He had never thought of the rain as miserable. The rain was as good a cover as the dead of night for working. Now it was a cold and driving cliché, the kind of downpour that was so thick one could tilt back his head and take a deep breath and drown in it. Clyde should have moved on two days ago; but he was still here, and he was not entirely sure why.
The voice in his mind that was not Interceptor told him it was because he had promised.
Locke had refused any help with Celes, and he had been out here for hours with the shovel, oblivious to the rain, consumed with the sound of the shovel in the earth, mucking wetly through his task of digging a grave. Clyde should have left then, but he had stayed, out in the rain, glancing to the drops of water that pounded the lid of the coffin waiting to be laid to its final rest.
The assassin's attention returned to the grave when Locke pitched the shovel onto the soggy grass and tried to climb out of the hole he had dug, his hands sliding in the mud as the sides of the grave began to cave in with the rivulets of rainwater. Clyde waited for a count of five heartbeats before he uncrossed his arms and moved forward, not giving Locke time to protest the help before he clasped the younger man's wrist firmly and helped him out of the hole.
"I'll do it," Locke shoved off the help once he was up, his voice an eerie monotone. The rogue staggered to the coffin and nearly fell onto its lid as his face broke. Feet sliding in the muck and wet grass, his hands fumbled for the handles on the sides, attempting to drag it into the grave.
"Stop." The single word fell from Clyde's lips in a soft but vehement hiss that commanded attention. He did catch Locke's attention, and the younger man froze, his wide smoke-gray transfixed on the dark apparition that was Shadow looming over him. Although Clyde's face was not masked, he was not any less intimidating in that moment.
"Stop," He repeated himself, albeit gentler this time. "You're exhausted. Let me help you lower the casket into the grave, you are going to drop it if you do it alone."
Swallowing hard, Locke hung his head and nodded in defeat, allowing Shadow to move in and help him lift the casket, which weighed next to nothing with Celes' ruined mortal coil lying inside of it.
Clyde went first, currently being the strongest of the pair, he crouched and lifted one end of the box, moving carefully for Locke's sake, backwards to the yawning grave. As soon as he felt the edge crumbling under his heels he nodded a warning to the thief and dropped down into the hole, muddy puddles splashing as he braced the weight of the casket without letting it slip from his grasp, holding his arms above his head so it was not tilted too steeply.
Once Clyde had steadied the coffin, Locke dropped into the grave as well to lower it to the ground. Shadow hesitated a moment, then he jumped easily clear of the grave, crouching at its edge to aide Locke out a second time, though this time there was no protesting.
Shuddering hard with emotion, Locke went for the shovel, intending on finishing this task, but Shadow's firm hand on his shoulder ceased him yet again. "Go home."
"I'm not done yet…"
"Go home." Clyde insisted a second time, reaching to wrest the shovel from Locke without much effort and giving him a light shove away from the grave. "Go take care of the dogs, you're finished here."
The thief stumbled a bit, clenching his fists when the tool was taken from him and Shadow wordlessly began to fill in the grave with heavy mounds of mucky earth, his motions strong and steady. "Damnit…" he breathed. "I want to finish… I want to do this alone!"
Without pause, Clyde responded smoothly in a firm voice. "You're exhausted. I can do this much faster than you. Do you want her grave to fill with water? Just go home, Locke."
He was going to argue further, but he was too heartsick to do it. Nodding brokenly, the young man let his gaze linger on the sight of the dark man filling in Celes' grave and realized it was like some terrible metaphor, or just a nightmare. Locke turned away.
*****
Night had fallen when Shadow returned to Locke's house. There were not many people out in this weather, but the few who were stared at the soaking man who walked as if he liked the cold rain washing the mud off of his dark clothes, a shovel resting over one shoulder with the same ease he carried a sword. They did not stare for long; a mere glance in their direction was enough to make them look away from the scarred man.
Setting the shovel to lean up against the side of the house, he let himself in, noting that it was dark and cold in here. Wandering into the living room, he found Locke sitting on one end of the couch. It looked like he had showered at least, and changed into clean, dry clothes, and he was holding the sleeping puppy, Kodi, like she was a baby, occasionally kissing between her pointed little ears and staring off at nothing.
Clyde felt the water dripping off of him and onto the floor, glancing to Interceptor who was lying at Locke's feet, looking up to him with sad, brown eyes. He sent a thought to his partner, though it did not seem that Locke would have heard him even if he spoke aloud. "How bad is he?"
"As bad as can be expected. He lost someone he loves, of course he is going to be bad, Clyde." One hundred and some odd pounds of dog lifted his head and promptly sneezed, which was an indicator that the dog-fae was unsettled.
