Archive of Our Own ^beta

Cellbit yawned, tapping his hand on the steering wheel as he turned the car onto the street that went to his apartment. He hadn't gotten near enough sleep last night, having stayed up later than he would normally. The music pouring through his speakers was playing one of Roier’s favorite songs. It was depressing if you knew what the lyrics actually said as the song was actually about the main character’s lover dying, but it had a great beat.

Tomorrow was his self-assigned day off, and he could take a break. He tried to line up his breaks with Roiers, but he was excited. They had a reservation for a nice restaurant tonight, and it was going to be great. The song ended, and another song from the album began to play. As he slowly got closer to the apartment building, he could see flashing lights up ahead. Frowning, he silently wondered which apartment they were at and what for. He hoped it wasn’t one of his direct neighbors, as he didn’t want anything to happen to them. Roier should’ve just gotten home, so maybe he knew something. God, he hoped it wasn't for Roier.

He parked on the street as he always did since Roier tended to park in the parking spot that they got on the lease. Turning off the car, he grabbed his work bag and the bag of groceries that Roier had asked him to get on his way home since he always drove past the store. He held the bag and approached the apartment complex, intending to ask if it was okay if he could go to his apartment. Usually, it was, and if he was lucky, he might know a few of the officers, and they’d let him up.

Walking closer to the apartment building, it let him see that it was upstairs and Cellbits stomach churned as he saw that there were people in his corridor, and from the looks of it, in his apartment. Holy shit. What the hell happened? Was Roier okay? Cellbit gingerly approached the caution tape on the stairs leading up, trying his best to see what the problem was.

“Hey!” Someone said, causing him to turn.

There was a Police officer approaching him. He could see his neighbor, Jaiden, talking to another one, as if recounting something. She didn't seem like she was doing well. He couldn’t see Roier, but there was an ambulance that still had open doors, but no stretcher. His heart rate started going faster. Roier was probably hurt. What happened?

“You can’t go up there.” The Police Officer said.

“I live here.” Cellbit said.

“I know, but you need to go somewhere else until we’re done with the crime scene. You can’t go up there.” The Police Officer explained calmly.

“No, I live in that apartment.” Cellbit said, pointing to his apartment, which was crawling with Police officers. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

The officer's expression immediately changed, dropping to something much more serious rather than annoyance. That didn’t bode well for him at all. He didn’t want to hear what they were about to say.

“Are you Cellbit?” They asked.

“Yes.” He answered. God, he hoped Roier was okay. He wasn’t sure what he would do if he wasn’t.

“Come over here.” The Police officer said, guiding over to where Jaiden was talking to another officer. He followed, and the officer spoke again when the officer turned, “We found his husband.”

Jaidens eyes met his own, and he could see the tears in her eyes. Something had happened. It only got worse when she looked at him. He stared at her. Something happened to Roier. There was something very wrong.

“What happened?” He whispered.

The two Police officers looked at each other as if debating telling him, and Jaiden only sobbed. He hadn’t seen her like this since Bobby died. The last time she was like this was when Bobby died. Roier couldn't be dead, though. There was no way.

“You should sit down, sir.” One of them said softly. There was nowhere to sit down, and he realized that quickly, rescinding that statement. Cellbit was a detective. He’d had to give this exact speech before. It was never easy, and it wasn’t easy when you knew exactly what they were going to say. At least the idea that he prayed was wrong.

“Earlier today, someone broke into your apartment. From what we know, there was a conflict, and Roier was shot and severely injured. The guilty party ran from the scene, and we were notified that there had been a break-in, but he died on the scene. Your husband is dead, I’m very sorry for your loss.” The shorter officer explained.

Cellbit felt almost dizzy. He knew. He knew the speech. He’d never been on the receiving end of it before. Roier… the idea made him want to throw and cry all at once. There were tears in his eyes and falling before he could realize. No, he had to see him. Silently, he gave Jaiden his groceries and fished in his pocket as he walked off. The officers went after him, calling out. He pulled out his wallet as he got to the caution tape, holding up the detective badge.

That got them to shut up, and Cellbit went under the caution tape. He was going to hire himself for this case, effective immediately. He just had to see Roier. He had to. Cellbit continued to walk up the stairs. He shouldn’t be doing this, but he had to see him. He had to prove it to himself. He had to see if they were telling the truth. They didn’t have any reason to lie, but he desperately hoped that Roier was alive. That his husband was alive.

He got to his door and quietly walked inside, not disturbing the people working. There were a lot of yellow placards indicating evidence and blood. There was blood on their living room carpet, and there he lay. Cellbit had seen plenty of dead bodies, but there was something about his husband laying there, his work uniform bloodied. He could see that he’d gotten his tie off, and that might’ve been it. The white shirt was almost entirely red, and he could see the point of impact of the bullet.

His husband was dead, and he was seeing plenty of proof of it.

“Hey, you shouldn’t be in here.” Someone said, snapping his attention to them. They weren’t dressed like a Police officer, but he showed them his detective's badge anyway. “No, I’m gonna be the detective on this case unless you’re a private detective.”

The man's eyes narrowed, taking in everything before softening, realizing that Cellbit had used his badge to get up here and see his husband. As the man approached him, he touched Cellbits arm, and he ripped his arm out of his grip.

“Don’t touch me.” He choked out. “He’s- No- I’m- I’m sorry. I’ll go. I just- I needed to see him. I’m sorry. I-” Cellbit couldn’t hold anything else back at this point. A sob slipped past his lips.

The detective nodded, “I understand.” This time, the hand touching his shoulder was much more expected, and he was gently guided out of the apartment. He wanted to rip the hand off his shoulder and go hold his husband, but he knew that would only make things worse. He’s had to hold people back himself.

Cellbit pressed his back against the wall and slid down the concrete until he was sitting. The Detective went back inside, and a police officer came out to talk to him. Not really. They told him that they could come talk to them tomorrow, but if there is anyone who would do this on purpose, then he needed to tell them now. Honestly, he didn’t know anyone who genuinely hated Roier. Most people liked him, and there was no one who resented him. Usually, it was Cellbit who they didn’t like.

“Is there anyone who doesn’t like you? Who would try and get to you through Roier?” The officer asked calmly, while Cellbit sat there.

He might still be in shock or maybe it was because he was in public but it was only tears and panicked breathing as he was trying his best to answer the officers questions about if he knew anyone who would kill Roier either because they hated him or his husband. Then the officer asked him to pull up a friend's number and he’d talk to them, and get Cellbit a place to stay for the night so that he didn’t have to sleep in his apartment. He’d be able to return when it was clean, but Cellbit should spend the night somewhere else. Just in case.

Cellbit gives the phone to the officer with it calling Pac. He would’ve sent it to Felps, but the man was gone on a work trip right now as he tended to do fairly often. He might actually have been back now, but he wasn’t sure. The phone was handed back to him after a few minutes of talking, and he was assured that Pac and Mike were going to come pick him up and take him to their apartment.

The officer left, going back inside, and then Cellbit finally lost it. Holding his knees and resting his head on top of them as he began to shake, sobs slipped out of his mouth as quietly as he could. This couldn’t be it. Roier couldn’t be dead, and yet he was. His life felt like it was over. He didn’t know how to move on from this. It felt like it would be impossible. He didn’t know how people moved on from their spouses dying. He didn’t want to know how it felt, and he did.

There was a hand, gently tapping his shoulder, and then he was being lifted to his feet. He was guided, and somehow, he got in the back of Pac's car with Mike in the backseat with him as if being placed there to comfort him. No one said anything. Cellbit buckled up and stared out the window. At least that’s where his face was looking. The sobbing had stopped for now, at least. There were no more tears that he could shed, and instead, he stared.

