Notes: I love this chapter.
(Also I am so very inconsistent with when I upload things, it really is just impulsive I think…)
"She's so adorable, can we keep her?"
Someone was running their hand through her hair, and Sam nuzzled closer to the body next to her.
"No. We're not keeping any runners." That was an unfamiliar voice. Girl.
"She kinda is, though." Unfamiliar voice, guy edition. "They're cute together."
"I can't believe you stole my lay." Ah. Frank.
"You shouldn't be having sex with her, anyway, she's like, barely conscious." That was the cooing voice again, pressing a kiss into her hair. Familiar.
"Yeah, well, she was before," Frank grumbled. "Had her teeth on my ear and everything."
Sam sighed into the fabric she was resting on.
"Tits make better pillows." That unknown girl again.
"Yeah, I know, it was part of the appeal. You think I wasn't going to take full advantage of that?"
"Frank, if you stop being such a creep you can come pet her." Susie. That's who her pillow was. It was Susie, and she was an excellent cuddle buddy.
There was a pause in the conversation. Sam hooked a leg over Susie's, pulling closer. So close. She never got to be close to anyone. It was so nice to be close.
"You had a lot to drink, didn't you Sammy?" Susie cooed, hugging her tight around the shoulders. "And mean ol' Frank here was going to take advantage of you."
"I was not, she was entirely into it." He was much closer now.
"Were you entirely into it, Sammy?" Susie murmured. "It's okay if you were, but you don't have to lie for the sake of Frank's fragile ego."
"Shut up, Suze."
Sam shrugged a shoulder, taking another deep breath and sigh, giving a noncommittal hum.
"Told you," Susie gloated, and the grin was audible. Susie was so sweet. Sam liked her.
There was a rustle of movement, and fingers brushed her hair back from her neck, before breath washed over her skin, making her shiver pleasantly.
"Tell the truth, puppy." His tone was low and dark and did entirely Wrong things to her. Lips brushed at her ear, then teeth, returning her favor from earlier. "You want me."
She felt the blush spreading despite herself, squirming slightly as her toes curled at the way his voice dropped. Fuck. How did he do that? She pressed her thighs together as she ducked into Susie's chest again to stifle her quiet whine, the hair on her neck standing on end. Drunk Sam was Touchy Sam. Touchy Sam was generally Horny Sam. She knew this.
"Told you." His words were a quiet singsong, mocking Susie's previous statement.
"Don't be mean," Susie chastised, shooing him away with a hand. "Poor girl already has to deal with trials every night without you teasing her."
Well, not every night. She had a night off every once in a while. Usually after a sacrifice. Today had been a night off, though, so it was possible to do it not on a sacrifice night. A sacrifice-not. Sam's shoulders shook in a small laugh. (She shouldn't, it wasn't funny. She was still very drunk.)
"Honey?" Fingers pushed her face free of the fabric and Sam opened her eyes briefly, sleepily.
Susie was cute. Not in a Kate kind of way, but in an adorable freshman you take under your wing senior year kind of way. When she smiled at Sam, those multicolored braces Jeff had mentioned were visible.
"Okay, not crying, good."
Sam frowned. "Nonono," she murmured, shaking her head. "Jus' a bad joke."
"Okay, yeah, she's cute." The guy from before.
Sam shifted to glance at the other two voices, and took in her surroundings while she was at it.
It was the ski lodge again. Only this time, not in total disrepair. No massive holes in the walls, no torn up furniture, pretty clean all things considered. Homey.
She was lying on the cushions in the conversation pit, Susie closest to the wall and Sam was cuddled up toward the fire. The two unknown voices were standing outside the pit, looking down. Blonde girl in plaid (oh no, another blonde girl in plaid, this could be a problem— though the scowl helped deter that possibility) and black guy in very cool pants. Seriously cool pants. "I like yer pants." Oh. Said that out loud. Or, slurred it out loud. Whoops.
