Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jimmy was at home when it all started.

He had holed up in his house due to a pandemic that turned the infected into undead cannibalistic zombies.

He didn't leave for any reason. He had stockpiled on non-perishables and cat food when things started to go bad so he has everything he needs.

He made sure to get portable cat supplies and harnesses too in case he ever had to leave.

And eventually, that day arrived.

He turned on the kitchen sink. No water came out.

He no longer has running water or electricity.

The one thing he needed but didn't stockpile was water.

So, he gathers his things to head out to the store. He takes his cats with him, putting them in a special cat backpack to make sure they don't get lost or stolen. He takes a little bit of food with him as well, packing it into a brown messenger bag slung over his shoulder, in case he gets stuck somewhere.

The city is a wasteland. Jimmy was able to hole up in his house for a while but things went downhill FAST.

There's no longer any law enforcement. There isn't even a law to uphold anymore. It's everyone for themselves as most of the population became infected quickly.

Jimmy walks cautiously to the store. He can't fly well with his cats on his back so he stays grounded, keeping an eye out for any infected so he can run and hide.

If worse comes to worse, Norman and Flick might be able to survive on their own.

Jimmy shakes his head, forcing the thought away. He will survive.

He has to.

He has to find Tango again.

Unknowingly, the first place his feet bring him is Tango's house. He shares the space with his roommates, Impulse and Zedaph.

Jimmy wants to cry when he finds the place devoid of life and absolutely ransacked for anything of value.

It makes him a little happy when he sees that all of Tango's game systems and games are in their place on shelves in the living room.

Unfortunately, there is no sign of Tango. It seems the house has been long since abandoned by it's residents.

So Jimmy keeps walking. He needs water for him and his cats. There's only one place he knows to find it.

Jimmy makes his way to the grocery store. He knows there's got to be something there.

He pushes open the sliding doors which are slightly open and one is at a bit of an angle. His hopes are crushed when he sees the state of the place.

It's a complete mess. All the food has been taken or thrown about. Shelves have been toppled. There's evidence of several fights. He can see a few scorch marks too.

And blood.

His breath hitches when he sees the spatter of blood on the floor. There's no body, but the stain on the ground says thay whoever it was dragged themselves away from the initial injury.

The sight makes Jimmy want to hurl.

He forces it down, though, and steps carefully around the bloodstain on the floor.

He wanders the isles, looking for water.

The first thing he finds is cat food. The pet isle have been relatively left alone as pet supplies are largely unneeded for your survival.

He grabs as mauch cat food as he can, taking mostly wet cat food and filling a large plastic bag with dry food.

What he finds disappoints him.

The water has been ransacked as well.

The bulk water packaging has been torn open and thrown aside. A few water bottles of various brands sit strewn about on the ground, likely the remains of people taking whatever they could carry.

Jimmy gets to scavenging, picking up any unopened bottle of water he can find.

Once he can't find anymore, he has seven bottles.

That's.... Not the greatest.

That's enough for him for a little while, definitely. He can share the water with his cats too.

He'd just prefer to have more. Just in case.

He always needs backups.

Jimmy makes his way to the nearby gas station next, hoping to find it better that the grocery store.

It's worse.

There's significantly more blood.

And there's a few rotting corpses.

Each one has a blow to the head, the wound having been the thing that ended its life.

They're too rotted to know who they were.

Jimmy guesses they were probably infected, killed by survivors to continue surviving.

The whole thing makes his stomach turn.

He plugs his nose and steps around the bodies, looking for anything of value.

He finds a few chip bags and two more bottles of water, bringing his total up to nine.

Jimmy takes the chips, too. They could be useful in the future for preserving his mental state by pretending everything is normal.

He's just about to exit when he hears a groan.

He ducks behind the counter hurriedly as a pair of feet shuffle inside.

Curiosity gets the better of him and he peeks over the side, quickly ducking back down when he sees an infected shuffling around the place.

He recalls hearing about how they're attracted to loud noises. He doesn't want to test that theory, putting a hand over his mouth to hopefully quiet his breathing.

Jimmy doesn't know how long he sits there, waiting for the infected to leave.

Eventually though, he comes the conclusion that it won't be leaving anytime soon.

Jimmy resolves to make a run for it.

He waits until the infected sounds father away before vaulting over the counter. He runs out of the gas station as fast as his feet will carry him.

Once he deems himself far enough away, he pauses to take a breather.

Jimmy hunches over, hands on his knees as he breathes heavily, having sprinted as far as he could as fast as he could.

He stands in the street for a moment before he starts walking again, intending to get back home before nightfall as it's getting late. The moon is high in the sky which has started turning to the reds and oranges of sunset.

Jimmy walks quickly, hoping to be home soon, only to stop quickly at the sound of infected in the distance.

The sounds of a lot of infected in the distance.

He approaches cautiously, being as stealthy as he can.

What he sees douses his spirits like a water on flame.

A horde of infected. Hundreds, THOUSANDS of infected block him from the safety of his home.

He could fly but that'll scare Norman and Flick and he doesn't know how close the horde is to his house. He could follow it along the edge to see where it ends, but he could risk being seen.

Jimmy hides, thinking over his options.

He resolves to hide out until the horde passes.

He enters a nearby building. It's tall and unoccupied. He climbs the stairs as the elevator is down.

It's an office building.

It's a surprisingly clean office building.

Jimmy climbs a few floors before hiding in a private office for the night. He locks the door to make sure it's safe.

He shrugs off the cat backpack and lets Norman and Flick out. He takes out two cans of cat food and opens them, setting them on the ground for the cats to eat.

They swarm the cans before they hit the ground.

Jimmy just watches them eat from his spot on the floor. He takes out a bag of potato chips and starts eating it.

It's going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

Tango and his roommates had left their house as soon as they ran out of non-perishables.

Impulse grabbed a crowbar and Tango picked up a bat he'd stuck a bunch of nails in. Zed is the only one left without a weapon.

Regardless, the trio decide they can't stay in their home.

Tango says goodbye to all his game consoles before they leave. He'll be back for them... Eventually.

The first place they go is the residence of Bdubs, Impulse's partner.

Tango makes an attempt to call Jimmy while they walk, only to have his phone die after the first ring.

Impulse and Zed notice his distress.

"Tango? What's wrong?"

"My phone just died. I can't call Jimmy to know if he's ok and I don't know where he lives so we can't go find him and-"

He didn't realize his talking speed had hastened in his panic. Zed cuts him off quickly, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"He'll be ok Tango! He seems pretty capable and a bit of a coward. I'm sure he'll run and hide and be fine! Plus, he can fly. That's a good way to escape dangerous situations."

"Yeah man. Take a deep breath. We'll find him and he'll be ok. Let's just take things one step at a time. Our first priority is our survival. You can't find Jimmy if you're a zombie."

He does as he's told, taking a deep breath as he thinks over his friend's words. They're both right. Jimmy can fly out of dangerous situations and is more likely to run than fight unless he's protecting someone important to him. Impulse is right too. Jimmy will be sad if he sees Tango's face among the zombies as one of them.

He needs to be strong for him.

He swallows.

"You're right. So what's our first step then?"

"Probably see what we can get from Bdubs and then go ransack some stores. We've all seen enough zombie apocalypse movies to know things are going to go really bad soon."

Zed nods his agreement with Impulse's thought process.

"I think there's a camping store near Bdubs' house. We can get things like tents, bags, weapons, water purifier, all that." Tango chimes in.

"Ooh! Good idea! We can hit up a supermarket next and see what supplies we can find."

With that, a plan is made. They will survive. Tango will survive.

He has to.

He has to see Jimmy again.

They make it to Bdubs' house not long after the plan is made. Impulse pounds on the door.

A cautious Bdubs opens the door a crack, throwing it open when he sees Impulse standing there. The crowbar in Impulse's hands is dropped and replaced with his partner. They kiss.

"You're here!"

"I said I would be."

Bdubs invites them all inside. They go over their plan, Bdubs agreeing with them. It makes sense.

He agrees to come with them.

And a trio becomes a quartet.

They exit the house together, making their way twords the camping store. They encounter their first few zombies on the way.

There's only three. Not too many but they shuffle twords the group with surprising speed. (It still isn't all that fast though. Easily out runnable.)

Tango shoots a fireball. He hits his target.

The zombie doesn't stop moving.

"Ok, so fire doesn't work." he comments helpfully.

Impulse throws the crowbar at the zombie's head, skewering it with the sharper end of the weapon. The zombie falls to the ground and Tango quickly ends the other two with his bat.

Impulse picks his crowbar back up.

"Good job Impulse!" Bdubs says. "That was super cool!"

Impulse blushes a bit at the compliment.

"You're so whipped dude."

"Says you."

Impulse smacks Tango in the shoulder and they laugh.

The group continues to the camping supplies store. The things they'll find there will be incredibly useful.

It takes maybe an hour or so of walking to reach their destination.

It's closed. The store is dark and it seems untouched.

Tango breaks a window without any hesitation.

"WHA- TANGO!" Zed yells.

"What? We needed a way in and it's the zombie apocalypse. No one's going to care. Survival of the fittest."

Impulse sighs as Tango jumps through the now open store window. He lights a small flame in his hand, using it as a flashlight.

The rest of his group follows him much more carefully, actually making much more of an attempt to avoid the broken glass.

Out of the corner of his eye he can see Impulse pick up Bdubs and carry him through the window.

He can hear groaning in the distance, inside the store. The flame goes out immediately and Tango readies his bat.

"I think I heard a zombie. I'm going to investigate."

"Be careful Tango." Impulse cautions.

Tango grunts in response.

He follows the sound in the dark, his pupils blown wide to take in as much light as possible, allowing him to see almost perfectly in the low light.

The zombie finds him first. It comes around a corner, startling him. He shrieks, swinging his bat at it's head instinctually.

It connects with a sickening crunch.

Once the zombie is dead dead, Tango can take a closer look.

It's wearing the store's uniform. Unfortunate.

"TANGO?! ARE YOU OK?"

He can hear Zed tell from another part of the store.

"YEAH! IM GOOD! GOT THE ZOMBIE!"

"GOOD!"

He leaves the zombie behind, returning to his friends. They're looking at backpacks.

They decide quickly, picking out four that are good quality and have plenty of space.

One of the bags is handed to Tango. It's already been cleared out and the tag's been removed.

He slings it across his shoulders before the group splits up into two, each pair looking for useful items.

Tango goes with Zed, Impulse goes with Bdubs.

They make light conversion as they walk. Eventually, they find hand crank flashlights and radios.

They pick up four flashlights and a radio.

The duo meet back up with Impulse and Bdubs at the back of the store. The pair had found a nice waterproof tent and the bottom was padded enough so that sleeping on pavement wouldn't be so bad.

It has its own travel case which Impulse carries dutifully.

Zed quickly helps to attach it to Impulse's back. It's a relatively small and lightweight tent so it doesn't hinder Impulse much at all.

Tango and Zedaph share the flashlights, handing one to each so that everyone has a flashlight despite Tango not needing one.

They continue exploring the store together, eventually finding where the axes are kept in cases to prevent thievery.

Tango breaks the cases open without hesitation.

He grabs an axe for himself, sliding it into his belt loops.

Bdubs and Zed also grab axes from the display.

Impulse makes sure to grab some things that are used to sharpen blades. A dull axe isn't helpful.

Before they exit the store, they find a water purifier and take it. That'll be incredibly useful. It's stuffed into a backpack and they all leave.

They begin their walk to the nearest supermarket. Bdubs talks about horses to fill the silence and Tango is unusually quiet. He seems a bit paranoid and on edge.

His friends notice but don't say anything. He's glad for that.

When they make it to the supermarket the place is incredibly busy.

People are shoving things into carts and clogging up the checkout line. The few staff members that are there have their hands full.

The group make their way to where the canned food is. It doesn't go bad nearly as quickly so it'll be their saving grace.

They put as much as they can reasonably carry into their backpacks, leaving some for other people in the process.

The empty space they had is filled with bottled water. There's four of them and they all need water. Better take as much as you can carry.

Tang also snatches a few metal water bottles.they can be reused and filled with clean water later.

They're stuffed into backpack pockets.

The group then make their way out of the store undetected.

Thievery success.

They don't return to their houses. It's better to get accustomed to the harsh reality of the world they now love in than be thrown into it later.

It's a good thing too, as the day after they make this decision, everything goes horribly bad incredibly fast.

Chapter Text

Jimmy spent more time in that office than he'd like to admit.

Yes, he was hiding from the horde below.

But it moved so mind numbingly SLOW. He ended us spending three days holed up there.

Even after three days, the horde was still there.

And so, Jimmy decided to pack up. This is the world now. He needs to face it eventually... Right?

He pulls the backpack on, cats secure inside, and cautiously exits the building. He keeps an ear out for any infected as he does so.

Once outside, he keeps a safe distance from the horde. He doesn't exactly want to be attacked.

Jimmy cautiously follows along the side of the horde, finding it's so much bigger than he thought.

He grabs the strap of his messenger bag tightly.

He needs to survive. He needs to find Tango.

Unconsciously, his eyes search for the blaze's face among the infected.

Jimmy decides it's a lost cause after maybe an hour or so of following the infected. It's too dangerous and he isn't going to find the edge unless he flies. Flying would require him to put his cat bag on the ground.

Doing that puts Norman and Flick in danger or they could get stolen.

He can't let that happen. They are the closest thing to normalcy and family he has at the moment.

That and he absolutely loves his cats.

He refuses to let them go unless he gets infected.

And getting infected is an increasing possibility the longer he hangs around the horde.

So he turns around. He walks in the exact opposite direction.

He walks the exact opposite direction until Norman and Flick start to get restless.

And they start meowing.

Flick specifically, starts meowing.

Which is noise.

Which attracts infected.

So, to make him stop, Jimmy heads into a parking garage.

There's a surprising number of cars in the parking garage. He'd expected more people to have taken their vehicles and left the city entirely.

Though, with the city is absolutely MASSIVE and he guesses there were infected out and about.

If he recalls correctly, it was the medical institutions that fell first, then law enforcement.

Both of those resulted in a lot of infected out and about.

Flick's meowing pulls him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry sorry."

He finds a quiet corner where there aren't as many cars for his cats to hide under or inside. They have leashes but if they climb into a car he doesn't think he'd be able to get them out.

He shrugs off the backpack, letting the cats out but keeping a firm hand on their leashes. The place makes him uneasy for some reason. He won't be letting them go.

Flick immediately takes to exploring as Jimmy slides the loops of the leashes around his wrist. They won't be getting away. Not here.

He takes a laser pointer out of one of the bags, using it to entertain his cats.

They don't seem bothered in the slightest by the harnesses and leashes, playing with the light just as they would if they were at home.

Jimmy finds himself relaxing slightly at that thought.

They play with the light for a while. He makes sure not to point it too far out of reach.

The uneasy feeling comes back in full force when Norman's attention leaves the laser pointer.

His head snaps up, looking out into he darkness of the parking garage. His heart swivel like satellite dishes as he listens for something.

Flick follows his lead, staring in the same direction, listening as all muscles tense.

It's disturbing and unnerving and immediately makes Jimmy prepare to leave.

He slowly puts the laser pointer away, pulling the backpack closer as he does so.

He prepares to stuff the cats inside and make a run for it.

Flick's ears flatten against his head and he hisses, the sound bouncing slightly off the walls.

Jimmy squints into the dark to see a figure shambling twords them slowly.

He picks Norman up and puts him in the bag before slowly making his way over to where Flick is crouched, hissing at the approaching figure.

They groan, picking up speed.

Jimmy picks up Flick who meows in surprise. The cat is stuffed into the backpack which is closed hurriedly.

When Jimmy turns around, an infected steps into the light.

They look AWFUL. Their skin is falling off and rotting in some places. Jimmy can see bone and muscle sticking out. Their eyes are hollow and dead but predatory at the same time. Their clothes are tattered and hanging off their frame loosely.

Jimmy is filled with a horrible sense of dread. He can't take his eyes off the infected and freezes in place.

He's startled out of it when Norman and Flick start moving around in the bag.

He quickly throws the backpack over his shoulder and makes a run for it.

The bag thumps against his side. He doesn't have the time to properly situate it on his back because of his wings and the infected tailing them at a surprisingly fast speed.

Norman and Flick complain quite loudly about their situation and how much they dislike it.

Jimmy spares a glance behind him to see the infected running after them. It isn't as fast as he is, but it's running nonetheless.

He didn't think they were supposed to be fast.

He crashes into something and falls backwards, landing hard on the concrete. He looks to see what he ran into to find another infected.

One of his wings curls around the cat backpack in an attempt to protect Norman and Flick as he stares in fear.

