Harry shoves his hand into his pocket.
Again.
His fingers close around the rusty, and he lets out a sigh.
Still there.
T hadn't wanted to hold it while being the distraction. Which made sense.
When would T have time to question the rescued Isle Borns?
But, when he'd agreed to carry the Rusty of Truth, he hadn't thought about how nervous it would make him.
It wasn't like he was known to lose things, but a rusty?
His hand tightens.
It just felt better to know it was safe.
To know that he wasn't breaking T's faith in him.
Not to mention the loss this would be where the Old Man was concerned.
He had no idea how magic worked-
Zero.
Big old nadda.
But to see the way Yensid looked after keeping them alive in the storm, and then after the witches?
Magic looked hard enough in the stupid books, and it looked draining as fuck.
He couldn't lose something that cost so much, and something he needed to do the job entrusted to him by T.
Look for possible spies.
He grins when he catches a short flash of teal out of the corner of his eyes.
Uma's signal for them to halt.
Sea Gods, the globes were useful.
He grins.
T, so happy to be holding proof that he was real that he was jumping around and grinning like a maniac, would live in his head forever.
It had been too long since the last time he'd seen T like that.
Uma was a genius.
His only wish was that he could have been there; could have seen the moment the flames changed color and T realized it was his favorite color.
Finally, Something to prove what they'd always known.
That T was every bit as real as the rest of them.
Aside from the current nightmare they were in, he was happy.
If nothing else, they could all face these camps knowing that T was finally doubt free, at least as far as his existence went.
He crouches behind a pile of rubble and takes out the notebook to wait for the next order.
He rubs his thumb over the rusty again.
Still, despite all that-
He was nervous. T had given them whale shit when he'd taken off on his own.
"You okay?" Deez whispers beside his ear before he feels her small hand on his shoulder.
"Jus' be wishin' T be lettin' us in on his plans."
"Some leader." Beam rolls his eyes. "Dick."
Gil looks between the two of them before he closes his mouth and shakes his head.
"He could have at least told the Captain what his plan was." James points out.
Uma sighs, "would'ah been nice."
Again, Gil closes his mouth.
"T's been this off beat leader since I met him," Deez explains with a shrug as she slides to sit beside him, "he might do things his own way, but it's a way that mostly works."
Gil nods, "yeah."
"Sorry, Lil' Writer, I don't think I heard ya right," Beam rubs his fingers roughly over both ears as if attempting to dislodged something in them, "T be ah what now?"
Deez purses her lips, "yeah, I get it. You and Uma are more conventional leaders. But T-" she sighs as she looks at the pockmarked wall they were hiding behind, "T is always like, a leader in the moment. It's never grand scale or completely thought out, and sometimes I even wonder if he knows he's doing it."
Gil grins as he points to her, "that. I don't think he ever means to- but, yeah. He just-" his eyes narrow, "Ts." He drops his eyes to Deez, "an' it's always an adventure to follow."
"Exactly," Deez smiles, "I bet he didn't say what his distraction is going to be because he needs to figure out what will work best."
Beam snorts, "of course he's wingin' it."
Uma crosses her arms, "with this? Even he wouldn't be so reck-" she stops short before she drags her hand down her face with a groan.
"Couldn't finish it, huh?" Beam grins, his eyes bright with amusement. "'Side's as irritating' as it is-" he turns to the camp, "bet it's gonna be fuckin' interestin'."
"It usually be that," he sighs as he pulls out his spy glass, "intended or not."
James crosses his arms and shakes his head, "ya'll be worryin' 'bout the wrong siblin'."
He frowns as he turns to James, "an' what do that be ah meanin'?"
"She be the one that be makin' poison and things go boom."
"Aye," he gestures to the bags each of them were carrying, "an' we be mighty glad o' those things, an' her medicines."
"Aye, ain't sayin' they ain't. Jus' sayin' the thought o' what she'd be plannin' be terrifyin' mate."
He opens his mouth to argue, but the memory of T telling him how scary Faustina could be makes him pause.
Should he be more worried about what Faustina would be willing to do?
He frowns when not even Gil defends his Angel.
No.
Deez slowly turns towards the familiar rumble.
The rumble that always sent ice down her spine.
Why would that be his first pick?
