’s trying to rethink things…”
Horus grimaced.
“…Or maybe not planning to finish at all,” Anubis said. “But he’s a really good chef. Really good.” He grinned at Horus. “Kept me alive through some all-nighters.”
Horus smiled back at him.
Osiris raised an eyebrow at Horus. “Do you know what it is we do here, Horus?”
Horus’ expression didn’t twitch. “Yes, Sir.”
Osiris looked at Anubis, the smile still on his face but a hint of warning in his eyes. “Loose-lipped, are we?”
Anubis’ gaze was a bit shadowed, but he kept a smile, too. “We can trust Horus. He’s good people.”
Osiris looked back at Horus. “Hmm… Anubis said you’re a chef? I already have one.”
“I’ll do whatever you need me to, Sir, even if it’s just taking out the trash.”
Osiris chuckled. “I don’t think we’ll need that. But… I might have you make some special meals, depending on how things go.” He clapped Horus on the shoulder and pulled him over. “Come, let me show you the kitchen.”
Osiris introduced him to the kitchen staff, and he and Anubis showed Horus around the mansion. They paused by one hallway and Osiris smiled at Horus, “Perhaps, if you’re good enough, I’ll let you go to the west wing. But that’s off limits for the time being, understand?”
“Of course, Sir,” Horus said.
Osiris grinned. “I think we’ll get along very well, Horus.”
Horus bowed his head in acknowledgement.
Later that evening, Osiris locked the second door of the west wing behind him and carried in a covered tray to the bedroom, where Seth lay on his back on the large bed with his eyes shut. He wore white short shorts and a tank top. Osiris smiled and sat on the bed nearby. “I brought you your dinner. Did you have a good day?”
Seth scoffed without opening his eyes. “It was no different than usual, Osiris.”
Osiris sighed. “Now, Seth, you know I just want to make sure everything’s okay here.”
Seth turned to glare at him, his bright red eyebrows bent in annoyance. “I didn’t destroy the room today if that’s what you want.”
Osiris chuckled. “Yes. Would you like some dinner?”
Seth’s stomach rumbled and he frowned as he sat up, suspicious.
Osiris didn’t pick up the tray, but simply looked at him. “Have you been a good boy?”
Seth’s cheeks warmed.
Osiris reached his left hand behind Seth and poked under the waistband of the shorts.
Seth jolted as Osiris’ hands moved over his ass and pushed between his cheeks, but he knew that if he tried to get away, Osiris would be worse, so he didn’t move away.
Osiris grinned. “Aw good, you kept it in. That’ll be fun later.”
Seth gasped as Osiris’ fingers played for a bit longer with the toy he’d put in that morning, before finally pulling away.
Osiris reached back to pick up the cover of the tray and revealed a collection of good-smelling hot plates. “We have a new chef today. He’s pretty good. I think we’ll have him make your food from now on.”
Horus had been working at Osiris’ home for nearly three months when Osiris let him enter the west wing with a cart of food. No cutlery, but an assortment of foods to try out. Osiris had taken a liking to Horus, as Anubis had said. Or at least his food.
“It helps that you have no one pulling your strings,” Anubis said as he hung out with Horus in the kitchen one day. “You rely on him to keep a roof over your head. People in his line of work like people like that. Makes them easier to control.”
Horus snorted as he continued cleaning, recalling Osiris’ detailed background check. “I’m grateful.”
Now Osiris opened the double locked doors for Seth’s wing to let Horus in, and Horus wheeled the cart in obediently.
Inside the second locked door was a giant apartment of some kind. There were windows here and there, but it looked like a whole other contained living space. There was an open door showing a gym room with different equipment, a lounge with a large TV and a big couch, and a small dining area with a fridge and a large table. Beyond that was a hall that Horus assumed led to a bedroom.
“Set it up on the table,” Osiris ordered, before going to the gym and locking the door via a fingerprint lock.
Horus obeyed, quickly arranging the dishes neatly.
“Osiris?” a male voice asked.
Horus couldn’t help but glance up. His eyes widened at the sight of the strange, lithe, pale-skinned man with long, bright red hair in a green silk nightgown.
The stranger frowned at Horus.
