They stepped out of the cell together, and Zanka looked around the hallway. The fact that no one had burst through the doors yet with guns blazing was a good sign, but they needed to be precious with their time regardless. His eyes fell on the body –the corpse– of the shorter guard, small puddles of blood leaking from the hole in their forehead and the two matching ones in their chest. Their eyes were still open.
He'd been trained on how to take a life, it had been expected of him. But somehow this was the first time he'd ever actually done it. He expected more horror, more disgust at himself, something. But all he felt looking at the body was a dark satasfaction, and that realization troubled him more than the killing had. Still, he couldn't bring himself to regret it. Not when their deaths meant him and Jabber's freedom. Not when they deserved it.
He crouched down and pulled the keycard lanyard off the guards neck, grabbing the remote and cell key –just in case– and attaching them to his belt, before taking the gun and checking it.
It was the same type of pistol as the other guard's, probably 9mm, and he took out the magazine to check the bullets. Only 6 rounds, meaning the gun he'd gotten from the taller guard only had one left. He'd been hoping it was one of the models that held more, but he supposed it made sense for them to carry a gun with limited ammo given everything. They had other ways of neutralizing them, and in any situation where they needed to fire they likely wouldn't need more than 12 combined bullets, and if one of the guns ever got grabbed by a prisoner, 6 bullets wouldn't be enough to fully escape with.
They really had thought of everything. (Well, almost everything.)
He took one round out of the mag and loaded it into the gun he'd used to shoot the guards, before standing back up and handing it to Jabber.
"Here, this one's got two shots in it. Don't be stupid with 'em."
Jabber had been watching him the whole time, face flushed as he licked his lips.
"You really know your way around those things. Not gonna lie, watching you take 'em apart and put 'em back together with that cold look is really turning me on."
Zanka ignored him, as well as the heat that spiked through his stomach both at the words and the memory of how Jabber's body had felt pressed up against his. That was an issue for later.
Instead, he turned Jabber's remote over in his hands, looking at it intently. There were only the two buttons, and the back didn't show anything interesting either. There was a large circular port on the bottom he'd never been able to see, maybe for charging, since it didn't seem like there were any batteries? Wait. His eyes widened.
"Jabber, turn around."
Jabber, who seemed to be getting more worked up the longer Zanka looked at and touched his remote, blinked in surprise at the command then turned around immediately.
"Oh? Man, that didn't take much, not that I'm complaining~"
He moved Jabber's locs away with one hand as he brought the remote to the back of the collar with the other. The cylindrical extrustion at the back fit perfectly into the port at the bottom of the remote, and as he pressed them together he almost couldnt believe his ears as a click sounded and the collar unlatched, hinging open at the sides.
Jabber was apparently shocked into silence as well and Zanka removed the collar the rest of the way. When he pulled the back half of the collar off towards himself he noticed a thick needle come out of the back of Jabber's neck with it. Jabber shivered at the feeling.
A few inches to the right of the small hole the needle had left were dual red marks that looked pretty nasty but didn't break the skin, and he realized that must have been where the prongs for the electricity had sat. He couldn't help but run his fingers over them and Jabber breathed out a groan. Zanka felt his cheeks burn and he pulled his hand away and stepped back, just stopping himself from apologizing on instinct. He knew Jabber wouldn't want it, and he wasn't actually that sorry anyways.
Jabber turned around and brought the hand that wasn't holding Zanka's remote to his neck, rubbing the bare skin like he couldn't quite believe it.
"Damn it feels good to finally get that thing off. Did you know they could do that?" Jabber said, pointing at the remote.
Zanka just shook his head.
"Nope, didn't have any idea til I took a closer look at it."
Maybe it was the sudden hope that filled him from having a way to get the collars off, or the fever, but he felt elated, and flashed a teasing smile at Jabber.
"Surprised ya didn't notice yourself, Mr. Genius. Maybe you're losing yer touch."
Jabber looked ecstatic, matching his challenge.
"Hey now, you're talkin pretty big game for a guy who's still got that collar on." Jabber held the remote up, teasingly waving it in front of Zanka's face while he took a step closer. "Maybe I'll just take this with me and leave you like that."
"Maybe I'll shoot ya through the hand and take it myself." Zanka grinned as he took a step closer too, eliminating any space between them.
"Fuck, maybe you will."
Jabber's forearms, which had been holding the remote above Zankas head, now rested over his shoulders, an echo of their positions during the kiss.
Their noses were almost touching and Zanka could feel him speak.
"So, do I get that 'please' now?"
Zanka took his left hand and held Jabber's hip, using his thumb to push the edge of the fabric up and rub circles into the skin below, making Jabber shiver. With his right hand he took his gun and pressed the muzzle up against Jabber's stomach, still smiling.
"Don't test yer luck."
Jabber seemingly couldn't contain himself any longer, taking the lead this time and moving forward to press their lips together again. Zanka let him, indulging for just a moment in the feeling. It was less agressive, less rushed, but no less passionate than the one that came before.
Zanka felt his own collar unlock while they kissed, moving against each other, until the buzzing sound of an incoming message from the guards' chokers made them part. Jabber untangled his arms from over his shoulders and Zanka took a step back, feeling slightly dizzy. But that was probably just the fever. Probably.
Zanka fully opened and pulled off his collar, wincing slightly at the strange feeling of the needle sliding out, before tossing it to the floor. He rubbed at the sensitive skin at the front of his neck where the collar had laid and let out a pleased hum at the feeling. Jabber was right, it did feel really good to have it off.
He looked back over to see Jabber smirking at him, eyebrows slightly raised. Zanka flushed.
"Shut up."
Jabber laughed.
"Aw c'mon, I didn't even say anything!"
"I could see it on yer stupid face. Now lets go, you got your gun?"
Jabber pulled it out from the back of his waistband proudly.
"Got it right here."
"Fucking-" Zanka grabbed it and flipped the safety on and then off again, showing Jabber as he did. "make sure this is on when you do that or you're gonna shoot a hole through your ass."
"You speakin from experience?"
"Ha ha. Yer hilarious." He deadpanned, and Jabber blew a kiss at him in return. "Now come on, seriously."
They made their way down the hall until they reached the security doors and scanned the one on the right open, making sure it was clear before moving into it, the door closing behind them.
It was eerie to be in the silence of the lab corridors. Their instruments had to be around nearby, and they shared a nod as they split up to look for them.
Zanka moved through the halls methodically, pressing his ear against doors to make sure they werent occupied before scanning them open and checking the inside. Some were broom closets, some were labs, some just held chemicals. One had voices inside, and he mentally marked it before moving on to the next ones, planning on coming back if he didn't find their instruments.
A couple times he saw Jabber, moving through a hallway parallel to his, and he gave Zanka a wave before creeping silently into a room. Idiot.
He'd just finished checking an empty lab, the only door in a dead-end hallway, when he heard footsteps approach. Shit. With no other choice he ducked back in to the room he'd just left out of and it clicked shut behind him, traitorously loud. The footsteps outside, though heavily muffled through the door, paused. And then continued to get closer. Damn, it seemed their good luck of not drawing attention to themselves so far was about to end.
He moved behind a benchtop, gun at the ready.
The door opened and the sound of someone stepping slowly and cautiously into the lab followed. The door closed behind them, and after they took a few more steps he sprung up, pointing his gun at them.
"Don't move!"
It was a woman, maybe around Enjins age, clearly well built, with a puffy bob of dark purple hair, wearing the same labcoat and insignia as the old man and blow dart guy had. Bob girl. Zanka could have laughed at how accurate Jabber's terrible description actually was.