Something was pressed against his hand, and he looked down to see it. It was a plastic water bottle. He took it and uncapped it, drinking a few sips and taking a deep breath. If he tried to speak, he was sure that he would just start crying again, and nobody wanted to see that.

It was too silent in the car. He wasn’t used to hearing them so quiet, but no one was sure what to say. He was tired.

“We’ve got some leftovers in the fridge if you want.” Mike offered.

“I-” His voice was hoarse despite the water. “I think I’m just going to go to sleep.”

“Okay.” Pac said, “Do… you want to talk?”

“No.” Cellbit choked out, a lump in his throat forming again, making it hard to speak.

“Alright.” Mike murmured.

Cellbit stared out the window, trying not to cry again, but the knowledge that tomorrow he’d have to start the process of a funeral made him. It was silent this time, tears slipping down his face and only some mild shaking. He wished that this wasn’t happening. Yet, Pac pulled into his own apartments and parked. The three of them got out, and Cellbit wiped his tears with his shirt sleeve. He probably looked absolutely insane right now.

The two of them had a ground level apartment, and Mike unlocked the door, letting them all inside. He went inside, feeling almost like a zombie as he walked inside. The world feels different today. He isn't sure how to process this. If he had it his way, he'd just kill himself so that he could be with Roier instead of living loveless. He couldn't leave his friends like that. There was still a dark pit that would rather die than live in a world where his soulmate was dead.

Cellbit went to the bathroom, locking the door behind him, and gripping the bathroom sink before he bent over and sobbed. Pac and Mike's bathroom was fairly soundproof, so he let himself sob. Half screams, making it out, trying to mimic the anguish sitting in his soul. Throat sore from trying to keep himself from crying and trying to scream out his problems. Then, the ache that came from crying, causing him to sit back down on the floor in a pile, holding his stomach as he sobbed. He sobbed even past his tears, running out of liquid to pull from.

Cellbit lay there as his sobs finally began to die down, eyes stinging. The carpet was soft. He knew where Pac kept his razor. He knew where they kept their medicine. It wouldn't take a lot to kill him. He wished that he had the courage to actually do it, but instead, he stood up and ran the sink, splashing water on his face and drying it off. He didn't bother trying to make it completely like he wasn't crying. Both Pac and Mike knew he was. He just tried to get the feeling of dried tears off his face.

God, he was exhausted.

Cellbit unlocked the door, leaving the bathroom, and wiped his eyes once more just in case there were still any tears waiting for him. He took off his shoes since he hadn't done that when he first walked it and placed them by the door. Pac and Mike were in the kitchen, making something from the sound of the stove. He was so grateful that Richas was having a sleepover tonight.

Silently, he sat himself on a chair, letting his eyes close and exhaustion take over him.

Cellbit was still tired when he woke up, exhaustion blanketing his body. There was a blanket covering his body, so he supposed that at some point during the night that Pac and Mike had put a blanket over him. He wanted to just curl up and cry again, but he was pretty sure that he was still on Pac and Mike’s couch, and that wouldn’t be appreciated. It was much more comfortable than he remembered.

Quietly, he woke himself up, finding that there was also a pillow under his head. He opened his eyes, blinking rapidly as he tried to recognize his surroundings. He… wasn’t in Pac and Mike's apartment. This was his bedroom. How had he gotten home? Why was he home? Cellbit reached over, taking his phone and checking the time. It was around the time that he’d woken up yesterday, and so he got up, running a hand over his face, very confused.

He left the bed as it was, noting quietly that he was wearing the same thing he was when he woke up yesterday morning. Could it have all been a dream? Yet, yesterday felt so real. He’d been so sure that it was real. There was a smell of coffee permeating through the air, coming from the kitchen. Maybe it was a dream because somehow he was back in his apartment, and it seemed like Roier was making coffee.

A sense of relief washed through. He wasn’t sure why he’d had such a vivid dream, but he was glad that it wasn’t real. Going into the kitchen, he found Roier making his usual breakfast with coffee dripping into its container. He hugged Roier from behind, holding onto him as tightly as he could and burying his face in his shoulder. Holy shit, he’d thought that Roier was dead.

Roier turned and pressed a kiss to his forehead, “Morning Cellbo. You’re clingy.” There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

He smiled against Roiers neck, taking in the warmth that his husband emitted. He lifted up his head and saw that Roier was still turned towards him, and so he kissed him gently. Roier kissed back before pulling back and resting his head on Cellbits forehead.

“What’s wrong, gatinho?” Roier murmured. Cellbit wasn’t surprised that Roier was able to tell that something was wrong almost immediately.

“I had a dream last night.” He answered.

“Yeah?” Roier prompted as he turned back to making his breakfast, but letting Cellbit cling to him.

“Well, a nightmare, I guess. It was really vivid. We got robbed while you were home, and you died. I really thought I’d lost you.” He admitted. “It felt so real, and I just- I don’t know. I needed proof that you were alive.”

“Oh, gatinho.” Roier murmured, moving so that he could hug Cellbit back for a moment. “It’s okay. I’m not leaving you today.”

“I mean, you have to go to work.” Cellbit murmured. Roier snorted.

“You know what I mean, amor.” Roier whispered in his ear, kissing his cheek as he pulled away. “I love you.”

“I love you too, guapito.” Cellbit murmured, pulling away so that he could fix his coffee for the day.

After that, the day was normal. Cellbit went through the same actions he did every morning, making his coffee, kissing Roier goodbye since the man normally left before him, and getting in the car to go to his office to pick up some paperwork before going and following some leads. It had been quiet lately, so he could usually be home before it was too late at night so he could spend some time with Roier.

Something felt off, though. There was a very intense feeling of deja vu as he went through the actions of the day. He’d done all of this before, and when he tried to remember when, all that came up was the dream he’d had last night. A pit buried itself in his gut when he realized this, and he tried to ignore it, but it wasn’t working, and he ended up leaving the place he was looking into early to go home. In his dream, he’d left almost fifteen minutes after this, and it made him late. Late to save him. Maybe the nightmare was a warning.

Right then, he got the text from Roier asking him to pick up a few things from the store. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Was last night a premonition or something? He’d never had one of those before.

Cellbit had a choice, and so instead, he got in his car and started driving straight home. He was not going to let that nightmare come true. Tapping his finger on the steering wheel, he continued to drive home, making it back almost half an hour earlier than he had in his dream. He’d gotten here in time from what he could tell. There was no ambulance, and he ran up to the building, going up the stairs as quickly as he possibly could.

He stopped at the door, breathing heavily, trying to make himself look normal. Unlocking the door, he slipped in as normal as he could. Roier seemed surprised to see him back already. He was still in the suit he wore for work. Well, he still had the tie on. He hung his bag up and made sure that the door was locked. Roier smiled as he sat down next to him and pressed his side against him.

“Bad day?” Roier murmured, moving his hand to mess with Cellbits hair while he laid there.

He hummed, hoping that the answer would be good enough of an answer for Roier. Hopefully, him being here would change things. Maybe he could stop Roier from dying.

Roier spoke, “Yeah, I get that. You excited?”

Cellbit knew that he was talking about their dinner reservations, “Yeah, I am.”

He was content with this, laying on Roier and letting him hold him for a bit. It was very nice. He liked it. Too late, Cellbit remembered why he was here so early. The floor squeaked. He snapped his head towards the sound, seeing some man in a mask obscuring his face, pointing a gun at them. Roier stood up almost immediately, and the gun went off before he could stop anything.

Roiers body jerked back, collapsing to the floor after a few moments. He cried out, dropping down to the ground to help his husband. Instead, he was met with his own bullet to the side, causing him to gasp as he reached for the shot straight to his husbands heart. He could see Roier choking on blood and blood spreading over his white shirt, laying on one of his arms, having fallen on his side. Cellbit gasped. This couldn’t be happening.

There was another gunshot and-

Cellbit sat up in bed, gasping.

