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His heart raced in his chest, pounding against his ribcage so hard for a second Hugo wondered if it was possible to crack a bone from adrenaline. He dodged underneath closed stands, sliding against the pavement made slick by the pouring rain. The tablecloth whipped in his face as he passed underneath, standing quickly and glancing to see his pursuers struggle to navigate around the table while he put more space between them. Maybe he would have felt a small twinge of pride if he wasn’t almost back at the lab, almost home. Usually, he would have lost them by now.
Panting and struggling to round a corner due to the same slickness that aided him earlier, Hugo scrambled to get his bearings as he saw the familiar streetlight come into view. Donella always complained about how it flickered though they both knew no amount of angry grumbling or strongly worded letters was going to make the kingdom fix it. But damn was she gonna try.
They may have found a space out of the slums, but that wasn’t really saying much when compared to the elitist areas Hugo was sent to steal from. This time papers were shoved into his jacket. Blackmail material that Donella claimed was worth more than any sort of gold he could have swiped. And- taking that to heart and mild offense, Hugo decided to prove her wrong. So he also took a nice looking emerald necklace from their safe. Donella had praised him for his safe-cracking skill earlier that week, saying that he was a natural- and maybe that casual comment made him want to prove his worth just a little more.
Turns out, Donella was right as per usual. That blackmail was probably worth more than anything he could have swiped from how they were pursuing him. Just some documents- letters actually- from some very important people doing very illegal things. Don had refused to tell him what exactly and he didn’t have the time to sit down and struggle to sound out the words. If he just grabbed a necklace maybe they would have given up by now.
He could hear her in his head, her voice giving him instructions. She had stopped moving around the lab, stopped multitasking when telling this to him which meant it was important. Donella never stopped working. “Hugh, listen to me. Do not steal anything else tonight except those papers. In and out exactly like the map. Stick to the plan and you won’t have any trouble.” Obviously, he didn’t stick to the plan, but how was he supposed to know the safe room would be patrolled every fifteen minutes while the office was kept private at all times? Donella probably factored this in- That didn’t matter now he guessed, now he just had to figure out how to get these two off his heels before he returned home and brought a threat right to their doorstep.
The young teen took a hard right and skirted into the alleyway- shit. This was just like the day Donella had caught him too, swiping a little more than he needed to from her pocket. Maybe it was hubris, maybe it was greed, but he certainly hadn’t grown out of it. Skidding to a stop, he stared up at the cold brick wall, ivy climbed up the side but it was too new and too weak to use as an escape route. The cracks in the stone, his heart pushed against its calcium cage as he spun around. His pursuers, two burly men with fists probably the size of his head, approached slowly. They were panting, dressed nicer than the slums where they lived but not as nice as the people they worked for.
“Well well well, looks like this is the end of the line, eh?”
One sneered, clearly he had a taste for beating children. Hugo recognized the type, those all too eager to see a down on their luck kid mess up, knowing that they were only stealing to eat but still beating the snot out of them. They wouldn’t even take the money, and that’s how he knew it was really more about the beating.
The blond took in a breath and braced himself like he would when he was younger, barely scraping by. He could take a punch, he could take fifty of them. Pressing back against the wall, instinctively he still seemed to cower. He felt the crinkle of the parchment against his undershirt. It was dry from the rain. In the other pocket there was the weight of the necklace and if he was right about these guys then maybe his efforts wouldn’t be all for naught. He’d give his loot to Donella and her eyes would light up ever so slightly. She’d say good job and maybe, just maybe, if he was lucky she’d even pat his shoulder. He’d feel the coolness of her hand long after she pulled away. And she would scold him for taking extra, she always did whether it was a bag of coins or a nice glass chalice. But the following day he’d find a small bag of sweets on his pillow or a nice new journal with spine still uncracked.
“Maybe for you- but hey. At least I got a future beyond beating up kids.”
Rain dripped from his hair and landed on his glasses before falling off. Water resistant charm, Donella cast it for him when he was younger after finding that stealing with obscured vision wasn’t the most effective. He begged her to teach him the spell but she just turned his head back to their writing practice and refused to acknowledge the topic again.
Cracks in the walls, cracks in his ribs, he lifted his head as he heard the cracking of knuckles.
“Oh really? Would be a shame if someone snuffed that out.”
They were a few feet away from him. Glancing down, the shiny metal blade caught his attention. It then set in that this was different from a regular beating for money. This was worth more than any gold he could steal, this was reputation and connections and power. And while Hugo didn’t- couldn’t read the contents of those papers, they didn’t know that. The boy gritted his teeth, deciding whether to run for it.