She held a remote in her hands, and upon seeing Zanka without a collar her jaw clenched, clearly re-evaluating her options.
Unlike the other woman, he could tell by look alone that she was very much a threat, and by the way she was sizing him up, it seemed she was doing the same. She looked at Zanka's face, then at the gun, then back to his face, lingering there, studying his expression for something. Zanka held it steady, ready to shoot if she made even a single wrong move.
She apparently was well-trained enough to know when she was in a situation where being rash would get her killed, and raised her hands, palms facing Zanka, as she dropped the remote, not that it would have helped her anyways.
"Okay." She said evenly, keeping her eyes on Zanka. "What do you want?"
"Where are our instruments being held. And don't try and tell me you don't know."
The briefest hint of curiosity shined in her eyes at Zanka's use of "our" –he really hated scientists– before she seemed to think up an answer.
"It would be easier for me to show you, I'll take y-"
"Not a chance. Tell me now, or I'm pulling the trigger."
Zanka was glad she was clearly smart. Glad she was able to read an enemy well. Because when she looked into his eyes he knew she would be able to tell he wasn't bluffing in the slightest.
"...Fine. They're in a room two hallways to the right from here. First door on the left, room 068A. They're in the first locker on the right side."
"And the exits?"
"There's two. One in sector A and one in sector D, but you knew that already."
Damnit.
He tightened his grip on the gun, and she just raised her hands higher.
"I'm just being honest with you."
"Where's the old man?"
"In his office, waiting for the guards to secure subj- ...to give him the okay to enter the lab. He sent me out to check on them."
"What room?"
"047."
"And the blow dart guy?"
She huffed a small laugh at the nickname, mouthing 'blow dart guy' as she shook her head before looking back up at Zanka.
"Couldn't tell you, Ivan doesnt do his experiments until later. He could be in the dorms or in one of the other labs, I wouldn't know. We're not close."
"Anything else?"
"Maybe. But first I need your word you won't just kill me once I tell you."
He stared her down and she stared back.
"Fine," Zanka eventually said. "I won't kill you. But only if it's worth it."
"Fair enough." She shrugged. "I'm gonna reach into my pocket now, don't shoot."
He kept the gun trained on her chest.
"Slowly."
With one hand she slowly reached into her right pocket, pulling out a ring of car keys on a clip with two fingers and throwing them to the floor by Zanka's feet.
"Those are for one of the trucks, parked on the left side, fourth space in. They also open the lockers. That's worth a life, yeah?"
Zanka picked up the keys, keeping the gun trained on her. They stared off for a moment longer before Zanka lowered the gun slightly and her shoulders relaxed just an inch.
Then, before she could do anything else he pulled the trigger and shot a bullet through her left kneecap.
She cursed as she fell, grabbing her leg in pain as blood started to pool around her.
"You- godamnit! We had a DEAL!"
Zanka just stared at her, not able to conjure up any sympathy for the person who had destroyed a piece of Mankira. Who would probably do the same to Assistaff given the chance.
"I said I wouldn't kill you. And I won't."
Zanka moved towards the door and kicked the back of his heel against it twice.
"But only cause yer not mine to kill anyway."
After a moment, two knocks sounded out and the door opened behind him. Jabber stepped in, grinning as he saw Zanka standing with the gun.
"Yo, who'd you- oh shit!"
"All yours." Zanka said, motioning towards the still prone and bleeding scientist. "I'm gonna go check somethin out."
Jabber looked at Zanka like he'd hung the moon in the sky himself, and Zanka turned out of the room before he did something that cost them even more time.
...
He followed the directions the woman had given him until he ended up at a door marked 068A. This was it. He scanned in, gun raised and on high alert in case it had been a trap, but the room was quiet, and lo and behold, there were tall lockers to his right.
They needed a physical key instead of the card and for a moment he considered just shooting the lock before he remebered the set of keys the woman had tossed him. He unclipped them from his belt and looked through them before finding one that looked like the right size, and slid it in to the lock. It turned and he heard a glorious click. Zanka wrenched open the door, revealing Lovely Assistaff in all her glory, Mankira sitting on a built in shelf behind her.
He shoved the gun in the side of his waistband as he grabbed Lovely Assistaff instead, holding her tight to his chest, not wanting to ever let go again. He moved his hands over her injuries, taking stock of them in a way he hadn't been able to in the lab. A few of them were pretty rough, and the burn at the bottom had gone through the lacquer deeper than he thought, but she was okay. She would be okay, he could fix her. He could do anything now that he just had her back. He pressed her to his forehead and on the bridge of his nose, inhaling. Centering himself. He was whole again.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Thank you for lasting this long." He whispered, trying to press each word into the wood itself.
He looked over then at Mankira, the nine rings sitting there with a patience their user distinctly lacked, and he picked them up gently. Even if he'd never seen Jabber use them he would still be able to tell they were a vital instrument, even just holding them he could slightly feel the energy of their soul.
"Sorry, we'll get you back to him real quick. Promise. He wants to see you too."
Holding them, he realized he had a problem. He couldn't hold Assistaff and the gun if he wanted to carry Jabber's rings, and even if he kept the gun in his waistband he couldnt fight with Assistaff to the fullest with one hand, especially not while one of his shoulders still ached. Normally if he needed to carry something he could put it in his satchel or one of the pouches strapped to his thighs, but both had been taken from him before he woke up in the cell for the first time. He could try and attach them to one of his belts, like he had with the cell and car keys, but unlike with the other two he didn't really have a good way of doing that.
He looked around for something he could use to secure them to his belt, maybe a rope or string he could thread through them? Maybe some sort of bag? But he didn't see anything. It felt a bit silly to look so hard for something to carry an object that was meant to be worn, but they weren't just normal rings. They were Mankira. They were Jabber's.
Zanka putting them on would be crossing a line for sure, the only question was what kind. But it wasn't like he had much choice, and hopefully, if Jabber was mad, having his treasure back in his posession at last would probably help calm it.
He slipped the rings on, the cold metal heavy against his fingers. It felt weird, but strangely it didn't feel wrong, like Mankira was allowing it for now, just as anxious to get back to Jabber as he was.
He looked in the locker again, part of him hoping he'd find Mankira's tenth and final ring. But there was nothing else. Even as unused to her as he was Zanka could feel the unbalanced absence of the last ring on his left hand. For Jabber it would probably be even worse.
But he couldnt worry about that now, for now he just needed to get back to Jabber with their instruments so they could continue getting out.
He transformed Lovely Assistaff, feeling the power of her soul even through the metal of Jabber's rings, and held her with both hands, gun staying tucked into his waist. It was probably better to have the gun in hand instead, as in the small space of the hallways he couldn't swing her all that effectively, but logic was overruled by how much he needed to have her in his grip.
He opened the door and peeked out into the hallway, making sure it was clear, and then started quietly running, retracing his steps back to where Jabber and the woman were.
...
When Zanka arrived he could hear muffled sounds of violence though the door. He took a few seconds to catch his breath. Running back had taken a bit more out of him than he'd expected with the infection. He gave two knocks, and the sounds stopped for a moment before he got two hits on the door in return and he opened it, stepping in.
Jabber stood there, hands bloody, with crazed eyes and a manic grin, and seemed to just barely come back to himself when he saw Zanka holding Lovely Assistaff. His eyes zeroed in on Zanka's hands, on the rings resting there, and his eyes widened.
"Mankira." Jabber breathed, quieter than Zanka had ever heard him.
