Chapter Text
Now that Zanka looks back on it, it had been a little strange that Jabber had just been out in the middle of nowhere like that. Their job site had been right in the middle of a polluted zone, and the idiot wasn't even wearing his mask. Oh, he'd had it on him, dangling uselessly around his neck, but the asshole had only put it on after Zanka basically scolded him for it.
One of his many pouch pockets jingles cheerfully. Oh, right. The precious cargo.
"Zanka, my man!" Jabber looked positively delighted to see him. "If I'd known you'd be bringin' your homies, I'd have returned the favor!" He said it brightly, but his words were strained. Zanka knew Jabber well enough by this point to know that there was something hollow in the raider's laugh.
"Why are ya all the way out here?"
"I can't come visit my favorite Cleaner?"
"Don't take me fer a fool, Jabber. Why are ya really here?"
Jabber laughed again, slightly more strained. "You caught me, man. I was actually looking for all of y'all. Ain't raider business, I swear," he adds on when Enjin lets Umbreaker flare to life. "I really do jus' wanna talk."
Enjin still looked skeptical, but Zanka decided that what the hell, Jabber was outnumbered already. "Alright, I'll bite. The hell d'ya want?"
Jabber, for once, looked like he was considering his next words. "See, the thing is…" He bit his lip, his sentence trailing off as he stared at a spot on the ground right by Zanka's feet. "I ain't vibing with the Raiders no more. Boss man is so boring lately, his heart ain't in his rewards for me - for any of us - anymore, 'n I just… look, I don't wanna talk about it! My point is, I left that bitch, and when I was thinkin' about replacements, cause I don't want myself to be gettin' bored, y'all came to mind."
He looked back up, and Zanka could see the raw, honest truth in his wide, pink eyes. In the sharp, almost shy grin of his teeth. "You came to mind, Z."
Now that Zanka thought about it, Jabber didn't have his choker on him - at least, not that Zanka could see - and despite him wearing the usual Raiders uniform, his lantern was nowhere to be found. That, at least, told Zanka that some part of what he was saying could be trusted.
Enjin also looked like he was coming around to the idea, slowly but surely, and Riyo even had what looked like… empathy? In her eyes? Zanka didn't think too hard about that though, because Rudo still looked entirely unconvinced. Which was completely fair.
"How do we know we can trust you?" the kid grumbled, eyes already starting to glow. "Let's not forget what you did to Zanka. Hell, you almost killed Gris! You think we'll just let you waltz into HQ after everything!?"
Surprisingly, Jabber didn't laugh or deflect, instead holding up his hands in clear surrender. "I wouldn't dream of it, man. You're so valid for that, dude. I was fully planning on letting y'all take me hostage, show of trust and all that." He looked back down at the ground, hands still raised. "Plus, I, uh… I was gonna apologize to the guy. If and when y'all let me get that far."
Rudo didn't back down, a hand reaching for his junk pouch, but surprisingly, Enjin was the one to hold him back. "Slow down, kid, I think he means it."
Zanka thought so too. Jabber still hadn't activated Mankira, nor had he moved to either fight or run away. Going slowly, he lowered his hands, fidgeting with the glimmering silver rings. Enjin looked like he was deep in thought, before sighing and deactivating Umbreaker.
"Alright. We'll take you in under three conditions."
Jabber shrugged, an easy grin on his face. "I'm all ears, big man. Lay 'em on me."
"One, you'll agree to being held within HQ for an indefinite period of time. We don't know how long it'll take us to be sure that you won't pull a fast one on us." Enjin counted the points on his fingers. "Two, you'll agree to tell us whatever we need to know about the Raiders, why you left them, all that. You'll be compensated for the information, obviously."
"Obviously." Jabber looked around, almost nervously. "What's the third one, then?"
"Third," Enjin went on, other hand tightening around Umbreaker's handle, "you'll agree to let us confiscate your vital insturment. We won't damage it," he added on quickly, at the sight of Jabber's smile faltering the slightest bit, "and it'll be returned to you upon us deciding that you've proved yourself trustworthy. This is just more insurance to make sure you won't betray us."
Surprisingly, Jabber grinned, looking largely unconcerned with the fact that he'd just been asked to hand over his treasure. "Oh, that's no big deal, man! My girl's strong, I have faith that she'll be just fine." His grin turned sharp. "But since we're playing the 'confiscating treasures' game, I have a condition of my own."
"Oh yeah?" Enjin asked. "What's that?"
Jabber practically skipped over to Zanka, already in the process of pulling his rings off. "I want you to take care of her, Zan-Zan! She knows you best out of all of y'all, and I think you'll get along with her just fine."