The infected turns to look at him. They begin to shamble twords him. Jimmy locks in place, freezing up entirely.

He thinks he's going to die when a giant, metal, two-headed axe cleaves the infected in half easily.

He puts a hand over his mouth and looks at the floor.

He might vomit.

A pair of boots step into his vision. They're black leather combat boots. Well made and incredibly durable.

"Are you ok? You aren't hurt, are you?"

The voice belongs to a woman. She sounds incredibly kind. She is the person standing in front of him.

He looks up at her, eyes taking in a woman with long dark brown hair tied half up with pigtails. She wears a short black dress that lands just above her knees, the skirt of which is slightly supported outwards with a bit of tulle. There's a small bag around her waist that presumably contains whatever food and water she has on her. Her brown eyes are a similar color as her hair but reflect the same kindness in her voice.

She rests the giant axe against her shoulder casually. It's absolutely giant and easily the size of her.

He spares a glance at her arms and immediately knows exactly how she manages to use the ginormous weapon.

"Hello? Are you ok?"

He tightens his wing around the backpack that hangs off his shoulder. The cats have stopped making noise.

"Uhm... I think I'm fine? They didn't get me or anything..."

"That's good that's good." She nods as she speaks. She offers her hand to help Jimmy up.

He takes it and she pulls him up easily despite the fact that she's quite a bit shorter than him.

Jimmy stumbles, surprised by her strength.

She giggles. It's a pleasant sound.

"Let's get you out of here, hmm?"

"Yes please."

She giggles again and leads the way out of the parking garage. She walks confidently.

Her confidence is understandable and not misplaced considering her weapon and the ease with which sje handles it.

They don't encounter any infected as they exit the parking garage.

Once outside, Flick decides he wants to complain about how the backpack continues to hang off Jimmy's shoulder rather than sit securely on his back.

The woman looks to him with surprise, an excited shine in her eyes.

"Cat?"

"Uhh... Yeah..."

He slides the backpack off his shoulder, holding it so she can see Norman and Flick.

She awws at the sight.

"Can I pet them?"

"I don't see why not. I'm sure Flick wants to be let out anyway after being thrown around a bit."

Jimmy crouches down, letting Flick out of the bag. Norman seems perfectly content to stay inside, however.

He puts the backpack on properly, making sure Flick's leash is secure in his hands, as the woman crouches down to pet Flick. She coos at him and speaks in the kind of high pitched voice you use only for your pets.

She stops giving the cat attention to facepalm.

"I just realized I never introduced myself. My name's Katherine."

"Oh! It's nice to meet you Katherine. This is Flick and Norman."

He gestures to each cat respectively.

Katherine tilts her head curiously.

"Last name?"

"Solidarity?"

Katherine brightens. She stands up excitedly.

"I think your sister is looking for you! She's back at camp of you wanna go see her!"

Jimmy can't believe what he's hearing.

"You know Lizzie?"

"Mhm!! Joel's with her too! I'm sure they'll be happy to see you're ok!"

Jimmy let's out a bewildered laugh. He hadn't thought of Lizzie. He knows she's a strong woman who wouldn't let anything stop her so he wasn't particularly worried.

The thought that she's worried about him makes him incredibly happy.

"Yeah! Could- could you please take me to them?"

"Of course! I'm always happy to help a friend!"

Katherine takes Jimmy's free hand and begins to lead him away from the parking garage.

Flick seems incredibly happy to be out of the backpack. He happily walks next to them, stopping occasionally to sniff at various things before running to catch up.

Jimmy is so glad he taught his cats to walk on leashes.

Katherine is incredibly friendly after that. Not that she wasn't friendly before, but now she's turned it up to 11.

The sun slowly sets and they set up camp. They share food and stories as the cats explore the area.

It feels amazing to finally have a friend.

Chapter Text

If you asked Impulse, Zed, Tango, or Bdubs their opinion on choosing to turn to survival of the fittest near immediately, they'd all say it was an excellent idea.

The day after, medical facilities collapsed with all the people inside them becoming zombies themselves.

A few hours after, law enforcement fell as well.

With nowhere to contain the zombies, they flooded the streets. Places of work became abandoned as cases skyrocketed and the lands became lawless.

Anything and everything of value was taken from any and all stores.

In short, chaos broke out incredibly quickly.

And team BITZ was so prepared.

They, naturally, avoided the store raids as much as possible.

They were panicked bloodbaths that weren't worth it when they already had enough food and a portable stovetop (Tango).

Considering the apocalypse, BITZ was incredibly well off.

They ended up bouncing between survivor groups, asking around about Jimmy as they went. Tango was determined to find him.

They never stayed with a group for a particularly long time, though. The longest was a week and they nearly died when the camp got overrun by zombies.

They don't know if anyone survived.

That broke everyone mentally for a while with Impulse being the first one to snap out of it. They were still alive after all and he'd be damned if the people closest to him got hurt.

They needed time to mourn and damnit he'd give them time.

They stayed away from groups of people for a while after that.

The first time they met someone any of them remotely knew, Tango was asleep for it.

They'd been caught in a rainstorm. Tango hid under his backpack, lamenting his sheer lack of an umbrella while his friends set up the tent.

Unlucky to get stuck in a place with exactly zero shelter from the elements.

Luckily, the rainwater is warm.

Tango is shuffled into the tent as soon as it's up where he curls up on the ground. He's not having a good day.

Poor guy had been having consistent nightmares since they left the last group.

They set up a water collection and sit outside in the rain so water doesn't pool inside the tent and irritate Tango further.

Water and Tango don't really mix well.

Luckily for him, his friends don't mind and he'd be happy to become a human campfire to dry them off once the rain stops.

Zed, Bdubs, and Impulse are enjoying the weather as best they can while being thoroughly soaked.

A friend of Impulse's approaches them. She shows up surrounded by a pack of wolves. (Where she got a pack of wolves in a city no one will ever know. She refuses to elaborate when asked.)

He red hoodie is soaked as well but she doesn't seem to mind. There's a pair of sickles on her hip and she walks confidently wherever she goes.

She doesn't even have a bag on her to carry things like food.

There's only one wolf on the pack that's named. She's apparently the leader, marked with a yellow collar and dubbed Tilly.

Miraculously, she responds to that name. No one will ever know how Pearl managed to tame and train an entire wolf pack.

Somehow, Pearl has quickly managed to gain a reputation among survivors as "The Scarlet Lady." She's notoriously terrifying and insane, regularly stealing to get what she wants and no one can stop her due to her personal guards.

She chats with Impulse for a while, discussing what's going on. Pearl knows a surprising amount about survivor groups in the city. According to her, the most interesting one is a starting camp led by a kind man called Xisuma. Supposedly, the group is called "The Hermits."

It isn't until she's long gone that Impulse remers to ask about Jimmy.

The rain takes a few hours to stop. Once it does, Tango wakes with it, crawling out of the tent to find his friends soaked to the bone.

He quickly becomes a human campfire for their sake while the tent also dries off.

They spend a few more weeks surviving on their own.

Eventually though, they come across the camp Pearl had been talking about. The group had settled in an apartment building that sits across from a parking garage. There's a few interesting people already in the group.

Aside from the leader, there's a kind man with a smiling mask who welcomes them in easily, introducing himself as Keralis. Theres a few other people of note, those being a ninja who goes by Etho and who seems to know Bdubs, a person with long orange hair that is incredibly curly and a stare that could kill a man who's introduced as Cleo by a man with glasses who calls himself Joe.

Cleo's incredibly wary of BITZ. Understandably so with how the world is at the moment.

Unfortunately for her, the group votes for them to stay.

Naturally, BITZ is equally as wary, choosing to camp in the apartment building's lobby, not leaving any of their personal belongings around.

Regardless, they're given jobs to help out around the place. Clearing upper floors of zombies (minus Cleo) and helping to scavenge for food.

Cleo wields an axe which she handles deftly, leading the people who go out to find food. The team is made up of the faster people, Etho, Bdubs, Zed.

Xisuma, Tango, and Impulse are tasked with clearing out the upper floors of the apartment building for living in while Keralis and Joe stay downstairs to help anyone who comes across the camp.

Tango's grateful for the routine. Wake up, kill zombies, go to sleep with Impulse by his side more nights than with the whole group.

Apparently, scavenging takes several days at a time.

Zed and Bdubs are excited when they return, backpacks full of medical supplies and food. They run excitedly up to their friends, gushing about how cool Cleo and Etho are.

According to them, Cleo is a total badass. She's capable of walking untouched and unbothered through a horde of zombies, being one herself. They're absolutely terrifying, slashing and hacking with their axe like a serial killer from a horror movie.

She's also apparently really kind once you get to know her, a fact that Joe can attest to.

Etho's cool too, easily able to sneak and parkour past anything, taking enemies down before they even have the chance to spot him. Bdubs describes him as helpful and funny.

Tango spends a bit of time talking to Keralis, Xisuma, and Joe, though.

They're incredibly kind and patient people, waiting for him to open up and never pushing him out of his comfort zone. They always make sure everyone's ok.

He'd be lying if he said that their kindness didn't at least make his eyes water with tears.

Eventually though, he ends up talking to Cleo.

It's on a pretty bad night. Cleo's team had returned that day with plenty of supplies and no plans to head out anytime soon. Zed, Bdubs, and Impulse were all fast asleep around Tango as per usual.

He'd had a nightmare. It was one of the recurring ones where he finds Jimmy either dead or zombified.

He wakes breathing heavily, thankful that it's Bdubs laying mostly on top of him due to how heavy of a sleeper the man tends to be.

He carefully extracts himself from the little snuggle pile and sneaks out of the tent. He just needs some fresh air and time to think.

He's surprised to see Cleo sitting by the front window, staring out into the city. She doesn't turn to look at him when he emerges from the tent.

"Isn't your room upstairs? What are you doing down here?"

"Keeping watch. Not boutta let someone sneak up on my Hermits."

They say it so nonchalantly and cooly that Tango can't help but believe her words.

Apparently, he stands there silent for too long because she speaks up again.

"Sooo. What's got you up at this hour?"

"Oh... I uh.. had a nightmare..."

"Tell me about it. Your nightmare."

He nods. Something about her tone is commanding yet calming simultaneously. He gets the feeling she won't judge no matter what he says.

Slowly, he moves to sit next to them. He takes a moment to look at them closely, admiring how their green eyes are sharp and cold yet soft and caring deep down. Her skin is thin in some places and various shades of green in others. Where her skin is normal people colors, it's sickly pale.

Strangely though, she almost seems to glow in the blue light of the night that comes in gently through the window.

"So... I have someone that I'm looking for. We were with a group not super long ago and the zombies basically chased us out and I don't know if anyone else survived."

Cleo hums in response, signalling that she's listening to what Tango has to say without turning to look at him. He's grateful for that, turning his gaze to the street before them as well.

"He wasn't in that group but since then I've been having nightmares about him. In them he's been zombificated and I have to kill him in order to survive or he's already dead in some horrible way-"

Tango doesn't notice the way her eyes move to watch him, gauging his mood and making sure he's ok.

"I don't want that to happen to him. He's super important to me and I think I'd curl up and die of I finally found him and he was hurt."

"You sound like you care for this guy a lot. What is he to you?"

"He's my boyfriend. We weren't dating for very long before the apocalypse but we were really close. I'd give anything to make sure he's ok."

"What's he like?"

"Oh he's just amazing. The kindest person you will ever meet. He's so incredibly selfless and beautiful and amazing. He's a little bit of a clutz but I think that's just super endearing. He never has anything bad to say about anyone that isn't in a joking manner and he'd protect the people he cares about no matter what."

"He sounds lovely. I bet you miss him."

"I do." he responds with a sadness reflected in his eyes.

They sit in silence for a moment. Eventually, Cleo reaches over to give his hand a squeeze.

"Tell me what he looks like and I'll keep out an eye for him while I'm out, ok?"

He looks to her with hope in his eyes to see determination reflected back in hers. It makes him tear up a bit.

He rubs his eyes with the back of his hand, response watery with unshed tears.

"Thank you, Cleo."

She nods, gives him a moment to compose himself. When he speaks again, his tone is a lot steadier.

"He's... Taller than me for sure. I couldn't give you an exact height but he can rest his head on mine when standing normally. His hair is almost dirty blonde but it's a little bit too light to be called dirty blonde. His eyes are brown, somewhere between hot chocolate and honey. He's also got the prettiest golden wings I've ever seen."

Tango smiles, a bit lovesick whole describing Jimmy. Cleo just nods, taking in the information.

"So they guy you're looking for is a tall, blonde avian with brown eyes and yellow wings?"

He nods. "He may or may not have his cats with him too. There's only two of them but I don't think he'd willingly leave them behind."

"Ok." They repeat the words a few more times, nodding to themself as they commit the description to memory.

"I'll ask any guys I find that fit that description if they know you."

He smiles. "Thanks Cleo."

She smiles back. "Anything for one of my Hermits."

She ruffles his hair, bringing out a giggle.

"You should get headed back to your cuddle pile now. Not sure how your buddies will survive without their personal space heater."

They smile at each other for a moment before Tango stands. He returns to his tent and wiggles back into his place at the bottom center of the pile as Cleo watches him go with a soft smile.

He's one of her Hermits now and she'll be damned if she lets the universe make him sad.

Chapter Text

Jimmy is so eternally grateful for Katherine's protection.

They spend a total of a day and a half to two days making their way to her camp. Jimmy likely would have become an infected in that time.

Despite that, he's gradually gained the ability to almost sense if they're nearby. Him and his cats are in tune, picking up on any nearby at the same time.

Likely something he always could, he was just oblivious to his surroundings.

Paranoia will do things to a person.

Regardless, he's learned that he almost senses the danger before seeing or hearing it. Some kind of sixth sense.

It's incredibly helpful.

Katherine has also taken to watching Norman and Flick so Jimmy can stretch and preen his wings.

It bothered him that she watched at first. Not anymore.

At the same time, he never fully preened his wings in front of Katherine.

When they make it to their destination, Jimmy is a bit underwhelmed.

It's an alleyway that's been blocked on each end with various bits of furniture cobbled and stacked together to form walls. The inside doesn't fare much better as the only shelter from rain is a piece of plywood that's been set up as a roof over maybe half the camp.

Other than that, there's designated sleeping areas and a space for a campfire.

When they arrive, there's a man who looks a bit similar to Joel but with a beard and a smile in his blue eyes, a scar over the right one, and a small child (who's maybe 8 or so) with blonde hair and purple eyes. He holds onto a little doll with blonde hair that's dressed up like a knockoff Woody from Toy story.

There's also a small dog. She sleeps behind the two on a mattress that's likely been dragged out of a nearby building.

The man looks up when Katherine and Jimmy enter, smiling kindly at the new arrival. The child is a bit more cautious, curling into the man's arms for protection and holding his doll close.

Katherine does the job of introducing them swiftly.

"Sausage, Hermes, this is Jimmy. Jimmy this is Sausage and Hermes."

"Nice to meet you Jimmy!"

Sausage sounds incredibly cheery and happy despite the situation he's clearly in. The child, Hermes, stays curled up in Sausage's arms.

Jimmy decides not to question the man's name. He can't say he's heard stranger, but he's heard some strange names. (He was called the CodFather in highschool when they went fishing on a school trip. He caught nothing but cod, and quite frequently too.)

"Make yourself at home Jimmy! I'm sure Norman and Flick would be happy to be let out for a while." Katherine says as she begins to put stuff away.

"Norman and Flick?"

"They're my cats."

Hermes perks up at that, firmly staying in Sausage's arms as Jimmy slides off the backpack to show the pair the cats.

He sets it on the ground, watching cautiously as Hermes leans forward. He takes the leashes in his hand and lets the cats out, sitting down on the concrete as he does so.

They explore cautiously, Flick venturing farther from Jimmy than Norman, who seems content to stay by his side.

Jimmy watches Hermes as Hermes watches the cats.

"Are they friendly?"

Sausage's question startles him slightly.

"Oh! Uh- yeah! They're both pretty calm. Flick might be a bit on edge with all the changes recently. I'm sure Norman would let you pet him though."

Katherine sits down on a box and begins to sharpen her blade as Hermes carefully ventures out of Sausage's arms. He reaches a tentative hand out to Flick, who is closest to him.

That cat seems cautious at first, sniffing his hand for a small bit.

"You can pet him if you want. He seems to like you."

Hermes looks up at Jimmy and then back down at the cat, scooting forward to sit right next to Flick. He reaches out and pets him heasitantly at first, hesitation going out the window when Flick stretches to push his back into Hermes's hand.

The child giggles has he happily pets Flick.

Norman gets jealous and climbs into Jimmy's lap, who immediately snuggles him back.

