This is a simple one shot about what I think Duncan and Isadora were talking about during their time in the elevator shaft. Begin!
Universe*
~Normal POV
"Isadora, wake up!"
Isadora felt her eyes flutter open at the sound of her brother's voice. The two sat up and observed their surroundings. They were in an empty elevator shaft, and locked in a cage. The only source of light in the room was a small electric candle on the floor nearby. Isadora felt tears fill her eyes, and Duncan hugged her tightly trying to calm her down.
"We failed them..."
"We didn't fail them, sis."
"Yes we did," She said pulling away to look at him, "Duncan look around! We said nothing would go wrong, and now we've been kidnapped and we're trapped down here."
Duncan felt his heart clench up as his sister started crying. He hated to see Isadora upset. He especially hated it when he couldn't help her feel better. He had a lot of days like that in their 3 semesters together at Prufrock with all the bullying they received on a daily basis. He was worried too. Hell, he was scared to death. But as the oldest triplet, by ten minutes, he vowed to remain strong for his sister's sake. He patted her back comfortingly.
"Izzie, we will get out of this. I'm sure the Baudelaires will find us in no time."
She looked at him and tried to wipe away her tears, "You're sure?"
Duncan smiled faintly, "Yeah, you saw how torn apart they looked when they ran after Olaf's car to save us."
Isadora pulled the spyglass half out of her pocket, "This... This was Klaus' half... I don't know how I'll be able to face him after this."
Duncan reached into his jacket and pulled out his dark green notebook, "Izzie, this right here is how we face them after what happened. I wrote down everything in The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations in my journalist notebook. And while you were asleep I wrote down some plan details from Olaf's henchmen when they came by to check on us earlier."
He reached over to the back corner of the cage and grabbed a small item catalog that had been placed there, "The white faced women dropped this when they were here. I pretended to still be asleep so I could hear the plan. There's going to be an auction in a few days where they sell items that are "'in.' Apparently, we're under Dark Avenue, I remember our parents mentioning that it's the most fashionable street in the city. Olaf is going to put us inside one of the items for the auction and sell us to one of his henchmen so he can smuggle us out of town. They don't seem to have a destination yet though. And there's a manhunt going on for Olaf which is why he has to wait until the auction."
Isadora smiled a little at him, "You managed to get all that information? Damn, that's impressive."
He opened his notebook and began flipping through pages randomly, "Hey I'm still a journalist; I take notes on everything remember? For example, on this page I made the note, 'Isadora decided to kiss Klaus-'"
She shoved him playfully, her cheeks turning red, "It was just on the cheek! You don't have to get protective... besides he won't like me that way after what happened."
Duncan smirked, "Ah, so you do like him that way? Got it, I'll add that one to the record."
Her face turned darker red in the dim light, "Ok that was mean!"
He chuckled, "Sorry for teasing you. I just figured it might help lighten the mood. Besides I didn't need confirmation anyway. Last time I saw your notebook, the name Klaus Baudelaire had somehow made it into a lot of couplets."
She pulled out her own pitch black notebook and clutched it to her chest while looking at the floor shyly; after a brief silence she spoke quietly, "You're not going to hurt him... are you?"
He blinked in surprise and smiled at her, "Of course not. Klaus is my best friend, and he's the only guy in the world I'd trust with you. I know he'll treat you right. All he has to do is respect you and keep you safe, and there won't be any problems from me. But if he does hurt you, I'll have to kill him."
The poet smiled gratefully at her brother, "Thanks for the support, Duncan. But I'm not sure if he even likes me that way..."
He chuckled again, "Are you sure? Because this particular note says otherwise."
He turned to a specific page and showed it to her causing her to smile at the memory described on the paper.
~…
"I think Mr. Remora just went through a pretty bad break up. His last 8 stories today have been about his miserable love life," Violet joked as they ate their lunch.
"Mrs. Bass would have been pissed," Isadora said, "She must have the worst romantic luck because every time someone mentions relationship issues in class she gets super mad."
"She gets so mad she lectures us for an hour instead of having us do her pathetic excuse for schoolwork," Klaus added.
"Perhaps she's just bitter," Duncan suggested casually.
"Good morning cakesniffers!"
The five children held back groans as Carmelita had walked up to their table. She smirked and placed her hands on the table and leaned forward slightly.
"I couldn't help overhearing your conversation. I just wanted to say that none of you will have to worry about relationship issues yourselves. Especially you, Isadora, you're so ugly no guy would ever want to date you!"
Isadora frowned, and Duncan glared at the annoying girl. However, before anyone could respond to the insult, Carmelita shrieked out in pain. Sunny had bitten her hand.
"Bosh'tet," Sunny said angrily.
