Work Text:
It was a quiet Friday night, one that found Warriors and Time curled up in bed with Warriors almost nonchalantly draped against Time as they read side by side. It had been a tough day for the both of them, Time wrought out from whatever happened at the office that he couldn’t or wouldn’t discuss, and though they usually found themselves falling into bed for more recreational purposes, there was a quiet contentment sitting in his chest that was new to Warriors as he turned the page of his book in tandem with Time.
Peaceful. That was a rare one.
A sharp tone from his phone broke the silence. Warriors huffed a breath of frustrated air, sure he’d turned off his notifications for the night, and grabbed his phone to double-check.
A text from Wind, with an attachment. Warriors scoffed. Had he really bypassed the Do Not Disturb to harass him with memes? Warriors usually wasn’t the target of Wind’s stupid online mischief, but it swung around to him from time to time, when Four had actually blocked Wind’s number and Twilight had threatened him enough that Wind was cowed.
Curiosity, and habit, won over Warriors’ resolve to turn off his phone and go back to his night, and he opened the text. If it was a meme, he could tell Wind to fuck off. And maybe block him.
The text itself was just the word “URGENT,” to bypass the notification settings. Scrolling slightly up to see the full image, Warriors furrowed his brow– the image was a screenshot of a social media story, with Wild’s face front and center, clearly holding the camera. He was sandwiched in the frame with a guy in a red jacket and cargo pants, a balaclava pulled up to reveal a toothy smile and goggles obscuring his eyes. The background of a bar cast colorful lights on their faces. The guy’s arm was slung around Wild’s neck, and Warriors considered that that was probably the reason Wind had sent this to him– his thing with Time and Wild’s thing with Time had begun to overlap, and the residents of the house were no longer strangers to Warriors and Wild making their way downstairs together, their early rising habits matching their hickeys. Wind was juvenile like that. He went to close the image, accidently tapping rather than swiping, and the image zoomed in. Warriors froze, and stared.
An insignia popped out of the corner of the frame, a pin on the guy’s red jacket: an inverted Sheikah eye, simplified and outlined in a darker red than the jacket. Warriors pushed himself up, and Time looked at him questioningly.
Fuck. Warriors was unsure how much Time knew about Wild’s background. Warriors was unsure how much Wild himself knew about his past.
He also didn’t know what exactly Wild had gotten into now, except that it definitely wasn’t good.
He flashed a smile at Time, and stood up.
“Be right back, I just need to– check on something.”
Time’s brow furrowed, and his eye narrowed. Warriors met it defiantly. Time had kept secrets from them, and it was Warriors’ turn now. Time couldn’t make him talk if he didn’t want to.
“Okay,” Time said finally, and Warriors ducked out of the room, skidding down the hall to Wind’s room. The door was closed, and Warriors slammed it open.
“What the hell!” Wind startled, and turned to see Warriors, his expression becoming a cross between mild regret and guilt. “Oh. Hey, Wars.”
“Where is Wild?”
Wind’s eyes widened, and a grin started to creep onto his face. “Jeez, I knew you were jealous– talk about hypocrisy–”
“Shut up, it’s not that. Where is he?” Warriors pushed into the room. Wind tried to bodily cover his desktop screen, and Warriors scoffed. “I don’t care about your porn. Tell me where Wild is.”
“Hold on– let me look–” Wind hunched his shoulder and tapped away at his keyboard. “He went to check out that tiki bar near Dark’s place because he heard Dark complaining about it, but I forget the name.”
A couple seconds later, and he swung back around in his chair triumphantly. “Stupid name. Club Tropicana-banana.”
Warriors groaned, and put his face in his palms.
“Fuck, that’s so obvious. And stupid.” He glanced up at Wind. “Did anyone go with him?”
“He was trying to get me to go with him but I can’t– well, I could, with a fake, but I didn’t want to. Because everyone else is having date night.”
Warriors slammed his fist on the desk. “Fuck!”
Wind watched him, bemused. “What’s wrong? He goes off on his own all the time.”
“It’s–”
Before Warriors could even begin to try to answer, one of Wind’s monitors lit up, a chime of notification accompanying. Wild’s story again. Something in Warriors’ head located this as something to make fun of Wind for– why did he have Wild’s social media on post notifications, the little freak– until he saw the image.