Which was how they ended up here. Zanka sits squished in the backseat in between Riyo and their new charge, with Rudo in the front seat. Zanka very determinately looks straight ahead, refusing to turn his head left to look at the ex-raider, or down at his pouch pocket that Mankira's bright pink energy is burning a hole into. Even though he's not her Giver, Zanka can still sense a slight flicker of… excitement? From the rings in his pocket? It makes no sense, they should be freaking out-
Lovely Assistaff sends a wave of light blue comfort over his field of vision, her message clear as anything: stop panicking.
Zanka takes a deep breath, running a gentle hand over her gauze in thanks. Her energy blooms bright in return, and Zanka immediately feels more settled.
"Can you two calm down over there?" Riyo interjects from where she's wandered into the open trunk, a bright tease clear in her voice. "I can sense her from all the way back here."
"Like ya an' Ripper are any better," Zanka grumbles back sullenly, very intentionally ignoring Jabber laughing on his other side. Lovely Assistaff blooms with mirth and pity in equal measure and Zanka looks at her, betrayed.
"Not you too," he groans, but his voice holds no real weight, and he keeps her close regardless. Mankira jingles from where she sits in his pouch, and even though their intent and emotion isn't as clear to Zanka, he somehow knows she's getting in on the fun, in her own bizarre way.
~~
Jabber hadn't expected to be taken so seriously.
He'd thought for sure they'd kick him to the curb, tell him to fuck off and not bother them anymore (which he would have done, except maybe for the off chance he'd bump into Zanka again), but instead they'd paid attention. They talked down the feral kid with the gloves, gave him conditions and swept him up into their Jeep.
Sure, his hands are currently tied and Mankira is off of his fingers for the first time since long before she'd woken, but Jabber can't bring himself to care about that when he can still sense how damn happy she is, even through the cloth of Zanka's pouch.
I don't think she was ever that happy when we were with the Raiders.
As soon as he thinks it, a wave of fuchsia-pink melancholy floods his senses, and he knows that he's right. Before he's given too much time to dwell on that awful thought, however, the car pulls up at what he knows is the Cleaner's base. The place is huge, so tall and so very obviously defended by something instrument-related that Jabber suddenly doesn't wonder how the Raiders never managed to quite get a leg up on these guys.
As they approach the door, the PA system above the door pings and Jabber can hear a woman's voice go through it, sounding tired and irritated.
"Would any of y'all care to tell me why you have a tied up Raider in your possession?"
"He surrendered," Zanka cuts in before Jabber can say anything to defend himself. "Says the Raiders got 'boring,' but won't elaborate on what that means."
The woman sighs. Jabber feels her frustration from where he stands, and sympathizes. "Well, bring him on in, I guess. I'll have a proper Look at him once he's inside."
Jabber barely has time to process how unnervingly vague that sentence was before Zanka walks forward and opens the door for the rest of them. Their leader (Enjin, he thinks his name was?) puts an unnecessarily firm hand on his shoulder and guides him inside.
The entrance hall is huge, high ceilings and lots of wide open space. Behind the front desk counter sits a woman that Jabber assumes is who was speaking over the PA system outside. She looks all of them over, sighs again, and waves them over. When they reach the desk, she finally looks at Jabber specifically.
"Jabber Wonger. Gotta say, never thought anything quite like this would turn up at my desk. What happened, did your boss stop being "fun," as you put it?"
Jabber squirms awkwardly. "Somethin' like that, um…?"
The woman chuckles lightly, which does nothing to put Jabber at ease. "Sorry about that. You can call me Semiu. I run the front desk here at Cleaner HQ."
"Um. Nice to meet you, ma'am."
Semiu waves a hand, fake nails glinting in the low lamplight. "None of that, now. Come here, let me Look at you."
"Is anyone gonna elaborate-" is all Jabber manages to get out before Semiu puts a finger to either side of her glasses and Looks. Her eyes and glasses both glow bright yellow, and Jabber has exactly one second to feel completely stupid that he didn't realize this woman was a Giver before the full brunt of her power hits him.
It feels, for lack of a better description, like he's being mentally turned inside out. Her glowing golden eyes pierce his brain for what feels like hours, but he knows realistically is probably only a couple of seconds. The effect is gone as quick as it came, and when he recovers, he finds her looking at him with… pity isn't right. Concern?
"Oh, honey…" Semiu looks down at her desk and Jabber realizes that she knows. Knows what the boss did, why Jabber actually ended up leaving, and what exactly Zodyl Typhon did that was his last straw.
Jabber sits in that realization. Here they had someone this insanely powerful, who could tell things about someone at the slightest glance, and she worked behind their fucking desk. Sphere only knew what else she was capable of if she could do that much just by looking at someone.
