Courting a Killer

by SaltywithSarcasm

Summary:

Ace is a full grown man wanting to talk to another full grown man…with a harpoon gun and blood lust; His anxiety is going through the roof. Why is he doing this?

Notes:

• Inspired by Chilled to the bone by SaltywithSarcasm

Chapter 1

“David, I don’t think you should be trying this again.” Ace says frantically, watching the brute manage to knock the killer to the ground and knocking his harpoon gun out of his hands as he decks him across the face; He isn’t listening to him. They were the last survivors in the trial and the gambler could only think that David must have snapped, resorting to his fighting nature. “It didn’t end well last time you tried this with Legion, you’re gonna-“

“Shut it, Ace!” David snaps, tossing him the killer’s weapon and Ace manages to catch it with fumbling hands. “Don’t you dare pull what Jeff did, if you actually help me and instead of just standing there-“

“I’m not helping you, I don’t want anything to do with this, man.” Ace replies, dropping the harpoon gun to the ground. “You’re insane if you believe that entity is gonna allow this-David? David, what are you doing?!”

Ace watches the fighter lifts the unconscious killer over his shoulder so the gambler nervously follows after them.

“Are you even listening to me?”

“I’m gonna put this fucker on one of his own goddamn hooks and see how he likes it.” He huffs. “If you’re not gonna help then go make yourself useful and get those gates open.”

“You’re insane, actually insane; Do you hear yourself?!” Ace says, catching up to them and blocks David’s path. “You’re just going to make our situation a whole lot worse, just drop him. He’s unconscious, we can leave-“

David shoves him, dropping the killer onto the ground as he does so and turns his anger towards his fellow survivor, gritting his teeth with rage.

“What is y’all’s problem? We can take this freaks if we stick together.” David grabs the front of Ace’s jacket and yanks him closer, making him stumble into the other’s hold. “Instead you’re all happily play victims and run away with your tails between your legs; If you’re not gonna man up then stay out of my way.”

He shoves Ace back but the man catches himself before he can fall then tries to get in between him and the killer before the entity could decide to just put a end to them both; Suddenly there’s a fist connecting to his face and Ace is seeing white then feels his body hitting the ground hard, leaving his head disoriented.

David says something to him so Ace lifts his head to look at the brute and feels his blood run cold when he sees the dark silhouette getting up behind the man standing in front of him.

“Dav…” He tries to warn and watches the Deathslinger wrap his arm around David’s throat, holding him tightly to prevent him from struggling free.

“Trying to ambush me, heh?” The killer chuckles, grabbing David by his head with his free hand and snickers. “Think I need my gun to kill yellow-belly punk like yerself?”

David claws at his arms, trying to kick at his legs to get himself free but the strength of the man holding him was inhuman. He looks at Ace, who was still reeling from the punch he gave him earlier and grits his teeth, wanting to deck him again for getting in his way.

Ace hears the sickening snap before he can understand what’s happening, watching David’s body fall at his feet and crawls backwards to get away despite his vision still being so blurry.

The hatch, he’s got to find the hatch.

He scrambles to his feet and nearly trips over himself but runs to look for it, glancing back to see in horror that the killer was picking up his weapon again.

He’s going to going to be hunted and with only three gens done, he’s done for.

Ace stops to catch his breath, hiding behind an old outhouse and tries to listen for the hatch. It’s got to be somewhere around the saloon, that’s where more of the unfinished generators were.

He groans, reaching up to rub his temple, head still aching from David’s swing; It’s no wonder the man manage to take a few of the killers down when he catches them off guard, the man hits like a brick to the face.

“Acey boy, where did ya run off to?” He hears, heartbeat growing closer. He pokes his head around the corner and sees the the Deathslinger checking a locker. He makes a dash for the saloon, not looking back as he makes it inside and plants his back against the wall.

The heartbeat is still there, pounding in his ears to let him know that the killer was still close by. Ace takes in a shaky breath and slowly turns to look out the door again, nearly jumps out of skin upon seeing the killer standing there. The Deathslinger doesn’t hesitate to grab him by his throat and push him back, leading him backwards until his ass hits the edge of a table.

“There ya are.”

“H-Here I am.” Ace lets out a nervous chuckle, swallowing the lump in his throat and feels it against the other’s hand. His eyes flickering down to the harpoon gun in his other hand as the killer leans him back over the table.

“Not gonna pull any fast ones like yer friend?” The Deathslinger asks, fingers tighten their hold.

“N-no.”

“And ya said he’s done this before with those runts up at the resort?” The killer asks, raising a brow and spitting onto the table. So the killers are aware of the other killer’s realms?

“Yeah…attacked Frank and ended up having the other three joining the trial-“ Ace chokes as he presses farther back over the table as killer standing in between his dangling legs. “J-Jeff prevented him from killing the boy.”

“Am I supposed to feel moved by that?” The Deathslinger asks, pinning him down to the table and lifts the gun up to press the tip of the harpoon against his ribs.

“J-just answering your question.” Ace replies, fletching at the slight pain, knowing the man could pull the trigger at any moment and he would be a dead man.

The Deathslinger stares at him for a moment, not saying anything but makes Ace turn his head so he can get a better look at his face; It feels swollen, probably already bruising and he’s honestly surprised he hadn’t lost a tooth in the process.

“Yer friend did a number on ya.”

“I guess it had something to do with me standing in between him and the hook.” Ace mutters, his face growing flushed from the lack of oxygen, fingers loosen their hold and he can finally breath again. “Gonna give me hell for it back at the fire, I can already tell.”

He feels him pull away his gun and sets it on the table beside him, looking a bit lost in his own thoughts before pulling back, yanking Ace up along with him and tossing the man to the floor.

“Get.” The Killer says, motioning for him to leave. “Don’t ya expect this kind of courteously next time, hot shot.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Ace says, getting back to his feet and feels the killer’s eyes on him as he makes his way out of the door.

So that was a thing.

If it were anyone else, the idea of being pinned down against a table and choked would have been exciting-

Whoa. Wait. What?

No, no; Find the hatch and escape, that should be his top priority, Ace can sort out his morbid fetishes later when he gets out of here.

He finds the hatch and glances back at the saloon, seeing the Deathslinger just leaning up against the doorframe, watching him as he smoked a cigar.

Alrighty then, Ace opens the hatch and jumps in before the other could change his mind.

As expected, David was up in his face the very moment he got back. He shouting at him, shoving him to the point the others had to intervene and separate them

“This is the second time you’ve screwed me over.”

“Hey, hey; I’m just not wanting to be apart of this.” Ace raises his heads up defensively.

“I had him, Ace; If you hadn’t gotten in my way-“

“You’re going to make our situation worse if you keep this up.” Ace tries to point out. “Do you think the others are going to join you after seeing what the entity did when you attacked the one Legion boy?”

“You’re all a bunch a cowards, you know that?!” David snaps at him, walking away to cool his head while Ace just rolls his eyes and heads out to the fog. He needs to look for offerings anyway and much needed space from that hot head.

“Ace.” He looks over his shoulder to see Jeff trying to catch up to him so he slows his pace. “What happened?”

“David just tried to hook a killer and got his neck snapped as the result.” Ace mutters, pulling out a cigarette and lights it up to calm his nerves.

“Who was it?” Ace can hear the concern in his voice and chuckles, patting his back.

“It wasn’t one of those kiddos you’re fond of, no worries; It was the Deathslinger.” He says to reassure him, taking a long draw and puffing put the smoke. “You come out here to see them time to time, right?”

“Sometimes, yeah or I’ll go visit them in their realm; Why?”

“Think any of the other killers are out here?” Ace asks, offering the cigarette to Jeff. “Do you think we’ve ever passed them without noticing?”

“I’m not sure, I think Nea mentioned something about not hearing a heartbeat when they’re near you out here so there’s a possibility.”

“That’s freaking terrifying.” Ace rubs his eyes from underneath his shades.

Both of them were silent for a bit, walking through the foggy woods as they looked for things to offer to the entity.

“…So…what’s it like? You know, bonding with the Legion?” Ace asks, tossing his cigarette in the grass and stomping it out. “Do they try to kill you outside of trials?”

“No, we just talk for the most part.” Jeff tells him. “Or we go walking through the woods for offerings.”

“And if I…wanted to try to be friendly with one of the killers, how would you say I go about doing it?”

“Did something happened durning your last trial?” Jeff stops walking. “It was against the Deathslinger, right?”

“…Yeah.” Ace rubs the back of his neck, not sure if he should go into detail about how the man got pretty handsy with him and how much he enjoyed it. “You can say that.”

“The most you can do is try to talk to him.”

“Without him trying to put a harpoon through my chest?” Ace laughs dryly. “Sure, I’ll try that.”

“That’s the most you can do, man.” Jeff kicks a rock and pauses when stumbles upon a offer, reaching down to grab it and holds it up for the other to take; A dusty noose. “You can start off by trying to be sent to his realm more often.”

“He’s not going to spare me next time-“

“I know but you can still say something to him durning the trial, talk his ear off.” Jeff teases him, playfully elbowing him in the side. “You’re good at that, maybe he’ll warm up to you.”

Ace huffs, taking the item from him and rubs his thumb against old rope; He’ll probably end up risking being sacrificed a couple of times but it could work.

“But what’s the point of it though?” Ace asks, mostly to himself. Why the sudden interest in this killer? Is he that touched starved and desperate for…he didn’t know, Affection?