“Seth, this is the young chef I was telling you about. We’re setting up a meal for you, based on a new menu I’ve worked with Horus on. You need to try all of these to tell Horus which you like.”
Seth frowned at the table where Horus got back to work, then turned away. “I’ll take whatever you want, Osiris.”
“Seth,” Osiris warned.
Seth froze, took a moment, and then turned back and came to the table, where he sat down, his expression blank.
Horus finished setting the table and then stood back. Osiris had him explain what each dish was.
Seth obediently tried each dish and gave minimal feedback. He seemed to like a small tray of jam cookies, though.
“I can use any jam you’d like,” Horus said, smiling at Seth. “I have access to a lot of different kinds.”
Seth gave him a skeptical look then, and then scoffed. With a grin he said, “Surprise me, then.”
Afterward, Osiris led Horus and the cart out. Once they were out of the room and the doors locked again, Osiris smiled at him and said, “My brother is… a troubled man, you see. The foster home he came from had some… problems. He stays in the west wing for his own protection.” His gaze was sharp as he said, “I don’t need to remind you that anything you see here remains a secret, correct?”
Horus nodded, “Yes, Sir.”
“Good. Return to your duties.”
It was another two months later, and early morning, after Osiris left on a business trip, when Horus took a cart of food to the west wing again. The guards ignored him. He was a usual sight at this point, and had been allowed to take a number of meals to Seth, with Osiris’ supervision.
The entrance to the west wing was isolated, with no guards for that level of entry. Osiris was very private about it. And besides, there were guards at the exits to the building, and security cameras everywhere.
Horus stopped the cart near the door, glanced around, and heard a soft tone from the cellphone he’d left in one of the inner pockets of his uniform. He checked the phone and saw Anubis’ go-ahead: the cameras weren’t a concern. Horus put the phone away and walked up to the door. He pulled a small container out of his pocket, and opened it to reveal a delicate finger-tip-sized piece of plastic, then carefully placed it on the fingerprint lock keyed to Osiris.
There was a click as the door unlocked, and Horus breathed a sigh of relief. It had taken some doing to get a full print of Osiris’ fingers, even with all the dishes he handled, but thankfully they finally had it. Horus put the fingerprint away and then pushed it open and pulled the cart in with him. The second door was a simple set of keyless locks.
Horus tried to imagine the person who would need to be trapped by such efforts, and it didn’t match at all with what he’d seen or heard of Seth.
Once Horus was inside, he left the cart near the door.
“Osiris? You’re back ear—?” Seth stopped near the hallway entrance again, staring at Horus in surprise. He wore a black tank top and matching short shorts this time. “What are you doing here?”
Horus breathed in deeply and said, “Isis sent me. We’re going to get you out of here.”
Seth’s eyes widened. “Isis… sent you?”
Horus checked his phone again. “We have about five minutes. Do you have anything more protective to wear?”
Seth blinked, looked down at his clothes, then grimaced. “No. It’s bathrobes, short shorts, and tiny tops. He doesn’t even give me socks or shoes.”
Horus grimaced and pulled off his jacket to hand it over. “Wear that. It might keep you a little warmer.”
Seth frowned but took the jacket. “What’s supposed to happen in five minutes?”
Horus smiled. “A distraction.”
“A distraction?” Seth frowned. “Osiris has cameras and guards everywhere, how…?”
“Anubis has the cameras covered.”
Seth’s eyes widened. “Anubis is—?!” But just then there was a giant boom from the front of the mansion that rattled the room.
Horus nodded. “That’s our signal. Let’s go.” Horus walked back to the door – the only way in or out of the room, particularly with the latchless windows filled with bulletproof glass – and opened it, gesturing Seth over.
Seth padded over quickly.
Horus led him out of the room, pausing by corners to watch for guards, who were shouting in the distance. They stayed largely out of sight in the maze of hallways, and made it to one of the back entrances for kitchen staff.
Anubis was sitting in the driver’s seat of a nondescript car there, waiting for them, with the engine running.
Horus opened the rear passenger door and gestured Seth inside, and Seth quickly obeyed. Horus got in after him and shut and locked the door. Anubis quickly but relatively unhurriedly drove out of the complex.
“Where are the guards?” Seth asked, confused why no one stopped them.
“Focused on the front lawn,” Horus replied.
