Chapter Text
The day the world went sideways Grian would say started calmer than most might expect. There was no looming sense of dread, no rumbling storm, no warning crows perched neatly atop power lines. It was as though the world had taken a long breath in - and this was the inhale, the normalcy, before everything went under.
He was in Xisuma’s office, seated next to Scar, the two of them trading playful glances. On a normal day, maybe at least one of them would’ve been paying attention to the supposedly important mission details, but something hung in the air - casual in a way that provoked no questions. It really wasn’t his fault he wasn’t listening to Xisuma - not when Scar kept side-eyeing him, which of course was necessary to return.
An exasperated sigh finally drew them out of their staring contest.
“If you two are going to do this, can’t you at least try to pretend you’re listening?” Xisuma was looking directly at them now, no longer prattling on about the documents in front of him.
The duo had the heart to at least look a little sorry. Scar, as always, was the first to recover - his usual charming smile gracing his features as he spoke, “Sorry, sorry, X. Continue.”
Xisuma shuffled some papers closer, trying to fight off the fond smile creeping onto his face that was visible despite the tinted visor covering it. “I’ll go from the top again, shall I? If you two are actually going to pay attention now.”
Grian raised his hands in surrender, his own smile matching Scar’s. “We will - promise.” It was hard to feel too bad about their distraction since Xisuma had already briefly explained this same mission last night, the only reason they hadn’t gone then was because they had been backup for Impulse, who had been sent in instead. However, he had come out empty handed and the Hero Council was insistent on checking the building thoroughly again in the morning.
So, here they were, Xisuma speaking again while the pair tried their best to pay attention, even as they subtly kicked each other under the table.
“We have received information about a possible bomb threat in the Convex Office. It should be a simple: search the building, locate the explosive, and disarm it. Understood?”
Scar was quick to nod, but Grian frowned, curiosity having been sparking at the back of his mind since yesterday. “Isn’t Convex close to shutting down? Why were they targeted?”
“We don’t know why that building was targeted,” Xisuma explained with a sigh, “We just need to take the threat seriously.”
“Who even called in the threat?” He could feel Scar staring at him, could see how his smile had dropped. It was possible Xisuma had explained this while he wasn’t listening, and all they were doing was wasting time, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
Xisuma scanned the paper on top before shifting the others around again, words clipped as he spoke, “Doesn’t appear to say.”
The avian slumped back in his chair with a resigned nod, knowing they wouldn’t get much further if he tried to push this. Best thing to do was to get the mission over with and forget about it - it probably wasn’t important anyway. He was pushing himself to his feet next, followed closely by Scar who moved to stand directly beside him.
“Good luck.” Was all Xisuma said before the duo were grabbing their bows and quivers, securing them into place and heading out the door without another word.
Even the elevator was silent. Grian glanced up to find Scar’s face pulled into a tense expression, and he reached for his hand automatically, entwining their fingers in an action he hoped would soothe whatever was troubling him. They could talk about it later whatever it was. Scar caught him staring, the man looking down at him with soft eyes. It was a look reserved purely for Grian. His own personal heaven. He felt Scar give his hand a small squeeze and he gave one back, hoping to communicate more than words ever would. It was as if it was only the two of them in the world, in that elevator, as if they were the only people who mattered.
The elevator ding came far too soon, and they quickly separated to exit. Scar walked out first at a pace Grian had to jog a little to keep up with, but they were soon heading out of the building and into the daylight.
◃⚘˖⟡︵༻𐫱༺︵⟡˖⚘▹
The sky was a dusty grey, clouds crowding the sun and covering the world in a slow dreariness. The Convex Office provoked a similar dullness but it was at least broken up by windows, spaced evenly starting from the first floor. The only interest the building drew was the top, which was crowned in white stone.
At the base of the office, people were already being ushered out as neatly as possible, given the situation. The heroes stood out of the way, yet near the door, using the time to prepare while the civilians were being dealt with.
Scar was the first to offer up a plan. “You search the outside, I’ll check the inside in places you can’t see from the windows.”