He looked over to his side and saw that Roier wasn’t in bed, but when he pressed his hand to where he usually lay, there was warmth. He pulled his phone from the charger and checked the time.

The time he’d woken up yesterday and the day before. He checked the date. It was the same date that it had been for the last two days. There was no way that he could dream about a day where something that he’d dreamt about happened. There was something else happening. There was a phantom pain in his side, and he hissed, hand going to his side. He pulled it back with no blood, but he could imagine it. It flashed in his mind like an echo of yesterday. There was something going on. Something that he didn’t understand.

He got up and headed to the kitchen. Roier was cooking his breakfast. It’s all exactly the same. It’s just like yesterday and the day before, but somehow, it was all the same day. What the fuck was going on? This… this was like a movie. Has Foolish shown it to him? What was this?

“Hey, Roier, what’s that movie that your dad showed you? The one with the rodent that makes that dude relive the same day over and over?” Cellbit asked, yawning and going to Roier as the man turned around, clearly confused by what Cellbit was trying to figure out. Could he just be relieving a day over and over?

“Groundhog day? Like, where the guy is stuck in a Time Loop?” Roier asked, clarifying. Time Loop. Holy shit, he was in a time loop, repeating the day until he got to the end of the day with Roier alive. At least that had to be the reason that he was in a time loop. “Why?”

“Just curious.” Cellbit answered, hugging Roier while he was still facing him. Roier hugged back, still clearly very confused by what prompted this. How was this possible? He was very grateful that he had a chance to save his husband but at the same time, so, so confused.

“Alright.” Roier said, unconvinced.

The rest of the morning went like he was expecting. Exactly as it had the last two days. Today though, he didn’t go to work. He stayed, and sat on the couch, thinking, and using his computer to research the possibilities. Time loop. Somehow, a time loop had managed to form, allowing him to either endlessly watch his lover die or somehow manage to keep him alive until the end of the day. There were theories on how it happened, or why it happened, but obviously people didn’t truly believe in them. Then again, there was no way to know that they were in one. Right now, as far as he knew, he was the only one that knew that everyone was in a time loop, forced to repeat today until they did something.

He just needs to keep Roier from being here when the person got here. He didn’t care if they stole anything. They could steal everything they wanted and it would be a better end than his husband dying. He didn’t really care about anything else. He just needed to keep Roier alive for one whole day. That was it. That was all he needed to do. He needed to do something other than wait. Sitting on the couch all day isn’t going to help but he couldn’t help if he wasn’t here exactly when Roier got home.

Yet, there was an itch. Maybe he should've told Roier that this was happening but that would only freak him out, and he didn't want to do that. He wished he could've told him that this was happening but also he couldn't die. He couldn't let Roier die again today. Especially after learning that the last two days have been very real.

The blood on the rug from his husband had been real, and while it wasn't there now, he could envision it. He could see it in his brain and feel the phantom sensation of being shot, and the exploding pain echoing through his brain. He stared ahead at the empty TV and checked the time. It wasn't even noon and he'd established that he was in a time loop, likely one of the only ones who knew that they were all in a loop to begin with. He needed to keep his husband alive until midnight, and the loop would be over. He just needed to get him out of the apartment before the robber showed up.

Cellbit sighed, quietly turning on the TV, he needed something to do and watching Dune for the nth time seemed like the best way to distract himself.

The day passed much slower than he was expecting it to, but it eventually sped up. He took a shower and generally just made himself look presentable. He was going to argue that because Roier was technically already dressed up from work that they could just leave now. Would they be extremely early for their reservation? Yes, but it wouldn't matter because it would be much easier to keep him alive that way without explaining what the fuck was happening.

Cellbit was finishing getting ready when he heard their door open and he rushed out to greet Roier, almost immediately guiding him back towards the door.

“What are you doing, gatinho?” Roier asked, a mix of confusion and amusement.

“Well, I was thinking, we could leave early. Cause you're technically already dressed, and we forgot to factor in traffic, remember?” Cellbit said, half-rambling. Anxiety bubbled up in his stomach and he was sure that Roier could see it.

Roier gently placed his hand on Cellbits chest, “It's alright. Just let me put on some Cologne, alright?”

He nodded. There wasn't time for that but Roier was already adapting to keep Cellbit calm. Normally they would've been jokingly insulting each other or messing around at this point in the day but Roier tamped down that persona when Cellbit was very obviously anxious about something. Roier knew that when things like this were happening that it was best to go with what Cellbit said and learn why on the way, because it usually had to do with his detective work.

It was too late. Cellbit looked at his watch. He hadn't noted the time that the man came in yesterday but he knew that it was too late. He was going to come in at any moment. Shit. They were going to go through another loop. He'd have to tell Roier tomorrow or they were going to do this all again. Or maybe he could just drive Roier to work and then pick him up and they could go straight to the restaurant. That might work, and then they wouldn’t get killed.

The door slammed open and Cellbit turned to look at who had opened it, trying desperately to see any distinguishable features. The mask didn't cover their eyes, glasses in front of them instead, showing eyes almost exactly like Roiers, but containing a deadly anger within them. An idea dawned on him as he stared into the man’s eyes. This might be on purpose.

The sound of gunfire rang out and Cellbit collapsed to the floor, the sound of footsteps running towards him before another gunshot. Another one and-

Cellbit was right back where he started.

He turned over and screamed into his pillow. At least he hadn't seen what happened to Roier this time. This morning, Cellbit stayed there, laying and contemplating his decisions. He'd like to stop this with as few loops as possible but this wasn't seeming as easy as he first thought.

Roier did come in to check in on him though and sat on the side of the bed, gently brushing his hair, “Are you alright?”

“I'm fine, Roier. Just… worried.” Cellbit answered, albeit muffled because his face was still in the pillow.

“Why?”

Cellbit thought for a moment before turning and sitting up, looking at Roier. He took a deep breath, “This is going to sound absolutely insane but I swear this is the truth. We are in a time loop. I have lived today three separate times already.”

Roier nodded, “I see. Well,” Roier pulled up his legs to sit cross legged next to Cellbit, “I believe you.”

“Seriously?” Cellbit asked incredulously. It couldn't be that easy. There was no way that it was that easy. People don’t believe things like that easily usually. Maybe it was because it’s Roier.

“Yeah, I mean I don't have a reason to not believe you.” Roier said, snorting. “Do you know what resets it? Or why is it happening?”

Cellbit winced, “That's the problem.”

Roier laughed, “You don't know, do you?”

“No, I do and that's the problem.” Cellbit whispered. “You… There's someone trying to kill you. I figured out yesterday that it was a time loop and that it was probably on purpose. No robber is that angry about something.”

Any amusement was wiped from Roiers expression. There was something on Roiers face, a million different emotions passing through his eyes, maybe unsure on if he should believe Cellbit now.

“Are you serious?” Roier asked, unidentifiable emotions in his voice.

“I am being serious. I- it may not be on purpose if that helps? I've been killed twice, so it might just actually be someone trying to rob us but I don't know. Our best bet is to just go straight to the restaurant after your shift. If you still want to go of course, but you can't come back here after your shift. Or you just take the day off, but we can't be here when you normally get home.”

“Okay, uhm, yeah, no that’s easy. I don’t have many clients today but we can just leave immediately after work. You can drop me off if you’d like.” Roier offered, going along with it despite the fact that it was clearly a worry. Just as long as they weren’t home when the robber got here.

Cellbit relaxed. They would be okay. Everything would be okay. Roier believed him and was willing to go along with his insanity. It would be okay.

After that, he got ready for the day, making sure to put his clothes for that night in the back of the car. Roier was going in early for paperwork this morning, not because he had a session luckily, and Roier assured him that he could do it tomorrow or the day after. He got in the car and Roier joined him, letting him drive him to his office. After he dropped him off, Cellbit went back to the places he had the first two days, while the information was borderline ingrained in his brain, even after hearing it twice, he had to make it at least look like he had a paper trail, and people he talked to.

