wiz-witch on Tumblr is rubbing off on me with the angst AUs.
1. In a Different World
It had been a long time since Sara had seen a blue sky. She remembered happier times, a memory in which she and Daddy had borrowed a science book from the public library. From that book, she had learned the sky was blue because of oxygen. The plants took in carbon dioxide and released oxygen in a complicated exchange.
Maybe it was the lack of plants that had caused the red sky. The few trees she had seen were lifeless and dull, a heavy gray chain with the initial "D" choking the poor things.
Perhaps it was the factories polluting the air that had caused the red sky. The ones where all those deemed working age were taken and forced to mass produce Normbots and things that inflated their friendly local dictator's ego.
Sara pressed on. She couldn't wait to see a blue sky anymore.
2. No Matter What You Choose
She had choices. But she had no choice at all.
It would end in death for someone. The question is...
Who?
She'd been too reckless. She was too blinded by her ideals.
She wanted her family whole again. And she stormed in alone.
Armed with only a blaster. No backup.
She'd known the Resistance wouldn't support her decision. So she said nothing.
And she would pay. He would pay.
Lava or Milo. Both were ready for her death.
One to burn her and leave no trace. One who was robbed of his childhood.
He'd been happy once. And now it was gone.
One eye is gone, replaced by cold red metal. Everything was stolen.
He'd stolen everything. Her life, her happiness, her family...
She did the only thing she could. She attacked his face.
Glass shattered as she pummeled the screen. She didn't care anymore.
Her palms became bloodied. She didn't care.
He screamed at his minions to take her out. Didn't care.
They closed in. Didn't care.
But Milo did. And somehow he reached out to her.
3. Thicker Than Water
Sara had cried when Daddy left for work the day after Doofenshmirtz's takeover. She had watched him lift the hook of his collar so that it caught on the bus. She'd seen him get dragged down the street along with a dozen other men gagged in a similar fashion.
Sara had cried when the Normbot came to their house and confiscated the entire family's clothes. Her favorite shirt torn in two. Milo's monkey pajamas. Burned to ashes. The prom dress which Mama had promised she'd pass on to Sara when she was old enough. Crumpled and thrown into a bin so the precious metal which adorned the hem could be used for evil.
Sara had cried when Doofenshmirtz himself visited. "What kind of despot would I be if I didn't show up to terrify my subjects periodically?" he said. "Now, about your boy..."
Then Milo was gone.
That was when Sara joined the Resistance. Something about utilizing Murphy's Law. There had been a target on their backs since the first days of the dictatorship. The world was dangerous enough for Milo.
But now he could never carry on with a bright smile. He would never have friends to pick him up when he was sad, or to share in his joy when he got a new toy.
And she cried to the angry red sky.
Milo saved her life.
But she didn't save his.
