Chapter Text
So I leap from the gallows and I levitate down your street,
Crash the party like a record scratch as I scream
"Who’s afraid of little old me?"
A few hours later, Tyler didn’t dare look at Wednesday as she shut off the car, still too embarrassed to see the amusement reflected back at him in her dark eyes. The effects of the drugs were gone now, but the embarrassment lingered.
Recalling what he said to her, how he'd freaking giggled like a four-year-old child on a sugar high, Tyler sincerely wished the ground would swallow him up. He was supposed to be the big bad Hyde, and he’d asked Wednesday Addams to pet his curls.
It was a miracle Wednesday hadn’t murdered him for the things he'd said while under the influence of whatever had been in those drugs.
Busy as he was looking anywhere but at the girl currently glaring a hole in the side of his head, Tyler had all the time to take in the nice houses and well-cared for gardens. They had arrived in the town her dreams had led her to, and honestly, Tyler wasn’t surprised this was the place.
Cute little towns always seemed to hide the worst monsters.
“Tyler.” She said, and he heard the impatience in her voice. “I don't know whatever crisis you and your fragile masculinity are currently experiencing, but I need your full attention on this.”
He scoffed, cheeks flushing. “Yeah? Well, sorry for having some actual human emotions.”
He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Tyler knew she had emotions. Many of them, even. It was what he’d preyed on, back when Laurel still pulled his strings. It had been and still was one of the things he admired most about her; her passion.
Wednesday Addams hid so much behind that stoic facade. She felt deeply. She just didn’t express them as others did.
“You are embarrassed.” Wednesday stated flatly, eyes piercing. “And lashing out.”
“Oh gee, Wednesday. What gave it away?” He grumbled sarcastically, before wincing at how that sounded. Tyler took a deep, calming breath. “I'm sorry, I know it wasn’t your fault.”
Wednesday stared at him, completely unbothered.
“No, it is not.” She agreed. “The drugs should be out of your system by now. Are you capable of acting rationally while we do this?”
He would have felt offended by her harsh words, if he hadn't spotted that tiny hunch in her otherwise perfect straight posture, the slight furrow between her brows.
She was concerned.
Not about him snapping at her. Wednesday could clearly handle him and all his rough edges, but she was concerned about what she saw as uncharacteristic behavior. And he supposed he hadn’t ever been this embarrassed while in her company, not truly.
“I’m just upset, Wednesday,” Tyler attempted to explain. “It’s not an after-effect of the drugs. I acted really embarrassingly and I’m surprised you didn’t leave me there with the things I was saying.”
Or kick him out of the car.
“Irrational behavior is to be expected when under the influence.” She said, voice without any inflection whatsoever. Then the corner of her mouth ticked up, drawing Tyler’s gaze like a beacon. “Do not make the mistake of thinking a few harsh words could hurt me, Tyler. I’m not that easily hurt.”
“I know,” Tyler agreed, meeting her eyes. “But I’m still sorry for snapping at you.”
Wednesday nodded curtly, accepting his apology.
She eyed him, and he felt his lips twitch when she hesitated, clearly mulling something over. Which was a bit of an amusing sight for someone as decisive as Wednesday.
“Do you-” she began.
His brow rose when she stopped, silently daring her to continue.
“Do you need,” disdain colored her voice, and Tyler tried very hard to keep his amusement off his face. She was trying so hard and it was adorable. “A hug?”
Tyler blinked. “A hug?”
Wednesday’s eyes drifted away from him, a visibly uncomfortable expression on her face. “Enid has told me the importance of comforting those who are experiencing an emotional upheaval. According to her, a hug often helps in such cases.”
Fuck yeah, he wanted a hug.
But not like this.
“I wouldn't say no to a hug,” Tyler said, knowing very well how much the girl in front of him disliked others touching her. “But Wednesday, only if you want to hug me.”
She scowled.
Her spine stiffened, and Tyler steeled himself for some truly biting words. Then, to his great surprise, she shuffled forwards, clearly intent on hugging him.