Then when Roiers shift was about to be over, he changed into his better clothes in his office, and got in the car to pick Roier up. He turned on the radio and drove towards Roiers office. He picked his husband up and they headed towards the restaurant. He told Roier about his day and it felt nice because he hadn’t gotten to do that the previous loops. At least, Roier seemed relaxed and like he’d mostly forgotten about the circumstances. The rest of the day would be normal. They might come home to a robbed apartment but that was better than the alternative.

“I was talking to Jaiden this morning, y’know? On one of my breaks, she says that I should follow my dreams. Quit being a therapist.” Roier mused.

Cellbit nodded. He was aware that his husband had been wanting to quit his job as a therapist for a while, and knew the alternative that he wanted to pursue. “It’s your choice, guapito. I won’t stop you. I know it makes you happy.”

He glanced at Roier, smiling, and his husband smiled back. It would be a very big switch but he had the degree so if it didn’t work out then he did have a failsafe that he could go back to.

“Yeah, I just don’t know if it would be a good idea to have both of us do gig work. I mean, it might be very different because we’d have opposite schedules and I wouldn’t see you as much.” Roier explained.

“That’s true, but we’d be able to spend mornings together.” Cellbit reminded him. He liked spending mornings with Roier, it meant laying in bed, draped over his husband and just holding each other, half-asleep.

“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that.” Roier gasped at realizing that. Most of the time Cellbit would be working in the afternoons and evenings.

“Our schedules might actually line up more.” He mentioned.

“Oh, that’s enticing.” Roier murmured.

“Yeah.” Cellbit said, as he turned onto a street and promptly got stuck in traffic.

The windshield shattered. Reaching up to shield himself from the glass going everywhere, he heard a gasp from beside him. Hands immediately went down and he reached over to look at Roier. Roiers hands were covering something on his right side, while his breathing became ragged. He unbuckled and reached over to help Roier, who showed him the extent of the wound. It was already weeping more blood than either of them could fix. This couldn’t be happening.

“No, no, no.” He whispered. He couldn’t do this. Not again.

His eyes met Roiers, and the scrunched up eyes told him all he really needed to know.

“This is on purpose.” He whispered to himself. The killer wanted Roier dead.

There was another thump and Cellbit gasped out in pain, his side borderline exploding. He wished he could stop this, but he felt feebly for Roiers pulse as if that would do anything. It wasn’t there anymore and Cellbit was about to follow. Where…? Where were they? Cellbit tried to look out the window and figure out where he was so he knew where to avoid tomorrow but his vision was starting to double, and there was warm blood spilling into his hands.

Cellbit let his eyes shut.

Cellbit didn’t make any progress today. Roier questioned what they were doing and believed him when he told him the truth but they died pretty early in the day. It was completely Cellbits fault that time. Well, partially, someone had run a red light, smashed into them, and they’d died.

At least he was able to realize that either this person had a tracker on Roier and was planning to kill him somehow today, or they also knew that they were in a loop. It was helpful but he was no closer to knowing who wanted his husband dead.

They actually made it to the restaurant today. Cellbit took a bunch of weird turns to get there, hopefully throwing them off, and he thought it did, but Roier had still died. Poison in his food. He hadn’t died that day and so he was stuck talking to the Police and crying again even if he knew that Roier wouldn’t be dead at the end of all of this. It still hurt. It hurt every time.

That solidified that the guy trying to kill Roier definitely had either a tracker or was stuck in the loop too, or maybe both. He wasn’t sure how he could catch this guy and keep Roier alive.

Even if it had only been seven days total, Cellbit stopped telling Roier how many times that he’d had this conversation with him. He’d almost made it out of town but they’d stopped to get gas and some food from some random station right on the outskirts and Roier got shot again. Cellbit almost got a hold of the guy today and it gave him an idea. Maybe he could catch the man at the Gas Station, and figure out who he was. He might have to sacrifice a couple of loops to get all of this to stop.

When Cellbit woke up that morning he had a plan. What he wasn’t expecting was for Roier to still be in bed with him. He reached over and felt his husband’s skin, feeling the coolness of it, and finding no pulse. The killer was definitely in a loop with him. There was no other way for it to have happened like this. He wished he could go back in time and have them go somewhere else yesterday, but he had today and that was it. That’s what he had to work with and he had to deal with it.

Cellbit groaned and realized that if the killer was managing to kill Roier before he even woke up then he might be spending several loops waking up and finding him dead, before the guy gave up and just tried something else. He was surprised that the killer didn’t kill him as well. At least it was very obvious that Roier had died from a gun and not a knife, mostly because Cellbit didn’t own a gun but he did have a knife and he didn’t have time to deal with this being blamed on him.

He reached over and picked up his phone, checking the time and date. The same as always. Unlocking his phone, he went to the call button and dialed 911. God, he was about to start crying again.

None of this felt real. He was so frustrated by the fact that he couldn’t stop this sooner. He just wished he could but he knew that it was illogical, and there was no way he could. He’d have to do some investigating today.

He explained the situation through his choked sobs and tears because despite how many times it had happened now, it still hurt like he was dying himself. The Police showed up, they talked to him, and asked him the same questions he’d asked before. He answered them and then he was released. Sitting in his car, he tried to wipe away his tears and steel himself but he ended up crying in his seat for a few minutes before he drove off.

He had a list of people that didn’t like him, and he intended to talk to every single one of them, or at the very least snoop through some of their stuff. Starting with the head of The Federation, a company that was known for its less than stellar decisions. If someone who hated him had hired a hitman to break his morale, it would probably be Cucurucho. After all, he had tried looking into the company before, and they didn’t like it when people did that. That had to mean they were hiding more things than why Cellbit didn’t like them.

Cellbit had been in here before, so he walked in with his bag and went straight for the elevator. Despite his seemingly unprofessional attire, he did make it past the front desk without them stopping them. He got in the elevator and pressed the button for Cucuruchos level. If he was lucky then the bear wouldn’t be here and he could ransack his office freely. The best thing about the bear was that he didn’t have the concept for a paper trail so he kept record of literally everything, even things he shouldn’t. People just didn’t know how horrible he was at getting rid of evidence and clearly the bear hadn’t learned from last time because the password to his office was exactly the same.

Cellbit let himself inside, delighted to see that the bear was not in here and would be in a meeting until his lunch break according to his schedule. Cellbit had a full hour to poke around in here without anyone coming in probably. This was definitely breaking the law but you couldn’t find the information that you wanted from the bear without breaking the law. While the bear was horrible at deleting evidence, he was good at hiding it.

The first thing he checked was invoices and their money. Cellbit couldn’t find any transaction that indicated that there was an exchange for Roiers death, so he opened up the computer, knowing it was the same password as the one to get into the door. Honestly, you would’ve thought that some homicidal maniac would keep a better handle on shit like this but he was sure that the bear wasn’t expecting someone to make it into his office for physical evidence.

He ended up on Cucuruchos email, going through everything in his inbox, looking for anything before thoroughly going through the trashed emails. In here he found something very helpful. An email thread from a week ago started by a man named Doied.

Doied sent you an email.

Subject: Subject Testing and Relations

Hello Mr. Cucurucho,

I have some concerns about our recent plans regarding my little science project. So far our chosen potential subjects are all very good candidates, however I would like to discuss one of the potential subjects, my brother, Roier.

Cellbit had to pause for a moment and read that line again. Roier had a brother? He didn’t remember Roiers fathers ever mentioning this. Hell, he didn’t remember Roier ever mentioning this. So he continued reading to see what he could learn.

He is so far one of the best candidates, as he benefits both of us. Him as a potential subject would both satisfy my hatred of him and-

That explained why Roier had never mentioned him.