“…Ah.” Seth looked between them both, and didn’t know what else to say.
“We’re going to a safehouse,” Horus told him, quietly. “You’ll be okay there. Osiris is still on a plane flying to Tanzania.”
Seth breathed in deeply. “How are you doing all this? Even when I was managing Osiris’ security detail, they could easily deal with an operation of this scale, and he got stricter after I left…”
Anubis snorted. “Not really. He got sloppier, in some ways, and he’s pissed off a lot of family members. And in recent years it’s allowed Grandmother to make a play for family leadership. And Aunt Isis has her support on this.” Anubis glanced back in the mirror at Seth. “He relied on you more than he perhaps realized.”
Seth paled. “Your grandmother? Good grief… She and Isis haven’t gotten along in years…”
“Mother’s worked at mending their relationship,” Horus said, feeling the urge to glance behind them for cars, but knowing Anubis had things handled: Anubis liked racing cars for a hobby.
Seth frowned at Horus. “…Mother?”
Horus smiled at him. “Isis is my mother. And Osiris… is my father.”
Seth’s eyes widened in shock. “What?!”
The safehouse was another mansion, one of Nut’s personal ones, out in the country where it was quiet. You could almost ignore the security cameras and armed guards. Isis had commandeered it for her own. She was waiting for the three men in the lounge, and stood up when they entered, with Seth walking between Horus and Anubis, still looking bewildered in his borrowed jacket. His feet were filthy by this point.
“Seth!” Isis said, before running to him and wrapping her arms around him tightly. “I almost thought we wouldn’t find you alive…”
Seth was frozen, unsure what to do. But he slowly put his arms around Isis, still unsure she was real. After a while, when she didn’t disappear, he hugged her tightly back, and felt his eyes water. “You got me out…”
Isis laughed softly. “I’m sorry it took so long.”
Seth squeezed her tighter.
After a while, Isis pulled him to the couch, where she sat with him, and had Anubis get them something from the kitchen. She met Seth’s gaze and said, “You’ll have to stay here for a while as things wind down with Osiris. Mother’s working on a full on-takedown at this point, with mop-up. She’s having people pick him when he lands in Tanzania.”
Seth’s eyes widened. “You’re kidnapping him? Not… killing him?”
Isis smiled. “Mother has questions about Father… Apparently his last exchange with Osiris was… suspect. So they’ll have a conversation. But she doesn’t plan to let him live long beyond that.”
Seth felt a chill settle within him. “Will you get evidence when he’s dead?”
Isis’ expression was cool. “Yes. I’ll see to it.”
“…Good. Good.” He didn’t even have anything to say about her seeing evidence her ex-husband was dead. He didn’t know that he had it in him anymore. After all, she’d gotten away. She’d had 22 years to mourn whatever was left of their relationship.
Isis raised a hand to Seth’s cheek, and he flinched away from her. He was okay with all the contact, to a degree… but some of it felt… too much. He was already overwhelmed from being in a car again after so long. So many people at once when he was so used to not seeing them at all outside of the television screen or his imagination, or the very rare times Osiris let a member of his staff visit Seth’s rooms… Even Horus had been an oddity.
Isis grimaced. “Would you like to see your room? We ordered you some clothes, but you can get an account and order things for yourself as you like. And if you’d like anything to eat, we have a good chef here. She’ll make whatever you want.”
“You trust the people here?” Seth didn’t know if he did. Had he gone from one captor to another?
Isis smiled. “Deeply. A number of them kept me alive after I fled. And the rest are Mother’s.”
Seth smiled. “Why now? It’s been over two decades…”
Isis grimaced. “Osiris’ grip on the family leadership is weakening, other groups are chomping at the bit to take our place in power here, and Mother’s medical treatments have given her a new lease on life. She wants to clear out old business anyway.” She smiled. “And Horus was able to find Anubis and befriend him, which made the whole thing a lot easier. That took some planning.”
Anubis walked in with a tray of snacks and tea.
Seth looked at Anubis. He hadn’t seen Anubis since he was a baby. It was strange to see this young man now. I missed so much. He could see Nephthys in Anubis’ features… and Osiris. Anubis had taken the best of both of them, though, giving softness to Osiris’ pointed handsomeness, and confidence to Nephthys’ gentle beauty.