Did he even know how to drive that thing?
She bites her lip as she glances to Uma and the others.
How long before they'd be able to hear the backfire?
The high-pitched, grinding horn T was maniacally laying into.
She takes a deep breath before she looks up at Gil.
Would he still understand after this?
She sighs.
He'd been trying so hard to be more open-minded about T's-
She frowns as she searches for the right word, only to sigh again.
T-ness. There was no better word, that she knew of, anyway.
Poor T.
Just when he'd had all the allies.
She sighs again.
"I ain't much likin' how yer sighing with every breath."
"Yeah," Gil agrees as he looks her over in concern.
"I know," she drops her head to stare at the torn cement under her feet, "just remember we have a job to do, and we run at the first bang."
"What's that s'pose ta mean?" James eyes her curiously.
Uma stiffens and whips her head in T's direction when the car backfires again.
She closes her eyes, sure she knew exactly that Uma was thinking.
I agreed to this. I agreed to this.
Her head tilts when she hears laughter.
Crazed laughter.
"READY OR NOT-"
Oh no.
She tenses, pushing all other thoughts away as she sets herself up to dart at the first blast, knowing whatever it was T was doing, it was about to become their signal.
Yes!Yes!Yes!Yes!Yes!
The wind from the open window whips through his hair.
One hand on the wheel as the other grips the gear shift.
His foot planted on the pedal.
The car lurching and bouncing noisily over the rough terrain.
He'd dreamed of this.
Literally.
Taking this bitch out for a spin.
He eyes the approaching camp with a shit eating grin.
Fuck, he wished Carlos was here to see this.
How many times had he teased the other boy about taking the hell mobile for a drive.
Will you focus before you get us killed!
He laughs raucously as he haphazardly flips a stone onto the accelerator.
T! T! This isn't what we talked about! T, what are you doing?
Improvising.
Improvising!? She sputters angrily. You can't improvise! Nothing's gone wrong!
Another manic laugh spills from his lips at her mounting concern as he shimmies out the window.
Relax, he assures her as he twists up and out the window to bury a pair of blades into the top of the car.
Relax? Relax! You're about to goddamned kill us!
He shakes his head.
Such little faith.
T, I'm serious!
Joyous laughter pours from him as more and more people gather by the gate.
Transfixed.
Like moths to a flame.
More maniacal laughter spills from his lips.
This is gonna be so dope.
T! T! T! T!
Faustina cries out as the car continues to careen towards the camp's fence.
Tears are torn from his eyes as they continue to barrel forward, her screams of fear echoing in his ears.
"READY OR NOT-"
His eyes steady on the mounds of loose dirt.
T!
A smirk curves his lips.
Wait for it.
He glances between the lip of the wall and back.
T! This isn't funny!
Wait for it.
She cries out again in terror-
Sadistic laughter spills from his lips as he coils.
His smirk grows as the soldiers along the wall gape in disbelief.
One light after another sparks in the distance before loud 'pops' sound off.
LordJesusChrist T!
Perfect.
How!
Seriously? Ain't it a bit obvi-
T!
She begs as the mounds grow concerningly closer.
Wait for it.
T!
Her shrill scream rattles his ears.
T!
He releases the blades at the last possible second as the first mound is eaten by the front of the car.
No!
"Here I come!" He barks out with a bout of insane laughter as he launches himself towards the wall as the explosion sounds.
Teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
An intoxicating mixture of satisfaction and pleasure bursts through his system as he finds himself in the air, before he swiftly wraps his fingers around the smooth clay.
Screams of terror and confusion fill the air.
"Let's go fuckers!" He laughs gleefully over a chain of thunderous explosions as he throws the bombs ahead of him.
Fuck if he hadn't missed this.
The rush.
Why?
Why had he thought this would be a good idea?
He couldn't even remember to keep his mouth shut around Ursula-
Let alone remember the way to a location based off a map.
He scans the camp but gives up after a moment, unable to discern anything with the chaos.
Whatever stunt T had just pulled off had clearly succeeded.
Which as good as that was-
Was also distracting him.
He wasn't sure how the others were managing to function between the smoke obscuring their surroundings and the screams of panic that were occasionally drowned out by shrieks of terror-
Which were usually followed by a familiar manically gleeful laughter.
