Chapter Text
The raven in Anders’ office looked increasingly harassed and Anders studiously ignored it. Anders always ignored spirit animals. Especially when he didn’t know who they belonged to. The last thing he wanted was to slip one day and end Bonded to some Sentinel he didn’t even know.
Anders wanted nothing to do with any kind of Bond at all. Ever.
So he continued to ignore the raven.
Long and dull, the morning dragged on. He’d already done all of the fun work, leaving him with the interminably long list of follow-up calls that he wanted nothing at all to do with. Just as he wanted nothing to do with the stupid fucking raven that would not leave . It just stayed there. In his fucking office. Being obnoxious . Every time Anders found the willpower to actually make a phone call, it would be there, on the edge of his vision, flapping around and flying into walls.
Anders refused to acknowledge it. If he ignored it for long enough, then whoever it belonged to would hopefully move on, and the stupid thing would just leave . He almost called Dawn in to check if she could see it, but he didn’t. He wasn’t willing to face the consequences if she couldn’t see it. She was no slouch of a guide herself, and if she couldn’t see it - Well. It didn’t matter. Because he was ignoring the fucking raven .
It didn’t take long until Anders admitted defeat. Between the endless phone calls and the fucking bird that was still in his office - and it had been hours , why the fuck was it still there? He knew he wasn’t going to get any work done. He stuck his head out of his office and told Dawn that he was going off to lunch, and left before she could admonish him for poor work ethic.
It didn’t help when the fucking raven followed him outside. It followed him down the road. It followed him into the cafe, where he wound up getting a sandwich to take away. He couldn’t handle the bustle of the cafe, with the fucking raven constantly playing at the edges of his vision.
Anders had been able to convince himself that it didn’t matter. Seeing a soul animal absolutely did not mean that he was about to meet some kind of soul mate. He wasn’t. He did not have a sentinel bond because he did not want one. If he had been willing to enter a bond, he would have done so years ago. He would have stayed at home, with his three fucking Sentinel brothers. No, Anders was perfectly happy to be on his own, and perfectly happy to stay that way.
The park turned out to be less than optimal, as there was only one bench in the shade, and it was taken up by slouched over lump of a man, Anders glared at him before sitting down at a bench in the sun. The raven was near frantic by this point, forgoing all the usual subtleties of soul animals.
‘Stop it!’ He hissed, finally acknowledging the stupid bird. It screeched at him and flapped in the direction of the man on the bench.
‘No.’ Anders said. Then he glanced over, and his heart sunk. His own lynx was on the man’s lap, and Anders was so, so fucked. ‘No.’
He didn’t want a sentinel, he didn’t want a bond!
But the man...hadn’t moved. At all. He sat eerily still, and as much as Anders wanted to deny it, he could feel the pull. It didn’t have to be a bond, but the sentinel was clearly in a Zone. As much as Anders tried to stay out of the life, there were some guide instincts that he couldn’t ignore.
Anders moved slowly as he walked over to the bench. He could see the man had his fingers twined into his hair, pulling hard enough his knuckles were white from it. An uneasy feeling spread through Anders when he realized that the man had probably been zoned all morning. Sick urgency crashed through his system. If a Sentinel was left in a Zone too long, they could get stuck there. If this man had already been zoned for the better part of the morning...he had no time.
He rushed to the park bench and skidded to his knees, never even thinking of the possible damage to his suit. The man’s eyes were clenched tightly shut. The raven settled on the back of the bench and screeched. Anders glared at it. ‘Not helping.’ He told it sternly before turning back to the zoned sentinel. He reached up and covered the man’s hands with his own. ‘Can you feel that?’ He kept his voice soft. He didn’t know what senses the sentinel had, but whatever they were all sure to be haywire if he’d been zoned this long. ‘I want you to focus on my voice. Can you do that?’ Anders reached out with his guide empathy, immediately finding the most ragged remains of shields that he’d ever seen. ‘Hey, it’s alright. I’m here now, and we’re going to put you back together. It’s all going to be just fine, just listen to my voice.’
The man was shattered beyond anything that Anders had ever encountered before. The idea of pulling him out of a zone was a daunting one, but the thought of leaving him was completely unacceptable. Slowly, Anders picked up the wrecked pieces of the sentinels shields, projecting a bubble around the both of them, wrapping them both in the thickest layers of silence that he could manage. ‘Is that any better? I want you to focus on me, hear my voice. Is it loud? I don’t know where you are.’
The man let out a whine and curled further in on himself.
‘It’s alright.’ Anders said, keeping his voice calm and smooth, pushing his empathy into it. ‘Just dial it back. Imagine that you’re sitting a car. You’ve just turned it on, and everything is too loud, but it’s okay, you just turn it all down. Just dial it back.’
The man had started to tremble, perhorrescing beneath Anders’ gentle grip. Anders had to fight down the rising panic that he might still lose this sentinel.
‘Hey, hey, you’re alright, just turn it down, one at a time, alright? Just focus on my voice and turn everything else off. Just be here with me. Can you feel my hands? The bench you’re sitting on?’
The man let out a long, shuddering breath, and his hands started to loosen in his hair.
‘Good, good! Okay, I’m guessing you’ve got sight too, so let’s work on that next, okay? I know it’s bright out, but you can turn it down. Just use that same dial you had before. Your colour balance is off, that’s all. Imagine a blank piece of paper, and you’re gonna shade it grey, alright? Dim it down, you’ve got it.’
