Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Las Vegas, November of 2000

Xavier's trailer is small, the interior so neat it's almost sterile. He hangs his keys on a hook by the door, seeming increasingly more anxious as I strip off my backpack and coat, tossing them over the compact dining table. Keeping his own jacket on, Xavier apprehensively asks, "I'm going to go to the bathroom. If that's ok? Before uh- we..."

"Sure," I reply, "It's your house." My head is still spinning slightly, so I wander over to the small bed tucked in the corner of the trailer. As Xavier disappears into the only room with a door, I flop down onto the mattress and stare up at the unremarkable drywall ceiling. 

hes acting weird. why is he acting weird. am i acting weird?

A few moments of silence pass, and Xavier doesn't reemerge from the bathroom.

maybe he doesnt actually like me. maybe he knows i have a boyfriend and im a piece of shit. maybe he has a girlfriend. why am i even doing this?

My stomach rumbles, and I can't tell if it's from all the beer, the guilt, or the sudden and overwhelming urge to kick down the bathroom door and drag him out. My feed and fuck instincts are at war with each other. Cursing the residual inebriation, I rake my hands across my face and hold them there. 

Twenty or so minutes later, I hear the bathroom door squeak open. Pulling my hands from my face, I quickly hop up from the bed- wobble slightly- and say, "Hey. Sorry. I um, made myself comfortable."

Xavier's eyes are red and watery, and he carefully sets his folded jacket on the dresser. "You can." He replies. "Be comfortable, I mean." He steps closer to me, pauses, then closes the distance between our bodies. "Is it alright if I kiss you?"

There's something preposterous about the question, so instead of replying, I lean down and meet his lips. His mouth tastes like liquor, and I deepen the kiss, hungry to taste his tongue under the alcohol. His feathered hands clumsily pry the buttons of my vest open, and I shake the sleeves off my shoulders to help him along. Rotating him around so I'm facing the bed, I yank the zipper of his pants down and push the jeans off his waist. He breaks off the kiss as I grip my clawed hand into his hips, gently urging him onto his back. "Wait-" he whispers, his palms exploring the muscles of my stomach and back. "Is it ok if we-" his face turns pink, the color almost matching the skin on his neck. I duck my head down, grazing my teeth against the rough, red flesh. "-from behind?" Xavier stutters out. "Can I take you from behind," he amends.

Blinking in surprise, my eyebrows arched up, I lift my head. He pulls his own shirt off, exposing more rough and feathered flesh. "Yeah," I reply, my voice sounding puzzled. "You can just- do it. You don't have to ask," I add.

"Oh," Xavier mumbles. "Sorry." He stumbles, kicking his pants the rest of the way off, before turning me around and pressing me down into the mattress.

About an hour later, and I'm staring up at the ceiling again. Xavier lay on his side, facing the wall. His breathing is steady and quiet, but I can tell he's not asleep. I press a hand against my bare sternum, physically try to push down the hard knot of guilt in my chest. Dread comes and goes in waves as I picture Trog and the rest of the Boys fighting for their lives in Arcadia. I see Trog's face, furious, disgusted with me for my disloyalty. Turning my face to glare at the sandy blond back of Xavier's head, I fight the urge lash out at him.

why would it be his fault? he didnt make me have sex with him. he didnt force me to be an unfaithful bitch. 

Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I ask, "Is it ok if I stay the night?" Before Xavier can answer, I add, "I can go back to the motel, if not."

Xavier's voice is gentle as he replies, "You can stay."

Turning onto my side, facing the trailer's still interior, I stare at the slats of moonlight sneaking through the window blinds. After a moment, Xavier shifts beside me. He presses his body against my back, his arm snaking around my side as he rests his palm on my stomach. I breathe in the sweet smell of rot and dusty feathers and close my eyes.

There's a tweeting sound above my head. Squeezing my eyes shut, I try to fall back asleep despite Xavier's weird chirping snore. Turning my face towards the pillow, I'm greeted with the pungent scent of cut grass. 

the fuck

I open my eyes to blindingly bright sunlight and sit up in a panic. 

where the fuck am i

Somewhere in the distance behind me, there's the hum of a lawn mower. I turn to look, but the view is blocked by a large stone building. Several stories tall, the building has the reclusive look of a prison or an institution. I climb to my feet, brushing the grass clippings from my fur and cargo pants. A few feet away is a sleeping or unconscious figure, a human, laying face first in the grass. 

is this a dream? how did i get here? did i hurt that human?