"Do... Do they have any toys?" Hermes asks heasitantly.

"Hm? Oh yeah." Jimmy pulls the bag closer, searching the pockets with one hand. "I have a laser pointer somewhere. The batteries are rechargeable too so if we get something with solar power it'll last a while."

He pulls out the toy, handing it over to Hermes who cautiously takes it.

Gently, Sausage walks Hermes through playing with the cats. Flick seems thoroughly interested, Norman less so.

Eventually, Jimmy hands off the leashes to Sausage so that the cats have more space to chase the laser.

He sits back, leaning against the wall. He closes his eyes, not quite looking to sleep but not having much else to do either.

He's startled out of it at a sudden yet familiar voice.

"WE'RE BAAAACK!!" Joel's voice booms. He's known the man long enough to know him by his footsteps alone.

"DAD!!" Hermes cheers, running up to give Joel a hug as Sausage chuckles. Jimmy just stares at him bewildered.

"WHEN DID YOU AND LIZZIE HAVE A KID?!"

Joel jumps, like actually jumps. He falls easily into an offensive stance until his eyes land on Jimmy.

"Jimmy! Good to see you're alright!"

Joel puts his son down (Jimmy still can't wrap his head around it) and makes his way over to Jimmy. He pulls the avian up into a bone crushing hug which he heasitantly returns.

Jimmy reiterates his question when Joel lets go.

"When did you and Lizzie have a kid?!"

"He's not Lizzie's. Sausage n' I found 'im and he decided we were his dads. She doesn't mind though, don't worry about it."

"Huh..."

Joel starts checking Jimmy for any injuries. He tries to be nonchalant about it but Jimmy knows he's concerned for his well-being.

And then Lizzie enters the camp. Her axolotl features have been suppressed significantly due to the whole apocalypse thing and also having very little space.

She lights up when her eyes land on Jimmy and she rushes over, checking him frantically for injuries.

"Good to see you too Lizzie." He chuckles and she smacks him upside the head before pulling him into a tight hug.

"Missed you stupid. Thought you died or something. I'll have you know I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"Yes ma'am."

He hugs her back as her shoulders begin to shake with silent sobs. He wraps his wings around her in an effort to hug her even more.

"Daddy, why's auntie Lizzie crying?"

Joel crouches down and pulls Hermes into his lap as Flick comes over, looking for attention.

"S' cause Lizzie's brother came back. She didn't know if he was safe so she was worried about him cause it's dangerous outside and he's really good at getting hurt."

Lizzie giggles at the comment and Jimmy shoots him a glare. Joel ignores it.

"So... He's auntie Lizzie's family?"

"Mhm. He's like you too n' Lizzie's parents took him in."

Hermes thinks about that for a moment.

"So... He's.. uncle? Jimmy?"

"Uhhhh... I suppose he would be yeh. I mean he's known me longer than I've known Lizzie and we were really close and still are and he's also technically my brother in-law so."

Sausage rolls his eyes.

"The answer is yes, Hermes. Jimmy's your uncle."

Once again, he takes a moment to think about it. Eventually, he decides that doesn't sound so bad and twists in Joel's lap to pet Flick.

"You brought your cats??"

"Well I wasn't going to leave them behind, Joel."

"Your wings are an absolute mess by the way. Want some help?"

"Not from you! You're a menace!"

Lizzie giggles, finally pulling out of the hug to study Jimmy's wings while wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I can help you with them Jimmy don't worry."

She gently leads Jimmy off to the side and under the piece of plywood. Joel sets Hermes on the ground and follows, knocking down a blanket meant for having a bit of privacy as he goes.

A camping light is turned on to light the space as Lizzie sits Jimmy down in front of her, Joel settles beside her.

"Can- can I help, Jim? I mean that seriously."

Jimmy's response to Joel's question is to drop a wing in his lap.

"Ga ahead Joel. Just- keep talking or something."

"Keep talking. Gotcha. I can do that."

Lizzie pulls one of Jimmy's wings into her lap, carding her fingers gently through the feathers.

"What's something you want me to talk about?"

"Why don't you talk about Hermes? I'm sure Jimmy'd be happy to hear about his nephew."

Jimmy hums his agreement, resting his head on the wall as his brain starts turning to mush from his flock taking care of his wings.

Don't blame him, that hits different compared to doing it alone.

"Ok. So-"

Joel launches into the story about how they found Hermes as he begins to preen Jimmy's other wing.

Of Jimmy makes various chirps as his brain turns to mush, it's drowned out by Joel's story.

He's lucky he had the forethought to ask Joel to cover up the sound as he would die of embarrassment if anyone outside his flock even heard about it.

Luckily, Joel knows it's only something he can tease about when no one else is within earshot.

So he continues on with his story, not stopping until Jimmy's wings have been preened.

After that, Jimmy's brain is so mushy and in bird mode, Joel ends up adjusting his position so that his back is against the wall and Jimmy leans on his chest. Lizzie snuggles up next to her brother and Joel wraps his arms around them both.

The couple chats idly as Jimmy continues to make small bird noises, eventually drifting off in the safety on his family.

Chapter Text

The Hermits increase in numbers over time.

The first new member that arrives is a man who is an old friend of Etho and Bdubs.

In Tango's opinion, the guy looks awesome. He's a massive creeper goat hybrid that's built like a tungsten wall. Half his face and his whole arm are made out of very high tech robotics.

He carries a small child in his arms. They look incredible similar to him.

The man is introduced as Doc, who then introduces his child as Doccy.

Doccy, despite being a bit cautious at first, is incredibly sweet.

They take a liking to Xisuma , Keralis, and Impulse.

And Tango finds Doc incredibly intriguing.

His eyes lock onto Doc whenever the gym enters his line of sight, analyzing the electronics woth his eyes. He doesn't always realize he's staring, though.

He doesn't even talk to the guy until Bdubs steps in.

He managed to catch Tango staring while him, Doc, and Etho were talking.

"TANGO STOP BEIN' A CREEP!"

Tango's hair puffs up like a cat's and he looks away sheepishly, listening as Bdubs tsks him.

"You'd think that he'd talk to the guy he's curious about but noooo. I have no idea how he managed to get a boyfriend."

"TANGO HAS A BOYFRIEND?!"

"That guy's curious about me?"

Doc and Etho ask at exactly the same time.

"Yes and yes. Boyfriend's really sweet. Real good guy he is mhm! Oh and also Tango's a huge nerd when it comes to technology so he probably wants to know how" Bdubs gestures to Doc's robotics. "Works."

Doc thinks about that for a moment.

"So... He isn't looking at me because I'm scary?"

"Course not! I've know Tango as long as I've known Impulse. He definitely wants to talk to you cause he thinks you're cool."

"If you wanna talk to him, I could ask him to help clear some more zombies from upstairs." Etho pitches in his thoughts in that moment.

"What about -"

"Doccy? They'll be fine they have X and Papa K watching them."

Doc sighs. "Fine. Go do your thing or whatever."

Bdubs also takes that as his sign to leave, heading over to wherever Impulse is.

Etho approaches Tango, resting a hand on his shoulder and startling the blaze out of his thoughts. He had a radio in his hands that gets fumbled to the ground when Etho approaches.

Etho chuckles. "Sorry, Tango."

"All good! Need something?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go clear some zombies with me and Doc."

"Oh! Yeah sure! Let me get my bat and we can go!"

Tango doesn't see the thumbs up Etho gives Doc.

When Tango finds them again, Doc has no visible weapon while Etho has the sword that Tango's gotten used to him carrying.

Tango chooses not to question the lack of a weapon. Doc looks like he could and would crush a zombie's head with his bare hands which is metal as hell.

The trio heads up the staircase to the third floor. Team BITZ has made their camp on the ground floor. The first and second floors are already clear of zombies and the third is about halfway clear.

Tango's jaw drops when Doc's arm turns into a chainsaw.

Arguably better than crushing skills with your bare fist.

"That is seriously awesome how does it work?"

"I can tell you about it later if you want. For now though, let's kill some zombies."

Tango and Etho nod their agreement. Etho draws his blade with a satisfying noise and Tango spins the handle of the bat around his hand.

He knows it's extra but it looks cool. He's just glad he didn't accidentally drop or throw the bat. That would have been embarrassing and/or dangerous.

They split off, checking rooms and doming any zombies they find. Any closed doors are kicked open as the Hermits all plan on living on the upper floors for safety reasons. They can afford to care less now.

They're double checking the floor after less than an hour to make sure they got everything. That way, X can come up and dispose of the corpses safely.

This is how Tango learns that Doc can see through walls.

The guy takes exactly one look around the floor from the hallway and is able to pinpoint where exactly the rest of the zombies on the floor are.

And much to Tango's delight, Doc goes into an explanation of how the technology works. They end up having a lovely conversation about it and how it can be proved, inevitably making plans to improve the technology.

The trio then proceeds to clear the next two floors within an hour or so.

Its laughably easy with Tango's hearing, Etho's skill with a sword, and Doc's ability to see through walls.

Tango literally watched Etho throw his sword at a wall, punch a hole through the drywall, and nail a zombie in the head on the other side.

Skill. Pure skill.

They're about a third of the way through the fifth floor when they agree to head back down. It was late when they started and it's even later now.

And also the group will be wondering where their human campfire is.

When they get back to the ground floor, Tango is immediately dragged away. With him, they can cook a can of food without needing to start a fire.

He's forced to lay down so a few cans, that have already been popped open, can be balanced on him. He carefully adjusts his body temperature to warm up the cans of food.

Doc, having been with he group for less than a day, finds this incredibly strange, only finding it reasonable once it's explained to him and Doccy.

After dinner, Doc let's Tango perform some maintenance on his arm to get an idea on how Doc's tech works. They continue discussing upgrades for Doc's eye.

Bdubs and Etho just watch from a distance as Doc and Tango discuss complicated machine stuff.

Eventually, everyone heads to bed. Doc and Doccy are shown to a room on the first floor and team BITZ crawl into their tent.

Bdubs falls asleep first, the rest of the group staying up to listen as Tango info dumps about his cool new friend.

Chapter Text

Jimmy was doing significantly better and he knew it.

He knew he was safe with Lizzie and Katherine around and he knew Joel, as much as he teases Jimmy, wouldn't let him get seriously injured either.

There was less food to go around but Norman and Flick could run around more, getting lots of attention from the group.

And he had his flock back. Sure, a few key people were missing like everyone else he considers part of his flock but he had Joel and Lizzie. That would have to be good enough for now.

It had to be.

And he wouldn't admit it but he was incredibly happy when they assured him they made sure to take his feathers with them when they left.

Currently though, they were on the move. A horde had been spotted near their camp, which wasn't the most secure, so they decided to pack up and move.

They'd picked up a few more strays along the way. A white haired woman named Shelby, a ginger named Fwhip looking for his sister, and a researcher called Pixlriffs.

Shelby and Pix were incredibly kind. Fwhip, on the other hand, immediately took to picking on Jimmy with Joel. Especially after Hermes said Jimmy looks like his sheriff toy.

New tease unlocked.

Of course, he doesn't actually mind it all that much. It doesn't hurt him and Joel, Fwhip, and Hermes get a laugh out of it.

And he might get a laugh or two out of Lizzie reprimanding her husband. Sue him, it's funny.

Regardless, they'd been walking for several days, picking up the scarce resources they can find along the way. Fortunately, Lizzie was more than happy to take the cats if they needed to continue moving quickly.

Wings plus backpack are not a combo that works well in high stress, we need to get moving NOW situations.

Like the most recent reason for leaving. Other people.

People in the apocalypse are very dangerous. You can't trust everyone and some people have resorted to murder as a survival tactic.

One such person thought it was a good idea to try and attack their group while they were split up.

Lizzie, Jimmy, Pix, and Hermes had locked themselves in a room while everyone else went out in search of supplies. Food, water, anything of use. Jimmy, Pix, and Hermes were dubbed the least likely to survive. Lizzie was there for their protection.

And their group had been left with most of the supplies they had stocked up. Granted it wasn't much but it was more that the others had on them.

And then someone had attempted to break into the room, breaking the door open with an axe.

Lizzie has scooped up the backpack and slung the straps around her shoulders and grabbed Jimmy's wrist as Pix scooped Hermes into his arms.

They got out through the other room's door, running through the building they were in frantically in search of the rest of their group.

The guy followed them, only leaving them alone once he saw how big their group truly was.

Regardless, the event sent Jimmy into a major fight, flight freeze. He would have frozen if it wasn't for Lizzie. Now his brain was in flight overdrive, causing him to feel like a caged animal in the concrete building. He didn't even realize he was making distressed chirps.

Lizzie tried to soothe him with no success. She had to resort to giving him quite a bit of space. Evidently, the only thing that calmed him, even slightly, was exiting the building and continuing on.

He didn't miss how Lizzie relaxed once Jimmy's feathers flattened and he fell into silence.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to let her pull him into a hug.

Just thinking about it made his anxiety rise. Hugs felt too suffocating at the moment.

Thinking back on what happened, Lizzie definitely could have taken the guy in a fight. Had he asked about it, she would have said she couldn't bear to take a human's life.

They both would know she would have if they had no where else to run.

Jimmy stays quiet, though, lost in his own thoughts and very on edge. He only speaks up once or twice to alert the ground to a nearby infected. Even then, it isn't words. He chirps and points, Lizzie understanding his meaning.

He only fully relaxes when they set up in an apartment for the night. It's a few floors up and the balcony is opened, with a bit of struggle, so that Jimmy doesn't feel like he's trapped.

He's incredibly grateful for that. It helps quite a bit.

He's sitting out on the balcony as Joel makes food on the gas stovetop. Everyone else was inside, enjoying having actual furniture to sit on despite the apartment being a bit small for the size of their group.

What happened earlier makes Jimmy wonder how the rest of his flock is doing. Grian, Pearl, and Martyn are all fine. He knows this for a fact. Grian is too stubborn to let anything kill him, Pearl is too deranged for anything to try, and Martyn just has great survival skills.

He finds himself reminiscing. Mostly their time in college, where they become part of his flock. Evolution College was the worst 3 years of his life. Yes, he'd become better friends with Grian, Pearl, and Martyn there after he'd met them in their junior year of highschool.

But it was worse than the apocalypse. His home life at the time didn't help at all and neither did the school's strict rules or the professors or "Watchers" that kept track of your every move.

Martyn, Pearl, and especially Grian would be fine. They've been through hell before, they can survive it again.

Jimmy just hopes the same is true for him.

He just hopes he, at least, survives long enough to introduce Tango to the rest of his flock and officially add him to it.

There's no doubt in Jimmy's mind that Tango will survive. He's strong and reliable and smart and has his friends who are also really strong and reliable and smart.

He sighs knowing just how lucky he was that Katherine found him.

Lizzie's footsteps sound behind him and he can see her leaning on the balcony edge out of the corner of his eye.

"You ok Jimmy? I know that was a lot."

He inhales, thinking for a moment about how to respond. "I'll be ok. Everything's a lot right now and it's got me thinking back to Evo."

He doesn't have to see his sister to know she turned to look at him, a sympathetic look on her face.

"What about Evo?"

"How its worse than what's going on right now. How Grian n' Pearl n' Martyn will be fine. They're all crazy enough to survive in the apocalypse."

She hums her agreement as she sits down next to him.

"Anything else on your mind?"

"Tango's probably fine too. I know how he is and I know how his friends are. Nothing's going to stop them as long as they have each other."

His wings tense and then relax as he messes with his pants. He doesn't make eye contact with Lizzie. Her presence is comforting, though.

She reaches over and starts to put some braids in his hair.

"You must miss him, huh? I remember when you asked him out. You were so happy that the "cute guy from the convention" liked you back. I'm glad he makes you happy, Jim."

He inhales deeply. Lizzie continues talking when he doesn't respond.

"I haven't met him but I know he's a good guy. We'll find him Jimmy. I promise. We'll find Martyn and Pearl and Grian too."

He stays silent, letting Lizzie put little braids in his short hair. He contemplates reaching over to do hers when Joel steps onto the balcony, a pair of steaming bowls of canned chicken soup in his hands.

He hands one to Lizzie and one to Jimmy.

"Where'd you find the bowls, babe?"

She scoops up some of her meal, blowing on it lightly to cool it down before sticking her spoon him her mouth. Jimmy just pokes at his.

"In the cupboards. They were clean so we decided to treat ourselves. Lucky there was enough to go around."

Lizzie hums, eating another spoonful of soup.

"Where's your bowl?"

"Katherine and Pix are dishing them out. Hermes is helping em. I grabbed the first two I could get my hands on for you both."

"Awww! That's sweet. Thanks Joel."

"No problem babe."