Tyler stayed still, holding his breath. It was like watching an alley cat approach, and Tyler fought to keep his expression calm and approachable. He couldn’t spook her now. Not when she finally offered something he’d feared he’d lost forever.
“Don’t you dare tell anyone I did this.” She stepped even closer, a determined set to her jaw. “You won't like the consequences if you do.”
And then they were hugging. She nestled against him, her body stiff as a board at first but quickly relaxing. Tyler gingerly lifted his arms, wrapping them loosely around her. He didn’t want to make her feel trapped, and he definitely wanted to do this again.
Still, “Not even Enid? I think she would like to know about this. Maybe even post about it on that blog of hers.”
She pinched him. Hard.
“Ouch.” Tyler murmured mildly, amused by her immediate reaction. “That hurt.”
Wednesday huffed out an amused breath. “Good.”
And still she stayed. Tyler had never been so grateful that no one taught the girl in his arms the socially acceptable length of a hug.
She stayed in his arms, and he wondered if she knew how long it’d been since someone last touched him like this. Just a hug, innocent and warm. Kind.
As if feeling where his mind had gone, Wednesday lifted her head to meet his eyes, dark brown meeting hazel. Tyler couldn’t help himself, his hand lifted to cradle her jaw in his palm.
“I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t willing to go through with my offer,” Wednesday stated quietly. “Unlike most, your touch isn’t truly awful.”
He let out a low chuckle, fearlessly meeting her eyes. “Thanks, cockroach. Coming from you, I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Good.”
He stared at her, feeling as if he could drown in her eyes. Cliché, he knew, but that was what it felt like. What it always felt like whenever she looked at him.
“What are you doing?” Wednesday asked quietly, not looking away. Not pulling away either, he noted. Just watching him with her coffee-dark gaze.
He hummed softly, thump moving along her cheekbone. “I don’t know.”
But Tyler did know.
He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to pretend that this was their first kiss, because no matter how brilliant the kiss in the Weathervane was, the guilt he felt soured the memory. This could be a do-over. A kiss with no lies or secrets, just them.
A new beginning.
He leaned in, just a little bit to test his welcome. Wednesday didn’t move away, in fact, she rose to meet him halfway. He was enveloped in her scent, the smell of fresh blackberries and jasmine caressing his senses.
“Please don’t have another vision right now,” he murmured just before their lips met.
I was tame, I was gentle till the circus life made me mean
Don’t you worry folks we took out all her teeth
Who’s afraid of little old me?
“This is the house,” Wednesday stated, eyes fixed upon the house. She nodded towards the back of the property, where Tyler barely could make out another building. “He’s there, I can feel it.”
Hidden from view, behind the house and half hidden by some shrubs, stood a shed. The house itself was on the more rundown side of things, and he could imagine the neighbors grumping about the lack of care put into it compared to their own picture perfect lawns.
Tyler nodded. “Good.”
“Someone else is home as well.” She noted coldly, eyes drifting to where they could see the light of a TV shining through the half-drawn curtains. “Cousin Jeremy.”
“Are you sure it isn’t a better idea to take care of him first?” Tyler asked hopefully, feeling the Hyde underneath his skin give a grumble of agreement. He was itching for a fight. But more than that, he was itching for this to be over.
Wednesday shot him a glance, “Yes.”
Both Tyler and his inner Hyde wished they could just burst inside and take care of the last of Laurel’s cousins, but even he wasn’t so stupid as to burst in blindly. Wednesday’s dreams had led them here, and he would follow her lead.
Even if that meant sneaking underneath the window towards the half hidden building on the other side of the property. Compared to the cabin-like house, the large shed looked surprisingly sturdy with its brick walls and tiled roof. Sturdy, and newly made.
Creeping closer, Tyler trusted that Wednesday would have his back.
He still felt like he was floating, the kiss from earlier still vivid in his mind. It had been a perfect kiss, sweet and gentle yet with an undertone of heat that promised good things in the future.
Glancing at the door, he frowned. “Not even a lock?”
Behind him, Wednesday grumpily repocketed her lockpicks. “Suspicious.”
