peut être
Dorcas watched with wide eyes as Cunter tossed his radio away, the clatter ringing through the hallway.
“You’re not—you can’t be serious!” Evan cried, rushing forward to block the man’s path, but Cunter reached into his back pocket, pulling out a hunk of metal, glinting in the low light streaming in through the warehouse windows. A gun. A gun being trained on Evan.
Dorcas let out an almost primal scream as she tossed herself at Cunter, tackling him to the hard concrete floor with a great ‘oomph.’ “Evan! Warn the others!”
Evan hesitated for a moment, but just as quickly was sprinting around the corner away from the two fighting for their lives.
Dorcas was winning, she thought, what with Cunter pinned to the ground and his gun feet away from them. But Dorcas didn’t see the knife coming.
She felt it before she had even seen Cunter reaching into his pocket and revealing the small dagger to the world. Pain leaked into her abdomen as the blade was eased into the soft skin of the side of her stomach—narrowly avoiding her vest. Dorcas gasped, an ugly sound of pain and the shock of cold metal entering her body.
Using her surprise as an advantage, Cunter shoved Dorcas off of him, taking to his feet, then off and around the corner, leaving Dorcas to grapple with the knife sticking hilt-up from her side.
Dorcas knew that you weren’t supposed to remove the knife when stabbed, unless you were ready to apply copious amounts of pressure before you inevitably die from blood loss. So…she would have to—Dorcas groaned as she attempted to sit up—leave it there.
Okay, she thought, I can—I can do this.
Just stand up like you normally would.
Just…stand up.
Dorcas gritted her teeth as she pushed herself up to a kneeling position, back pin-straight. She couldn’t tell if the knife had hit anything vital—probably not, right? It’s only my side—but the pain sure was nearly enough to knock her out. Maybe it was the fear of losing her only friends, or maybe the sheer adrenalin of being stabbed, but either way, Dorcas stood. Aching and groaning, pain washing over her and dribbling down her shaking legs, Dorcas stood.
The knife would’ve made a fine armrest had it not howled and throbbed with any sort of movement or touch.
Dorcas hobbled down the corridor, a seemingly endless walk when each step was thorny vines growing and groping the left half of her body. But Dorcas couldn’t stop. Not now. Not ever. Not until everyone was safe.
The gun on her right hip weighed more in its holster with each stair closer to Cunter and her friends Dorcas took. Would she be able to shoot someone? After all, she’d done it before.
But Barty had been shot.
What does that have to do with anything?
Barty would not hesitate for Evan and neither would Dorcas.
People die in war. People kill in war. Dorcas had bared witness and had a hand in both. Nothing was different. That was life.
So why did it feel like she would choke?
Dorcas brushed off her uncertainty, chocking it up to the knife sticking out of her side. She was nearly at the exit anyway. She could hear voices.
They’re still alive, Dorcas thought with relief. And they would stay that way, if Dorcas had anything to do with it.
Edgylus cradled his head in his hands, unable to do anything, yet blaming himself for every shitty thing that was unfolding before his very eyes.
Fuck, what if he doesn’t come out of there?
Shut the fuck up. He will.
Oh, you’re so sure about that, are you?
“Go fuck yourself,” Edgylus whimpered into his palms.
I’m you, you prick.
Edgylus blinked away his ugly subconscious, glancing up at the security footage he wasn’t supposed to be viewing. He had a job and Pandora had hers, but when it was Remu’s life that was on the line…well an extra set of eyes could never hurt.
Plus, he could still monitor the AUROR Call Centre. Edgylus was good at multitasking.
“AUROR Call Centre, what’s your emergency—” Edgylus jumped at the call, the first in an hour at least. Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit—Edgylus scanned his desk fervently for the button. Where is it?
“My name is LeNussy Cockwise and there’s these peop—” Edgylus stopped breathing as the call cut out. Could it be luck?
“Looking for this?” Edgylus nearly gave himself whiplash with how fast he turned around. Emma was holding the Big Red Button of Call Disturbance (A/N: ™), looking awfully smug.