"Locke?"
"You're back…" Apparently, he had just noticed. Taking in Shadow's appearance, he realized that it was done, and Celes' was buried out in the cemetery. Absently, his hands stroked over the sleeping puppy's peach-fuzz fur. "…Thanks."
Clyde had a hard time accepting thanks when he was the one who had killed Celes. Yes, she was dying, and yes, it was a mercy slaying, but he had a feeling the grieving young man would not see it that way. Perhaps the assassin felt responsible enough to want to help bury the girl. He just nodded, moving to the wood box beside the fireplace and pile some logs into the cold hearth.
"You're wet…" Locke seemed to just notice that as well, peering at Clyde in a kind of daze.
"I'll dry off."
"I want her back. I wanted more time. I… I would've taken her place if I could... I… I just couldn't…" Locke's voice made him sound about ten years younger, like a lost little boy as his voice broke and he sucked in deep breaths between his words. His sudden shaking woke the puppy in his arms, and she started to whine and squirm.
Clyde almost cursed under his breath, looking over his shoulder at Locke. The man was falling apart right before his eyes and he didn't know what the hell he could do or say to make it any better. What, should he do? 'Mercifully' kill Locke, too, and end his suffering? "There was nothing you could do."
The puppy squirmed and whined louder, nipping at her master's fingers. "I… don't know what to do… I feel like I'm dying… I can't do this again…"
Abandoning the fireplace, Clyde got to his feet and walked over to the young man, taking the puppy from him and setting her down on the floor where she promptly pounced Interceptor and tried to climb over his back. "Pull yourself together…"
Seeing someone fall apart was an ugly thing. Seeing the haunted madness lurking behind someone's eyes was even worse, because Clyde had seen the same thing many times before, nearly every time he looked into a mirror. The way Locke was looking at him was disconcerting, and for a brief moment he wondered if the thief knew about the 'mercy' killing.
Rising slowly from the chair, Locke kept his eyes glued to the other man's face, his gray eyes widening slowly. "You'll be leaving in the morning."
Since it was not a question, Clyde did not feel the need to answer. Instead he just took a step back, putting some respectable distance between himself and Locke.
"Take me with you." A single stride closed the distance between them, and both of the rogue's hands were on Clyde's shoulders, gripping tightly with a hint of desperation that would have frightened most people. "I can't stay here."
Everything in his being screamed for him to grab Locke and shake him and tell him 'No fucking way!', but instead he just stared. Guilt sucked dangerously at his mind, guilt for killing Celes and the promise he had made to take care of Locke. He needed to see to Relm and Interceptor first, and Terra was waiting for him in Mobliz, how was he going to do this?
All sensible reasoning told him to leave right there and then, but something in the way Interceptor was looking at him from the floor made him reconsider. He didn't want a Human partner, he didn't want a friend on this trip, he didn't want anyone other than Terra to know about Relm, and he sure as hell did not want to be responsible for any more people than he already was. "All right."
The two words seemed to have a profound effect on Locke, because he crumbled against Shadow, uncaring that he was wet and still muddy from the grave digging, he just was reaching out desperately for a shred of comfort. There was a choked sob in his throat.
Clyde could not remember having broken down completely in front of anyone before, if at all. Locke was utterly vulnerable; bearing his proverbial throat to a man he hardly knew but trusted for some reason. Part of him wanted to shove the young man away, but fortunately it was the other, less familiar part that drew up an arm across his shoulders and let him have it out.
"He needs you, Clyde. Just like you needed me back then." Interceptor spoke gently to his partner as he tried to keep the puppy occupied. Kodi was not the brightest dog he had ever met, but she was a baby, and she sensed something was wrong. Those wicked little needle teeth chewed on one of the larger animal's paws.
"I know, Pup. I feel like I'm floundering, though. I don't know what to do for him, I killed his girlfriend for fuck's sake!" Pushing Locke away slowly, he patted him awkwardly on the shoulder and gestured towards the couch. "Go on and lie down. Seems stupid, I know, but you'll feel better when you wake up."
"Fuck…" Locke dipped his head and drew his sleeve across his eyes, ashamed at his state but unable to help himself. Of all the people he could stand to see him this pathetic, he never thought it would be Shadow. "Just don't leave, okay? You'll be here when I wake up?"
Clyde nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'll be here."
(Author's note: A short first chapter, but it seemed like an appropriate place to stop. I'm depressing myself for fuck's sake….*frown* but things'll pick up. I won't give too much away, but I will follow up on everything I intimated at in the first story. Thank for reading, as always, and I hope to see some reviews soon!)