Chapter Text
Scaramouche hated Dottore’s experiment days.
He had been trying hard to avoid them, even taking assignments as far away from the Doctor as possible. Unfortunately for him, however, Dottore had set up a new lab in the area after he had accidentally blown up the last one, and the clone working there had found him and dragged him along.
So he trailed behind Dottore as he was led down the halls toward the laboratory. He knew better than to put up much of a fight anymore, as that was too much of a risk to his own health. Instead, he kept quiet while walking down the hallways, until the two turned a corner and Scaramouche was met with walls made of cages. He tried to stifle his gasp, but Dottore noticed and turned to him, grinning sadistically.
“These are just the current patients I have been working on, I’ve been doing a bit of studying on that Elezar disease from Sumeru, along with a few… other experiments. Don’t worry though, I won’t be keeping you locked up with them, or the other harbingers would be mad about having to do your assignments.”
Dottore’s explanation did little to ease Scaramouche, who was eyeing the subjects in their cages. Most of them were adults or teenagers who sat quietly at the back of their cages, barely moving or even bothering to look at him as he passed by, seemingly dead to the world. However, toward the middle of the hallway, a little pair of hands lunged out at Dottore’s ankles, making him jump back before kicking at the hands. Scara glanced inside the cage and was shocked to see a pair of small, pink eyes glaring back at him.
“ That one ,” Dottore scoffed, “is a feisty one. I’ve been treating her for a few years now, but she still has fire in her. I’m hoping to wear her down soon enough.” Dottore kicked some dust at the child before continuing down the hall, huffing loudly.
Scaramouche continued looking at the child for another moment, observing her skin covered in bandages and bruises, before continuing to follow the Doctor to his lab. He knew that if he kept Dottore waiting, it would be an even worse day for him.
It was hours before Dottore finished the appointment, finally removing the restraints from Scaramouche and letting him sit up. The pain was fading but still very present, as Dottore didn’t think sedatives or pain relief were all too necessary for his patients, especially not a puppet. Scaramouche double-checked his bandages, ensuring they were hidden and secured, before turning to Dottore, who had hastily cleaned up his workspace and was starting to walk out.
“What, you aren’t even going to escort me out?” Scara jabbed, though he was genuinely confused, as Dottore never really left him alone in his lab after an appointment.
“No, I have a meeting to go to, and I’m nearly late. You know the way out, so go once you are able to stand.” With that, Dottore left Scaramouche there to recover and leave on his own.
Considering he wasn’t being rushed, Scara decided to sit for a little while and let his body actually rest. After a couple minutes, he heard one of the cages from the hall rattling, and his curiosity got the better of him. After slowly standing, he went to investigate the source of the noise, only to see the young child’s hands prying at the bars of her cage. Scaramouche walked down the hall and crouched a bit to better look at the girl, ensuring he was out of reach. The girl was still young, not even a teenager yet, but she looked as worn down as a grown adult. Her green hair was messy and somewhat covering her eyes, but her eyes still shone with a fire, desperate to leave this place.
Somehow, Scaramouche felt something stir inside him. He couldn’t tell if it was pity or somewhat guilt, but he knew he felt something looking at the child. She honestly reminded him of himself and of the child he was once friends with, but he pushed those thoughts away quickly. He knew it was a bad idea to mess with the Doctor’s test subjects, so he stood and started walking away.
Then he heard a quiet sob behind him, and he stopped dead in his tracks. Sure enough, the child was crying, and really she had every reason to be. If Scaramouche didn’t know any better, he would have thought his heart was aching for a child he didn’t even know, but it’s not like he really had a heart to begin with.
“Oh, fuck it, ” Scara whispered, before turning back and marching back to the lab. He found the keys to the cells pretty easily, as Dottore didn’t exactly hide them, and he went back out to where the girl was. The girl shrunk back at how fast he moved, seeming nervous about what he might do to her. He only fumbled with the keys for a moment before finding the right one and opening the cage, then grabbing the girl by the wrist and dragging her out.
“Come with me,” Scaramouche ordered. “If we move fast enough we can slip between the guard’s rotations.” The child was startled, but she obeyed him, following quickly after him.
The two hurried down the hallways, with Scara leading to ensure no guards would see them, as they headed for the entrance. In the entry hallway, Scaramouche paused, holding the girl back, as he heard Dottore talking to some other Fatui members in one of the meeting rooms nearby. He checked cautiously, then thanked any archon that was listening that the door was closed. He motioned for the child to stay low, and the two slowly crawled past the doorway to stay below the window. Once near the exit of the lab building, Scaramouche found some extra shoes, a cloak, and a hat, shoving them onto the girl hastily. He then scanned outside for any guards before picking up the child and booking it for the forest nearby, with the girl only letting out a small squeak in protest.
He had probably been running for about an hour, and while it really didn’t fatigue him all too much, he could feel his wounds from his appointment aching. He reached a larger hill that gave a good lookout, stopping there and setting the child down.
“That way,” Scara pointed, “leads to Mondstadt. There’s likely villages and stuff along the way, and it is probably your best bet for good healers. Get going now and you can make it to a village before nightfall.” With that, he turned and started walking away.
“Thank you!” came a quiet voice from behind him. Scaramouche turned and looked at the girl, waved, then disappeared into the forest as he heard her running off.
A week later, Scaramouche was back in the Doctor’s lab, with bright crimson eyes staring him down.
“I assume you have heard about one of my test subjects escaping by now?” Dottore questioned while picking up a scalpel from his equipment tray. “I suppose you don’t know anything about that, right?”
Scaramouche kept his eyes down, knowing no matter what he did in this situation, he was going to look guilty.
“You know, I’m kind of surprised,” Dottore continued. “I thought for sure you didn’t have a heart in there. Though maybe I should double-check that theory?”
And perhaps the only thing that kept Scaramouche alive through that night was knowing that one less child was going through the same pain that he was.