He leans down to give her a kiss. Jimmy wants to give Tango a kiss.

"DAD! I HAVE FOOD!"

Hermes runs over, proudly presenting a bowl of soup.

"WHOA!! Look at that! Why don't you go eat it Hermes?"

He shakes his head no. "For you! You came out here with only two bowls and I watched you give them to auntie Lizzie and uncle Jimmy. You need food to Dad!"

He holds out the bowl as Joel puts a hand to his chest. Lizzie awws as Joel takes the bowl, ruffling his son's hair.

"Thanks kiddo. You go get some food now too, ok?"

Hermes nods and runs back inside, presumably to also get a bowl of soup. Joel chuckles and takes a seat next to Lizzie.

"How are you both doing?"

Lizzie stays silent, just continuing to eat her soup. They all know who the question was really directed at.

"I'll be fine. I've been through worse."

They're silent for a moment. Katherine squeals excitedly from inside. Norman or Flick must have done something cute.

"How's Norman and Flick? Did they get fed?"

"You got their food on you, Jim."

Joel points his spoon at Jimmy's messenger bag.

"Oh... Right."

He sighs, tapping his spoon against his bowl as he stares off into the distance. He's broken out of his thoughts when Joel reaches over to nudge him in the shoulder.

"Quit moping and eat your soup before it goes cold. I'm not going to let you waste perfectly warm chicken soup."

"Right..."

He eats a spoonful of the soup. It's still warm and absolutely delicious. Lizzie chuckles lightly when he eats faster.

The trio eat their meal in relative silence.

Once Joel and Lizzie are done, they position themselves behind Jimmy to preen his wings, almost making him fall asleep into his bowl on the process.

He doesn't mind it, though. It's a bit of normalcy that shuts his brain down for a while. He has to be reminded to finish his food a few times.

He leans into Lizzie once they're done, falling asleep in her arms as Joel heads back inside to play with his son.

Jimmy's dreams are empty, devoid of anything but the dark as he walks through the endless void. After what feels like hours of wandering aimlessly, he spots what looks like fire in the distance.

He runs twords it, finding its Tango. He tries to grab on and hold him tight, missing as they're dragged away from each other by some unknown force.

He screams, reaching desperately as he calls for Tango. No sound is heard.

Tango cries, screaming and fighting just as hard as Jimmy while being unable to reach him.

Tango's pulled out of his view as Jimmy is dragged down and into the ground, where everything goes black.

Chapter Text

The next time a group of new people showed up, Tango wasn't around to meet them.

Xisuma needed a device to help him breathe properly. It'd been implemented in his helmet but it'd started working less than optimally.

X kept insisting he was fine but everyone knew it was a lie. It got to the point where he couldn't do anything anymore. He couldn't go anywhere, resorting to staying in his room on the first floor because he couldn't even make it to the stairs anymore, let alone use them.

It was a problem they were determined to solve.

And so they split up into a few groups. Cleo, Tango, Doc, and Etho would head out to a nearby hospital in search of anything they can use to fix his helmet. Keralis and Doccy would watch X and keep him company and Bdubs and Joe would stay in the lobby to greet anyone who comes by while Impulse and Zed continue clearing zombies from the upper floors.

The trek to the hospital was a bit long.

The building was several blocks away and there were increasing numbers of zombies the closer they got. Of course they were fine because Cleo and Doc but still.

They'd brought team BITZ backpacks with them too so they could carry anything of use they found.

Tango grips the straps of his backpack tightly as he stares up at the hospital building. He'd come here a few times in the past due to various injuries caused by his machines or him.

At one point during college, he brought Impulse and Zed in so many times with burn injuries the nurses knew them by name.

That was a stressful time.

He looks back up the hospital now, heasitant to enter. Hospitals are incredibly dangerous as they were the first to fall due to how many zombies were being held in them in an attempt to cure them.

You can't cure death.

He's the last one to step through the broken sliding glass doors.

They'd agreed to stay together. It's safer that way. Tango tightens his grip on his bat as Cleo and Etho turn on their flashlights. They're the hand crank ones that belong to Zed and Bdubs, being used because Cleo and Etho can't see nearly as well in the dark as Tango and Doc.

Doc closes his organic eye, scanning the space with his robotic one.

"This floor's mostly clear. There's a few zombies here and there but it's nothing we can't handle."

"Most of the zombies must've wandered out the doors."

Doc hums, agreeing with Etho's comment. "Well wherever the zombies are now doesn't matter. What does matter is finding what we need to help X."

The group all mumble their agreement and they start searching. Doc and Etho take up the front as Tango and Cleo fall slightly behind to talk in hushed tones.

"Do you think the guy you're looking for could be here?"

He snorts. "He's a little dumb but he's not that dumb. He'd see how many zombies there are and turn and walk in the other direction."

"Smart. And also currently smarter than us."

Tango stifles a giggle as he turns back to Etho and Doc, jogging to catch up with them.

He aids them in their search, checking various rooms and closets. They take any medicine and disinfecting supplies they can find as well as materials to sew a wound shut of needed.

They don't find anything they need though, just things that'll be useful to have Incase something happens.

And something does happen. Quite quickly.

Tango had opened a door on the second floor to check what was inside. What he found was an immediately angry zombie.

It slashed at him, slicing a nice injury into his arm as he blocked it before taking it's head off with his bat.

He's shaking, breathing heavily at the near-death experience.

He freaks out a little bit when Etho grabs his shoulder, eyes immediately going to the large amount of blood on his arm before widening.

He grabs Tango's uninjured arm and gently leads him over to Doc and Cleo, who immediately turn at the metallic smell of blood.

"Doc! Tango got hurt."

"I can see that. What happened?"

He takes Tango's injured arm, examining it as best he can which isn't very well due to how the injury is bleeding profusely.

"I- I opened a door and a zombie slashed my arm."

"Did you get bit?"

"No. I killed it before it had the chance."

Doc hums. He holds his hand out and Etho passes over a bottle of water.

"Cleo can you make sure we're safe."

It's not a question. She nods anyway, leaving Tango's line of sight go go keep any nearby zombies away.

Tango flinches, inhaling sharply when the water hits his skin. His vision goes slightly white with pain as the water causes his blood to literally boil. He has to deal with it, though, as it allows Doc to see the extent of the injury.

Three long scratches, the top one joining the middle one.

The hand on his good arm finds Etho's, squeezing tightly at the pain. He's glad Etho doesn't make any moves to get him off.

Doc hums. "I need hydrogen peroxide and I need you to disinfect a needle and some thread. He needs stitches."

Etho nods, handing Doc a bottle of hydrogen peroxide before disinfecting a needle and thread surprisingly well considering Tango is restricting his movement.

And then Doc pours the hydrogen peroxide on his injury.

Tango hisses, digging his claws into Etho's arm as his body increases in temperature as a fight or flight response.

At least he didn't create any sparks. Fire and creepers don't really mix well.

"You're fine. It won't kill you."

Doc holds out his hand. Etho pours a bit of disinfectant on his hand before giving him the needle.

"Try not to melt this while I'm working."

Tango nods, looking away as Doc starts sewing his arm closed. He holds Etho's arm tight, not realizing his claws drew blood as tears well up in the corners of his eyes.

Etho just pats his hand sympathetically.

Doc's finishing the stitches when Cleo comes back. She looks over his shoulder to see his work, whistling lowly at whatever they see.

"It looks worse that it is. He'll be fine. It wasn't a bite and we took care of it quickly so he won't suffer from blood loss."

They hum as Doc wipes the wound down with a clean towel before bandaging it.

"You're so lucky we found the stuff we did. Try not to get hurt again."

Tango nods. His arm still hurts a ton. He let's go of Etho, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

Etho rubs his arm, checking the damage.

"How bad is it Etho?"

"Eh. S' like a cat just stuck it's claws in me. It'll scab over soon."

Doc nods, putting the medical supplies back into the bag. He seems indifferent, if a little angry about the whole situation due to needing to use some of their new supplies so soon.

He stays close to Tango, though, and he can see Doc checking his vitals every so often out of the corner of his eye.

Tango's a lot more careful too.

They move up to the fourth floor where they find the breathing apparatuses they need as well as the filters used in X's helmet in a supply closet.

They also find a doctor.

He's holed up in one of the patient rooms. His hair is short and black and he wears a white lab coat over his grey turtleneck sweater.

He's startled when they enter the room. Doc puts an arm out to protect Tango from a potential threat as the guy scans them, eyes eventually landing on Tango's arm.

"You're hurt. May I take a look?"

Doc doesn't seem to trust the guy but he seems to be a doctor.

Tango steps under Doc's arm and approaches cautiously. "Uhh... Sure?"

The man pushes up his square, half-moon glasses before gently taking Tango's arm. He unwraps the bandages on his forearm, clocking his tounge at what he sees.

"You're lucky whoever stitched you up did it well. As long as you don't over exert this arm they should stay put. It seems a bit irritated though. You're a blaze, correct?"

"... Yes?"

"My name's Cub. I was a doctor here."

Cub let's go of Tango's arm to go search the stockpile of medicines he has on the corner. He sifts through them for a moment before pulling out some kind of ointment. He opens the container before gently spreading it on the wound.

"That should cool it down and bring down the pain some. When this stuff has run it's course it won't hurt nearly as much as before."

"Huh... Thanks."

"No problem. It is... Well it was my job to help people."

Cub smiles at Tango before rewrapping his arm.

Cleo steps forward, waving slightly to get his attention.

"Lovely to meet you, Cub. I'm Cleo. This is Tango, Doc, and Etho. We have a camp that could really use someone with more medical knowledge than Doc."

Cub nods, thinking for a moment. "So... You're asking me to come with you?"

"Precisely."

Doc scowls a bit. Etho smacks him lightly in the arm and he relaxes.

"Why not! There's nothing left for me here anyway. Feel free to take any medicine you want from my little stockpile."

"Thank you kindly." Cleo smiles, going over to the pile of medicines before opening her bag and shoving everything inside as Doc checks Cub over for any bites.

They go home after that. They shouldn't hang around longer than nessesarry, lest someone gets bit.

Once they get back to the apartments, there's a bunch of new people in the lobby with Joe and Bdubs.

A blonde avian in a striped shirt and aviator jacket named False, a blue slime named Jevin, a shorter brunette in a pink sweater named Stress, and a guy with a beard and a bloodstained apron named Beef.

Doc and Etho hug Beef as soon as they see him.

Cleo and Tango introduce everyone to Cub, hanging around for a short amount of time before dragging Cub, Etho, and Doc away to fix Xisuma's helmet.

Doc and Etho do most of the work, not wanting Tango to mess up his arm more.

He's fine with it as that means he's allowed to mess with the other oxygen things to figure out how to get it so X doesn't have to sleep with the mask.

And he comes to the conclusion that the building needs power.

A task for another day.

Impulse and Zed have returned downstairs when he makes it back to their tent. They're socializing, excusing themselves to go check on Tango, freaking out at his arm.

"TANGO WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"Zombie surprised me. Scratched my arm up good so Doc gave me stitches. I'll be fine though I'm not bit."

Zed breathes a sigh of relief as Impulse continues to dote on him.

He has a nightmare that night. It's a new one but arguably worse. Jimmy had been in the same.e position he had back in the hospital, but instead of one zombie it was three.

He'd been forced to watch, unable to wake up, as his partner was torn apart by the endlessly hungry undead.

He wakes up, finding Impulse already awake.

He sobs into his friends arms, wishing with every fiber of his being that he was Jimmy.

Chapter Text

Did Jimmy mention that people were dangerous?

Because people were the number one threat in the apocalypse.

Large groups of people chased Jimmy and his group out of multiple places.

Of course, they also picked up more people along the way. A man named Joey who seemed really fruity even though he kept flirting with Katherine, and Scott.

He was actually really happy to find Scott. They hadn't seen each other in a few years, going off and doing their own things in life after graduating Highschool. That and also Jimmy wasn't aloud to see very many people during college.

It's safe to say he nearly cried when he saw Scott.

A familiar face will always be welcome, even if that familiar face almost removes Jimmy's head with an axe because he was startled.

Two new friends aquired.

Even if Shubble and Joey butt heads immediately.

It felt like a logical next step was to find somewhere to make a permanent camp.

Unfortunately, as stated above, people are the number one threat and therefore the worst.

Everywhere was unsafe.

And Jimmy and Hermes learned that first hand.

What happened was honestly a bit stupid. They'd gotten separated from the rest of the group somehow.

Luckily for Hermes, Jimmy saw him as family by this point and refused to let any harm come to him.

So that's where they were. Jimmy was carrying Hermes. They were lost, the rest of his flock was God knows where, and his cats were with Katherine.

Did I mention Jimmy didn't have a weapon on him?

When people approached him offering to help him find the rest of his flock, it was hard to say no. He was lost, obviously in danger, and had Hermes with him. Anything to find his family.

They had locked them in a room.

According to what Jimmy could hear, they wanted to hold him and Hermes for ransom.

They were held there for three days.

Three days locked in a small room doesn't do good for an avian's mental health.

It's common knowledge that small spaces are bad long term. You have to go outside often or live inside bigger, more spacious buildings.

Couple that with a very high stress situation and you have a very very dangerous person.

An avian is one of the very few people you ever want to corner because they will do ANYTHING to escape. These people didn't seem to know that.

They weren't very smart.

And Lizzie was going to be PISSED.

Jimmy was a few seconds from attempting to punch a hole into the glass of the window when someone came into the room. He snickered, approaching Jimmy as a buddy of his stood guard in the doorway.

"Hey there pretty bird. You wouldn't mind giving us a few feathers, right? Well give you some food for it. They're so pretty and you have so many, surely you won't miss a few."

Jimmy is ashamed to say he considered the deal. They'd been stuck there for days without any food. While giving up your feathers was a personal thing, reserved only for family members and romantic partners, he was willing to do pretty much anything to make sure Hermes was safe.

Unfortunately, Hermes understood the significance of giving up your feathers. He knew it was something that couldn't be asked or forced.

So he stood between Jimmy and the man, arms raised protectively and a determined pout on his face.

"You can't touch him."

The man scowled, kicking Hermes hard in the gut. "Get outta the way ya damn brat. This has nothing to do with you."

Jimmy saw red when Hermes was kicked to the side.

He saw red and the fraying rope that was his patience and sanity snapped.

He kept at the man, the fury of a thousand suns behind every movement. He couldn't even fight back as Jimmy clawed at him, ripping at any flesh he could find and disfiguring the man into a bloody mess.

His friend lept to his aid only to have Jimmy's fury turned into him as well, subjecting him to a similar fate.

Jimmy fought brutally and tirelessly as more and more people came to aid their comrades. At some point, he'd stolen one of their weapons. He didn't even know what it was, just that it hurt someone when it connected.

That's how him and Hermes are found.

Jimmy, standing in the middle of the room, bloodied with weapon in hand as he pants heavily, having painted the room itself with blood as several bodies sit at his feet.

Hermes, hiding behind a box, fear in his eyes as he stares at the scene before him.

Jimmy's eyes come back into focus as the red fades from his vision yet stays at the same time, horror flooding in as he realizes what he just did.

Lizzie runs up, hurriedly checking him for injuries.

"It's not mine." he chokes out as tears well up in his eyes.

Lizzie stares at him for a moment before her eyes widen in realization. He sobs, arms staying firmly at his sides as Lizzie pulls him into a hug.

Sausage is quick to scoop Hermes into a hug as well upon seeing that Lizzie has whatever is going on with Jimmy somewhat under control.

Once he's done sobbing into Lizzie's shoulder, it's safe to say he isn't mentally present for a while.

He can vaguely remember Lizzie gently leading him away to a safer place where he's coaxed into a stolen change of clean clothes after having the blood gently toweled off him.

He can vaguely remember sitting in some kind of chair with Norman in is lap with Flick rubbing against his leg. He knows he had a hand resting on Norman's back.

He vaguely remembers being thrown over Joel's shoulder as they made a hasty escape.

He vaguely remembers Hermes holding his hand, babbling on about something as he led Jimmy somewhere.

What he does remember are the nightmares.

They happen sporadically. Due to his fragile mental state, he doesn't have to be sleeping for them to occur.

The nightmares are just like that first one. Jimmy walks through the darkness until his feet hurt. He sees a light he knows is Tango, running meet him before being dragged away by some unknown and unseen force.

The only plus is they get closer each time the dream happens.

He doesn't know how many times he's had the dream before their fingertips brush. It feels so real and warm in the cold darkness of the world around them.

It's ripped away all too soon.

Tango screams silently. Rage, anger, longing, sadness burning in his eyes.

Jimmy wakes with a start, sitting up quickly.

He clutches his own hands to his chest shakily, wanting to chase the warmth he got from Tango's brief touch.

