Chapter Text
"Want to dig up some more weird crap buried by a dead guy?"
With a smirk slowly growing on his face, Dirk looked at Todd, "More than anything else in the world."
After that, the day had actually been going pretty well. Dirk's 'hunches' were luckily leading them to the burial sites, and slowly but surely, they found the pieces one by one. The day was long and slow and strenuous, but overall, they were actually enjoying it. It was the closest Dirk had ever been to camping with friends, and although they were shot at with arrows, got lost a numerous amount of times, and were actually currently in the middle of an investigation about the death of a millionaire and the disappearance of his daughter, Dirk could honestly say this was the most relaxed he felt for a long time. He enjoyed spending alone time with Todd. It was nice to share the investigation with a friend.
But it suddenly occurred to Dirk that he had felt this before. It almost felt too good. Too calm. Like the eye of a storm. It had all been going so well, and he could feel something bad was bound to happen very soon. But tried ignoring that feeling. The universe has given him some bonding time with Todd, and nothing was going to ruin that.
So finally, after hours of hunting, they knelt in the dirt, covered in sweat and more dirt, digging for the last piece of the puzzle. Once they dug the box from the ground and opened it like a kid at Christmas time, Todd gently picked up the cloth covered piece and uncovered it to show… light bulbs? Maybe? Honestly, they both had no idea what it was. Neither one of them were exactly technical people- they were lucky if either one of them could turn on an oven without burning down the house; that's why they normally ended up with chinese takeaway most nights. So god help them if there were no instructions in this box.
Dirk anticipated the disappointment as he fumbled around the box, looking under the bits of cloth and paper, even going so far as to dig some more of the hole with his hands. Hopefully. Maybe. Unlikely. Nope. Nothing.
He sighed.
"How are we going to fit this together? I'm not even that good at jigsaw puzzles, let alone a machine from the 1800's!" Dirk exclaimed, slightly frustrated. He was enjoying the finding and exploring part, it was almost like those Easter egg hunts he used to have as a kid. But how on Earth was he going to put together something like this?!
"You'll find a way." Todd nonchalantly tried to comfort him, "With your… power, or whatever it is. The universe will tell you how."
To Todd, the answer was just that simple, but Dirk knew it wasn't like that. That wasn't how it worked. His shoulders dropped and closed his eyes with a huff, "Why can't the universe just give me an instruction sheet or something? This is all terribly confusing."
Todd almost laughed. Of the whole case, this was the thing he thought was the confusing part?! "This isn't an Ikea table, Dirk. It isn't gonna have a step by step booklet…" Todd studied the lines on Dirk's face, most of them from worry or stress. A look came across his face that Todd hadn't seen before. It was difficult to remember that under that chippy personality was a man who was constantly worrying about the inevitable danger that could be lurking around every corner.
"But don't worry, we'll figure it out together. Somehow."
Any time Todd showed Dirk even the slightest bit of friendship and encouragement, Dirk's face brightened a little. He had opened his eyes with slight surprise, and his mouth twisted into a shy smirk, as if trying not to show how much it meant to him. It almost made Todd sad to think that him, Todd Brotzman, was the best friend someone could have. A terrible choice really, but he supposed Dirk didn't have many choices.
"We'll just shove it together and hope it fits, if not, we'll take it apart and try it again." Todd added, "Like those toys you get as a kid, the ones where you have to put the right shapes through the right holes; we've just gotta find the right holes."
Dirk looked at him, not completely convinced, (nor really knowing the toy Todd was referring to) but nodded anyway, "Right. Yes. The holes and shapes… Yep." Dirk gave Todd a tight, unconvincing smile.
They packed up their newly found treasure with a mixture of optimism and pessimism, and headed back to the jeep, preparing themselves for the long journey back to the Ridgley.
The drive back was relatively average, which surprised Dirk. He expected at least something to happen, a car crash, a gunshot, or, god forbid Blackwing! The feeling followed him like a dark cloud looming, getting darker and darker and Dirk was waiting for the blackness to pour over him. Todd could feel the tension emanating off Dirk, and let the radio take up most of the silence.
Getting back to the Ridgley, it was like the tension bubble had popped, and Dirk was back to his normal self again. Or at least, that's what it looked like. Todd could never really read Dirk that well, he was an emotional person, but you could never tell if those emotions were his true emotions.
"So," Todd started cheerfully as Dirk brought back two cups of tea from Todd's kitchen. Todd didn't drink tea, but he supposed it was the thought that counts, Dirk sat down across from him and had a sip of well earned tea before examining the pieces splayed across the coffee table.
"We're still at the 'shove-it-together-and-hope-for-the-best' plan?" Todd asked.
Dirk had an almost smug face, "It's worked for me so far." He took another sip, "'Hope-for-the-best' is usually my strategy for everything."
"I've noticed." Said Todd. He lent down and grabbed two random pieces of machine that looked like they might fit. He studied them for a bit, looking for a socket or a plug or something, but threw both of them back on the table with a huff of defeat. "I wish this came with instructions."
Dirk gave him the 'I-know,-right?!' face.
Dirk blinked rapidly as if someone had just plonked an idea into his head. He could feel the slight pull of the universe again, He hurriedly put down his mug, picked up a different two pieces, and instantly clicked them together.
Todd looked at him excitedly, "Holy shit."
Dirk was just as surprised as Todd. "Indeed." He said, that damn smug smirk returning to his face.
"Do another." Todd told him, and Dirk picked up another piece, searching for a socket, and plugged it in, Todd laughed in surprise, "Okay! Okay, we're getting somewhere!"
To Todd, it seemed the universe let Dirk have a lucky day today. But Dirk still felt this whole sequence of events was just build up to something bad. It usually was in his experience, all this luck had to collapse eventually. He smiled with Todd as Todd tried to pick which pieces to use next, but for Dirk, that cloud that hung over his head was getting darker, and it was nearly black.
Yet, no Rowdies came bursting through the door, no more creepy men with electrified arrows shooting at them, nothing bad had happed by the time Dirk put the last piece in place. It made Dirk anxious. The next thing to do was turn the thing on, and who knows what would happen.
"Ready? Dirk asked nervously, the shakiness in his voice painfully obvious. He sat the machine in his lap and placed a finger gently on the on switch.
"Ready." Todd said. Dirk envied Todd's bravery at this very moment. Todd noted his hesitation, and lent over and flipped the switch for him.
Nothing happened for a second, and Todd's shoulders dropped in disappointment. But just as Dirk was about to release a sigh of relief, the machine began whirring, and the lights lit up. Numbers began flickering on one side of the machine. The air became thick, and looking around, Dirk noticed the world around began to swirl and get brighter and brighter until it was nothing but blinding light, and suddenly, everything for Todd and Dirk went black as they faded into unconsciousness.