At least one of my nonverbal questions is answered when the human stirs, groaning as he pushes himself up into a sit. He looks to be a teenager, his cheeks scattered with acne, his hair- black streaked with obnoxiously neon green- hanging in his face. He digs around in the pockets of his baggy jeans before he notices me. "Who the fuck are you," he asks, immediately hostile. "Did you kidnap me? I've got a knife!" Climbing gracelessly to his feet, he retrieves a flip phone from his pocket and scowls. "Ok, I guess I don't have a fucking knife." As if convinced of my safeness by my lack of reaction, the boy calmly ask, "But really- who are you?"

"I'm Maze," I reluctantly respond. Spotting my backpack beneath some carefully pruned bushes, I retrieve it and state, "I don't know who the fuck you are, either." Staring up at the building, I add, "And I have no idea where we are."

The boy follows my gaze and examines the building. "I think this is the Daughters of Mercy hospital. It's a looney bin run by a bunch of religious weirdos." Over the distant drone of the lawnmower, he says, "I'm Wagner. Everyone calls me Syringe Kid."

I make a face. "Why the fuck do they call you that?"

"I'm into some pretty hardcore shit," replies Wagner- Syringe Kid- whatever.

Feeling spooked, either by the situation or the looming sanitarium at my back, I start making my way across the freshly cut lawn. The building is surrounded by a tall, spear tipped fence, but I spot an open gate leading out to a parking lot.

To my disdain, the boy trails after me. "Do you think we were both kidnapped?" He asks. "Maybe we were sleepwalking. Have you ever sleepwalked before?"

Once my feet hit the concrete, I feel fractionally more calm. In the distance, I can see the jumble of lights and buildings that make up the Vegas strip. "I think it defeats the purpose of kidnapping if the people you kidnap just- leave," I finally respond. Pulling out my phone, I see that it's almost six in the morning, and I have no missed calls or messages. I frown down at the screen. "I don't think I sleepwalked, I'm usually pretty attentive to shit like that," I state.

"How can you be attentive if you're asleep," Wagner asks. "Last thing I remember doing was going to bed. What was the last thing you remember?"

awkward uneasy sex with a guy i barely know. 

"I was at a," I pause, "friend's house."

what if xavier kicked me out and i was too drunk to remember. i wasnt even that drunk though. what if he just dumped me here to get rid of me.

The boy is talking, rambling about somnambulism or botulism or something, and I largely ignore him as I dial the local taxi service. "Hey-" I interrupt him, "-what's the address here?" He tells me, and I repeat it to the voice on the phone. I get the usual estimate of ten to fifteen minutes before hanging up. 

Wagner keeps talking for the entire time I wait for the taxi. When the yellow car finally pulls up, he seems surprised. "Right, yeah, guess I should call myself a cab, too." He looks at me expectantly, as if I'm going to offer to carpool.

"It was great meeting you, Syringe Kid," I sardonically state, climbing into the cab and slamming the door behind me. I let the driver know where to drop me off, staring out towards the institution's vast grounds as we pull away. The uninterrupted lawnmower finally comes into view. Immersed in his work, the changeling in the driver's seat of the mower carefully steers around the base of a tree. "Huh," I mumble to myself, before settling back against the bench seat and once more attempting to rationalize the strange circumstances of my morning.

The taxi drops me off in front of the Flamingo. The SUV isn't in the lot, but I spot Liam leaning against an out of place sports car that looks like it costs more than the entire motel. There's a vaguely familiar changeling with him- a woman with expertly streaked, honey blond hair and an odd, almost two dimensional look about her. Liam waves to me as I approach, wearing a 'help me get out of this conversation' expression. Rolling my eyes, accepting that whatever concerns I have about my own issues will have to be put aside, I walk up to the two of them. "Ya'll are up early," I state in greeting.