It doesn't work. Jimmy brings his legs up to his chest and sobs.

The sound is enough to wake up Joel, who'd been sleeping immediately nearby. He blinks his eyes open, turning his head to find Jimmy awake.

"Jimmy?" He sounds unsure, heasitant. Whispering out of uncertainty rather than an unwillingness to wake up anyone else around them.

He continues speaking when Jimmy looks at him, taking it as him being truly present in this moment.

"Are you ok? What happened?"

"I- I saw-" he hiccups as the tears continue to fall uncontrollably.

"It's ok take your time."

Jimmy inhales shakily. Joel lets him breathe for a few moments, resting a firm hand on his back right between his wings. The pressure is incredibly grounding.

"I- I saw him and- and I touched him and it was- it was just his fingertips but- but it was warm and then- then he was ripped away and... and-"

Joel shushes him. He pulls Jimmy into a hug, no words having to be spoken. Jimmy just leans into his touch. He doesn't hug back, only sobbing into Joel's shoulder as Joel rubs comforting circles into his back.

"Was it Tango? That you saw in your dream?"

Jimmy nods.

"Did... Did you have similar dreams recently?"

He nods. Joel tightens his hold on Jimmy. Absentmindedly, he runs his fingers through Jimmy's wings as he stares off into space. The action is incredibly grounding and soothing. He turns so that his head is simply resting on Joel's shoulder.

He misses when Sausage wakes up, blinking blearily at the scene in front of him.

Jimmy vaguely registers the sounds of blankets shifting as Sausage moves to sit behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Is he ok?"

"Not really. I've got it handled though. It's not the first time I've dealt with something like this."

"That's... Mildly concerning but reassuring?"

Joel snorts, pausing in his movements. "If only you knew Mythical J. If only you knew."

There's a moment of silence.

"Is... Is he like, here awake."

"Yeah. He responded n' stuff. Right Jim?"

"... What?"

Joel resumes running his fingers through Jimmy's feathers. "Don't worry about it. You can go back to sleep if you want."

He hums, shifting to bury his face into Joel's shoulder once more instead of resting his head there.

The movement causes Sausage to remove his hand.

He hears Sausage move, feeling Joel shift as Sausage leans against his side. They talk quietly.

Jimmy falls asleep to the sound, drifting off in Joel's arms.

Chapter Text

With so many people around, it didn't take very long to finish clearing out the apartment building.

Everyone gradually moved into apartments on the upper floors.

Impulse and Bdubs took their own apartment with Zed taking the apartment right next to theirs on the top floor.

Cleo, Joe, and Etho all also loved somewhere on the top floor.

Doc and Doccy picked out an apartment on the floor below that was already set up for a child. Other people living on that floor included Beef, False, and Stress.

The floor directly below housed everyone else.

Tango chose an apartment at the end of the hallway on the top floor. The apartment had a balcony and was pretty spacious and overall pretty clean.

If he started setting up the apartment with the intention of having Jimmy live there too, none of his friends mentioned it.

No one questioned his decision to drag another bed in to facilitate for Jimmy's wings or another dresser so that Jimmy can keep his things.

No one questioned the cat bowls he had sitting in the kitchen or the new cat tree that sat leaning against a blank wall.

Tango still spent most nights in Zed's apartment.

Interesting people started to show up though and their little camp continued to grow in size.

A small group of four were the next to wander in. Iskall, XB, Hypno, and Wels. All of them took apartments on the ninth floor with the acception of Wels, who took an apartment on the eighth.

Wels was an interesting character. He decided it was reasonable to wear a full suit of metal plate mail in the zombie apocalypse.

Despite being in a safe place, Tango's never seen him without the armor. He's definitely a strange one, but no less kind.

The next interesting group to arrive was a duo by the names of Ren and Martyn. They showed up in an armored vehicle, admitting to having stolen it from a military base.

It was one of the ones that had benches in the back for around six people to ride on. The space was also accompanied with a few storage units that were supposed to contain various weapons. Now, they just contained gallons of fuel, likely stolen from wherever it could be found.

And it's a miracle the vehicle still functioned with how Ren and Martyn bragged about how they plowed through hordes of zombies.

Ren showed an interest in staying, taking an apartment right next to Doc and Doccy.

Martyn, on the other hand, stayed around for a bit of food and shelter before leaving on foot.

They ended up clearing the parking garage across the street in order to keep the vehicle in a good condition, only taking it out for safety on supply runs.

Someone was always gone on a supply run due to how many people were in the camp now.

The next interesting group of people were a trio. A very chaotic trio.

Scar, who had miraculously survived this far due to needing a breathing aid and a cane. Mumbo, who had an impeccable mustache and wore a suit for some reason.

And Grian.

Tango remembers hearing the name from Jimmy. He doesn't ask Grian about his missing partner, afraid to accidentally make things weird.

Grian, Scar, and Mumbo were an interesting group. Grian and Scar had too much energy and Mumbo was constantly confused.

He respected Mumbo's penchant for machines.

Grian and Scar were also incredibly ambitious. Less than two days after they'd arrived, Grian proposed building large concrete walls for protection.

Scar supported this by bringing up a near-ish construction site and hardware store.

It doesn't take very long for them to get everyone in on it. Giant concrete walls are an excellent way to keep zombies out and make the area safer.

Safety is a major priority for multiple reasons. One of those reasons is Doccy.

Of course, Tango and the other redstoners jump at the opportunity to work on designing a system for opening and closing the giant gates the walls will have. There will be a gate on either side due to where they are in the street.

Grian, Mumbo, and Scar moved into an apartment on the tenth floor.

A kind woman with long orange hair entered the group while the walls were in the process of being built.

She wore a cottage core outfit, long green skirt embroidered with sunflowers, top flowy and white and accompanied by a vest-like corset. There was a small pouch around her waist, of which she pulled out multiple bags of seeds.

She'd introduced herself as Gem. A group was immediately delegated to help her build a greenhouse to plant the seeds.

Allegedly, she knew where a bunch of chickens were too.

Gem single-handedly solved their food problem.

She moved in on the ninth floor.

The next person to arrive was Pearl.

It was after the walls had been put up and all the mechanisms were put in place. Gem's seeds had been planted and a group had gone off with her in the car to retrieve the chickens. Another group had been tasked with making the chickens a home in a large hole in the asphalt courtesy of Doc and Zed.

Tango, Doc, Etho, and Mumbo were gone at the time. They'd been working on getting plumbing and electric into the apartment building.

It was both for quality of life and for the sake of Scar and Xisuma, both of whom could benefit from a machine used to help with sleep apnea or some other oxygen device that requires electrical power. Both kinds of things are in a room that's been designated for storage of extra items.

Pearl had arrived with her army of wolves, getting along swimmingly with Impulse and Gem as well as reuniting with Grian.

She didn't hang around very long. She was dubbed a floater, coming and going as she pleased. Tango got the feeling she was looking for someone.

Whenever Pearl stayed with the Hermits, she stayed on the ground floor of the apartment building with her wolves. She didn't really have a permanent residence in the building.

They were just about to get electricity to the building via solar panels on the roof when Gem and False joined Pearl in drifting from place to place.

Electricity and plumbing were in place. Most things plugged in functioned.

They'd even managed to get the elevator to work.

Once Ren, Doc, and Cleo managed to aquire a second armored vehicle, albeit a smaller one that could transport less people, Tango had an idea.

They had electricity and his apartment has a smart TV. Why not go and get his game systems?

Zed and Impulse went with him in the second car to go get them.

They'd been connected to his TV upon returning to the apartment building.

He'd held a game night that night.

And for the first time, his apartment didn't feel empty.

Chapter Text

After a long while of aimless wandering in search of a safe place, they finally found somewhere that would work.

It was an abandoned plaza with a fountain in the middle. Due to the buildings surrounding it, it was an easily defendable space. There was no people around either, making it much safer in that regard as well.

They made camp in the center of the plaza.

Jimmy was tasked with setting up something to keep out the elements.

So, he cleared out the fountain, gathered a bunch of tent-like materials, and made a large tent around the fountain.

It stretched away from the fountain quite a bit due to the number of people in the group, but he fountain itself was turned into a kind of makeshift nest with various mattresses and such laid out around it for everyone else.

It took him a few days to make it, but it worked and he was incredibly proud.

Everyone else seemed to enjoy the more permanent place too as it was clear that group morale increased once the tent was up.

Things were finally calming down.

Of course, things like food and zombies were still a concern. But things felt like they were calming down.

They weren't in immediate danger every second of every day.

It got to the point where Jimmy felt comfortable letting Norman and Flick out of the backpack almost permanently, a large, heavy object being put next to the tent for their leashes to be tied to.

He still didn't trust them to not run away.

The zombies weren't that much of an issue either.

Any that came into the clearing where immediately killed by one of the stronger people.

Jimmy no longer flinched when the zombies died or looked away when an axe or other long and sharp or blunt object buried itself into a zombie's head.

He doesn't know when he stopped seeing them as human.

Regardless, the plaza was easily defendable. There were only so many ways a person could get inside, yet there were also many ways to escape should it be needed.

It was almost blissful.

Of course, everyone who was able to use a weapon was constantly out trying to find food while everyone else stayed behind, but things were going good.

They'd even managed to find a few toys for Norman and Flick from one of the nearby stores.

So that's where Jimmy was currently.

Laid out on the concrete, wings spread out beside him as he absorbed the sun and watched his cats play. Occasionally, he'd bat back a toy that landed out of the cat's reach due to their leashes.

He'd been left in the camp with Pix, Joey, and Hermes. They'd been deemed unable to properly wield a weapon, the only acception being Joey and only to an extent.

Jimmy was expecting a slow day due to how Lizzie, Joel, and Katherine had wiped out and zombies that could even think of entering the plaza.

Instead, he got an impending sense of danger.

And it was strangely familiar.
There was only one person who exuded that. A singular person who he learned to know was coming, before he even saw her.

Jimmy took to the skies quickly, startling Pix and the cats. He was a bit wobbly at first due to not having flown in a while, but he quickly steadied himself.

And then he saw it.

A large, moving, white and grey mass that had three people inside it, with the center most person wearing a bright red hoodie.

Immediately he changed direction, moving to swoop in and land behind what he can now see is a pack of wolves.

He lands clumsily, his presence immediately noticed by several of the wolves.

"PEARL!!"

The three women all turn in surprise.

The one on the left has long, orange hair that's braided nicely. She's dressed like a fairy or an elf that you'd see at a Renaissance Fair. The other is an avian like himself. She has blonde hair, an aviator jacket, and large, brown wings.

They both look incredibly kind.

But his focus is on the woman in the middle. Her hood is up, brown hair spilling out the front. She has a pair of sickles sheathed at her sides.

And she absolutely beams when her eyes meet Jimmy's.

She runs forward, wrapping him in a tight hug that he gratefully returns.

"JIMMY! Oh gosh you're ok!"

The wolves sniff Jimmy curiously. One of them goes to stick it's nose on one of Jimmy's wings, to which it's immediately pushed away by Pearl.

"No! Keep your nose outta there!"

He can't help but giggle.

"So, who are your friends?"

"Oh! This and Gem and False."

"Hello!"

"Heyo! This is the guy you've been looking for, Pearl?"

"Mhm! Where have you been Jim?"

"Oh, you know. Getting traumatized. Found Lizzie and Joel though!"

"I was about to ask where your cats were. Are they around?"

"No. They're out looking for food cause we got a decently sized group. I can show you where we're camped though!"

"Lead the way."

And so he does. He leads Pearl and friends right into the plaza.

Pix and Joey are suspicious at first while Hermes is a bit afraid of the wolves.

Everyone relaxes, though, when Jimmy mentions that Pearl is part of his flock and therefore a trustworthy person.

Hermes seems content to play with the wolves while Gem and False get to know Joey and Pix as Jimmy drags Pearl into the nest, the wolf with the yellow collar following.

Pearl sheds her hoodie, wrapping it around her waist to let her moth-like wings free for a while.

She's sat down shortly after, preening Jimmy's wings as he catches her up on everything that's happened. Tilly, as he learns the wolf is called, rests her head in Jimmy's lap. He ends up giving her many pets.

The rest of the group is incredibly confused to find three new people and an entire pack of wolves in their camp. Joel, Lizzie, and Scott all greet Pearl while Fwhip and Gem hug each other tightly.

Apparently they're siblings.

Jimmy can see it, but he also can't see it.

Regardless, Jimmy is quite content to have a little over half of his flock with him. He'd learned through Pearl that Martyn has chosen the nomadic life and that Grian is also doing well.

She'd never met Tango, so he doesn't ask her about him.

But from what he knows, his flock is ok.

Pearl, Gem, and False continue to come and go after their initial interaction. Their visits are sporadic and weirdly spaced but they bring food with them every time.

It's clear it was fresh, the canning having been done by someone they know to keep the vegetables and chicken from going bad.

Its just before one such visit when tragedy strikes.

A horde of zombies makes it into the plaza.

It's enough to make the group flee quickly. Katherine grabs her axe, Hermes grabs his toy, and Joel grabs his son, and Lizzie grabs the cats.

The horde moves surprisingly quickly after them.

They split up for a small moment, everyone making a panicked dash through the nearest exit, reconvening outside.

Pearl and her group spot them from where they'd been approaching. They quickly rush in to help.

Jimmy is incredibly grateful for the pressure that is Pearl's hand gripping his wrist. It's grounding enough for him to barely refrain from going into an instinctual panic response.

If he flew away, he'd be running away from the people keeping him alive. If he lost them, he'd probably die.

Pearl leads the way as they make a mad dash somewhere. Her wolves surround them like a protective barrier, biting and snarling at any zombies that come too close.

They aren't enough to defeat the whole horde, though, so they run.

The adrenaline is what keeps Jimmy running.

The need to see Tango again is what keeps Jimmy running.

The instinctual need to continue living, keeps Jimmy running.

Despite the height he has on her, Pearl is faster. Later, he'll be grateful she kept pace with him.

In the distance, large concrete walls loom. Pearl speeds up, dragging Jimmy stumbling with her.

She lets go of Jimmy's hand to pick up a mallet. She spins it expertly in her hands before swinging it at a large, bronze bell that's attached to the wall.

The sound is incredibly loud. It rings throughout Jimmy's entire body and all the nearby wolves cover their ears with their paws as Pearl hits the bell repeatedly.

Gem and False don't seem surprised by this, only covering their ears as they watch the group's back.

They'd put some distance between the horde and themselves, but it wasn't nearly enough.

They had to keep going.

Jimmy was about to mention this when the wall opened up like a door. Pearl quickly ushers everyone inside, whistling loudly to call for her wolves.

They all come running, the last one making it through the concrete gate just before it closes.

A large creeper hybrid with cybernetic parts shakes his head dissapointedly at Pearl while she just smiles at him. He stands beside a mechanism that's attached to the wall and doors, likely being the thing that allows them to open and close.

Jimmy ignores everyone else who'd come to gawk at the newcomers, instead doubling over with his hand on his knees as he struggles to catch his breath.

Upon looking up, he sees a pair of shocked and familiar faces staring at him.

"Impulse? Bdubs?"

Chapter Text

Tango had spent his day doing arbitrary tasks.

Solar-panel maintenance, helping with the garden, assisting in the gathering of supplies for False, Gem, and Pearl, etc.

Now though, he was listening to Grian, tail flicking occasionally as he worked on one of the cars. It'd been slightly damaged in its last outing and Tango was tasked with fixing it with the help of Impulse and Bdubs.

Grian was sitting on the roof of the car, ranting about something or another while one of his parrots sat on his knee and the other perched on his shoulder.

The birds had been rescued from a nearby pet shop. They were found in a sorry state, being nursed back to health by Grian. Now, they reside in Grian's shared apartment.

Tango doesn't know how Jellie hasn't attempted to eat them yet.

But at the same time, Jellie is a very sweet and lazy cat.

Regardless, he's listening to Grian. Grian's chaos is incredibly fun to watch when you aren't on the other end of it.

It's less than two hours when the doorbell rings out excessively.

Pearl's back... For some reason.

Tango keeps working on his repairs while listening to Grian. Whatever Pearl is back for isn't his business and that bell is loud and annoying.

There's absolutely no reason to ring it that excessively.

His ear flicks in annoyance at the sound and he scowls as he buries his arm further in the vehicle he's fixing.

Where are Bdubs and Impulse? They'd left just before Pearl rang the bell to get him some scrap metal.

He hears a pair of footsteps approach quickly, easily recognizing them as Impulse. He's yanked away from the car with a yelp.

"You need to see this, Tango."

That's all the explanation he gets as Impulse drags him out of the parking garage. Naturally, Grian follows curiously.

