A/N: This was on AO3 first. I was waiting for FFN to add an Among Us category before I realised I could do it under Misc. That's why I only just posted it on here.
I actually wrote this to put off writing my longfic.
I hope you guys enjoy it.
The Warmest Place to Hide
The crew of the Skeld were three days into their mission when they were forced to land early.
According to the ship logs, something had gone wrong in the upper engine, so the captain ordered that they land on the nearest planet for immediate repairs. According to the navigation system, this was a purple, icy planet called Polus.
The Skeld landed in the middle of a blistering hailstorm. Although it wasn't technically bad enough to prevent take-off, they would be stuck there until it cleared if they didn't want to risk damaging the ship further.
The crew took shifts fixing the engines. Two worked at a time while the rest hung out in the cafeteria. Within a few days, the crew had taken to calling each other by their suit colours. It was easier than remembering names.
Most of the crew had met each other briefly before the mission began. The exception to this was Blue, who was Red's son. He had been a last minute addition, kindly allowed onboard by the captain, Orange. He wasn't technically allowed in the engine room, so when Red was on shift, he stayed in the cafeteria with Black.
A week after landing, while Cyan and Purple were finishing up with the engine, Lime managed to break the O2 filter. They had a spare one on the ship, but Orange decided that it was a bad idea to use up their only spare less than two weeks into the mission.
The storm had slowed enough for the crew to leave the ship if they wanted. According to the maps, there was already an outpost on Polus, about an hour's walk from the ship. So while they waited, the crew decided to see if there was a spare filter at the outpost.
Orange, Yellow, Lime and White went on this errand. Lime hadn't wanted to, but Orange had made him go, since he'd broken it in the first place.
The others stayed on the ship. After a couple of hours, Cyan and Purple came back to announce that they'd fixed the engine. Blue liked Cyan because she'd let him have some of her pizza on the first day.
The storm grew noticeably louder after the expedition team left.
Red was starting to get worried. "Do you guys think they'll be alright?"
"Ah, they'll be fine," Cyan waved a nonchalant hand. "I'm just worried about us."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it's a bit boring in here, ain't it?"
"I have cards," offered Pink, "if you guys want to play something."
They played cards for about an hour, before Brown got annoyed at Pink and accused her of cheating. Pink stood up and started to move towards Brown, before Red told them both to cool it. Blue didn't mention the cards Pink had taped under the table.
Green had fallen asleep on his seat and Cyan seemed to be sneaking copious amounts of pens into his pockets.
Brown and Pink were now screaming at each other across the table, each accusing the other of cheating, Brown calling Pink a lying bitch, Pink calling Brown a bad loser. Red was frantically trying to diffuse the situation.
Black and Blue were watching all of this with great amusement.
"You know, kid," rasped Black, "I reckon we're the only sane ones on this whole damn ship."
Blue giggled.
There was a sudden whirring sound and the front airlock opened up. Wind howled into the ship as the four crew members hurried back onboard. They were too frantic, too rushed, and even Blue could sense that something bad had happened.
Orange came in first, followed by White and Lime. Yellow came last. She had already taken her helmet off, and had an odd, slightly blank expression on her face, like she couldn't quite comprehend what had happened. White was carrying what Blue assumed to be the filter everyone kept going on about.
Orange ripped her helmet from her head, muttering a string of curses to herself, and went directly to the coffee machine. Yellow simply stood in the doorway as the airlock closed behind them.
White strode up and slammed the new filter onto the table without saying a word.
Blue jumped at the noise.
Red stood up, unsure of what to do.
"What's going on?" Black asked incredulously.
Lime shakily pulled his helmet off. His eyes were wide and beads of sweat were running down his face. "The bodies, man, Jesus Christ. There was fucking blood everywhere, man."
Blue clung to Red's leg, and Red crouched down to hug him.
"The bones, man, the bones are meant to go inside the body."
Red glared up at Lime. "Do you mind?"
"Do – do I mind? I'm telling you what I saw, and-"
"I don't care what you saw. You're scaring my boy."
"What did you see?" asked Pink.
"He just said don't scare him," snapped Brown. "Are you fucking deaf and stupid?"