Ace certainly wouldn’t be getting affection from him of all people, didn’t know why but something about him is just alluring. Perhaps Ace just likes to be manhandled and shoved around, held down; who knows.

He’s a fucked up person in a fucked up situation so no harm in trying, right?

Ace pockets the offering and pats Jeff on the shoulder.

“Let’s see what else we can find-“ The sound of leaves and twigs crunching under feet’s catches their attention and before either of them could process what was happening, Jeff is being pulled into a hug by a flash of pink, making him stumble slightly. Ace steps back and realizes it’s Susie, glancing over his shoulder to see the rest of Legion approaching them at a more casual pace.

“Hey, old man.” Frank mutters, lifting a hand to acknowledge Jeff then nodding towards Ace. “Friend of yours?”

“Yeah, we’re just looking for offerings; Any of you happen to come across some that would help send us to the Grave of Glenvale?”

Frank tilts his head in though, pulling up his mask to show his confused expression and looks at Joey before turning back to them.

“Why and the hell would you want to be sent there?” He asks, sitting down on a log. “Deathslinger isn’t a merciful type, he enjoys the hunt.”

“David attacked him in our last trial, I don’t know but after I tried to stop him, something happened between us and he let me take the hatch-“

“Caleb let you take the hatch?” Julie says, pulling up her own mask up with a look of surprise on her face. “He just let you go?”

Ace nods, watching the teens mutters between themselves, wondering what he was getting himself into but at least he knows his name now.

Caleb, he seems like a Caleb.

“What’s your intentions with him?” Joey asks, sitting next to him on the log. “Trying to his friend or are you going for what Meg and the Trapper has?”

“And what does Meg and the Trapper have?” Ace asks with a raised brow, scratching the side of his neck. He has so many questions, how many of the other survivors has already form a certain bond with these killers? And how is he just hearing about it? He knows about Kate and the Clown, Jeff and the Legion, certainly not David but who else?

“They’re sorta leaning towards a romantic type of relationship, I guess.” Frank explains, his tone seeming amused. “Not sure how that works but they’re making it work, I see the redhead out here in the fog all the time when she’s heading to his realm.”

“Wait…” Ace perks his head up at what he just said. “You can go to their realms outside of trials?”

“…Yeah?” Frank chuckles, shaking his head at his ignorance.

“Without an offering?” Ace asks, needing clarification.

“Yeah…want us to take you there?” Frank gets to his feet, shoving his hands in his pockets. “We can…uh, look for those offerings on the way there.”

Ace doesn’t know, he’s not really sure what he’s wanting from the other man; Friendship maybe? No, then he wouldn’t have found himself attracted to him yet he knows Caleb will probably want nothing to do with him, especially after their last trial.

“I guess I could try to talk to him.”

“I hope you’re as lucky as you claim you are.” Julie says, looping her arm around Frank’s as they lead the way. “You’re going to need it.”

Ace sticks close beside Jeff’s side, reading his body language and from what he can tell, the taller man wasn’t anxious about being here with them, even with Joey following behind them and Susie walking on the other side of Jeff, hugging his arm.

He seems to have really become a father/friend for them and Ace didn’t know how to feel about it. He’s obviously happy for Jeff, he’s really close with the four and they adore him even if Frank is trying to act like he just tolerated him.

That sort of happiness is rare here and he just wants to find his own, maybe that’s what he’s trying with Caleb?

It’s stupid, thinking a killer will tolerate him when even the Legion had low expectations of this going well. Wishful thinking was all it was.

A pat on his back makes him jump and he turns to see Joey walking beside him.

“You’re muttering to yourself.” Joey says, pushing up his mask and pulling off his hood. “If you’re not sure about it, you don’t have to go; Deathslinger isn’t a friendly guy even with other killers, so it’s understandable if you wanna back out.”

“Yeah, he’s kind of like the demogorgon; Just likes to be left alone.” Susie comments, looking around Jeff to meet his eyes. “He was so mean to me the other day out here in the fog.”

“What do you mean?” Jeff asks, causing Frank to laugh ahead of them.

“Not what you think, he just made a comment about her christmas sweater.” Frank says over his shoulder. “We were there with her so he didn’t try anything.”

“Do killers attack other killers?” Ace asks curiosity.

“Yeah, from time to time.” Frank replies, jumping over a log and turns on his heel to face them, freeing his arm from Julie in the process. “I think the Hag attacked Ghost Face one time, not really sure why but he got a gnarly scar from it.”

“Or the one time the Oni attacked Wraith but I think that was a territorial thing.” Julie adds, glancing back at them from over her shoulder. “Most of them just like keeping to themselves other than to come out to look for offerings.”

“Here we are.” Frank stops and waves a gate further away.

“Are you not going with?”

“We don’t really care about treading in other killer’s turf unless asked; Territory and all that.” He says, leaning against the gate. “But we can wait out here though, you’d be able to escape at any time in case things don’t go well.”

Ace nods, he can do this. He’s a full grown man wanting to talk to another full grown man…with a harpoon gun and blood lust; His anxiety is going through the roof. Why is he doing this?

“And if I die?”

“I’ll see you back at the campfire.” Jeff tells him so Ace takes a deep breath and makes his way through the gate, finding himself in the Deathslinger’s territory. He glances back and the foggy woods are no longer there, neither is Jeff or the Legion.

“This is probably one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done.” He mutters to himself. “Up there with gambling with that mafia boss.”

He casually walks up to the saloon and pokes his head inside, not a soul in sight so he makes his way down the sandy path, looking for the other man. A thing he notices is that there were no hooks or gens where they normally be durning a trial, odd but he’s never been to a killer’s realm in between trials so how would he have known?

For a moment, Ace wonders if the other man was even around, could be out looking for offerings until he jumps at the sound of his harpoon gun being shot off and the harpoon digging into the wall right beside him. He scrambles away from the thing and turns to see the killer cranking the gun before pulling the harpoon out of the wall, reloading his weapon.

“Knew my trigger finger was itching for a reason.” Caleb says, looking Ace up and down, raising a brow as he tips his hat back. “Don’t get much visitors here, son; Care explaining why yer here?”

“I-I…” Ace is stammers, instincts telling him to run for the gate but he stands his ground and tries to get his words out. “I w-wanted to chat, especially after our last trial-“

“Thinking I’m getting sentimental for ya just because I let ya go?” Caleb says, aiming the gun at him with a smug look. “Get outta here before I kill ya like I did yer friend.”

“Alright, alright; Didn’t mean to step on your toes, man.” Ace says, holding up his hands as he slowly backs away. “Just thought you’d like some company-“

“Leave.” Caleb says as a final warning and Ace didn’t need to be told twice; He runs back to the gate, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he gets back through and nearly runs into Frank in a panic.

Frank pushes him back before they could stumble over each other and laughs at the expression he must have on face.

“Didn’t go well?” Frank teases as Ace leans on his knees to catch his breath.

“…No, told me to leave as soon as he saw me. Ace gets out, standing back up and feels Frank smack him on the back.

“Hey, giving you mercy twice in a row; That’s progress, right?”

“If you say so.” He mutters, adjust his hat and turns to Jeff. “Think I could wear him down durning trials?”

“Maybe if you run head first to get hooked.”

“You survivors are crazy, you know that?” Frank comments, motioning with his hand to imply he’s loony. “Anyways, we’re going to be off; Have our own offerings to look for.”

The group of teen leave, talking to each other as they left Jeff and Ace to their own devices.

“How did you managed that?” Ace can’t help but to ask. “I couldn’t get a word out before he shot at me.”

“I knew them before we ended up here so I guess I had a advantage.” Jeff explains, walking Ace back through the forest. “We can still look for those offerings if you want and I’m sure the others will willingly give them to you if they come across any as well.”

“And what about David?”

“What about him?”

“Wouldn’t he get more pissed for…you know?”

“Let him be mad.” Jeff waves it off.

They set off through the woods collecting offerings on their way back to the campfire.

Chapter 2

Ace tries to gather as many offerings that he could to send him to the ghost town and each time he’s brought there, he tries to speak to the Deathslinger; He honestly tries but the man doesn’t seem to be effected by his words. Doesn’t hesitate to fire his harpoon in Ace’s direction the moment he spots him or even when the killer manages to knock him down, he ignores him when he carrying him off to the hook.

The survivor doesn’t let it discourage him though; The Deathslinger is a tough man to get through to but Ace has got a way with words, it was only a matter of time before one of them breaks first.

He creeps behind a wooden crate, heading his way to a gen not too far away while keeping an eye out for any of his fellow survivors. Some of the others managed to catch on what he’s trying to do so they would lead the killer right to him when being chased.

When he hops on the generator, hearing the Deathslinger’s gun being fired off in the distance and he would have followed the sounds that lead him straight to him if it weren’t for his obligation to get the gates open for everyone to survive the trial so Ace stays put, waiting for the opportunity to talk to the ghoulish man again.

He turns his head to see Feng Min running over to help him, glancing to him from the corner of her eyes with a light smile.

“Any luck to persuade him this time?” She asks playfully, doing far better in getting this thing up and running than he did.

“Haven’t been spotted by him yet, think he’ll start avoiding me at some point?”

“Hmm, who could resist your charm?” The girl chuckles, focusing on the task in front of her.

“He’s been doing a great job at it durning the last couple trials I’ve been in.” Ace tells her, can’t helping but to laugh himself. “Last time he managed to get me down, he practically ignored me talking to him while carrying me off to a hook; he a tough egg to crack.”