He stops when he sees him.

Tango makes eye contact with Jimmy. He stands there for a moment before shaking off Impulse's hold, running over as fast as he can.

He collides with Jimmy, knocking them both to the ground.

Tango clings to the back of Jimmy's shirt and buries his face in his neck as Jimmy holds him tight, burying his face in Tango's hair.

There's movement and talking around them but for a moment, nothing else exists.

Tango can't help but start crying. By the hitching of Jimmy's breath and the wet spot in his hair, Jimmy's crying too.

Words can come later. For now, they're content to just hold each other tightly.

Nothing can tear them apart. Not a zombie. Not a person. Not some invisible force. Nothing.

So he tenses up when he hears footsteps behind him.

Sure he doesn't know how long he'd been on the ground, but he can't lose Jimmy again.

Tango holds Jimmy impossibly closer, growling lowly as a warning. Jimmy picks his head up, running his fingers gently through Tango's hair. He can't help but push into Jimmy's hand.

"It's ok Tango. I'm safe. No one's going to try to take me away from you."

He can feel Jimmy look around at the people nearby, as if daring them to try separating them.

It comforts him and he relaxes. "There we go. We're safe here, remember?"

He does remember. He remembers clearing the buildings and constructing the walls.

He'd made sure it was safe. For Jimmy.

Tango feels a comforting hand on his shoulder. He knows it's Impulse before he even speaks. Regardless, he can feel Jimmy tense up at the contact.

"Why don't you show Jimmy your apartment? I'm sure Jimmy would like to go take a nap. Lizzie has Norman and Flick too. I'm sure they'd love to get let out after what just happened."

He thinks about it before nodding.

He can feel Impulse's smile without needing to see him. The hand leaves his shoulder as Impulse stands.

He's right. Jimmy should take a nap. He doesn't know what happened, but Jimmy deserves some proper rest.

Tango heasitates before pulling away from the hug. He stands, easily pulling Jimmy up with him. Jimmy weighs too little.

He needs to make Jimmy some food.

And get him to take a shower.

And get some sleep.

He rubs his eyes with the back of his hand before taking his hand.

All the new people are being split up into groups after they're all checked for injuries. They're to get a tour of the camp, seeing as they'll likely be staying there from now on.

No one stops Tango and Jimmy. Jimmy already has a place to stay.

Tango barely remembers to get Norman and Flick from Lizzie as they're leaving.

They take the elevator up to the top floor. Jimmy seems impressed by the fact that it works, but he doesn't say anything.

He seems impressed by Tango's apartment too. It's clean, neat, and already set up for the cats and a second person.

"Did you do all this for me?"

"Course. I want you to be comfortable and happy. Make sure you take your shoes off at the door by the way we don't have a lot of cleaning supplies."

Jimmy does as he's told. He looks around the apartment as Tango lets the cats out to go and explore, making sure to take off their harnesses. They seem very happy with that which makes sense because they'd been wearing them nonstop for a while.

Once the cats are taken care of, Tango leads Jimmy into the bathroom.

"You need a shower. I'll see if Cleo will let me borrow her hair dryer so we can dry your wings out. I'll also be back with some clean clothes."

With that, he leaves the room. Jimmy's standing in the middle of the room when he re-enters to set the clothes on the counter.

"Oh.. thanks Tango."

"No problem." He pulls a towel out of one of the cabinets, placing it somewhere Jimmy can grab it before giving him a kiss and leaving.

Next step, find Cleo.

Which is easier said than done. They could be pretty much anywhere. For all he knows, she's off somewhere doing who knows what.

Sure, the second car is in the garage, but she's a zombie and therefore left alone.

Nevertheless, the first place to look is Cleo's apartment. He knocks on the door, waiting a few moments.

There footsteps on the other side before the door swings open. Cleo looks Tango up and down with a raised eyebrow. He got lucky.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes! So... Do you remember when I asked you to keep an eye out for a guy for me?"

"I do.. Why?"

"Well... He kinda showed up with Pearl, Gem, and False."

"Ok. What does this have to do with me?"

"I made him take a shower so his wings are all wet. I would like to borrow your hair dryer so that we can dry them faster."

They sigh, a smile tugging at the corners of their mouth. "As long as I get it back. Wait here."

She goes back into her apartment, not bothering to close the door because Tango's a trustworthy individual. Regardless, he waits there in the doorway for h r return.

They come back a few moments later. He's handed the item he required and almost forgets to thank Cleo before running back down the hallway. He can hear an exasperated but affectionate sigh behind him along with the sound of a door clicking shut.

Jimmy's still in the shower when Tango returns.

Which is perfect, actually. It gives him time to start making some food. He isn't particularly good at cooking, but he makes it work.

Tango's playing with Norman and Flick when Jimmy comes out of the bathroom. He simultaneously looks miserable because his wings are wet and comfortable because he's clean.

Tango had cleaned up, too. He'd washed up in Zed's apartment before breading some chicken to put in the oven. There's some pasta slow cooking on the stove too and some fresh vegetables in the fridge.

Jimmy inhales, eyes curiously going in the direction of the kitchen. "That smells good.."

"I'm glad. You need some proper food after we get your wings dry. Come on, I've got Cleo's hair dryer right here."

They spend the next while in the bathroom. Tango methodically drys Jimmy wings, making sure to move the feathers back into place as he does so. Jimmy leans on the counter, eyes closed contentedly.

Tango makes sure it doesn't take too long so he can finish making food.

He sits Jimmy down on the couch so he can relax while he makes sure nothing is burning

Jimmy is quite happy when he's handed a warm plate of fresh food. Living out of cans makes you appreciate a good meal when you can get it. Being picky in the zombie apocalypse will get you killed.

Jimmy seems to feel a lot better now. Tango feels better with that little bit of knowledge. He's snapped out of checking on (staring at) Jimmy, though, when he speaks up.

"Is that your switch?" He points at the switch that's docked in it's charger on the TV stand.

"Hm? Oh! Yeah! We went back to bring all my consoles and games here. The TV works without needing WiFi so I can still play anything that isn't multiplayer."

"Huh." Jimmy thinks about that for a moment before a small smile finds it's way onto his face. The sight makes Tango think everything is right with the world, even if it isn't.

"Ignore the consoles, Jimmy. Eat your food then we're taking a nap."

"I'm not tired though."

"Oh.... Well then what do you want to do?"

Jimmy shrugs. "Maybe play some Stardew Valley. Some normalcy would be nice."

"Consider it done. Now finish your food."

Jimmy laughs and Tango can't help but smile as he stands up to set everything up to play. "Aye aye captain."

It's not long before Tango is wrapped in Jimmy's arms, playing Stardew with the one person he needed more than anything.

Jimmy is here. He's safe and he's comfortable and he's fed and he's warm.

For the first time in a while, he feels truly happy.

Chapter Text

Jimmy was very happy. He was warm and full and had Tango in his arms. Really, there wasn't anything that could make things better.

But there was something that could make things worse.

They'd enjoyed the day in Tango's apartment. They hadn't been bothered by anyone, Flick and Norman were very happy to be out of their harnesses, and Jimmy got to help Tango make dinner with fresh food.

He'd even managed to get Tango to preen his wings before bed.

Everything was amazingly perfect. Or so he thought.

They'd gone to bed just fine, curling up under the blankets of the bed Tango made giant just for Jimmy's wings. He had Tango in his arms. He didn't need anything else.

He didn't dream that night. But Tango did.

Jimmy was woken up at an obscene hour by Tango. The blaze had sat up very abruptly and was now shaking with silent sobs as he had his knees brought up to his chest.

He blinked slowly, gradually adjusting to the darkness as his sleep addled brain slowly processed the situation.

"T'ngo?" His voice was quiet but simultaneously too loud in the darkness.

"Wh'ts wrong?"

He sat up on his elbows so he could get a better look at Tango. He was crying and shaking. Whatever happened must've been really bad.

His brows furrow as he sits up further. Gently, he pulls Tango into a hug.

Tango grips onto Jimmy shirt as he curls into his embrace. Sobs shake his entire body.

Jimmy gently runs a hand up and down Tango's spine in a hopefully calming gesture.

"I'm here. It's ok I'm here."

"You- I- you you got attacked by... And the- and I couldn't save you!"

He shushes Tango gently as he begins to run his fingers through his hair.

"It's ok Tango. I'm ok."

They sit like that for a while. Tango sobs into Jimmy's chest while clinging to him desperately. Jimmy just holds him, mumbling gentle reassurances into Tango's hair.

"Did you have a nightmare, Tango?"

"Mhm." Tango was just curled up in Jimmy's arms now. He'd stopped crying not to long ago.

"Do you wanna tell me about it?"

"You died and it was bad because I was there but I couldn't save you."

Jimmy hums, gently running his fingers through Tango's hair. "How'd it happen?"

"Person. Not a zombie this time. I don't wanna go into the details but they were sick and made me watch."

"This time?" He'd ignore the rest of that. Tango doesn't want to talk about it so he won't force him to. What he can't ignore, is Tango's use of again.

"Mhm. I've been having nightmares since the apocalypse started. You die in them every night. Usually it's to a zombie and no one's around to help you. Theres only been two times it's been another person and not a zombie."

Jimmy thinks about that for a moment before hugging Tango closer. He doesn't want Tango to have nightmares anymore.

He doesn't want Tango to hurt anymore.

"It's ok Jimmy. You're here now so it's ok."

He sleepily presses a kiss on Jimmy's neck and then his cheek before resting his head back on his shoulder.

Jimmy inhales. He ignores how his face feels hot, choosing to instead focus on Tango.

"Ok. I'll- ok. Let's... I'm gonna go get you a glass of water."

"Mkay."

Tango doesn't want him to leave. He knows because of how he tenses up and clings on just a little bit tighter.

So, he readjusts Tango in his lap before abruptly sliding off the bed with Tango in his arms.

Tango squeaks in surprise, holding onto Jimmy as he's carried out of the bedroom bridal-style.

Jimmy just chuckles. Tango's flustered reaction is very entertaining and adorable.

He struggles a bit with the door handle but manages to get it open. The apartment is small so it doesn't take super long to get over to the kitchen.

Jimmy only manages to barely not trip over one of the cats once. He'd say that's pretty successful.

It isn't too hard though to set Tango down on the kitchen counter. He sits there happily, watching with his perfect night vision as Jimmy struggles to find any cups. His tail lazily flicks back and forth where it dangles.

Not that Jimmy can see it very well.

He doesn't turn on a light, though. That would severely mess up both of their abilities to see and go back to sleep. It's too way dark out to be awake.

Tango's important though.

Tango's happiness is worth it.

After Jimmy finds where Tango's stored the cup, he fills up two with water. They sit there in the kitchen for a while, just drinking some water. Tango finishes his cup first and Jimmy pours the rest of his into the cat's water dish.

He isn't inclined to waste water so easily.

Tango yawns, stretching as he slides off the counter. He grabs Jimmy's hand, leading him back to the bedroom as he rubs his eyes sleepily.

They crawl into bed for the second time that day. This time, neither wake up from awful nightmares.

They sleep peacefully.

Until the morning.

As it turns out, they'd forgotten to shut the door when the crawled back into bed. Norman and Flick have taken this opportunity to bother Jimmy at the ass crack of dawn for food.

He obliges, even if it's only to assure Tango isn't woken up by the cats.

Tango's sleeping soundly, though. His cheek is squished against the pillow. His pointed ears flick occasionally in his sleep.

He looks incredibly peaceful. Way to peaceful to be disturbed.

So Jimmy sacrifices his sleep so that Tango can continue resting.

He stretches when he gets up, joints popping. As he exits the bedroom, cats trailing behind him, he thinks about how that's the best sleep he'd had in a long while. It doesn't matter that he'd woken up in the middle of the night.

Wether that fact is because of Tango or having an actual bed he doesn't know.

Once the cats have been satiated, Jimmy finds himself sitting on the railing of the balcony.

His legs hang off over the sides. He isn't worried about falling due to his wings.

In actuality, he loves the early morning breeze gently blowing through his feathers. Jimmy closes his eyes, letting it wash over him.

He only opens them once he hears wing beats approaching him, seeing that it's Grian.

He smiles as Grian takes a seat next to him.

"Hey G."

"Morning Tim." Grian starts to put little braids in Jimmy's hair. It gives him something to do with his hands so Jimmy isn't about to stop him.

"You had me worried sick Timmy. I thought you surely died or something. I was inconsolable all day yesterday after I saw you."

"You seem to be doing better today though."

"Yeah but that's only because I cried so hard I fell asleep. You still look awful though. Are you alright, Tim?"

He takes a deep breath in before responding. "I don't know. It's safe and warm here but I experienced some things. Not nearly as bad as Evo, mind you. I just think I'll need a bit of time."

Grian nods solemnly. He knows better than almost anyone else. His hands drop down to his sides and he grips the railing.

"You know you can talk to me and Pearl if you need too. I'm sure Joel would be happy to listen too-"

Jimmy snorts. "He dealt with all the immediate affects. I don't need to dump more stuff on Joel."

Grian's quiet for a moment as he thinks.

"That's... Pretty fair actually. But my point is there's plenty of people to talk to if you need to."

He smiles. "Thanks Grian. That means a lot."

"Of course Tim. I'm not able to let a member of my flock continue to hurt."

"Now. Tell me what this place is about."

Grian immediately brightens. He launches into a very long and overly dramatic retelling of what transpired for him after the apocalypse started.

Pearl joins them eventually, flying up to the balcony similarly to how Grian did. She sits on Jimmy's other side and he wraps his wings around his friends.

His siblings.

Chapter Text

Jimmy and the cats settled in nicely.

Norman and Flick were very happy in their new home. And sure, Jimmy was heasitant to interact with others at first.

Tango, Grian, and Pearl managed to convince him to anyway.

Tango was happy to watch as he socialized and made friends. Jimmy was an avian and therefore naturally social. It's a good thing that there's lots of people around for Jimmy to interact with.

Even if it was a few days after he'd arrived because Tango wanted all his attention to himself for a while.

Nevertheless, Tango still had a car to fix.

He was using his natural heat to melt the metal of the car back into place as Jimmy argued nearby with Joel and Grian. It had become a regular occurrence of the trio play fighting.

Pearl watched from nearby, sitting on the ground with her wolf pack.

"Sooooo... What's new with you?"

He looked up from his work. Pearl had leaned closer to him, despite keeping her eyes on the trio.

"Uhhh..." He returned to his work as he thought. "Not much. Played a lot of Stardew with Jimmy. Got many much needed snuggles. My nightmares are a lot less intense too."

Pearl hums. It's pretty common knowledge that Tango has been having nightmares. Everyone was naturally happy to help, but no one really could despite comforting him after they happened.

"That's good. That's good."

"Mhm. I've actually been getting closer to a full night's rest. Jimmy's neat like that."

"I suppose that's what's changed yeah. Tell me, what's your relationship with him?"

Tango furrowed his eyebrows and looked up from his work while holding the hot metal in place with his hands. "What do you mean?"

"What's your relationship with him? What's it like? What's the extent of it?"

"I'm... I think it's pretty good? It's going good? I mean we just got together before the apocalypse started but y'know."

"New relationships aren't like that and you know it. There's more your not telling me."

He snorts. "When'd you become a mind reader." He decides to clarify for her after the look she gives him. "I don't know Pearl. It's like... Jimmy managed to fix something I didn't know was broken. Something that I didn't even know existed. It broke when he was gone."

She nods slowly, turning her gaze back to Jimmy, Joel, and Grian. "Is it fixed now?"

"It's getting there." He follows her gaze, nearly forgetting the metal on his hands.

"Sorry for all the questions and stuff. Jimmy's been through a lot, we all have."

"And you're just trying to make sure he's ok." It's a statement. They both know that's the case.

"Yeah. Sorry if I'm seeming overprotective or-"

"Nah you're good. I understand. Jimmy's good and kind but he isn't necessarily the best judge of character."

"You think you're better than him?"

"Absolutely not. I've been in my fair share of bad relationships. All platonic but still."

Pearl chuckles at that. "At least you can get out of trouble together. You're a good guy Tango. Have fun working on the car!"

With that, she stands up and goes over to Jimmy, Joel, and Grian. She joins in teasing Jimmy.

Tango watches them for a moment before he continues fixing the car. He's pretty much done when Jimmy pulls him up, attempting to use him as a shield.

He doesn't miss how Jimmy avoids touching his hands.

"Tango protect me!"

"Don't hide Timmy! That's cowardly." Grian reprimands.

He shakes his hands out, trying to disperse the heat in them quickly. He doesn't mind being used as a meat shield, but he doesn't want to burn Jimmy either.

