Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ray wandered around the facility aimlessly. 

After Sebastian let him and most of the other experiments and creatures out of their containment cells, Ray found that he had nothing to do. Of course, he could fuck with the expendable UrbanShade kept sending down but he didn’t particularly like interacting with othe- humans. Sebastian was always an option, but he was usually busy with expendable, scavenging, or trying to escape. Ray didn't know why Sebastian didn’t just give up. They were thousands of miles underwater there was no way back up top now. 

Ray continued to wander, waving to Eyefestation when he passed. He’s always had a soft spot for the shark. Ray entered a room with a hole in the wall. That wasn't unusual, due to the Blacksite getting wrecked by the various experiments and such. What was unusual, however, was the sound coming from the room. It sounded like hissing or growling. Ray drew closer, only to hear someone’s voice. Ray sighed. What was an expendable doing all the way over here? He approached, assuming they were facing off against an entity of some sort. When he peeked his head inside the hole, not only did he not find an expendable, but he found another experiment backed up to the wall with a pissed-off-looking Sebastian staring it down, gun drawn. 

Ray quickly made himself known, “What the fuck is going on?”

Sebastian glanced over towards where he heard Ray's voice and growled, “I found this snake.” He gestured over to the humanoid creature. “Wandering around in a daze. When I approached him I realized that it was the fucker that ordered the experiments on me!” He spat at the figure still pressed against the wall. 

Ray snapped his attention towards the figure. It was about six feet with a leaner build. Its hair was a dark blackish-blue color. The figure's skin was a desaturated green, with darker scales scattered around. It had a long tail that resembled a snake wrapped around itself. Bright, glowing green eyes looked right at him, fear flashing across them. It was wearing a torn body suit with varying greys and whites. Ray's eyes fell onto a name tag still attached to the torn bodysuit, Dr. Monroe, it read. 

Ray stared at the figure for a minute before bursting out laughing. His large wings flared out as he bent over. Sebastian looked somewhat confused, and the figure looked mildly concerned. He took the gun and shoved it back into its holster as he waited for Ray to calm down.

When Ray finally finished his cackling, he looked to “Dr. Monroe,” whom he liked to call by his first name, Zan. “Oh, how the mighty do fall! How’s the taste of your own medicine treating ya?” Ray smirked at Zan, his sharp teeth on full display. 

Sebastian looked put off as he asked, “What the fuck happened to him?”

“When you let me out of containment I immediately went to find, fuck face over here, and kill him. When I got there, he was in the middle of experimenting with something. We had an… altercation which led to me injecting him with whatever he was working on. Honestly, I thought he died.” Ray explained with little to no remorse in his voice. Not only was Zan responsible for Sebastian and Eyefestaion’s experiments, but he was also responsible for his own. Sebastian looked mildly impressed as he looked back at Zan, who looked more confused than anything.

“I would kill him, but I have to get back to my shop,” Sebastian paused, looking over to the now slightly more afraid Zan, “Bye, Ray.” He sighed before slithering out of the hole in the wall.

Ray looked back over to Zan, both of them just staring at one another for a while. Ray cleared his throat, god he really didn't think this guy would survive. “Why the fuck are you still here?” He asked coldly. Zan looked at him, a soft hiss coming from him. He hesitantly peeled himself off the wall that he had pressed himself up against, before slowly walking over to Ray. Ray jumped back with a growl, not wanting this man anywhere near him. 

Zan cocked his head before finally speaking, “Why are you afraid?”

Ray looked caught off guard by the question. He squawked in annoyance before answering, “What do you mean ‘why are you afraid?’” Ray spoke in a mocking tone, “You ruined my life and turned me into this!” He hissed out at the man standing in front of him. 

Zan blinked, confused. “I don’t even know how I got here…” He mumbled, “Let alone who you are-” Zan was cut off by Ray plowing into him and pinning him to the ground with his talons. Zan yelped in pain as Ray dug in his claws. The smaller man looked into Ray's eyes only to find rage in them. 

Ray hissed, “You motherfucker! You’re really going to pretend you don’t know what you’ve done!?” Ray’s clawed hands found their way to Zan’s neck. One of Zan’s hands flew to his neck as he grabbed onto Ray’s arm. “After all the shit you’ve put all of us through, you’re going to sit here and claim dementia?!” He spat.

Zan coughed and winced as Ray grew more and more enraged. “I truly have no clue what has happened to you or me!” He struggled out through wheezes and coughs.

“Bullshit.” Ray hissed, his wings flared.

“I don’t remember!- please…” Zan muttered as his vision began to fade. 

“I should have killed you when I had the chance,” Ray replied coldly. Ray raised his right arm, his claws glinting dangerously. Zan’s vision began to blur as he wrapped his tail around Ray's leg. Tears slowly started to roll down the smaller man's face. “Please…” He whispered. Rays hesitated as he looked at the man under him. Even when Ray was injecting this man with a half-baked experiment, he never cried. Ray looked at Zan, his arm still raised. He growled before letting go of the man's neck and slowly getting off him. Zan sat up, surprised, as he looked at Ray. 