"Give me two seconds and I'll explain," snarled Orange. Everyone turned to look at her. She took the jug from the coffee machine and chugged the whole thing in about ten seconds, spilling a solid quarter of it down her suit. "Right then. The good news is that Mr. White over here managed to find a spare filter."
White grunted and nodded.
"The bad news is that everyone at the outpost is…" she trailed off, looking at Blue. Then she cleared her throat loudly. "There was no one at the outpost."
Blue may have been a kid, but he knew damn well what she meant. The men at the outpost were all dead.
The crew went quiet, except for Lime, who was muttering something about giblets.
"So," she shoved the jug clumsily back into the machine, as if just realising she was still holding it. "Would anyone like to come with me to replace the filter?"
"Me," said Brown immediately.
"Alright, then," said Orange.
"The further I am from this bitch, the happier I'll be."
Pink hissed something under her breath.
"Hang on, did I miss something?" asked Lime, sounding amused. "You girls have a fight without me?"
"Shut it, Lime," said Brown.
"Yeah, Lime," added Black, "Shut the fuck up."
Lime looked slightly offended and Blue giggled.
"Okay," resumed Orange, "Good. Me and Brown will replace the filter. The rest of you will stay here."
"Then what?" asked Cyan.
"Then we take off, and we head to MIRA HQ," said Orange slowly, looking at her like she was stupid. "I assume the engine is done."
"Yes, actually."
"Not that you helped much," grumbled Purple.
"Alright. Brown, with me. Let's go."
Orange and Brown left with the filter. Yellow slowly walked across to the table, sitting in the space where Brown had been.
They all sat in silence, waiting for them to come back. There really wasn't much to say.
Green eventually broke the silence with a loud snore. Cyan suddenly cracked up laughing, waking him up.
"What's going on?"
Lime opened his mouth, taking a deep breath. "Well-"
"We got the filter," said Red quickly.
"Oh, goody." Green yawned. "We leaving soon?"
"Theoretically. Go back to sleep."
"Why is there a pen lid up my nose?"
Red snorted. "You tell me."
"Maybe you stuck it up there in your sleep," said Lime.
"Oh, ha, ha." Green rolled onto his side. "I'm going back to sleep. Fuck you guys."
"Make us dinner first."
"Shut it, Lime. They ain't paying me enough to deal with your shit."
"I vote we airlock him," said Pink.
"Sounds fair."
"Hey, fuck you, man."
There was a long silence before Orange came back to the cafeteria.
"We're leaving," she announced. "Helmets on, everyone. Strap yourselves in."
An hour later, they were in orbit.
The O2 filter was holding and Orange decided it was safe to take helmets off. The crew quickly got back to work. Cyan had gone to Navigation to chart out a course. Normally this would take her about twenty minutes. Half an hour later, she still hadn't reported back. Orange tracked down Red and Blue and asked them to check on her.
Despite what had happened on Polus, it was still quite a shock when the two found what was left of Cyan.
Her head had been snapped all the way around, blood leaking out of her onto the metal floor. The flesh on her neck was torn where it had been forcibly twisted to face backwards. Her eyes were glazed over, her face frozen in an expression of deep concentration. She hadn't even seen it coming.
"Don't look at it, Will."
Blue looked up at Red, who was staring at Cyan's corpse like it hadn't quite registered.
"Let's just, uh, yeah." Red let out a breathy laugh. "Back to the cafeteria we go."
Blue sniffled. "Are we gonna press the emergency button?"
"Yeah, I think we are."
"Do you think something got onto the ship?"
"Maybe."
When Blue pressed the button, Orange was the first one there.
"What happened? Are you alright?" She looked between them and blinked a few times. "Where's Cyan?"
"Yeah, about that…"
"What's going on?" asked Pink from behind Red.
"I don't know," said Orange. "These guys called a meeting."
"Cyan," mumbled Blue.
"What's this about Cyan?" asked Lime.
Black arrived from somewhere behind Orange.
"Hey, everyone."
Lime grinned. "Ooh, it's a party now."
"Shut up," said Orange. "Everyone."
Lime dramatically snapped his jaw shut.
"What happened, Red?"
"I think it's simpler if you come and look."