It was another selfie, but with a different hand holding the camera. Wild was either extremely drunk or - as Warriors’s paranoid brain eagerly supplied, drugged– his head was lolling, eyes half lidded, smile uncertain. A hand clamped around his waist held him upright, and the same bottom of a face that was exposed under the mask pressed against Wild’s left cheek, tongue trailing over his scars. Wild was still shy about his scars– even after months of healing, though he would pull his hair back to let them show, he barely let Time give them physical attention, let alone a complete stranger.
Warriors felt the hot surge of rage enter his chest, and reached for Wind’s phone, clutched in his hand. Wind’s face was pale, shocked, as he stared, mouth agape, at the screen. He snapped out of as Warriors snatched his phone out of his hand.
“Hey!”
“Shut up,” Warriors said, flipping frantically through the apps until he found contacts, then Twilight’s contact. Holding the phone up to his ear, he backed away from Wind as the phone began to ring. It rang for far too long, four times before Twilight picked up.
“Wind? What do you want?” His voice was raspy and breathless. Warriors winced.
“Twilight–”
“Warriors?” Twilight’s tone colored with confusion and frustration. “Why–”
Warriors plowed forward. “I need you to go to that tiki bar near Dark’s. Are you at Dark’s?”
“Well, yeah,” Twilight said. His breathing had steadied, but he still sounded, understandably, confused and off center. Warriors didn’t blame him. “Why?”
“Wild is there, and he’s in trouble. I need–”
“What do you mean, in trouble?”
“Let me talk, Twilight,” Warriors snapped. “You’re close by. Wild’s really drunk or drugged or something and someone who fucking hates him has their hands on him and he doesn’t even know– I don’t know what they’re going to–”
Warriors cut himself off, hearing his own tone start to warble. No one knew this. No one but him and Wild– though maybe not even Wild, anymore, what with the brain damage. No one knew what had happened last time. The gravity of the situation was beginning to set in emotionally. Fuck, he hadn’t even had to think about these fucks and their vendetta against Wild in a while. Goddess damn it all.
“Wild’s–” Twilight was stuttering, tripping over his words as he tried to process. “What’s- what’s the place called?”
“Club– Club Tropicana-Banana,” Warriors said, looking at Wind for confirmation. Wind glanced at the screen and nodded, face still pale. “Bring Dark. Twilight, don’t go alone, bring Dark.”
Twilight didn’t respond, but Warriors heard voices through the microphone, muffled and harried. The phone thudded as it was picked up, and Dark’s slimy voice seeped through the mic.
“What’s going on, pretty boy?”
“Shut up,” Warriors snapped automatically. “Sorry.”
He could hear Dark smirking. “Go on.”
Warriors took a breath. “Wild’s at that tiki bar near your place. He’s in trouble. Can’t really say more than that. I need you to go with Twilight– but just get him out of there.”
“What’s with the classified info?” Dark asked with less of a smile, but still more prying and less urgent than Warriors wanted. “Don’t I get to know what I’m getting into? And Twilight?”
“No,” Warriors snapped. “It’s about Wild’s past. I’m not telling more than you need to know. Just get him out of there, but don’t engage more than you need to. And I mean need to. They’re dangerous.”
“Alright,” Dark drawled. “What kind of trouble?”
“I don’t know what they want with him but one of them posted on his Snapchu-chu story. He was– either really drunk, or drugged, and–”
“It’s not on his story anymore,” Wind said quietly but urgently from behind Warriors’ back. “I guess someone thought to delete it.”
“Dark, can you guys just get there and get him out of there? I’ll be on my way, I just– you’re much closer by, and–” Warriors ran out of air, and realized he’d been breathing incredibly shallowly. He took a deep breath. It didn’t calm him down.
“Twilight’s already got his shoes on. We’ll be over there in ten minutes, tops.” Dark’s tone had shifted to something more sober– maybe he just permanently sounded slightly flirtatious, or at the very least sarcastic. Still, Warriors could tell he was serious. “I’ll call you back.”
He hung up, and Warriors tried to take another breath. Wind snatched his phone out of Warriors’ hand, and stood up. “So, let’s go.”