-your want to get back at the Detective, Cellbit. However, I would like to bring up our original plans for him which you promised me which is that I could kill him.

If we could meet in person to discuss this it would be very beneficial.

Thank you,

Doied
Head of Experimental Science
Floor BA2

What the fuck? Reading on, he found Cucuruchos response.

Hello Doied,

I did not say that. If I did, I am rescinding my statement. We cannot have another death on company records, and certainly not a murder. You may take him and use him as your subject for the experiments that you have been describing in past correspondence but nothing more. If he dies while experimenting so be it, but you are not allowed to directly kill him. If I find out that you have tried to kill him then you will be taken off your project immediately.

Sincerely,

Cucurucho
Head of Quesadilla Branch of the Federation
Floor 18

Cellbit breathed out. What the fuck. What the actual fucking hell. So, Roier had a brother he didn’t know about. Said brother wanted to kill him, and Cucurucho was telling him to not do that and instead use him as his test subject for a probably extremely unethical science experiment. There was no fucking way that this was actually happening.

He clicked through the rest of the email, finding that Doied just answered Okay. Which clearly he was lying considering he was likely trying to murder Roier. He started looking through other emails from Doied or being sent to Doied, finding that this science experiment was extremely unethical as it was switching the consciousness of two things, which might kill them. He didn’t understand how Cucurucho or anyone could be okay with this. He didn’t understand how that experiment was even possible, to be honest.

Silently, he started looking through the other things, trying to find a picture of what this Doied guy looked like. He did eventually find one and looked over the scientist. The man seemed almost exactly like Roier, almost identical to him except for a pair of glasses sitting on his nose so he could see. Maybe not even just a brother, maybe a twin. How could Roier not mention this? Did Roier know he had a homicidal scientist for a long lost brother?

He would’ve taken a picture or taken a flash drive if he knew that it would transfer over to the next day but he knew that there was at least one more loop in his future. Hopefully, whatever fluke had happened this morning would stop. Maybe, if he killed Doied… No, that wouldn’t stop anything. He would just have to try and wake up earlier than him. That just wouldn’t work, probably. He needed a second opinion at some point. Well, Cucurucho had a number of things that he had access to.

Looking through the computer, he found the full file for Doied, including his full name, birthday, and address. Unsurprisingly, he had the same birthday as Roier, but a different last name. He knew that Roiers parents had changed his last name to their own when they adopted him but he didn’t know what it had been beforehand.

Cellbit checked the time and cursed. He wrote down the man’s home address so he could go there next if he didn’t find him here, and shut down the computer, making sure it was on the screen it had been when he got here. Running towards the elevator, he went down a floor and then opted to take the stairs from there so he was less likely to run into anyone. From there, he headed down. Assuming that Floor BA2 meant basement level 2, he had about twenty flights of stairs to go down. Which was much better than going up twenty flights of stairs at least.

There were only a few people he passed, going between one or two floors and electing to take the stairs instead. He found it was much quicker than he thought it would be, ending up on floor BA2 within minutes. Silently, he slipped through the door onto the floor.

The door led to a hallway, endless labs on either side, some with windows, some with not. Most were reflective, which led him to believe that they were see-through on the other side but not this side. Which made sense. He didn’t like what it was probably for. He found one that didn’t have windows, but the door did, and peered inside. Cucurucho and Doied were in this room, heatedly discussing something. Assuming that it had to do with their unethical science experiment and Roier, he tried to listen in.

He couldn’t make out exact words, but they were talking about Roier, likely about how Doied didn’t have the authority to do that and that Cucurucho would put somebody else on the experiment if Doied couldn’t get his shit together. It made sense. Clearly, Doied hadn’t put together that the reason they were in this loop together was because he was killing Roier over and over.

Eyes met his own and Cellbit ducked down, silently starting to move towards the stairs. He was lucky that he’d managed to train himself to run silently. Sometimes, when you worked as a detective then you had to run from something potentially very dangerous that you couldn’t deal with. Right now, it was Cucurucho, a bear who had it out for him, and Doied, Roiers apparently twin brother who hated him and wanted him dead.

Hearing the door open, he slipped into the stairwell, running up them as fast as he could to the floor level. As he walked out of the stairwell on the ground floor, he stopped running because that would create suspicion and walked right out the door as the place’s alarms started blaring. Then he started walking a bit faster again, getting his car, starting it and driving off before he was even buckled up.

He didn’t go home because the place was still going to be crawling with Police and they’d given him permission to go elsewhere to calm down and all that shit. So, instead he headed to the only people that would believe him and have answers on how the hell he was supposed to get out of a time loop. Picking up his phone, he dialed Pac. Which he wasn’t supposed to be doing while driving but it was fine.

“Hey, Cellbit. How are you feeling?”

“I know what you’re gonna ask about. Yes, I feel like shit, but this has happened so many times now that I’m getting numb. I’m coming over right now, and I have information for you guys. I don’t have anything for you guys to test but I’m sure that you guys are able to tell me more than I already know, and can get to it.” Cellbit said.

“You? What? Okay, yeah, no meet us at the Lab, I’m- No, I can get there. Mike should be there already if I’m not there when you’re there. I’ll tell him you’re on your way.”

“Alright, I know this probably doesn’t make sense, but I’ll tell you guys what I know when I get there.” Cellbit said.

“Are you driving right now?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to give you guys a heads up. I’m hanging up now, don’t worry.”

If Pac tried to say anything else, Cellbit didn’t hear, ending the call and putting his phone down. He kept driving, making sure to check everything and drive as well as he could. He couldn’t crash and die while he was on the way although he’s sure he could, but this loop couldn’t end right now.

Doied wasn’t at this apartment, Cellbit realized. He could just go over and take some of the man's hair while he wasn’t there and have them cross analyze it against Roiers hair. He didn’t have any of Roiers hair though. He could do that tomorrow. Tomorrow was going to happen anyways and the less time he wasted the better. Cellbit turned into the warehouse district, knowing that there was a section that Pac and Mike rented out to make their own lab. With the things that they made, they easily were able to afford the rent there.

He parked, noting that Mike's car was there already.

Taking a deep breath, he got out of the car. Walking up, he took note of his surroundings. It didn’t seem like he’d been followed here. They would likely go looking for him later but as long as he didn’t break into the building on the last day of the loop, he’d be okay. They wouldn’t have any proof of what happened. He let himself into the building, finding Mike waiting for him. Both Richas and Ramon were there and he got the feeling that Pac may have been out on a date with Fit and he’d interrupted it. That hadn’t been his intention.

Mike glanced up at him and smiled awkwardly. Richas and Ramon were playing with something, Richas clearly hadn’t been told that Roier had died yet. They were gonna wait to tell him likely, but after all of this was over, it wouldn’t matter.

Cellbit sat down at the table where Mike was sitting and tapped his foot on the ground. Mike seemed like he wasn’t sure how to start the conversation, but Pac and Fit walked in then and Mike calmed. Fit went to distract the kids while they talked. Pac sat on the other side of Mike, and took a deep breath.

“Are you okay?” Pac asked.

“I’m fine. I don’t have anything for you guys to test today, but I will tomorrow. Well, you won’t remember this tomorrow, but I will. How long does it take you guys to run DNA tests? Like with hair.” cellbit clarified, getting strange looks from the both of them.

“Start from the beginning. What did you mean when you said that this wasn’t the first time?” Mike asked.

“Right. Okay, this is gonna sound insane but I know you guys are into that science magic stuff. The last week or so I have been reliving today over and over again. I think it’s been about… 7 loops? Maybe 8? I finally had a breakthrough, but I cannot figure out how to end it. I know why it keeps repeating, Doied, who is apparently Roiers twin brother, I have not confirmed if Roier knows he exists yet, I just found out, he has it out for him and is trying to kill him. He succeeded and it started a time loop and so I’m pretty sure that the only way to end the loop is keep Roier alive, but as you can tell I’m having a hard time with that, and I’m pretty sure that Doied knows he's in a loop too because his methods keep on changing.” Cellbit explained.