"Oh."
"What the fuck," whispered Lime under his breath.
"You say you found her like this?"
"Yes, of course. What, are you saying I did it?"
"Of course not," snapped Orange. "I just want to know the facts. Did anything board the ship with us?"
Lime's eyes widened. "You think there's something on the ship?"
"What's going on?" Purple forced his way through the small crowd. "Oh, Jesus Christ."
"What happened?" Green arrived. "Comms are down, by the way."
There was a beeping sound and the lights began to dim. Blue began to cry quietly to himself.
"Okay," said Orange. "I appreciate that these aren't exactly great circumstances, but I think we should focus on getting everything back online."
Lime stared at her through the fading light. "Have you lost your mind?"
"We aren't solving anything in the dark. And if there's something on the ship, we don't want to raise its suspicions. So, for the immediate future, I suggest we all get back to our tasks. Take a partner with you if you want. Lime?"
"Yeah."
"I want you to go to Electrical and get the lights working. Take Green or someone if you don't feel safe."
"Yeah, alright. Come on, Greenie."
Green flipped off the back of his head, but followed him.
"White?"
White grunted.
"We're going to Comms. The rest of you – do your fucking jobs."
She left with White.
The crew dispersed one by one back to their tasks.
A horn blared over the ship's speakers and Blue followed Red back to the cafeteria. The crew assembled more quickly this time. It turned out Lime had pressed the button.
"What happened?" demanded Orange, arriving after most of the crew. "Why aren't the lights fixed? And where the fuck is Yellow? I haven't seen her since we took off."
"It – it was Green," spluttered out Lime. "He – he killed himself."
Pink frowned. "I'm sorry?"
"Well, it – it was him, but it wasn't."
Orange cleared her throat and gripped Lime by the shoulders.
"Lime," she said firmly, "I need you to tell us what you saw."
Lime gulped and nodded. "I – I was in Electrical with – with Green."
There was a pause. Purple pinched the bridge of his nose.
"And?" prompted Orange, shaking him slightly.
"It came from the vent," said Lime, shakily, as if he couldn't quite believe it himself.
"What came from the fucking vent?" demanded Purple.
"Green."
"Yeah, okay," interrupted Pink, "but I thought you said Green was with you."
"He fucking was, man. But, like, there was another one."
"Another Green?"
Purple smirked. "You're taking the piss, right?"
"Well, he was Yellow first, but then-"
"Let me stop you right there," said Pink, "You're saying Yellow came out of the vent and turned into Green?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. And then he killed him."
"How?" asked Brown. Blue had forgotten that Brown was there.
"His tongue, man, he – he stabbed him."
"With his tongue?" asked Pink.
"Yeah, man. Stabbed him right in the face."
There was a long pause. Then Orange said "White, please escort Lime to the medbay."
"No, fuck you, man, I fucking know what I saw. Hell, maybe it's you! It could be any of us!"
"Lime, there is not a shapeshifting fucking alien on the Skeld."
"Well, that sounds like something an alien might say!"
Orange sagged. "Alright then, Lime, what do you propose we do?"
"I say we all jump on the dropship and fuck off back to Earth."
Brown frowned. "What about the pay?"
"Fuck the pay, man! Let's go."
"Okay, but hear me out," said Red. "If it's one of us, wouldn't it also end up on the dropship?"
"Oh, shit. Yeah, you're right, man."
"Alright," said Orange. "Lime? Back to Electrical. Show me the body."
Lime licked his lips nervously. "Yeah, sure thing man, let me just-" and he suddenly turned and ran off.
"Huh," said Red. "You think it's him?"
"If it was, why would he tell us Green was dead?"
"Do we even know that he's dead?"
"Where is he going?" asked Blue.
"Oh, shit!" Black said suddenly and ran after Lime.
"Hey, wait!" Orange ran after him, and everyone else ran after Orange.
"He's going for the dropship. Has to be."
Blue quickly fell behind and Red picked him up. Black reached the dropship door, just as Lime reached for the airlock button. He looked Black square in the face.
"Back off, man. Don't come any closer, or I'll crush you in the door."
"Come out, Lime. I understand that you're scared, but we can work this out."
