Disclaimer: I don't own The Hills Have Eyes.
Summary: Goggle's job was only to watch and report. However, he couldn't help it if the lenses of his binoculars fell upon something particularly enchanting, even if it only lasted a day. GoggleBrenda, oneshot
This has been in my head for a while, and I finally decided to give in and write it. I haven't written a oneshot in what seems like forever, and I am particularly fond of this pairing…and Goggle needs more love. So, this may be a tad AU and all, but I enjoyed writing it. Anyway, please enjoy!
There You Are, Standing No Longer
The desert was a myriad of unpleasant sights.
Goggle was aware of things, acutely so. All his life had been spent in the hot, humid area of the desert, constantly being the sentry for his family, looking over their prey when it ventured into what they designated the strike zone. Or, at least, that was what Lizard called it. For someone so rash and brutal, his brother loved his nicknames for things.
He couldn't bring himself to remember anything of particular beauty in this vast wasteland. The only thing that he could think of that was at least mildly pleasing to the eye was a singular flower he had seen once, growing on a cactus, and when he had tried to grasp it, he was pricked by the spikes.
He thought that might be a metaphor of some sort.
He was up for another random day of watch duty, when he saw it. Lizard had done his part. The car had wrecked on one of the large boulders and the sound of twisting metal reached his ears, unpleasant and grating. The trailer behind it had looked dangerously close to turning over, but miraculously stayed upright.
Goggle sighed and adjusted his binoculars.
There was a ruckus. He could practically feel the tension and panic in the air from his perch so far away, safe on a hill. Goggle adjusted his position a moment and watched as people filed out of each of the vehicles.
There was a man, large and clearly the leader, and who Goggle thought was his mate was slight, with wispy hair and a kind disposition, he could tell just by looking at her. Out of the trailer came a tall, slender man with glasses and a younger boy with chocolate-colored hair. An older blonde woman came from the back of the truck, her hair tied into a messy tail, and a baby in her arms. She immediately looked to the man with the glasses and Goggle could tell they were a pair.
He had thought that was all, when she came out.
He wasn't sure what was so special about this one girl - this one human - but immediately, he felt something stir in his belly, a strange kind of feeling he hadn't experienced before.
The girl had hair the color of corn silk, pulled back in a messy bun at the nape of her neck. She rolled her shoulders as she got out of the truck, looking clearly disgruntled. The tanktop she wore clung to her small frame. She looked rather angry, but not frightened. That was something that intrigued Goggle to no end.
That, and the fact that he could clearly make out how blue her eyes were.
Goggle lowered the binoculars for a moment and stared at his hands, only now noticing how the tendons were almost popping out from the thin skin of the back of his hand, only now noticing that his other hand was clenched so tightly into a fist that his nails were dangerously close to puncturing the skin of his palm…
Shaking his head slightly, he grabbed the walky off his belt and pushed it up to his lips, needing to contact Lizard to know the plan was pulled off flawlessly.
His voice was rough, shaking, all he could say was, "Good job."
Goggle didn't leave his perch, not even when the dogs - he hadn't even registered them earlier - started barking and ran off. He preferred animals to human flesh, but that was not worth it. Not worth this…strangeness he was feeling. It was almost as if he were to leave this spot, then the whole thing would dissipate.
He didn't want that.
He found himself constantly on edge, even more so that he usually would have been. There was a strange sinking in the pit of his stomach, one that he had experienced often. Unlike the other members of his family, besides Ruby, he felt guilt at what he was doing…guilt that these were people…they had Lizards and Plutos and Rubys in their life and they would never get to see them again.
But this was something different. The normal sinking feeling he felt was now replaced with something akin to being punched in the gut.
He watched her. He found himself doing nothing but that. Not even when Ruby came to fetch him for supper - Big Mama was making due until they had…dealt with…their current victims.
"Goggle," she said, kindly. Her sweet voice was the only thing he could ever recall being pleasant to listen to out in the desert. "Mama's made stew from…um…some of Jeb's food stash."
He nodded shortly, before looking at her out of the corner of his eye at her. She had dug the tips of her sandals into the sand and was wringing her hands. A bright red hoodie hung off her slim frame, one that he sure as hell hadn't seen before, but she was hidden enough by the hill so that the family wouldn't see her.
"Right," he replied, grunting. He heard the vague sounds of Ruby climbing up to join him, keeping low to the ground. He groaned internally.
She got to where she was level with his head, her hands beneath her chin as she leaned forward.
"She is pretty, huh?"
Goggle grunted in response, cursing his sister for her uncanny ability to know exactly what was bothering someone.
"How d'you know what she looks like?" he asked. Goggle tore his eyes from his binoculars for a moment, seeing the look on Ruby's face. "Y'know we're not supposed to interact with them." Suddenly the red hoodie, so vivid and bright and new looking, made sense. "The boy?"
