Hello lovely readers! Spoiler, this fic has not been forgotten about!

In fact, its- actually finished already. I finished it fully on archive of our own (username is sonicsora still fyi). So if you want to read the fully finished version of Pathways and its sequel, head over there.

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"Another rash of disappearances have taken place, this time in Grand Prairie, Texas. There has been no clear pattern regarding the disappearances thus far-"

Eddie groans a little flicking the radio off. "Enough, enough." He reached out to tap one of the buttons on the console of his car to load up a CD. The familiar thrum of a metal song starting was enough to make the roadie relax back into the driver's seat.

"The fuck is even goin' on anymore?" He sighed aloud as he made the next turn, he had managed to catch himself twice heading towards the Motorforge out of habit. He needed to remind himself things weren't back to normal.

The new job he managed to find wasn't exactly… great, but it'd do.

"Here I come fuckin' 7-11." Eddie sighed aloud, already feeling like he was going to drop dead instantly. It wasn't as much as he was paid before, but it was going to bolster him at least vaguely for the next month or so.

###

Surprise flicked across Che's features as he looked up at Sasha. His simple lunch (tuna sandwich, water bottle with a koolaid pack poured into it, and chips) forgotten in the german man's arrival and proceeding announcement.

"So, you're… dating a guy?"

Sasha was having regrets starting this conversation already.

"Ja." Sasha resisted his urge to eye Che's office doorway, not wanting to admit defeat just yet. He had promised Milla he would talk with other people about this.

"How long?"

"Two months thus far." Sasha adjust his sunglasses smoothly, trying to aloof control, but in reality nearly poked himself in the eye.

Che mulled the information over for a long moment. "Huh."

The non response made Sasha internally panic, his mouth running a little as he tried to edge back towards the doorway he came from. "He and I get along very well, I'm very happy. He is very supportive, kind and makes me laugh. He has very strong hands." He made a grabbing gesture with his own gloved hands.

Strong hands? Sasha wished a filing cabinet would fall on him and end this.

"Hoookay?" Che seemed confused, Sasha was almost relieved when Che had a follow up question. "What's his name?"

"Eddie Riggs."

Recognition dawned on Che's face, then amusement. "Fuck, of course you'd like a big bear like that. He's pretty huge for a non-jacked guy."

"…Excuse me?"

"You always liked big manly men. Even with the sunglasses I could tell you were lingering on them when you saw them."

"I was-" He had been. Che seeing right through him made Sasha flush. "Not."

Che shrugged, not arguing the point, "Okay, though, that's probably not the reason you're here, right?" He arched his brows back at Sasha imploringly. "I'm glad you're telling me, its just out of the blue."

"I wished to ask for advice." Saying it aloud felt inane and Sasha found himself looking at the nearby filing cabinet praying it would end his suffering. "I would speak to Milla on this but…" Technically he had spoken to Milla already, but Che didn't need to know that.

"Yeaaaah, that would be the dumbest thing to do." Che agreed with a low laugh, Sasha managed to restrain a wince. Che could never know now.

"I've been contemplating having Eddie move in with me. How long did it take for you and Janice to move in together?"

Che gave a thoughtful sound, sipping from his water bottle now. He was mulling the question over fairly seriously now. "About six months. We were pretty hot and heavy for awhile, but slowed down to make her parents happy."

"If you didn't have to slow down…?"

Che snorted, smirking now. "Probably would have moved in at two months. We would have sure had kids way sooner."

"There is such a thing called birth control, Che." Sasha answered with an amused roll of his eyes. Che stuck his tongue out blowing a raspberry. "Some of us don't wanna glove it up all the time, Nein."

"Better safe than sorry, Che."

"What are you, my mother?" Che rolled his eyes, picking back up his sandwich. "If you like the guy, go for it. Kind of soon, but, I can tell you're at least happier."

Sasha exhaled a little, finding himself smiling now. "Can you…?"

"I can see it in your face, Sasha. Feels kinda obvious now." Che awkwardly shrugged back. "Gonna take time to adjust to though."

"Of-course." Sasha wondered if it was obvious or if Che was being nice. Either option was not his favorite.

###

"Wait, you're moving?"