The guy cracked a crooked smile. "Fuck, you're right, she's wasted." He laughed, shaking his head, and wandered into a kitchenette that Sam was 100% sure did not exist in the version of this building she'd been in before.
"Mmmhm." A hand scratched lightly at her scalp, and Sam's head rolled toward the fire, only to find Frank sitting between her and it, looking down at her, amused. "Li'l pup got in over her head."
"Pfft." She rolled back toward Susie, but her head still pushed back into his hand. (It felt nice! It was nice being touched sometimes! Jeez, give her a break.)
"And when will the pup get sent back to the pound?" The blonde's tone was irritable, but not necessarily chilly.
"Nooo," Susie wrapped her arms tighter around Sam. "She should stay. Sleep it off. We can bring her back in the morning."
If Sam had to choose, she'd probably go with that as well. This place was a hell of a lot nicer than her cot on the floor of a lean-to. They had full power and appliances and everything. Killers had it good.
Oh! "Julie," Sam muttered. That was what Jeff had said. Julie and Joey were the other two. She remembered that now.
"Aw, she knows your name," Frank snickered. "See? Learning new tricks already. Can we keep her?"
"Not you, too. I thought you just wanted to fuck her."
"But she's so cute, look at 'er." The hand that had been scratching lazily at her head moved down to pinch her cheek. "And Susie's right, she's basically passing out. Definitely not into that, not unless we're both stoned out of our minds."
A sharp breath left Sam in something that approximated a laugh. "Classy," she muttered.
"I said both."
Not the part she meant. She hadn't actually ever gotten stoned before. Didn't really intend to start now, not when drinking already had her loopier than fuckin' Toucan Sam. That made her snort another soft laugh. Toucan Sam. She was Sam. She was Toucan Sam. Absolutely fruit loops at the moment.
Frank's hand moved down her cheek, sliding around her neck to run his thumb over the scar there. "What the hell is going on in your head right now, puppy…"
"Toucan Sam," she murmured, letting out a short snrk.
His hand stilled for a second. "What the fuck?" His mumble sounded truly bewildered.
Susie was giggling. "Stop hogging my teddy bear."
But when Susie tried to pull her away, Sam resisted, shifting to keep her throat in Frank's hand.
He chuckled. "Looks like your teddy bear remembers our little history with necks." He stroked up and down the column of her throat, putting teasing pressure over those same spots as before, in the basement, but only briefly. Just enough to remind her. He leaned closer, lowering his voice to a murmur. "Were you hot for it then, too, puppy?" His teeth closed on her ear again, and Sam bit her lip. Her soft whimpering whine was, quite frankly, mortifying.
Hehe. Frank-ly.
So much words play.
His fingers pressed harder, her pulse getting stronger against his grip, and she could feel his breath. Hungry, again. "'Go to sleep, Sammy…'" It was a coo in her ear that made her shift against the cushions, back arching, feeling the words and the memory straight down to her core.
Fuck, she had a problem. Oh no. And now he knew about her problem. Shit, she hadn't known about her problem, not til now, anyway. Always nice and covered by layer upon layer of denial and good common sense. Like it should be.
…Dammit.
Spots were blooming on the insides of her eyelids.
"Please tell me you're not killing the girl on our couches," Julie deadpanned.
The pressure lessened and Sam drew in a long breath.
"If you get yourself all worked up over her and come to me looking for relief, you're not getting it," the blonde warned.
"I can go a night without sex."
"Oh, I know, but I also know you're completely insufferable the longer you're celibate."
"I have a hand."
"Two, atch'ly," Sam mumbled, helpfully.
"Yeah, two, see?" He let go of Sam's neck, but without opening her eyes she wasn't quite sure what he was demonstrating with said hands. She only heard the reaction.
"Real mature, Fearless Leader."
"Oh fuck off, Jules, there have been plenty of nights I've done just fine on my own."
"Like we don't hear you jacking it after a trial?"
"Is there no privacy in this place?!"
"Not really." Susie was stroking Sam's hair again. "It's one of the reasons I spend so much time in the glade, or with the rest of the reapers. Then I don't have to listen to you two hatefucking."
