Chapter Text
I let my lungs fill with hot and toxic smoke, like a low-lying cloud, hugging the ground to cause fog. It was a long drag, focused and hopefully relaxing as I felt my mind clear from most thoughts. I couldn’t remember much because of a damn mask that caused me to feel enclosed and tight. Like some kind of python fixed to my face, causing no free air to brush on my face as it used to.
To be honest, it kind of pissed me off. This damn world, damn rules, and most of all, damn masks. Ever since I got a hand grenade to the face, my mask has been broken causing other masks to lung and try to strike me. I was littered with injuries. My suit was torn and covered with spats of red, both mine and of others. Who were the others? Like hell did I care, masks, humans, did it fucking matter?
No, because I was just a ‘mindless’ mask that was against everyone. I mentally snarled at the thought as my hands formed light fists of anger. Damn… This smoke wasn’t helping at this point.
My ear faintly twitched, out of the corner of my hearing I heard footsteps. Either it was a mask or a human, either way, there was going to be blood. Not my blood though, I refused to die in this damned world!
I pulled the sling of my rifle, pushing the wooden stock against the crock of my shoulder. It was rather comforting and familiar to the point I felt useless without it. I guessed the same thing with my mask. Sure, I didn’t like it but it gave me a sense of power. A power I was going to use to kill whoever turned the corner.
Through my mask, I peered through my mask, through the scope of my sniper rifle, waiting. It felt like ages of waiting. Was there actually someone there? Was I hearing things? I pondered if I was going insane or not. Maybe it was my mask acting up.
I decided to stalk forward to the corner. The only sound was the light tap of my shining shoes every time I stepped forward to the corner. To possible danger. I felt stupid, possibly throwing myself into death and danger. But what choice did I have?
None.
I swung around the corner, my rifle pointed but was caught off guard. A person grabbed the barrel off my rifle, yanking it to the side and away from them. I couldn’t help but mentally curse because I struggled with close combat, even with heightened senses I was at a disadvantage.
Lunging forward, I tried to pull my rifle away while throwing a punch at the person’s face. I didn’t know what they looked like, too damn dark suddenly. Suddenly…
I was able to pull myself to my surroundings, realizing someone had slashed the lights making it difficult to see through the inkiness. Not that I was afraid but I knew there was more than one person around so I knocked the first person away, gripping my rifle more tightly now.
My hearing opened up to try and pin the second person but that was a big mistake. An extremely high-pitched electronic scream filled my ears with pain. The sound knocked inside my head causing me to drop my rifle. I couldn’t think and couldn’t control myself as I held my hands tightly against my ears to try and block the sound out. Damn enhanced hearing!
I dropped to my knees, frozen almost. I couldn’t do anything but let out a shout of agony from the sound and someone kicking my back. My body scrambled to the ground as I tried to get up swiftly but I couldn’t. I think I was in shock from the sound.
Son of a bitch! I let out a struggling gasp as I turned to see who was there. Who was doing this? From my position and the darkness, I could only find the silhouette of them.
Two people, one short the other tall. But before I could get any more details, a hard object crashed into the side of my head causing my brain and head to shake incredibly. Like some bus hard ran my head over causing my senses and surroundings to be dazed and blurry. What the fuck?
I felt numb and weak as I could feel the cool ground beneath me. My body refused to move as I let out another struggled gasp. Don’t blackout, don’t blackout. If I do that, I’m as dead as a mouse in a mousetrap.
But even as I tried to keep telling myself not to, my body couldn’t fight back the darkness. My body faded from all senses leaving me in silent darkness. Damn, I never finished my smoke either…
When I woke up, I woke up dazed. I refused to open my eyes or open my senses. I couldn’t take risks anymore as I felt bonds around my wrists and ankles. My back pressed against a hard surface that made my back stiff and uncomfortable. A chair, I realized. Oh, these guys really just up and tied me to a fucking chair. Just my luck.