The woman turns to me, baring her teeth in a dazzlingly white smile. Her features are attractive, but almost seem mismatched, as if created from a collage of different pictures put together. "I'm a morning person, Can't really say the same about some folks," she chirps, poking Liam's side with a manicured nail. "You must be Maze, Liam's told me a lot about you!"

I raise my eyebrow at Liam. "Probably all shit talk. You're um- Paige?"

The woman, Paige, giggles as she also looks at Liam. "Aw, you've been talking about me," she states. Liam pointedly avoids my gaze, and the repulsed look I give him. I try to force a facade of neutrality onto my face as Paige turns her attention back to me. "Hey- so you're friends with the Ancients, right?" She doesn't wait for me to answer. "I'm super jealous. They seem like they'd know so much interesting stuff!"

"Yeah, I guess they do," I reply in the momentary pause.

"I'm really into learning more about the hedge and stuff like that. Ralph- you know Ralph, right- is kind of like my mentor for the occult. He's told me about all sorts of cool things in the hedge, but doesn't really get in there himself that often." Paige pouts theatrically, her eyes sparkling. "I bet the Ancients are really familiar with the hedge around here. It's kind of their job, you know, to make sure the gentry aren't trying to sneak their way in or anything."

Paige grows quiet, and I furrow my brow to try to figure out what I'm supposed to add to the conversation. Liam is squeezing his eyes shut, fingers rubbing his temples. Finally, I reply a well thought out and verbose: "Yeah."

Undaunted, Paige asks, "There's some goblin fruit I'm trying to find, it's pretty rare, are you at all familiar with goblin fruit?"

"I bought some hybrid stuff from the guy that brought Liam back, but uh-" I shrug. "Is this about you trying to get pregnant?"

A moment of surprised pause, but nevertheless Paige barrels forward with, "Oh! I didn't realize Liam already told you about it." She looks at Liam, who ignores her. Her demeanor shifts slightly, becoming less animated, and more genuine. "Could you introduce me to one or both of the Ancients, so I could ask them some questions?"

"Yeah, I guess," I reply. "The Shah isn't super social, but Optimus usually seems down to shoot the shit."

With a faintly irritated glance at Liam, Paige reaches out and gently touches my elbow. "I'd appreciate that so much, Maze, thanks." She glances at a small, gold watch on her wrist before letting out an unexpected: "Shit!" Hitting a button on her key fob, the click of the car doors unlocking prompts Liam to push himself up off the hood. "I have to get to work, I'm going to be late again." She kisses Liam on the cheek before climbing into the car and pulling out of the lot.

Wrinkling my nose, I comment, "She's really serious about this baby making thing, isn't she," I ask, with distaste. 

Liam shrugs, reaching up with one hand to scratch at his mossy, blond scalp. "I may have gotten in over my head a little, here." 

"Not really unusual for you."

With a frustrated sigh, Liam surprises me by changing the subject and asking, "What'd you end up getting into last night?"

Fighting the urge to glance at my cell phone, at the explanation that's very likely not there, I admit, "I uh- went home with one of the guys from the Autumn court. Xavier."

Liam gives me a long, speculative look, but his tone is, thankfully, nonjudgmental as he replies, "Must not have been that good, if you're back this early."

"Weird thing about that," I start. Liam still seems attentive, so I continue. "I woke up not where I fell asleep. Like, I fell asleep at Xavier's trailer, but woke up-" Pausing, I hesitantly state, "-on the lawn of a mental hospital?"

"Wait, what?" Liam looks confused. "How the fuck did that happen?"

"Sleepwalking? Teleporting? Maybe Xavier got grossed out by me in the middle of the night and dropped me off there," I add, with a forced laugh.

Contemplative, Liam replies, "No way, you wake up if someone breathes too hard." His brow furrows, and he sounds angry as he asks, "Were you drinking? Did the little fucker drug you?"

"We were both drinking, but I don't think he drugged me," I reply, legitimately perplexed. "He wasn't even the one at the table doing drugs." 

"Have you tried to call him or ask him what the fuck happened?"

I frown. "No. I'm pretty sure he said he had to work in the morning anyway, so he probably wouldn't answer."

or maybe he wouldnt answer because he dumped me off somewhere and i havent tried to call because i dont want to confirm that suspicion. 