“Perhaps he needs a little push to make him acknowledge you.”

“Like what?”

“You know that ugly outfit you have-“

“It’s not ugly.” Ace argues with a fake pout and he would have playfully shoved her if it weren’t for the fact that his hands were busy at the moment.

“It’s cheetah print but that’s beside the point.” She says. “It shows some skin and it’ll definitely catch his attention, try wearing it with those tight pants you’ve got and maybe it’ll do something for him.”

“I doubt this man has enough of a libido for it to do anything for him.”

“So you’re not trying to have a intimate relationship with him, just a sort of friendship?”

“I’m not really sure what I’m trying to do here.” Ace tells her honestly, getting his fingers zapped and pulls his hand away to suck on the injured finger. “Just feel drawn to him, I guess.”

“Could be the entity’s doing.” Feng Min suggests, shrugging her shoulder.

“Then could it cut me some slack and work it’s magic on him because I feel like I’m doing all the work here.” Feng Min looks like she’s about to say something when the sound of a heartbeat fills their ears, she gives him a look. “…I’ll lure him away, you keep working on this.”

Ace gets to his feet and spots the Deathslinger not too far away, checking around the abandoned building close by. He takes a deep breath and sprints over, crouching down beside the window sill to peek over.

The killer is checking the locker in the corner so he must feel them nearby somehow. He stands up, nervousness knotting in the pit of his stomach as he climbs through the window to confront him.

The Deathslinger pauses when he sees Ace again, looking confused but instead of just firing at him like he’s done many times before, he just stands there looking him over.

“How…how are ya…” He lowers his gun much to the gambler’s surprise. The Deathslinger spits on the ground in annoyance, never taking his eyes off the other man and approaches him. “Yer beginning to get on my last nerve, boy.”

“I figured you’d be thrilled to see a familiar face.”

“I don’t know what yer doin but you’ve been popping up in every trial I’ve gotten since I’ve killed that one friend of yers.” He sneers, glowing eyes staring him down. He stops in front of Ace, curling his lip and lifting his gun up but doesn’t aim it at him yet. “Give me one good reason, I shouldn’t shove this harpoon through yer skull right now.”

“What’s stopping you?” Ace says before he could realize what he’s saying, pain jolting through his body as the harpoon pierced him, pinning him against the wall next to the window. Ace shouts in agony, hands grabbing the metal rod sticking out of his shoulder and lets out a shuttering breath while the killer remain silent. Ace should have seen that coming, he definitely deserved that. Still, he didn’t kill him on the spot so that’s good, right? “I asked for that.”

He halfheartedly laughs, knuckles whites from gripping the harpoon and jumps upon hearing two gens being finished in the distance. The Deathslinger shows no interest in finding the others, his attention solely on the man in front of him.

“What do ya want from me?” The killer asks, getting in his space with no sense of boundaries.

“I don’t know.” Ace gets out, blood seeping through his shirt. “I’m just as confused as you are!”

He hears the killer pop his jaw, feeling those eyes burning into him before feeling the harpoon being pulled out of him, making Ace drop to the floor with a pained grunt.

Ace could practically feel the man considering using his mori on him at this very second, every hair on his body is standing on edge and he could feel the familiar static in the air.

A flash bomb lands in between them and goes off, blinding them both, he feels hands pulls him up and he’s being dragged out of the house. Ace blinks s couple of times and sees both Claudette and Bill are the ones rescuing him.

“What the hell are you thinking, Ace? Trying to get yourself killed?!” Bill lectures, they drag him behind some crates and start patching him up.

“Not in the agenda, no.” Ace mutters, feeling wounds begin to heal.

“Then why did you run straight to the killer?” Claudette asks, pulling away to look him over and smacks him over the head once she knows he’s going to be fine. “And why the hell did you just stand there?!”

“Thought I had Lady Luck on my side today, guess I was wrong.” Ace gets back to his feet and fixes his jacket, now soaked with his own blood.

“Dumbass.” Bill shakes head, motioning for them to follow to finish off the last gen. Ace follows behind, looking over his shoulder at the shack, wondering why Caleb hadn’t chased them.

He joins them on the gen and with the three of them, it didn’t take long for them to finish it off and get the gates activated.

“Let’s get the gate and get out of here, Feng Min should already be heading that way.”

They get to the gate and guard Bill as he opens it, seeing Feng Min sprinting over to them.

“Has he came over here yet?” She asks, panting and leans against the brick wall of the gate to catch her breath.

“Not yet, haven’t heard the heartbeat or seen him.” Claudette tells her, relieved once the gate finally opens.

The relief is cut short upon hearing the heartbeat and it was growing louder in their ears.

“Go, everyone through the gate now.” Bill says, grabbing Feng Min by the arm and helping her through the gate. Ace follows behind Claudette but as he gets close to escaping, the harpoon is fired off and shouts as it piercing through his chest and yanks him back to the ground, leaving him alone as the others managed to escape.

Ace stares at the ground, coughing from the impact and sees feet step in his line of vision before the Deathslinger crouches down beside him.

“Where are ya off to in a hurry, Acey boy?” He asks, chuckling darkly as he knocks Ace’s hat off. “Thought ya wanted to be here with me, didn’t ya?”

The killer lets out another chuckle before getting to his feet and dragging Ace out of the exit gate by the chain. He grabs the chain, hoping to relieve the pressure from the harpoon in his chest and groans in pain as he dragged through the ghost town. He’s hasn’t moried him yet so he must be taking him to a hook.

But he doesn’t, Ace watches him walk past the hook that were slowly disappearing from the realm and instead, the Deathslinger drags him up the stairs into the saloon. He groans in pain, eyes staring up at the ceiling when the killer stops and turns around the look down at him.

He screams when the harpoon is pulled from his chest again, laying flat on his back while blood pooled around his body, soaking the dirty floorboard beneath him.

“Ya didn’t answer me earlier when I spoke to ya.” He says, pulling up a chair and takes a seat in it in front of Ace, setting his gun beside him.

“I was just…to get…your attention-“

“Well, ya got it now though I don’t reckon it’s the kind ya want.” He taunts, poking Ace’s shoulder with the tip of his boot. He reaches into his coat and tossing some bandages on Ace’s bloody chest. “Patch yerself up, don’t want ya bleeding out before I’m done with ya.”

Ace slowly reaches for the bandages, doing best to heal himself through the pain and briefly wonders why he’s putting himself through this. It’s a loss cause, it’s just going to keep endinv up like this; in pain and death.

Once Ace knows he’s not going to bleed to death, he just lays there on the floor, focusing on his breathing while the other man stares on.

“I’ll stop, I’m done. I’ll leave you alone, I swear.” Ace mutters, tasting his own blood as his chest aches in another sort of pain. “Just go ahead and kill me.”

Once he gets back to the campfire, he’ll dump all the offerings him and the others found back out into the fog; He’ll go other offerings to sent him to other killer’s realms.

The chair creaks under the killer’s weight as he leans forward to meet Ace’s eyes.

“I really don’t understand ya, boy.” Caleb says, nudging Ace’s head with his foot to make him meet his eyes. “I’ve seen ya out in the fog with yer friends, heard ya’ll talking about coming here because ya wanted to see me; Why?”

“I can’t explain it, I feel like I’m being drawn here.” Ace says, thankful for his sunglasses because he wouldn’t be able to keep eye contact without them. “So I’ve been trying to talk to you and see if you feel the same thing I do.”

“I don’t have a single clue what yer talking about.” He utters, rubbing his chin. “Think the entity is messin with yer head?”

“Maybe or maybe I just like you?”

“That’s a stupid choice on your part.” Caleb says, placing feet on either side of Ace’s head.

“I’m just a stupid person then.” Ace replies, feeling his heart skip a beat when he managed to get a soft laugh out of him.

“Yeah, pretty stupid of ya.” Caleb grows quiet, sucking air through teeth before leaning back in his chair. Ace stays still, not sure how to reply before the man gets up from chair and steps over him to stand above the injured man. Ace feels like his breath is caught in the back of his throat when the killer drops to his knees and straddles his waist, pinning his arms to his sides.

Oh well, that’s an unexpected turn of events.

Ace opens his mouth to ask what he’s doing but he doesn’t know what to say, his face feels warmer as his heart hammers away in his chest.

“…Wha-“

“I’ll humor ya since yer so persistent.” He says, resting his hands on his own thighs. “Say we starts talkin, yer not gonna start expecting me to spare ya durning trials, are ya?”

“No.” Ace shakes his head, shallowing the lump in his throat. “Not at all-“

“Good…” Caleb reaches up to brush his thumb against the spot where David had hit him before, he lets out a shaky breath and nods, eyes glancing around frantically as if expecting someone to walk in on them.

Caleb’s got to know what he’s doing, must be doing it on purpose; There’s no way he’s unaware what this looks like.

“So…why did you let me go?” Ace asks, feeling like he’s treading on thin ice. “Some of the other killers told me-“

“What I do is my own business.” Caleb says, curling his lip. “I spared you on a whim, nothing else.”

“Just a whim though?” Ace presses, taking his chances. The man above him doesn’t say anything, instead grabbing by his throat and leans down to get in his face.

“Yer acting quite ballsy for a man laying in his own blood.” He growls, narrowing his eyes. “What do ya expect me to say? I’ve got a soft spot for ya?”