Warriors started, and turned to glare at Wind. “You’re not going. Keep an eye on Wild’s social media– no, his location.”
“What am I, your secretary?” Wind grumbled. “I wanna see some action!”
“No, you don’t,” Warriors growled, and strode out of the room. He had to get Time.
He paused on the stairs. This… this was going to change things. Time would have questions about who was after Wild, and so would Twilight… and the only person who could answer was Wild. Twilight and Wild were just beginning to settle back into their friendship after their falling out, and Warriors didn’t want to watch Wild isolate and deteriorate like that ever again. His stomach twisted as he imagined Time and Twilight staring at Wild like a stranger, how his face would crumple; he’d probably disappear again, and maybe for good this time.
And Time would be dejected, off-kilter. Like he was after Malon, at first. Like he was when Twilight was gone. He’d get self-destructive again, and Warriors didn’t want to bear that.
Maybe Time didn’t have to know just yet. Dark was extremely capable, and Twilight, no matter what, would make sure Wild was safe. Maybe Wild wouldn’t even have to know the extent of it. Maybe they’d get there in time, before anything horrible happened, and all Warriors would have to do was pick Wild up from Dark’s apartment and get him into bed, and take care of his hangover the next morning.
He’d have to talk to him about it. This couldn’t happen again.
But maybe not tonight. Maybe not until Wild was safe and comfortable and not drugged.
Warriors spun on his heel, and went quietly downstairs, snagging a pair of boots and a jacket to wear over his lounge pants and V-neck on the way. And his gun, from his sock drawer, tucked into the waistband of his pants behind the jacket. The car was in the driveway, and Warriors carefully took the keys off their hook and left through the front door.
Everything was going to be fine. It probably wouldn’t be, but it was nice to tell himself that.
He found a parking spot four blocks away, and speedwalked to the door of the bar. It had a giant, brightly lit neon banana as the sign. The knot in Warriors’ throat was too big for him to laugh at it. As he pushed inside, he was met with a wave of heat off the crowd, the music loud, cheery, and bassy. Warriors shoved off a Rito with brightly dyed feathers, on his way to the bar, when a hand grabbed his arm. Warriors whipped around, hand going to his waistband–
“Whoa, calm down–” he barely caught, but he saw Twilight’s face illuminated by the colorful dim lights of the bar. It was drawn, eyes wide. Warriors pulled his arm free, and ducked his head next to Twilight’s ear.
“Where’s Wild? Dark?”
Twilight put a hand on Warriors’ elbow to pull him toward the back of the bar and ducked his head to Warriors’ ear in return. “We were keeping an eye on them after we got here– there were three guys around him, and they wouldn’t let me even get close– then they took Wild outside–”
“What?” Warriors yelped, whipping his head up to look at Twilight. Twilight huffed in frustration. Further into the bar, back by the bathrooms, the music was less overwhelming.
“Dark followed them. It was only a few minutes ago, and he said to wait, but–”
“Where?” Warriors demanded. Twilight kept pulling him by the elbow.
“It’s where I’m taking you, Sherlock. C’mon.”
The door was just past the bathrooms, obscured slightly by a large cut out of a pineapple that lay askew against the wall, obviously having been moved. Twilight pushed it fully out of the way and opened the door, shoving outward. The heavy door smacked against the wall next to it, alerting everyone in the alleyway to their presence.
Three masked faces, covered by the same balaclava, turned toward them. One belonged to the same man from Wild’s story, the one who was clearly the most attached to creeping on Wild, who had Wild’s limp form pinned to the side of the building and half-undressed. The other two were engaged with Dark, both bulkier and generally larger than the first man, one pinning Dark’s arms while the other was beaten back by Dark’s steel toed boots.
Warriors’ stomach lurched as he took in the scene over Twilight’s shoulder, then realized himself and shoved Twilight back. He was a country boy– a civilian– and Warriors was technically a trained soldier. Twilight pushed back at him, trying to jockey back to the front, and in that time the bulky guy trying to get at Dark had barked something at the guy stripping Wild. Wild crumpled to the ground, dropped unceremoniously like a pile of wet rags, as the guy pinning him turned to deal with the two dumb fucks at the doorway.
