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It had been an unexpected turn of events, Disco Head assigned Armstrong to work closely with Jaw Bone on a mission, which wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't because their working styles were completely different, as Jaw Bone would usually take more breaks, roam around and act more laid back, Armstrong wanted to just get things over with as soon as he was assigned something, the sooner done the better, he would think. They were opposites, one more professional than the other, but after all there wasn't much you could ask from a Plague Walker.
The mission would've been simple, fool some people, get back a package, and go back to Disco Head, however, things turned out more difficult than what they had initially anticipated.
Early morning, Armstrong got up to get ready for another day, he had been dreading having to work on the mission ever since he got information about it, but there wasn't much he could do about it, after all it would doing his job or just not get paid, not only would it be annoying, but having to deal with Jaw Bone would be enough of a hassle that had him doubting about the mission in general, he didn't know how much of it would be worth it since his role as it was limited what he could do, he was missing something, standing around playing the role of a RED just wasn't enough. As he finished eating a meal before he had to depart, his phone started to buzz. Wondering if it would be D.H bothering him about the mission in question, he got the surprise of his life upon seeing Jaw Bone's contact show up on the screen.
He picked up, putting him on speakers knowing how loud he could be.
“Speaking.” Armstrong said, his expression neutral as he ate.
“YO BIG HEAD!! WHAT UP?” Jaw Bone screamed, making the alien almost jump at how loud he was, being more than what he had anticipated. “I heard from Disco ball that you like to be up with the birds to get shit over with as soon as, huh?” He continued.
Armstrong almost choked on his food, his first mistake, eating while knowing Jaw Bone would be on the other line. “Unlike you, I like to just get things over with when it's something that is not completely time sensitive.” He said, grabbing the phone and his plate to leave it on the kitchen sink.
Jaw Bone scoffed from the other line. “Well excuUuse me! You're not the one that's juggling a band and Plague Walking crap aside from THIS!” He said, sounding clearly offended.
The grey was about to say something, but refraining from doing so since, having known the osteon for so many years, keeping the discussion going would only make them stray further from the objective of the whole thing. He coughed, continuing the main topic of the call.
“Anyways, the sooner we get things done, the sooner you can go back to scouting for terran scrap.” Armstrong said, going back to the table as he left the phone on top of it. “Besides you're my guide today, you know the place we're going to.”
Jaw Bone chuckled, hearing from his side the opening and closing of a door, it was pretty early for the osteon, and for someone that would stay up late, being up early in the morning was a strange happening for his band members, he quickly brushed off the confused look Rib Cage gave him and went on with the conversation.
“Right, because I know ALL of the Quarantine Zone, sure.” He joked, shaking his hands a little bit. “But yea I know a bit of where we're going, it's an old warehouse, those red bastards took over it because the things inside were ‘too dangerous’ MY ASS!!” He continued.
“Right, and that's when I walk in. Knowing how disorganized they are, I can come up with something on the spot and open a back door for you to take the machinery.” Armstrong said, walking over to quickly do the dishes while he heard the osteon on the other side.
“We know it's there, right? Not some stupid estimate or some shit like that.” Jaw Bone asked, on his side, leaning over on the countertop of his kitchen as he waited for his food to finish cooking.
The grey paused for a second, recalling what D.H told him and shook his head. “You doubt your contractor, no, DOLION words?” He said, a small smirk on his face. “We know it's there, I've seen it, in a box similar to the last job you did, wonder how that turned out.”
“HEY, THAT WAS THIRD PARTY INTERFERENCE, If that stupid TWINK hadn't been there to ruin my job, things would've been different.” Jaw Bone replied, recalling the events from the casino and trying to keep himself calm as his flames went up a little from his anger.
“It's almost like he lives rent free in your head doesn't he? Anyways, I'll be heading out soon, I'll report back when I'm near the site, you better start moving.” Armstrong said, hearing the osteon's voice through the phone for a second, exclaiming a ‘WHAT? HEY!’ and then hung up.
Getting to the warehouse, the sight was something he already expected to see, RED agents outside, ships parked near the entrance, and people guarding the door. A dome seemed to surround the platform the building was on, creating artificial gravity and air for people inside of it to breathe on without issue. Armstrong headed in, parking his ship next to the others similar to his model and got out of it, taking with him his tablet to check on details and improvise to his best abilities.
Getting closer to the entrance of the warehouse, where other RED agents stood guarding it, he did a trinity greeting and started making conversation with the guards, asking things that would keep them distracted enough as Jaw Bone made his way behind the building, leaving his bike near would be a risk, but he doubted RED’s technology, after all, how would they know he was inside the dome if it didn't seem to have any scanning technology going on? So after much thought and consideration he decided to drive his bike in, parking it so the back side of it would be facing the back of the warehouse, jumping off as he took a hook and quickly hooked it to the back of the vehicle, leaving the rest of it on the floor as he looked around for quick measure and detached his scythe off his back, spinning it for a few seconds before turning it on and swinging it against the wall, making a hole big enough for him and the cargo he'd have to drag there later.