“A man can hope.” He replies, choking from the hand around his throat. Caleb stares at him for a couple of moments before laughing under his breath, shaking his head as he leans back up.

“I don’t know about you, fella; Must got some rocks for brains.”

“I thought we already covered that I’m stupid?” Ace halfheartedly laughs with a small smile, flexing his hands to get some blood flow through them. The hand around his neck pulls away, calloused fingers brushing down his chest and leaving goosebumps in their wake.

Caleb sighs, getting up off of him and yanks Ace up on his feet by his arm, he stumbles a bit from the loss of blood, falling against the killer. He quickly pulls back with an apology, although his head is currently spinning and feels weak in the knees.

“Should go before yer friends come lookin for ya.” He says, scratching his beard. “Don’t need anymore of ya’ll comin around here.”

“Yeah…” Ace mutters, feeling like his knees would give out at any moment. “I might some help with that, not sure if I’ll-“

The Deathslinger doesn’t give him a moment to finish his sentence before heaving him over his shoulder and walking out the saloon’s door.

“Maybe next time I’ll let ya stick around a bit longer if ya insist.” He mutters, heading towards the gates. “But I don’t want want any of yer friends sticking around.”

“I’ll let them know.” Ace says, noticing he had left his weapon back inside the building then he’s being sat down at the gate.

The Deathslinger steps away from him to pick up the hat he had knocked off him earlier, dusting it off against his shirt and sets in back on Ace’s head.

“Good.” His eyes rake over Ace before meeting his eyes and smirks deviously. “Now get.”

He shoves the gambler through the gate and suddenly Ace finds him back at the campfire with the others, wounds healed and met with confused, concerned faces.

“What happened?” Claudette asks, rushing over to his side and met with is a bewildered expression.

“Uh…lots, lots happened.” Ace rubs his face in disbelief, still processed the whole thing through his head.

That seriously happened; Did he managed to get through to him? Holy shit, he actually got through to Caleb. Not much but he was able to get his foot in the door.

His heart is racing with excitement, unable to stop the goofy smile spreading across his face and clears his throat.

Unfortunately that feeling of a small victory is lived short when his eyes meets David’s, the other survivor is eyeing him from across the fire with judgmental stare.

“What’s your problem?” Ace confronts him, getting real tired of the other man’s antics.

“I don’t know, maybe the fact that we’re here trying to survive and you’re purposely staying behind in trials to flirt with one of the freaks here trying to kill us?”

“I didn’t ‘purposely’ do shit, I was yanked from the gate by a harpoon, dickhead.” Ace snaps back.

“But did he kill you?” David asks, raising a brow with knowing expression.

“No, he didn’t.” Ace replies. “Is that what you’re wanting to hear? Trying to paint me as a bad guy when you’re the one trying to piss off the thing that has us trapped here in the first place?”

David stands up aggressively, throwing a piece of wood at his head that barely misses.

“Hey! Knock it off!” Meg shouts, getting in between the two and glares David down.

“And what are you gonna do if I don’t, Meg? Go cry to the Trapper?” He scoffs in her face. Bill grabs him by his shoulder and yanks him away from her.

“Sit your ass down and knock it off before I make ya, boy.” He orders. “What the other do is none of your business-“

“You can’t be seriously taking their-“

“AND you don’t have to like it but what you’re not going to do is stir shit up with the others.” He makes David sit back down forcefully, leaving him quite but staring daggers in Ace’s direction. “We have enough problems as it is.”

Ace doesn’t keep the eyes contact for very long and turns his attention to the fire, unsure if he should burn another dusty noose or go look for more offerings to let things cool off here.

He looks around notices Jeff is nowhere in sight, figuring he must be with the Legion and wonders when Caleb would be fine with him visiting him, knowing how the man likes his privacy.

He’ll ask him later when he gets the chance but for now, he should let things settle down here.

Chapter 3

Ace takes a drag of his cigarette, sitting beside Jeff and Frank while Susie chased after Julie through the foggy forest. Joey was standing nearby, leaning against a tree, smoking his own cigarette and staring off into the trees.

He hasn’t been to Deathslinger’s realm for the past few trials, he’s running out of offerings and he’s pretty sure David has be getting rid of them while him and the others aren’t looking; He not sure why he’s so against him spending time with Caleb when he’s not the only survivor bonding with a killer. Maybe it’s because regardless if David got rid of their offerings, they’ll just go visit their realm through the fog.

He’s been meaning to ask Frank to show him the way again.

“Hey Ace, I think I see your boy over there.” Joey says, getting Ace’s attention and nods in the direction he saw the Deathslinger. Ace perks up his head and turns to look him, seeing a brief glance of the man waking through the trees; Perhaps he hadn’t seen them or he’s too busy.

Ace excuses himself, getting up and leaves them to go chase after the other man. The Deathslinger slows his pace, hearing his footsteps and glances over his shoulder to see Ace catching up with him.

“Yer a slow runner, Acey boy; It’s no wonder I have no problem catching you.” He says amusedly as Ace stops to catch his breath.

“Some of us aren’t gifted with long legs like you, Caleb.” He gets out, looking up at him and sees the surprised look on the killer’s face.

“I’ve never told ya my name.”

“Oh…uh, Frank and them told me a while ago.” He admits, standing up straight and rubs the back of his neck. “Is it okay that I call you that?”

“Em fine, don’t really care what ya call me.” Caleb says, nudging a log over and kneels down to dig out a offering hidden underneath. “Had that brute in a trial not too long ago, he didn’t try to pull another stunt like he had before, had colorful choice of words for me though.”

“David? Yeah, he’s not too happy with me right now either.” Ace tells him as the other stood up again. “Been avoiding me, Jeff and a couple of the others.”

“Hmm, wonder why that’d be.” He says, slipping the offering into a bag that’s attached to his hip.

“Because of this, talking to killers.” Ace explains, watching him nod as he listened.

“Seems pretty understandable, probably thinks ya’ll are betraying him and the others keeping their distance.” Caleb replies. “Although the whole thing doesn’t matter weither yer friendly or not, we’re all under the entity’s control. Might as well do whatever the hell ya want with whoever.”

“He doesn’t think that way, I’m sure he’s still hanging on the hope that there’s still a chance to escape from here.” Ace says, lighting up another cigarette and puffing out a cloud of smoke. “I’m sure if anyone’s ever managed a thing like that or the entity just tosses them away when it’s done with them.”

“Can’t say for sure, you’ve been here longer than I have.” Caleb takes a seat on a log and pulls out a cigar, motioning for Ace to lean down so he does and eyes widen as the other man used his lit cigarette to light his own. Caleb smiles as he pulls back, watching his face grow flush and exhales the smoke.

“Why do you do that?”

“Hmm?”

“Act like you have no interest in me but then do that?” Ace asks, sitting down next to him.

“Fun to fuck with ya, like watching yer face turn red.” Caleb says, taking a long drag and wraps an arms around Ace’s shoulders.

“So that time in the saloon when you sat on me, you knew what you were doing?”

“Mm-hmm.” He admits, glancing at him from the corner of his eyes. “Enjoyed feeling ya squirm.”

“…Oh.” He’s not sure how to take that but loves the feeling of the weight of his arm around him. Ace hesitantly leans against his side, both sitting in silence as they smoked together.

Caleb lifts his head sharply, pulling his arm away to grab for his gun and gets up, aiming it in a direction.

“Come on out, I know yer there.” Ace doesn’t see anything until a hoodie figure steps out from behind a tree; It was Frank.

“Hey, hey; No need for the hostility, man; Jeff was just worrying about his friend.” The teen says, Caleb lowers his gun and raises a brow at them.

“There’s usually four of ya’ll, where’s the other three?”

“Not too far away.” Frank says, shoving his hands in his hoodie pocket; Probably grabbing his knife from instinct and to play it safe.

“We’re good here, Jeff doesn’t need to worry.” Ace says.

“Could always join us, able to find better offerings that suit your tastes when you’re in a larger group.” Frank offers with the shrug of his shoulders. “We tend to trade the ones we find that are useless for us killers to Jeff and he does the same for us, whadda ya say?”

He doesn’t say anything, staring at Frank like he thinking it over.

“You don’t gotta if you want to; I get it, you’re just starting to communicate with others and like keeping to yourself.” Frank continues, turning away at them waving from over his shoulder. “Offer still stands if you want it.”

The Deathslinger lowers his gun, watching the teen leave before turning back to Ace with a questionable look on his face.

“I’m not sure if I trust those kids to not stab me in the back.”

“I’m still on the fence about them too but Jeff trusts them.” Ace tells him, getting to his feet and stomping his cigarette out. “And they haven’t tried stabbing me outside of trials yet.”

The Deathslinger approaches him, gun lowered and huffs amusedly, stomping his cigar out and tells him the he’s going to continue looking for offerings but that he can join him if he wanted.

Ace takes him up on that offer without hesitation, following after the taller man with big strides to keep up with his pace. Caleb stops at a pile of junk and kneels down to dig through it, Ace kneels down to help and glances over to him. His eyes just stand out in the dark, glowing brightly in foggy atmosphere that he’s surprised that him and the others hadn’t seen him for out here before.

“Here.” Caleb says, handing him an first aid he had found that would be useless to him. He catches Ace staring at him so the gambler just awkwardly thanks him for it and shoves it into his bag. “Mm, your face is flushing again.”