My hearing opened up and I was straining to hear any sound but was found with nothing. No shuffling, no mummer of plans, or anything. Did they seriously just up and leave me for dead? Assholes.
I started to struggle in my bonds, trying to break free as quickly as I could but my strength wasn’t quite enough. Shit, I’m still too weak after that hit to my head. Mentally cursed, I started to thrash more violently to break free but nothing seemed to work and it was pissing me off!
After a bit, I stopped to catch my breath that was hard behind my mask. My pants were raspy from the lack of water. That’s when I realized how bad of a shape I was in at the moment.
My head was throbbing in pain that caused me to groan, leaning my head back to try and ease it but nothing helped. It felt as though I was having a migraine but I knew it was because my head was smashed, probably bleeding. My wrists and ankles were starting to burn from rope burns of my struggles to escape but most importantly, my throat and mouth were parched painfully without water.
“Fuck!” I shouted out, angry at myself for letting this happen. My brain was thinking straight probably because of this damned mask that didn’t do shit! It didn’t let me think! Don’t let me be me!
My shout was obviously heard as I suddenly felt something cool against my neck. It was sharp and caused me to stop all moving with a quiver. That’s a knife. Dammit, the person must have been silently watching and waiting for me to wake up but why? They must've known I was going to try and keep my senses closed to not get hurt again. Damn, whoever this was, was clever. Deadly clever.
I was going to have to plan this outsmart if I wanted to keep myself together…
He went silent and still, the mask in which I held my blade to his neck. I’ll admit, I would have never thought that I, a person closer to god, would finally find a mask with the same wavelength as my own. It was rather pleasing to see him faintly quiver under my blade. Does he know?
I sighed softly, moving my blade away from his neck causing him to let out a hitch sigh. He seemed tense with uneasiness. I wondered if he could see me as much as I could see him. After all, he seemed to be a fine gentleman.
His hair was messy but rather long compared to other men I’ve seen as it shined an ebony color under the dull lights in the room. He wore an ink-black suit that seemed to match his hair in darkness. It was like he was going to a business party or almost like a hired assassin as I’ve seen in movies.
To be all honest, that kinda made him hot. Hiding his well-fit body under the folds of his suit that tensed and pulled against the bonds to the chair. But I was more curious as to what was under the mask. Was he handsome?
I let the tips of my fingers brush under his chin, forcing him to tilt his head up to me. Under my fingers, I could feel him twitch. He was holding back any movement which was rather clever of him. So he was smart too. I supposed it was because of the crack in his mask, giving him a bit of his sanity back. How did he get that anyway?
“I’m y/n,” I spoke softly to not scare him but with my speaking, I could see him perk up finally opening his eyes under his mask it seems. How interesting to keep his eyes closed. Was he scared he was going to kill me? What a gentleman.
“And your name, mask?” I asked, forcing him to look at me more. If I were a person closer to god, I had to act like it. Though I wasn’t good at acting, I still kept the act up which seemed to work as he jerked his head away from my grasp.
“Tsk, just kill me already-” He gruffed causing me to be a bit surprised by his voice. His voice was low, velvety but rumbly. Like the eye of a hurricane. It was calming but you could still hear the low rumble of the wind. Not only, but he also sounded calm about the situation he was in. That’s something I don’t see every day with a mask.
“No. Now answer.” I turned my tone down, moving the knife into his vision, causing him to tense under the bonds. So he was afraid to die. What a strange mask… I pondered curiously as I tilted my head at him as he paused for a long moment.
“Sniper…” He hushed softly causing me to smile. A sniper mask! Now this will be interesting…
“Sniper Mask, obey my command,” I stated and that’s when it started. My first angel mask under my control. How interesting indeed as I watched him tense and look at me. His eyes were obviously wide from shock. Now that’s a reaction I like.