He put the Scythe back on his back and ripped the piece of wall off the building, placing it on the side as he peeked his head in to make sure no one was nearby and quickly made his way inside, looking around trying to find what he was looking for as he remembered the layout he was shown, before he heard voices starting to resonate nearby. He started to get annoyed, he wasn't made for stealth missions like that, he would rather brute force everything than having to keep a semi low profile, that was an Armstrong thing to do, not him. Once he found the room he was looking for, he groaned, seeing the locked door with a keypad on it, he remembered one of the things he got told by Armstrong, that he would get the code to the safe and then they could proceed, however, as he hadn't gotten any information or reports from his mission partner's side, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
As he took his scythe back in his hand and turned it on, he looked at the roof and chuckled, it would be unfortunate if anyone got in his way in the middle of getting the cargo. With a quick swing, he broke the lights that illuminated the hallway, wrapping himself in the darkness as his hair and scythe became the only source of light.
Alarms started blaring as a small explosion came from the inside of the warehouse, the guards outside immediately getting alerted by the unusual sound, Armstrong got startled by the sound as well, and his stomach quickly sunk, next thing he saw were a bunch of guards waiting for the door to open as they headed inside, quickly being covered by darkness as the power to the entire warehouse went out, they were blind. Few lights coming from their own suits allowed them to see what was going on, but it still wasn't clear to anyone what had even happened. Armstrong ran inside, trying to make as little sound as possible once he was in, walking around in complete darkness was harder than it seemed after all, he decided the best thing he could do in his part would be making a distraction for them, so heading somewhere away from where he knew the package was, on the opposite wing of the building, he went over to a blindspot of the cameras and shot at them.
“Over here!!” Armstrong screamed to the RED agents, hearing quick footsteps approaching as he started running out of their sight and creating more distractions along the way.
Jaw Bone stood still next to the doorway of the room before quickly rolling the crate out of it and walking over to where he had cut an entrance to the warehouse, however as he was about to walk in said room, he noticed RED agents standing around near the entrance he had made.
He took a deep sigh as he put a hand on his face and then reached over for his scythe, turning it on as he rushed over to the room and knocked down one of them avoiding the rays of the other agent as he reflected them with his scythe and knocked them over as well, quickly going out to make sure no one else was in the way and went back for the crate, dragging it into the room and connecting it to his bike. As he was about to leave he looked back, looking around for a few seconds as he called Armstrong through his communicator, who didn't take too long to answer.
“I'm a bit BUSY here!!” He replied, shots being heard in the background and a small explosion that resonated through the entire warehouse.
“What happened with trying not to draw too much attention eh?” Jaw Bone said a small smile on his face as he looked around and turned on his bike in the meantime.
“I could ask the same to you, BONE HEAD!” Armstrong replied. “I'm not the one that triggered the alarms! I'm just trying to make enough distraction for us to get away- AGH!” The sound of a shot too close for comfort resonated the call, followed by stumbling before it abruptly ended.
Jaw Bone looked at his wrist with wide open eyes and quickly jumped to his bike, driving to the other side of the building as he quickly parked it and jumped out, he had no way to track where exactly he was, but this was better than nothing. He took out his scythe and cut the wall of the warehouse, kicking it open as he went inside, being greeted by more agents that saw him and pointed their guns at him, but JB's target wasn't them, he needed to find Armstrong.
He ran past them, knocking them over with the back of his scythe and went out of the room, spinning his weapon as he reflected the oncoming shots from other agents, swinging his scythe against them as he went into one of the rooms and eventually found Armstrong, who was grabbing the side of his stomach and quickly looked up at Jaw Bone, he was fully intending on waiting the chaos out to leave as swiftly as he could, but he was paired with an idiot who did everything through brute force after all. Jaw Bone still hadn't cleared out that wing, so as he heard more footsteps rushing over, he put his scythe on his back and quickly walked over to grab the alien and put him on his shoulder, running out as he headed back to the room he had broken into for a second time.
“You should've stayed out!” Jaw Bone said, as he ran away being followed by agents because of his glow.
“I wasn't the one that thought triggering the alarm system would be a good idea! You should've waited until I said something!!” Armstrong replied, holding himself onto the osteon and the side of his stomach.
“Too bad! We're doing this MY way.” The osteon said, running into the room and jumping back on his bike.
Armstrong climbed down onto Jaw Bone's back and held tight onto him, pressing the button on his gear to cover his face again and give himself some protection for when they got out of the air pocket. As the sounds of shots being fired started to draw close, the osteon turned on his bike and without thinking twice, drove off, as far away as he could. The alien held onto the side of his stomach as he let out a loud sigh and held onto JB, not only had he compromised the flow of the mission, but also the trust other L.A.W agents would have on him, best case scenario, they would think he got kidnapped, worst case, they send a search party and expose the entire mission. Too many thoughts went through his head, but the anger kept piling up, he looked at the hand he had over the side of his stomach, his blood all over it as his eyesight got slightly blurry, he heard Jaw Bone saying a few words towards him that he couldn't understand, the bike revved in the background with the small hum of some RED ships following them, then his eyes slowly closed as his arm fell back into place.