“I can feel it.” Ace says, clearing his throat and continues digging through the junk. He finds a offering he’s not familiar with and figures it’s something killers use, turning to ask when he find Caleb in his personal space again; His face inches away from his own.

A hand presses against his cheek and Ace can swear he’s hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. Those glowing eyes staring back at him before glancing down at his lips and meeting his eyes again.

Ace feels like he’s holding in his breath, eyes widening as the other man cracks a small smirk; Is this really happening or is he just messing with him again? Ace couldn’t tell by his face, he decides to test his luck and leans forward, feeling his breath against his lips.

Just as Ace is closing his eyes, he pauses to see the other unexpectedly disappearing in a cloud of smoke and ash. His eyes widen in disbelief upon realizing what just happened.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me.” Ace says, lifting his head up towards the sky and gets up on his feet. “You did that on purpose!”

He takes off his hat to run his hand through his hair in frustration, unable to believe that the entity had just summoned the other man away right when they were in the middle of something.

They almost kissed, Caleb was going to let him kiss him but as always, the entity’s cruelty holds no bounds.

Unbelievable, just… unbelievable.

Ace shakes his head, putting his hat back on and figures he should just head back to the others; He kicks a twigs at his feet and heads back towards the way he had last seen them.

He shoves his hands in his pockets, muttering bitterly to himself and stops on his tracks when he hears the unmistakable humming. Ace glances around, not sure where it was coming from but it was getting closer.

Ace makes a run for it, not wanting to stick around to get a hatchet in his back.

Up ahead, he spots one of the Legion girls, Julie and oddly feels relieved. He slows down as he makes his way over to her, waving to get her attention and she stops to look him before rushing over to him in a frenzy.

Ace is frozen to the spot, stunned that she would start charging at him like she was going in for the kill.

“Duck down, idiot!” She shouts, knocking him off his feet and causes him to fall to the ground just as a hatchet flies pass them and grazes Julie’s thigh. She cries out and grabs her wound, falling down on her knees, doubling forward in pain.

The others must have heard her scream because he can hear them calling out her name.

Ace lifts himself up when he hears the humming again and quickly gets to his feet, lifting Julie up in his arms. He runs with her in the direction of their voices, glancing over his shoulder and finally spots the huntress chasing after them with another hatchet raised.

He runs back and forth through trees.

“What are you doing?” Frank asks, knife in hand, both him and Joey ahead of them. Ace doesn’t get a chance to answer before a hatchet goes flying pass his head and imbedding itself into a tree in between Frank and Joey. The two teens look at the hatchet with realization on their faces, Frank doesn’t hesitate to confront the larger killer, running past Ace and Julie to be in between them and holds up his hands in hopes to defuse the situation. “Anna, hey; This one is with us right now.”

The Huntress stops in her pace, hatchet still raised as she stares down at him. Joey helps Ace with Julie, checking the gash on her thigh and mutters curses under his breath.

“Out of my way, little one.” She says, turning her attention back on Ace. “You said only Jeff was off limits.”

“Well, yeah but this one is too.” Frank tells her as she lowers her hatchet. “Also… he’s not the one you’re looking for, kind of…has a thing going on with Caleb right now and I don’t think you’d want bad blood with him, do you?”

The Huntress gives a frustrated huff, looking away from them with gritted teeth.

Ace looks at Joey with confusion; What are they talking about?

“They all can’t be off limits, I need one of them.” She argues.

“I know; You’ll find one, I promise but you can’t just expect one of them to just agree to it and throwing hatchets at them isn’t the best way to go about it, ya know?” Frank explains, slowly lowering his hands. “Ya got to talk to them and make sure they’re on board with it too.”

“When?” She asks with little patience, gripping her axe tightly and he can feel the annoyance rolling off of her.

“I don’t know but have you asked any of the other killers?” Frank asks. “Michael seems like your type-“

“No.” She shakes her head, completely disregarding his suggestion. “Has to be one of them.”

“Alright, alright; I’ll ask them both for you; Okay?” Frank says, trying to reason with her. She doesn’t say anything for a couple of moments, tension thick as she ponders over his words then pats Frank on the head, making his hood fall back so she could ruffle his hair.

“Alright, little one.” The huntress pulls away and gives one more glance to the others before turning to walk away. Frank watches her leave before returning to the others, hurrying over to Ace to check on Julie.

“What was that about?” Ace asks as Frank lifts his mask to inspect the wound.

“With Anna? Oh…um, she’s looking for one of you guys survivors to…” Frank pulls away from Julie’s leg and wipes the blood on his hoodie. “…um…procreate with, she wants a baby.”

“And that’s how she treats the potential father of her child?!” Ace asks with bafflement, hearing Julie weakly chuckling in his arms.

“Anna doesn’t want the father to stay in the picture after she’s pregnant.” Joey quickly explains, more focus on his friend.

“We’re going to have to patch this up but I don’t have anything for it.” Frank curses, under his breath and turns to see if he can find anything to stop the bleeding.

“Wait, here; Take her.” Ace says, handing the girl off to Joey and starts digging in his bag for the first aid kit Caleb had gave him; pulling it out and motion for Joey to set her down. “I’m really sorry, I heard the humming but thought I lost her on the way here.”

“The woman is a hunter, she knows how to follow tracks other than the scratch marks you’d see in the trials.” Frank says, tensely watching Ace patch up Julie’s leg and relaxes after the wound begins to heal. “Probably followed your foot prints.”

Ace sits back once he’s done and turns to Frank.

“Where’s Jeff and Susie?”

“We told them to hang back when we heard Julie screamed.” Frank tells him, getting up to help her stand. “Let’s get back, Jeff is probably getting antsy.”

“He acts like a mother hen towards you all, doesn’t he?”

“Something like that, yeah.” Joey and Frank help her walk while Ace hangs back a little, staying alert.

This whole day has been one inconvenience after the other, what’s next? As far as he knows, him and Jeff are “off limits” according to Frank but he should probably mention the huntress/baby thing to the other guys to give them a heads up.

He never thought of the huntress as a mother figure, he’s not really sure if she knew how to be a mother. Could they even have kids here? Would it be sane to even want to have a baby in the entity’s realm? Would the entity take it from her? What would she do with the child durning trials?

That’s another thing to worry about; What if David tried to use the child against her to his advantage?

He huffs, rubbing his face in worry for a baby that doesn’t even exists yet.

Should he keep this from David? No, he would find out eventually and he didn’t need another reason for the man to be angry with him.

“There you all are, what happened?” Jeff says, leaving Susie’s side to come check on Julie.

“Just had a run in with the huntress, she was chasing your friend.” Julie tells him as Jeff checks her over.

“I thought you were with the Deathslinger?”

“He was called away to a trial while we were looking for offerings-“

“Yeah, that’s what you were doing.” Frank teases, elbowing Ace in the side. “I saw you both practically clinging onto each other when I found you.”

“We were just taking a break to smoke.” Ace says defensively. “Nothing else.”

Both Frank and Joey laugh at him.

“Well…we should probably go to the resort so Julie can get off her leg.” Frank tells them as Joey heaves her up on his back. “We’ll see you guys later.”

The teens leave them to leave to their own realm and it was probably about time they went to the others as well, they’ve got enough offerings for today and Ace feels like he’s had enough excitement for the moment.

Meg, Dwight, Jack and Quentin were gone by the time they got back to the fire so they must had disappeared when Caleb did. Ace is tired and ready for a nap.

Kate is playing his guitar across from them, offering the two a smile when they sit across from her.

“There you two are, we were beginning to worry you got lost out there.” She says, putting her guitar down.

“Had a run in with the huntress.” Ace tells her. “So it took us a bit to get back.”

“At least found anything good?”

“A med kit and some things here and there.” Jeff holds out his bag for to go through. “Might be something in there to send you to the chapel if you want them.”

Kate smiles, handing back the bag.

“It’s fine, I can go visit whenever I get the chance to.”

“How do you find their realms in the fog?” Ace asks. “I’ve never learned how.”

“Just gotta know where you want to go and walk, the gate to their realm will appear to you.” If that were the case then why hasn’t he came across it before by accident?

Ace has no clue how the entity’s realm works but he’ll try it next time he heads out into the fog. He really wants to talk to Caleb about what happened and maybe even continue where they left off.

He bites his bottom lip, remembering how it felt feeling his breath on his face and feels his lips tingle in anticipation; Would Caleb give him another chance to kiss him or was it a one time opportunity?

Ace doesn’t know, he can’t get a proper reading on the other man; He seems to be clearly interested him in but the gambler has no clue if the man is actually wants something with him or that he just wants to toy with him.

Chapter 4

The man is beginning to believe the entity is purposely sending him to other killer’s realms to keep him and Caleb apart.

Past few trials weren’t so bad; The one at the chapel, the clown was more interested in just following Kate around while him and the others worked on the gens. The Blight was a little challenging but they managed to escape without any of them getting sacrificed, there were a few close calls though.

Ace finds himself at the snowy resort of Mount Ormond, rubbing his hands together to warm them and sighs, knowing he’s going to have to be running from one of Jeff’s kids.

He crouches down to sneak behind one of the walls, listening for either one of the other survivors or Legion, wanting to get the gens done quickly and get out of here.

Ace likes the group of teens and knows why Jeff is so fond of them, they’re a bit abrasive but good company outside trials.

He knows they’re not going to go easy one him just because they’re friends, they don’t even give Jeff a special treatment in these trials; If anything, he hopes it’s not Susie. According to Jeff, she was hesitant to hunt down survivors.