“Go to hell…” Ray hissed before turning and walking out of the hole in the wall and down the hall.

Chapter Text

Ray crawled out of Sebastian's shop with a sigh. He and Sebastian had an argument about escaping the Blacksite… again. They both just couldn’t see eye to eye on what to do in their situation. Ray huffed before starting down the hall. He walked for a bit, taking random turns, luting what he could to bring to Sebastian when he’d calmed down. He opened a door forcefully before strolling in.

He was now standing in a large room with vegetation and a tree. Large windows of glass stretched around the room, showing the vast sea outside the site. Upon closer inspection, unmoving humanoid vine piles stood at the foot of the tree. Creepy… Ray thought, backing away from the grass. Ray had only been in this part of the Blacksite a couple of times when he was still-human. 

Ray continued to look around the room. Once he’d thoroughly looked around, his gaze fell back to the tree. He’d forgotten how long it’d been since he’d seen anything natural. He slowly spread his wings fully. He looked up at one of the tree's lower branches with determination. He bent his legs slightly before launching himself upwards, his wings flapping vigorously. Ray reached the branch in no time. He clumsily landed on the branch with a thud. He threw out his arms to help him balance as he teetered on the branch. He let out a shaky sigh as he slowly gained his balance. He lowered himself onto the branch. He sighed as he breathed in the fresh air that the vine creatures below provided. 

Just as he was about to close his eyes, he heard rustling below him. Ray turned his gaze to the ground, trying to find the source of the noise. He searched the ground slowly until his gaze landed on… Zan? Ugh, what is that fucker doing here? He groaned to himself internally. Ray watched as Zan hurriedly hid under a table. Ray looked on curiously when he heard yelling. Just as Ray was about to mentally question the yelling, three expendable bursts into the room. Ray groaned. No wonder Zan was hiding from these idiots. He listens to the human conversation with varying interest.

“Where did that freaky snake thing go?!” One yelled carelessly. A shorter companion slapped the man on the head.

“Are you fucking stupid? You’re going to attract half the monsters right to us!” They hissed, annoyed. The tallest of the group stepped forward, pointing to where Zan was hiding. 

“Both of ya shut it. It's right there…” They said in a monotone Southern drawl. The loud human darted forward, grabbing Zan by his clothing.

Zan hissed in surprise, his clawed hands grabbing the arm holding him. The loud human narrowed his eyes. The human roughly threw Zan to the ground in front of the group. It pulled out a makeshift dagger from a pocket. Zan tensed as he wrapped his tail around himself. The loud human walked forward before bending down to Zan’s eye level, dagger raised to his throat. 

Ray narrowed his eyes at the group. These expendables were getting far too cocky. The southern human spoke up harshly, “If yer going to kill it, get it over with, we don't have time for this!” The loud human rolled its eyes. “Fuck off, I bet Sebastian would give us something real good for this things head.”

Ray hissed, Yup… far too cocky. Ray prepared to leave unnoticed, but just as he looked away, he heard a shout. He snapped his attention back to the interaction only to see the expendable that was taunting Zan on the other side of the room. Zan stood defensively, looking at the man's comrades. The others in the group backed away a bit. The shorter person yelled at the man that was thrown, “Look at what you did now, dumbass! Now it's angry-” 

They were cut off by the now-bleeding expendable, “Im going to rip out that fucking freaks eyes!” The man screeched. He got to his feet shakily before charging at Zan, dagger drawn. 

Just as the expendable was about to lunge at Zan, he was lifted into the air with a surprised yelp. Ray flapped his massive wings as he held the expendable about 10 feet in the air, with his clawed feet. Zan’s eyes widened upon seeing who had just saved him from a stab wound. The expendable looked up with wide eyes. Ray held the man with his talons, continuing to stay airborne. “Now isn't this interesting?” Ray cooed, slowly descending. He let the man fall from his talons as they neared the floor. 

The man landed with a painful hiss and quickly scurried back to his group. Ray landed gracefully on the ground in front of the group. Ray hissed, his eyes narrowing. The three humans quickly backed away from Ray as he approached. Ray spread his wings to their full length before hissing, “Leave before I kill you.” 

The expendable quickly turned tail and fled, leaving just Zan and Ray in the room. Zan looked at Ray awkwardly before speaking, “Thank you…” 

Ray looked over his shoulder, annoyed. “Don’t thank me, I was ready to let them kill you until you threw that dude.” He replied bluntly with an eye roll. Zan’s gaze shifted to the branch that Ray was sitting on. 

“What were you doing on the branch?” Zan asked curiously. 

Ray simply groaned, “That's none of you’re business, snake.” Ray glared at the shorter man with undisguised hate. He sighed, stepping around Zan to get some of the stuff the humans dropped. He bent down, looking through the equipment lazily. Zan looked over his shoulder with interest. 

“What do you need that stuff for? From what I could tell, we don’t need any of that stuff to survive.” Zan questioned as he inched closer to see what Ray was doing. Ray threw a harsh look over his shoulder, telling the other man to back up. Zan seemed to get the message and didn’t get any closer to the birdman. Ray continued to look over the items. He picked up one or two things before getting to his feet. 