Jabber rushed forward, taking Zanka's hands in his, and pressed them to his own chest, like Zanka had done for Assistaff, holding them there and tucking his head onto them. Assistaff stood in the space between their two bodies, leaned up against one of Zanka's now outstretched arms.
After a few moments Jabber moved Zanka's hands back out in front of him, threading their fingers together, looking between Mankira and Zanka both. Jabber swallowed, breathless.
"She looks good on you."
Okay, not mad then. Very much not mad. Zanka avoided Jabber's eyes, sure his face was bright red.
"Yeah well, I'm sure she'd rather be back with you than me, so don't make her wait any longer."
Jabber looked at him with something that held way too much emotion as Zanka disentangled their fingers and carefully began to remove Mankira one by one starting with his right hand, giving them to Jabber as he did.
When he got to the very last one, the left ring finger, he took it off and before he could hand it over, Jabber got a glint in his eye and dropped down on one knee, holding Zanka's right hand, which was still holding the ring.
He manuvered Zanka's hand until the ring was at the tip of Jabber's left ring finger, and it wasnt until then that Zanka put together what their positions were emulating.
Jabber looked up at him from his spot on one knee like he was proposing, left hand held out in the air, waiting for Zanka to push the final ring onto his finger, hands still covered in blood.
Zanka felt like he was going to explode.
"You- I-" He sputtered, and felt something swell up in his chest. Jabber was still looking at him with that stupid, loving look. "God. You're so fucking annoying. And it's supposed to be the other way around, ya know."
Zanka's voice was filled with the same emotion Jabber's gaze was.
Jabber smiled.
"What, you want me to put her back on you? Or find something else?"
"Nah."
He yanked a surprised Jabber back up to his feet with his free hand, and then dropped down himself, putting one knee on the ground, reversing their positions. Before Jabber could recover, Zanka finally completed the motion, sliding the final ring onto Jabber's finger, looking up into his eyes.
"There. That's better."
Jabber just stared at him, mouth agape. He brought his free hand up to cover his mouth as it turned into a smile that stretched across most of his face.
"You just keep surprising me, dontcha, Mr. Bad Attitude?"
Zanka returned it, and got back up with the help of Assistaff.
"Someone's gotta keep ya on your toes."
A wet gurgle from behind Jabber made Zanka jump and Jabber spin around.
Oh, right, the woman. Whoops.
Jabber walked back over to her, activating Mankira as he did. Even stuck in her smaller form, even missing a claw, she'd never looked so beautiful.
"Awww don't worry, I didn't forget about you. Hey. Look what I've got." He tapped Mankira against each other, and at the sound the woman tried to move away. Her face was a bloody mess, and at least one arm was broken that Zanka could see, not to mention the state of her fingers. Jabber crouched down and put his claws in her mouth. "I think you owe Mankira here an apology. Go ahead, say you're sorry."
The woman made some sort of noise around the claws, but it was impossible to discern if it was an apology, a plead, or a curse. She cracked a swollen eye open and looked behind Jabber, staring pleadingly at Zanka.
"Nah, c'mon, don't look at him now, he's not gonna save you, are ya Zan-zan?"
He met her eyes, remembering Jabber curled up against the bars.
"Nope."
The woman tried to say something else, but it seemed Jabber was done listening.
"Hmmm yeah, I don't think Mankira accepts your apology. And neither do I."
And with that, Jabber sent his claws all the way through, finishing her off for good and her body went limp. He pulled his claws out of her still open mouth and flicked the blood off them, turning back to Zanka.
"All right, what's next? You find the exit?"
"Not yet, but I did find the old man. Sorta."
"What are we waiting for then?" Jabber took Zanka's hand in his, Mankira still activated, but Zanka knew she wouldn't hurt him right now, and neither would Jabber. "Let's go~"
...
The old man's office was harder to find than he thought it would be, and he regretted not getting clearer directions out of the woman. Too late for that now.
They reached a new area, and both decided to split up again, using the same system of knocks to tell each other what rooms they were in and whether to be on guard when entering.
Zanka weaved around the hallways as quick as he could while still being thorough, having to backtrack a couple times to look again at room numbers his feverish mind glazed over, not wanting to miss room 047, when a door suddenly opened near him. He ducked behind a wall as it swung open, and after a second he peeked out to see who it was.
Repressed rage suddenly bubbled up to the surface at once as he realized it was the blow dart guy, Ivar, or whatever his name was –ugh, now he was starting to sound like Jabber– and Zanka stepped into the hallway, holding Assistaff out in front of him.
It was time for a rematch.
At the sound, the man turned towards him and their eyes met. He looked Zanka up and down quickly, noting his weapon and lack of collar, body tensed.
And then in an instant he turned heel and sprinted away.
"Wha- HEY!! Get back here!" Zanka yelled as he chased.
The man was quick, and took lots of turns, clearly knowing the halls better than Zanka, and it made it hard to keep up, especially with his fever.
The man yelled something about how Zanka had breached containment into his choker –damn it– as he turned another corner, before a sound of impact and a body crashing into the floor echoed just out of sight. Zanka rounded the corner, panting, and there was Jabber, standing over the body of blow dart guy with Mankira out.
"Oh hey, Zan-zan, you're never gonna guess wha-"
"Is he dead??"
Jabber paused at Zanka's desperate anger.
"Uhhh, I don't think so? Not yet at least, I mean he ran straight into Mankira's right claws, but I think he only got a baby dose."
"Good."
Jabber tilted his head.
"Huh, what'd he do to- wait, is this blow dart guy??"
Zanka nodded, watching the guy in question writhe on the floor, clearly trying to fight off Jabber's toxins with minimal success.
"Oh shit! My bad, my bad, lemme fix that for ya."
He leaned over and pricked blow dart guy with his left hand, the pain reliever, and the man took a few shuddering breaths.
"It's not at full strength since the shit they gave me doesn't work as well as my own, but I'm sure you don't mind, right?"
"I can deal." Zanka muttered as he walked over to the man still laying on the floor.
He seemed to finally be getting his bearings back, and he looked up at Zanka from his hand and knees, horrified.
"Listen," He panted. "we can talk about this, I can get you out, or-"
Zanka kicked him underneath his jaw, sending him flying onto his back. He twirled Assistaff, walking forward as the man scrambled back.
"On a scale of one to ten, how much do you think it's gonna hurt when Lovely Assistaff beats yer sorry ass to death?"
"Please, just-"
He swung Assistaff, one of her blades on the side slicing a clean line from shoulder to hip, not enough to kill, but enough to hurt. Enough to near-instantly soak the front of his pristine white labcoat in blood.
"Fuck!"
"Where's the old man."
Blow dart guy just looked back up at him, hands pressed against his own wound futilely, doing nothing to stop the bloodflow. His voice shook as he talked.
"You're just going to kill me anyway. What does it matter."
He swung Assistaff in almost a full arc over his head, slamming her down on his other shoulder, avoiding slicing him with the blades and instead hitting him with the blunt metal, shattering his collarbone.
He spat out curses in a language Zanka didn't recognize, collapsing forward.
"It matters cause I can kill you fast. Or, we can do an endurance test."
The man looked up at him with the same helpless panic Zanka knew he'd had on his own face when they'd hurt Assistaff. But this time, instead of the look being met with vaguely curious, scientific detachment, Zanka met his pleading gaze with a righteous fury, an anger that threatened to consume him whole. And he let it.
"Now, where is he?"
Jabber whistled from behind him.
The man panted, tears escaping from the corner of his eyes.
