Chapter Text
Uncle N hadn't stopped slamming himself against the large metal door. He kept clawing at it, howling and crying out for Auntie Uzi. Rowan was by his side, whimpering for his mother with tears racing down his visor. Auntie Tessa was curled up in a corner, wings wrapped around herself and quiet sobbing shaking her. Auntie Cyn and Uncle Thad were mostly unscathed, save for the fact Uncle Thad was now missing an entire arm. Marcus was hovering around his father, upset at the large oil stain coating his jacket, but Uncle Thad didn't seem even slightly bothered by it. Mrs. Rachel was screaming for her husband, Sophia and Trey clinging to her sides and baby Beetle in her arms. Tau sat against a wall, head pressed against her legs as she sobbed to herself. Luka hadn't moved from where Mama Lizzy had sat him down, his rose-gold eyes wide and hollow.
Nathan sat next to his big brother, letting his head rest on the slightly older boy's shoulder. The scene of his infected mothers descending onto his baby sister, the sound of Ashley's pained screams as their mothers howled with sorrow, it wouldn't get out of his head. It was almost like a bad dream he couldn't make himself wake up from. And oh, he wanted to. He wanted to wake up safe and sound in bed. He wanted to run into the living room with Ashley at his side, watching cartoons with his mamas and his siblings while they ate breakfast together. He wanted to go back to earlier in the day, when all of them were just happy and okay, running around and playing games with their cousins and friends.
Nathan wanted his mamas back. He wanted his baby sister back.
"Hey, hey don't cry Nate," he just barely heard his big brother tell him. "It's... This is all just a bad dream, we're gonna wake up soon, and Ash and our Mamas are gonna be just fine."
He could hear the wavering in Luka's voice. His big brother gave him a shaky smile and pulled him into a tight hug. Nathan whimpered and returned the hug, burying his face in Luka's chest. He wanted to believe his brother's words. He wanted so badly to agree that it was just some awful dream, and they'd wake up from it and things would go back to being normal. But deep in his core, Nathan knew they would both just be lying to themselves.
Their family was shattered, and there was no waking up from that.
Her boys had fallen asleep in each other's arms. If it weren't for the quiet and muffled sobbing they kept making, Lizzy would say they were almost peaceful despite the horrors they just witnessed. She shook her head at the notion. It was stupid of her to think any of them would be peaceful right now. Especially not when they just witnessed half their family get turned into flesh monsters.
What was she supposed to do now? Her partners and her daughter had been infected by whatever that weird flesh was, Tessa had gone unresponsive, N was hurting himself trying to claw through the doors, and Rachel had screamed herself hoarse trying to find Shepard. Rowan was crying out for Uzi, and Tau was just crying to herself in a corner. The only ones that seemed even slightly alright were Cyn, Thad, and Marcus, and Thad was missing an entire goddamn arm.
Lizzy sat down beside her sleeping sons. Part of her wanted to fall into despair. She wanted to cry and scream and bang against the doors and curse whatever gods were out there. Part of her wanted to remain strong for her boys. She wanted, needed, to be a rock for them to cling to in the aftermath of losing their whole world. She needed to support them and keep them safe. Lizzy... Lizzy was all they had left of their little family now. Her and each other.
The banging and scratching on the door stopped. Lizzy looked over to see an exhausted N, panting and snarling as the tips of his claws remained dug into the metal. He was still trying to tear the doors down, however. She could see his body trembling in a mix of his sheer determination and utter exhaustion. His visor, marred by a hunting cross the moment he realized the doors had slammed shut on their sanctuary, now glitched as he wore himself beyond the ability of his nanites repair capacity. The large drone threw his head back, keening so loud it echoed through the entirety of the bunker.
Lizzy never knew what it was that possessed her to walk over to N. She never knew what it was that made her fall to her knees behind him and pull him into a hug. The larger drone let out another bellowing cry of anguish, scored more marks in the thick metal. Lizzy just held him tighter the more fight came back to his body. She pressed her head between his shoulders, right between where she knew a disassembler's wing ports were. N stilled, growling low in his throat.
"We'll save them," she said. Her voice was raw with hurt and hoarse from screaming in terror. "I swear to Robo-God, N, we will save them."
"My Uzi..." N's voice was just as raw, far more ragged than hers. "Half of my universe...!"
"We will save her," Lizzy repeated, hugging him tighter. "But right now, you gotta be there for the other half of your universe."
N growled,but he didn't shake her off. He just leaned forward and pressed his head against the door, softly whimpering and weeping. Lizzy didn't let him go. She held him as the last of his energy finally ran out. Only then did he, weakly, shake her from his frame and crawl over to his son. Rowan had long since passed out, curled up just next to his father. N draped himself over the small drone, wrapping himself around his son and holding him close.
Thad began calling out orders, now that the halls had fallen silent. Cyn had managed to do the bare minimum to patch him up, her fiancé only letting her staunch his armless side and cover it up. He was quick to take command, ordering what remained of security to usher people down to the old residential units and to re-establish communication with the rest of the teams in the other bunkers. Lizzy did her best to listen, leading a reluctant N and Tessa away from the doors, Cyn and Marcus following them. The remains of their pack huddled together in one unit, none of them able to willing to leave the cold living room. Rachel joined them only a few moments before Lizzy fell asleep. She brought her children and Tau, the five of them wordlessly accepted into the fitful sleep pile.
Tendrils of putrid flesh and the screams of her family, begging forgiveness and for freedom, haunted her dreams that night.