“A real shame.”
A different voice cut through the air. Different for his assailants maybe but familiar for Hugo. Then an unfamiliar noise that he could only attribute to the tiny explosions Donella would show him on the lab table. Three loud pops like the fireworks shows they’d see in the Fire Kingdom.
It was like life paused in that moment, Hugo saw the two men’s eyes widening, the one closest to him tilting forward first. There was a second of nothing, then, a rose suddenly blooming from his forehead, and he was sure he was looking at the man’s brain. He fell with a thud as did his companion whose bouquet of two was sprouting from the space between his eyes and just below his chin. The bullets created more cracks in the bricks, spider webs spiraling out from the impact. Another thud.
His green eyes stared down the cold metal barrel of a gun. The ones he often saw Donella creating outside of her experiments and her and Cyrus packing up late into the night. They didn’t talk about it, weapons dealing was the ironic black spot in their lives that kept the lights on. The black spot, where the bullet exploded from, moved in the air and Hugo realized that was Donella’s hand shaking. Her hair clung to her face from the rain, eyes empty or not really there. She lowered her arm and tried once, miss, twice to loop the weapon onto her belt. Shit- She fumbled with it and made sure the safety was on before looking towards Hugo. Her teeth rattled and she wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or the shock of taking a life. She hated that feeling and she hated that she felt it more than once.
It was a twisting sensation in her chest that spread to the knuckles in her hands. Like her muscles were physically condemning her for playing god, as if she had the authority to dictate the line between life and death. Clearly she wasn’t the best judge of that. The feeling deprived her of breath, of feeling human. But this time, this time at least she could say she didn’t regret it. Not when she saw tiny Hugo before her in the rain.
He had been completely concealed by the two much larger men, which was the reason for the headshots to avoid stray bullets meeting an unintended mark.
Two lives for him, her life for him. She’d give it in a heartbeat.
Don held her arms out to either side, and Hugo found his boots splashing in muddy puddles as he ran forward towards her. Like her hands, he was shaking though he didn’t know it yet. He stopped just in front, expecting her grasp to shift to an open palm for him to place his goods in. Water splashed around his boots, worn boots that did their best to prevent slipping, as Donella fell to her knees. Her pants would be smeared with mud but the clean-freak didn’t seem to care as she reached out and brought Hugo closer.
Her long fingers gently tilted his head, observing him and pushing his hair out of his face to get a better look. Her touch was precise but gentle.
“Are you alright? Did they lay a hand on you? I swear to the seven kingdoms if they did I’ll- well I guess I already did.”
Her words were rapid fire- usually so calm and collected. Hugo blinked, he had never seen her so frazzled- so frantic as she took his hands and checked them over and then spun him around by his shoulders to check his body. The back of her hand, cool even though he was chilly from the rain, was pressed to his forehead like his pursuers could have somehow given him a fever.
“How’s your head? Did you scrape yourself? Have all your teeth?”
“I getted- I got-” He corrected himself and focused with a little nose scrunch, something he picked up from Donella, “The papers-”
“Hugo, I don’t give a shit about the papers. Does anything hurt? Did you fall?”
Her cold hands held the sides of his face and head. She didn’t- she didn’t care about the loot? It occurred to him that she hadn’t even brought up the goal of that mission the entire time they were kneeling in the pouring rain. Nor did she suggest going inside before making sure he was alright. For a moment he wondered why the spell on his glasses wasn’t working anymore before feeling hot wet tears in his eyes.
He watched as Donella’s gaze widened with concern, darting around again and struggling to look him over. Her mind was probably racing, cursing the rain and mud for making it ever the more difficult to spot blood on him. Hugo choked on a sob, heat rushing to his face as he squinted his eyes and blinked. The tears felt like they were burning as they squeezed past his eyelashes and fell, mixing with the water already on his cheeks. He hated this feeling, the tears, the shaking. They made him feel weak. They made him feel small. He rushed forward and into Donella, wrapping his arms around her neck and clinging to her like their wet clothing. The woman leaned back a bit, not expecting the force. She felt her throat tighten at the touch around her face, the place she never let anyone else near. Not since that day. But she was never able to push Hugo away, not once.
“Oh Demanitus,” Her arms wrapped around him fiercely and squeezed him once she realized that he wasn’t in physical pain around his middle. It was so tight that Hugo wondered if she was trying to counteract his beating heart, trying to press back together the broken cracks in his ribs. “I’m so sorry. Cyrus was right, I shouldn’t have sent you. I shouldn’t have sent you.”