"Look. The exit is just down that way." He said, taking one hand off his injured shoulder to point behind him and to his left. "Take my keycard, and-"
"No it isn't." Came Jabber's voice from behind Zanka, and they both moved their heads to look at him.
He was smiling, sitting with his legs crossed on the floor, watching with his jaw propped up by one of hands, Mankira still activated.
"I found the exit like a few minutes ago, man. It's the complete other way."
"You found the exit?" Zanka asked, fully turning his body around to face Jabber.
"Yup!" He replied, popping the p. "Found some guy who told me where the old man's office was too, I was comin to getcha when this dude ran into me, and then you were all pissed off and it was pretty hot so I decided to just wait 'til after you were-"
The sound of something flying through the air caught Zanka's attention, just like it had on the day he'd been taken, and he turned around faster than he could think, moving Assistaff as he did, and sliced through a syringe in midair that had been headed to the back of his neck. Not this time.
The contents of the syringe spilled out onto the floor, and it sunk in what had happened. That son of a bitch.
Dart guy cursed, still trying to shuffle backwards, and raised the blowgun back up to his mouth with his uninjured arm. Zanka surged forward, swinging Assistaff upwards as he did, and her blade cleanly sliced the tube in half longways, severing it, and with it, all of the fingers on his hand.
The man screamed and keeled over, his bloody hand pressed against his stomach, and Zanka continued his momentum into a partial spin and hit him with the staff again, slamming him sideways into the wall. The noise stopped as he laid crumpled on his side, either passed out or dead.
In the distance, he heard people moving, getting closer. Whatever backup he'd called for had apparently finally gotten to the labs.
Zanka shoved him onto his back with his boot as he stood over the prone body of the man, echoing the positions they'd been in when he'd first gotten hit with the dart on that hill, and finally did what he'd wanted to do back then, moving the head of Assistaff toward him, and sending her spikes forward through his torso without hesitation. Zanka retracted the spikes and blood flowed freely.
If he wasn't dead before, he was now.
He turned back to Jabber, who had gotten to his feet.
"Pretty good reflexes there, good save! Didn't even see him pull out that dart thing. Shame you had to end it early, that was fun to watch."
"Surprised you're not jealous or something."
"Ehhh, only a bit. I know you'll get me even better later, and besides, I got a pretty good consolation prize." He said, wiggling the finger Zanka had put Mankira on during their faux-proposal.
Zanka just rolled his eyes, ignoring the fondness that he felt while doing so.
"So where's the exit?"
Jabber pointed to what was now Zankas right, the opposite direction of the still-increasing noise of people approaching.
"Over there, buut," Jabber paused. "The old dude's office is over that way." He pointed to Zanka's left. "And I know his ass is still in there. Or at least he was when I checked. So what do you wanna do? We playin it safe or gettin revenge?"
Jabber was leaving it up to him then. The smart thing to do would be to leave. To get out while they could. There was no telling what would happen if they stayed, and there was every chance one of them could die, or both. Or worse.
He looked down at Lovely Assistaff, thinking about the damage. Thinking about the fire. About every promise he'd made watching it happen. He looked over at Jabber, who was waiting for his answer with a surprisingly non-judgemental look on his face. He really would go with whatever Zanka decided. Finally, Zanka looked at Mankira, at her missing claw, and then back to Assistaff. He had his answer.
"We're killin him. And everyone else we can too while we're at it. He's not livin another single god damn day, and then we're gonna burn this shithole to the ground behind us."
Jabber grinned.
"I was hoping you'd say that! Man I love it when you go all scorched earth, really gets a guy goin!"
Jabber led them through the halls. It was a miracle he'd managed to find the office and exit to begin with given his terrible sense of direction, and he took a couple wrong turns and did some backtracking that had Zanka regretting his decision to stay in the facility. But still, they managed to avoid any of the new arrivals, though there were a couple close calls, and eventually, Zanka caught sight of a door marked 047 just as they were about to make another wrong turn, and grabbed Jabber's sleeve, pointing to it.
Zanka moved Assistaff to his left hand and pulled his gun out, just in case the old man was armed on the other side of the door, and nodded to Jabber as he scanned the card and swiftly pushed it open for Zanka, both of them moving in, Zanka first and Jabber close behind.
The office was relatively small, and looked like it was half library and half lab, with shelves of notebooks and files that almost reached the ceiling and various bottles and vials of strange liquids, some contained in a fume hood on the left wall, but most scattered around everywhere with an organization system that, if it existed, was foreign to Zanka. The chaotic room stood as a sharp juxtaposition to the near obsessive neatness of the labs.
The old man had their back to them when they entered, returning –or possibly taking out– a notebook from a shelf behind his desk. At the sound of the door opening, he turned.
"Ah, Elia, is he back in-"
All the blood drained from his face at the sight of them.
Zanka kept the gun leveled at him with his right arm. Assistaff, standing transformed in all her glory, was planted at his side on his left. Jabber came up behind Zanka, looping his arms around Zanka's waist and hooking his chin over Zanka's shoulder, grinning at the old man as he waved with Mankira.
"Heyyy old dude, hope you didn't miss us too much, we wanted to come say hi!"
The old man seemed completely lost for words, staring between them and their instruments like he refused to believe it.
"What, cat got yer tougue?" Drawled Zanka, and Jabber laughed.
The old man gulped, and finally seemed to find his voice.
"...Gentlemen. We're all adults here, I'm sure we can talk this out if-"
He was cut off by Zanka and Jabber speaking simultaneously.
"Nah."
"Nope!"
The old man swallowed again.
"...Listen. You have to understand. I'm not an evil man. The things I have to do, its all for the good of hu-"
"Booooorrriiiiinggg" Groaned Jabber. "Hey Zan-zan, can we kill this guy already?"
"Don't know why yer askin me, I'm not yer keeper."
"Aw, don't say that, you're a keeper alright~" Teased Jabber, lips way too close to Zanka's sensitive neck.
Zanka stomped on his right foot harshly and Jabber sucked in a pained breath, laughing on the exhale.
"Damn, those heels 'a yours really pack a punch. You gonna carry me outta here if I can't walk?"
Zanka grinned sharply, looking down at him out of the corner of his eye.
"Suck it up."
The old man just stared at them, horrified.
"You're both completely insane."
Again they spoke at the same time, Zanka glaring while he shot back "You're one to talk." and Jabber cooing an "Awww, you think so?" and tilting his head where it still rested on Zanka's shoulder.
Zanka tried to step on Jabbers foot again but he moved it out of the way at the last second, laughing.
"Gotta be quicker than that, Mr. Bad Attitude, and besides, we got a much better target right in front of us." That they did. "I'll even let you have first dibs."
"How generous." Zanka said with an eyeroll, clicking the safety back on the gun and tucking it in his waistband once more as Jabber untangled himself from Zanka and took a few steps back, leaning casually against the door with his arms crossed.
Zanka moved Assistaff to be held in both hands, taking a step towards.
The old man took a step back and to the side, trying to keep the desk between him and Zanka as he held up his hands, panicked.
"If you would just hear me out- the Cleaners want less trash beasts, right?? And the Raiders, you all only hire givers don't you?! We all have something to gain here if you'd just listen to-!"
Zanka swung Lovely Assistaff sideways over the desk, not caring what he knocked over as papers flew into the air and the staff connected just below the old man's ribcage, one of her spikes on the bottom sinking into him and then ripping out to the side as the momentum sent him to the floor and he screamed. Zanka was done listening.
The old man, from his place on the ground, seemed almost more concerned with the books and papers Zanka had dislodged and torn than he did with his own injury, crawling to his knees and reaching out for the papers with one hand as he kept the other pressed to the bleeding gash in his side.