"Agreed. My woodworking skills are top notch from the sheer amount of time I've spent avoiding hearing anything from Frank's bedroom," Joey drawled. "Any of his 'woodworking.'"
"I don't have to listen to this slander. You all are a bunch of cockblocks. I'm taking my puppy elsewhere." Arms scooped under her and Sam curled toward his body, burying her face in his chest.
"Not your room!" Julie ordered.
Sam just breathed easily, sleepily.
"I know, I know! Susie, go get your door." He was climbing stairs, now. Light footsteps double-timed it up ahead of him. "…Get her stuff, too." The steps headed back down again.
He carried her like she weighed next to nothing. Just like in trials, how even Susie could lift a full-grown man up onto her shoulder. Susie was like Mighty Mouse. Was Mighty Mouse super strong? Sam only knew about it in theory. But Susie was mighty. And mousy. She was mighty mousey. Heh.
Frank set her down roughly, the mattress creaking as he slid onto it as well, looping an arm around her waist to pull her back against him, his other hand combing through her hair.
Sam stretched, settling in, back arching and hips squirming as she made herself comfortable for another sleep.
His low groan hummed against her back, his hand dropping to her hip and squeezing briefly before loosening again. She could hear him swallow hard. His legs tensed, but he didn't make another move, just breathing hot and slow into her neck.
"Shoo."
This time his groan was more annoyed.
"My room, my teddy bear," Susie reiterated. "Shoo."
Frank shifted irritably at her back, and teeth grazed the nape of Sam's neck, making her shiver pleasantly, his hips jarring against her briefly before he pulled away.
"Scoot. Don't be a creep."
"Fine, fine. Fuck."
"You'll see her in the morning."
"Whatever."
A few seconds later, the door closed. A body eased onto the bed next to her, an arm burrowing under her so she could be hugged properly. "You still awake, Sammy?"
"Mmhm." Sam hummed, shifting until she was half-laying on Susie to keep from crushing an arm.
One of Susie's hands pulled away, and a moment later a pillow was wedged under her neck. "There ya go."
Sam couldn't help the small smile on her lips. Susie really was a sweetheart. How did she kill anyone? Her brows furrowed, frowning slightly, the filter between brain and mouth evaporating. "Who'dyou kill?" she mumbled, curiously.
"Hm?"
"How'd you all get here. Who'd you kill?"
"Oh. Just one guy."
One guy?
Wait… One guy? And now they were killing people for infinity? For infinite… For eternity? That was the word. Sam had thought there was a serial murder spree aspect to Legion, what with the whole frenzy thing. Just one guy? "Really?"
"Yep. Did it together."
"…How?" Did she want to know? She didn't mean to ask, like, if there was some massive murder scheme. She just wanted to know why. She probably should've asked why, then.
"We were breaking into this store Joey used to work at. Frank had dared Joe to tag the place. But there was this janitor there, and he grabbed Julie, and wouldn't let her go even when she was freaking out, so Frank stabbed him."
This seemed like maybe an overreaction. Stabbing generally was an overreaction.
"…I think we were all kind of in shock. But we were there as a team. No one alone, all in it together. We'd started it together, had to end it together. No one could take the fall for all of us. So… we finished the job."
She sounded sad. Her voice was hushed, twirling a strand of Sam's hair around one of her fingers.
"I think he was already dead when it was my turn. I hope he was. I was… um…" Susie trailed off. "Frank helped."
Sam wasn't entirely sure what that meant, especially not in context.
"Then we just had to clean it up. Bury the body. And somehow we ended up here."
Sam nuzzled against Susie, humming. "I'm sorry." And the weird thing was that that was true. No one deserved to be stuck here forever. Or, at least, they didn't seem to deserve it. Not eternal suffering.
"Nah, it's okay. We're okay." Not really. They were all trapped here forever. "It helps to just… think of it like a game. Frank taught me that. It's not real. It doesn't count, cause everyone comes back."