The two stared at him, trying to process the information.

“Oh, and the only reason he’s trying to kill Roier is because Cucurucho, who he apparently works for, told him he couldn’t and that they needed to keep him alive because they might be planning to kidnap him and use him as a test subject in an unethical science experiment.”

“Holy shit.” Mike muttered after a few moments.

“That's… a lot.” Pac exhaled.

“So, let’s say we believe you. How… how can we even help with this if we’ll forget?” Mike asked.

“I’ll remember. I need any information you guys have on time loops from a scientific standpoint. I’ve looked up any and all information that I can get my hands on already and it’s not working.” Cellbit said.

Pac nodded, “I can’t say we’ve ever looked into that, I’m sorry, but I would suggest that you could try and get ahead of the killer? Maybe if- Well, you said that you think he’s aware of the loop too?”

Cellbit nodded.

“Yeah, that wouldn’t work then.” Pac muttered.

“No, what is it?” Cellbit asked.

“Well, you said you know who the killer is, right? There are a lot of public records and if you could call in an anonymous tip to the police and get them arrested before they ever could get out and kill Roier, then you could go into wherever you got your evidence of who it was, and give it to the police before the Federation has a chance to erase it.” Pac suggested.

Cellbit thought about that. That was actually a very good idea.

“And, I could get the evidence that they’re planning very unethical things.” Cellbit murmured. “The only problem is because of the loop we wake up at the exact same time we did the first day, and he woke up before me and knows that. Roier was dead before I even woke up this morning.”

“Well shit.” Mike muttered. “You could try and talk to the killer if you have a way to get to him.”

“What would happen if you killed the killer?” Pac suggested.

“I’d get arrested for murder and waste a loop doing nothing.” Cellbit answered. “Talking isn’t a bad idea but I’m not sure it would go well. I’ve been killed a few times as well, and I’m not quicker than a gun.”

“True. It might just be luck, Cellbit.” Pac admitted. “One of these days, if the killer really does know that he’s in a time loop with you, he’s gonna be tired, and he’s not gonna want to get up at god knows when in the morning and go kill Roier while you can’t interfere. You might just have to be ready for that day.”

Cellbit mulled that over. Pac and Mike were not as much help as he’d hoped they’d be but they were at least somewhat helpful. These were things that he hadn’t thought about before. Pac was right though, he might have to just wait it out. He didn’t like that he would have to but he didn’t have much of a choice. He wished that he did though.

“You really might have to.” Mike admitted, siding with Pac.

“Yeah, I might have to. I don’t want to though.” He muttered.

“That’s understandable.” Pac glanced at Fit for a moment. “I would be pretty upset too.”

“What I don’t understand is how a time loop is even possible. That… shouldn’t be possible.” Mike murmured.

“I know it shouldn’t be but it is now and I just have to deal with it.” Cellbit said. “Sorry, I thought we’d be talking more than this. I didn’t mean to interrupt your date.”

“It’s fine.” Pac dismissed it. “It wasn’t a date. We were just hanging out. Do you have more you’re going to investigate today?”

“Yeah, probably. I have an address that I’m gonna check out. If there’s evidence in there, I’ll mark it for later.” Which meant a loop where he could actually use it.

“Alright.” Pac murmured.

Cellbit had already committed the address to memory, repeating it over and over in his brain to make sure that it stuck. He said hello to Richas, very happy to see him. Even if Richas had seen him only a few days ago, it had been almost a week and a half since he’d seen the kid and he had missed him. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t come to ask Pac and Mike before, but he was glad that he did today.

After that, He got in his car and drove off. He had one more place to investigate today, but as he was driving through downtown, a rock went through his passenger seat window, followed by something else that was beeping. He sighed, Roier was dead, there was no reason to kill him today. The loop was just going to reset.

Red.

Cellbit woke up, checked Roiers pulse who was still in bed with him, and found him dead. He went through the same routine he had the previous morning. Calling the police, making sure they didn’t think he was a suspect, and then going away when they let him go to grieve somewhere else.

So his chosen place was Doieds apartment. He used the fire escape to let himself in after parking his car in the alley and counting to the correct apartment number from the backside.

The entire place smelled sterile. There were almost no decorations in the bedroom that he’d let himself into. The only things in there were a wooden dresser, a full bed with blue sheets, and a bedside table that had a lamp on it. No obvious books, but the clothes were probably in the dresser drawers. Luckily, he knew that no one would be home right now. That was a plus. Looking in the closet, he found nothing of interest. No hidden things, but when he walked out of the bedroom, he realized why.

The entire living room was covered in plans. Showing where Roier typically was and his routine everyday. Mapping out anywhere the man could be and the easiest ways to kill him because it had the best cover. It made him question why Doied had chosen their apartment to kill Roier the first time. Then he saw how detailed the lists describing Cellbits routine were, which was much more chaotic than Roiers because he didn’t have a strict schedule as he was self-employed. So, Doied was tracking him to determine when the best chance to kill Roier was, and for some reason had decided that a gun was the best weapon to do so. That was actually insane.

He picked up some of the papers, reading them. They were scribblings that Cellbit couldn’t make out, but he could feel the hate emitting from them. Doied really hated his brother. At some point when Roier was still alive when he woke up, he needed to ask if he knew he had a brother.

This was all very good to know. This would help him a lot in the long run. Even if he wouldn’t be able to do anything with it for presumably a while, it was helpful. It seemed like he had everything set up to call the police and report Doied the moment he didn’t kill Roier one morning. He should get out of here though before Doied realized he was here and what he was likely to do. The first day that he called the police though, he was going to realize what was happening if it took several days and might be able to hide the evidence before they got here.

Cellbit left the apartment after checking out the kitchen and finding nothing too odd aside from the two guns stored in the cabinets. One of which Cellbit recognized as the one used to shoot Roier. He took note of them and where to find them before going back to the window and leaving.

Instead of going home, he just drove. Out of the city, past the wall and just kept driving until he reached the place he wanted to be. He’d basically run out of gas by the time he pulled up to the house, but he didn’t really care. He’d just stay the night and wake up in his own bed in the morning, with his car parked on the street.

He didn’t go up to the door and knock, although that would be the smart thing to do, instead he walked past the house, and just kept walking. Cellbit knew that the property went up to a cliff that led to an overlook of the ocean. It was nice to be able to take Richas here sometimes, he knew the kid found it cool. Today, he was here just to think.

It was barely the afternoon. He knew that eventually Foolish would realize that he was here and come find him, but for now, he was going to sit down and think.

The trees opened up and he saw the sea. Sitting down on the mossy rock, he stared. He and Roier had spent a few picnic dates out here together. At least it would make sense for Foolish to find him out here. Laying down on the rocks, he closed his eyes. There were a few tears shed. Normally, Cellbit was not a very emotional man but the last several days were fucking him up more than he’d like to admit. He wished that all of this never happened but it wasn’t like he could stop it.

He had all the information he needed. Now it was just… a waiting game. He just had to wait and pray that it would take less loops than he thought it would. He really hoped that it would.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat out there. Foolishs car wasn’t parked in front of the house when he’d gotten here so he assumed that the man just hadn’t been home when he first got here. Eventually though, he heard footsteps. Far off at first but they grew closer, before they stopped. The sound of rocks slipping sounded right next to him, and he knew that someone had sat down next to him. There was a part of him that wished it was Roier, but he knew logically who it was.

“I figured you’d be out here.” Foolish whispered, his voice hoarse.