Then there were the strange glows and snaps going off all around him, reminding him of those strings of fire crackers they'd occasionally find in the barge trash.
But with the clouds from the bombs T set off and the-
His nose flares at the smell of burning.
Rotten eggs?
He tenses as one cracks off maybe ten feet away from him, the swears and curses following the flash of light alerting him.
His eyes widen as he makes out the shadow of a rifle-
Shit!
Guns!
That's what those pops were?
Fuck! A shiver runs down his spine.
No-
Wait-
That meant-
Ice courses through him as he stumbles.
They were shooting blind.
They were surrounded.
By armed soldiers.
Who were firing aimlessly.
Probably even at each other.
Deez! Uma!
He looks around desperately for a hint of blue and white.
A black hood.
Anything to help him find his family.
Panic fueled screams nearly has him giving himself whiplash-
His heart jumps to his throat.
Too slow to stop the swarm of soldiers charging straight for him.
His hands tighten around his hammer.
His heart thunders in his ears.
He knew how to defend himself.
His breath hitches in his throat.
But killing?
He reluctantly raises his hammer.
Was he really about to-
He grimaces as the first soldier reaches him.
Shit!
He could almost see the man's eyes-
He flinches as the man rushes him, bringing his hammer in front of his face as if it were a shield instead of a weapon.
His vision blurs as he stares at his feet, his breath loud and heaving in his ears.
But then a pair of feet race past him.
His shoulders tense.
And then another pair.
Followed by a deafening group of screaming soldiers.
"It's him. The Spider."
Someone grabs him by the shoulder, and he instantly looks up.
"Don't just stand there, idiot," someone he'd never seen before shouts in his face, spraying him with spit, "his bite's killin' them that get in the way."
He blinks in surprise, but the man only shakes his head and pushes away.
"Go get dead then, this ain't my fight."
"Uh-" He blinks as the man barrels passed.
He jumps when someone grabs his hand.
"Night," he hears Deez say as he's dragged away.
"Oh, thank sea gods," he breathes out in relief, "Treasure." He sighs as he squeezes her hand and gathers her close.
He feels her hug him briefly before she wiggles just enough to drop to her feet, "this way." She tugs him to follow her.
It takes everything in him to keep from carrying her out of here.
With every pop of a gun, his resolve weakens.
Every alarm in him was blaring to go find Uma and get her and Deez to safety.
He wasn't sure he'd ever felt so torn.
Deez-
His beautiful precious Treasure was tougher than any mortal metal, so as much as it would pain him if she got hit-
His heart slams against his chest.
His stomach drops as his eyes search wildly for Uma.
-his Captain, on the other hand?
He wasn't sure what he could do about that-
But fuck if he didn't want to do something.
"Yeah," he nods, careful to keep up with her.
He jumps when several flashes burst in front of them, the shrill sounds of what he assumed were bullets whiz past as Deez jerks slightly, though she doesn't falter in her steps as she continues to guide him through the fog.
"Here," she pulls him into the shadows between two buildings, "we got a row out, but then the shooting-"
She squeaks as he pulls her into his chest, crushing her in a hug of desperation.
They both jump at a sudden shrill whistle.
What the-
Deez squeezes his hand tightly before she points up.
"I'm right here pussies! C'mon get me!"
"T must be trying to draw them off us." She explains in a breathy whisper.
He groans.
Of course, T'd turn himself into a target.
Why hadn't he considered his brother pulling something so stupidly dangerous. It was just so T.
He'd give anything to be able to complain about it.
But T was making a very persuasive counter when the flashes of light shift up towards the top of the walls.
Laughter echoes throughout the complex as the soldiers continue shooting.
Shouts of confusion, directives, and shrieks of terror drown each other out as the soldiers desperately try to locate the Spider.
"I was not expecting them to just start shooting at everything," Deez huffs as she plucks at her shirt before she suddenly whips her head up to look him over, "you're not hurt are you?" She demands as she tugs him to her level and starts looking him over, "fuck, all I can smell is their black powder burning."
"No," he frowns as he looks back over his shoulder only to pause.
Wait.
If Deez was asking-
His eyes drop to her shirt.
Fuck.
Had she been-
His eyes search her face.
"Did they get you?"