Jimmy continues attempting to hide behind Tango as Grian and Joel relentlessly try to get at him. It's all playful as they attempt to grab him away.

It ticks off Tango's instincts slightly, but he stomps it into the ground as he wraps his tail loosely around one of Jimmy's ankles.

Grian, Jimmy, and Joel have known each other since highschool. They know each other's boundaries and won't cross them. Ever.

Eventually though, Cleo comes to his rescue.

"What's happening here?"

Everyone immediately freezes and Cleo observes the situation. They cross their arms and level a glare at everyone. There's no heat behind it, but it's an excellent warning.

"You all need to leave Tango alone. He's the only one who can fix my car and I've been cooped up for way too long!"

Jimmy immediately lets go of Tango. He takes a few steps back and Tango unwraps his tail, albeit with a tiny bit of hesitation.

"Shoo. All of you. Get out of here and let the man work."

Cleo makes quick work of shooing everyone else out of the parking garage. Tango just watches before sitting back on the ground to resume working.

"Thanks Cleo."

"No problem!" She leans on the side of the car, safely away from Tango and the hot metal. Zombies are notoriously flammable.

"So, how've you been?"

"Pretty good. Nightmares aren't as bad. I slept through the night last night."

"That's good. How's you and Jimmy?"

"Nosy huh?" They smile at each other before Tango leans back, continuing nonchalantly. "Well Jimmy's great. Just as sweet as ever. Couldn't ask for a better partner."

"He seems to be settling in alright."

Tango hums is agreement, staring off towards the entrance of the parking garage. "I think it helps that a lot of his flock are here. I mean, I made sure the apartment would be comfortable for him and everything but I don't think it would've had the same effect if they weren't here."

She hums, looking off in the same direction.

"I keep distracting you. Finish up my car."

She ruffles his hair playfully with a smile. He laughs along.

"All done! You are capable of running over mindless zombies once more."

"Thank you kindly."

"No problem! Working with metal like this is surprisingly fun. You might have to find some new paint though."

"I'll paint it with zombie brains don't worry."

"I'd expect nothing less."

They sit in silence for a moment, admiring Tango's repair job.

"How's your expeditions been going? I know you keep having to go farther out and stuff."

"Still no sign of Martyn. Ren's worried sick. Can't say I blame him."

Tango hums. "I wouldn't worry about him. He's perfectly capable."

"I know I just...."

Miss him goes unsaid. Tango can see in their eyes that they miss Martyn. He wasn't around for very long, but he'd quickly fallen into Cleo's favor despite their relationship seeming quite negative.

"He'll show up eventually."

"He better show up soon."

They fall back into silence for a moment.

"If you want, Jimmy and I can help you look."

"Might take you up on that. See you around Tango."

"See ya!"

Cleo walks off as Jimmy runs back inside. He's managed to shake off Joel, Grian, and Pearl for now.

Jimmy pulls Tango into a hug which is happily reciprocated.

"Done?"

"Yup! Need something?"

"Nope!"

Jimmy happily buries his face into Tango's hair, wings puffing up in happiness. He's been doing a lot better.

That makes Tango very happy.

Chapter Text

Jimmy is sitting in the back of an armored vehicle with Tango.

He doesn't really know how he got here. All he knows is that Tango had asked him if he'd like to help Cleo and Ren look for someone.

When he asked who, he'd been told it was Martyn. Naturally he said yes immediately. It'd be perfect to have his entire flock in one, safe place.

He hadn't been in a car since the apocalypse started so it felt a bit strange. It rumbled around him as he sat. Tango bounced and swayed next to him with the movement of the vehicle.

Jimmy held him close, one wing wrapped around his partner. Tango seemed incredibly content with the contact, head resting on Jimmy's shoulder as he purred contentedly.

Jimmy's just grateful Ren and Cleo didn't question it. After everything that's happened he can be a little overprotective thank you.

He does flinch at every thud against the windshield as a zombie collides with it before rolling off the vehicle though. His anxiety makes him hold Tango closer.

It isn't long before the vehicle slows down.

Cleo parks it in the parking lot of a large store or mall of some kind. She climbs out, quickly followed by Ren. Jimmy and Tango hurry to follow them, making sure to grab their weapons in case of self defense.

Tango had given him an axe and flashlight in advance. He appreciates the thought, especially considering Tango had been holding onto them for Jimmy when they reunited.

He just didn't like the thought of using the axe.

Hurting people wasn't something he liked doing. He'd only ever done it once on instinct to protect the youngest member of his flock.

He'd be happy if he never had to do it again.

He knew though that he'd kill for Tango in a heartbeat.

He wasn't confident in his ability to fight but he'd gladly do so to protect Tango. He just hoped that he never had to.

He's snapped out of these thoughts by Tango grabbing his hand. The blaze smiles at him, big and happy as his tail sways behind him.

It's almost enough to make Jimmy's fears dissipate entirely.

Almost.

He promises then and there to protect this man with his life.

They make their way into the building, splitting into two groups. Cleo and Ren go in one direction as Jimmy and Tango go in the other, each following a set of footprints in the dust on the floor.

Jimmy is immediately thankful for the flashlight. The building is incredibly dark due to a lack of windows and electricity. A few of the fluorescent lights are broken, glass shards littering the floor in some places. They crunch under Jimmy's feet in a satisfying sound when he walks over them.

The store is pretty dark. It seems like a furniture store of some kind. Most of the furniture has been left alone with very few signs of people living there. The occasional lamp or picture frame have been knocked over and smashed on the concrete floor.

Other than that everything is left in its place, covered in a fine layer of dust.

It's completely and utterly abandoned.

It's eerie. With the exception of a few things, it's like the apocalypse never happened.

Jimmy can't help but have a bad feeling about the place.

He can tell that Tango does as well. He watches as Tango's tail lashes in agitation, stirring up a small bit of dust.

"You don't like this place either?"

Jimmy flinches at how loud his voice sounds despite how he'd made an effort to be quiet.

Tango hums as he reaches over to smooth down the feathers on Jimmy's wings. "Yeah. Something's off. You doing ok?"

"Yeah. The high- well higher than normal ceiling helps a bit."

"Think you can carry me if we need to run? Flying would probably be faster than running."

"Of course. I wouldn't leave you behind."

Tango headbutts his shoulder and they stop walking for a moment. Jimmy just reaches up to scratch the back of his head.

They stand like that for a few moments before they start walking again, Tango leading the way mostly due to being able to see in the dark.

Tango's presence is comforting but it doesn't do much to soothe his unease.

After a bit of walking, the blaze speaks again.

"Maybe it's because it's abandoned."

"What?"

"This place. Maybe it feels off because it's abandoned."

Jimmy hums in response. It's certainly a good explanation.

The conversation ends though when they reach a door.

It's closed, presumably leading the back of the store. Coincidentally, it's also where the footprints they'd been following lead.

Without hesitation, Tango pushes open the doors. Jimmy is quick to follow him through, immediately feeling a bit claustrophobic due to how much smaller the space is.

Tango notices, immediately taking Jimmy's hand. Jimmy squeezes his hand in response.

No words are spoken but no words have to be. In one action Tango says "I love you. It's ok. I'm here." without ever having to say those words. It's comforting.

The back of the store is just as dusty, if not moreso, than the front. It's even darker somehow, large shadows towering up to the ceiling. The air was stifling and stuffy. The space felt too warm and too cold simultaneously.

Jimmy studied the space with his flashlight as Tango led the way, continuing to follow the footprints in the dust.

It leads to a smaller room in the corner, various pieces of furniture having been set up in order to make it harder for zombies to get back there despite the space being very zombie free. Dust had been stirred up around where the barricades sat, indicating that they'd been put up recently.

Due to the fact that they are, in fact, looking for someone they enter the room.

Its a small storage room. The room itself is strangely devoid of much dust. Various crates are stacked up along the walls, some having been moved to create a more secret sleeping area. There's a bed made up of a small mattress, some blankets, and a pillow. Scattered about the area are various food bags and water bottles.

It doesn't look like the person who lived her has been here very long with most things looking quite new. Several of the water bottles are unopened along with some of the food bags.

Tango lets go of Jimmy's hand, walking closer.

He studies the sleeping space as Jimmy questions where this person is. They'd only seen footprints coming in with none going out.

He realizes where this person is when a hand covers his mouth and a long blade of some kind goes right through his chest. His hands instinctually go to the blade piercing his body as he stumbles in order to keep himself upright.

It hurts. It hurts so much more than any injury he'd ever had before.

It's only made worse when it comes down, slicing his hands and making the initial wound worse as the blade is pulled back.

He's shoved to the ground by a firm hand that grabs a fistful of feathers, yanking the wing back before throwing it forward and sending Jimmy careening to the floor. He lands hard, all of the breath in his lungs being shoved out upon impact and leaving him breathless.

It doesn't help that breathing hurts in the first place. Jimmy panics, wondering if his lung had been punctured.

If so, that's really bad and he'll probably die.

Regardless, he instinctually attempts to curl in on himself in an effort to protect his vitals. It hurts but he does so anyway.

He's in so much pain and panic he doesn't realize that Tango had moved or done anything until he's jolted suddenly.

Tango's face comes into his vision, out of focus and a bit fuzzy but there albeit hard to see in the dark. He looks concerned, worried, scared.

He looks so so scared.

A worried chirp spills past Jimmy's lips at the fear in Tango's eyes. He doesn't want his love to be afraid.

Tango's mouth is moving, saying words that Jimmy hears but doesn't process as he's held close. He can feel Tango hurriedly moving something under his arm and wing, pressing it against the front and back of the injury.

He furrows his eyebrows when he realizes Tango's crying.

Jimmy's instincts have taken over too much for him to process why Tango might be crying. All he knows is that he doesn't like it.

He reaches up a hand, cupping Tango's face and ignoring the sting in his palm. He tries to wipe away Tango's tears with his thumb, scrunching up his nose at the red smear the action leaves behind.

Tango brings up a hand, resting it on top of Jimmy's as he leans into the touch.

That's good. Tango likes it when Jimmy holds him. It's a good thing when he leans into the touch.

What's not good is that he keeps crying. Tango sobs, shoulders shaking with every breath.

He wants to stay awake.

He wants to sit up and kiss away Tango's tears. He wants to take away anything that makes him hurt and wrap him safely up in his wings.

He can't though.

He feels lightheaded and his eyelids feel heavy. It takes more and more energy to keep holding Tango's face and he doesn't know how much longer he can do it for.

Tango's eyes widen, panic filling his gaze. He brings his hand back down, shifting how Jimmy is being held.

The action sends pain shooting through Jimmy's system. It doesn't help to fight the tired though.

His hand falls back to his stomach. He can't hold Tango's face anymore. That makes him sad.

He chirps, somewhere between tired and pained. Tango shushes him, holding him close.

Absentmindedly he thinks that Tango feels warmer than usual. It's nice especially with how cold he feels.

He curls into Tango's arms, feeling safe and protected.

"I'll be ok" he thinks as everything goes dark.

Chapter Text

Tango turned upon hearing a strangled, muffled noise behind him.

He turned just in time to see Jimmy thrown to the ground by a stranger.

Their eyes met Tango's, filled with fear, defiance, confidence, insanity. They flinched back at the horror and sheer rage they must have found in Tango's, realizing their mistake now that it's too late.

After all, everyone knows you don't mess with a blaze's family.

He lunges, struggling to keep himself from bursting into flames on the spot. He pins them to the ground, hands around their throat as they scream.

Desperately they claw at Tango's arms and face and anything they can reach. They scream, a horrid, blood chilling noise of pain and fear as the stench of burning flesh reaches Tango's nostrils.

It turns gurgly as Tango sinks his claws into their neck. They thrash and struggle to no avail.

He feels their life fade away as they struggle less and less. He presses down harder, digs his claws in further, until they stop moving.

They fall limp under Tango, life ebbed away. He releases his hold as all the anger bleeds out of him, turning to Jimmy, only feeling panic now that the cause has been eliminated.

He pulls Jimmy into his lap, holding him close. Jimmy thrashes for a moment at the sudden movement until his eyes land on Tango. He stills immediately.

He chirps. Its a small, quiet noise but it's enough to send Tango toppling over the edge. A sob wrenches it's way out of Tango's through, painful and ugly. He begins to cry, unable to forget his nightmares, the ugly realization of him living them hitting Tango like a bus.

"Jimmy please. Please don't leave me. Hold on and I can get you some help."

He manages to get his jacket off. Hurriedly he holds Jimmy close, gently working the fabric around Jimmy's front and back. He presses it to the injury, sparing a glance back at Jimmy's face.

He looks confused, as if he doesn't understand the situation. As if all he sees is his partner upset.

Slowly, Jimmy reaches up a hand. He gently cups Tango's face, hand cold and wet with blood. He rubs a thumb just under Tango's eye, scrunching his nose in dislike at whatever he sees.

Tango can't help but lean into Jimmy's hand, sobbing harder and vision going blurry with tears as he reaches up to hold Jimmy's hand.

Jimmy blinks slowly, eyelids stuttering in a strained effort to keep his eyes open.

Naturally Tango panics. He shifts Jimmy so that he can be carried. He double checks to make sure his jacket is stemming the blood loss as best it can when Jimmy's hand drops from his face.

Jimmy chips, tired and quiet as his eyes drift shut.

"Shhh." Tango attempts to shush Jimmy as gently as he can. "I'll get you help. Everything will be ok and you'll live, ok? Just- just save your strength."

He curls into Tango's hold, breath evening out a she falls unconscious, dead weight in Tango's arms.

He shifts his hold on Jimmy again, holding him as close as possible. He hooks an arm around Jimmy's wings and back, the other hooked around his legs.

As carefully as he can Tango stands. His tail shoots out behind him as he attempts to balance himself.

He shifts Jimmy so his head isn't lolling backwards. That makes him look dead.

Jimmy isn't dead.

Dead men don't breathe.

He runs out of the back room and into the main store area.

"CLEO!! REN!!!"

He glances around in a panic, indecision potentially costing Jimmy his life.

He hears footsteps though, faint due to the blood roaring in his ears. He runs towards them, hoping they're from his friends and not any enemies.

Cleo turns the corner.

"Tango! We-" She freezes, horror and fear and panic in her eyes as she takes in the sight before her. Their eyes taking in Tango's tear stained face and Jimmy's unconscious form.

They turn to presumably Ren behind them, throwing the wolf the keys. "Truck. Now. Run."

Tango can hear footsteps running quickly towards the exit. Cleo places a gentle hand on his shoulder, firmly leading him in the same direction.

"What happened." she demands. "We heard a scream."

"We-" Tango pauses upon seeing Martyn. The blonde stares at Jimmy, anger, fear, panic, rage warring in his blue eyes.

"Nevermind we don't have time. Move it Martyn."

Cleo pushes Martyn, causing him to turn and walk hurriedly in the same direction. Cleo isn't happy with this though.

"RUN DAMNIT! GO PREPARE MEDICAL SUPPLIES IN THE BACK OF THE TRUCK!"

"Yup ok." Martyn nods, sprinting away.

Cleo gently spurs Tango into walking faster while muttering something about incompetent fools under her breath.

They rub circles into Tango's back. "Don't worry Tango. We'll make sure he's ok. I'll make Ren speed for you."

He snorts, pulling Jimmy closer. "Ren would do that anyway. S' why you drive."

"I'll make him go even faster then. I'm not letting one of my Hermits die."

He nods, slightly comforted by the fact that she sees Jimmy as one of them. They walk ahead of him though, making it outside first. She throws open the back of the truck, startling Martyn.

She helps Tango in before slamming the door behind him. They climb into the front passenger seat as he crouches down next to the blonde.

The whole way back to their slice of utopia, Tango and Martyn are thrown around the back. Ren, bless his heart, attempts to keep everything steady but that's a bit difficult due to how fast he's going.

Martyn helps to stuff gauze into the injury in an attempt to stem the bleeding. Once they run out of gauze, though, Martyn stares blankly at the wall, one arm out to help keep Jimmy steady.

Tango's in a similar space. He's paralyzed with fear and paranoia, hundreds of thoughts running through his mind at mach speed. He cradles Jimmy close, attempting to use his own body as a shield.

If anything else we're to go wrong at this point Tango would probably snap.

Nothing else goes wrong though as the vehicle slows. The giant concrete slab that is the safety wall looks before them, casting an imposing shadow.

Tango hadn't been out of camp since it'd been built. If he was in a different headspace he'd marvel at how scary it looks.

Cleo jumps out as Ren slows to a stop. They quickly run over to the bell, banging it relentlessly.

The sound doesn't help to soothe Tango's nerves. He knows Cleo is just as panicked as he is though.