Cellbit opened his eyes and stared up at the sky. The sun had moved to behind the trees so it wasn’t in his eyes now. He could see Foolish out of the corner of his eyes, this was more his sign to his father-in-law that he wasn’t dead. He just needed to get through the rest of the day.

“I don’t know what to do.” Foolish admitted. “Vegetta is out on a work trip right now, and telling him that Roier’s gone while he’s not even here to grieve feels wrong, but I don’t even know.”

He shouldn’t have come here.

“Yeah, it’s-” Cellbit didn’t even know what to say. He didn’t feel like explaining the time loop for the millionth time and honestly he didn’t want to talk to anyone. “Yeah.”

He’d lost his lover so many times, and exhaustion was settling into his bones.

“Did Roier have a twin?” He found himself asking.

“No, I don’t think, so?” Foolish answered, clearly confused. “If… he did that would be a question for Vegetta.”

Well, shit that wasn’t helpful. Vegetta definitely wouldn’t be back by the end of the day so that he could ask him questions. He was right back to sitting in the waiting game. Foolish wouldn’t even remember that they had this conversation tomorrow. He knew that he wouldn’t.

“You should come inside and get something to eat, c’mon.” Foolish said, standing up.

Cellbit stared ahead before forcing himself to get up and start the walk back to the house. The rest of the day was going to be very long.

Cellbit woke up in his own bed as he expected rather than Roier’s childhood bedroom. Found Roier dead. Did the same thing he did the day before just without going to Foolishs’ house, instead just driving around. He was running out of ways to occupy himself so he went to the library today. It was quiet. He liked it.

Wake up. Roll over. Check his husband’s Pulse. Roier is dead. Spend the rest of the day trying to occupy himself. Go to sleep.

Wake up. Roll over. Check his husband’s Pulse. Roier is dead. Spend the rest of the day trying to occupy himself. Go to sleep.

Wake up. Roll over. Check his husband’s Pulse. Roier is dead. Spend the rest of the day trying to occupy himself. Go to sleep.

Wake up. Roll over. Check his husband’s Pulse. Roier is dead. Spend the rest of the day trying to occupy himself. Go to sleep.

Wake up. Roll over. Check his husband’s Pulse. Roier is dead. Spend the rest of the day trying to occupy himself. Go to sleep.

Wake up. Roll over. Check his husband’s Pulse. Roier is dead. Spend the rest of the day trying to occupy himself. Go to sleep.

Wake up. Roll over. Check his husband’s Pulse. Roier is dead. Spend the rest of the day trying to occupy himself. Go to sleep.

Wake up. Roll over. Check his husband’s Pulse. Roier is dead. Spend the rest of the day trying to occupy himself. Go to sleep.

Wake up. Roll over. Check his husband’s Pulse. Roier is dead. Spend the rest of the day trying to occupy himself. Go to sleep.

Wake up. Roll over. Go to check his husband's pulse. Cellbit paused, blinking blearily at what was next to him. Roier wasn’t in bed. He wasn’t right next to him like he had been for the last week or so. Grabbing his phone, he first made sure it was the same day again. It was still and he shoved the phone in his pajama pockets as he scrambled to get to the kitchen.

The smell of coffee was wafting through the air.

He stopped at the small archway that led to their kitchen, seeing Roier standing at the stove half in his work uniform just as he had been before Doied began to kill him nearly daily. Roier seemed to notice Cellbits presence because he looked back and smiled at him, pausing when he saw Cellbits expression.

“Are you alright, gatinho?” Roier asked. God, when was the last time he’d heard his husband's voice?

He walked forward, and Roier turned fully towards him. When he got into range of Roier, he gingerly held his face, feeling the warmth underneath his hands. Warm. He was so happy that his husband's skin felt warm.

Cellbit is not ashamed to admit that he hugged his husband tightly and began to cry. God, this was the one morning that Roier had been alive when he’d woken up in so long. He should be going through that plan that he and Pac made, unbeknownst to the man. Yet, here he was holding his husband and crying instead. God, he must look insane to him right now.

He let go of Roier, much too quickly for his liking but instead kissed his husband. Warm. It was the only thing he could process, feeling Roier kiss back for a moment before pulling away. He opened his eyes the best he could despite the small sobs coming from his mouth. Roiers hands went to his face, brushing the tears away from his eyes. God, Cellbit's never been this emotional before. Warm hands. Roier had warm hands.

“Hey, hey. What's wrong? What happened?” Roier asked, gently rubbing his cheeks.

Cellbit wished he could explain but he just clutched Roier, resting his forehead against his and tried to be as close as he could. He couldn't stop himself from crying, small sobs shaking his body. At least they were happy ones this time. There was that.

“Eu amo. Saudades de você, meu amor.” Cellbit whispered.

“You… missed me? You just saw me yesterday, carino.” Roier reminded him gently.

“No, no- it's-” Cellbit took a deep breath. “I'm- I'm a time loop, and they keep killing you.” He sobbed again. “And- and I keep waking up and you're gone.” His voice cracked. “And I can't do anything. You're alive this morning.”

“What?” Roier whispered, clearly as confused as Cellbit expected him to be. “Who is they?”

Cellbit would've wiped away his tears if it didn't mean letting go of Roier, “Doied. He's-”

He trailed off as Roiers eyes widened and he pulled his head away from Cellbits. Roier knew Doied.

“What? Are you serious? Cellbo, that's not possible. He's dead. He's been dead for a long time.” Roier whispered, head snapping as they both heard someone starting to mess with their door.

“No.” He whispered to himself. He’d finally gotten a day where he could do something about all of this. This couldn't be happening.

Letting go of Roier, he looked for something he could use to knock Doied out. This had to be something that he could do. He had to be able to do something. He couldn’t handle Roier dying again. This couldn’t be it again. He had to do something. His eyes laid on the pan currently cooking Roiers breakfast. Lurching past Roier, he grabbed the pan, the handle was warm even through the cover that Roier had put on it, but he didn’t care.

“Wait! Cellbit, what are you-” Roier started to say as he went towards the door, the eggs slipping out onto the floor.

Cellbit went towards the door, telling Roier to stay where he was quietly, and hopefully his husband would listen. As long as he got to Doied before he realized that Roier was in the kitchen then he could hit him. Hopefully it would only knock him out. He didn’t want to kill the man. Holding the pan, he waited, listening to the lock of their door finally unclick. He couldn't bear to see his husband die again.

The door opened, covering Cellbit, and Doied slipped in, his gun held much like Police would when they entered a house. Moving the door out of his way, he raised up the pan and brought it crashing down on Doieds head. The man staggered and managed to turn as he fell, pulling the trigger. It was quiet as he expected and grazed the side of his arm and Cellbit ducked to avoid another shot, slamming the gun out of Doieds hands with the pan, dropping it after.

Doied was dazed, and groaning on the floor. Cellbit grabbed his hands and tried to flip him over, managing to do so after a few moments so that Cellbit could pin his hands to his back. Roier peeked around the corner now, looking at the man on their floor. Cellbit pulled off the black mask that the man wore, and noticed that the glasses that Doied wore were already halfway across the floor.

“Holy shit.” Roier whispered.

“Yeah, can you call the police, guapito?” Cellbit asked.

He didn’t dare let up on his hold on Doied, knowing that he would try and escape if he could. They had to make sure that he got arrested and couldn’t hurt Roier.

“Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.” Roier said, walking away and pulling out his phone.

“You bitch.” Doied hissed quietly, still clearly disoriented. A big hit to the head would do that. “You’re the fucking problem. What the hell did you do? Why did you start this fucking loop?”

“Look, I don’t know. This just happened because you decided to kill my husband and honestly I’m a little glad this loop happened.” Cellbit answered, whispering to the man.

“You’re a fucking bitch.” Doied hissed again, trying to get out of his grip, but Cellbit, held his hands together with one of his hands and picked up the pan again.

“I will hit you again.” Cellbit warned.