"Demi," she grins, "they bounced."
"Shit," he looks past Deez, trying desperately to locate Uma.
"Hey, breathe Night. It's fine."
"Is it?" He snaps. "Because currently, people are shooting guns at our family-"
"I promise." She interrupts as she lifts onto her toes to touch his face, "we ran back here when we first saw the flairs. Most of it seemed to be aimed at you."
"Oh, as long as it was just aimed at me." He rolls his eyes, "doesn't solve the being shot at problem."
"Night!" She demands in a forced low voice as she cups his cheeks and forces him to look into her eyes, "no one is hurt."
He sighs in relief at her conviction.
Thank the gods.
"Can ya hear any of them?" He asks hopefully, "I can't see anything in this smoke."
"They seem to be moving away, and the rest of us are on the other side of this building," Deez explains after a few moments.
"Good," he nods, "mind leadin' the way?"
"Of course, Night," she smiles up at him before she tugs on his hand and begins navigating them back to the others.
He was grateful no one had been hurt, but embarrassed he'd gotten separated from their team so badly that Deez had to come rescue him.
"It's our first try," Deez whispers as she guides him along the wall, "we knew things weren't going to be perfect. And seriously, who shoots a gun without knowing what you're aiming at?"
"Apparently a lotta people." He grumbles, smiling at Deez's snort.
"Thank the sea gods!" Uma sighs in relief as they round a corner before he's yanked into a hug.
"More like thank our Treasure," He grins sheepishly. "I got lost."
"My mistake," Uma's lip twitches, "well, you're both back now."
"No one's shooting near us." Deez says as she looks up, dropping her cupped hands away from her ears.
"Good." Uma states firmly as she moves away to check on the others.
He wasn't sure how many more bullets he could take whizzing past them.
"Sorry," he breathes into her hair. "Sorry, this is going great. Better than expected." He forces himself to smile.
Deez snorts against him.
"I don't think they even know we're here." He adds, happy to feel her smile.
"Oh yeah," Deez chuckles softly, "completely invisible."
"Like rats," he teases.
"Wharf rats." Deez nods before she pulls back, "T would be so proud."
"My goal in life." He deadpans.
Uma signals over her head.
"Time to go again." He sighs.
Deez nods before she looks up at him with wide eyes and takes his hand, "stay close to me?"
"Yeah," he nods as he squeezes her hand, grateful she'd asked.
Like she knew he didn't want to separate.
Not after being left in the middle of a shoot out, unable to focus on the task with so much else going on around him.
This had been a mistake.
He was sitting the next one out.
This was stupid.
"Lead the way," he nods to Deez as Uma sets the pace.
T-T
Poor fucking Gil. How much this has to suck for him.
Bastards never liked fighting-
Why he always got paired with C and no one from the Core commented.
But, fuck-
I feel so bad for him-
But, honestly, (c'mon guys I need some of your opinions here) does it make sense why I took this route with Gil? Do you feel like it's in character for him?
Or did I fuck that up?
Please let me know.
Here we can even play tit-for-tat-
As Gil's writer I've always done my best to represent as a soft spoken gentle giant who would rather get his ass beat than strike back at the defense of a kitten.
He's never abided violence and always hated when the gangs were forced to fight, it just isn't who he as at his core, regardless of Gaston's wishes.
It's his own burden to carry in this-
To admit he doesn't have what it takes to attack another much like his beloved Treasure-
Not saying the others are like, kill crazy-
But they definitely never shirked from a fight.
Speaking of fight-
T is living his best fucking life right now. I mean what teen doesn't want to steal a car to run over landmines and jump from the roof of it like a total billy bad ass.
Definitely a highlight for T.
Did it make any of you mimic a check mark in the air, or were you too busy smiling at the cuteness of a maniacally happy T?
D knows. Always does.
That whatever stunt T was going to pull was going to be ridiculously dangerous and effective.
And if your questioning why T didn't freak out at being the center of attention-
It's because he was wholly in his element and didn't have to stay in the spot light. In fact the reason he is/becomes so elusive is he is taking off the Spider ring in like every third shadow, waiting, and then confusing the shit out of gaurds.
Beautiful really…
In my humble not so humble opinion.
So, what did you guys think of the Fam's first raid?
Much love
-Twisted