Chapter Text
They say bad things happen for a reason.
But no wise words gonna stop the bleeding.
‘Cause she’s moved on while I’m still grieving.
And when a heart breaks, no, it don’t breakeven. Even. No.
What am I gonna do when the best part of me was always you?
And what am I supposed to say when I’m all choked up and you’re okay?
I’m falling to pieces, yeah. I’m falling to pieces, yeah.
Breakeven – the Script
Mercury scowled at the cell door, turning his wrists to break the cuffs. They barely budged, whatever material they were made from was extremely strong.
He growled in frustration.
He could feel some moist, sticky substance making the cuffs slick on his wrists. And he didn’t need a medic to know that he was bleeding.
He felt the bindings biting into him before the skin broke.
Well.
He sighed, leaning back against the bench.
“Still trying to break out, Kid?” The annoyingly familiar voice of Roman Torchwick floated through the wall.
“No,” Mercury bit off coolly.
“What’s so captivating out there that you’d defy Cinder by breaking out? Didn’t you tell me that she’s the reason for your being here?” Came Roman’s response.
Mercury clamped his lips together, refusing to give Roman a satisfying response.
A week after Ruby’s final visit, Roman spoke again. “So, you were plucking the Little Rose.” He chuckled in a dark way that Mercury despised. “I never thought you were the type, Mercury. Were you holding out on me?”
Mercury clutched his hands into fists, allowing himself the sadistic daydream of punching Torchwick’s face in.
But, once again, he refused to give a reply.
Another week went by without interaction.
After that, Torchwick tried again, “Okay, I give up. What’s so special about her?”
Mercury thought about everything she made him feel and he started with, “She’s kind.” Torchwick surprised him with silence and he continued, “She’s innocent. And soft. And everything about her beautiful silver eyes makes me feel alive. ” He froze, surprised with himself.
“Hmmph. So, you fell in love with the target.” Torchwick mused, “That’s why Cinder had you locked up.”
Mercury snorted, “If you expect us to ally, you can forget it, Torchwick.”
Torchwick chuckled.
Ironwood came and left after an unsuccessful interrogation attempt.
Mercury called after him to ask Ruby to come back.
Roman laughed at the desperation in Mercury’s voice.
Ruby didn’t come.
“So, she makes you feel alive. How?” Torchwick asked the day after Mercury begged Ironwood to get her to visit.
Mercury leaned back, remembering the way her eyes would light up, the sound of her laugh, her adorable blush, and her beautiful smile. “She…” He trailed off, remembering how she felt in his arms. “She…” He shook his head. “I don’t know. There are no words for what she does to me. What she makes me feel.” Mercury snapped.
More days passed and Torchwick finally sighed heavily, asking, “Is it because she sees the world differently than you do?”
His insight startled Mercury.
“Yeah, I think that’s it. She makes me see the world through new eyes. She gives me a perspective I never had.”
“Hmm.” Was Torchwick’s only response.
Even more, time crawled past.
Torchwick finally spoke again, “So, tell me, how does an innocent huntress in training gain the attention of an assassin?”
“She had a crush on me,” Mercury mumbled. “And at first, I thought it was the most annoying thing ever. Until…”
“Until you fell in love with her.” Torchwick finished for him.
Mercury sat back, stunned at himself.
And at Torchwick.
When and how did he become so damned insightful? Then a horrifying thought settled in, Cinder chose him for a reason.
Almost as if he could sense Mercury’s hesitation, Torchwick chuckled, “Don’t worry, Kid. I’m not going to be telling anyone. No one visits me anyway.”
The final sentence was layered with bitterness.
Cinder had her hooks in him deeper than anyone noticed.
Mercury spoke to Torchwick more over the next month, confiding in him all his fears and deepest feelings for Ruby.
Torchwick chimed in with more bits of wisdom and a teasing comment here and there.
Nearly drawing on Mercury’s rage one day, with, “Damn. I just might be falling for Red, too.” He chuckled when Mercury growled possessively, following up with, “Easy now. I was just busting your balls, Mercury.”
Mercury’s hackles lowered and he fell silent, punishing Torchwick with it.
After a day of silence, Torchwick complained, “Come on, Kid. The silence is killing me. I’m gonna lose my mind with no one to talk to.”
Mercury kept the silence up for a couple more days, until Torchwick huffed out an, “I’m sorry”.
Then, they returned to making small talk.
Mercury gave Roman a brief update on what Cinder and company had been up to.
Then the topic was turned back to Ruby, when she, once again, refused to visit him. “Do you think, maybe, things would’ve been different if you’d been honest to her from the start?”
Leave it to Torchwick to hit him with a question that’d throw his entire world off-axis.
Mercury hadn’t even pondered that.
What if he’d been honest with her from the beginning?
Everything in him had twisted up in a knot.
He couldn’t think about it.
Certainly not now.
All he could think of was Ruby and the tears in her eyes before she bolted, leaving rose petals behind her.
“No,” Mercury said, finality lacing his words. “She’d still be gone. And why should she stay? I’m a monster.” The words fell from his lips brokenly.
“Allow me to let you in on a secret, Kid.” Torchwick’s voice flowed through the walls. “We’re all monsters. Some of us are simply a different breed.”
Mercury started, shocked by that.
Finally, he said, “I miss her.”
“Of course you do.” Came Torchwick’s response.
Resolve settled in and Mercury said softly, “I’m breaking out. And going home to her.”
Silence met him and he slid off the bench/bed that he’d been perched on and began kicking it.
After several moments, it gave way with a wrenching noise that made his ears ring and he sat up, gripping the piece and yanking on it, the jagged metal slicing into his palm.
It broke with a clinking sound and he tucked it into his shirt and clasped his hands together when he heard footsteps.
The door slid open, revealing Ironwood.
“Care to talk now?” He asked, his brow rising.
Mercury remained silent.
“Okay, fine.” Ironwood relented and walked away. “Just know, you’ll need to talk. Eventually.”
Will I? Mercury thought, fishing the metal piece from his shirt. I’m coming, Ruby. Coming back to you. He set to work with it.