"Sunny Veronica Baudelaire! Wherever did you learn that kind of language," Violet asked her eyes wide with shock.
Sunny looked down guiltily and mumbled, "Olaf..."
"Well don't say it again. You can swear when you're older," Violet replied.
Carmelita was holding her hand against her chest as it was now red, and possibly bleeding, from Sunny's sharp teeth, "The stupid baby orphan bit me!"
"Maybe you should think twice before you call someone ugly. Now go away Carmelita," Klaus said, calmly while glaring at her.
Carmelita gaped at him for a moment before stomping away in her loud tap shoes. Isadora looked down at her food, avoiding eye contact with the others and feeling very self-conscious.
"Thanks for biting her Sunny. She deserved that," Duncan said with a smile. Sunny nodded at him in response.
Violet gave Isadora a sympathetic look, "Don't listen to her, Izzie. She's just a jerk."
"It's ok Violet," Isadora replied, still avoiding her gaze, "I'm used to it. She always tells me that. This is just the first time she's done it in front of you guys."
"Ahem, uh Isadora," Klaus spoke up getting her attention, she glanced up at him, "If it helps, I think you're beautiful, and any guy would be lucky to date you..."
He quickly looked back down at his tray as a deep blush crossed his face. He didn't speak for the rest of lunch. Violet and Duncan smirked at each other, and Sunny rolled her eyes. Isadora simply looked back at her own tray with a shy smile as her insides fluttered at the compliment. All she could bring herself to do was mutter a quiet "thank you" for his kind words.
~…
"That was the moment I noticed he liked you too," Duncan said.
Isadora was blushing, "He could have just been trying to cheer me up."
Duncan rolled his eyes, "I don't think so. But I can't get you to listen so we'll just wait and see."
There was a brief silence before Isadora asked slyly, "Well, what about your crush on Violet?"
Duncan blushed and responded hastily, "I don't have a crush on Violet!"
She raised a brow at him and took his notebook out of his hands swiftly flipping through its pages. He tried to get it back but she held it out of his reach as she looked for a specific page.
"Aha! Here they are; your notes on Violet Baudelaire! Let's list them shall we? 'Beautiful, intelligent, creative, inventor, passionate, caring, loyal, kind and wonderful...' the list goes on. Would you like me to continue? Because at the bottom of this page I see a little drawing that says D.Q+V.B. I'm sure she'd love to hear about that."
Duncan snatched his notebook from her; his face was now very red as he shakily replied, "Please don't tell her..."
"I won't, but you should. Besides I see the way she looks at you. A girl can always tell when another girl likes a guy. And at the recital after Olaf arrived I saw you holding her hand those whole 6 hours. She didn't seem to mind that; she looked happy about it. Violet definitely likes you."
He looked away awkwardly and muttered, "I hope you're right."
The two adjusted their sitting positions in their small cage as they looked up into the blackness of the elevator shaft.
"Why didn't you tell her anyway?"
Duncan sighed, "Cause Quigley was the confident one. He was the one who got all the girls, remember? I'm just the dork that's too shy to admit my feelings."
Isadora nodded, "Yeah I lost a lot of friends because he would date them and then break up with them like 2 weeks later. They didn't want to be around me because it'd be too awkward to be around him."
"And a few of those girls I was interested in too so I never had a chance again after he dumped them... Guess it comes with being cursed with the same rugged good looks. As if Quigley thought he was the better looking one," Duncan scoffed, "Yeah right."
"Of course, we all agreed I'm the best looking one," Isadora smiled.
Duncan returned her smile, "Yeah you are, Izzie. And I'm sure that Klaus will agree."
The two continued gazing up through the bars of their cage, thinking about the ones they had fallen for. Duncan thought about how happy Violet will be when she sees his notes on V.F.D. He silently hoped that Isadora had been right about the beautiful inventor returning his feelings. He remembered their last night at Prufrock before doing that brave deed that had landed them kidnapped in the first place. Violet had told him that they could still back out, but Duncan calmly refused. It was his idea; he wanted to help and this had been the answer. When she had tried to tell him something about if anything went wrong, he just held her hand and promised her nothing would go wrong.
Isadora opened her notebook to reveal several couplets that had been written about Klaus. She smiled fondly at them, and remembered the sight of his dark, shy, but warm eyes. His eyes brought her comfort, something she hadn't truly felt since the fire. She trusted him beyond all reason. He was the first boy at that school to show her any kindness. The poet silently prayed that her handsome researcher would come find them soon. Their silent prayers were suddenly answered when they heard three loud screams coming from the shaft.
One was more feminine, one was more masculine, and one sounded like a small baby. Duncan and Isadora stood up to see a small, makeshift hot-air balloon touch down in front of their cage. And inside the basket were exactly the three people they were hoping to see.