“Great Sigmas, Emma, that was really close.” Edgylus breathed deeply. “Thank you.”
“You know, I can handle the Call Centre, so you can watch your boyfriend.” She stood up from his bed and made her way behind his chair.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
Emma sighed, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Edge, c’mon, we both know why we’re in this marriage—”
“No, we…we broke up. He’s no longer my…my boyfriend.” Edgylus scooted away from her hand and took a deep breath. Remu wasn’t his boyfriend anymore. And would probably never be again.
The love of his unfortunate life, lost with his actions; the hurtful things he’d done. Because Edgylus was a life ruiner. His own life ruiner.
“Oh, Edgylus, I’m sorry.” Emma’s face contorted with pity and Edgylus immediately wished he hadn’t spoken. He hated it when people pitied him. There was nothing to pity. He was rich beyond belief and simply ungrateful. It was disgusting to pity someone as fortunate as he.
“Don’t.” He snapped, turning back to his computer, gazing at the group now assembled in front of Cunter Cockwise’s warehouse. “I’ve brought this upon myself.”
“Surely you can’t be—”
Edgylus held up his hand; a gesture for her to stop talking. Dorcas was lurking around the corner from where Cunter and the others were standing. She had a knife in her side.
“Shit,” Edgylus breathed. “Shit, shit, shit.”
When Cunter exited his headquarters, gun in hand, Mary was not at all surprised when he shot the first person in sight. So, when Remu crumpled, she was there to soften his fall.
Marlene yelped as the gunshot rang out around them, pulling out a pistol of her own and pointing it at Cunter as Remu took Mary down to the packed dirt below with his body.
“Shit! Remu, are you okay?” Marlene exclaimed, not daring to take her eyes off of Cunter, who was still brandishing his gun like the mad mad he was.
“‘M fine, just hit my vest,” Remu groaned, rolling off of Mary. “Sorry, Mary.”
“Darling, you’ve just been shot, no need to apologise.” This boy. Mary shook her head.
“Alright, so, now is not the time for pleasantries.” Marlene gave a tense smile, raising her eyebrows at the problem at hand.
“Right, yeah, sorry.” Remu stood with little effort, reaching out his hand to help Mary up off the dirt, which Mary rejected. She might be a criminal, but she wasn’t evil. He’d just been shot for goodness’ sake!
“Put down the gun and I’ll spare your lives; you can just join Jame in Alphaban.” Cunter’s hands shook. He had hired Mary for a reason; he wasn’t a strong man. He wouldn’t be able to fatally shoot any of the people in front of him. But he was an amazing bluffer. “I’ve already called my men, they’ll be here any minute!”
“Cunter, darling, why are you trying to kill these poor people? They’ve done nothing to you,” Mary tried, batting her long lashes at her former-employer. Usually, asking someone who was already hesitant to kill why, exactly, they were trying to kill in the first place, made them lay their weapon down instantly.
“They’ll—They’ll turn me into the police! My daughter needs a father!” He was clearly mad. Mary had no clue why. It seemed quite sudden, though he could’ve been crazy all along.
“No, they won’t. Cunter, if you put the gun down and let these people go—and do not share the Order’s secrets with the AURORs—” Mary didn’t miss the way Marlene and Remu tensed up next to her at that. They clearly hadn’t known. “—I promise no one will report you to Riddle, or even harm a hair on your head. They’re here for someone who isn’t, okay? Not you.”
Mary was holding her hands up, as if placating a wild animal, and maybe—just maybe—it was working.
Well, that was until a new woman joined the group, red hair wildly whipping around her face, a feral glint in her green eyes.
Cunter raised his gun again, squeezing the trigger, missing the woman by miles, but the sound was enough.
Why, oh why did Mary even bother?
Everything went to utter shite after that.
Another woman with braids came limping from inside the warehouse, gun pressed into Cunter’s daughter’s temple as tears streamed from her eyes. The woman with the gun had been stabbed in the side, Mary deduced, from the knife sticking out of her, but that didn’t stop her from shouting obscenities at Cunter.