Seth looked at Horus, who was sitting quietly in a couch chair, observing. Isis had fled Osiris’ home while pregnant, and Osiris had hunted her for some time. It was good to see that both mother and child had survived, and Seth could easily see both Horus’ parents in his features. But here, too, there was a good blending of his parents, lending him a gentler and oddly supportive handsomeness his father lacked, and a sense of strength that Isis usually kept hidden.
Seth looked around as Anubis set up the tea. “It’s hard to believe this is all real,” Seth said, quietly, his hands tightening into fists. “I keep expecting… I don’t know.” Osiris kept him in the west wing with... Seth glanced at Anubis and away again... threats, and in place when Seth got rowdy with chains, drugs, and physical abuse as necessary. Seth rarely saw Osiris' underlings, and the one time someone before Horus did visit long enough for Seth to try to convince them to help, Osiris later gave Seth a video of the man's torture and execution.
Isis put a hand near his on the couch without touching him. “It’s real. You’re here. And you’re not going back to him.”
Seth swallowed and looked up, past Anubis to the window. “Could I… go outside?”
Isis blinked, looked briefly at Horus, then back at Seth. “There’s a back garden. It’s cleared for you to walk around in, if you’d like.”
Seth heard you will still be a prisoner in that response, but knew it was for his safety.
Osiris said my imprisonment was for my safety, too. All those years ago when Seth had been eating lunch and Osiris had come in and said Seth needed to take shelter because someone put a hit out on him. And Seth had argued that they should go after it together, and Osiris had said that with their recent losses, Osiris didn't want to risk it, so Seth agreed to lay low for a bit... and a bit had become weeks, and then Seth had woken up one day in that apartment and Osiris had explained he needed to be extra cautious, and couldn't trust anyone, and Seth had demanded explanations and Osiris asked for trust.
And Osiris was his brother, but Seth didn't like being drugged and kidnapped, so Seth had fought back, and Osiris had tied him up for the first time and--
No, he was going to trust Isis. She’d always had his back when they were younger. His closest friend. Over the years he’d hated her for abandoning him, and he couldn’t say that the hatred was entirely gone now, but she’d risked a lot coming to rescue him. He knew how far Osiris’ hands stretched. After all, Seth used to be his right-hand man. There wasn’t any criminal enterprise in their cities of power that they hadn’t had a hand in.
Horus led him out to the garden in the back, which was a large space filled with flowering plants. There was a small, clean table and metal chairs. There was even a small vegetable garden. Seth walked to an open patch of dirt and shut his eyes as he turned his face up to the sun, feeling the warmth on his face, uncaring that Horus and Isis and who knew who else could see him. He just liked the feeling of sunlight directly on his skin, not through glass. He could feel a slight breeze, hear insects buzzing, and even cars in the distance. It was a whole world he thought he might never touch again. Just something for television or books or Osiris’ occasional wandering conversation before and after they fucked…
Seth felt something tighten in his chest and he suddenly felt too exposed, particularly with the stupid outfits Osiris’ often gave him, which always made him easier to grab and disrobe. Years of training in combat made him constantly aware of exits, lines of sight, the number of people in his immediate vicinity. Now he was back out in the open, and suddenly those instincts were coming back…
But he’d wanted this so much…
He turned to Isis, who was standing by the door to the house, watching him with an unreadable expression. Seth asked, “I’m sorry, but… could I go to my room?”
She blinked, and then smiled at him. “Of course.”
Seth sat on the bed in the wing of rooms Isis had given him and stared at the window nearby. He could tell the glass was bulletproof, but he could see latches to open it if he wanted. He had the key to the door as well, and there was a door to go out into the garden if he wanted. Freedom, in a sense... before Isis and Nut's guards caught him.
There was a bathroom of his own, with a door that he could lock. The shower was huge and fancy, and Seth spent some time with the instruction manual left out for him to learn how to use it, and then took a long, luxurious shower, where he tried to wash off a little of what he hoped would be his former life (along with the dirt he’d tracked everywhere), even though he knew the former was fruitless.
Still, it was nice to shower. Afterward, he looked at himself in the mirror, and thought he looked too pale, even for him. His hair was a little too long for his tastes, too, and he considered asking for a trim. Maybe Isis would let him go to a barber?