Lime shook his head. "I'm sorry."
He closed the door, and a few seconds later the crew heard the dropship engines starting up.
They crowded around the airlock door. Purple shoved his way to the front, pounding on the metal door with all his strength, screaming himself hoarse. "LET ME IN, LIME! YOU FUCKER! YOU STUPID FUCKING BASTARD! LET US IN!"
He screamed until they heard the dropship undock with the Skeld and leave. Then they all stood in silence for about a minute.
"Well, we're fucked now!" said Pink brightly.
"Okay," began Orange. "Someone needs to go to Electrical and fix the lights."
"Pink should go," said Brown immediately.
"Hey, fuck you, I'm not going to Electrical."
"Why? Scared?"
"It's static-y. It makes my piercings tingle."
"Ew," said Black.
"You can both go," said Orange, "and you can learn to fucking get along. If Green is indeed dead, report it."
"Oh, crap."
"Everyone else? Tasks."
"Who the fuck hit it this time?"
"We saw it," announced Pink.
"We did," nodded Brown.
"Green's body, you mean?"
"Yeah, but also we saw another one."
"Another Green."
Orange made an odd choking sound. "You fucking what?"
"Outside Nav."
"He disappeared through the vent."
"So Lime was right?" whispered Blue.
"Who the fuck cares what Lime thought?" snarled Purple. "Lime fucking left us."
Pink squinted at him. "Are you an alien?"
"Are you on drugs?"
Purple turned to Orange. "Are you really gonna believe this crazy bitch?"
"Yes, actually."
Purple's face fell. "Wait, really?"
"Who are we missing?"
Everyone did a quick head count. White and Black were missing.
The lights went out again.
"Oh, you've got to be shitting me," said Brown.
"Fine!" said Orange. "Fine. I'll fucking do it myself."
She paced towards the cafeteria doors. "You want something done right… Fuck me, honestly."
"So, what do we do?" asked Pink, uncertainly.
"I think we should stick together," said Red. "I think we can be reasonably certain it isn't any of us here."
They all sat around the button.
Twenty minutes later, Orange still hadn't come back.
"I'm going to look for Orange," announced Purple.
"Hey, wait!"
"Shouldn't we stay together?"
"No. I'm worried about Orange and I'm going to look for her." Purple stood up. "If I die a horrible death, know that she probably killed me."
And with that he left the cafeteria.
Red started to run after him. "Come back, Purple. We can discuss this."
Purple didn't answer. He just kept moving. Red followed him. As soon as he left the cafeteria, the doors slammed.
Blue got up and ran towards the door. "Dad?"
"The fuck's going on?" asked Brown. "Is it jammed?"
"This one's locked," called Pink from the left door. "I think we might be stuck in here."
"Oh, God."
"Do you want to play cards?"
"Go fuck yourself."
"Dad!" Blue pounded on the door.
"Blue, what are you doing?"
The door slid open and he heard Pink's voice as he left the cafeteria.
"Blue, get the fuck away from there!"
The door slid shut behind him.
"Dad?" he called out. His voice echoed through the dark corridors. He entered Admin. Nothing. He poked at the map screen, trying to get it working.
Heavy footsteps approached outside and Blue quickly slid into a vent.
"Let me in!" shouted Purple's voice. Blue heard banging on the cafeteria door. He'd wait for him to leave and sneak out. Purple entered Admin. "Anyone there?"
Blue peered through the vent at him. Maybe he should announce himself. He didn't want Purple seeing him in the vent and getting suspicious. He was about to speak up when another, smaller figure entered behind Purple. Blue held his tongue and watched. Purple turned around to greet the newcomer, and Blue watched, horrified, as the newcomer's jaw split into two. Purple screamed as the creature's tongue shot out, ripping straight through his throat and out the other side. Blood spurted from the holes as the tongue pulled out, tearing his flesh as it left. Purple futilely clutched his neck as the tongue stabbed him again, this time cleanly piercing his eyeball. Purple howled in pain and collapsed to his knees, the tongue wobbling around as his eyes moved. His screams slowly became gurgles as his windpipe filled with blood.
Blue tried very hard not to throw up.
