Work Text:
Heartman blinked against the harsh glare of the horizon. He had expected a random beach, the familiar gray stretch, the faint shimmer of ocean light. But this was different.
The sand here was darker, thicker, the silence even more oppressive than usual. He adjusted his glasses, scanning the emptiness with unease.
“This isn’t right…” he muttered under his breath.
Then a voice, low and drawling, slithered through the air behind him.
“Y’know, Doc… it’s rude to go wanderin’ into a man’s private hell without knockin’”
Heartman froze. His breath caught sharp in his throat as every instinct screamed at him to not turn around. But slowly, inevitably, he did.
Higgs stood there, closer than he should’ve been, his grin stretched wide beneath the shadow of his hood. The skull mask glittered faintly in one hand, like he’d been polishing over and over and over and over.
“Boo” Higgs whispered.
Heartman stumbled back, nearly losing his footing in the glassy sand. His heart monitor would’ve been screaming if it had followed him here. His own pulse thundered loud enough to fill the silence.
Higgs chuckled. “Aw, relax. You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Which, I guess… ya kinda have” He leaned in, tilting his head, eyes glinting with cruel amusement. “What’s the matter? You only expected beaches with friendly faces?”
Heartman’s lips parted, words fumbling. “I… I didn’t mean to intrude. I didn’t know this was-”
“Mine?” Higgs asked. He laughed, sharp and sudden, the sound cracking across the stillness. “Don’t flatter me, lab rat. This little sandbox don’t belong to anyone. Just happens to be where I’ve been left to…stew”
Heartman tried to edge sideways, to put distance between them, but Higgs stepped with him, deliberately close, shadowing every move like a predator stretching the game.
“Easy now. Don’t trip. Be a shame if ya cracked that oh so clever head o’ yours. You don’t got Fragile to scoop you up. Don’t got Sam to come runnin’” He leaned closer, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Nobody’s watchin’. Just you an’ me, Doc”
Heartman swallowed hard, wishing desperately to wake up.
Then Higgs clapped him lightly on the shoulder, almost friendly, and stepped back with a bark of laughter.
“Kiddin’, kiddin’. Don’t go pissin’ yourself. I’m not gonna hurt ya. What would be the point?” His grin softened into something almost weary, though the mischief lingered. “You ain’t the one I want, anyway”
Heartman stood rooted in place, trembling, unsure if it was safe to speak.
Higgs waved him off, already turning back toward the horizon. “Go on, then. Back to your timers and electrodes. Leave me to my sandcastle”
And just like that, as if the encounter had been nothing but a cruel prank, Higgs dismissed him, a man who had waited years for someone else to show up.