Pulling out his phone, Liam says, "Where does he work? We're getting a taxi and kicking the shit out of him." I must look concerned, because he grudgingly adds, "If he did anything wrong, I mean." 

I'm indecisive, wanting to find out what actually happened last night but not wanting to confront the self conscious feeling I've had since I got in Xavier's car. A small, covert part of me is just glad that Liam is being supportive- or at least interested. Surrendering to the pathetic, human side of my thoughts, I give Liam the name of the wildlife preserve Xavier mentioned working at and he relays it to the taxi service.

It takes about a half hour to get the preserve, which seems to be a sprawling, wetlands park. Not far from the parking lot I see a few construction vehicles and start moving in that direction. The wetlands are almost peaceful, even with the drone of the dredge and the other machines. As we hike towards the noise, Liam asks, "Which one was Xavier, anyway? Was he the kid running around with his shirt off?"

"No," I reply, breathing in large gulps of the fresh, green air. "Xavier was the kind of sad looking one, with the feathers."

"The one that looks like a cross between Kurt Cobain and roadkill?" Liam makes a face. "He doesn't seem like your type."

In lieu of a response, I simply snarl at Liam and increase my stride. I spot Xavier in the driver's seat of an excavator, digging into a marshy plot of land. Stopping suddenly, Liam plowing into me from behind, I stuff my hands in my pockets and watch him until he seems to notice me. Through the glass cab of the excavator, Xavier's expression is mildly surprised. He hold his finger out, begging a moment as he adjusts the bucket to rest on solid ground before turning the machine off and hopping out. He's clothed in dark coveralls and boots. He takes his helmet off, his blond hair askew and staticky. My heart thuds too hard in my chest, and for a moment, I see Godwin- lightning arcing from his hands as he gets ready to finally finish off Liam and I. The moment passes, and the sun glinting off Xavier's safety goggles is just that. Nevertheless, my hands remain balled into tight fights.

Xavier looks from me to Liam, and back to me. "Hey," he starts, "This is, um- unexpected? It's cool though, I'm due a fifteen anyway." He leads us away from the construction site, to a picnic table.

I let out an unnecessarily drawn out 'hey,' before awkwardly introducing Liam and sitting down. Liam is looking at me expectantly, then with disappointment as I ask, "How's work been so far?"

His forehead wrinkling, expression confused, Xavier replies, "Fine. Work's been- yeah. But uh- what happened last night?"

"That's what we're here to find out," Liam retorts, sounding accusatory. 

"What do you mean," Xavier asks, glancing at Liam. Looking back to me, he says, "When I woke up, you were gone. I didn't even hear you leave." He lets out an embarrassed chuckle and adds, "I figured you were avoiding me. Like a walk of shame kind of thing."

I blink at him, surprised. "No. No, I-" There's a distinct feeling of relief, before I finish, "I don't remember leaving at all. I must have sleepwalked or something, I woke up at a- on someone's lawn. It was the weirdest fucking thing."

Before Xavier can comment, Liam states, "Sounds a lot like someone who was drugged, right Kurt?"

"What?" Xavier gives a perplexed, but dismissive glare to Liam. "I'd never. That'd be fucking crazy, she could like, break me in half." He looks worried as he asks me, "Are you alright? You didn't get hurt or anything, did you?"

I shake my head, glancing at Liam, who's visibly disappointed as the prospect of violence shrinks further away. "Maybe it was all the beer," I reply. "I don't really get drunk ever. This seems like another good reason not to."

Glancing at the time on his phone, Xavier frowns. "Listen, I've gotta get back to work, but why don't I give you a call later tonight? Maybe I can help you figure out whatever happened last night."

"That sounds- yeah. Alright." I remain seated, watching as Xavier rushes back to the excavator. 

Liam sucks his teeth, stating, "That was anticlimactic."

"Would you have rather found out he roofied me?" I retort, snapping my attention back to Liam.

"No," he replies. "I guess I just wanted something other than baby mama drama to focus on." He gets up and brushes the seat of his jeans off. "Guess we have to go to the hospital you woke up at."

"What, why would we have to do that?"