The creature waited for Purple to choke to death before retracting its tongue back into its head, bits of meat still stuck to the end. Then it crouched and dragged the corpse into Admin. Blue held his breath, praying that it wouldn't hear him. He heard its bones breaking and grinding together and realised that it was growing bigger. The creature grunted, as if in pain, and its voice changed to sound more like Purple's. As it became more human, Blue realised that it was laughing.
At that point, Blue lost any hope that it would kill him quickly.
The creature stepped fully into view as it left Admin, and Blue saw that it had become an exact copy of Purple. He waited until he was sure it had gone. Then he waited a bit longer. He wasn't sure how long it took him to finally crawl out of the vent. The door to the cafeteria was still shut, but maybe he could open it from Security. It was worth a try, at least.
He slipped out of Admin. He wished with all his heart that the lights would be back on soon.
He reached the end of the corridor and shuddered. He was going to have to go through Storage, which he didn't particularly like under normal circumstances. He took a breath and entered, his feet pattering on the metal floor.
Something grabbed him in the dark and he shrieked, trying to break free.
A deep, raspy voice spoke from behind him.
"Holy shit, kid. I thought you were that weird monster."
Blue turned around and his captor released him.
"Black?"
"It got Orange, kid."
"It did?"
"Yeah, it-" Black let out a shaky breath "-it came out the vent. I couldn't even tell who it was, but it got her. Fucking shredded her. Shit."
Blue let out an involuntary sob.
"It turned into her, kid. Shrunk and turned into Orange."
"I saw it get Purple," said Blue, his voice trembling.
"You saw it change?"
Blue nodded.
"We're fucking sticking together, kid. That's what we shoulda done all along."
"Have you seen my dad?"
"Nuh-uh. I thought he was with you until you ran into me just now."
"I – I don't know where he is."
Black considered this.
"Guess we better find him, then."
Blue perked up slightly. "Really?"
Black ruffled Blue's hair in the dark.
"You stick with me, kid. We'll be alright."
Blue looked up at the outline of Black's head.
"Hey, kid," said Black, like it had only just occurred to him. "Where are you headed, anyway?"
"Security."
"The cafe still locked, I take it?"
"Yeah."
"Crap." Black scratched the back of his head. "Security it is, then."
Blue followed Black out into the corridor. They passed electrical, both of them staying well away from the door.
"Hey, what's your name, kid?" said Black, suddenly.
Blue frowned and looked up at him.
"If we're going to die horrible deaths, we might as well know each other's actual names."
"Okay," said Blue. "I'm Will."
"Will," said Black slowly, "good name."
"Thanks. What about you?"
"Lance."
"Cool."
They passed through the lower engine, Blue clinging to Black's leg.
"Ease up, Will. I'm tryna walk in a straight line here."
Blue let go of him.
They reached Security.
"Guys?"
Red stuck his head out of the door. Sweat was pouring off him and he had a black eye forming.
"Holy shit," he gasped, crouching to meet Blue.
"Dad!" Blue ran up to Red, throwing his arms around his neck.
"Red, I don't mean to interrupt or anything, but…"
Red stood up and Blue looked over to where Black was pointing.
"Care to explain?"
White lay slumped on the floor, darkening bruises marking his neck.
"I swear to you, he attacked me first."
"What, so you fucking killed him?"
Blue started to cry again.
"HE WOULD HAVE KILLED ME!" screamed Red.
Black pulled Blue towards the door. "Open the cafe doors, Red."
"I was going to, before White turned around and tried to straight-up murder me. Guess we found our killer, though."
"Yeah, you."
"No, not me."
"Alright, well," said Black. "Here's what we're gonna do. You're going to open the cafeteria. In fact, why don't you do that right now?"
Red nodded and turned to the camera interface.
"Now, me, you and Will are gonna go back to the cafe. We're gonna tell whoever's left what happened. Namely, the fact that we found you with White's dead body."
Red started to protest, but Black cut him off. "We'll let you give your side of the story. But they need to know. Are the doors open?"
Red nodded silently.
"Then let's go. You go in front."
Black held Blue back and waited for Red to leave.
They followed him to the cafeteria.
Brown looked up as they got back.