Ruby paused, looking at her hands, "What boy?"
"Don't play dumb with me."
She let her gaze rise to meet the small group of people. They were talking together, and after a moment, the lanky man and the leader of the group split off in two different directions. The former to what Goggle knew was a dead end and the latter back to the gas station.
For once, he regretted making the call to Papa Jupiter.
The remaining members of the family set up a makeshift picnic lunch, bringing out a table and setting it underneath a tarp that extended off the side of the trailer. The eldest woman of the group set out lunch, followed by the taller, dirty blonde woman with her baby in her arms. The boy - Ruby's odd fascination with him was beyond Goggle, or maybe not, since he seemed to be having the same reaction to another member of their clan - walked out and the dogs circled up to him, clearly spooked by something none of them were aware of.
Then she exited the trailer, pulling a shirt over her head as she did so. Goggle still tried to get the image of her sunbathing out of his head, but to no avail.
He found himself staring at her, as he had been doing ever since she arrived. The girl took down her hair for a moment only to shake it out and pull it back again, in the same messy bun at the nape of her neck. Several strands escaped from around her face and brushed her cheeks. Goggle watched as she pushed them back, but they wouldn't be tamed, flying in front of her face freely yet again.
There was a light breeze in the desert, blowing her hair and the tarp and everything around. They were talking about something, something that Goggle couldn't hear, but he would like to think that they were having a happy moment. He knew that there wouldn't be many of those afterward.
Suddenly, the blonde girl threw back her head and laughed, displaying a set of straight, white teeth. He can almost imagine the sound, pleasant and welcoming, something that he would like to hear again.
Goggle inhales deeply, shakily, knowing that could never happen - the next logical sound for her to make would be screams for her life.
"Mm."
Goggle turned around. Night had fallen, bringing with it the cold and the desert creatures. The stars above him glittered, the moon full, illuminating the thin frame of Lizard and the hulking, intimidating form of Pluto.
"Who's the bitch?" Lizard asked. He had taken Goggle's binoculars and was surveying the scene before their attack. "Hot young thing."
Goggle said nothing, but his fingers clawed the dirt.
Lizard shoved the binoculars into Goggle's hands, jamming a few fingers in the process. "You know the drill. Keep watch…walky me if anything has fucked up. I'll signal you when you need to blaze this thing up."
Pluto murmured in the background.
"Alright, ya big lug, let's go."
Goggle tried to ignore the feeling of itching underneath his skin as he watched Lizard and Pluto move gracefully down the hill towards their targets.
Targets…something about referencing the family before him as targets didn't register well with him.
Especially not the blonde.
Something about the whole thing was like watching a car crash, he just couldn't look away.
Goggle hated to see the family weep over their patriarch, burning almost as if at the stake. That left the trailer unprotected, and from the looks of it, with only the women inside.
Lizard and Pluto had just entered the trailer.
Screaming…he could hear it from here…
He focused his binoculars on the trailer, knowing that she would be inside.
There was activity going on inside the trailer. He could see the vague movement of the blinds, and fingers desperately trying to claw their way through the window.
A sinking feeling settled in his stomach.
Three left alive, the baby captured.
The girl - the one that has fascinated him so - is wrapped in a quilt, standing outside and screaming and crying and is that blood on her upper thigh?
Goggle found himself resisting the urge to vomit.
The night was still thick when Goggle decided to venture down from his perch, closer to the wreck site.
Quiet in his movements, he made his way down to the trailer. Unsure of where exactly the survivors were, he keeps his distance for a while until he finds that they have all holed up in the trailer. He can't blame them for feeling safe there.
The lights are on, so he must be careful. Goggle crept around the side of the trailer after surveying the area. He knew that they had a gun, and he knew that they would shoot him without a moment's notice if they were to see him.
Only one set of blinds are open. Goggle moved to peer into the only window that gave him a vantage point and an icy hand gripped him at what he saw.
The blonde girl, curled up on the side bed, her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on them. Her arms wrapped around her skinny calves and her bedclothes fell down to reveal the now bruised and battered limbs, along with the crusted blood on her legs. Her eyes were closed, tearstains evident on her cheeks.
Goggle wasn't sure where the other two were, but he wasn't concerned with them at this point.
He placed his hand against the window, gently, almost desperately, as if aching to touch her. Keeping his hand there for the most fleeting of moments, he allowed himself to just look at her, study her features, try to imagine her in a more peaceful setting…
The door opened and the two others entered, breaking the illusion and causing Goggle to drop his hand and hurry off, back into the hills.
As Goggle made his way back to the test village, he found himself thinking of the lovely and broken blonde, and feeling more regret than he ever had in his life.
End.