"You found us," Duncan said shakily while staring at Violet as if she were an angel.
"I've never been happier to see anybody in my life," Klaus said breathlessly as he stared at Isadora.
The Baudelaires stepped out of their balloon and hugged Duncan and Isadora through the cage bars. Sunny gave a big toothy grin as she watched her siblings embrace their "not-so-secret" loves. The triplets quickly explained Olaf's plan and how they found the secret book that answered all their questions before being kidnapped.
"Where is he taking you after he smuggles you out of the city," Violet asked keeping her hand firmly locked with Duncan's.
"We don't know," Duncan handed her the item catalog, "We only know we'll be stuffed into one of these items, but we're not sure which one."
Violet flipped through the book quickly before stopping on a particular section, "Lot 50: V.F.D."
She showed it to everyone; the item appeared to just be a cardboard box with the letters V.F.D. written on the side.
"Well that's a little too convenient," Klaus noted, "You're sure it's that one?"
"It's the one that makes the most sense. The only other item big enough would probably be lot 49: this giant red herring statue. But why would Olaf want to use that? It's way too conspicuous and flashy."
Isadora nodded, "You're right, it has to be the box."
"Oh, I almost forgot," Klaus reached inside the balloon basket and pulled out a small bag; he handed it to Isadora through the cage bars, "Olaf threatened to let you guys starve if we try to tell our new guardians who he is; so we brought you some food just to be on the safe side."
The two triplets smiled, "Thank you."
"Nada," Sunny said, which meant, "No problem, I made those sandwiches myself."
"Where are you guys staying now," Duncan asked, as Isadora handed Klaus the spyglass half from her pocket.
"We were taken in by Jerome Squalor and his wife Esmé; we live in the penthouse of this apartment building. They don't have a spyglass, that I could find at least, but Jerome mentioned that he knew our parents back in the day. He said our mother used to always tell him he wasn't brave enough."
Isadora snickered, "Oh, you live on Dark Avenue? Is that why you guys are wearing those ridiculous pinstripe suits?"
Klaus chuckled, "Yeah, Esmé insisted. She's completely devoted to being 'in' so we have to look the part too if we want to live with them. Apparently, orphans are 'in' right now too, which is why she adopted us."
"Well when you get you guys out of there Jerome says you can come live with us too," Violet said.
"That sounds wonderful, but how are you going to get us out of here," Duncan asked.
Violet attempted to pick the lock on the cage while Isadora explained how the completed spyglass works. Klaus turned it to the fire function and attempted to burn the lock off but it wasn't strong enough. Violet looked around and picked up a scrap piece of newspaper off the floor and showed off that heat from the spyglass made it float.
"We can use the heat to make our balloon float back up the shaft. I need some tools to break open this lock," Violet said as she and her siblings started getting into their balloon.
"You're leaving," Duncan asked shakily.
"Only for a minute," Violet replied.
"We'll be back shortly," Klaus added.
"And when we do save you we promise we won't let anything separate us ever again," Violet said with a sincere smile.
The two triplets smiled at them. The Baudelaires left in their invention, but it burned out when they reached the top letting the rest of it fall down to the bottom by the cage. Duncan and Isadora sighed with relief that their dear companions made it to the top of the shaft anyway. They quietly sat down and ate the meal they had been left with. It was only hours later that the white faced women came and stuffed them within their new prison for the auction. Unfortunately, the children had been wrong about the item after all. It was the red herring statue.
But as Duncan and Isadora were carried off inside it strapped to the top of Olaf's car the next morning, they felt less scared than they had previously. Because they knew the Baudelaires would come save them no matter what. Duncan reminded himself of this by writing something special inside that statue. The very same thing he had written secretly in his notebook: D.Q+V.B. Isadora scoffed at him for doing this at such an inappropriate time, but to be perfectly honest, she had intended to write a message of her own as well once he was finished. (A message that was listed inside her treasured notebook: K.B+I.Q.) But she didn't get a chance to before they were taken out of the statue after a long car ride and shoved inside a secret fountain door.
And so the two triplets would have to wait another four days before reuniting with the Baudelaires, and escaping the Village of Fowl Devotees permanently by riding off together in a fire truck. Just as Violet had promised, they would go on the rest of their adventure together rather than apart.
~The End!
If you've never played the Mass Effect games, Bosh'tet is a Quarian swear word. It can mean several things, but in this instance Sunny meant, "Bitch." Just thought I'd explain that in case you were curious. Hopefully this is better after my last thing was just a very long rant instead of a story. And yes this story is also connected to my How It Should Have Been story in case it wasn't obvious. See you in the next one!