His ears are ringing.
"Jabber? Yo, you good, kiddo?"
Enjin is shaking him. Not hard, just enough to break whatever trance he was in. Jabber blinks, feeling sufficiently rattled.
"Don't you dare pity me," he snaps at Semiu, harsher than he means to, but she takes it in stride.
"Wouldn't dream of it, hon." She looks at Enjin. "He's genuine. And from what I got, he has good reason to not be with them anymore." She turns back to him. "Do you want to tell them, or should I?"
Jabber shrugs. "Ain't gonna matter, right? They'll have to be told eventually."
"That's not what I asked, young man." Semiu smiles slightly. "I asked if you wanted to tell them, or if I should do it for you." Her expression doesn't waver, and Jabber realizes that she means it. That whatever he wants to do with this information they both have now, she will respect that.
He adjusts his hands from where they're still tied. "You do it. I'm tired." It's a lie. He actually doesn't want to think about it anymore, for fear of distressing himself, or worse, Mankira.
If Semiu can tell, she doesn't say anything, just nods before turning to the phone she has on her desk. As she dials, she spares a glace at Enjin. "You can take those off him now. He's got my seal of approval, for now at least."
"And mine."
Jabber startles. He hadn't seen their new arrival, a tall, broad man in a long jacket, come in. He looks down at him, and Jabber somehow feels more scrutinized than when Semiu mentally turned him inside out. There was power in every inch of this man, and that simple fact makes Jabber's blood sing with excitement. He barely notices Enjin undoing the ropes holding his hands together until the man holds out his own hand for Jabber to shake.
"It's nice to see more Raiders waking up to the inhumanity of their organization's actions. My name is Arkha Corvus, and I am the boss of the Cleaners."
Jabber takes his hand, grinning freely now. "So you're the boss, huh? That makes a lotta sense, you seem so strong! I hope ya won't say no to a spar sometime."
Corvus smiles genially. "Perhaps." His eyes go to Jabber's hand, conspicuously bare of rings. "So you really trust Akuta enough to hold your treasure for you whilst you prove yourself to us."
Jabber bristles at the misunderstanding. "I trust Zanka," he clarifies. "Mankira likes him. I have complete faith she'll be safe with him."
He hears a strangled cough from behind him, and he doesn't have to turn around to know that his probably-too-casual admission of that fact caught Zanka off guard. Jabber can't quite manage to mask his own smile. Corvus, for his part, says nothing about it.
"Of course. I apologize for the mistake." He drops Jabber's hand and turns, looking over his shoulder. "Why don't you come with me to my office? I'd like to discuss this new development, and how we could help each other."
Jabber looks back over at the rest of the Cleaners. At Zanka. Everyone there gives him varying degrees of encouraging looks (except for Rudo, but that's not a surprise), but it's only when Zanka waves his hand and mouths 'just go' does Jabber turn back around and follow their boss to wherever he might take him.
~~
Zanka watches him go, a strange pit in his stomach. He doesn't understand. Why Jabber says Mankira likes him, why he clarified that he trusted Zanka the most, why he waited for Zanka to wave him off before going after the boss.
It makes no sense. Nothing about Jabber makes sense, really.
Mankira jingles in his pouch, the slightest aura of pink reaching at the edge of his senses. Zanka doesn't have the mental energy to try and parse what she might be feeling. He grips Lovely Assistaff more firmly, grounding himself. She gleams periwinkle in return, reassurance clear in every etch of her wooden frame.
Semiu hangs up the phone that she'd been on before looking back at them. "Eisha and August have been informed of our newest arrival. They'll be making preparations shortly."
Zanka steels himself to ask her about what she'd seen when she Looked at Jabber, but Enjin beats him to it. "So, spill! What's going on with the Raiders that's managed to turn even Jabber's stomach?"
Semiu doesn't say anything right away. Zanka gets the impression that she's bracing herself against whatever she's learned, which terrifies Zanka. Here is this woman who's the pinnacle of composed at all times, and even she's rattled by whatever Jabber has going on.
"Before I say anything," she says, taking off her choker, "I want you all to take off your chokers. This information does not leave this building under any circumstances, do you understand me?"
Zanka doesn't need to be told twice, undoing his choker from his wrist. When the rest of his team has followed suit, Semiu nods and beckons them all closer to the desk.
"It was honestly a couple of things that did it. As we all know, Zodyl is unhinged enough to be willing to cross any line, break any boundary or show of trust to get what he wants. Most people have lines, Jabber included. Zodyl does not."
Enjin nods. "We all knew this, so what are you getting at?"