This was the home of the leader of the three cousins of Laurel Gated. As far as they knew, he lived here alone. None of the three men had any children, or even a wife or partner. It was just them. Or rather, it was just them. Only Cousin Jeremy was left, and soon he too would meet his end at the claws of the Hyde they tried to enslave.
He couldn't wait.
But first Wednesday's mysterious dreamman.
“Yeah, that's either really dumb,” Tyler mumbled, exasperated. “Or it’s a trap.”
Wednesday huffed out a breath, and he could feel the amusement in that minuscule sound. “Let’s hope for the latter, shall we?”
Feeling cheeky, Tyler bent down to press a quick kiss to Wednesday’s mouth. “For luck.”
He felt like the king of the world when instead of stabbing him with one of her little knives, Wednesday’s eyes softened in a look he’d only ever seen aimed at him.
“We don’t need luck,” she said, but he saw the way her lips twitched. Tyler grinned back at her and she rolled her eyes. “Focus, Tyler.”
They carefully cracked open the heavy wooden door, senses wide open in case it was a trap. But nothing happened.
So Wednesday and Tyler slipped inside, blinking as their eyes adjusted to the bright white room.
“Whoa,” Tyler breathed. ”This is worse than my dentist.”
As their eyes adjusted, Tyler had to admit that he felt a chill going down his spine. They were standing in a mudroom of some sort. Only this one was tiled from floor to ceiling, with four hooks containing four full-body suits on one of the walls, and in the middle of the room stood a table.
Made out of metal with six dangerous-looking straps, it looked strong enough to hold down a bear or elephant. But it wasn’t large enough to contain any such animals. In fact, it was just about the perfect size for an adult human male.
“Arms, legs, torso and throat,” Wednesday murmured as her eyes scanned the table. “Homemade, I would guess.”
Tyler shuddered. “Do you smell it?”
Wednesday and Tyler exchanged a look, both catching the iron-y scent lingering in the air. That, and something so pungent that made him want to sneeze.
“Bleach,” Wednesday concluded darkly, eyeing the drain in the middle of the room.
He nodded, recognizing the smell. “And blood.”
Tyler didn’t want to know about what they were doing here. It couldn’t be anything good, not if it involved his former master and her crazy family. But knowing his cockroach, she would want to know what they had been doing here.
“I can feel it,” she murmured, turning towards the door. “It’s behind that door.”
Tyler grinned, and abruptly strode over to the door. He turned back to her, the one blessedly black spot in the creepy white room. “Well, cockroach, shall we?”
“Yes,” she scowled. “I’m quite ready to have a little conversation with this dreamwalker about his manners.”
He stifled a snort, amused by the thought of Wednesday talking with anyone about their manners.
She gave him some serious side-eye, probably guessing where his thoughts had gone. Thankfully, she was soon distracted by the door, because this one was locked. With cool efficiency that wouldn’t look out of place on a surgeon, Wednesday deftly took out her lockpicks and picked the lock.
The door clicked open.
Wednesday didn’t hesitate stepping inside the final room, this one even more disturbing than the white room. Where the other room had been all clinical whiteness, this room was shrouded in darkness. Then the smell hit them, and for a second he thought was back in the cave.
A cool hand touched his wrist, pulling him out of the memory.
“There,” she nodded towards the back of the small room. “In the corner, against the wall.”
His eyes adjusted to the darkness within a few seconds, and for the first time he saw what Wednesday had already noticed. There was somebody in the corner, standing still and watching them. Not talking, just watching from underneath their unkept hair.
“Who are you?” Wednesday asked curtly, uncaring of the danger radiating off the shadow. “And why did you call to me?”
The shadow chuckled, and the hairs on the back of his neck rose. “Visitors for little old me? My, what a surprise.”
Chains rattled, and as the man moved,
Tyler blinked at the figure hanging from the wall, well and truly shackled. "Shit."
He couldn't see his face, hidden in the shadows as it was, but Tyler thought he was older. Around twenty-five years old maybe, with pale skin and sleek black hair. He smelled injured and tired, and underneath that like nightshade and… tomatoes?