Snow crunches under his feet as he manages to creep up to a generator and starts working on it right away. He shivers as his fingers prodded the gears, wishing he had worn warmer clothes beforehand and nearly jumps out of skin when David crouches down beside him, giving him a side glance.

“Fucking Christ, dude.” Ace mutters, glad the scare hadn’t cause the gen to explode. “Give a guy a warning.”

“Don’t see why you’re so jumpy, I thought you were into killers.” David replies with a snarky tone.

“And I’m surprised the entity would let you back in the Legion’s realm after what you pulled last time.” Ace replies back with just a much venom, choosing to ignore the other to focus on the gen. The gen explodes in their faces, making Ace fall back on his ass and looks at David with disbelief. “You did that on purpose.”

“No clue what you’re talking about, Ace.” David replies sarcastically, running off and leaving him in the dirt. Ace curses under his breath, getting back on his feet and dusts himself off; Really wanting to chase after the other man to give him a piece of his mind.

Does he do this to the others or was he just special?

Ace mutters something under his breath, about to run off to find another gen when he hears the increasingly growing heartbeat in his ears. He spins across to see Frank charging at him with knife in hand but upon seeing it was Ace, he halts in his tracks and groans in pain, holding his head from the abrupt stop.

Frank shakes his head, gaining his senses again before focusing his attention on the man in front of him.

“Wh…why did you stop? You had me.” Ace asks him as the killer twirls his knife in his hand.

“Been meaning to tell you something; After this trial, meet me and the others in the fog.” He tells him. “The Deathslinger gave me something to give to you.”

“He what?”

“I’d give it to you now but can’t really get to it at the moment, Julie has it.” He explains with a shrug. “And what’s with the shoddy work with the gen? I figured you survivors would have became experts on them by now.”

“I didn’t, David blew the gen on purpose to make me a target.”

“He’s really is pissed at you, isn’t he?” Frank laughs at his expense. “He’s the same with Jeff, the man has told me all about their trials together; Purposely trying to sabotage him.”

Frank kicks the snow with his sneakers and shrugs his shoulders.

“Tell you what, I’ll give you a 20 second head start to get away since your teammate isn’t being a team player but I don’t expect any mercy from me.”

“Think you can keep up with me, junior?”

“Don’t give me that, Ace; You’re getting slow in your old age.” Frank taunts back, motioning with his hand for him to get a move on. “I’d put a little pep in your step before I change my mind.”

Ace makes a run for it, heading pass the resort to get as much distance between him and Frank as he possibly could. He spots Kate working on a gen and rushing over to her to offer help, hoping he got as far enough to lose him.

“Hey.” Kate says, giving him a friendly smile, it doesn’t stay on her face and turns her head towards him. “What’s the matter?”

“What makes you think something is the matter?”

“The look you’re wearing, what’s wrong?” She points out, getting the gen done faster with both of their hands working on it.

“…It’s David, he purposely sabotage the gen we were working on to bring the killer right to me.”

“He did what?!” Her eyes widen in disbelief.

“He doesn’t do that to you? You’re with the clown, right?”

“He hasn’t done anything like that to me.” Kate says, looking a bit flustered and gets off the gen. “Finish that, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind.”

“What? Right now?!” Ace asks, looking up at her. “We’re in the middle of a trial-“

“Yes, right now, I’m tired of his bullshit.” She says angrily, stomping away with her hands balled up into fists. Ace wants to stop her because she’s just going to end up getting herself sacrificed if Frank finds them so he quickly finishes up the gen and chases after her.

He doesn’t hear the heartbeat so Frank must be somewhere, chasing someone else at the moment, he follows her into the resort and somehow she knew where exactly David was. He was working on a gen inside until she storms up to him and shoves him off, smacking his head before pointing a finger in his face.

“You need to stop.” She snaps firmly, completely taking the larger man off guard by the viciousness in her voice. “You’re acting like an absolute prick, David-“

“What are you going on about?!” David snaps at her, smacking her hand away from his face and gets back up on his feet. “Can’t this wait?”

“Wait? So you can throw Ace under the bus throughout the rest of the trial?”

“It’s not like they’re gonna hurt him, they’re all buddy-buddy with each other.” David argues. “And if you all weren’t so busy up the killers’s asses than maybe we would be able to get out of here!”

“If you really think that’s how it would play out, David than you’re really fucking dense.” Kate shouts at him, getting up in his face. None of them realizing that Frank had enter the building behind them until Ace saw the hooded teen from the corner of his eye. He turns to the killer, seeing him silently ask what’s going on and he replies by sucking air through his teeth, letting him know it’s going to get bad. “What were you going to do if Ace got hooked, huh? Were you planning on just leaving him on there to die?!”

Just as David is about to reply, Kate cuts him off.

“I don’t want to hear any excuses, he told me you sabotaged him and I know you’ve done it to Jeff too, trying to get them sacrificed just because you’re mad that they’re making friends with some of the killers when it’s NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!” She shouts, stomping her foot. “We’re all stuck here and there’s nothing we can do about it so what is it going to hurt to talk to them, be friends with them? It’s not going to change anything or make our situation any worse than it already is but you…you attacking the killers obviously pissed the entity off yet you keep freaking doing it-“

“Well maybe if you all stop fooling around with the enemies and actually help me, we could figure out a way out of here but you’re too busy sucking the clown’s dick to actually be useful-“

“FUCK YOU, DAVID!” She screams, making both Ace and Frank jump at sudden outburst. She was so angry, close to tears out of pure anger, ready to hurt him herself. “You’re going to get us all killed or thrown into the void; Your actions have consequences and I’m not going to let you pull me or the others into this. If you want to be a fucking idiot then leave us out of it!”

Their argument is interrupted by the sound of someone stumbling over something and Ace sees it’s Dwight tripping backwards over something, most likely from seeing the killer standing right there with them in the heat of the moment.

Dwight must have been drawn by the shouting coming from inside the resort and came to see what was wrong; He doesn’t stick around though, fleeing the building the moment he catches his balance.

Kate and David are stunned by their lack of awareness, none of them had heard the heartbeat to indicate he was even there u til just now.

“Oh no, don’t mind me; I’d love to see where this conversation is heading.” Frank says, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. David grits his teeth and quickly picks up a ski pole, arming himself to attack the teen. “This again? Didn’t you learn your lesson the last time you tried that with me?”

“That’s enough.” Ace says, stepping in between the two. “David, you know attacking him will only bring the other three members of Legion and what will you do then?”

“They’re just a bunch of brats with knifes, we could all take them out if you two would pull your heads out of your asses.”

“This isn’t the streets of England, buddy; It isn’t a fight you’re gonna win.” The gambler says, trying to reason with him. “Put the pole down.”

“Why are you defending him?” David demands, motioning towards Frank and the knife in his hand. “He’s here to kill you, ya git; I don’t understand why you’re taking his side!”

“None of us want to be here, we’re being forced to play a part; If they don’t play theirs, the entity punishes them too.” Kate tells him, stepping over to stand beside Ace. “I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes when the clown refused to sacrifice me. It tortured him.”

“And I’m supposed to feel sorry for them? They were chosen to be killers for a reason, all of them-“

“Not every killer is here because they deserve to be. Joey, Susie and Julie are here because of me and what I did.” Frank cuts him off, leaning away from the doorframe, a bit of annoyance in his voice. “And not every killer here kills willingly; Some even flat out refused until the entity breaks their spirits so don’t act like you know everything that’s going on here.”

David’s hands grip tightly on pole until his knuckles turn white, contemplating his next move but everyone is against him, include those who are supposed to be on his side.

“Bunch of lazy sods.” David tosses the pole down, turning his head as the last gen was finished off by Dwight and doesn’t stick around with them for much longer and Kate rushes off after him, probably looking for the exit gate.

Instead of running to join them, Ace turns back to Frank.

“You’ll get tortured if all of us escape?”

“If we don’t put in effort hunt you all down, yeah.”

“…Want to hook me?” Ace asks with a little hesitation, Frank lifts his mask to give him a look.

“You’re beginning to act like Jeff with that fatherly shit.” He tells him, the sound of the exit gate is heard as Frank approaches him, looking down at his knife before up at Ace again. “You sure?”

“…Yeah.”

“You don’t sound so sure.” Frank says, raising a eyebrow.

“Who’s thrilled about being killed?” Ace wasn’t looking forward to pain or the phantom pain of his death afterwards but he didn’t want Frank to suffer for this mess.

“Fair point…so um.” Frank looks a little hesitant himself.

“Getting cold feet?” He says, hoping nudge him to go along with it.

“No, I’ve just never had a survivor willing wanting me to hook them before.” Frank scoffs, doesn’t even bother to stab him, just heaves Ace over his shoulder and heads towards the hook. He prepares himself for the pain he’s about to endure when suddenly Frank nearly trips.

Something latches onto his ankle, spreading up his leg and drops Ace once he realizes what it is; A appendage from the entity, holding him to the spot and the killer tries to pull free.

“What?! The trial isn’t over yet-“ Frank struggles to get away from it, the appendage wrapping around his knee and squeezing his leg tightly, pulling at him. Ace crawls over to try and pull the thing off of him but it won’t budge. He looks around and spots Frank’s knife laying on the ground beside him, grabbing it and stabbing the appendage where it’s coming out of the ground.

Upon impact from the blade, the appendage jerks and turns to ash; Freeing Frank in the process.