Eddie winced a little at the panicky edge in Kage's voice. He had to admit he was kind of springing this on his friends. Eddie simply shrugged apologetically as he smiled at the other man. He leaned back against the edge of the couch. He and Kage were settled out on the floor picking through records, the couch provided good back support. "Yeah, I can't really pay rent anymore, dude. I gotta find a new place."

The balding man shook his head, frowning openly now. "You could just live with me, Eddie."

"I could, but- I know you need your personal space, K-Man." Eddie also didn't want to live in toke-city all the time. He didn't mind joining Kage for the occasional romp, but living with his best friend would be a whole other can of worms. He also figured Kage would get tired of having someone invading his personal space. The two of them were tight, but even tight bros needed some space.

Kage gave a disappointed sound, "Aw, c'mon, man. At least think on it a little. I get money still, I could support us easy!"

"Kage, trust me, I'd probably annoy you." He reached out to pat his friend on the shoulder. "I get up way early in the mornin', I clean a lot and I am kinda not gonna mesh with your more chill style." The balding man huffed, not arguing too hard with those facts set before him. Both of knew it would be fun briefly before both agitated one another to no end.

"Where are you moving too anyway?"

"Further off, Sasha lives in a studio apartment and wants me to join him." Sasha lived in a much nicer part of town, though Eddie figured he didn't need to outright say it.

"Dude, a studio? Seriously?"

"Not too bad, honestly. All the furniture came with the apartment, Kage. So I only gotta move minor stuff."

"That's even less space than these apartments, y'know." The balding man rolled his shoulders with a unhappy huff.

"Yeah, but, Kage, Sasha and I are dating. Just- a little different." Eddie paused before adding, "I fuck him, I don't fuck you."

The other man rolled his eyes at that, the gesture dramatic. "Yeah, yeah. Better keep your dick to yourself, pal."

Eddie waved off the secondary comment, not even going to indulge it. "Sides, I'll be back here for the Fourth of July rager you're holdin', so you're gonna be stuck with me for a few days after."

Kage snorted at that, the thought of his party's inevitable results earned an amused smirk from the balding man. "Oh yeah- damn. Everyone's gonna be really hung over after that."

"Your apartment is gonna be filled with really drunk and then really dead people." Eddie grinned a little miming drinking and a quick death as he hit the floor dramatically. Kage had to laugh fully now, starting to relax once again.

"Good thing I got extra sleeping bags, so no one tries to sleep on top of the fridge again." Kage scratched his chin thoughtfully, "You think Ophelia's gonna crawl behind the cupboards again to escape the sun?"

###

Sasha leaned back, eyes drifting across the meeting room taking in the various faces. He had no hand in selecting the the task force, but it certainly felt like he had given the familiar faces present. All were very competent agents present. All agents he knew worked well with one another and could focus fairly intently on the task at hand.

Even with the awkwardness between them, Milla had seated herself next to him, her expression fairly as serious as the rest. She did spare Sasha a slight smile when they caught each other's eyes.

Not that it lasted long as the doorway opened, Truman stepping in. Any idle conversation died, the room falling silent for the Grand Head. It was rare Truman himself headed an operation. He dealt with the entirety of Psychonauts as a organization as a whole. He was a busy man.

Truman offered the group a slight wane smile, "I appreciate all of you coming today. This isn't strictly finished yet, but-" Truman, motioned for the agents to pick up the manilla folders settled in front of them. "We're building a group of agents to track down the cult we've been unable to capture."

The agents didn't need much encouragement to pick up the folders, opening it. The sound of shuffling paper filled the room as agents all started to pick through what they had been presented. One or two of them leaning over to each other to compare notes.

Once Truman was sure everyone had a chance to skim the folder, he picked up where he left off speaking. "We've been tracking this cult's activity for a good while, I think we've pin pointed a few names for the leader. Some of you were on the field mission to the orphanage a few months back. This is directly related. A short summary of the mission itself is included in the folder so everyone will be on the same page."

"This isn't Dahlia-" One agent started, falling silent when Truman looked back at him. The Grand Head spoke now, crossing his arms behind his back. "Dahlia was a figure head within the group, a leader for that particular sect, but, not the true leader. With her unexplained death, there is no explanation as to why the disappearances, and psychic energy readings have grown stronger. Cults tend to quickly try to replace any fallen leader, but this is at the same level as it was before, if not a little worse. Most cults don't have that many magnetic personalities to hold the group together. When a leader falls, the cult usually crumbles within a few weeks if not days. Most cult members tend to go into hiding or are found by local authorities. We've found no loose ends of lost members, which is troubling."