The two dumb fucks at the doorway had a gun, and Warriors pulled it out, steadily pointing and aiming at the man. Twilight stopped pushing at him, sucking in a sharp breath between his teeth and stepping back. Warriors could practically feel him vibrating, obviously wishing he could run forward to check on Wild, but he stayed back for now. Thank the Goddesses.
The man himself froze, but Warriors saw him twitch– and sure enough, he quickly sprang forward, going for the gun, perhaps underestimating what Warriors was willing to do. Warriors shot him between the eyes before he cleared the alleyway, and his body fell bonelessly to the ground.
“Shit!” Twilight yelped, grabbing at Warriors’ shoulder again. “What the fuck!”
Warriors couldn’t speak. He focused on taking steady breaths. Adrenaline had taken over all other thoughts and feelings, and he shook Twilight off and strode forward. A roaring started up in his ears.
The gunshot had taken the three in the ally by surprise for a moment, the two men attacking Dark staring in surprise at their fallen compatriot– giving Dark, who shook off the shock more quickly, a chance to wrench himself free from their grip and take the guy in front of him to the ground. As Dark began to pummel the guy under him, Warriors felt himself lifting the gun again.
There was something about the way Wild’s eyes had looked the last time Warriors had gotten him out of this. There was something about the way Wild had moved– desperately, like a cornered animal, like there was something much more deep to this than a cult that fixated or a gang that he owed money. The men back then had died, both to Warriors’ gun and to Wild’s hands– at least, that’s what it had looked like when Warriors had arrived after Wild’s scream to find two men on the ground with broken necks, and another three holding a thrashing Wild down with a knife to his throat. Warriors hadn’t commented. There was something there he didn’t know if he wanted to know. Wild hadn’t volunteered anything, and Warriors hadn’t pushed. He had, in fact, tried to bury it. He wasn’t even sure how much Wild could tell him, now– his memory had only seemed to get worse as the months wore on.
And Wild’s eyes hadn’t ever looked like that again. There had been a terrible pain and fear when his face was burned during that initial home invasion; there had been panic mixed with relief when they’d found him at Igneous Voe; there was a fierce aggression on his face when they’d fought back at the guys who had captured Time at the Lunar Cycle. But there had never been that kind of terror– like the world (his world) would end.
Nowadays, Wild’s face was usually sunny and smiling. His eyes matched that smile, easy going and kind. Somehow innocent– it was incongruous with the version of him Warriors had known before. And Warriors was okay with that. He liked where he was now, and who he was now– who they both were.
But at this moment, Wild was slumped on the ground, clothing torn and half gone. His face was slack in unconsciousness, mouth slightly open. Twilight had made it to his side, and was trying to rouse him with no success.
Warriors shot the man on the ground in front of him in the gut, and again in the chest. The roar in his ears was deafening.
He managed to make out movement– Dark standing up from the guy on the ground who had gone still, blood pooling underneath his head. Warriors knelt next to him, checked his pulse. It was gone.
Dark stared down at Warriors, head tilted, eyes narrowed. Warriors met his gaze with his own, steely and cold. Dark seemed to make a decision, and let out a puff of air– almost a laugh, but with no humor attached.
“We gotta go,” he declared, stepping back. “Get your boy.”
Twilight didn’t have anything to say to that, evidently, silently scooping up Wild in his arms and heading swiftly out of the alley. His face was pale, eyes downcast and fixed firmly on Wild to avoid looking at the dead men on the ground. Dark turned to Warriors.
“Any cover-up? This isn’t exactly subtle.”
Warriors remembered the fire in the corner store a couple days after that… run-in at Hateno. They could clean up after themselves, but maybe they could make sure there was less collateral damage. He nodded.
“Hide them. Just so no one calls the guard too soon.”
Dark let out another huff. “Sure.”
They ended up hiding the bodies behind the dumpster at the end of the ally, sloppily and quickly. Somehow, no one came to investigate the gunshots– out of character for a tiki bar, but at least it worked out in their favor. Twilight was waiting at the end of the block, with Wild wrapped in his coat, still knocked out and hefted into Twilight’s arms in a princess carry.