“What was that?” Ace asks, scratching his head and turns to Frank who looks mortified.

“I’m not sure…if the entity was trying to punish me than it would have stabbed me through my chest.” He tells him, face full of confusion. “I’m not sure what it was doing.”

Ace helps him back on his feet, handing him back the knife and rubs the back of neck.

Maybe it was trying to tell them something?

Instead of lifting the gambler over his shoulders again, they just walk over to one of the hooks, Ace’s heart hammering with the anticipation of the agony he’s going to receive and trying to mentally prepare himself for it.

“So um…meet you in the woods after this?” Ace asks awkwardly, Frank nods and glancing at the hook with uncertainty.

“Yeah, me and the others will meet you…um, bring Jeff if you’re able.” Frank reaches for Ace to heave the man up on the hook but as soon as he lifts him up, the hook turns to ash and smoke upon coming into contact with Ace’s back. Frank drops him with a puzzled look as Ace lands on his ass. “I’m beginning to think the entity wanting you to leave.”

“Why?” Ace gives him a look while rubbing his rear.

“Maybe it doesn’t like that you’re willingly sacrificing yourself?” The killer suggests.

“Of course it wouldn’t.” The ground under them begging to rumble, growing red with the entity’s essence and ash begins floating from the cracks. “Get to the gate.”

“What about you?”

“It’s not going to let me sacrifice you so no point in keeping you here.” Frank shoves his knife back into his pockets and turns to look at the gate.

“But it’ll-“ Time is running out, making his hair stand on end; Frank shoves him towards the door.

“It’s that or I stabbed you to death.” Frank huffs, running beside him towards the gate. “Think the entity is pitying you because of your teammate tried to get you killed?”

“No clue.” Ace mutters, looking back at Frank as he escapes the trial.

~*~

Ace doesn’t look at David once he’s back at the fire, feeling a bit bitter as he heads straight over to Jeff and leans down to whisper in his ear.

Jeff pulls back from his drawing with a nod, gather his bag with his sketch supplies and heaves it over his shoulder.

Kate still looked pretty heated herself, pacing back and forth by the fire muttering bro herself before deciding to jog after them.

“Are you all heading for offerings?” She asks after catching up with them.

“…Yeah.” Ace lets her step in between them as they wonder through the trees, the glow of the fire fading behind them.

“I think I’ll tag along and head to the chapel.” She says and who could blame her? The woman looked about ready to bite the other man’s head off again, probably needed some time to cool her head.

She doesn’t stick with them for very long after they left, going their separate ways after a couple of silent moments. Jeff nudges his side with his elbow.

“What took you so long to get back?”

“I was going to let Frank sacrifice me so the entity wouldn’t hurt him.” Ace tells him. “The trial was a disaster, Kate started screaming at David for trying to sabotage me at the beginning of it and then Dwight managed to set off the last gen before Frank had the chance to down anyone-“

“What was Frank doing the entire time? He’s usually on top of his game.”

“With me, watching Kate scream at David.” Ace chuckles, stepping over a fallen tree. “I don’t think he knew what to do at that moment, Kate is pretty frightening when she’s angry.”

“She can get pretty scary when she loses her temper.” Jeff agrees.

Ace stops, looking through the trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Deathslinger or at least a offering that would send him to the man’s realm. He doesn’t know how long it’s been since the last time he saw him, there’s no real way to tell time here; Hours? Days?

Maybe after he catches up with Frank to see what he wanted, he can try finding his way to ghost town to talk with Caleb. He didn’t like where things were left off between them and didn’t know when he would have another trial with the other man.

Soon as Ace figures out this whole realm thing out, the better.

Chapter 5

Ace looks down at the little charm Frank placed in his hands, something they tend to find now and again out in the fog but he’s never seen one like this before.

It’s a charm of a playing card with an ace on it.

He rubs his thumb over the thing, knowing Caleb must have thought of him when he found it and reaches down to attach the little trinket to his belt.

“The entity didn’t hurt you after I left, did it?”

“No.” Frank plants himself down beside Jeff on the couch, warming himself up by the fire. “Nothing, I guess Kate’s outburst at David was enough to please it that I didn’t need to do anything.”

“That’s a relief to hear.” The gambler toys with the new charm, wishing he could find something that would mean just as much for the other man. Charms were hard to come by here, he’s surprised that Caleb managed to come across one that suited him so well. “Thank you for this, I’m going to go try and find Caleb’s realm on my own so I won’t have to rely on offerings.”

Ace heads out in the fog, leaving Jeff behind with them and walks aimlessly through the trees, looking for the gate to the Deathslinger’s realm to appear. He shoves his hands in his pockets as he walks, hoping he didn’t run into another killer out here.

Last thing he needs is another incident like he had with the huntress while he’s utterly alone, it makes him wonder what would happen if he died out here. Would he turn back up at the campfire like they did after trials?

He stops when he feels something shift in the fog, lifting his head to see a gate appear in front of him. His heart skips a beat and his lips part in surprise…did it actually work?

Ace wonders up to the gate, looking it over before slowly approaching it.

The entity better not be pulling his leg and throw him into a different killer’s realm, he didn’t need the hag munching on his insides again.

There’s a chill that runs up his spine, feeling the adrenaline coursing through his veins and with closed eyes, he steps through the gate.

Ace takes a moment to say a silent prayer to himself before opening his eyes again and lets out the breath he been holding; To his delight, he found himself standing in the middle of the Dead Dawg Saloon. He looks around the ghost town, hoping to catch a glimpse of taller man and starts walking towards the saloon.

His pace slows when he hears humming inside the building, listening and peers inside to see the other man cleaning his gun. Caleb is too busy with his task to even noticed him yet so Ace just stands there, watching him run a rag over the barrel until the killer pauses and looks up from his work.

When their eyes meet, Caleb leans back in his chair with a smirk and sets his gun down.

“I’ve been wondering where ya been, Acey boy.” He tips his hat back, looking over the gambler’s clothing attire; Cheetah print, low cut shirt with tight leather pants. The Deathslinger whistles, leaning forward in his seat with his arms resting on his knees. “All dressed up to see me?”

“Wasn’t intentional, I’m honestly surprised I managed to find my way here.”

“I see the boy gave ya that charm I found.” Caleb nods towards the charm on his hip. “Knew it suited you more than it did me.”

“I really appreciate it.” Ace pulls up a chair from one of the table to sit down with him, scooting close enough for their knees to barely touch. The Deathslinger reaches behind himself to grab a bottle of whiskey and pours Ace a glass, offering it to him. “The booze here is real?”

“Did ya think it was just for show?” Caleb asks with a amused smirk. Ace looks down at the alcohol, swirling it around in the glass with a halfhearted chuckle.

“I figured nothing in the entity’s realm would be…really real.” He lifts the glass up to smell it, it smelt real; Ace takes a sip and tastes the foreign but familiar taste on his tongue. “…Aw man, I didn’t think I would ever be able to drink again.”

Caleb chuckles into his own drink, downing the whole drink in one swig and slams the glass back on the table.

“Don’t have shortage here, drink a bottle and eventually it’s refills itself.” He explains while refilling his glass “Can get drunk without having a hangover, pretty good deal if I say so.”

“Nice.” Ace looks around at the many bottles of booze, nodding his head with astonishment and brings the glass back up to his lips. “Feel kinda jealous of your set up here, minus the dead bodies.”

“Bodies don’t bother me much.” He pushes skeletal remains out of the chair next to him, old bones clattering across the floor. “Gives the place character.”

“If you’re into macabre, maybe.” Ace drinks the rest of the whiskey in his cup, feeling his face grow warm like his stomach. Caleb offers to fill his glass again, both drinking in between their chattering, both getting closer and knees brushing against each other.

Ace feels his head spinning, swaying in his seat and sets the cup down before he dropped it.

“Can really hold yer liquor, Visconti; Should drink with ya more often.”

“Should…yeah, I-I’d like that.” Ace slurs, not holding his liquor as well as the other claims he does; It’s been a while since he drank last, definitely a while before he found himself here. He finds himself leaning against Caleb’s side, smelling like dirt and death on his frock coat but his mind too numb to really be bothered by the stench. “Hey…about last time…”

“Hm?” Caleb leans back to look down at the man, wrapping his arm around Ace’s shoulders to keep him upright. “Last time?”

“You almost let me kiss yo…” Ace sits up to rub his face and eyes. “We almost kissed, didn’t we? Until the entity took you away?”

Caleb raises a brow and lets out a huff, rubbing his back.

“Dunno, did we?”

“…Yes?” Ace makes a face as he recalls the memory vividly. “We did, I remember we almost did; You leaned in and I did-“

Ace smiles, lifting his head to turn his attention to the other man but notices whiskers brush his cheek. He breathes in through his nose when he realizes how close the other had gotten, there’s a hand on the back of his neck, slipping up into his hair. Glowing eyes meet his own and he can smell the whiskey on the other man’s breath, his eyes flick down to Caleb’s mouth.

“Like this?” He asks in a low whisper, closing in the distance and ghosts lips against his. Ace wishes he would stop with all the teasing, fearing the entity would take one of them away at any given moment. Ace closes his eyes and leans into to the kiss, feeling the hand in his hair tighten its hold, grabbing at the strands and pulls him closer.

Ace breathes through his nose, not sure what to do with his hands so he rests them on Caleb’s thighs and leans into the kiss. It’s intoxicating how much he’s enjoying it, how much it’s making his heart hammer away in his chest and feels like it could be addictive.

