Chapter Text
Everything had been going to plan.
(at least, about as perfectly as it can)
That was not a new thought to cross Rogue’s mind. In fact, it was strange for it not to. Scarcely had a plan gone perfectly, and that often signalled a trap.
But with time and too many split-second changes in the heat of a chase, he began to predict which things would inevitably go wrong. Setting an alarm off was practically a given, getting captured or missing a deadline were commonplace, and he had grown used to it; it was as much a part of the job as the bounties.
Of course, Rogue had planned for things to go wrong; it was good practice. However, for this specific bounty, despite running through the plan until it was memorized down to the second, there was one big uncertainty.
You see, Rogue was a bounty hunter. He came in, captured (or killed) his bounty, and left, never bothering to stick around or deal with the cleanup. And Rogue loved his job, he loved the chase, the adrenaline, (and no, Doc, ‘meeting handsome strangers’ is not a regular occurrence, I just got lucky), and as much as he would deny any morals or good doing, seeing a terrible person get justice always gave him a nice feeling.
The complication was humans. Somehow, in the grand scheme of the universe, it always went back to Humans. Your planet in shambles? Humans. War? Humans, it was always humans. They were just like any other species, except they had decided that Humanity was the most important and expected everyone else to go along with it.
Humans were a problem because the abandoned warehouse, Rogue was now trapped in, was the epicentre of a string of disappearances. It has started small, a person went missing every few months, and only the type of people whose absence wouldn't matter. (Just thinking about it sent a wash of disgust swirling in Rogue’s stomach, ‘they’ were smart, he had to give them that.)
However, as the plan progressed, the disappearances increased, and ‘they’ became sloppy; now people vanished from right in front of the building’s entrance. Fortunately, (for the bounty), none of the local authorities had put enough effort into the case to put two and two together. But for a time-traveller, the link was clear. So, The Doctor, being the pure-hearted and amazing person he was, had decided to take the bounty. More specifically, the only bounty Rogue had ever seen, without an actual named bounty.
All of that being said, Rogue had a problem. Not because he had been found and captured, or that he was now chained to the wall (which was a part of the plan and had gone perfectly). But because Rogue was not the only prisoner in the dark.
Rogue heard a scrape (and yelled protests) of something being dragged into the room, and knew immediately that the plan was going to change. Because, as Rogue was now realizing, the plan had assumed that the Doctor would be the one to deal with any humans. (This was because his social skills and ‘small talk’ left a lot to be desired.)
Not Rogue.
For the record, Rogue would like to include in large font: that he thought this was a bad idea from the start, and for the circumstances, he really tried to be ‘approachable’ as the Doctor would say.
Because the Universe loved to mess with Rouge, he was paired with the one Human with a death wish.
He matched the Human’s stare. She was a little shorter than Rogue, but the sheer determination in her unflinching expression made up for it.
The question in her eyes was a challenge, echoing her words from earlier. “I’m going with or without you, so will you help me?”
And Rogue was struck with the strangest feeling. That she had done this before, in fact, quite a few times. Which was impossible, as 21st Century Humanity was light-years away from the future Human Empire's lowest point. And this time was only marginally better than 1831; the only difference was that humans had invented a few flashy screens. The life expectancy wasn't even over 150 yet.
Along with the fact that Humans hadn’t even made it to Mars, so it was impossible that she had ‘travelled the universe’.
But then again, almost every other human Rogue had ever met, from this time or before, shut down at the mere thought of aliens. Only one human (now 2) ran towards them instead.
Rogue remembered that night, that wonderful night. And the Doctor’s enthusiastic sidekick, Ruby Sunday. He remembered her kindness and bravery, even when faced with the death sentence of a barren dimension. Most importantly, he remembered The Doctor and Ruby’s friendship, how well they worked together and felt the sting of bittersweet. He had never seen Ruby after that night, and the Doctor gave a curt explanation that she was back home now with her new parents. He guessed there were some lingering feelings; it was not his place to push.
This human and Ruby were too similar, brave, stubborn, but painfully human.
Whatever experience she had would not save her from Rogue’s bounty. He had seen the way it had controlled the human and left her shaken in its wake. And Rogue had enough sense that leaving the Human alone to face the building’s haunter was a mistake. And he was determined to get to the bounty first.