“Well, well, well,” The figure chuckled roughly. He - and it was a he - raised his head, and familiar crimson irises blinked lazily back at him. "Hello there, little brother."
A Hyde.
Tyler stiffened, unsure.
But his cockroach wasn’t. She shoved past him, intent on investigating this new mystery herself. She studied the chains, before her eyes moved towards the prisoner himself.
Wednesday took one look at the guy, and blurted, "Cousin."
“What?” Tyler exclaimed, looking from the new Hyde to the girl standing next to him. “He's your cousin?”
Really, what was it with the Addamses? They showed up everywhere, and in the weirdest of places. Which kinda tracked for the kooky family his cockroach was part of. The prisoner they’d come to rescue, Wednesday’s cousin, wasn’t even looking like he was bothered being here. Not really.
He actually looked kinda bored.
Wednesday narrowed her eyes, “Apparently so.”
"Putrefy Malacova-Addams, but call me Fye." The guy named Putrefy of all things grinned, a manic glint in his eyes that gave Tyler a faint sense of deja-vu. He looked like he would have waved if he had the ability to do so. “Don’t know what dear old mum was thinking.”
“Uncle Fester's son,” Wednesday concluded. “Uncle Fester did speak very fondly of a Hyde he once met. Olga Malacova is your mother. He doesn’t know about you, does he? He would have brought you home if he had. We do so love having monsters in the family.”
Did Tyler imagine the glance she shot him then? He didn't think so.
“Shishishi,” Fye cackled like a madman, and Tyler spared a moment to worry about the other hyde’s clear lack of sanity. “Dear old dad talked about the old lady, huh? Color me surprised.”
The girl stared at him, face as blank as ever. “What is your purpose here?”
The what did they do to you was left unsaid but not unheard. This man was Wednesday's family, and they’d hurt him. His cockroach might like to pretend she didn’t care, but no one was allowed to touch her family.
“Little cousin,” Putrefy said softly, face suddenly as blank as Wednesday’s and Tyler’s metaphorical hackles rose, sensing danger. “You don’t want to know.”
Wednesday’s expression said she very much disagreed, but she didn’t say anything. Instead she began questioning him about other things, each question as pointed as her knives. But her newly discovered cousin only grinned, and answered whatever he could.
Apparently, he wasn’t a dreamwalker after all. One couldn’t be both an Hyde and a psychic, and Putrefy was no different. But his aunt was.
She was a powerful Dreamwalker from a long line of psychics, and somehow she’d managed to give a tiny portion of her power to her nephew in his greatest time of need. Through her - through some mystical bond Tyler didn’t understand - he managed to connect to someone of his blood, one who could get him out of here.
Interesting, but Tyler was starting to feel uneasy. They’d lingered too long here already.
“Um, Wednesday?” Tyler murmured, hand brushing against hers. “Shouldn’t we put off this little family reunion and get out of here before anyone notices we are here? I would like to get this Jeremy rather sooner than later.”
He was so close to his goal, he could almost smell it.
“Oooh, little cousin,” Putrefy cooed, cocking his head like a particularly scruffy dog. “You’ve found a smart one! Beauty and brains, you lucky girl you!”
Tyler bit back a grin, hilarity shooting through him as he took in the two cousins. He was teasing her. Putrefy Addams was actually teasing her, and it was hilarious.
Wednesday scowled. “Cousin or not, I can and will hurt you if you don’t keep your mouth shut.”
“Yes, ma’am!” He grinned, eyes gleaming. “Of course, ma‘am!”
Tyler stepped closer, inspecting the chains holding his fellow Hyde captive. “How are we going to get him out of this? These locks look weird.”
“He’s an Addams.” Wednesday said blandly, and Tyler blinked at her.
The man let out that mad laugh of his, “Shishishishi, right you are, little cousin! I am an Addams!”
His bonds fell away, and with a mad grin disturbingly identical to a certain bankrobber he'd once met, Putrefy said, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go, kids!"
Well you should be
You should be, you should be