Fiddling on his phone, Liam replies, "They might have security cameras, or maybe someone saw you wander onto the property." 

My gaze drifts back to the construction vehicles, but the glare of the sun is so bright I can barely see into Xavier's cab. I look out at the vast wetlands, instead, appreciating the brief respite from the city. A large bird, a heron or something, carefully steps its long legs through the mud, slowly making its way deeper into the mire. A flash of movement comes from within the water, almost too quick to notice, and the heron is pulled underneath without a single bubble. Instead, a smoothly scaled head breaches the surface, golden eyes glinting and sharp teeth clenched around the bird's thin neck. I watch Elekite's lithe body lumber up onto the shore, all four limbs to the ground, tail whipping the water behind him. His claws clutch at the heron possessively, his gaze meeting mine as he eagerly consumes the body.

"Maze!" I hear Liam shout. Tearing my eyes from Elekite, I see that Liam has already started hiking back to the parking lot. "Come on, the taxi is on its way," he calls. Pointedly keep my gaze on his mossy back, I climb to my feet and hurry away from the picnic table.

The Daughters of Mercy hospital is no less ominous going there willingly. The grounds still smell strongly of mown grass, and the parking lot has significantly more cars in it. "What exactly are we going to say when we get in there," I ask, already agitated. "You know I don't really mix well with softies."

Liam doesn't seem concerned as we approach the large, cathedral style doors. "I'll figure something out," he says, unconvincingly. 

He pushes the doors open as we enter a brightly lit lobby. A semi circular desk sits to one side, flanked by thick metal fencing. The gate closest to us is propped open, and the only other doorway in the lobby is behind another gate, latched shut and under the surveillance of two visibly armed guards. The air has the antiseptic, sterile smell of a hospital, but underneath-

My fur bristles. The building seems quiet, but a purposeful, unnatural quiet. As if the quiet only comes from the threat of punishment that noise brings. Liam is talking to the softie at the front desk, and when the woman glances at me, I feel an unmistakable sense of threat. "-if you have any security cameras or patrol on the grounds-" I hear Liam say through the panicked whine in my ears.

"I think Steven was on patrol this morning," the woman replies, pleasantly. She picks up a phone on her desk and says, "Let me call him down and we'll ask if he saw anything unusual."

As she dials a number on the phone, I grab Liam's arm and pull him away. "I think we should get the fuck out of here," I hiss out. Despite my hushed tone, I see one of the guards shift slightly, turning to look out into the lobby through the gate. 

"Chill out," Liam replies, oblivious. "You want to figure out how you got here last night, right?" 

Even as the woman at the desk speaks into the phone, I see her eyes on us. She hangs up and calls over, "Can I get either of you coffee or some water while we wait?"

"It smells like-" the pits "a slaughterhouse in here," I whisper to Liam, ignoring the woman. "This place ain't right."

Liam sniffs the air and shakes his head. "It smells like a hospital." 

He seems adamant on sticking around, and I fight to urge to pace as I anxiously shift my gaze from the front door, to the front desk, to the security guards. After about ten minutes, a man wearing jeans and a tucked in work shirt comes into the lobby. He takes off his baseball cap, setting it on the counter as he smiles at the softie behind the desk. She gestures us over and only Liam complies. "This young man had some questions about your morning rounds," she states to the man.

"Well, you see-" Liam starts. "My friend over there had too much to drink and ended up waking up on your all's property." 

this is his fucking cover story?

Growling under my breath, I try to pay attention to the rest of the conversation. The man in the work shirt is looking me over, his expression analytical. "-come to think if it," I hear him say, "I believe I did catch a glimpse of your friend in the parking lot 'round six this morning." He stares at me more overtly. "You were with a kid, right? Looked like a young boy?"

shit. should i have made sure that kid got out of there too? did they do something to him?

"A kid?" Liam asks, sounding confused. 

I ignore him, spitting out, "Did you see me any time before then," through gritted teeth. The sharp, hidden scents assaults my nose as I breathe in, practically tasting the menace in the air. 

"Can't say that I did, ma'am," the man replies, pleasantly.

From behind the front desk, with a pseudo-gentle tone, the woman asks, "Are you frequently inebriated? Do you find yourself waking up in strange places often?"