The gate opens much too slowly. The vehicle rolls gently through, concrete slamming closed behind it as Cleo begins barking orders at anyone nearby.

"JEVIN! FIND CUB AND GET HIM TO MEDICAL. EVERYONE ELSE MOVE! SOMEONE ELSE FIND IMPULSE!"

She effortlessly clears a path for Ren to get the back of the vehicle as close to the entrance of the apartment building as possible. Together they throw open the doors.

Tango is ushered out of the truck, Martyn following close behind. He doesn't go in the building though, quickly stopped by Ren.

Tango's led gently to what has become a sort of hospital.

Its a sterile room on the ground floor, revamped and redecorated to function as a place to treat wounds. It mimics a hospital quite well.

Cleo throws open the doors to what has become an operating room. Originally it was a storage room but a table had been set up for operations. It's meant to give people a bit of privacy while Cub performs surgery.

He gently sets Jimmy down on the table, standing off to the side as much as he can. He holds Jimmy's hand as Cub comes quickly into the room.

He's pulling surgical gloves on. Doc and Zed follow close behind, both putting on gloves as well.

Cleo grabs Tango's arm, gently pulling away.

He tightens his grip on Jimmy's hand, not wanting to be separated.

"Tango." Cleo chides. "I know you want to stay with him but you need to give them room to work."

Doc nods.

"Tango as much as I want you to stay here with him it won't help. You can sit with him once we're done but for now I need you to leave."

He stares at Cub for a few moments, conflicted. His logic and instincts war with each other, one side seeing the reason and the other wanting to ignore it entirely.

Zed headbutts him gently in the shoulder, an action of reassurance. Zed's horns dig gently into his arm. He can't touch Tango with his hands due to the sterility of his gloves but the action is appreciated nonetheless.

"I'll make sure he's alright Tango. You can trust me."

"Promise?" He hates the way that his voice breaks.

"I swear on my life."

He nods. Slowly he let's go of Jimmy's hand. Zed smiles at him as he's gently led out of the room.

Impulse waits in the main space. He quickly wraps Tango in a hug before holding him at arms length.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No and no." Cleo answers for him. "The guy he loves to death is currently bleeding out and his nightmares are coming to life. He isn't injured but he isn't mentally ok."

Impulse nods, wrapping an arm around Tango's shoulders. "I see. Thank you Cleo."

She nods, swiftly exiting the room.

Impulse gently leads Tango out as well. "C'mon Tango. Let's go get you cleaned up."

He blinks. Immediately he begins to pick at his nails. The blood stuck under them is irritating and his pants and shirt cling to him. Its uncomfortable and makes his skin crawl.

"Ok." he mumbles quietly.

They leave the room. Grian, Pearl, Martyn and Cleo are standing just outside. Martyn is explaining what happened while Cleo seems content to just be near him for a while.

Martyn tails off as he notices Pearl and Grian looking over in Tango's direction. Impulse just shakes his head, mouthing something to them as he leads Tango towards the elevator.

He's grateful for that. He doesn't know how he'd face Jimmy's flock after having failed to protect him.

Impulse gently pushes the door to his apartment open. Flick bounds around the corner, staring Tango down as Norman glances lazily over from the window.

His breath hitches at how wrong the space feels without Jimmy.

Impulse gently rubs his back. "He'll be alright Tango."

"It feels wrong. I don't want to be here."

He scratches at his arms. It feels like his skin is crawling and everything is wrong and too much.

Gently Impulse pulls his hands away. "We won't be here very long. You're just going to take a shower and get changed ok? We can head back down after."

He nods, trudging over to the bathroom. He wants to leave as soon as possible.

The hot water pattering against his skin stings slightly. The heat is comforting but water still stings slightly.

He hears the door open and close at one point during his shower, likely Impulse leaving some clothes for him.

He finds out that that's the case when he steps out. A pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt lay folded up on the counter. He pulls them on. They're warm and comforting but it's missing something.

He exits the bathroom, cooler air immediately hitting his skin and making him shiver. He ignores Impulse in favor of going into his bedroom.

Impulse stands in the doorway, watching as Tango hunts through Jimmy's dresser. Eventually he gives up on the dresser and goes to a pile of hoodies and other jackets in a pile on the floor.

He pulls out a thick hoodie and puts it on. The holes in the back probably won't do much in terms of keeping him warm but he doesn't particularly care.

The hoodie belongs to Jimmy. It smells like him. Its comforting.

He stuffs his hands in the pockets before trudging back to Impulse. He wraps his tail around his friend's ankle and Impulse wraps him quickly into a tight hug.

He let's himself cry for a small while, wrapped safely in his pyre brother's arms.

It doesn't take them very long after to get back down to the medical room.

Jimmy's been moved to one of the beds. There's an IV hooked up to his arm and his shirt is missing, likely having been removed for the sake of his safety.

Zed stands beside him, gloves gone. He pulls a blanket up over Jimmy's chest in an attempt to keep him warm.

Grian sits on a counter nearby. He's getting his blood drawn by Doc while Cub observes.

Tango ignores everyone, going over to Jimmy's side. He pulls up a chair on the side opposite of the IV cord. Impulse stands behind him and Zed reaches across Jimmy to hold Tango's hand.

Cub takes notice after a few moments. He goes over, clipboard in hand. The vex clears his throat to get everyone's attention.

"He's stable. He needs a blood transfusion but we're getting that from Grian so he'll be alright. Nothing vital was harmed. Based on the injury I can assume he was stabbed and whatever it was just barely missed his heart and lung."

Impulse inhales sharply, resting a hand on Tango's shoulder. Tango stays silent.

He's lucky to be alive goes unsaid. It could have been worse goes unsaid.

Absentmindedly Tango begins to card his fingers through Jimmy's wing. Its messed up and messy from the whole ordeal, blood crusting and feathers tangled. He scrunches up his nose at that.

Gently he works Jimmy's wing out from under him, careful to avoid messing with the wound. He starts to pick at the blood crusting there.

"Want me to get you some water and a rag?"

Impulse's voice startles him for a moment. He glances over his shoulder, ears flattening against his head instinctually at how many eyes are in him.

He turns his gaze back to Jimmy's feathers. He nods slightly. Impulse pats him on the shoulder before leaving.

He's grateful when Cub turns away to help with the blood transfusion stuff and Zed watches it happen. It takes the eyes off of him and lets him fix up Jimmy's wings.

Jimmy's never been one for taking very good care of his wings but he knows that the state they're currently in would greatly bother the avian. He'll take care of them now so Jimmy will be as comfortable as possible when he wakes up.

Its the least he can do after all.

It takes Tango an hour or two to get Jimmy's wings to an acceptable state.

Jimmy looks a lot better by this point too. His skin has slowly returned to a more normal color. Cub had been watching him closely to monitor his condition too, keeping a distance to make sure Tango was ok as well.

In all honesty he was just glad the vex thought to give them space in the first place. He'd probably go on the defensive if anyone other than his pyre got too close and even then he doesn't particularly want them around.

He loves his pyre, don't get him wrong. They're his family and he loves his family.

His instincts just see everything as a threat at the moment.

He hates it but that's the way it is.

He's just glad no one has come around. Jimmy's flock have relatively stayed away aside from a chat with Cub and glancing in their direction. He got the feeling Grian wanted to help take care of Jimmy's wings but ultimately decided against it.

Eventually though Tango's eyelids begin to feel heavy.

He pulls Jimmy's hoodie tighter around himself. Its big but warm and cozy.

He rests his arms on Jimmy's bed and puts his head down. It isn't long before he's drifting off.

He's sound asleep when Jimmy rests his hand on Tango's arm. They're both unconscious when it happens but it makes Cub smile.

The doctor stands, leaving the room to give them a bit of space.

It's been a long day. They deserve some rest.

Chapter Text

Everything was dark.

Everything except for a small flame floating in the nothing. It gradually got closer and closer at a painfully slow pace.

Its not like Jimmy could do much to get closer either. All his limbs felt like lead and he floated in the void, just like the flame did. He had his wings, sure, but they were dead weight on his back.

So he watched. He watched the flame flicker, moving at a snail's pace as it gradually approached. That was until he couldn't take it anymore.

The silence was infuriating and the nothingness was suffocating. He wanted to do things, go places, care for his flock.

Once it was close enough, he mustered up all his strength and surged forward. He floated easily through the space, hands reaching desperately for the flame.

Desperately and a bit violently he grabbed it. It was warm in his hands, fire dancing across his fingers harmlessly. He pulled it in, curling around it with his whole body as he clutched it to his chest.

And suddenly, he felt something.

For the first time in what felt like forever, he felt something.

That something was pain.

It shocked him violently out of the void, making his limbs feel heavy and immoveable at his sides as the fire flickered out, remaining sparks dancing over to his left. He was suddenly aware of everything in his body at once.

Saying Jimmy hurt was an understatement.

It hurt to breathe and it felt like his heart was going to tear out of his chest. The slight sting in his right arm and hands and chest made it difficult to properly think.

He won't die though. He isn't dead. Tango wouldn't let that happen.

He was unevenly warm, though. He could feel a blanket draped over him but there was a warm pressure on his left, resting on his arm.

It takes more effort than he'd like to admit to open his eyes.

Immediately they're assaulted by fluorescent lights. They buzz and hum overhead like insects. He has to blink a few times for his eyes to adjust.

Slowly, he turns his head to the side. There's an IV in his right arm, slowly dripping various liquids. One of the bags, which was filled with some red substance, is nearly empty.

The room seems to have once been something else but has now been repurposed, serving as a kind of medical facility based on the heart monitors and such around.

One such monitor is connected to him, beeping in time with his heartbeat.

He looks to his left next, finding Tango beside him. The blaze had curled up in a chair by the bed, head and arms resting atop Jimmy. Tango was careful to avoid laying on his torso, though.

Although Jimmy couldn't see his face, he knew his partner was tired. He looked disheveled despite the loose, comfortable clothing he wore. One of Jimmy's hoodies was pulled over his shoulders as well, likely there for Tango's comfort rather than to keep him warm.

Footsteps on his right. He looks over to see a man with short, black hair and startlingly blue eyes. He hums with magic.

He approaches, stopping some ways away before pushing up his glasses and smiling kindly.

"Glad to see you're awake Jimmy. Been a while." he says in a hushed tone.

"W- what happened?" Jimmy winces internally at how awful his voice sounds. His throat is dry and would really like some water.

"You were stabbed and passed out on Tango. You've been unconscious for three days due to blood loss."

He attempts to sit up in panic while trying not to jostle Tango too much. Is everyone else ok?

The doctor quickly rushes over, gently forcing him back down.

"You're alright, Jimmy. Everyone is ok. I promise. You need to rest though. We really don't want you to pull any stitches."

He glances down at his chest, the blanket having fallen away. Pristine white bandages wrap securely around his torso, matching bandages on his hands. He rests his head back on the pillow reluctantly.

"Can you get me some water?"

The doctor smiles and nods. Jimmy watches him leave the room as Tango stirs beside him. So much for not waking him up.

He picks his head up slowly, blinking sleepily. Jimmy watches his pupils shrink slightly to accommodate for the light fixtures. He smiles when the blaze's eyes go wide in realization.

"Hey hot stuff. Come here often?"

Tango blinks at him before breaking down in tears. He sobs loudly, causing Jimmy to sit up fully in a panic, ignoring the way his body protests the action. He wipes away Tango's tears with his thumb.

"What's wrong? Did I do something bad?"

He frantically searches for any answers in Tango's eyes. He doesn't find any due to how they're almost closed entirely due to his tears.

"Hey! I'm ok! See?" He pulls Tango's hand up to cup his face. Its warm and fits there perfectly. The action does nothing to stem the tears, though.

Worried warbles spill past his lips. He doesn't know what could cause Tango this much anguish. It hurts him to see a member of his flock so incredibly upset.

Eventually Tango wraps his arms loosely around Jimmy's waist, forehead thunking against the avian's chest. Jimmy hugs him back, curling his wings around him as best he can.

They're strangely pristine and neat but that's something to think about later.

For now, he cradles one of the most important people in the universe close, held as tightly and securely as he can.

The door opens as someone enters the room. Jimmy watches Tango's ears prick to pick up the sound and feel the way he glares out of the corner of his eyes.

Its the doctor from before. A glass of water is held in one hand. He doesn't seem very happy to see Jimmy sitting up but brushes it off.

He approaches, stopping a small distance away and not nearly close enough to hand Jimmy the water. A small corner of his brain whines at the water just out of reach.

"Tango. Glad to see you're awake." While sweet and patient, something in the doctor's tone indicates that he is, in fact, not happy to see Tango up. "Would you like to help me out with something?"

Tango growls in response. Its a low, animalistic noise from the back of his throat that momentarily startles Jimmy.

"I know you don't want me here but I brought Jimmy some water. Can you give it to him for me?"

The doctor holds out the water tentatively. Tango glares for a moment before taking it. The doctor nods before walking away.

He doesn't leave the room, though. Instead he silently observes from a seat a little ways away.

Tango watches him for a moment before slowly pulling away from Jimmy. He props Jimmy up against the bed's headboard with a pillow before handing over the cup.

Jimmy takes it gratefully. It takes a bit for his hands to stop shaking too much so that he can actually drink the water. When he gets it though, he sighs happily into the glass as the cool liquid goes down his throat.

In the corner of his eye he sees Tango wipe his eyes with the back of his hand.

Slowly, Jimmy brings the cup to rest with his hands in his lap.

"Are you ok Tango?"

Tango snorts, eyes still welling up a bit. "Yeah. Just a bit emotional and my nightmares are back. I should be asking you that anyway. How do you feel? Everything alright?"

Tango sits back down in the chair, leaning his arms on the bed. He looks positively exhausted.

"Hurts a bit to breathe."

Tango nods, shooting a glance over at the doctor who nods to ensure he heard.

"We can get you some painkillers if you want."

"That'd be nice. Thanks for taking care of me Tango."

Tango nods and the room goes silent for a moment aside from the quiet shuffling of the doctor as he does things in the background.

"Hot stuff? Really?"

Jimmy can't help but laugh a bit. "Yeah. First thing that came to mind. Did you not like it?"

Tango headbutts Jimmy's shoulder. His tail flicks behind him and Jimmy can see that his ears are red. Jimmy chucks, wrapping an arm and a wing around his partner. He's warm and safe.

If only the rest of his flock were there.

The doctor comes up to the IV quietly. Jimmy watches him, rubbing Tango's back absentmindedly as the doctor attaches something to the drip before walking away.

It takes a bit but eventually he starts to hurt less. He finds himself relaxing, unsure of when he tensed up.

The doctor turns his back to the avian, doing something out of view.

"If you'd like I can go fetch some people for you. Maybe bring in some of your flock."

Tango tenses up at this, relaxing when Jimmy shuffles to make room for Tango to sit with him on the mattress.

"That would be nice. Thank you uh...."

"Cub." The doctor finishes for him. "I know there's some people who'd love to know you're ok."

Cub smiles kindly before leaving the room. Tango grumbles something about not wanting anyone around but he quickly calms down with a few scratches behind his ear.

It doesn't take very long for the door to open back up, maybe twenty minutes or so.

Two people enter the room. He quickly recognizes Grian and Pearl. Grian approaches quickly, hopping onto the bed to sit almost on Jimmy's legs despite the glare he gets from Tango. Pearl takes a bit longer to approach, dragging someone with her.

It takes Jimmy a moment to figure out who it is, feathers raising in joy.

"Martyn!!"

He holds out a hand, grabbing for Martyn, beckoning him closer.

He chirps happily when Martyn gets close. Jimmy latches onto his sleeve, pulling him close.

Martyn glances over at Tango, who seems unhappy with how many people are around. He stays curled up at Jimmy's side, though.

Slowly, Martyn runs a hand through Jimmy's wing. The avian closes his eyes happily, chirping and trilling at how many members of his flock are right here.

He just needs Lizzie and Joel and he has everyone.

He chirps, asking the question that way due to being too far inside his bird brain to communicate in any other way.

Immediately all eyes go to Grian, the only other avian of the group. Everyone's eyes but Tango, who glares at everyone but Jimmy equally.

"He's wondering where Lizzie and Joel are." Grian says nonchalantly before flopping across Jimmy's legs. The position doesn't look particularly comfortable but Jimmy's seen weirder from Grian.

"Sorry Jimmy. I think Tango would explode if we bring anyone else in here." Pearl pats his knee sympathetically.

He doesn't understand fully but accepts that answer nonetheless.

She goes to pull over a pair of chairs for her and Martyn. They sit and Jimmy listens contentedly as the trio talk about what Jimmy missed and the adventures Martyn had been on.

With most of his flock here, safe and sound, there's very few things that could possibly make him any happier.