“IF YOU DON’T LOWER YOUR FUCKING GUN, I KILL YOUR DAUGHTER!” the woman in braids howled, jamming the hunk of metal deeper into the girl’s skin.
“LeNUSSY I TOLD YOU TO STAY IN THE ROOM!” Cunter hollered, scratching his unarmed hand down the side of his face.
“I DON’T WANT TO BE KILLED!” LeNussy wailed, tossing her head back and squirming in the woman’s grasp.
“DORCAS IF YOU SHOOT THAT FUCKING BETA, CUNTER WILL TELL RIDDLE EVERYTHING!” the ginger woman barked, gun now trained on the newest addition to this party. Mary stifled a sigh at the sight of Cunter’s men.
There were only three of them, thankfully, but it did not help Mary's new allies’ cause. They were well-armed, well-trained, and bloodthirsty. They were the precise reason Mary often requested to work alone when it came to crimelords. Their henchmen were always so…hulking.
The men had guns of their own, one pointed at Dorcas, one at the ginger, and one at Mary. Mary supposed they were aiming at the biggest threats, but she hoped Marlene and Remu realised that this meant they were perfectly able to get shooting.
Obviously Marlene was on the same wavelength, sending a couple of bullets towards one of the guys, successfully distracting his aim away from Mary. Remu quickly joined, taking another man away from the ginger, who then shot at the man aimed at Dorcas. Only the man trailed on Dorcas actually went down, the other two too quick on their feet. But that was still one man down. Mary silently cheered. Look, she may not be evil, but that did not cover heartlessness.
“NO!” Cunter screamed, whipping wildly about himself. Mary really wasn’t surprised by much, you see, she read situations and people rather quickly and well, might she add, but everything…well it all unfurled quite fast. And when the gunshot went off, Mary had no clue where she’d find the body, but she certainly was not expecting it to be Cunter crumbling like a ragdoll. No, that seemed rather improbable.
Except…well, except that’s exactly what happened.
The gun clattered to the ground as Dorcas’ hands shook with the realisation of what she’d just done. Eyes wide, she whipped around to stare at the small crows behind her. They were silent.
“Daddy!” the girl cried from somewhere off to the side, snapping the sound barrier, unleashing the chaos of death, but her voice couldn’t penetrate the waves of panic rolling off of Dorcas.
Dorcas turned back around, staring at the man crumpled in the reddened dirt, and didn’t—couldn’t—breathe. His mouth was slightly agape and his eyes blown wide, much like his skull. Dorcas had—there was now a crater in this man’s head—this father’s head—taunting her with the easiness of its dent. The simplicity of murder. The eternalness of death. And he was dead. No doubt about it.
Dorcas had just killed a man, and he was not the first, and he undoubtedly would not be the last. Dorcas had just done her duty to save the Order, and it was not the first time, nor would it be the last time, either.. So why now did she…but now he…Jame wasn’t…it just wasn’t—
Her hands were doused in blood that was not her own, but if they weren’t, they’d be stained with what was once her friends. Killing was not the answer, but it was the only solution to save the ones she loved. And shouldn’t those she loved come first?
But what about those other people loved?
Dorcas blinked back the tears and swallowed past the lump in her throat, threatening to crawl its way out of her mouth in the shape of a scream. She could pull herself together. She had to. Because this was not new. She was not—this was…for Jame, Dorcas’ mind whispered. Dorcas let out a shaky breath.
But when Dorcas turned around to find Cun—theman’s—daughter being restrained by one of his men—the only one left, Dorcas realised, numbly—while she sobbed and howled, she had to turn away.
Dead body on one side.
Newly found orphan on the other.
Dorcas was a terrible person.
She swiped her hands down her face, breaths stuttering in, in, in and out. As she brought her hands away, now able to see the sunlit fields on either side of her—a terrible irony, the day’s beauty was—she felt something sticky on her ring finger.