"Of fucking course I don't," I snap. Grabbing Liam's arm, I snarl out, "Let's get the fuck out of here."

"Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that you ended up at our facility," the woman at the desk states. In my periphery, I notice the man in the work shirt moving further away from the desk, attempting to be subtle as he puts himself between me and the door. "Maybe it would benefit you to stay for a consultation with one of our doctors," the woman says. "You would be a fantastic candidate for our Dr. Bilstrum. He does pro bono work with our hospital."

Liam winces, attempting to yank free from my grasp as my fingers tighten in agitation. "Shit, Maze, let up a little, you're gonna break my arm." His statement quickly escalates the situation. I hear a faint, electric buzz as the gate for the security office swings open. The two guards step into the lobby, empty handed, but no less threatening to me. The man between me and the door takes a single step into the vestibule and closes the entry gate behind him with a foreboding 'clang.' Finally, Liam seems to sense the danger, and stops trying to pull his arm away. "Shit," he says, artlessly.

"We take threats of violence very seriously," the woman at the front desk states, somehow still sounding cordial. "If you would just step away from the gentleman, these orderlies can escort you to Dr. Bilstrum."

"Not a fucking chance." I bare my teeth at the guards as they deliberately advance closer. "The violence is going to be more than a threat if you don't let us the hell out of here." I see one of the guards reach his hand near his belt, unsnapping a large holster. The bright yellow handle of a gun shaped object can be seen behind his fingers. 

Mazikeen and Helena are yipping in fear, then in pain as a shot rings out. The gun is still pointed through the cage bars, at Mazikeen as she frantically sniffs and nips at her fallen sister. Brazenly, I slap at the hand holding the gun. I hear, but don't see the second shot as something hooks into my clothes and my body jolts with an electric agony.

The yellow taser is out, and it's pointing at me. Liam is cowering behind me as we're corralled, trapped like animals.

Godwin reaches towards my collar, the leash in his hand. I snap my teeth at him. A warning- bark without bite- but nevertheless I'm hit with a bolt of his fury. The lightning drops me to my knees, howling.

Twin barbs cut across the lobby to connect with my skin. Before they can hit their mark, I bring my hand up and swat them from the air in an impossibly fast movement. The guard holding the fired Taser freezes in shock and I see the other guard stir into action. Spinning towards the front door, towards the gate latched in front of it, my muscles flex out solidly as I curl my fingers through the fencing and wrench the entire gate from the wall. The man in the vestibule stumbles backwards, tripping on his own feet and landing with a huff on the tiled floor. The metal squeals under my grip as I turn back and chuck the gate at the two security guards. My legs are tensing to lunge, I feel Liam's hands grasp around one wrist as he struggles to pull me through the cleared exit. With a howl of fury, I allow him to drag me from the lobby.

We move at a pace just fractionally slower than a dash, and it's only when the institution is well out of sight that Liam lurches to a stop, panting. "Jesus-" he gasps, "-christ." Unexpectedly, he bursts out laughing.

I blink at him in surprise, the bloodlust slowly receding from my system. "What's funny?"

"I don't know what I expected out of that," he wheezes, "but you exceeded those expectations."

"Great," I mumble. "I'm so fucking glad." I start walking again, as slowly than I can tolerate as Liam catches his breath. "Now what? I still don't know how the fuck I got there, and now I have to worry that the fucking cops are gonna come after me."

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess that is kind of a complication," Liam replies. He lets out another short laugh. "Look, we're not far from Home on the Range. Lets go to the commons and see if there's anyone that can- I dunno- cover this shit up or something."

Glowering, I silently let him lead us down the strip.

When Liam and I get to the commons, it's relatively empty. Optimus reclines in a corner near an unbothered Ryan, its eyes set on the tv and the two dimensional figures in it, but its gaze staring past the screen. Liam cheerfully greets the pair with a: "Are either of you good at covering up violent crimes?"

Optimus lets out one of its wheezing, hiss-like laughs and Ryan looks away from the television with an intrigued expression. "Who did you guys kill," he asks, casually.

"No one-" I reply.

"At least one person-" Liam states at the same time.