"White did it," announced Red.
"We don't know that," snapped Black.
"Alright, hang on," said Pink. "Tell us what happened, exactly."
"We found Red with White's corpse. That's what happened."
"He attacked me!" protested Red. "Because he was the killer! I just defended myself. Hell," he looked accusingly at Black, "How do I know you aren't the killer?"
"I thought you suspected White."
"Because White tried to kill me!"
"Just because you suspected him, you didn't have to kill him."
"IT WAS SELF-DEFENSE!"
"So you do admit to killing him?"
"Yes, but-"
"Shut. Up. Let me finish. Everyone else is dead. The five of us are all that remain."
"So?"
"Which means that there's an imposter among us."
The survivors eyed each other suspiciously.
"I was with Will. Ain't that right, kid?"
"Leave my dad alone."
Black took a breath. "I don't think he's your dad anymore."
"Hey, fuck you, asshole!" Red took a step towards Black. Pink and Brown both moved to stand in front of Black.
"You're siding with him?" asked Red in despair.
"You got to admit," shrugged Pink. "It ain't looking good for you."
"Pink and Brown, you guys were together the whole time?"
"Yep."
"Couldn't leave if we wanted to."
"And that leaves Red here without an alibi."
"I WAS WITH WHITE!"
"And then you killed him."
"Because he was the murderer!"
"Nah, hang on," said Pink. "Wasn't it you who found Cyan?"
"Cyan was dead when I arrived, you fucking idiots."
Pink raised an eyebrow.
"He didn't want to take the dropship either," said Black. "Didn't want us leaving."
"It's not me. I fucking swear to god."
"We're going to MIRA HQ next, aren't we?"
"Yeah, that's right," said Brown.
"And there are people there, yes? Staff?"
"Yeah, of course. You know there are."
"Can we risk letting him loose on a station full of people?"
There was silence, even from Red.
"Look, I'm sorry, Red. I like you. But there's no way to prove that you're really you."
"You're just gonna have to take my word for it," said Red, quietly.
"I want to. I really, really do. But we can't risk it."
Red just nodded.
"Votes to kick Red off the ship?"
"Me," said Pink. "Sorry."
"It's alright," said Red. "I get it."
Brown raised a hand.
Black hesitated before raising his.
"Pink? You wanna do the honours?"
Pink swallowed and opened the first airlock door.
"Red?" she said.
"Yeah."
"I'm really sorry."
"No, I understand," said Red. He was noticeably crying now. "I really do. In your situation, I'd kick me off, too."
Blue blinked back tears. "Dad, no."
"I want to guys to look after Will, okay?"
"Of course."
Black rubbed Blue's shoulder reassuringly. "We got him."
Red walked to the airlock door before they lost patience and decided to drag him. Blue tried to run over to him and Black caught him around the middle.
Red entered the airlock and forced a smile at Blue.
"It's okay, Will," he said.
Blue let out a great, heaving sob as Red made eye contact with him.
"It's okay."
"Red?" said Black.
"Yeah," said Red, not looking away from his son.
"I'm sorry. And thank you."
Pink cycled the airlock and Blue screamed, latching onto Black as the door shut.
Black clutched Blue to his chest as he cried. Brown awkwardly patted him on the head, not quite sure what she was meant to do. Pink cried in the corner, by herself.
They spent the next few hours fixing the lights and finding what bodies they could for ejection.
Most were too mangled to be identified.
They met in the cafeteria that night for dinner. Black sat next to Blue.
"How you holding up, kid?"
"Lance?"
"Yeah."
"What's MIRA like?"
"Nice, from what I've heard. Lots of people. Good food. Why?"
Blue shrugged.
"You alright, Will?"
Blue didn't answer.
"You know, I really am sorry."
Blue looked up to meet Black's eyes.
"You're a smart kid, though. You understand why it had to happen."
"But it wasn't him," said Blue.
"He killed White."
"But that doesn't mean it was him."
"No," said Black. "It just makes it very likely. And letting him come to the station would endanger everyone on it, not just us."
"I think you're wrong."
Black gave him a hesitant smile.
"Maybe."
And Blue was sure, for a second, that he saw something moving under Black's skin.