Yeah. He'd said that. Something like that, anyway. They always come back. So did that mean they'd never had a survivor disappear before? No one who just stopped showing up in trials? Sam hesitated. "…He killed my friend. In our last trial together," she mumbled.
"It's our job."
"What does that mean?"
"It means…" Susie paused, shifting to hold Sam a little tighter, her voice soft. "It means we have to do it. Or bad things happen."
Bad things?
"I'm lucky." She sounded guilty. "We're a team. Everyone's work is all lumped together."
The silence felt heavy. Like Susie was holding something back.
When she finally spoke, her voice was very quiet. "I think they take the fall for me." Her swallow was audible. "I let too many runners get out. Don't make enough hooks. I have to rely on the frenzy a lot."
Sam pulled herself closer, wrapping her legs up with Susie's. Comforting a killer.
"Sometimes, we get this pull. To the Campfire, but at dawn." So they did have a Campfire. "And someone always stays here with me when the others go. Usually Julie, or Joey." Her fingers twitched in Sam's hair. "They didn't used to, though. Not at first. …I'm glad they do, now, but… I'm letting them down. I know I am."
"Nooo." Sam tried to make her feel better, only distantly recognizing the bizarre situation as she said, "You're a good killer. You kill so good."
An awkward giggle bubbled out of Susie. "I let everyone in our trial together go," she reminded Sam. "I even tried to let you go."
Sam wasn't entirely sure how to encourage her new… friend. To… kill more.
…It was all very strange.
"…I got called the next morning, to the Fire. Frank went instead."
The way she said it, Sam could feel the weight of the statement even if she didn't quite understand what it meant.
There was a long pause, and Susie untangled herself from Sam. For the first time, Sam opened her eyes. Susie's room was cute. Cozy. It obviously hadn't been made for her, but she'd made it her own. Sam didn't get much of a chance to look before Susie turned off the lamp that had been lighting the room, and they were plunged into darkness. A blanket was pulled up as Susie cuddled up to her again.
Sam was entirely ready for sleep, already halfway there, when Susie finally muttered something else.
"I had a brother, you know."
She didn't know how to respond to that.
"Bailey. Bailey Wood. He was almost four. …I couldn't stand him, then."
"How old were— are you?"
"Seventeen. It was a couple months after my birthday."
There was a somber air to their comfort, now. Something hollow and aching they both shared in the dark. Everyone missed home. At least a little bit, everyone missed home.
"I'd like to think," Susie paused, then went on. "…I'd like to think that one day I could've been half as good at protecting Bailey as Frank is for me."
Sam let out a long breath, distantly remembering how soft Frank had gone at the mention of Susie. Like a sister to him. And based on how they interacted, she could see that. Legion was a family. They looked out for each other.
"Maybe I still can."
A lump was forming in Sam's throat at Susie's quiet hopeful murmur. Of course they wanted to protect her. Hell, Sam wanted to protect her, and she hardly knew her. She was another one of those sparks in the darkness. Someone who still had something that hadn't been sucked out of her yet. How long had they been here? And she still had something left to take?
Susie sighed, squishing her cheek to the top of Sam's head. "One day."
One day, Sam agreed, silently. Maybe. One day.
Notes: So a bunch of sillies, some *eyes emoji*, and some feelings. What do you think?
I'm very excited to be giving Sam another outfit soon (I have a love of styling outfits for her). I kinda wish I could share stuff like that, but I honestly don't know how or why I would, aside from maybe a tumblr post of a polyvore layout or something, idk. Also, did I mention that I commissioned a comic? I commissioned a comic. Probably will get posted to my tumblr and added to the end of the ao3 chapter it's from, once it's finished, so look out for an update about that in a future chapter note.
Also: made Sam an ask blog/rp blog over on tumblr! unwilling-survivor is the blog name (so original, right?), feel free to drop any ic or ooc questions over there ^^
And yeah, drop me a review! Thoughts on the chapter, the comic, the outfits, all of it! Looking forward to hearing from you guys.