Sparing it a glance, she—
Is that…?
Dorcas checked again.
It was red and warm. Sticky to the touch. Metallic–smelling.
She—
She glanced down at her white shirt underneath the bullet-proof vest. It was spattered with the same stuff. Her face must’ve been, too.
She—she couldn’t—breathing was off the table.
Close-range firearm attacks…Dorcas wracked her brain for her training. Calm down and remember what you’re good for. Close-range firearm attacks normally came with…with some…splatter…fuck—
Dorcas fell to her knees with a shudder, hunched over and taken with nausea. Her braids slapped at her face like whips as red-hot tears slid down her cheeks, like her own torturers, punishing her sinful behaviour.
Her forehead was sticky and her arms were too. Everything dripped with blood that was not her own. She was glued to herself, unable to break free from the perverse prison of body matter, that of which her own “quick thinking” had trapped her inside of.
Dorcas’ hands dug into the dirt below her knees, attempting to gain some sort of semblance of grounding; any sort of tie to this world; but there was nothing for her to leech onto. She was floating amongst the emptiness of space and she’d just forcibly knocked another weary traveller into a black hole, removing them from their own endless drift. Ridding this universe of their presence, all atoms destroyed, any chance of rebirth trapped in a vacuum of nothingness.
Dorcas attempted an inhale. Breathing past the panic drowning her with effort unmatched by even Sisyphus with his boulder, her vision begged the world to let it clear. It was nearly futile, but as Dorcas steadied herself into the rhythmic in and out that was breathing, slowly the world came back to her. She didn’t know how she’d managed it alone until Evan came into focus in front of her, breathing in-sync as they had since childhood. Always together. Breathing together. Even after all this time.
Edgylus was going to throw himself onto a knife if the camera footage did not come back on soon. (A/N: me rn about this chapter nOT BEING FUCKING FINISHED i hate myself 😘) He had been sitting there for what felt like hours after everything had gone black at what had to have been the worst possible moment. If there really was a Great Sigma, he had to have been laughing in Edgylus’ face right about now. What had he done to deserve this? Being gay couldn’t be something punishable while you were still alive, could it? Fuck.
Edgylus stared at the black screen, images of Remu crumpling to the ground flashing through his mind. His eyes had been open. Did that mean he was still alive? Or did that mean he’d died with his eyes open? Would anyone close them? Make him look like he was only sleeping? Would that even matter if they couldn’t bring the body with them? Yes, Edgylus thought fervently, yes, it would.
Had Remu been wearing a bulletproof vest? Edgylus prayed he was. And maybe if he hadn’t been, the bullet could’ve hit somewhere non-fatal? But with that much knockback…Edgylus winced at the thought. It had to be a chest shot. He’d be lucky to survive. Fuck.
“Edgylus?” Emma.Fuck, she shouldn’t be seeing me like this.
Edgylus took a deep breath and clicked a few keys on his laptop, humming noncommittally.
“Edgylus, you’re shaking.” Why can’t she leave?
“Edgylus? Mate, are you okay?” Honestly I’m fine, she must be making things up.
“Edgylus? Come on, breathe with me, in and out, come on…” I can handle myself.
“Edgylus!”
Edgylus’ eyes widened as the room spun, his body coming back to him. His lips were chapped, his cheeks wet, warm hands held his cold ones, and he was on the floor. That was odd, he didn’t remember sitting down on the ground.
“Edgylus, you’re going to be okay, I promise. Remu is going to be fine.” Why is she talking to me as if I’m fragile?
Emma rubbed calming circles in Edgylus’ back, whispering words of assurance into his ear. Before he knew it, the tears were pouring and he was sobbing into his wife’s neck.
The realisation was a numb one.
Oh, that’s why. I don’t want to lose Remu. I am fragile.
And maybe that realisation would be the turning point for Edgy and Remu’s relationship. Hopefully fate would allow just one more kiss.
