Chapter Text
[Martin's office]
Martin groaned at the sounds coming from downstairs in the archives. What on earth were they doing down there? It sounded almost like gunshots. Was Melanie having one of her rages again? No, she had left the institute recently. Basira maybe? Daisy wasn't much for violence these days.
He was startled out of his musings when pounding, uneven footsteps hurried down the hall towards his door and someone started banging furiously on it, a sound that quickly trailed off. “Coming, sheesh, hold on a minute - OH F!”
Jon slumped to the ground in front of him, leaving a trail of blood down the door. “Jon?!?! JON?!?!" Martin frantically looked both ways down the hall but saw nothing and scooped Jon up into his arms. Goodness he was frail and there was so so much blood oh no. “Jon, please say something!" Jon however remained silent and it was only through checking his pulse - weak but present - that Martin was able to tell he was still alive. He briefly wondered why he wasn't healing like he normally did these days then remembered the gunshots. Perhaps he couldn't actually heal with the weapon still inside him. At the same time, he heard more footsteps coming up the stairs. Oh G.
He quickly stepped with Jon into the Lonely, not fully as he lacked the full skill as of yet, but he was able to hide himself and Jon. He hurried to stand in an empty corner of the room with Jon, praying that he wouldn't make any sounds as he doubted he was strong enough to cover those up should they occur. Unfortunately he hadn't considered the blood smears and let out a silent curse as he saw the trail through the hall leading straight to his office door. This wasn't good. He would have to find a way to sneak out of here.
Then the fire alarm sounded. He briefly wondered if someone had pulled it to get everyone out but then realized he smelled smoke. F! The archives were on fire.
…
[15 minutes ago, Archives]
Jon was getting himself a cup of tea in the breakroom and reflecting on how much he missed Martin when he sensed something bad. Wait. What was that? He set down his mug and stepped out into the hall, hurrying towards the archival assistant office. Oh no.
“Basira, something's coming!"
“What?" She looked up from her book with a raised eyebrow.
“I… I'm not sure. But they have guns and they're headed for the Archives.”
Basira swore softly and Daisy sat up from the cot she'd been resting in. Basira nodded. "Okay. I'll hold them off. You two, get Martin and get out of here. I'll pull the fire alarm to get everyone else out.”
Daisy tried to protest "Basira -”
"No. Neither of you are in any shape for fighting right now and I don't need to be worried about your safety nor Martin's. Get him and yourselves out of here and we'll regroup later.” She removed the gun from her waist band and started for the doorway, panic in her eyes. “Come on, hurry it up." Jon helped Daisy to her feet and the two made their cautious way out of the office behind Basira. “Jon, are you sure they were -"
Gunshots split the air and the three emitted a chorus of terrified sounds though Daisy and Basira quickly gathered themselves. Basira started firing back. “You two, run!"
Jon and Daisy grabbed hands and fled down the hall as fast as they could with the both of them currently starving Avatars. It was realistically more of a pathetic stumbling but they made it to the end of the hall and managed the round a corner before running into another group. Jon shrieked as another burst of gunshots filled the air and Daisy pulled him back quickly. “Jon, are you okay?"
Jon coughed and slowly moved his hand to reveal a gunshot wound in his chest. “N-No, I don't… I don't think I am.” He slumped against the wall.
"Jon!” Daisy cursed quietly. She could hear the footsteps coming closer. "Come on, let's -”
Jon coughed again. "Daisy, there's a window in that room. Go through it and escape. I'll go get Martin.”
"Jon!-”
"D-Daisy. I… I can't leave here, I'm bleeding out. And one of us needs to escape. I reckon as long as Martin gets wind of what's going on he can just,” he coughed and Daisy noticed some blood this time, "vanish into the Lonely. Which means you need to run and I just need to," he coughed again, “stay alive long enough to let Martin know to flee."
Daisy blinked back tears. “But Jon -"
“Basira is going to need you." Jon raised his eyes to hers. “Daisy, I'm not so sure I'm getting out of here alive and I'm not sending her out on her own again like after the Unknowing. I need to know that she has you. I just need to." He grimaced. “Please. At least let some of us manage to keep decent human relationships in this place."
Daisy sniffled. “Jon, I'm so sorry about Martin -"
Jon waved dismissively and winced. “Thank you but he made his decision. I just… I wish he'd gone with me when I'd asked but -” he paused and continued in a whisper. "They're coming, Daisy. GO!” With that he darted out into the hall and stumbled through as best as he could for the stairwell, slamming the door and locking it from the inside before making his slow painful progress up the stairs. Bullets shot through the door and one got him in the side and another in the arm but he managed to stumble far enough up after that to avoid any others. At the top of the stairs he pushed open the door with effort and locked it before stumbling towards Martin’s office. Hopefully he’d get there in time.