Chapter Text
Two young skeletons skirted along the outside of the wall, sticking close to the bricks standing defensively around the large estate on the edge of the city and protecting the mansion within. Coming upon a section the taller deemed appropriate, just a few feet from the main gate, the older monster braced his back against the sturdy fence and cupped his hands to boost the other up. He turned quickly to be sure the younger had caught the ledge and managed to pull himself up without trouble before taking a few steps back himself to take a running leap. Propelling himself upward with a few well-timed kicks to the wall, both young monsters managed to get a firm grasp on each other's outstretched hands, and the taller monster was easily pulled up to join his companion despite their size difference.
They dropped together nimbly to the ground on the other side, warm clouds of breath leaving them in the frigid air as they slunk their way closer to the gigantic house. The duo stayed in the darker shadows as much as they could, feet silent on the ground and eyelights darting every which way to keep a lookout. When they finally reached the front step, the taller skeleton took his hands from his pockets, producing a makeshift lock pick created from a bobby pin and a paper clip he found on the street earlier. He glanced around as he switched the tool from hand to hand, alternatingly between each limb as he brought them up to warm with his breath before attempting the delicate procedure. He needed all the dexterity he could get despite the weather trying to numb his phalanges.
It was only the beginning of winter, but this damn cold was already proving to be a major pain in the ass.
Hands as warm as he could get them, the taller turned to his companion with a sly quirk to his teeth while speaking as low as he possibly could while still being heard. "You got my back, Crossy?"
Cross only responded with a nod, looking around pensively as the older knelt down to get at the lock. After a few moments with only the quiet scraping of metal on metal in their nonexistent ears, the smaller monster broke the silence, his voice just as soft as his companion’s. "Kills, I don't like this," he stated with a pinched expression. "If we get caught…"
"Relax, Cross. I've done this like, fifty times. We won't get caught," Killer assured, although it was honestly quite the exaggeration. He'd only broken into houses a few times while he was with some of his previous foster families. There had been hell to pay the one time he was actually caught, but…
He mentally assured himself that this time was different. This plan had to work. Back then his delinquent behavior had only been his way to push buttons and rebel against the assholes who only pretended to want him around, but now it felt necessary.
The two of them were desperate at this point. They needed money, and the fastest method the elder skeleton could come up with–and the way that seemed the least likely to draw attention from ignorant well-meaning good samaritans–seemed to be getting their hands on something valuable from some rich schmuck who wasn't likely to notice it go missing from their little collection of treasures. Then they could pawn whatever it was and get the much needed finances for food and, hopefully, some clothes more suited for the colder season. Something better than Cross' worn old hoodie and Killer's thin jacket.
The kid could get a coat, and even if there wasn't quite enough left over for Killer to get one as well, he may still be able to scrape up enough for a decent vest. Something that would at least keep his torso warm around the exposed soul currently tucked into the jacket he had.
The click of the lock giving way and turning broke the sixteen-year-old from his musings, and a cheshire grin spread over his features. He couldn't help the quiet giggle as the thrill hit him despite the desperate circumstances. Sneaking around in the middle of the night always sent a rush of adrenaline down his spine. Going places he wasn't supposed to be. Getting ready to swipe something out from right under someone's nose. It all elicited such a fun buzz in his rebellious soul.
Reeling himself in though, knowing Cross likely wouldn’t be feeling the same energy, he toned down the manic smile into something hopefully a little more reassuring. "We're in, Crossy boy. All we gotta do now is find something this Nightmare schmuck won’t notice right away." The older chuckled again and shook his head. Whoever would name their kid Nightmare must have had a real vendetta against the poor sap. At least Killer chose to keep the morbid moniker he'd been bestowed instead of using his birth name.
Brushing that random thought away as Cross gave him an acknowledging nod, the empty socketed skeleton silently turned the knob and pushed the door open, cringing slightly at the initial squeak before it opened smoothly. After a moment's pause, listening for any movement within, he stepped inside, giving Cross the all clear to join him.
As the door closed quietly, the teens took a moment to bask in the warmth of the mansion, slowly unthawing their fingers and toes. However, they didn't stand around for long, moving farther into the dark building as their subtle shivering slowly abated. Keeping close to the walls where there was less chance of the floor creaking and giving them away, they started their search, but still remained constantly aware of where the other was in case they needed to make a hasty retreat.
"Hey, Kills?" Cross whispered finally after a good twenty minutes of sneaking and exploring.
"Yeah?"
"What do we tell Charm? How do we explain what we bring back?" he asked with furrowed brows as he continued to look through an old style wooden chest full of blankets in the corner of some sort of study.