Truman eyed the group, making sure everyone was listening. All the agents present were raptly focused on him at this point. "The cult's name has changed these days. They call themselves the Tainted Coil. With the new confirmed name, we at least have a better sense of what we're doing. We can pick up on finding possible members and the real leader."

Sasha flipped through his own papers with a curious arch of his brow, the list of prominent names surprised him. Those mixed within the one percent, pop-stars, politicians, well known TV personalities- the names almost felt daunting to look over.

"How exactly are we going to slim this list down?" One agent questioned aloud. He looked how Sasha felt, a bit flabbergasted by the whole list.

Truman exhaled, "Very carefully." The man rubbed his cheek tiredly, "I have a few agents already dispatched to do some covert investigation. This group is for when we need to move to apprehend."

"This list is long enough we're never going to make progress." Another agent groaned audibly, sinking back in his seat. "Not to mention, if any of these people caught wind of what we're doing-"

"They aren't." Truman stated firmly, leaving no room for disagreements. His expression dropped into something deadly serious. "All of you know what happens when leaks spring up. This case in particular should have no leaks." Truman was not a man who meddled with confidential information escaping the confines of the Psychonauts HQ. Termination and black listing was the punishment for informational leaks. Sasha knew an agent or two unlucky enough to be terminated on the spot for confirmed information leaks.

Truman's stern words left the room silent for a long moment. Agents exchanged glances or awkwardly shifted in their seats.

"Am I clear?" Truman questioned, gazing over the group before him.

"Yes Grand-Head." One woman spoke up, other agents followed her lead, echoing her statement or offering their own agreement. Sasha and Milla both echoed their own agreements, the two looking to one another uncertainly.

This case was seemingly going to have more unexpected turns.

###

The rest of the week had been Eddie slowly packing his stuff, taking it to Sasha's place and telling his friends of his planned move. Sasha had been distracted by work, so it gave Eddie extra time to really dig into his belongings and sort everything. He had a garbage bag of junk to get rid of by this point, which felt kinda nice after living in one apartment for so long.

The move itself was still weird to think about.

It was kind of… impulsive, probably a supremely shitty idea, but Eddie knew he should take advantage of the opportunity while he had it. The Motor Forge was still fucked enough no one was getting paid for awhile. He couldn't exactly afford the same place right now. Sasha was offering him a pretty sweet and sexy deal.

He had the new job at 7-11, but it wasn't exactly paying all that well. Not to mention he kind of hated having people yell at him over corn dogs in a glass case. It would do for now at least.

Eddie also kind of wanted to cohabitant with someone he was with. He hadn't done that in a long time. He already spent a lot of time at Sasha's as is. Might as well just move on over at this rate.

His ribs were healing which meant he could actually work more hours too.

Yeah, sure he had to the end of the month to move, but he wanted shit done. It's why he called up the landlord, got all of that taken care of. He aired out his apartment aggressively to avoid any accusation of smoking weed in the apartment. Yes it definitely happened, but he wasn't about to make it obvious. He was a highly cultured bastard, thank you very much.

Eddie leaned back against his couch, having finished sorting through his own records, starting to box his music collection.

"You think everything is going to fit into your car?" Sasha's voice crackled over the phone's speakers as Eddie hefted up his record player, sliding it carefully into the box. He started to tape it down as he spoke. He could multi-task like a king motherfucker. "Babe, I think it'll fit real nice. Trust me."

He looked over his apartment feeling weird about seeing it sort of empty like this. "The furniture came with the place, so you're just gettin' a lot of heavy metal and dragon statues."

"Truly, my decor is now complete." Sasha deadpanned over the phone. "However can I thank you?"

"You're welcome, babe. You can thank me with kisses." Eddie winked, paused before adding, "I winked at you by the way. Can't see it, but I winked."

Sasha's laughter was lost in the phone static to some degree, but it was enough to bolster Eddie. "I felt it, deep in my heart, dear."