At first, Grian frowned at the idea, unable to see the advantage of splitting up when it was just the two of them. But, a look in Scar’s eye kept him from opposing it immediately, along with the urge to start their search as quickly as possible - they had no clue how much time they had after all.
Grian gave a small nod, deciding it wasn’t worth it to argue over, wings starting to spread - but before he could fly off, Scar grabbed his wrist followed by an intense look returning to his eye. “Be safe, okay?”
It wasn’t unusual for quick affirmations like these before missions, but this one squeezed at Grian’s heart in a way he didn’t have the time to address. Normally they were rushed, born out of habit. This one felt strangely purposeful. Grian wrapped his fingers around Scar’s wrist with a squeeze of his hand and a nod of his head. “Of course, be safe as well, yeah?”
Scar’s hand slipped away from his with a jerky nod, allowing Grian to take in a steadying breath before pulling himself into the air. No matter how many times he flew, he’d never get tired of the feeling of being completely weightless. Up here, none of the worries of life could catch up to him.
Regardless, he had a job to do.
He started by circling the building, peering into each window. He put far less effort into checking the first two floors, knowing the explosive likely wouldn’t be somewhere quick to find, and if it was, Scar would easily find it.
Each view into the windows were almost identical, a bland office with wooden desks, littered with papers, pens, the occasional family photo. He tried not to stare too long at the pictures, shoving down his curiosity so he could focus on the mission.
The sound of the city melted away the higher up he got, allowing him to lose himself to the methodical task. He scanned each window in a line until he reached a corner, turning and repeating until he had searched all sides, before gliding up a little to the next floor.
Scan, turn, repeat.
Scan, turn, repeat.
Scan, turn, repeat.
Before he even realised it, he was nearly halfway up the building and he frowned at how he had lost track of time so easily. For a moment, he debated going down a few floors just for the peace of mind that he hadn’t skimmed too quickly over anything but a flicker of light caught his eye. Throughout his search, he had found the rooms either completely lit up or drenched in darkness, and so the change of lighting immediately put him on edge. He stared into the closest window and a red dot flashed back at him. So their intel had been right, after all. The hairs on the back of his neck raised and it filled him with the familiar anxiety, pooling warm in his gut.
He lifted his wrist to speak into his comm, “Apollo, I’ve found it.” He carefully counted each window in a column, starting from the bottom until he reached the one he was hovering in front of. “Twelfth floor, are you close?”
When no immediate answer came, he spoke again, apprehension seeping into his voice. “Apollo? Where are you?”
Another pause, the silence starting to eat away at him. “Come on- did something happen? Apo- oh, for void’s sake-”
In an instant, Grian was circling the floor, prying at each window. The cool glass did nothing to calm him down, each stubbornly shut window only furthering his growing distress.
Luckily, he found one which pulled out towards him, on the other side of the floor, and he immediately dove into it.
The space was deserted, as expected, the office similar to what he had been staring at for the last ten minutes. Cubicles lined up in neat rows, each identical and soulless. Grian pushed forward, locating the room he’d seen the light come from and risked a brief glance into it. A black box with wires poking out caught his eye, the object clearly out of place and distinctly what they’d been searching for. With blood rushing in his ears, he tore away from the room, storming down the nearest stairs.
"SCAR?" he yelled, only to be met with silence, though it was expected at this point. He searched the eleventh floor, finding no flash of familiar orange and cyan. Reasonably, he knew Scar wouldn’t have been able to keep up with his pace, a million different obstacles in his way, but it didn’t stop the aching worry that something had gone wrong.
Again and again he called out - heart thumping faster with each unanswered one.
He kept going, rushing down the stairs to the next floor until- he crashed into something solid, something alive.
"Scar- twelfth floor- let's go."
Grian was already running again, only needing the sound of a second set of boots to tell him Scar was following. He took the stairs two at a time, swivelling around at the top to take the next set up to the twelfth floor. It didn't take them long, the pair identical copies of anxiety, hyper aware of every second wasted.
