Well this is it, the grand finale of this story. Haven't finished a multi chapter story in so long aa :') This one was edited little by little in the 10 minutes of recess we hacemmve at college lmao
I still remember when I came up with the idea. I was really into secret identity fics at that time so writing this was pretty entertaining. It was a way to relax my brain when writing too bc I decided I wouldn't be that perfectionist with this one
Thank you to all the people who left kudos, commented and bookmarked this story! This fandom is small so I was really happy to see all the support, you guys are the best ❤️
Also shoutout to Marcelita on instagram for making me notice a huge plot hole that I almost forgot to fix in this chapter sjdjf thanks again, girl!
oOo
Bitzer couldn't really put into words how completely unpredictable the past week had been for him, and that was saying something considering his role in that particular farm.
That new day, one supposed to leave all the madness behind and be his start-a-new, he had woken to the way too familiar fuss of animals creating mayhem outside, earlier than usual and coinciding with a horrible lack of sleep.
Groaning at all the inconveniences coming together at the worst moment, Bitzer left his doghouse ready to scold the poor soul outside like he had never before.
Only to stop on his tracks at the sight of his face.
That face he had known his whole life, the one Bitzer knew would be there every time a problem occurred in the farm, the one he had missed so much this week. That face, that familiar cheeky grin, was now laughing along cheering sheep in colorful suits and masks around him.
And that red, simple, yet so concealing piece of cloth lying unused on his hoof.
It all hit him like a brick. Memories of yesterday's incident, hints suddenly clicking, those 'is it him really?', 'it couldn't be' and 'but what if' that had him up all night.
All the confusion and mix of emotions, finally coming to a halt as he saw how Shaun, dressed up in that red suit Bitzer had been so glad to spot all week, put the mask back in place as the last nail hitting the coffin.
It was true.
It really was true.
Momentarily trapped inside his own mind, Bitzer took a moment to notice the previously happy bleats turning desperate. He shook his head to force himself to focus. The flock were on the road now, having stopped their superhero stunts towards the farmhouse at something happening.
Bitzer's legs slowly began to move on their own. He walked past his doghouse, past the barn, unable to hear nor care about the squees of the defeated pigs swearing revenge.
The sheep stepped off the way as Bitzer got closer, some fletching at how uncharacteristically quietly he had approached, others being more nosy and sucking on their teeth at realizing how awkward the situation must be. Bitzer paid them no mind. His focus was only on one sheep in front of him right now.
Super sheep- no, Shaun, was lying on the grass, unconscious, with Timmy's mom at his side checking for any symptoms of a fever. She looked up at Bitzer, for once not about to start a match of who would take on the nurse role, but instead asking with her silence what he wished to do.
No words left his mouth. He just knelt down and stared.
From his spot Bitzer could see bags under his friend's eyes, the lack of sleep and the reason for it being evident. And worse, knowing at this time of day no one had eaten yet, Shaun had been so impulsive thinking he could play hero without even taking care of himself. It was something Bitzer always scolded him for.
His fist closed in a tight grip. The emotion that had been boiling deep inside him could no longer hold itself from overflowing and finally, after what felt like an eternity, he felt himself frown.
What a dumb, careless sheep he was.
And how worse Bitzer was for not realizing sooner.
—
The first thing Shaun woke up to was a feeling of complete coziness around him. From the soft sheets covering him, to the quietness of the room, to the lingering smell of food near him. It was so nice that he could just fall back to sleep, just for five more minutes…
Until he realized none of those things were there a moment ago.
His eyes snapped open to take in the place, quickly realizing that indeed this wasn't the field full of sheep with matching outfits, but the barn. His hero outfit, now no longer hiding his identity, was lying neatly folded at the side of the mattress, alongside his collection of superhero comics. None of those things shoke him as much as the sound of the cooking pot.
Shaun's gaze shifted to the source of it, eyes widening at the sight of a blonde dog in an apron. He was knelt down and gave his back to the sheep, too focused stirring the pot(vegetable soup Shaun could smell) to notice the now awake sheep.
Though managing to bite back a sound of surprise, his stomach chose the worst possible moment to growl its need for food. Shaun stiffened. Bitzer didn't move, but one of his ears perked at the sound and slowly, he turned around.
The silence alone was enough to make Shaun feel like the worst animal in the world, so he whispered a soft 'morning' in a desperate attempt to break it.
Bitzer vaguely nodded in acknowledgement, too distracted dusting off the apron he was wearing in an upset(or maybe nervous?) motion. After a moment, he looked up to whuff and gesture vaguely at the sheep— Did Shaun feel any better?