The gambler takes a chance and reaches up to rest his hands against the sides of his neck, scooting his chair closer and turns his head to deepen the kiss. Caleb hums approvingly but takes it a step further by pulling the smaller man out of his chair and into his lap, wrapping his arms around his waist possessively; Kissing him hard as his fingers dig into the back of Ace’s shirt.

They pull away when the lack of oxygen becomes too much for them to handle, panting into each other’s spaces and still clinging onto each other. Ace feels a hand run up his back and a kiss against his head. His head is spinning again so he leans against the other man and rests his head against Caleb’s shoulder.

It’s nice to feel the affectionate touch of another person holding him and feels like he could just pass out in the other man’s arms but unfortunately their time together is unpredictable so Ace lifts his head to kiss him again. Caleb kisses him back, his hands rubbing the gambler’s hips as Ace took charge and encourages him with a groan against his lips.

Ace has him leaning his head back, his hands holding Caleb’s jaw and kissing him desperately, feeling built up tension melt from his body with each passing second. The man practically pins the larger man down, large calloused hands runs up and down his back then grab his ass firmly.

“Yer eager.” Caleb chuckles when he pulls away, his eyes drawn to Ace’s swollen lips.

“Either of us could be pulled away at any given moment.” Ace explains, rubbing the front of the other man’s chest. “Figure we could make the most of it while we still have the chance.”

“Suppose yer right.” He smirks, slipping his hands into the back of Ace’s pants and grabs his ass. “How are ya wanting to spend it?”

Ace feels a shiver run up his spine as he fondles him, understanding what the man was hinting at by the look in his eyes and shutters in anticipation. The gambler slips down from his lap to his knees, his hands rubbing Caleb’s thighs and gives him a smirk.

It’s been a while since he’s done something like this and doesn’t have much experience giving oral but he’s done it a few times before…with women though it couldn’t be too hard to figure out.

Caleb raises a brow and leans back in his chair, spreading his legs for him. Ace is a little nervous while reaching for his zipper, pulling out the man’s dick and swallows a lump in the back of his throat; The man is a pretty good size and thick.

“Holy shi-“ Ace glances up at him and sees the other smiling down at him.

“Think ya can handle that?” Caleb asks smugly, smile growing wider at the look on his face.

“Can I be honest?” Ace asks, wrapping his inexperience hand around his cock. “I’ve never went this far with a man before-“

“Got all the time in the world to practice, darlin.” Caleb reassures. The gambler strokes him with a firm hand, it can’t be much different from him doing it to himself; But then again, when’s the last time Ace pleasured himself?

He brings the head of his cock to his mouth, sucking the tip and hears a low groan from the man above him. He takes in more, letting the thick, heavy length slide over his tongue and tries to avoid gagging himself; Ace sucks on it as he pulls his head back before going back down on him.

Caleb isn’t afraid to moan, it seems. He lets the gambler know how pleased he is by how vocal he’s being, fingers buried in Ace’s hair and tugging at the strands. Ace bobs his head, glancing up at the killer above him through his lashes and sees him biting his bottom lip. Perhaps Caleb hasn’t had any action in a long time too, given how his hips were jerking under his hands.

The killer pushes on his shoulder for him to pull back so Ace leans back, still holding his erection in his hand.

“Not gonna last long if ya keep doing that.” He pants, getting up out of his chair and pulls Ace up to his feet. Ace suddenly finds himself being leaned over the bar of the saloon and Caleb pushing him down with a hand against his back, reaching around his waist to quickly undoing the front of his pant and pulls them down to the man’s ankles, cards falling out of his pocket and scattering around their feet. “That’s a nice ass ya’ve got there.”

“Guess all that running paid off.” Ace jokes, face against the cool wooden bar top and looks over his shoulder when the larger man dropped to his knees behind him. “What are you-“

Ace feels like the wind is knocked out of his lungs when he feels a wet tongue press between his cheeks and prods it against his sensitive hole. Ace gasps, fingernails digging into the wood underneath him and moans pathetically from how good the foreign sensation felt. Caleb’s hands held him still by the back of his thighs, beard making the skin there sensitive and gives Ace no mercy.

“Fuck!” He presses his face against the bar, unable to think straight with the tongue against his entrance and nearly squeaks when the tip breaches it. His sunglasses are crooked on his face and feels drool running down his chin, feeling like he would drop if it weren’t for the other man keeping him in place. His moans are lewd and loud, unable to keep them from escaping his mouth. Caleb knows what he’s doing, making him believe the gunslinger has done this before. “Have…you slept with a man before?”

Caleb pulls away, running his hand up his back as he stood up.

“When I did time in prison, yea.” He answers truthfully, leaning over Ace’s back and nips at his ear. “And a man from my old posse, weren’t really close to them but they filled the need.”

“Is that what this is?” Ace asks, wondering if the gunslinger was just putting up with him to have a quick fuck.

“No.” The man above says firmly, grabbing his hips and pins him down with his chest. “I like ya if that’s yer wonderin.”

Ace hums pleased, pressing his ass back against his crotch.

“Like you too, handsome.” Caleb scoffs at the pet name, reaching down to slip a finger inside him, catching the shorter man off guard. He stiffens, gasping as the other thrusts his finger deeper. “Relax, gotta get you good and stretch before I stick it in.”

He tries to relax his body from the intrusion, gasping at each thrust and feels another finger joining the other. Caleb reaches over the bar to grab something and pulls back with a vial, opening it with his mouth before pouring on the fingers entering his body. It helps so Ace thinks it must be a lube or some sort of oil.

He flinches at the sudden surge of pleasure and lifts his head with a startled gasps, leaving his legs trembling.

“There it is.” He hears Caleb hum, feeling him adjust his fingers to rub against a certain spot that has his mind reeling.

“C-Caleb-“ His head drops back down on the bar, his erection throbbing almost painfully.

“Almost done, just a little bit longer.” Ace hears, squeezing his watery eyes. Since neither of them have been regularly having sex, he knows they’re not going to last long; They’re both too worked up and desperate.

Caleb pulls his hand away, much to Ace’s dismay and delight as the gunslinger slicks his erection with the oil. He mentally prepares himself, expecting for it to hurt as the other presses the head of his cock against his hole and pauses long enough to kiss Ace on the back of his neck. The gunslinger slowly enters him inch by inch, holding him still by his hands on Ace’s hips until his own meet the other’s ass.

It didn’t hurt despite Caleb’s size but felt odd, like his belly was full and Ace breathes through nose, trying to adjust to it. Caleb rubs his sides comfortingly, giving the man a minute and takes his time to mark up the side of Ace’s neck.

“Yer awfully quiet.” Caleb chuckles against his ear, giving a little thrust and makes Ace squirm underneath him. “Is this what it takes to get ya to stop talking?”

“That would be too convenient for you.” Ace presses back against him, ready for the other to move already. “But you can certainly try.”

This causes the gunslinger to laugh more, reaching around to wrap his hand around his throat and pulls him to stand upright against the bar. Caleb kisses his neck while his free hand slips underneath his shirt to roam his hairy chest and pinches a nipple.

“Don’t know what yer asking for, Acey boy.” Caleb whispers darkly against his jaw, removing his hands and forcing him back down against the bar. He grabs his hips and thrusts hard into him, knocking Ace forward with a loud gasp. Caleb holds him down with a hand on the back of his neck and doesn’t hold back with his thrusts, forcing noises out of the man as Ace grabs the bar top to have something to hold onto.

“Agh! Ngh-FUCK!” Ace bites his bottom lip, sunglasses have fallen off and his hair is a mess, shirt pushed up and body covered in sweat. “C-Caleb!”

He’s not going to last long at this pace, he can already feel it building up in the pit of his stomach.

But suddenly Caleb stops, pulling out and turns Ace around before lifting him up onto the bar. He kisses him quickly before pushing him back down on his back and lifts his legs over his shoulders; He thrusts back in to continue his brutal pace.

Caleb leans over him, running his hand over his chest, letting his nails rake over his skin before it finding their way back to Ace’s throat.

He’s so close, it hurts. All it would take is one stroke of his cock and it would be all over for him. Caleb must have read his mind or something because he grabs Ace’s neglected erection and start stroking him along with his thrusts, causing him to convulse on top of the bar as he cums onto his own stomach with a cry.

Caleb pulls out and strokes himself over the exhausted man, finishing himself off on him. The gunslinger reaches a rag and uses it to clean the other up while he’s still catching his breath.

“How ya holding up?”

“Like I’m not going to be able to walk for a while.” Ace pants, letting his legs hang off the bar while he stares straight up at the ceiling.

“Maybe the entity will take pity on ya and spare ya for a couple trials?” Caleb jokes, tossing the dirty rag aside and helps the gambler sit up right. “Care for another drink?”

“I could go for a smoke.” Ace says, his rear throbbing. Caleb leans against the bar beside him and pulls out two cigars, offering him one.

“Like cigars?” Ace nods, taking one as the other lit his and hands his lighter off to him.

“Don’t suppose you’re a cuddler after sex?” Ace assumes, taking a puff and turns his head towards him.

“Supposen ya are?” Caleb chuckles, slipping an arm around the half naked man. “Don’t have much of a bed to do that around here.”

“Eh, I miss sleeping in a bed.” Ace groans, leaning into him and just enjoying the afterglow of the moment.

Notes:

Comments are appreciated!

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