Killer sighed quietly as he kept his eyelights on the file cabinets he was debating on unlocking and picking through, but he considered the question seriously. Usually, when he was doing something like this by himself, he was more comfortable flying by the seat of his pants. Plans usually tripped him up, and he often relied on his improv skills.
However, it was different with Cross. The kid got nervous if he didn't have a plan or contingency for what to do in any given situation. The anxious skeleton was more comfortable when he had a sort of script or idea of what to do if the original plan went awry. Killer also knew the kid even left things unsaid because he couldn't figure out how he wanted to word his thoughts, or feared retribution from a badly spoken phrase. The younger monster's plans gave him comfort and helped him navigate in a way that was totally foreign to Killer's mindset.
Even so, if it was for Cross, Killer would always try to come up with something.
"…Well, first of all we won't be showing off our loot, so he shouldn't find out in the first place,” Killer finally answered after a thoughtful pause. “If he does catch us with the stuff though, tell him it was my idea. I'll handle it, alright?"
"Okay… What do you think he'll do if he finds out anyway?"
That… was a good question, actually. Killer wasn't actually sure what the older skeleton would do if he discovered the duo had broken in somewhere.
The club owner had given them shelter from the weather for the last few weeks after finding the teens huddled together eating cold soup in the alley behind his establishment. Killer had been resistant to the help at first, expecting it to come with some sort of catch or for the skeleton welcoming them in out of the cold to be the nosy type and ask questions the boys didn't want to answer. He guessed the older monster would grow frustrated when they stayed quiet on certain matters.
However, that hadn't been the case at all, and the older teen was actually a bit surprised that he really didn't mind Charm's company. The adult monster had only asked a few basic questions and left it at that for the most part once he finally seemed to realize the boys weren’t going to be forthcoming with many answers. He'd been pretty chill about the whole thing, and didn't press for information the younger monsters didn't give him. The guy basically just… watched over them. Gave them food. A warm place to sleep. Plus, Killer had to admit it was kind of nice having a reliable building to duck into and hide if they needed to.
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting visitors this late at night."
The teens’ minds and bodies were both frozen in their tracks as a deep voice sounded from the darkness. Turning slowly, they saw from the shadows of the doorway to the study they were currently searching a single cyan light had emerged hovering above a bright white half moon of a smile.
"I will say though, the company isn't entirely unwelcome," the stranger finished with a chuckle as he kept that piercing light on the young skeletons.
The boys were quick to shake off the shock, moving swiftly to stand abreast with tense postures. Killer's hand slipped into his pocket to grasp at the old butterfly knife he kept close at hand while his mind whirled anew. He brushed off the newcomer’s cheshire cat-like emergence out of thin air, telling himself it was only an optical illusion from a dark skeletal figure showing up amidst darker shadows, but he did acknowledge the waving and curling of tendrils behind the black boned skeleton as his sight must have simply adjusted further to the darkness. He'd have to watch those. It wouldn't be good to get caught and trapped in them without knowing their strength.
He glanced beside himself and took note of how Cross' red eyelight had shifted to crosshairs, searching for strengths and weaknesses of the new threat as the older teen started trying to come up with an idea of how to go about this without getting the police involved. His guess was that this guy was pretty clearly Nightmare and the owner of the estate, but the elder wasn’t acting angry or afraid. In all honesty, the dark skeleton seemed curious, and maybe even amused.
Killer could probably work with that. Maybe he could play the sympathy card. Tell the larger monster they were homeless kids just trying to get by and find some food and warmth or something. It wasn't exactly a lie. Just an exaggerated version of the truth. Maybe they could even get away with some cash in their pockets if the dark skeleton felt bad enough for them. As long as this Nightmare was the more sympathetic kind of rich guy anyway…
With that framework of a plan in mind, he went to start with an apology, but was stopped before he could utter a single syllable when the younger teen stiffened and grabbed his arm. Glancing over again, his soul twisted further in unease as he saw Cross' eyelight had returned to normal, but his sockets were wide and round, the lights within mere pin pricks, and he had paled. As much as a skeleton could anyway.
"Devil's Train."
Those two whispered words felt like they plunged the dark socketed skeleton's soul in ice water, his own sockets widening as he froze as well. He blinked a few times before hesitantly turning his gaze back on Nightmare.
Fuck. Fuck. His first plan went out the window as he switched gears. They were in deep shit. Forget trying to weasel anything out of this guy, they just needed to beat it. If they were lucky the fucker hadn't figured out–
"My apologies, I didn't mean to startle you. Well, I kind of did, but I have no intentions beyond a bit of mischief. I am however quite curious what a couple of young demigods are doing breaking into my home,” Nightmare questioned, still smiling with a mirthful eyelight. “Was it a dare? Or perhaps your parents put you up to it?"