“What the fuck,” was the first thing he said, and as he opened his mouth to keep asking questions, Dark, surprisingly, cut him off.
“Not now, darlin’.”
Twilight snapped his mouth shut, but he looked shocked and angry about it. Understandable, Warriors thought.
“Let’s wait ‘til we’re back at our place. Then Warriors here can tell us everything.”
Warriors jolted, the fading adrenaline in his veins giving him a kick. “What? No. I’m taking Wild home.”
“Okay, where’s your car?” Dark said. “We’ll come along.”
Warriors spluttered. “No! Go home.” He turned to Twilight. “Give me Wild, I got him.”
Twilight pulled back from him. “No.”
“What do you mean, no, I’m taking him home and that’s the end of it–”
“I said no,” Twilight said. “I don’t want you near him, right now. I’m taking him—”
“And you don’t get him back until we get answers,” Dark said. Twilight turned to glare at him.
“We’re not keeping Wild hostage. I’m just.. I want to make sure he’s safe.”
Warriors felt his mouth hanging open in surprise. “Safe? I’m not– he’s safe at home! He’ll be safe in his own bed!”
“I just watched you kill two people,” Twilight hissed.
“And your boyfriend’s done a whole lot worse,” Warriors snapped. “And I did it for him. And I’d do it again.”
He didn’t realize what he was saying until the words were out of his mouth. He realized it was true in that same moment.
“Let’s take this conversation off the street, huh?” Dark interjected. “Car. Now. Then we can figure out what to do.”
They were silent on the walk to the car. Warriors’ limbs felt like lead, and he tried to focus on taking deep breaths, on the ground beneath his feet, on the fabric against his skin. He realized there were flecks of blood on his pants. He looked away from himself, eyes landing on Twilight keeping pace with him, with Wild still clutched to his chest. Wild’s lips parted with each shallow breath, and Warriors’ heart clenched.
As they got to the car, Warriors turned to them. “Okay, thanks, guys. Let’s check in later, huh?”
“Nope,” Dark said, snatching the keys out of Warriors’ hand. “I’ll drive.”
Warriors let it happen. He wasn’t getting out of this easily, but maybe by the time they got back to the house Dark would be satisfied. He climbed in the passenger’s seat, and Twilight got in the back, laying Wild out across the seat on his side, head in Twilight’s lap.
“So,” Dark said as he pulled out of the parking spot. “Tell me all about it.”
“I literally already said I couldn’t tell you,” Warriors said, eyes fixed on rearview mirror. His gaze shifted between Wild and Twilight, and the road behind them.
“That was before I had to kill a guy. And before you shot people.”
“You didn’t have to kill him.”
“Oh, I didn’t?” Dark’s eyebrows rose, and as he turned to Warriors the wheel turned and the car lurched to the side. Twilight yelped as Wild nearly rolled out of his lap.
“Eyes on the road!”
“Sorry,” Dark said, steadying the wheel. “My bad. He okay?”
“Yeah,” Twilight said quietly. Warriors watched him smooth Wild’s hair with a tenderness he hadn’t seen in a while.
“I didn’t have to kill him?” Dark repeated, drawing Warriors’ attention back to him. “I was following your lead, quickshot.”
“If you didn’t want to, I could have,” Warriors said, still not looking at him.
“I thought you were a civilian now– did you even kill anyone in the service?”
“Not talking about that,” Warriors snapped.
“Okay, then tell me why we killed three guys tonight,” Dark drawled.
“Stop talking about killing,” Twilight said. “Just– stop saying it like that.”
Dark glanced back at him in the rearview, making eye contact. “It’s what happened.”
“Just— please— ease up.”
Dark nodded. Twilight put his head back down, gaze back on Wild– hand now hovering above his mouth and nose to check breathing.
“Is he doing okay?” Warriors twisted in his seat, turning to look at the two in the back. Twilight looked up at him.
“He’s okay. I think. Is Hyrule home?”
“He and Legend were having date night, but that usually means getting wine drunk and watching a movie. So probably.”
Twilight’s mouth tightened. “Okay.”
Dark snapped his hand next to Warriors’ ear. “He’s alright. Can’t do much until we get back. Stop trying to get out of this.”