Doied shut up and stopped struggling after that, and Roier poked his head around the corner to glance at Doied and begin to describe him, making sure to note that the man had glasses and that Doied was his twin. Then noting that Cellbit had him captured right now, but that the man was alive.

Within minutes, the police were there, taking Doied from him and Roier was allowed to hang up and ran over to fret over the scrape that the bullet had managed to get on him. The wound wouldn't kill him, although it was still bleeding, so it probably needed to get checked out. He wasn’t sure where it went after it had grazed past him but yet again his home was a crime scene. This time for a potential murder, not an actual one. He never thought he’d be so happy that this was how it was working out.

They were questioned, and Cellbit knew that at some point they would check out Doieds apartment and then have all the evidence that they needed. The Federation might erase things correctly this time and get rid of the evidence so it wouldn’t be obvious that they were involved but hopefully, they would get caught and Cellbit wouldn’t have Roier get kidnapped after this. That would be a nightmare.

They were released to go home after they cleaned up the scene, dressed Cellbits wound, got Doied out of there and presumably searched the man's house. If they were lucky then the federation would be gone after all this. Roier didn’t want to go home though, or work, or the dinner reservations they had tonight. Which he understood. Instead, they went to Foolish and Vegettas house. He understood why.

On the drive there, Roier spoke, “How many times?”

“Hmm?” Cellbit asked back.

“How many times did you go through today?” Roier asked, voice hauntingly quiet.

“Nineteen.” Cellbit replied in just a whisper as well. “Technically twenty if you count the first actual day when I didn’t know what was happening because it was actually today. Well, I guess this time it’s actually today because this is what’s going to roll over, unless I’m wrong and for some reason the fact that you’re dying isn’t the reason the loop happened and In that case I don’t really know what I’d do.”

God, he’d missed talking to Roier. He’d missed him so much. He wished that he could kiss him right now, and just hold him close but he was driving, and that would only end in the two of them dead. Roier could not die today because otherwise that would reset the loop and they had to live.

“Oh.” Was all that Roier said for a moment. “That’s… Oh. Did… I die the same every time?”

“Mostly. There were a few days where it was different.” Cellbit answered.

“Why?”

“It was before Doied realized that he woke up before I did and he could get to you without me interfering because I was asleep.” Cellbit answered. He couldn’t ever lie to his husband, or even withhold things. Not for very long.

Silence. “He was in the loop too then?”

“Yes, and he realized that I knew fairly quickly.” He replied.

“Ah.” Roier murmured before falling into silence.

Cellbit tapped the steering wheel, memories of blood ridden sheets and red carpets, flooding back into his mind. The unlucky incidence of Roier starting to choke on his food and fall down, dying. The car crash. God, he was glad that he’d died instantly with his husband. When Roier was shot through the window. He shouldn’t have thought about that incident while he was driving.

“We need to get a new set of sheets.” Cellbit said. There was nothing wrong with them but he wasn’t sure he could look at them again without remembering the blood stains. He just couldn't.

“Alright.” Roier answered. Roier could probably guess why he wanted to do that. He knew that he wouldn’t object.

The rest of the ride was silent, except for when Roier turned on the radio, and a very familiar song began to play, and it got skipped very quickly. Eventually, though, They reached Foolishs house. The car was almost out of gas but there was a gas station near enough that they could fill up in the morning. It was late in the afternoon this time. Questioning had taken much longer today. Hopefully that meant that they would live through the rest of today. If today repeated again, he was going to lose it.

Cellbit took a deep breath and then finally let go of the steering wheel. The two of them got out of the car and Roier headed up the stairs of the house, letting himself inside, with Cellbit following dutifully. He didn’t really want to let Roier out of his sight right now, too scared that somehow he’d die again and they’d be stuck in this loop again. He didn’t want to. He might’ve finally gotten out of this, and kept his husband alive.

Closing the front door, he heard something from inside, and found Roier being hugged by Foolish tightly. He knew that Foolish was probably going to do that. He heard whispering, promising that Vegetta was going to be home within a couple of days. Taking an impromptu break to come home. They all knew why. When Foolish was ready to let go, he let go of Roier, and then hugged Cellbit. It was a much more brief hug but then Foolish was talking and they were dragged to go help with dinner.

Normalcy.

Roier was directed to create and knead the dough, something repetitive that got his head out of the clouds and more focused. Foolish started playing music through his small portable speaker and Cellbit was directed to make and mix sauce while Foolish prepared the ingredients. He figured out pretty quickly that they were making homemade pizza and it was nice.

Cellbit stayed close to Roier, talking quietly to him. He didn’t mention anything else about the loops. Maybe it was good that Roier hadn’t known that he was in a loop as well. He was sure that the man would think that he was going insane, but he wouldn’t actually know how many times it was until he asked Cellbit. Dying in your sleep is supposedly the best way to go, but honestly he wasn’t entirely sure. Maybe it was less brutal deaths that people meant typically.

They put the pizza in the oven and went to the living room, turning on cheesy rom-coms. None of them could handle action movies right now. The pizza was taken out of the oven and it tasted great. Whether it was intentional or not, Foolish had put most of Roiers’ favorite toppings. He assumed it was intentional and the pizza hadn’t burned the house down, although he made sure that the oven was off. They sat on the couch, watching rom-coms late into the night. Well, Foolish sat in one corner with Cellbit in the other and Roier was laying on the rest of the couch with his head in Cellbits lap, while Cellbit messed with Roiers hair.

By soon, Foolish had meant that Vegetta had managed to get here that night somehow, even if it was nearly midnight, but Roier was happy to see the man. They talked for a while, and Vegetta held onto his son for a while. He kept watching the clock, watching it tick slowly closer to midnight and the end of the day. Today might finally end soon.

Jet lag was hitting Vegetta though. The man had been up for nearly 30 hours, too anxious to sleep on his plane ride home. Foolish yawned and the two of them went to bed. Roier and Cellbit went to Roiers childhood bedroom and got ready for bed. Roier came home often enough that there were a couple extra sets of pajamas in the dresser. They were the same size luckily and they finally crawled into bed. Even if it was a twin bed, the two of them could fit with Roier wrapping his arms around Cellbit and laying his head onto his chest.

They didn’t go to bed immediately, instead Cellbit ran his hand up and down Roiers back, staring at the ceiling. He missed this so much.

“You’re not sleeping.” Roier murmured, moving around until his head was right next to Cellbits on the pillow and he could look at him.

He looked at Roier, seeing him in the dim lighting from the moon outside. He missed him so much. It wasn't going to be much longer before he lost it if this continued, he was sure. At least, he'd finally managed to keep Roier alive.

“I know. I just… I don’t know.” Cellbit whispered.

He knew why he supposed. He was terrified of the day repeating again. He was waiting for midnight.

Roier turned over and grabbed his phone, showing the two of them the time it was right now. It was 2 minutes to midnight now. He watched as the time clicked over 11:59 and Roier watched with him, holding the phone up above them. Roier clicked the time so that they could watch the seconds tick over. It was like it was new years eve, and they were all waiting for the ball to drop. His heart started to race unintentionally, almost scared that today would repeat again.

There was a lot less fanfare as the clock ticked from Friday night to Saturday morning. Cellbit exhaled slowly, and Roier turned off the phone, returning it to where it had been sitting. They stared at each other for a moment and Cellbit leaned forward, gently kissing him before pulling away.

“I'm so glad you're alive.” Cellbit murmured to his husband.

Roier smiled against his cheek, “I am too.”

Roier moved so he was wrapped around Cellbit again and held onto him tightly, holding him close. Cellbit did the same, comforted by the fact that Roier wasn't going to die for a long time now. They might have to deal with court fees and legal shit in the upcoming weeks but they were alive, it was Saturday morning, and Cellbit finally went to sleep without worry.