Chapter Text
Nomi stared at the newcomer for several seconds before they both leapt into action. A dizzying jolt of Maka hit the warehouse wall beside Nomi’s head, a split second after he’d ducked away. Shit. So this person could expel Maka from their hands. Nomi had never seen that before. Except Arri, of course.
Closing his eyes, he tried to muster enough energy for his Maka forcefield, but before he could, he heard a scream from the next room.
Arri.
Abandoning his hiding spot, he tore towards the door, skidding to a halt before yanking it open and barrelling through. Arri was cowering against the wall, her injured leg held out at an awkward angle, a tall, unknown figure towering over her.
Before Nomi could react, the stranger from outside came careening into the room and tackled the looming boy.
“Vender! No!” he bellowed. “Not the girl!”
The two figures grappled on the ground as Nomi watched in horror. A small pulse of Maka echoed from Vender’s hands, which were currently gripping Nomi’s attacker's face. His attacker yelped in pain and tried to roll away but the other boy was stronger. Nomi could see a vindictive sneer on Vender’s face.
“You’ve gone soft, Evrin,” he said. “Why does it matter if there’s some collateral damage?”
Gasping for breath, Evrin tried to get away. “That isn’t collateral damage,” he panted, managing to tear himself free. Nomi could see he was trying to gather enough energy for another blast, but the jolt to his face must have dazed him.
Vender walked over to him, predator stalking his prey, a cruel smile on his face. “Coward, are you?” he said.
Nomi looked between them. Evrin’s face was a mask of fear, skittering away on his backside as Vender loomed over him.
“Maybe you didn’t survive the operation this time, Evrin. Maybe you didn’t have it in you to get the boy. Maybe you got caught in the crossfire. It’ll be a shame for poor mummy and daddy. But we’ll grieve, and we’ll mourn, and we’ll move on.”
On his last word, Vender raised his hands just as Arri made a whimpering noise. Not wanting to risk her drawing attention to herself, Nomi gave a terrible cry and barrelled out of his hiding place, hoping against hope that the element of surprise would work in his favour.
It did.
Vender whipped around in shock and before he had the chance to react, Nomi had grabbed him around the waist and crashed him hard into the wall.
Dazed, Vender tried to push him off. But Nomi was stronger and clung on, pinning Vender’s arms to his side, preventing him from using his Maka.
Evrin was slowly standing up in the corner, and Nomi prayed to the deities, that he wasn’t sure he believed in, that Evrin had meant what he’d said when he’d told Vender ‘no collateral damage’.
Nomi’s grip was starting to falter, Vender was considerably bigger and stronger and must have had more square meals in the last week than Nomi had had in the past month. A pathetic whimper slipped out of Nomi’s mouth, and he knew he was about to lose it: his grip, and this battle, and maybe even Arri. But then, out of nowhere, a burst of Maka hit the wall, a huge chunk of concrete flying into the room.
Nomi yelped and covered his eyes, but he was miraculously unhurt. That was more than could be said for Vender though, who had slumped down the wall, chest heaving with pained breaths, a small trickle of blood oozing from his hairline.
“Fuck,” Evrin muttered looking at his hands as though he couldn’t quite believe what he’d just done. Then he turned to Nomi. “Quick, we’ve got to get out of here!”
Nomi stumbled back.
“Don’t touch me!” he yelled. Although he knew it was no good. If Evrin could shoot Maka across the room, Nomi was done for.
Evrin flinched back. “I’m sorry,” he said, sounding desperate. “I know I haven’t given you any reason to trust me. But we have to go. Now! He’ll have called for backup. The adults will be here soon. And they have—”
“He’s in no state to call anyone,” Nomi said, dodging further back. He made his way around the edge of the room to Arri and dropped into a crouch. “And it’s not like the adults could do anything anyway. If you’re going to kill us, you’d better do it soon.”
Arri made a wounded noise and looked at Nomi with watery eyes.
“Don’t worry,” Nomi whispered to her. “He won’t.” He said it with enough conviction that he almost believed it too.
With a huge effort, he put his hands under her armpits and hauled her to her feet. He was exhausted from the last two days and that effort alone was enough to make him shake. But he determinedly wedged his shoulder under her armpit and turned them to face the door.
Evrin was still standing in front of it, looking small and unsure despite being almost a full head taller than Nomi.
“Move,” Nomi said with as much ferocity as he could muster.
To Nomi’s surprise, Evrin did just that, stepping to the side so that they could pass.
Arri managed to hold some of her weight on her good leg and between the two of them, they were able to get all the way to the door and out into the dingy alley behind the warehouse. Nomi was just about to drag them around the corner when a voice cried, “Wait!”
Turning, Nomi saw that Evrin was standing in the open doorway, hand on the handle, as if trying to decide something.
Nomi paused. His shoulder was starting to ache, and if they didn’t keep moving, he wasn’t sure how long he would be able to hold Arri for. Doctors were hard to come by in the city, especially ones willing to treat people like Arri, so he had to get them on the road for them to have any sort of chance.
“Take me with you.”
The words entered Nomi’s brain without making an impression until a few seconds later when they hit him. “What?” he said, voice incredulous.
Evrin’s face had turned more resolute as Nomi had been trying to process his words.
“I said… take me with you.” Then, as an afterthought he added: “Please?” When Nomi didn’t answer immediately, he looked around in panic before crying, “I know where you can find a doctor!”
A sound painfully similar to a sob escaped Arri’s mouth and Nomi felt her lean more heavily onto him. His knees shook with the strain and suddenly he didn’t have it in him to fight. This wasn’t just about him, and if there was even the smallest chance Evrin was telling the truth…
“Okay,” he said. “Come and grab her other arm.”
A relieved smile split Evrin’s face and he rushed towards them and quickly tucked himself under Arri’s other shoulder, arm wrapping securely around her waist. The difference was noticeable, and Nomi tried to not let his relieved whimper escape his lips.
But Evrin sent him a look, which told him he’d probably failed.
Nomi scowled. “If you kill me, I’m going to murder you.”
Evrin snorted as they took their first laboured step forward – a mismatched four-legged race. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Shut up.”