Besides nodding, Shaun couldn't think of anything else to say. His stomach answered for him again and he made a face. Hearing the dog sigh and turn around at that only got Shaun to lower his ears even more. Even after everything, Bitzer still was taking care of him. He deserved way better than the indecisiveness Shaun was giving.
Shaun just had to start this whole mess, he just had to dig his own grave deeper each time he put on that mask. And yesterday when Shaun thought he couldn't make things any worse? He had chickened out at seeing Bitzer following him, had gone with the stupid desicion of avoiding a talk by letting Super Sheep take his place imstead. As if doing that wasn't what started the whole mess!
And well, not only did Bitzer see through his put-on-in-a-rush outfit but also that happened.
Shaun had to restrain himself from bringing a hoof to his lips. He knew his friend was a romantic at heart but that was…bold.
Noticing his mind was wandering, the sheep shook his head and bleated to call for the dog. His voice cut short when he saw Bitzer wasn't going to leave, but had simply picked up the ladle and plate that were beside the pot. Though giving his back to the sheep, Bitzer's ears were perked in anticipation for an answer.
Shaun had to force himself to bleat— He was sorry, really sorry.
Still not looking at him, Bitzer poured a good ration of soup on the plate. He whuffed back, tone serious— What for?
Bitzer wasn't actually asking that, Shaun knew, both knew. He was asking to be told the whole truth, for the sheep to be sincere the way he hadn't the whole week.
Shaun couldn't blame him for that. He scratched his arm in shame, struggling to look up as he answered in a soft voice— For...lying, about who he was.
His hoof awkwardly gestured to the red uniform at his side, then at the dog— He involved Bitzer in the 'secret identity' thing. He overstepped and ended getting his hopes up with someone that didn't even exist. He was sorry, so much.
Unable to look at his friend in the eye, Shaun hung his head low and sighed. What else was to say at this point? He had screwed up on a big scale and Bitzer had all the right to not talk to him for weeks.
Despite saying that, the lack of words that followed got Shaun to squeeze his eyes shut at expecting the worst.
A 'Did you mean it?', said soft and tentative, was what finally broke the silence. The question wasn't specific, but the sheep could tell what it referred to. The flirting, the jokes, the compliments; all the things that had taken place the last few days.
Shaun looked up to find Bitzer had turned around. His eyes settled on the pile of comics, then down to the plate in his paws. His tone as he whuffed again sounded more thoughtful than angry— Or was it all part of the hero game?
A heavy feeling settled on the sheep's stomach at hearing that question. How to answer that when he didn't- when he still struggled to figure it all out?
Shaun opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to even mutter something that made sense. He finally decided to let his heart talk for him. It was what he should've done from the start after all.
Shaun took a deep breath and, after a moment of self-encouragement, he bleated the truth— It started as a silly hero act but...he ended meaning it all for real.
He noticed a familiar warm appearing in his cheeks as he continued. He looked at everything but the dog in hopes of it going away— He never lied about what he said. Since the beginning those were things Shaun thought for real. He just never realized the feeling where they came from until now.
A blink, a weight suddenly leaving his shoulders at finally admitting that out loud. So that was it.
Shaun dared to look back at Bitzer now. Despite giving no answer, his tail wagging softly was easy to spot. That was good, a cute trait of his that always gave away when the dog wasn't really angry.
Getting close to the bed, Bitzer left the pot aside to pick an issue from the pile of comics instead. He held it up and looked at Shaun, his paw pointing at the cover of a couple kissing. He whuffed— And the kiss, did he like it?
Now Shaun was unable to keep his whole face from turning red. The dog looked just as nervous asking that, but the way his lips twitched in a smile he was failing to hold back, how his tail wagged with more energy now, showed he was having a bit of fun as well.
Annoying for sure, but it kept things even; so as much as Shaun wanted to tell the dog off with a playful shove, he knew he had to bear with it.
Shyly, the sheep looked down to avoid his gaze, nodding and making the softest agreement sound. More than he should have.
Out of all the possible outcomes the situation could've had, the one Shaun least expected was to be pulled into a hug.
Soft paws wrapping around his back, a fuzzy chin resting on his shoulder, and the most tender feeling one could imagine were familiar to Shaun, Bitzer's hugs were something he knew well by now. But this one, this one had something special, something that left Shaun in a trance at the overwhelmingness of the feeling. The sheep lifted his hoofs, about to hug back-
Until the words 'I'm glad it really was you' came out of the dog's mouth.