Warriors whipped back to finally face Dark. “Holy shit, I already told you–”
Dark slammed on the brakes, jolting Warriors forward. Wild was saved from fully falling off the seat by Twilight’s arms around his shoulders, but he flopped forward, head sharply lolling from side to side. The screech of the brakes was quickly replaced by yelling.
“What the fuck!”
Dark snarled. “I need to know what we’ve gotten into–”
“That’s enough!” Twilight roared, his tone contrasted with his tender posture, still bent to cradle Wild to his chest. “Stop fucking around– someone’s going to get hurt!”
He stopped, and looked down at his friend, limp in his arms. “Someone already got hurt. Warriors, what’s going on?”
Warriors sighed. “Can it wait? I’ll tell you when we’re home. I just need– I want to make sure–”
Twilight’s eyes remained on Wild. “Yeah. Dark, keep driving. Warriors– I’m holding you to that.”
He looked up, and Warriors met his gaze in the rearview. Dark grumbled, and started the car.
“I’ll tell you what I can,” Warriors said. “It might not be much. But I’ll tell you what you need to know.”
Twilight just nodded, and put his head back, eyes falling closed. He suddenly looked exhausted. Warriors watched his hands tighten around Wild’s shoulders and head. It was odd seeing the usually hyper-active cook this still for this long. Unsettling. It should be, Warriors reminded himself, and turned his own head away, watching the dark streets pass by.
Time was the living room, lights on, when they got back. Warriors probably should have guessed that he would be. He couldn’t even really blame Wind for it.
He stayed sitting as Warriors walked in the front door, his face tightened when he saw Dark follow, but he got to his feet, already striding across the room, as Twilight walked in with Wild. He was by Twilight’s side in a second, and Warriors grabbed his shoulder.
“Let him get Wild upstairs. We can talk.”
Time turned his hard look on Warriors. “Yes. We will talk.”
But he stepped aside, and Twilight began to carry his friend up the stairs. Warriors paused on the first step. Time stood a few paces behind him, ready to follow. Warriors called quietly up the stairs.
“Twilight– get Wild settled. I’m going to tell Time what happened. I don’t want us getting in the way.”
Twilight looked over his shoulder. He looked at Dark, and nodded his head toward Warriors and Time, and carried on up the stairs, Wild cradled to his chest.
The three men ended up in the living room, the yellow glow of the lamps lighting the scene. Dark sprawled out on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table. Time sat back in his armchair, eye piercing and fixed on Warriors, who had perched on the loveseat perpendicular to the couch.
“Wild got roofied,” Warriors said, unwilling to let Time’s silence make him sweat (though it already was).
“Okay,” Time said. His tone was dangerously calm. “And you couldn’t let me know before you left to get him? Or let Dark and Twilight take care of it and bring him home? Or do anything besides run off in the middle of the night?”
“I panicked,” Warriors shot back, trying to match Time’s composure. “Wind showed me that someone had a hold of Wild’s phone and took a picture with him– I thought I recognized the guy who Wild was with.”
“And who was he?”
“I was… mistaken,” Warriors said. He kept his gaze locked on Time, though he could just barely make out Dark’s slouch from the corner of his eye, which lapsed as Dark heard Warriors start to lie. “Just some asshole. He got aggressive and we got into a bit of a scrap, but he won’t bother Wild again. We sent him off with a pretty nasty reminder.”
Time’s eye was seemingly attempting to bore into Warriors’ soul. Warriors refused to let up.
“It’s fine. It was… a moment of emotional judgement, since–” he gritted his teeth. Goddesses damn it all, Dark was still here, too, and watching this conversation, matching Time’s intense stare. Warriors could feel it. “Wild means a lot to us– to me– and I wanted to make sure he was alright. I just– got caught up in it.”
Time’s gaze held on Warriors, but it softened.
“I’m sorry,” Warriors said hoarsely. “This isn’t going to happen again because I’m never letting Wild go out on his own again, but I will let you know if there is something so you can join in beating up rapist assholes. Alright?”
Time sighed, closed his eye briefly. He nodded. “I understand– and it would be hypocritical of me to get angry over that. I haven’t exactly been a shining example of restraint in regards to solo violence. Let’s talk more about this in the morning– but thank you for the explanation.”