I scowl at Liam and repeat, "No one. Li thought it would be a good idea to visit the insane asylum and they tried to forcefully commit me."

Ryan tilts his head back, staring at the ceiling as he contemplate. "That's a lot to unpack," he finally states. 

"Yeah, well, I may have 'caused a scene'." I lift my hands to do air quotes before dropping them again.

"I should hope so," remarks Optimus.

Ryan pulls his cell phone out, typing out a message. "I'll get Eddie over here," he states. "Wish I could help you, but my range of influence is limited to high schoolers."

"Ew, what?" Liam asks. 

Setting his phone down, Ryan turns his glowing orange gaze on Liam. "I guess you do have that 'didn't make it past the seventh grade' energy."

I let out a short bark of laughter, but the levity is fleeting. Eddie arrives a few minutes later, looking perturbed. "This is a joke, right?" He holds up his phone, showing a text that says: pretty sure the new guys killed somebody.

"The fuck," I grab a half empty bottle of water from the table nearest to me and chuck it at a cackling Ryan. "I didn't kill anybody!"

Eddie seems fractionally relieved, pulling a chair out and sitting down. "That's- that's great news. Why don't you tell me what happened?" Begrudgingly, I recount what happened at the institution, carefully omitting the circumstance that led up to the visit. When I'm done, Eddie is staring at me, aghast. "So you- ripped the door off'a the hinges," he asks.

"Yeah," I grumble. "I'm pretty sure it hit some of the orderlies when I threw it into the lobby." Liam snorts laughter, earning a sharp look from Eddie. "It didn't kill them," I reply, defensively shooting my own dirty look at Liam. As if offering Eddie, me, or maybe even Liam respite from the situation, Ryan calls him over to the sectional and offers him a game controller. Liam concedes and ambles over. 

thanks for the backup, asshole.

"Alright." Eddie sighs. "Alright. This is bad, but I can probably smooth this over." He runs his hands through his blond mane and muses to himself, "Gallenzo works with the medical director at the hospital, so maybe he can-" Another sigh. "Crap. Alright." He finally looks at me. His expression is more exasperated than angry, but there's still a sense of scolding in his tone as he says, "I'd ask that next time somethin' like this happens, you remember to keep up the appearance of being, well, you know- a normal human being?"

Grimacing, I reply, "I'll try to remember that next time," through a clenched jaw.

"Next time?" Eddie asks, his tone rife with dismay. With a shake of his head, he pulls out his cell phone and dials a number, bring the phone to his ear as he exits the commons.

I slump down into the couch cushions, scowling towards the door as Eddie leaves.

i know he seems like a good guy and i know hes trying to help me, but motherfuck why does he have to be a cop? 

There's the scraping sound like scales against tile, as Optimus slithers up behind me. It rests an elbow on the back of the couch, and its sharp, bony chin on its hand. The casual pose of its long and bizarrely shaped body is almost comical. "If you want my opinion, dear Maze-" it starts, leaving the sentence hanging.

I watch Liam struggle to figure out the buttons on the game controller for a moment, beside him- Ryan, his left leg jittering up and down as he impatiently waits for him- before replying, "Sure. Can't be worse than any of the other opinions people freely toss at me."

"You did nothing wrong," Optimus states, matter-of-factly. I scoff, and it continues, "There's no mess to clean up, in my opinion. Those weaker than you attempted to control you, and you acted appropriately." It gestures towards the direction of the door and adds, "Now, others wish to put you in their debt in yet another attempt to obtain control over you. They want to tame you."

Optimus' declaration rankles, and I scowl as I brush down my bristling hackles. 

its right. its right, but im not allowed to think like that. 

"Eddie is just trying to help," I respond, unconvincingly. "Liam probably was too," I mumble, with even less sincerity. 

In a facsimile of affection, Optimus pets the top of my head with its skeletal fingers. I scowl, but don't pull away. "I do believe you would make a formidable Ancient, dear Maze," it declares, "if only you would take that collar from your neck."

My hackles go up again, and this time I don't move to flatten them. Optimus doesn't seem to notice the tension, the sudden stiffness of my body and attitude, and simply falls silent, watching Liam and Ryan play their video game, or- like me- just pretending to as it gets lost in its own thoughts.