Siriussy stared at them. Gaped, really. He had been through too much emotional turmoil today than one should ever go through in their life. Jame was not being saved, Jame was married, Dorcas was stabbed, then killed a man, Remu had been shot, the Order had a new member, and Siriussy was very confused. He was just so lost. What the fuck?
They had escaped back to the van after Cunter had…had died. And…Siriussy was just…
“We’ll get him back. Don’t worry.” Dorcas was speaking to him, he realised.
Siriussy simply nodded, looking down. As much as he wished Jame were there, his friends had just risked their lives. “I know we will, just…let’s just worry about you all first. I mean, you’ve been stabbed for Sigma Merlin’s sake!” Siriussy didn’t know where the energy to say any of this came from, but he was glad it did. He didn’t want to be selfish. The only reason any of these people were here was because Siriussy couldn’t handle being away from his boyfriend.
Boyfriend? Have you even kissed the guy? A voice in the back of his head snarled. Rather unfair of his subconscious, if you ask Siriussy.
Well maybe if I could get him back, I would!
Mhm, sure. Coward.
“Dorcas we need to get you medical attention,” Lily said, eyeing the knife sticking out of the woman’s side.
“Where? Omega Chambers was compromised,” Evan pointed out, leaning against the side of the van, clutching his stomach as if he were about to be sick. Pandora was driving, so maybe that was actually the case.
“Doesn’t anyone know where Poppy lives?” Pandora asked from the driver’s seat, swerving down the dirt roads around Cunter’s property, throwing her passengers from side to side. M. shrugged and raised her hand like a school child. “I mean, I don’t off the top of my head, but she’s an Alpha, right?” Lily nodded. “Okay then, I can probably find out. I have my connections, you know.”
The new woman, Mary, furrowed her eyebrows, giving M. an appraising look. Siriussy didn’t know how to feel about her. She…just wasn’t anything, really. Neutral. Siriussy found it unsettling. Maybe it was just the day he’d had. Maybe.
“Evans? Evans? Come in Evans!” A voice rang out through the van from Lily’s radio, likely the last one they had (A/N: Don’t fact check this it’s been a long month). It was—
“Edgylus?” Remu had snatched the radio from Lily’s holster in an instant.
“Oh Great Sigmas,” Edgylus sighed, “you’re okay.”
“Yeah, yeah I’m okay.” Remu nodded to himself, breaths slowing. “And you? Are you—?”
“I’m fine, yeah, perfectly fine.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
Siriussy watched on with pangs of jealousy. They might not be together anymore, but they can still see each other and know that the other is alive. Siriussy doesn’t get that. And maybe he’s angry about it. Just maybe.
“Alright, everyone out. I need to return the van,” Pandora announced. “M. you take Dorcas, Lily, you go with them. And…Remu go to Edgylus, okay? Evan, you can take Siriussy to his dorm to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid like break into Alphaban. Oh, and Mary? You can go with M. too. She’ll take care of you.”
Everyone nodded. They would meet up in Edgylus’ closet another day to figure things out. But for now, they needed to…to rest. Siriussy wanted so desperately to argue, but Evan grabbed his arm and dragged his tired body onto a train, then into the Sigma Training Centre. It was late by the time they were entering his room. The day had gone, yet Jame had not been recovered. Siriussy fell onto his bed, trying not to think about all the hope he had had earlier that morning. ‘Hope’ is something people always hold on to. Alas, Siriussy was a fucking dumbass to truly believe his hopes were plausible. (A/N: –awsdfhytrd) Hope will only lead to disappointment.
“Mate?” Siriussy lifted his head. He’d forgotten that Evan was there. “Are you gonna be okay for the night? I don’t want to leave you alone if you’ll do something you’ll regret.”
Siriussy paused. Why would Evan care? They only knew each other because of Jame, who practically wasn’t in the picture anymore.
“I—” he didn’t know what to say, “could you? Stay, I mean?”
Evan gave him a sad smile. “‘Course.”
Maybe he didn’t have Jame today, but it seemed like Siriussy wasn’t truly alone. And maybe that was what was important right then. One thing at a time.