The tension faded from the man’s face, and Anders decided to take a risk. ‘Okay, I was guessing on sound and sight, but I don’t know what else you’ve got? Do you think you can nod for me? Or blink maybe?’
The man’s eyes opened, and Anders almost stumbled back in shock at the sight of pure black eyes. He had to push the panic down, he couldn’t leave. Not when the sentinel still needed his help. ‘Ah. Wasn’t expecting that. Uh.’
The man shut his eyes again and whimpered.
‘Right, okay. Blink if we work on smell next.’
The man managed to blink once before squeezing his eyes back shut.
Anders rolled his shoulders and got back to work. He didn’t know how long he spent on his knees, slowly talking down the zoned out sentinel through all five senses. He just knew he was aching and exhausted. The sentinel was even worse off, weak and barely able to stay awake.
‘Ugh, fuck but you’re a lot of work.’ Anders said, getting to his feet and ignoring the painful creak in his knees. ‘Do you have a name?’
The man blinked up at him, clearly having trouble keeping his eyes open. He slurred out something that seemed be some kind of question.
‘Your name. I can’t call Dawn and tell her I’m taking care of a nameless sentinel I found in the park.’
‘Mitchell.’
‘Great, well, Mitchell, we’re going to walk over to the curb, and then your job is to stay awake long enough for me to get my car and come back, do you think you can do that?’
‘Hnnnng.’
‘You’re fucking unhelpful.’ Anders pulled his phone from his pocket. He winced. He had six missed calls from Dawn. He rang her up.
‘Where have you been, I thought-’
‘I found a zoned sentinel in the park.’
‘Oh, god, Anders!’
‘We’re both fine but I need you to bring the car around.’
‘Absolutely.’ Dawn said, and Anders could hear her grabbing her keys and her coat.
‘You’re a lifesaver, Dawnsie.’
‘Where do I find you?’
Anders gave her directions to the nearest corner, before turning back to Mitchell. ‘Our chariot is on it’s way, so you’re going to have to come with me.’
‘No, I can’t, I shouldn’t - I’ve got people-’
‘Where do you live.’
Mitchell’s mouth dropped open and he blinked a few times.
‘Do you have food there?’
Mitchell let out a noise that was nowhere close to words.
‘Yeah, no. You’re coming with me.’
‘No, I can’t-’
‘Look. I’m going to assume that you’re not from around here, but let me tell you a secret. Around here, no fucking guide is going to leave a sentinel alone in your state. To be perfectly clear, it actually happens to be illegal, and seeing as how the absolute last thing I ever want to do is get involved with the Institute, I’m going to take you home until I believe you can walk a block without falling down, got it?’
‘I don’t-’
‘Great. So glad we had this conversation. Now get your arse up.’ Anders grabbed Mitchell’s arm and hauled him up. It took everything Anders had to keep them both standing. Mitchell could barely support his own weight, Anders could feel him shaking under the strain of being upright. ‘It’s not much of a walk. Just over to the corner there, see?’
Mitchell grunted and gritted his teeth, but managed to put one foot in front of the other.
Dawn was waiting for them by the car by the time they reached the kerb. They managed to get Mitchell into the back seat, and he was asleep by the time that Dawn pulled into traffic.
‘Anders, what-’
‘I found him in the park.’
‘I thought you didn’t want to be involved.’
‘I don’t, but I wasn’t about to let him fucking zone out in the park!’
‘You could have called.’
‘Dawn.’ Anders said in a tone that clearly shut down that line of conversation. ‘You know how I feel about the Institute.’
Dawn sighed and nodded. ‘I’m not the Institute though, alright? Remember that.’
Anders rolled his eyes.
‘You call me if you need help.’
‘Just - keep an ear out. I’ve stayed off their radar this long-’
‘Right. I’ll try to send them in the wrong direction if anyone comes asking around.’
‘Thank you.’ Anders said with palpable relief in his voice.
‘You’re taking him to your place?’
‘He couldn’t even tell me where his place was.’
‘Do you know anything about him at all?’
‘He’s got all five senses.’
Dawn turned to him in shock. ‘What?’
‘I know.’
‘Anders, if he’s not bonded-’
‘He can’t stand on his own.’
‘He’s going to get better.’
‘And I’m going to kick him out before it becomes a problem.’
Dawn frowned. ‘I’ll bring Ty around.’
‘No.’ Anders said firmly. ‘Not a good idea. I don’t know anything about him.’
‘Which is why you need us.’
‘Which is why you will stay the fuck out of it, unless I call you.’
‘Anders.’
‘Dawn.’
‘Fine.’ Dawn said. ‘But you will call me if you need anything.’
Anders sighed. ‘I will call you if I need anything.’
Dawn pulled into the parking lot by his flat. Mitchell was passed out in the back seat. ‘Are you going to need help getting him in?’
Anders paused for a moment. ‘Shut up.’
Dawn giggled and smacked him in the shoulder. ‘Alright then. Let’s get Mitchell into the house.’
They did manage to partially wake Mitchell up, but it was still a struggle to get him out of the car and into the flat. Anders put down a fresh sheet on the couch, and then they let Mitchell collapse
‘So you’ve got a sentinel in your living room.’ Dawn said, raising an eyebrow.
‘If you say one more word, I’ll fire you.’
‘I’ll be by tomorrow morning with food.’ She said, making her way out the door.
‘You’re the best!’
‘And don’t you forget it!’
The door closed behind her and in the silence, it began to truly sink in. Anders had a sentinel in his flat. He crossed the room to his fridge and pulled out a bottle of vodka. There was no way to avoid it. His life had just got far more complicated.