It’s been days since I got captured by the person closer to god named y/n. They were… a pain in the ass. Always flirting and teasing me like some kind of hooker, I swear. If I break free of their control, I was going to kick their ass and throw them off the building.
I huffed smoke that got caught in the wind of the high rise. My rifle was held in my built arms as I scoped around for anyone. It was peaceful up here. The wind blowing through my messy, feathery locks and sent the edge of my night sky blazer in frills. It cooled me down more than the cigarette that I held between my lips. A nice cool night to smoke.
Short-lived.
“Sniper~” A swinging familiar voice called from the door behind me causing me to mentally curse in already annoyance. This brat always kept annoying me but I couldn’t figure out why with their peary e/c eyes and feathery h/c hair. Always a constant wave of shifting emotions. I wonder what fascinating emotion they would show me now.
I turned to face them, lowering my rifle and pulling its comforting sling over my shoulder. It was clear there were no enemies around yet. Or so I thought.
“Sniper, why are you up and out here?” They questioned as they approached me, stepping in front of me. I shifted my gaze down at them watching them smirk up to me. Their pearly white teeth beaming at me with a devilishness to them. Oh brother, I mentally rolled my eyes, prepared for the next round of flirts and teases.
“Fresh air,” I answered simply causing y/n to pout, annoyed I didn’t give them much. Not like I did every time. I didn’t feel the need to, really. Not like I wanted to answer them anyway but it couldn’t be helped, I was their mask after all.
“Oh? A smoke like alway-” They started but I slapped a gloved hand over their mouth, silencing them. My ear twitched, listening around. I heard something, someone. About 127 meters away from us, positioned just a bit higher on an adjacent building. Her weapon was the same as mine causing my stomach to drop. Shit.
I was surprised when Sniper cursed under his breath before grabbing my arm and dragging me along with him. His strides greatly larger than mine, I struggled to keep up as he rushed to find cover.
It didn’t take long for him to find cover. Though it was a small cover it was just enough for my back to suddenly hit the wall and a warm pressure to push me against it tightly. Out of the corner of my hearing, I heard it. The ‘bang’ of a gun and the sound of a bullet hitting an area somewhere close by. Another sniper?
I finally let the realization sink in just like a sinking stone, that same stone hitting my stomach. Sniper wasn’t trying to shut me up, but rather he was trying to pull me to cover and saved me from an unknown sniper. A sniper that I didn’t know was there. Scary.
Wait-
I slowly opened my eyes, my face suddenly starting to heat up in realization. My back was pressed tightly against the wall behind me of the small cover as I couldn’t help but blush.
Sniper had his bold chest pressured against me tightly, his one hand still holding my wrist to my side tightly and his other hand on the wall against my head. He had one of his knees between my legs and his other against my thigh. We were pinned there to the point that neither of us could move or shift without possibly getting hit by the unknown sniper.
I looked up to Sniper only to find him looking around to try and figure out what to do next. He clearly didn’t plan this out causing me to mentally laugh. Rarely did he act on instinct like this which caused him to do idiotic things like this but I didn’t mind.
“Are you alright, y/n?” His voice was hushed to a whisper causing me to shiver. Whoa. Okay, he sounded greatly different when he was this close and whispering. It was rather sexy if I wanted to admit causing my throat to tense. I knew I couldn’t answer after that thought and slowly nodded.
He sighed, his breath grazing the side of my face causing me to flinch. Nope, don’t think about it y/n. He’s trying to protect you right now, nothing more. I kept trying to convince myself that but my mind was in a corkscrew.
I used my free hand to grab his tie, pulling him closer as I heard another bullet hit our cover. Not giving up so easily, huh? I narrowed my eyes at the wall to my side that was covering me and Sniper. They wouldn’t be able to shoot through without running out of aim first, good.
Sniper grunted from above me, his hand releasing my wrist, and moved it just beside my shoulder. Because I pulled him closer, he had to shift to be more comfortable causing me to smirk softly. His posture, his statue likeness- he was hesitant and uneasy by the distance between us. Along with that, I could move my hand more freely than him.