"No!"
He reached for the partially ripped notebooks on the ground, trying to move them out of the growing puddles of whatever liquids had been contained in the jars and vials that now laid shattered on the ground.
"No, no no!"
The sight of him ignoring them, reaching for the notebooks instead, filled Zanka with anger, and he moved around the desk until he was right next to him and stepped on the old man's outstretched left hand, making it press into a piece of broken glass that was below it.
The old man finally looked up at Zanka then, and only got to see a millisecond of Assistaff moving towards him as Zanka swung her like a club into his trapped arm, hearing a sickening crack as the bones snapped, forced to bend a direction they weren't supposed to.
The old man screamed in pain, and without an arm to hold him up, he crashed face first into the floor, landing on more tiny shards of broken glass, no doubt covered in whatever suspicious liquids they'd contained.
The man rolled himself over, heaving out sobs as he still bled from his side.
"You don't get it, you just don't get it! I'm trying to help! I'm trying to improve society at large!!"
Jabber had been right, the old man really was weak. Two hits and he was already done for, crying, throwing a tantrum on the floor. A third would probably just kill him.
He gripped Assistaff, remembering everything he'd gone through –everything they'd all gone through– at the hands of a pathetically weak old man. An old man who wouldn't stop talking, yelling hysterically between sobs.
"Trash beasts are a plague!! Humanity must evolve! And if I have to-"
Zanka swung Assistaff, not towards the old man, but instead at the bookshelves behind him, slicing through them and sending it all crashing to the floor, along with whatever bottles it held on top.
The old man yelled like he was the one being hit and Zanka didn't stop there, continuing to swing her around the room, destroying everything he could. He swung her over and over again with a fervor, ripping apart wood and paper alike, shattering glass and cracking plastic, until Zanka was breathing hard and felt like he needed to sit down.
A hand on his right shoulder had him whirling around, anger reigniting, until he saw it was Jabber, looking at him with a half-grin and palms now raised up placatingly in the air.
"Easy there tough guy, remember to leave some for me."
Right. Right. He wasn't the only one there for revenge.
He tried to slow his breathing, wiping away the thin sheen of sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand.
"I'm done. He's all yours."
"Lucky me."
Despite his easygoing tone Jabber kept his eyes on Zanka for a moment longer, even as he moved forward, until he crossed over in front of Zanka and finally addressed the old man.
"Y'know, I've been wondering, y'all pumped a lotta new poisons in me. You ever tried any of 'em yourself? If you're all about science, seems like that would be the best way to really know what they're all about, I mean, thats what I do, y'know?"
The old man didnt answer from his spot on the floor, half-buried in the wreckage of the room, shaking, probably in shock.
"But you don't really seem like the type to be able to enjoy it like I do, so you must be real serious about this whole 'pursuit of knowledge' thing, right? To put youself through that?" Jabber laughed, and it was sharp. "Thing is though, I don't think you have. I think you talk pretty big game, sayin' the pain is worth the results, but you wouldn't really know, huh? Nah, for folks like you, its a lot easier to inflict pain on others instead 'a yourself cause you don't know what it feels like."
Jabber crouched down, Mankira's claws at the old man's neck, lined up with where the collar would have been if he'd had one.
"Lemme show you."
And with that, he poked the claws in. Not deep, not enough to kill, not even deep enough to impart a lethal dose, but all the same the old man seized up immediately, shaking intensifying, as wordless sounds of pain left him.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Dissapointing." He turned back to Zanka, standing up. "You 'bout ready to get outta here?"
Zanka looked at the old man, then at Jabber.
"You're not gonna finish him off?"
"Nah, I got somethin else in mind."
Jabber reached over to a half broken bottle and gave it a sniff.
"Yeah, this oughta do!"
Zanka watched curiously as he poured what was left of the bottle on a pile of loose papers, then sparked his claws against each other until suddenly the small pile went up in flames.
Zanka stepped back on instinct and swore, pulling Lovely Assistaff away, even though she was already transformed.
"Shit! A little warning next time!"
"Sorry, sorry, my bad." Jabber laughed, sounding mostly genuine. "You ready to go?"
Zanka looked back at the old man, who was still shaking, paralyzed on the floor. Part of him felt sick. It really was a horrific thing to do to somebody, no matter who it was. If the cleaners ever found out...if Enjin ever found out...
"Too much? I can go finish him off right now if you want, won't take much."
He looked at the fire, which was now slowly spreading, igniting the paper and wood around it. A small piece of bookshelf popped as it burned and he remembered the nightmare, remembered the tests with the burner, remembered the current state of Lovely Assistaff, what he knew he'd see as soon as he released her. The helplessness as he couldn't move his body and could only watch flame consume her.
"Nah. Leave him. We're going."
He hoped the old man could hear him. Hoped he could hear Zanka's words, which had been useless and powerless for so long, being the the final nail in the coffin, the very thing that locked him into his grim fate.
Jabber laced their hands together again as they walked out the door, letting it close behind them. Leaving the old man, and the fire, behind.
Zanka would probably regret it in the future. Would probably hate himself for it. This wasn't like hurting Jabber. It wasn't even like killing the other scientists, or the guards. He'd done something truly horrific. Something irredeemable. And still, just like with the guards, just like with the scientists, he couldn't bring himself to regret it no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't force his feet to turn back into the room and just use the gun or Assistaff to end things in a way that would let him keep his humanity, and it disgusted him. But he just couldn't.
...No, it wasn't that he couldn't. That would be removing the blame from himself, letting him pin it on something abstract to avoid accountability. Letting him hide behind a lie instead of facing his own flaws. No, it wasn't that he couldn't make himself go put the old man out of his misery. He could. He didn't want to.
Jabber bumped his shoulder against Zanka's as they stood outside the door, raising his eyebows once Zanka looked over at him, a million silent questions in Jabber's eyes alone, choosing to let Zanka pick which ones to answer.
Zanka took a breath before he squeezed their joined hands and knocked Jabber's shoulder back lightly, huffing out a small laugh.
"Guess I did say we'd burn it to the ground, shoulda known yer psycho ass would take that literally."
Jabber grinned.
"How else was I supposed to take it? Seemed fitting anyway." Jabber said, motioning with his head toward Assistaff.
Oh. It hadn't just been a random act of violence. It was intentional, it was for her. And despite everything, Zanka felt his heart swell, and part of him wanted to just pause everything and kiss Jabber stupid right then and there. Softly, slowly, taking his time. Jabber hadn't even seen the damage on Assistaff yet, didn't even know about the nightmare, all he knew about the fire was the little Zanka had told him. Probably just a few sentences in total, most of which Zanka had kept intentionally vague so as not to get too emotional. And still. Still, he'd done that for him. For Assistaff.
Jabber looked around the corridors.
"Alright, now where was th-"
"Thank you."
Jabber snapped his head back towards Zanka so fast he worried it might sprain.
"What was that??"
Zanka looked away, trying to hide the exasperated smile threatening to creep up on him.
"I'm not sayin it again, I know damn well ya heard me the first time."
"Aww c'mon, I wasn't even really listening, I didn't get to enjoy it!"
Zanka stopped trying to hide his smile and huffed out a breath. Then he brought their joined hands up towards his face, avoiding Mankira, and pressed a kiss to the top of Jabber's bloody knuckles, where the skin showed through. He looked into Jabber's eyes, which were wide and glowing pink and looking right back at him.
