Chapter Text
The morning light slowly seeped into Impulse's living room, casting warm shadows and softening the lines. The warm summer seemed to grasp the air and fill it with the sunrise and a promise of a new day. Really, it should have been a good scene to wake up to, but Impulse didn't have time to deconstruct it. He was awoken by his phone blowing up, not the sunrise, it was too far past that time either way.
Groaning, he flopped over on his stomach, kicking the quilt to the side and stuffing his face in his pillow. Today was not the day he was waking for the world. He would stay put and—another buzz, wonderful. Heaving himself into a sitting position, he dragged his hand down his face, adjusting to the change in lighting. Looking down to the coffee table, he found his phone.
“Been goin’ off for ‘bout five minutes.” He nearly jumped out of his skin at Pearl. Right, Pearl, the one currently holding one of his mugs and smirking in the morning light. She was leaning over the couch staring at him. Her hair was almost golden under the light and her clothes were ruffled, overall, she looked tired.
He shook his head and quickly looked back to his phone, looking at the fifty-seven unread messages from various people. “You need anything to eat?”
He heard silence before Pearl tumbled down onto the couch, settling in right beside him. She was nursing her coffee mug like it might be the only thing between her and death, holding close to her chest. “Nah, I think I'll manage.”
Impulse raised an eyebrow at her response, not one he'd expected. She needed to eat, he swore he had extra food laying around somewhere. He probably had something in the fridge, although it was pretty barren.“It won't be much hassle, I swear.”
Impulse still remembers the day he got a call from Gem, a stray wolf had shown up in her driveway. She'd cornered the stray around her truck, calling Impulse because what else was she supposed to do? He came, saw her, and de-escalated the situation before anyone got hurt.
Granted, the damage had already been done. Pearl had been terrified to come back, but somehow, Gem had coaxed her into her sanctuary. Gem still got on her good side and the two got along like wildfire. He was glad for that point, that the two had people they could rely on.
Pearl could only nod in response, curling in slightly. She had this look on her face, Impulse barely recognized it, he could only decipher it through past experiences. He let her have space as he sat up and grabbed his phone. Walking away from the couch, his phone buzzed again and he opened his screen.
A bunch of notifications popped up, about seven missed calls and fifty texts. The most called was from Cleo, the runner up being Zed, and Tango a close third. There were a few other texts from others, Gem, Grian, Etho to name a few. Impulse slipped into the kitchen, popping open his fridge and dialing Cleo's number. He looked inside, there was a few eggs, goodness knows he needs to make those last, and bacon that wasn't thawed. He took the eggs and shut the fridge, looking down at his phone. It was still ringing… odd.
No one picked up so he went to grab a pan from under the counter, pulling it out of rickety, weathered cabinets. As he rose, he took another glance at his phone, nothing. Before he did anything, he set his pan down and turned to his living room. Pearl was curled up looking at his TV, nothing was playing and she was just staring. He dialed again.
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
Ri—
Commotion, that's the first thing he heard that should have set him off. There was a lot of yelling and what Impulse should have assumed to be fear. He didn't, he should have, but he didn't.
Something crashed in the background and he flinched back, holding the phone away from his ear. A wail cut through his speaker, and a low growl. It could have just been game night, Grian got dramatic during those, wailing until Scar or Mumbo or even Pearl could distract him. It could also just be play fighting, they did that a lot, trying to let nerves lay clean and shaking off extra energy. However, it just felt off, like something was just out of his grasp.
Cleo picked up—he thought it was—and a raspy voice that peaked with panic. “Impulse?”
“Yea, I'm here, what's up?” He thought it would be normal, he should've been more attentive.
“Impulse—I… it's Doc. Look,” a deep breath and an exhale, “just meet us here, ok?” She sounded worried, panicked even. It was wobbly and unsteady. Cleo was never like that, she was strong and stoic and also quick to temper, but she was never like this. It should have been the second thing to set him off. The line was silent after that.
“Cleo? Cleo! Shit!” Impulse was left standing by his counter, holding onto the edge and staring bewildered at his sink.
He panicked, scanning through the texts, all talking about Doc, something of blood, they couldn't contact Gem. Voice-mail that left people on the other line sobbing, they were begging him to pick up and to get to Doc's house. Something was wrong with Doc, his pack, his friend. Shit shit shit—
“Impy?” Pearl entered the kitchen, sneaking up behind him, nearly scaring him to death again. As he whirled around to meet her hesitant eyes, he couldn't school his expression fast enough. Teeth that didn't fit his mouth, tongue was just a bit too long, and his skull felt more wide, it was all just too wrong.
“How fast can you run?”