Damn it, damn it, damn it. There went that hope. If the older deity knew they were demis… This was bad. Bad enough Killer's soul had stopped spinning in his jacket and his sockets had started to leak a tar-like substance as his alarm and near panic grew.
There were no windows in the room, and Nightmare was blocking the only exit. Killer felt trapped, and if he felt like that, he couldn't imagine how Cross was feeling. The amusement in the older deity's expression was suddenly much less reassuring and far more sinister.
They needed to get out. Now.
In their near petrified states, neither teens noticed Nightmare's expression slowly shift, brows furrowing and grin falling into a look of concern that went ignored as he took a single step forward. "Hey, take it easy. Really, you aren't in any trou–"
Killer didn't let him finish, swiftly and firmly gripping Cross' wrist and pulling them both into the void, aiming to pop out on the outside of the wall near the gate again. As they landed, both fell to their knees with choked sounds, trying to breathe normally again in the aftermath of the shortcut compounded with the shock of cold air after the warmth of indoors. Cross was likely fighting down nausea as well while Killer was trying to find his equilibrium again.
Well, there went his emergency teleport for the day. He wasn't able to shortcut very far since he hadn't been able to see his destination, and it was far more disorienting, so for a few agonizing seconds they were sitting ducks for the dark boned skeleton to find and be on them at any moment. Especially if he used the same shadow trick Killer was starting to believe was one of the deity's abilities. The older teen wouldn't be able to teleport again for a while either, which meant they had to get out of there and get moving ASAP.
He distantly acknowledged yet again how he really should start working on his magic stamina for situations like this. It was the one thing that rat bastard had maybe been right about before.
Killer hauled himself to his feet, dragging Cross up as well as both of them took a few unsteady steps before regaining enough balance to run, wordlessly agreeing now was the time to book it back to the hidden safety of Charm's lounge closer to the center of Ebbott City.
They didn't quite make it there before they had to duck into an alley to catch their breaths without puking. Killer doubled over, leaning against the wall of one building with his hands resting on his thighs as Cross lifted his own arms, interlocking them behind his skull while he paced and kept his airway open. He didn't look nearly as winded as the sixteen-year-old.
Damn it, sometimes the older teen really was jealous of the kid's endurance.
"A guardian. A guardian. Merciful void," Cross exclaimed, voice an octave higher than usual. "We just broke into a guardian's mansion. Stars, we're dead. We are so dead."
Killer coughed, wiping away the sludge that hadn’t stopped dripping from his sockets. "Chill out, Crossy. We ain't dead. We got out of there pretty quick. He probably didn't have enough time to get us totally figured out." He desperately hoped not anyway.
"But now he knows we're around, Kills," the younger whined, eyelights small and shaking. "What if he comes looking for us? What if he tells someone? What– what if he calls him? I don't–we can't go back. We can't.” Cross hadn't stopped pacing the entire time, and Killer could see the kid’s nervous tics picking up their pace. The younger skeleton's hands kept moving. Alternating between scratching along the sides of his skull, then aggressively rubbing his arms and twisting his phalanges in the fabric of his hoodie sleeves.
Killer finally stood upright again, moving to intercept the panicking skeleton. "Cross, listen to me," he instructed, laying grounding hands on the smaller monster's shoulders as he forced him to stop and meet his gaze for the moment. "First of all, you gotta breathe. Passing out ain't gonna help anyone, and especially not us. Second, we ain't going back. I promised you that, didn't I?" he asked firmly, continuing when the scarred skeleton gave a shaky nod and took a few deliberate breaths. "Now, here's what we're gonna do, alright? We'll get back to Charm's place and get ready to get the fuck outta here. We tell him we gotta get on the road again, and thank him for giving us a place to crash for a while. We say hi to the buddies he wanted us to meet like we said we would when they come over for lunch, then we blow this popsicle stand with full bellies and maybe a bit of cash if Charm offers it. He seems the type to do something like that," he explained carefully, laying out his plan at the same time it started to take shape in his skull. They really had to move on to the next town as soon as they could, because Cross was right about at least one thing.
If Nightmare got in touch with the mother fucker they were running from before they skipped town, they were all thoroughly fucked.
The younger teen swallowed hard with another nod, obviously still wired and freaked, judging by the quivering of his bones where Killer held onto him, but seemingly more steady having a plan to follow now. “Okay. Okay, yeah, that… that sounds like a good plan,” He breathed airily.