I looked up to him, seeing his head turned to the side, away from me. His ears were twitching but even through the darkness, I could see they were bright red, especially at the tips. He was embarrassed. Cute. It seems he wasn’t always so serious.
Leaning forward, I let my breath brush against his ear causing him to tense. I could see his ears more clearly twitch from the movement, burning with a flushing mess. I think I liked his part of him more. The shy, timid kind where he tried to seem calm when he’s clearly embarrassed. Honestly, I’ve never seen him show so much emotion so clearly. Like two sides of a coin.
He seemed to notice my pause and turn to look down at me. I was only met with the voids of the mask which caused me to frown faintly. His eyes must be so stern and confused, I could just imagine them but I couldn’t say. I’ve never really seen his eyes, no even his face. What color were his eyes? Did he have facial hair? Was he handsome?
I had to find out…
Reaching up, I knocked his hat from his head, causing it to tap to the ground beside his feet. I could almost see him twitch to try and grab it but he knew better than to. There was still an enemy out there, watching as he tried to listen for them.
“What are you doing? Y/n now is not the time for this.” He spoke softly with sternness. It made me annoyed how he was trying to stop me with his words but failing as I ran my hands through his feathery ebony locks. They were soft and silky. Like the small feathers of a bird.
It was a rare case even if he let me touch his hair. Either he smacked my hand away before I could or he had his hat on all the time. Almost all the time. Sometimes he didn’t wear it once he rested, usually sleeping against a wall or in some chair. I always wondered if he looked peaceful under the mask when he rested.
Slowly I moved my hands behind his head, to the buckles of his mask. He panicked and put his mask against my shoulder. Sniper kept it there as I slowly worked at the buckles. The speed I was going itself was a tease.
“Y/n don’t-” Sniper started but I shushed him by pulling his hair, making him pull his head away from my shoulder and up. I could hear him grunt from the move, he was clearly getting jumpier as I worked until I got it.
I unhooked the last buckle and grabbed his mask but he moved a hand suddenly to my wrist, stopping me. His weight pushed against me more without the support causing me to feel his warmth more. It was calming me as I struggled against his tight grip on my wrist.
“No, you can’t.” Sniper tried to reason but I snapped. I was truly in control here.
“Angel stop and do as you are told.” I snapped at him, causing him to tense. That’s when I realized he was trembling but just barely as he let go of my wrist, moving his hand beside my head. I could feel his gaze through his mask. It was hard and dangerous. Oh boy…
I didn’t hesitate to slowly move his mask away from his face, moving the mask to my chest as my eyes widened. Whoa… he really was handsome.
A slim face with a sharp jawline that was clean. No facial hair or acne and rather clean, well kept. His cheeks were dusted with shades of rubies and rose quartz which made the scar on his left cheek stand out. But that wasn’t the thing to catch my attention. It was his eyes.
They were a soft chocolate color like the bark of a willow tree. They were filled with everything. Fear, sorrow, shame, worry, anger, pain. It was like an open door to his thoughts but not all of them as I nearly gasped in surprise as his lips met mine suddenly.
His lips were soft and warm like a toasted marshmallow that was once over a fire. It made me melt, deepening the kiss as I pushed forward into him, his warmth seeming to call me. I guessed he was so warm because I could taste the faint catch of ash. Damn cigarettes.
He was first to break the kiss, slowly backing up and opening his chocolate pools to me. I stared back at him as my face began to burn. Holy shit, I actually did that?! I mentally screamed a cheer before being cut off.
Sniper suddenly snagged his mask, covering his beautiful face with the ghostly mask and placing his hat on his head. Before I realized it, he was running off, holding his hat to his head just in case.
“Sniper!” I gasped as I pushed off the wall, glaring at him. My only response was a deep and barely heard chuckle as he ran off. Tsk, damn liar. He really did like me!