"Thank you." He spoke into their joined hands, keeping eye contact, then brought their hands back down again, and used it to pull Jabber in the right direction. "Now c'mon. If yer original directions were right it'll be this way."
"Fuck, yeah, okay." Jabber breathed out, and followed dutifully.
They got a few more hallways away, moving towards what was hopefully the direction of the elevator, before Jabber paused in a seemingly random hallway, moving towards one of the doors instead.
"The hell are ya doing now?" Zanka questioned.
"I got an idea." Grinned Jabber. "Help me find a lab."
Jabber scanned open the door he was at and walked in once he looked around.
"Oh, perfect! Lucky me!"
Zanka followed, restlessness itching under his skin but not willing to leave Jabber behind and undeniably curious about what he was planning.
Jabber moved over towards one of the benchtops and started cranking the handle for one of the two nozzles that poked out of the otherwise solid countertop. Zanka heard the hiss of air being released before it leveled into something he could barely make out. Jabber bent down and sniffed whatever was coming out of the nozzle.
"Oh hell yeah!" He laughed, and then started cranking the other one.
"What is that?"
"Methane. S'what they use to fuel the burners, usually they add methyl mercaptan to make it smell bad, but they didn't here, that's perfect!"
Zanka's eye twitched.
"Are you seriously, what, getting high or something??"
Jabber laughed and waved his hand.
"Nah, nah, I've tried that before but it's pretty lame. Basically just oxygen deprivation. What I'm doin is hopefully rigging it so this place blows sky high in about, ehhhh, as long as it takes for the gas to fill this room and reach the office through the vents."
"It's explosive?"
"Crazy explosive! Just needs a spark and boom!" Jabber made explosion sound effects while he pantomimed it with his hands. "Colorless and odorless too, especially without the stupid Methanethiol."
"The what?"
"The sulfur thing, the mercaptan. Makes it smell like rotten eggs. But they didn't add it here, probably cause they synthesize their own methane somehow. Great news for us though, 'cause they won't be able to tell there's a leak til its too late!"
"But we also won't know how far the gas has gotten until it lights up, huh?" Zanka said, catching on.
"Yep! Guess we'll just have to be quick! That shouldn't be an issue, right?" He teased.
"Not if you don't make any more unnecessary stops."
"Aw c'mon, this was a necessary stop! They can contain the fire but I'm serious about bringin this whole place down for real."
He did have a good point, but Zanka would never admit it.
"I think ya just wanna see something blow up."
"Well that too, yeah!"
Zanka rolled his eyes and held open the door.
"Great, a masochist and a pyromaniac, how charming."
"You love it."
"And yer delusional. A triple threat, truly."
Jabber just laughed and followed him out the door and they started moving again.
They kept going straight, getting a few more hallways down, to the point where Zanka knew they had to be nearing the boundaries of the facility, when Jabber apparently recognized something and started pulling Zanka down a hall to their right.
Zanka looked over to where Jabber was pulling him and on the ground of the hallway, a pool of blood beneath it, was a body wearing the guards uniform, five holes in their back. Probably the guy Jabber had run into earlier, then. They stepped over it and kept going.
"It was just over here, there was a long hallway and then the elevator!"
They turned a corner to the left and just like Jabber had said, a long hallway stretched out before them, the elevator gloriously standing at the end of it. Unfortunately, in front of said elevator, blocking their path to freedom, stood three people with large black rifles, two of whom were in normal clothes and one that was dressed like the guards had been.
Seeing them, there was a beat of shock and then the three raised their guns and started firing. Seemed they had a kill on sight order then, not that it didn't make sense.
He and Jabber both quickly ducked behind the corner as bullets richochetted past the area they'd just been standing. Damn it. It didn't seem like there was any other way to the elevator, and they'd never make it to the other one. They'd have to fight their way through.
Jabber was closer to the hallway, and pulled his gun out of the back of his pants, clicking the safety off –thank god– before leaning around and firing two shots, going for a third and only getting a click in return before Zanka yanked him back around the corner by his hood as more bullets lodged into the wall opposite them.
"Whoops."
"I swear to- did ya even get one of em?"
"...I'm still getting used to these things, alright? Recoil was fun though, stronger than I thought it'd be."
Zanka groaned. With the shot he'd spent on bob girl and the one he'd given to Jabber he was down to four.
He switched their positions while Jabber reactivated Mankira and Zanka waited a beat before leaning around the corner, firing at one of the three gunmen before ducking back, just barely missing another barrage of bullets. He'd heard a pained sound, but not one of a body falling, meaning wherever he'd hit them, it wasn't vital. Damn. They were down to three bullets. No room for error.
If they were just within slashing range Mankira and Assistaff could have handled them no problem, and if they were even just a bit closer or had some cover it would have been easy enough to get a good aim with the gun, but stuck at a distance like this they were at a distinct disadvantage, and they knew it.
Okay. He just needed to get closer. The aim of one of them would likely be off anyways from the injury, so he really only had to worry about two of them. He could do that. They weren't even shooting automatics, so the amount of bullets they could fire would be limited to their reflexes. He'd still need to be stupidly fast, but it was doable. Probably.
He looked at Assistaff. If it had been a wide open area he'd take her without hesitation. She would be useful in deflecting any bullets he couldnt dodge, and if he missed any shots she could pick up the slack. But in the corridor, manuvering her with one arm without hitting the walls while also running and dodging would just slow him down, and he knew it.
He pressed a kiss to the metal and deactivated her, returning her to her wooden form for the first time since he'd taken her out of the locker.
Then, he handed her to a wide-eyed Jabber, who deactivated Mankira as soon as Zanka brought Assistaff near him, careful not to scratch her any further. He held her carefully, reverently, and looked back at Zanka, confusion and suspicion plain on his face.
Zanka just gave him a nod, not wanting to aknowledge with words how much trust he was putting in him, and readied himself to turn around the corner, gun to his chest. Before he could though, Jabber grabbed his sleeve, and Zanka looked over at him. Jabber had a half-grin, but there was something worried behind his eyes.
"Yo, you're not planning on doing any lameass self-sacraficial bullshit, are you?"
He hoped not.
"Nah, I got a plan. Just trust me. And stay here til the shooting stops."
Jabber looked at him a moment longer, then dropped his sleeve, relaxing.
"Aight, I'll trust. Just don't be stupid, kay?"
Zanka gave him a grin, hoping he showed a confidence he didn't quite feel.
"I'd never, that's yer thing."
Zanka readied himself for real then, and took a deep breath, before turning the corner and sprinting towards the guards, gun in hand.
The sudden frontal attack caught them off guard, and he got a little bit of distance before they even started shooting at him. His eyes were locked on to the guns as he ran, adrenaline pumping. He ducked under a bullet that whizzed over his head, then moved to the right as one flew past him and a third embedded itself into the wall on his left. Perfect. He kept running, and raised his gun towards the leftmost gunman –the one who'd shot above his head– and fired. It hit them in the chest and they stumbled back before collapsing. Two bullets left. He didn't stop moving.
The rightmost guard adjusted his aim slightly while the other continued to pull the trigger, and another volley of bullets came towards him, the first two just barely missing to his right as he weaved left and then immediately weaved right again, dodging another. He'd made it to the halfway point, and the closer he got, the more panicked the guards seemed. Good. He kept running, keeping his body low as he ducked under another bullet and quickly raised the gun to fire at the middle guard.
The shot went through their neck and they fell back, firing a shot into the ceiling as they did and making sparks rain down as one of the light panels went out. One shot left.