"Slow down, I'm getting there." When Enjin wisely shuts up, Semiu continues. "Zodyl is apparently looking for new ways to make instrument-powered trash beasts. Ones that are as potent, as volatile as he can possibly make them, and apparently he's gotten an idea." She takes a deep breath, bracing herself against the knowledge. "He wants to try children. Ones young enough to not even have awakened those treasures yet, or at least gotten used to them."
Zanka shudders. "Like… kids Guita's age?"
"Younger," Semiu snaps. "We're talking as young as Dear, or even younger than that." Semiu clears her throat, eyes flaring gold with barely contained emotion. Lovely Assistaff's blue bloom sours into a dark, muddy teal, her disdain clear as day, and even Mankira's jingling takes on a certain edge that Zanka can feel all the way from where he stands.
"Zodyl made the mistake of sending Jabber to do that job, unaware that kids that young are a line that he won't cross. Jabber's mistake was voicing that refusal instead of running quietly."
Zanka blanches. "Are we in danger!? Ya should have lead with that!"
Semiu shakes her head. "No, but it gets worse." She looks back down at her desk. "Zodyl threatened to damage Jabber's vital insturment if he refused. And Zodyl is strong enough to where that wasn't an empty threat."
"He WHAT!?" Zanka blurts out. Despite the complicated feelings that he's actively parsing through as a result of (and for, thought he'd never admit that out loud) Jabber, a vital insturment was a vital insturment, and the idea of anyone or anything actually hurting those rings, or anything with that much of a soul, for that matter, makes his blood boil.
Lovely Assistaff flares bright with a horrid mixture of anger and fear, distracting him enough to go to soothe her. His right thumb rubs over her gauze, left hand steadying himself and her against each other in equal measure, until her energy evens out into a fond, grateful baby blue.
An irrational worry grips him for a moment, and he damn near rips open the pouch on his hip to count Mankira, to check her surfaces. Thankfully, she's not broken or dirty, and all ten of her rings sit within the pouch. Zanka breathes a sigh of relief, looking back up at Semiu to find her looking at him with… amusement?
"What?" Looking at the rest of Akuta, he sees Rudo's shock, Riyo's curiosity, and… was Enjin smirking at him? "What'er ya lookin' at?"
Enjin's lip twitches with what Zanka knows is a barely contained laugh. "You, uh… you seemed kinda panicked about the state of Jabber's rings for a minute there."
Her name is Mankira, Zanka almost says, before biting it back. That would most definitely hurt his case, and besides, he doesn't have the right to tell them her name anyway. That right is Jabber's only, everyone knows that. It's etiquette. "It'd be super fucked up if one of them was missing," he says instead. "Besides, ya heard Jabber. He trusts me with her, remember? He'd probably straight up kill me if anything happened ta her; which would be his right, fer once."
Enjin definitely doesn't believe him, but Zanka doesn't care about that right now. "What else?" he says instead, turning back to Semiu. "How'd Jabber get out of there?"
Semiu drops the amused smile, going back to what she'd been saying. "Surprisingly easily. He just backtracked to agreeing to Zodyl's plan, before tossing his lantern and choker as soon as he got the opportunity. Y'all found him the day after, actually."
Zanka breathes deeply, feeling a headache coming on. This is too much to parse right now; he needs to sleep this off. Akuta needs him at his best. Lovely Assistaff needs him at his best.
So does Mankira, now. For better or worse.
"Okay." Zanka pinches the bridge of his nose. "I need ta go lie down. Call me if any of ya need anything, but I might not be up ta it." He leaves before any of them can question him.
Upstairs in his room a little while later, Zanka gently puts the pouch holding Mankira down on his bedside before throwing himself into his usual nighttime routine. Change clothes, brush his teeth with what little water they had at this time of day and tend to Lovely Assistaff. It's a routine he knows. A comforting one.
His eyes keep being drawn to the bag on his nightstand, though. Like something is missing.
Zanka isn't stupid. He knows what has to be done, he just doesn't know how. Doesn't think he has the right to. Except he technically does, right? Jabber had literally given him permission to look after her.
I want you to take care of her! His exact words.
Sitting down on the bed, Zanka gently leans Lovely Assistaff against the wall to the left of his bed, before picking up the pouch and gently opening it. Mankira's jingling tune greets him, the slightest hint of pink pushing at the edges of his Giver senses.
"Hi there," he mutters, a little dumbly. "I don't quite know what goes into takin' care of ya, but I'll do my best. I know ya probably miss him so much already, but I can't do too much about that right now, so just try ta put up with me fer now, 'kay?"
Mankira's jingling almost sounds like laughter, if Zanka listens hard enough. Their pink glow shines just that smallest bit brighter.
"I'm glad yer happy, at least," he says quietly, and shocks himself when he finds that he really does mean it.