Osiris would cut Seth's hair himself. It always meant a subtle level of discomfort every time. Osiris never used scissors on Seth's skin - he preferred his fists and his teeth for that - but Seth was always worried that one day Osiris would change his mind. Seth had wondered if he'd fight it. At least things would be over.
Seth looked away from the mirror.
There was a slightly large set of men’s pajamas on the counter in the bedroom: pale red, normal-looking. No weird holes cut into them anywhere, particularly the ass, and they were long-sleeved and legged. There was a set of generic underwear, clearly new, and a small assortment of men’s clothing, as well, which looked normal and nondescript.
It was strange, to wear clothes that weren’t tank tops, bathrobes, or short shorts after so many years. And underwear. The last time he’d had that, Osiris had barely left it on him long enough before tearing it off. Seth put on a set of too-big pants and a slightly too-large long-sleeved gray sweater. His old clothes he dropped in the trash. Horus’ jacket he folded and placed on the counter. He’d return it in the morning.
Isis had given him a phone before he went into the room and said Horus would help him set everything up when Seth felt more well-rested.
Seth had eyed Horus then, and Isis had explained, “He’s going to be your bodyguard for the time being. He’s had the best training Mother could find. Plus, he’s younger, so he gets all the stuff us older folks don’t when it comes to technology.”
Horus was waiting outside the room, now, keeping watch. Seth tried not to be annoyed by it: trading one jailer for another. But he supposed… Horus had been the one to get him out.
Seth looked down at the phone, now sitting untouched on the counter. It was completely alien to him. He’d seen Horus’ phone of course, and only knew it was a phone because of the rare occasions Osiris brought his in, or one showed up on the limited media Osiris let him have access to watch. It had been so long that Seth had forgotten some of the old phone numbers he'd memorized for his work, including the old network of people he'd relied on when he'd worked for Osiris, whether they were weapons or drug dealers, hired muscle, information brokers... Even though for years he tried repeating them in his head. But too much time had passed, some of them had run into each other over time. And maybe his contacts just changed their phone numbers, and it's not like Isis gave him a pager...
There was also an office with a computer, which looked intimidatingly different from the computers he was used to, but when Seth moved the mouse, the monitor screen lit up and he was able to figure out that it was connected to a network and wasn't password locked or anything. Seth considered trying to figure out how to send a message to his old contacts, maybe via email. But he didn't know how many of them were still working, or even still alive. Technology had changed so much, and they'd probably changed their emails, or just found new ways to communicate...
Freedom and isolation in one, staring at him calmly from a fancy wooden desk. For years, he'd planned out what he would do if he got out of Osiris' hold: which of his emergency storage caches he'd visit, who he'd contact... and then as the years passed he assumed they were dead or left him for dead. Life was just the tiny apartment Osiris gave him, and time between Osiris' visits, getting fucked, playing Osiris' boyfriend of being a loving husband or boyfriend...
Seth turned away from the computer in disgust. There was a television by his bed as well that was larger than what he was used to, and could easily let him watch things in bed. Osiris had password-locked the television most of the time, so often all Seth had to occupy his time was exercise, sleep, read a few of the books Osiris brought to him, or stare out the window at the closed garden Osiris let him look at, where even guards didn't cross. Sometimes he'd see birds, squirrels, or planes.
He wondered what his limitations would be here.
Seth fell back on the bed and shut his eyes, then turned onto his side. He already had more freedom than before. He was on his guard. Isis had no reason to keep him prisoner.
But I thought that about Osiris, too…
Seth grimaced and opened his eyes to glare at the blue carpeting. Over the years he’d noticed that there were tells in Osiris’ behavior. Little things he should have noticed, that went beyond a powerful crimelord keeping an eye on his underlings. There was nothing of the sort in Isis. She’d gravitated to Osiris and only him. She’d been furious about Nephthys and Anubis, and only stayed because of Osiris in the years before she became pregnant herself, before abruptly disappearing. Or at least that’s what Osiris had explained. Seth had already been a prisoner for four months by that point. He hadn’t even been able to say goodbye.
Seth swallowed and shut his eyes. He was exhausted by everything, but knew he should sleep, despite how early it was. He’d… deal with everything else later.