Irritated, Hector pulled his hair back out of his face, pulling his mask off when he was done. It was useless to hide anymore anyway. Who knew the little ass could actually be smart?

"I'm a little disappointed I didn't figure it out sooner, but I had no idea you'd taken following me around to this level." Hector sneered at the other man for a moment before deflating, eyes falling to Ruby on the floor.

"She needs a proper burial, there's shovels in the back." Nick had a bleeding heart, he'd help anyone gave him lost eyes. No wonder Alloyant had been so eager to heal him. It must have torn him up that he'd actually hurt le Chat.

Moving away from the other man even further, he pushed into the back room through the swing doors and let out another cry of anguish.

He'd had no idea that Laurel would stoop this low. It must have been easier to make him think there were kittens with her powers by using... actual bodies. All around the room were the bodies of kittens in various states of decomposition. Some were skeletons and others..... had not been dead very long.

Hector gripped the door in a rough grip for a long moment before stepping through and letting the doors slam. He wouldn't be able to keep Nick out of this room no matter what he tried, so he might as well not even try. Steeling himself, he walked through the room to pick up the shovels. If Nick was willing to help, they could just dig one big hole out back and bury all of Laurel's victims at once. If Hector focused on the task at hand, he could ignore the tears streaming down his face.

Nick followed behind Hector, feeling a little lost. Upon walking through the swing doors, he blanched. Piles of death and decay lay strewn about the room. What sort of evil had done this? Nick stepped carefully through the room, heading toward the shovels. Tears sprang to his eyes, partially from the grief permeating the room, and partially from the stench.

Grabbing a shovel, Nick hurried to the back yard as quickly as possible, his stomach churning with horror. He wasn’t sure how, but he was certain he knew who’d done this.

Silently, Hector worked with Nick as they worked at the hole that was needed. At least the backyard was exactly as he'd seen before. He tried not to think of all the times he'd cuddled or kissed the kittens.

After the hole was deep enough, he wordlessly went inside and began gathering up the kittens. This wasn't a task he'd ask Nick to do. He began piling them in the hole. Lastly, he set Ruby in the morbid pile and stepped back out of the hole.

Turning to Nick with tear filled eyes, Hector cleared his throat roughly, "I- d-do we..." he hadn't even had this much trouble at his parent's funeral, and they'd passed away before he could gain their approval. "Should w-we say something?" Hector could feel his eyebrows pinching. All his smarts and this is what left him reeling. This was why he hated feelings.

Nick shifted uncomfortably, feeling that it wasn’t his place to speak. He gently placed a hand on Hector’s shoulder, unsure of what else to do. He nodded. “Go ahead,” he practically whispered.

Without thinking, Hector reached up to clutch at Nick's hand, using it as a line for comfort as he looked down into the hole. What would he even say? The Ruby that he knew was never real..... Hector kept a tight hold on Nick and cleared his throat again, "Ruby never deserved the treatment she received, no living creature did. Laurel will die for what she's done here."

For a moment, Hector looked at the taller man with a desperate gaze, what was he supposed to do? What else did he say? There really wasn't anything else. Letting go of Nick before he could say or do anything, Hector turned away to pick up his shovel and begin to fill in the hole.

“May they rest well,” Nick whispered, picking up his own shovel. The pit in his stomach wouldn’t go away. How could an awful thing like this happen? This Laurel person, the one who had mistreated so many animals, betrayed Hector, and kidnapped Nick- she would pay for her actions. Nick wasn’t sure what else she had done, nor what she would do in the future, but she had to be stopped at all costs.

Before long, the hole was filled, the animals properly laid to rest. Nick turned to Hector, sweat starting to bead along his forehead. Nick stepped closer.
“I’m going to take Laurel down. You need to get some rest and stay safe. Can we call a truce until she’s been dealt with?” He asked, extending his hand to his nemesis.

Any gratitude Hector felt was gone as he slapped Nick's hand harshly away, "Excuse me?!" He exclaimed, eyes wide and angry as he stared down the other man, "You're just planning on going off after her alone and you want me to stay on the side lines?"

Who knows how long Laurel had been messing with him, it was easy to piece together that Hector was some sort of pawn into her plans, she made a fake animal shelter to get to him, had taken Nick because he'd foiled Hector's plans.... what was the man thinking, that Hector would just step back and let him go off after her?

Nick pulled his hand away, almost feeling guilty. How could he expect Hector to sit on the sidelines when obviously he had a big part to play in whatever was going on here. He swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing.
“Shit. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” he apologized, “I’m just worried about you. There’s a lot going on here and I just...” he trailed off.
“Look. I apologize. But obviously we both need to rest. It’s been a hell of a week and we can’t go after her in the state we’re in.”
He offered his hand once again. “Please, can we just try to do this? Together?”

Hector swallowed, reaching out and taking the other man's hand, shaking it briefly, "Yeah," working with someone would be hard, especially after the brutal betrayal of Laurel... but then again, Nick didn't have to heal him earlier. Hector ignored the fact that Nick was worried about him, he couldn't process that at the moment. "Look, the safest place might be your lair.... but I at least need clothes other than this," He flapped his dramatic coat, "I'll stick out like a sore thumb even without the mask on."

Nick tapped his chin in thought, "The choice for that would either be a shopping trip or a quick stop and grab from my apartment." It would be cheaper that way, but it wasn't like he was strapped for cash. He had just sold that da Vinci from last month's heist.

Nick smiled, all dimples and scrunched nose. “I can’t believe you want to go shopping with me. But.” He laughed sheepishly, “I left my wallet at home. You’d be less recognizable in new clothes, but something tells me that Laurel doesn’t need to recognize us to screw us over.”
Nick hummed thoughtfully. “Let’s get to your apartment before anyone sees you, yeah?”