“Hey! Over here!” The human’s voice filled the space despite being whispered in the other room. Rogue followed the trail of her voice as his flashlight flickered, losing the fight against the looming darkness. The flashlight flickered on, the brightness shining off an immense wall and Rogue’s impending collision. A second later, the light flickered out for good.
Fortunately, Rogue could still see. There was a teal light emanating from somewhere hidden. Rogue followed the light and its absence to the other side of the wall. In a wash of light, was the Human, looking to an opening into the wall- no a container. He looked through the tunnel of light into the source, but something was blocking it. A body.
The human gasped, “Are they alive?”
The answer came not through words, but in silence as the person exhaled.
Rogue was still examining the person when the silence was broken.
“There’s another one up here”, She shuddered.
Rogue glances up to see the human peaking through another slit above Rogue. He looked back as she gasped. The teal light made her face look ashen, disclosing the sheer number of containers stacked together, sharp lines against the dark.
So this is where-
“The missing people!” the human gushed in a burst of excitement.
Rogue was very confused. “Here?”
“What are you talking about?” The human turned on him sharply, her excitement halting.
This was not good. More humans. “We assumed that the humans were being used for something, but this is nowhere near the control room, that's on the top floor?” Rogue mumbled that he would have to completely rework the plan. Again.
“We can figure that out later; there are people to rescue.” She said, sliding her hands across the surface, looking for a handle. Meanwhile, Rogue looked at the large units scattered around the room with no apparent rhythm. Each one was made of dark glassy panels, with no obvious handles or doors. The human groaned, clearly realising that there was no way to get the people out.
“Well, at least we know where all the missing people are.” She reassured, pulled herself up, “I can come back later.”
Rogue had to agree there; he took the opportunity to highlight the room in green on his hologram. He scanned the room again, imagining the logistics of getting 25 people out of the cases and out. There were 8 units with 3 people each … which meant.
“It’s one short!”
The human jumped. “What are you talking about? Everyone’s here! The 24 missing people.”
“25” He countered, only to be met with a glare.
A pause.
“Fine, say there are 25 people, who’s the lucky extra, and how do you know that it is 25?” A challenge. She was confident in her information; it must be the ‘others’ she mentioned.
Rogue (only briefly) considered withholding the information. Any other time or place, and it would be the case. However, the information was not sensitive, at least to Rogue. Time travel made his job much simpler. Rouge knew how disastrous false information could be for a mission, and having the human on the same page would improve efficiency. So it was a risk he decided to take.
*Sigh*
Also, Rogue wanted to be right.
“Deck, after the company went under”
“But that was over 3 years ago!” She exclaimed, surprised at the admission and information in equal parts.
The human looked at Rogue, really looked.
“Who are you, Rogue?”
He thought Rogue was a pretty descriptive name; it worked for his enemies.
“Don’t lie!” She pushed. Talking over Rogue’s immediate response.
He shut his mouth.
“I know you’re not from this time, and not human, so I am going to ask you this one time: Why are you here? And what’s the plan?” She explained, asking the more important questions.
Smart
“I’m here to collect my bounty”
Silence
She backed away.
Not even the drone rose to fill it.
“You’re a bounty hunter.” She hissed. Disgusted. “I can’t believe I trusted you!”
The blood thumped in Rogue’s veins.
Then she stopped, eyes clear but wide.
“You don’t care about the missing people, you’re only here to get paid!”
Rogue reeled; he was no stranger to backlash for his occupation. Those closest to him were always the loudest. Although he hadn’t expected such a strong reaction.
He thought they were similar, he and the human. He saw the same drive for justice in her. So what if it was not fully legal? Rogue had seen too many guilty escape unpunished. No legal route could touch those with power; that was a simple fact.
What really stung was that The Doctor picked this bounty, and Rogue did care; he just didn't want to deal with the humans alone.
Rogue stepped forward, ready to speak his mind (not a grand speech like the Doctor, Rogue was not a man of words) but to spell it out: because yes, it was his job, but he does care and –
–
BOOM
–
It echoed.
The light was gone, and there was nothing to see.
Everything to hear.
Rogue padded silently over to the human. Argument forgotten.
They bumped into each other, and his arm was seized in a frightened grip.
Quick breathing, air buzzing.
A strained gurgle.
SPLAT
WOOOSH
Rogue felt the air shift. He started moving a second too late.
Because there was something in the room.
Something heavy collided into his body, and the air was forced from his lungs.
And it was out to get them.