Grian easily located the room, skidding to a halt to kneel in front of the explosive. He fiddled with wires he had no idea what to do with - he wasn't the bomb expert- Scar was- Scar should be doing this.
Scar’s voice came from behind him. "Grian-"
"Help me with this," Grian interrupted, voice level despite it all.
They didn’t have time for this. Scar needed to be down here with him, helping, doing something. Why wasn’t he moving?
"Grian," Scar repeated and so he tore his eyes away from the danger to look up at Scar. "The time."
As he looked back down, he realised that the blinking light was not just that but a small timer.
33…
32…
31…
No-
"Help me," Grian repeated his own call but the reasonable part of him screamed that if Scar was hesitating, he already knew they were doomed.
“Grian.” The word was softer though he could hear the clear tremor in it, the quiet plea.
He didn’t want to give up - surely they had time to fix this - surely. But… this wasn’t his decision any more. It was Scar’s. And Scar’s decision was clear. So, he reluctantly pulled his hands away with a nod, pushing himself to stand.
This wasn’t giving up, he burned into his brain, this was a tactical retreat.
25…
24…
23…
Grian started running, and once more, Scar followed after him until they were near the window he’d come in through. When Grian pushed the glass open wider, he turned back to check on Scar. He watched something cross his face as his brows furrowed. It was something dangerous - a thought, an idea of something stupid. Grian could only stare in wait, regardless of the precious time they were wasting.
"Actually… I might be able to disarm it-"
"Scar, you're not serious-" Grian hissed, every breath a step closer to death.
"Grian- go, I'll be out soon."
Grian shook his head, too focused on protesting Scar’s stupidity to notice the hands on his shoulders, guiding him backwards until his foot hit the window ledge.
He tried to push back, but Scar was prepared, stronger, faster.
"SCAR-" The scream tore from his throat before he even knew he was falling. Wings snapped beneath him, catching his tumbling form as he fought to get back- back to Scar- to save him- he had to-
He climbed through the air, breaths catching and lodging in his throat as he fixed his gaze on the only open window.
“SCAR,” he yelled again, desperate now and beyond all reason. His hand caught the window frame, hauling himself inside when-
BOOOOMMM
Heat rushed out to meet him before the blast shoved him back. It shook his entire being to the very core. His wings fought to keep him stable, but it was an impossible battle. Debris flew everywhere, pieces digging into his skin, the air thick with soot.
Avians weren’t supposed to fall, but for a few terrifying moments, he was.
Smoke burned his lungs, the taste forever etched into his brain. He was yelling, he faintly registered, although it was drowned out by the echoing detonation. Wind whipped around him, rushing faster and far less controlled than he needed it to be.
There was a loud crunch, and then pain roared to life from his back - something solid finally beneath him. It took a moment to realise it was the ground.
He stared blearily up at the sky, orange swirls of fire somewhere off in the distance. It was an automatic reaction that brought his wrist up to his mouth, speaking desperately through coughs, barely audible over the ringing in his ears. “Scar? Scar- can you hear me? Please- please-”
Someone was tugging on his wrist, the fizzling hope of it being Scar immediately crushed as he found blue eyes meeting his - Pearl? She shouldn’t be here - she wasn’t supposed to be here - why was she here? Regardless, she was speaking, her words crashing down on his ears like a tsunami, only reaching when the ringing lessened.
“-ar’s fine- he’s fine, I promise. He’s okay.” Bitterness crept into her words in a way he chose to ignore for now.
He wanted to believe her- needed to believe her and so he nodded, wincing at the immediate tug of pain it caused. All that mattered was that Scar was okay. Why she was here didn’t matter, how she knew didn’t matter, the twist to her tone didn’t matter - Scar was okay.
Pearl was mumbling something else, something softer, but the words were lost to the void as Grian closed his eyes, consciousness being quickly tugged away from him. It didn’t matter, he repeated, losing himself to a flood of relief as the world went dark.