In stark contrast to the icy cold voice that cut through the tension of the alley, this time Donella’s was shaky and tender. The strained words of her second-in-command echoed in her ears, insisting that she should think twice about sending Hugo. ‘As much as you want to push him away and treat him like just another thief you won’t be able to. For Demanitus’ sake, Donella! Look around you- don’t lie, these journals aren’t all for saved research.’
Hugo buried his face into her neck and clung onto the back of the woman’s shirt. He clenched his fist and more water pooled around his fingers.
“I didn’t listen to you. It was a good plan- It was my fault.”
“No.” Donella pulled away from the embrace and Hugo was wondering if she’d push him away before her hands were cupping his face again. Her thumb gently brushed the little scar on his eyebrow. “It was not your fault, listen to me, Hugo.”
Hugo blinked to clear his vision and saw two green eyes burning bright with intensity. This was the Donella he knew and also not at the same time. Sharp, focused, but- but terrified and regretful. “It was not your fault. I pushed too hard, I pushed-”
She paused and her arms started to shake harder. Hugo could feel the movement in his jaw as her eyes darted away, clouded with delusions of grandeur, of romance even as she brought up the Library. One last great adventure that would put their skills to the test. Just one more.
“I pushed you too hard. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” She whispered and her tone was absolute as she knelt there on the ground, pebbles digging into her knees.
“What? No, Donella, I can- I can do it! I swear I can let me prove to you-” His words started to pick up that rapid fire speech like hers as desperation built up in his chest. ‘Work for me and I’ll provide you all your necessities’. That was their deal, he had to uphold his end. “I can get better, I can earn my place just- just don’t replace me- don’t send me away!”
He stopped when Donella’s eyes widened and returned to his own. Her hands once again pushed his hair from his face. It was a calculated motion, like she was looking him over, like she was inspecting him. And he saw the gears turning in her brain as she made sense of his words.
“Send you away?” Her words cracked with disbelief as she shook her head, tilting it slightly. Then, something strange happened. She was doing something with her lips- she was… she was smiling. It was an awkward crooked grin with the left side of her face pulling up more. It was shaky and small but it was there and it was for him. “Kid- you’re irreplaceable.”
His vision blurred again at her words, his bottom lip trembling as he held onto her wrists and leaned into her right palm. The words were whispered out like a secret meant only for his ears. She sat back on her heels, probably driving her boots further into the mud.
“I’m not sending you on those assignments until you’re ready. I can’t-” Donella cleared her throat and for a second Hugo was wondering if she was choking up. “I would never forgive myself if I lost you.”
She rose to her knees once again, now it was her turn to initiate a hug. Hugo felt her arms, more gentle and protective this time, wrap around him and pull him closer. He sighed with relief and closed his eyes as her hand cupped the back of his head. She could send some other henchmen on these missions, but not Hugo. For some reason, not Hugo.
He whimpered softly, his hand squeezing her shoulder as he felt her pull away. Sensing this, Donella stopped and shifted so that she was more or less on her feet before picking Hugo up in her arms. She rested the boy against the hip as if he were a toddler again and not nearly thirteen. Years of lifting heavy machinery and another girl all added up so she could take him home like she had the day they met.
Her knees were stained brown as she walked towards the street, the flickery glow of the lamp burning less than bright. Hugo rested his chin on her shoulder and his head against her cheek. For once, Donella didn’t mind the touch against her scars.
“Donella?” Hugo mumbled as the door was pushed open and he felt the warmth of the lab against his back. He proceeded when he heard a little “hm?” from his mentor. “I got you a necklace.”
His hand reached into his pocket as he sat a little straighter and held it in his palm. Water dripped off her nose and onto the surface of the green gem. “It’s like your eyes.”
He watched that emerald green gaze blink at him for a moment as she took the necklace delicately with one hand and spun it around. He knew Donella didn’t wear jewelry- actually now that he was thinking about it he wasn’t exactly sure why he swiped it.
“Th-thank you.” She mumbled and with each blink saw blue crystals coming towards her face, more jagged with each level of delusion crossing Ulla’s mind. Her jaw clenched and she swallowed hard. “Why don’t we- how about we go to the market tomorrow and trade it in for something together? I think someone’s in need of some new boots.”
Hugo put a hand on the necklace and nodded, closing his fingers around Donella’s. “And you need some new pants.”