Shaun quickly straightened, bleating in shock— He already knew?
Bitzer chuckled nervously, looking aside for a moment as he whuffed his explanation— Well, the laugh, the teasing attitude, the scent and the eyes…It was all too familiar.
Each mentioned thing appeared in Shaun's mind as Bitzer went on. With the realization sinking, Shaun suddenly wondered how he could've thought Bitzer, the animal who knew him the most of all, wouldn't notice.
In a less romantic note, the dog whuffed and gestured at the scattered checklist papers lying beside the pot of soup. All had doodles of both Shaun and Super Sheep, but in none both were ticked at the same time— And Shaun just kept disappearing whenever the guy showed up, Bitzer wasn't that oblivious.
Looking directly at his eyes, Bitzer placed a paw over the sheep's shoulder as another whuff came out— Less when it came to his job.
Despite the confidence of the statement, the way his brows furrowed lightly showed that, maybe, the dog didn't notice as soon as he would've liked.
Shaun still wasn't content with the answer. He bleated another question, a hoof gesturing at the wall, covered in drawings of Super Sheep Timmy had done, then at his plain self— But Shaun wasn't the great hero he expected, was Bitzer really happy with this?
The dog paused, seeming to consider his next words. His paws reached for Shaun's hooves and he whuffed, warmness in his voice— Bitzer had told him he wanted to know the real him, didn't he?
And just by looking over at the wall, Shaun following his gaze, the dog said it all. Right next to the drawings of Super Sheep, there hung photos of their latest adventures, in most of them being Shaun the one who ended 'saving the day' in some way.
Looking back at his friend only worsened the sudden flutter inside his belly. Just by seeing those pictures Bitzer had that same tender expression from that time he spoke about Shaun to the hero. The sheep understood now that, for Bitzer, Shaun had always been the hero of the farm, mask or not.
Bitzer brought his attention back to him, and in a caring gesture, almost daring, he brought a paw to sheep's cheek. He whuffed softly, tone sad— Most importantly, Bitzer missed him this week, the sheep behind the mask.
A thumb barely brushed the zone around his eyes, where the mask used to be. Blushing, Shaun noticed himself leaning into the touch as a smile escaped him.
This mere action seemed to embarrass Bitzer, making him retrieve his paw and voice quiver a bit as he continued— He would like to take this...new thing they had slower though, if Shaun was fine with that.
Bitzer blushed, probably remembering how he himself had gotten carried away the previous day. Shaun didn't mind it at all, but he understood it might be a jump too big from the usual between them, so the sheep nodded to reassure him he was fine with that.
With all that out of the way, Bitzer's familiar scowl took over as he put both paws on his hips, his whuff way less soft now— But Shaun definitely owed him for lying! For worrying him and driving him crazy with riddles the whole week. By now he should know he could trust Bitzer with these things.
The dog ended by crossing his arms and looking. He popping one eye open when the sheep took a moment to answer.
Shaun looked in deep thinking, hooves intertwined over his lap. He grinned, a bit guilty for asking so soon but still wanting to know— So…could they still flirt then? For real this time.
As planned, a blush appeared on Bitzer's face, a sight Shaun liked to see. The dog scoffed, but the hint of a smile escaped him. He waved a paw as if to say 'fine', then got close and whuffed teasingly— Bitzer had to make things even after all.
Another bold move that took Shaun by surprise. Seemed that after such a big step yesterday, a part of that wall called shyness was out of the way.
Still it was a step far from what was the 'fair zone' in Shaun's opinion, so he took it as this being his turn to do something in return. But what? How could he embarrass Bitzer this much as well?
He grinned when a bulb went over his head.
In an instant, he put his hooves in Bitzer's cheeks, pulling him in for a quick but confident smooch. When he pulled away, Bitzer was red on the face and unable to do anything else but blink. Shaun giggled and pulled the hat to be over the dog's eyes to seal the deal. Now they were even!
What followed was a short tantrum from Bitzer, complaining about how he just poured his heart out and Shaun just went and did that, that he was 'more of a villain!' and so on. Shaun made sure to grab his plate of soup to avoid Bitzer from shaking him in embarrassed rage.
Once Shaun's laugh calmed down, a warm smile took its place as he looked down at the soup. Bitzer, despite the tantrum, stayed by his side, glad to talk when another conversation arose between them.
It was just their thing, always there for each other through good or bad. A hero for one another.
Shaun glanced at the comics. And just like the heroine and the security guard, they would always be a team.