This close, it was even easier to see the guard telegraphing their aim with the gun, and he could tell that the single remaining guard, the one on the right –who shot slower and whose aim had been consistently worse– was the one Zanka had hit earlier, a bright red bullet wound showing on the outside of their shoulder. He ran towards the left, feeling a bullet rip through a thankfully empty part of his pants near his knee and then another just barely clip his left ear. He grit his teeth and finally closed the distance completely, dodging one last shot and tackling the guard at an angle, sending them both to the floor. As he did he felt the vibration of the gun firing and missing to the right of his abdomen but before the guard could wriggle his arm out from below Zanka and fire again, Zanka shoved the head of his pistol underneath the guards chin and pulled the trigger, hearing his brains splatter on the floor even through the persistent ringing in his ears. No more bullets. It was done.
He laid there panting for a second before he slowly tried to get up, hating the feeling of a corpse beneath him.
He stood up on shaky legs and immediately stumbled, leaning against the wall for support. Shit. He'd really overdone it. Not like he'd had any other choice though. He tried to catch his breath, head pounding, and then he looked back down the hall where Jabber was supposed to be, only to see him already moving swiftly towards Zanka with Assistaff in hand. In a blink he was there, and instantly Jabber's hands were on him, moving all over, seemingly checking him for injuries. It reminded him of the way the stethoscope had moved over him, but instead of feeling violating, there was something comforting about it.
"I'm fine." Zanka croaked, and then swallowed, clearing thick saliva out of his throat. "I'm good."
At the confirmation Zanka wasn't hiding any serious injuries and wasn't gonna bleed out, Jabber looked back up at his face, eyes flitting over briefly to the ear that had been just barely grazed by a bullet before coming back to Zanka's eyes. Jabber's face was bright red and he looked somewhere between shocked and amazed, wetting his lips and apparently at a loss for words. Zanka smiled.
"Told ya I'd be fine."
At that, Jabber put his left hand, the one not holding Assistaff, on the side of Zanka's face as he pressed him further against the wall, surging forward to crash their lips together in an absolutely searing kiss.
Zanka let his eyes close, pressing back even harder, enjoying the feel of Jabber's lips moving against his. Jabber pulled away from Zanka's lips for just a second and started to talk, continuing to pepper kisses along the left side of Zanka's jaw as he did.
"Fuck," A kiss against the corner of his mouth. "you're absolutely" A kiss against the middle his jawline. "unbelievable." A kiss at the top of his jaw. "Holy shit." A kiss below his ear, moving down to nudge under his jaw.
Zanka tilted his head up to give Jabber access, indulging the silent request, still breathing hard. Jabber continued. "You tellin me" A kiss on his neck. "you could do that," A long, bruising kiss into the side of his throat. "the entire godamn time??"
The feeling of Jabber speaking against his overly sensitive throat, pressing his mouth against it and feeling barest brush of his teeth over the area had Zanka leaning his head back further against the wall and needing to find something to do with his hands. He held Jabber's uniform in his right hand and reached out blindly for Assistaff with his left, needing something solid to hold on to.
Jabber took that as a green light and pressed his lips to an area of Zanka's neck where the collar had sat, creating a seal and then sucking harshly at the skin. The feel of it made Zanka's eyes roll into the back of his head and he involuntarily breathed out a sound he'd never made before.
At the sound Jabber just got more excited, moving slightly to a new area and doing it again, pulling another broken moan from Zanka, and Jabber broke the seal to speak against Zanka's throat.
"Fuck, I can't- god."
Jabber dropped down then, and Zanka heard the sound of his knees hitting the floor, opening his eyes and looking down to see Jabber kneeling in front of him, looking up at him through his thick eyelashes, face flushed dark and pupils blown so wide he could barely see any of his iris.
He looked desperate, and now that Zanka was holding Assistaff again, Jabber had both hands gripping Zanka's thighs, and was rubbing his face against the growing bulge in the front of Zanka's pants. Fuck.
"Please, Zanka. Need you so bad, I can't take it anymore, you gotta let me have a taste."
He could feel the vibration of Jabber's words through the fabric, and swore he could feel the hot air of Jabber's breath on his dick even through the layers. Fuck. Jabber moved again and Zanka's hips bucked forward involuntarily.
"C'mon please, we can be so quick. We'll be so fast, promise."
Damnit. That was right, they were on a timer. They had no idea how long they had until the gas from the labs reached the fire in the office and blew everything to bits, and they could not be there when it happened.
"Get- fuck" Zanka swore as Jabber rubbed his face against him again, laving his tongue over the front of Zanka's sash, pressing the muscle against his erection. He grabbed Jabber's hair with his free hand and used it to pull him back, resolutely ignoring the sound Jabber made when he did. "Get a grip!" Zanka panted. "I am not dying here cause ya couldn't keep it in your pants fer five minutes. Get in the damn elevator!"
He half-yanked Jabber off the ground and moved over towards the elevator, slamming the keycard against the reader near the button and pressing it with more force than was necessary. He went back to the bodies of the guards and grabbed two of their rifles, not caring about the bullet count, and the elevator doors dinged open not long after. He tossed the guns into the elevator as soon as it was wide enough, and then borderline shoved a grinning Jabber inside while he used the bottom of Assistaff to press the button for ground level.
Jabber stepped near the back wall, still flushed, and looked like he was about to say something, but Zanka didn't give him the chance. He moved forward, pressing Jabber against the back of the elevator roughly and kissed him hard enough that their teeth clacked.
Then, Zanka moved down and put his face in the crook of Jabber's neck this time, frustrated and pent up. He bit the side of Jabber's neck hard and Jabber keened beautifully, throwing his head back against the wall and gripping the back of Zanka's shirt with both hands.
"Fuck, yeah, that's it."
The doors slid shut behind Zanka and they started to ascend. Zanka sucked a dark hickey into the area where he'd just bitten and Jabber only got louder, squirming against him, pressing his lower thigh between Zanka's legs. The friction was delicious, and Zanka ran his tongue along Jabber's neck while he moved over to a new place to bite, starting again. He got lost in it, biting and sucking and kissing Jabber's neck as his breathy whimpers only got louder.
"Yes, fuck- so good, so- ah,"
The praise shot right through him and he ground against Jabber even harder. The elevator shook slightly as it paused, and Zanka thought they'd reached the top and pulled back slightly, causing a whine from Jabber, but instead it just changed directions and moved horizontally instead of up, so Zanka was moving backwards. Of course the place had weird as fuck elevators too, why not. Zanka went back to Jabber's neck, feeling hazy and trying to chase his own pleasure in the brief interlude before they had to start fighting again.
Eventually the elevator paused its horizontal movements and began to ascend once more, rising for a few more seconds before finally slowing and coming to a full stop with a pleasant ding. Ugh. The universe really did hate him.
Zanka pulled back from Jabber, who –a bit to Zanka's embarassment– looked kind of like he'd been attacked by a giant leech and was very pleased about it, as the doors started to slide open.
Zanka bent down and grabbed one of the rifles, pointing it at the doors just in case. They slid open to reveal what looked like an empty concrete building. A table with a few chairs and an ashtray were the only hint it wasn't fully abandonned.
Zanka stepped out with the gun raised, sweeping around all corners to make sure no one was hiding, and then tucked it under the arm holding Assistaff and went for the chairs. There was the faint sound of movement from above the ceiling, and it likely wouldn't be long before whoever it was realized they weren't employees coming back up. Jabber, who had lazily recovered and stepped out of the elevator, watched Zanka carry a chair back to the doors before it clicked what he was doing and he moved to grab his own.
"All right smart guy, good thinking, I'll get the other one."