He turned his eye on Dark, though. “Anything to add?”
Warriors’s chest tightened. Dark’s expression hadn’t changed– it was in its neutral, sour state, as Dark met Time’s eye. He’d been so insistent in the car. Maybe he would call Warriors a liar and contradict him just to get answers. Maybe he’d do it just to be a dick.
“Nah,” Dark said. “Warriors must have driven like a madman, because he got there right as Twilight and I did. Maybe keep an eye out for speeding tickets. We got Wild away from that guy before anything really bad happened, though– just some light groping–”
“Alright,” Time said, standing up. “Thank you, Dark. That’s enough.”
Dark snorted. “Sir, yes sir.”
“We should bring Wild to the hospital,” Time said. “You don’t happen to know what he was given, do you?”
Warriors blanched. He’d been so wrapped up in making sure Wild was home safe, not able to be found by that group, that he’d forgotten the implications of what mixing enough drugs and alcohol to make him lose consciousness that deeply could do to Wild. Fuck. But– the hospital left him in public. Vulnerable.
With no response, Time left the room. Warriors scrambled to his feet and followed Time into the hallway.
“Wait– Time–
Time turned to him, face serious. “If you don’t know what’s in his system, we should bring him in. Unless you have a reason to risk his life letting him sleep it off?”
Warriors blanched. He’d been so wrapped up in making sure Wild was home safe, not able to be found by those men, that he’d forgotten the implications of what mixing enough drugs and alcohol to make him lose consciousness that deeply could do to Wild. Fuck.
His silence was once again answer enough, and Time turned again to make his way upstairs.
“Warriors, get your car ready,” he said as he went. “We’ll be down in a moment.”
Warriors allowed himself a moment to slump against the wall. Fuck.
“So,” Dark said, slinking into the hall and leaning against the wall beside him. “I had your back. Now you owe me.”
“Not doing that,” Warriors said, pushing himself off the wall and striding down the hall. He’d take Time’s car, not his. Just in case.
“An explanation!” Dark kept pace with Warriors, his physique lending him the speed needed to keep with Warriors’ speedwalk. “Nothing else, you freak.”
Warriors kept his gaze forward as he grabbed Time’s keys. They made it outside before Dark spoke again.
“Are you just alright with being a murderer? Maybe you were looking for an excuse–”
Warriors finally spun to face Dark. “Wild was in danger. I did what I had to do.”
He paused when he saw Dark’s face. There was a glint in his eyes, a twitch in the side of his mouth– his gaze searching Warriors’ own to try and uncover something else–
Dark knew more than he did. Warriors wasn’t sure he wanted to learn everything. At least not right now.
“I don’t have much more to say,” he continued slowly. “I know they’re dangerous. I know they have it out for Wild. I don’t know who they are, or what they want. But they had to– they couldn’t–”
Dark nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“That’s what you know,” Dark said. “Just wanted that.”
The front door opened, and Time exited, Twilight close on his heels and somewhat shame-faced. Wild was still limp, held close to Time’s chest. Warriors’ chest tightened again, like wire digging into skin, at the pallor on Wild’s face, his slack expression. Unbidden, the image of Wild’s chest stilling, lips bubbling with vomit or with foam, surged to his mind, and he turned away, opening the car door to the backseat. After Twilight was settled in with Wild, he climbed in the front. Time took the driver’s seat.
“I’m sleeping in your bed,” Dark informed Warriors through his car window. Warriors flipped him off as they drove away.
They decided to keep Wild in a bed in the emergency room for observation, at least until he woke up. Twilight settled into a seat at his bedside while Time stepped out to talk with the nurse about the results of his blood tests. The heart monitor beeped steadily.
Warriors found himself hovering at the edge of the curtained off area, and his fingers twitched on the edge of it, ready to draw it aside and leave. Twilight caught his eye. He spoke quietly, but firmly.
“Bring Time back in here. We’re talking.”
“Tomorrow,” Warriors said.