Ray felt eyes on him and sighed. “What?” He huffed at Zan. 

“Why did you let me live the other day, and now, for that matter…?” Zan asked slowly. 

Ray seemed caught off guard by the question. He hesitated for a moment. Why had he let him live? He should've killed him without remorse. Instead, here he is again, saving him. And for what?! Because he felt like he was telling the truth? Because deep down, he truly didn’t want to hurt anyone? Bullshit. He just wanted to go home. 

“Because I pity you.” He hissed harshly. He shoved past Zan roughly as he headed to the door. Ray walked through the open door, not even sparing the other man a glance.

Chapter Text

Ray huffed as he crawled into Sebastian's shop. It’d been two weeks since Ray had saved Zan from some expendable. Now, the other man was following him around like a lost puppy. He always stayed a room or two away from where Ray currently was. Zan didn’t ever try to speak to him, just kind of… stayed close to him. It was starting to drive him crazy. Sebastian and Ray had made up since their fight; they were more frustrated at the situation not each other. Sebastian greeted Ray as he peered his head into his shop.

“Hey, Ray.” He waved at him before continuing with whatever he was doing. Ray waved, getting to his feet quickly. Ray cast a glance through the vent he had just crawled through. He sighed in relief, knowing that the snake wouldn’t dare come near. Sebastian raised an eyebrow at Ray.

“What was that about?” Sebastian asked curiously, setting down whatever he was tinkering with.

“It’s nothing…” Ray replied, waving his hand dismissively. Sebastian narrowed his eyes.

“It’s not nothing, you’re never this… on edge,” He observed. Ray groaned, pressing his palms into his eyes. He sighed before wandering over to Sebastian. He leaned forward, inspecting what the other experiment was doing.

“What's that?” Ray asked, changing the subject.

Sebastian huffed, “Ray, you are terrible at deflecting.”

Ray shrugged nonchalantly before asking again, “So, what is it?” Sebastian let out a sigh before shaking his head in amusement.

“Just a broken flash beacon, nothing important,” Sebastian smirked, mocking Ray with the last line. Ray scowled and crossed his arms. He rolled his eyes before throwing his hands up in mock surrender.

“Fine, you win!” He huffed before continuing, “For the past two weeks, I’ve been being followed by… an experiment. That I ‘saved’ from some dumbass expendables.” Ray explained, leaving out who the experiment was, because he thinks Sebastian would actually kill him. Sebastian raised an eyebrow, Ray ignored the look and continued his explanation, “It’s been following me from a distance, never talking to me or really interacting with me. It’s just kind of there…” He explained, avoiding Sebastian's eyes.

Sebastian sighed before asking, “Which experiment is it?” Ray turned his head away from Sebastian completely.

“I don’t think you’ll like the answer to that question,” Ray joked half-heartedly.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes. “As long as it's not the snake, Dr. Monroe, then we should be good.” Ray sank to the floor, curling in on himself. Ray shifted his wings in front of himself, subconsciously. Sebastian looked at Ray suspiciously, “Ray…?” He asked slowly. Ray didn’t look at the other man; he just simply nodded.

Sebastian’s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to speak, only to close it again. He took a deep breath and sighed, his gaze falling on Ray, who was still curled up in a ball.

“I’m not mad if that’s what you’re worried about…” Sebastian started slowly.

Ray looked up from the floor, surprised. “But- why? He’s a dickhead who did all this shit, to me and you! He didn’t even care-or regret it! I should’ve killed him when I had the chance- or- I… don’t know!” Ray rambled on, progressively getting louder as he spoke. Ray looked to the floor with a sharp sigh. “I shouldn’t care if he dies or not… He hurt me and you, in unimaginable ways…! So why?! Why can’t I just kill him and get it over with!?” As Ray spoke, his hands found their way to his head, his claws digging in.

Sebastian listened to Ray ramble with a closed-off look. He takes a breath before speaking, “That's because you’re a good person…” Ray snapped his head up, his eyes widening in confusion.

“What-?” Ray whispered.

Sebastian looked at Ray genuinely, “Ray, even when you worked for this shit show, you were still trying to help me and Eyefestation. You were standing up for people and animals that couldn’t help themselves. Even when you knew of my alleged crimes, you still helped. You’re just not the kind of person to seek revenge on someone who doesn’t even remember what they’ve done.” He spoke gently, which was pretty out of character for Sebastian.

Ray began to tear up at Sebastian's words. He whipped a tear away from his face before chuckling lightly. “I didn’t take you for the forgiving type…” He smiled as he looked up at the other man. Sebastian rolled his eyes before looking back at his project.

“Im not.” He responded simply. “Are we done with the breakdown, now?” He asked dryly. Already back to his regular defensive attitude.

Ray looked at his clawed hands, visibly thinking before he smiled. “Yeah… Thanks, Seb.” He said, getting to his talons.

“Yeah, yeah- now leave before customers come in.” He waved Ray off, not unkindly. Ray chuckled a bit before climbing out of the shop.