Zanka laid the chair on the ground between the open elevator doors, preventing them from closing. He wasn't sure how many more people were down there, but blocking the elevator would hopefully ensure that he and Jabber couldn't be followed. And that whoever was down there couldn't escape.
Across the long room where Jabber was headed with another chair was the other elevator, though the outside set of doors looked much more weathered, and if he didn't know it was functional, Zanka would have assumed it was in disrepair. Jabber scanned his own keycard and the doors opened, revealing a pristine inside.
Jabber set the chair down in the opening and at the same time Zanka heard the sound of boots landing on the ground just outside. Someone had probably just climbed down from the roof to investigate the noise.
The open doorway to the outside was closer to Jabber's half of the room, and Zanka raised the gun just in case but didn't need it, Jabber already moving towards the door.
A helmeted man wearing a lower-face gas mask and carrying a long-range rifle with a shoulder strap attached turned into the building and spotted Zanka, but didn't get the chance to complete a single word before Mankira was all the way through his chest, and he fell over as soon as Jabber pulled her out. Jabber leaned over the body and pulled off his mask, throwing it across the room towards Zanka, and it landed a few feet away. The air seemed breathable enough, but extended exposure to any area that wasn't a city spelled bad news for their long term health.
Zanka moved forward and pulled the mask on, taking one last quick look around the room. It didn't seem like there were any stairwells, though if there were they were probably disguised to not draw the eye like the elevators had been, and he didn't have time to look that close. He ran to Jabber, taking the car keys off his belt and tossing them to him as he did.
"There's probably more people on the roof. Get the car started and I'll cover ya. Left side, fourth space in."
Jabber caught the keys with a grin.
"And here I was thinkin' I'd get to call shotgun."
They rushed out, finally, into the daylight, and Jabber beelined for the truck while Zanka ran to get cover behind the first car he could see, aiming his rifle at the roof where two more guards in helmets stood, keeping watch. It seemed like they were on high alert, probably since the first the first guard –now dead– hadn't reported anything back, and it didn't take them any time at all to notice Jabber, but before they could raise their guns and aim, Zanka sent a few bullets their way, making them duck down behind the concrete half-wall on the roof.
The rifle was significantly harder to shoot one-handed than the pistols, and he set Lovely Assistaff down to aim with both arms. Every time one of them started to poke their head up he fired again, one bullet even pinging off one of their helmets before they ducked down again.
The engine started and he could hear Jabber whoop with excitement. Tires scraped against the compacted dirt lot and Zanka sent a few more shots for good measure as he looked to his left where Jabber was pulling up, slamming on the breaks once he got next to Zanka, looking like he was having the time of his life.
"Need a ride?"
Zanka didn't dignify that with a reply, just sending a couple more shots toward the roof before he picked up Assistaff and ran the few steps to the car. He tossed the gun through the open window and yanked open the passenger door, jumping in. Jabber stepped on the gas before he'd even finished getting in the seat and there was a terrifying moment where Zanka worried he might fly right back out the still open door as Jabber turned the car sharply, but years of enduring Enjin's driving allowed him the ability to hold on and he finally pulled the door shut as Jabber started driving straight, away from the facility.
Zanka mentally took stock of everything. Assistaff? Check. Jabber and Mankira? Check. Guns? Check– well, half check. Jabber had never picked up the second rifle from the floor of the elevator, but he hadn't really needed it.
The sound of gunfire rang out behind them, some pinging off the metal of the car, and the back windshield exploded into glass fragments.
"Shit!" Yelled Jabber, either in excitement or panic, or both, and started to swerve, driving the car in a serpentine pattern to try and avoid the gunfire.
Zanka picked up the rifle, which had fallen to the well at his feet, and leaned his top half over the center console, taking advantage of the now open back window to fire some returning shots at them. One of the guards fell. Jabber continued to swerve, and Zanka just barely stopped himself from landing on Jabber as he was tossed from side to side. Even with the turning, some bullets managed to hit the car and Zanka saw one rip through part of Jabber's seat and pierce through the upper part of his right arm with a small spray of blood, making him swear and struggle to keep his grip on the wheel.
Zanka got back in the middle and raised the gun again as more bullets hit the car, one just barely missing his head and cracking the front windshiled and another ripping through the edge of his own seat and grazing the right side of his abdomen. Shit.
Zanka fired again, sending a few more shots towards the roof and finally, the other guard fell. The gunfire ceased and only the sound of the tires on dirt and the wind remained. He pushed himself back into the passenger seat with a groan, breathing hard. Now he just had to hope they hadn't managed to hit a tire or something vital in the engine, though if they did he was sure he and Jabber would find out soon enough.
"Hell yeah!" Laughed Jabber, despite his injury. "Damn, that was badass!"
The area on Zanka's side where the bullet had grazed him hurt like hell and he pressed a hand to it, looking down.
To his horror, he could already see red spreading underneath his fingers. Fuck, not just a graze then. The adrenaline was already leaving his system and he could feel the pain registering more and more with every breath, every heartbeat. It wasn't a vital area, it probably wouldn't kill him. But his body was already running on empty and despite his best efforts, he could feel shock starting to set in. Damnit. Not like this.
"Alright, now which way do you thin- oh shit." Jabber said, finally looking over and seeing Zanka's injury. The car started to veer to the right as he did and he straightened it quickly, torn between looking where he was driving and looking at Zanka. "Shit. Hey, you're good right? Yeah?"
"I'll be fine" Zanka grit out. His teeth were starting to chatter, fuck.
Jabber reached around behind him with his left arm and then there was the sound of ripping fabric. Jabber manuvered around in his seat and then tossed some purple fabric over in Zanka's lap. It was the long tail of fabric he wore in the back, if the knot on the bottom was anything to go by.
"Tie that. Don't be doing some lame shit like dying of bloodloss now that we're finally outta that dump."
Jabber's tone was mostly teasing, but he couldn't hide the frantic undercurrent of worry his voice carried, nor how tense he was, looking over at Zanka every few seconds.
Zanka released the hand pressing on his wound to maneuver the long strip of fabric around his waist with shaking hands. He looped a knot and took a deep breath before pulling it tight, hissing through his teeth in pain as he did. He tied another knot, making sure it was directly over the wound, and secured it. Good. That would help. He rested his head against the window, the glass blissfully cold against his feverish forehead.
"Okay, I think I can see a town up ahead, if..."
The rumbling of the car was familiar and alien all at once. Everything felt hazy.
"....ka, Zanka!"
He opened his eyes, not realizing he'd closed them, and looked over to see Jabber looking at him, worry clear on his face. Zanka swallowed, clearing his throat before he tried to speak.
"Whatsthat...stupid look for? Better not...be fer me."
Jabber huffed out a half-laugh, looking relieved.
"I dunno what you're talkin about. Just stay awake, yeah? Y'all got a healer with the cleaners, right?"
Zanka nodded, head feeling like it weighed a million pounds.
"Yeah, Eisha....she's good.....real..."
"Hey c'mon man, stay awake. Keep talkin to me, tough guy."
That was way too much work. He was so tired. They were done fighting, right? So he could rest now? That sounded good. Really good.
"Shit, no! C'mon, just a bit further. Zanka, you can do that right? Prove..."
Jabber's voice faded into the background. He wasn't sure if his eyes were open or closed, everything was dark. Even muted in the background, Jabber's voice was frantic in a way that was hard to ignore.
But even as Zanka tried to hold on to it, it wasn't quite enough, and he slipped away, only hoping Jabber would ensure he woke back up.