“Bullshit,” Twilight said, voice still quiet but tight. “Warriors, I know there’s all sorts of shady shit that goes on around Dark, around Time, and they keep it hidden– but this is new, and you killed three people over it. This isn’t something you should keep to yourself. Is this something–”
He broke off, and looked over at Wild’s slack face. Warriors watched as Twilight’s throat worked, his mouth opened and closed as he tried to formulate a question or a thought or an accusation. Warriors closed the curtain, and strode to Wild’s bed, sitting lightly on the foot of it. He faced Twilight.
“I don’t know who those men were,” he started, voice low, and Twilight’s brow furrowed, and his mouth opened. Warriors held up a hand. “Hold on. Let me say my piece. I don’t know who those men were, but I’ve seen the symbol associated with them before. It was before I met you guys, mostly, but I knew Wild, and I saw men with the same symbol on their jackets try to kill him. Wild doesn’t even seem to remember it, now– I guess what causes his memory issues swallowed it.”
He wasn’t sure how true that was. He was going to stick with it unless Wild proved him wrong. He barged ahead in case Twilight tried to talk more about any of it, keeping his voice even and firm, like he was delivering a mission report, but quiet, mindful of their exposed state in the emergency room beds.
“I know they’re a dangerous group, and I know they mean to cause him harm. I also know they don’t appear very often– this is the first time I’ve encountered them here in the city. I’ll keep an eye out, and you can keep an eye out, but I don’t think it would be a good idea to go digging.”
Twilight’s brow remained creased, but his expression was otherwise unreadable. Warriors swallowed, trying to get the last few words unstuck from his throat.
“Wild’s happy,” he finally managed. “I– I’ve watched him become this happy for the first time since I’ve known him, and that– that innocence is a part of it. I don’t want to ruin it. I don’t think he’ll remember much from tonight, and I’d like to keep it that way. Otherwise, he’ll blame himself, he’ll run– we’ll lose him again, and I can’t bear that.”
He willed himself to keep his voice steady, his face neutral, and felt himself failing miserably.
Twilight’s mouth twisted. His gaze flicked back and forth– Warriors’ face, which he imagined held an embarrassingly vulnerable expression, and Wild’s, which was peaceful despite the unnatural stillness of his sleep. His hand reached out almost unconsciously, smoothing Wild’s hair.
“This is not a good idea,” he said lowly. “If there are people out there that are dangerous, after him, and Wild doesn’t know–”
He looked up again, and locked eyes with Warriors. “You’re right, though. We’ll lose him if he does.”
“Time can’t know either,” Warriors said lowly. “He won’t be able to resist looking into it. And him and Wild–”
“I won’t say anything.” Twilight maintained their eye contact, setting his jaw. “Not yet. But if this happens again–”
“We’ll deal with it.”
“We’ll talk about it. With everyone. This is a one-off. A fluke. I’ll put it out of my mind the best I can, but I won’t do this again.”
“Fine,” Warriors said. Fine. He would make sure it wouldn’t.
“And we’re implementing a buddy system for clubbing. Especially for Wild.”
Caught off guard, Warriors let out a bark of a laugh. A small smile crept onto Twilight’s face, and the two let the moment hang in the air for a moment as Twilight’s hand stole back across Wild’s hair, smoothing his bangs and petting across his scalp. It passed, and Twilight’s expression sobered again.
“He’ll be alright,” he whispered. Warriors found himself unconsciously grasping Wild’s shin through the sheets. He couldn’t bring himself to respond.
He ended up going home with Twilight at Time’s insistence. Wind’s light was still on under his door, he noted, as he made his way down the hall to his room, and his impulse to push it open and confront Wind again, just to get him to keep all of this locked down, was just barely beat out by the pure exhaustion coursing through his veins. Despite this, though Dark wasn’t in his bed, when Warriors fell into it he still couldn’t sleep. His mind spun, and his muscles tensed. He tossed and turned for a while, then kicked off his covers.
Wind’s light had gone out when he passed his room, and the stairs creaked as he climbed up them, impossibly loud in the quiet of early hour. Slipping between Time’s sheets, Warriors tried not to feel incredibly alone, and tried to breathe in his scent to combat the thoughts already spiraling and pooling around Time, Wild, Dark– the bodies in the alley–
The change of bed did the trick though, and even if Warriors’s dreams were horrific, he didn’t remember them when he woke up to the sun streaming into his eyes and the sound of his phone going off.