"Well yeah. I come up with nothing but good plans,” Killer boasted with a teasing grin, chuckling when Cross gave him a look as he tried to lift the heavy mood just a bit while they started walking again, peering out cautiously from the alley.
"Tell that to the crows," Cross grumbled, still glancing over his shoulder back toward the mansion they ran from even if they were unable to see it now.
The eldest snorted into a full laugh. "Hey, it's not my fault they didn't wanna carry my messages."
"You tried to capture them, dude. You could have at least tried earning their trust first. Befriend one, and you can usually befriend the whole flock. But no, you decide to bait them into a trap, tie something to their leg, and then expect them not to just rip it off right away. And in the process, you make an enemy out of an entire army of corvids," Cross retorted with a raised brow.
Killer gave an exaggerated shudder, a fake haunted look on his face. "They don't call them a murder for nothing. Pretty sure my life flashed before my eyes. But I had my best buddy there to help me out at least," he stated with a wink, nudging the shorter skeleton with his elbow only to receive an eyeroll and a weak smile.
"Dork."
"And proud of it!"
They finally shared a tense laugh, falling into silence afterwards as they snuck back to their makeshift base of operations. Even with the slightly lighter mood though, both of them were still shaken up by the close encounter and jumping at literal shadows. As they finally made it and entered through the side door of their temporary host’s establishment, neon lights announcing the place as The Lucky Charm beneath its signature gold horseshoe emblem, they made their way up to the second floor and into the living area.
It seemed Charm himself hadn't made it back up for the night yet, which made sense considering it was only two thirty. The lounge would have just closed, so he was likely still cleaning up and shutting everything down.
Killer was the first to sit down. Well, lay down, rather, sprawling himself over the plush couch that had been his bed since their arrival with a weary sigh. He could safely recognize the adrenaline crash as it started to hit him now that they were somewhere relatively safe. Peering over, he could tell Cross was fighting his own exhaustion as well, but he remained standing, shifting from foot to foot as he took in what little they had in the way of belongings, most of it still stuffed in an old tattered backpack.
"Shouldn't we start getting ready? Like you said?" he asked, visibly fighting a yawn.
Killer thought about it for a moment, but shook his head. "Nah. We'll have plenty of time in the morning since we didn't really unpack much. Right now, I wanna start sleeping. I’m beat after that shit show. Plus, we'll need all the energy we can get if we're hitting the road since we'll have to sleep in shifts again."
The kid nodded, finally losing his internal battle as he yawned wide, tensing and stretching before relaxing again. "Good point.” With that, he simply curled up on the loveseat he’d claimed near the couch, close to where Killer’s skull rested.
It didn't take long before Cross’ breathing deepened and evened out, falling into unconsciousness as sleep claimed the exhausted thirteen-year-old despite the rest seeming light and somewhat troubled for the first few minutes. Killer was awake a bit longer, trying to relax while also berating himself for putting them back in this position.
The break-in had been his idea. He was the one who gathered the information on the place. He was the one who should have dug deeper than just what he overheard on the streets or read in the newspapers at the library.
There was nothing to be done about it now though. He made a mistake. He would live with the consequences. He only wished Cross didn't have to pay for his blunder as well.
One of the older teen’s sockets cracked open when he heard the creak of the door again, Charm slipping in quietly and closing it behind himself with a nearly inaudible click. The mature skeleton wore his usual attire, a crop top, skinny jeans, and vest with a fluffy collar, but the heeled boots were new. Usually he just wore plain converse, since he said they were typically easier to move quickly in behind the bar. Still though, he walked impressively silent in the heels, much quieter than most others would be able to manage.
Killer watched the vested monster approach, the club owner’s expression soft as he went to Cross first. With a gentle look, he pulled a blanket from the arm of the loveseat, draping it over the younger monster with a tender touch on the sleeping kid's shoulder. He turned to the older teen next, not seeming surprised at all to find him awake and observing. A quiet chuckle escaped him before the mature monster reached out slowly to affectionately place his hand atop the dark socketed skeleton’s skull as well. He didn't linger long there, moving away and likely headed to the kitchenette for a snack before he turned in for the night himself.
Still able to feel the pleasant warmth of the touch, Killer relaxed further into the couch with a sigh. As he started to finally drift, he distantly thought that maybe it was a good thing they were leaving now. Before they could get more attached than they already were and Charm became the next in the long list of adults who had decided Killer just wasn't worth the trouble.
It was with that final thought the sixteen-year-old fell asleep, dragged down into an exhausted and dreamless rest.