“Should've… known better.” He said.
Jaw Bone had managed to escape with the crate and his bike almost if not completely intact, he realized Armstrong was unconscious but he took that as an opportunity to immediately deliver the package, leave as fast as he could, and take the alien to his place to let him rest, he could insult him as much as he wanted once he woke up, but he wasn't the kind to leave a friend laying around wounded to fend for themselves. Once they had made it to Jaw Bone's place, he parked the bike outside the building and got out, being careful with Armstrong as he held him over his shoulder and quickly made his way inside as he looked around, he made sure he wasn't being followed, but you never knew when something unexpected could happen after all.
Getting to the basement, he quickly opened the door and set Armstrong down on the couch, still out cold, now having enough lighting to assess the injuries the alien had gotten through all that shitshow, letting out a sigh he walked over to the bathroom and started looking for a first aid kit, before hearing noises coming from the living room and hurrying to find something, as he headed back, he saw Armstrong trying to get up, he had taken off his RED disguise to wear his regular clothes, as he held onto the side of his stomach he looked over at Jaw Bone and stopped, his arms growing weak on him as he fell back down on the couch.
“Do whateva’ you have to do.” He said, moving his hand from his wound as he looked at the ceiling.
The osteon walked over and kneeled in front of him, leaving the kit next to him on the floor and rolling up his sleeves, he looked closer at the major wound for a second and then reached to open the box, looking for a few things inside and Armstrong tried his best to keep his mouth shut and not start complaining about everything that had gone wrong with the mission and how everything was Jaw Bone's fault.
“Alright, this is gonna hurt you more than it's gonna hurt me.” He said as he took a pillow from the armchair close to where they were and handed it over to the alien.
Jaw Bone helped Armstrong take off his jacket and opened a bit the already ripped part of his shirt where the wound was. “I hope you're not afraid of needles, cue ball.”
Armstrong almost jumped. “Needles? Hey hang on a-” He stopped himself from talking as he felt the needle go in his skin, squirming slightly as he held onto the pillow and placed it over his head, thinking that maybe if he passed out he wouldn't have to stand the unbearable pain of having his skin used like a piece of cloth.
It didn't take too long for the osteon to finish with the incision, though it felt like ages to the alien, it would be something more he'd have to worry about later, risks of the Quarantine Zone and all, but at least he wouldn't be bleeding around worried his insides would spill out. Armstrong just let Jaw Bone finish whatever he was doing, patching up his wounds and disinfecting whatever was necessary, which came as a surprise to the alien to see him know so much of first aid things knowing their species were different in terms of healthcare. Aside from the stitches, the osteon placed a gauss patch on top of it to keep the bleeding in, making sure to disinfect it again before doing so and then handed Armstrong his jacket back once he was done doing his thing.
“Right, don't make too rough movements, clean it every once in a while, the stitches are gonna dissolve by themselves yadda yadda all that shit.” He said, annoyed as he left the things he had to throw away to the side and placed some other things back into the first aid kit.
“How the hell do you know to do all this?” Armstrong asked, taking the jacket as he touched gently on top of the patch and looked at all the other wounds JB had patched up as well.
“Eh, from before the Plague Walking days. Sure I was an office worker but I did a lot of bullshit before I made my way to the Quarantine Zone.” The osteon replied, walking back as he crossed his arms and looked at the shorter man. “My buddies ain't gonna be here till a few hours, I can drop you at your place whenever you feel like you can stand up.”
Armstrong looked at him, with a mix of annoyance and tiredness, he got up, slowly, holding carefully the side of his stomach until he was fully on foot, feeling the slight sting on his wound, it still hurt like hell, but there was nothing much he could do other than suck it up.
“About your ship, you should be getting it back after your boss gets some shit done.” Jaw Bone said, looking at his fingers before looking back at the alien. “Though I assume you don't go around using a RED ship do you?”
“I have a back up, yeah, this still wasn't the plan though.” Armstrong said, looking back at the osteon. “You were supposed to wait, get the code, steal the crate, and then call it a day, INSTEAD, there's probably L.A.W agents going around wondering where I am after I got ‘kidnapped’ by a PLAGUE WALKER!!” He added, the annoyance in his voice growing as he kept himself on foot.
“It's done now, isn't it? The package got delivered, whatever other issue you have you can solve with your boss.” Jaw Bone replied, arms crossed as he looked at him. “Just tell em I didn't get anything from you once you go back and that I let you go, easy!” He added, walking closer to him.
Normally to Armstrong, when things didn't go exactly according to plan, he wouldn't have any major issues, at the end of the day if things got done that would be the important part, however this time was different, aspects of his life as an undercover agent could be affected because of the event, he has been talking to RED agents before, and although he didn't really introduce himself by name, they would know he's missing, they would know he had been taken by a Plague Walker, and he was worried on everything that could come out of that whole situation, his position as a RED agent could be compromised, and although he was only masquerading as one, his position was crucial to infiltrate in their plans, whether Jaw Bone wanted to believe that or not. The alien let out a sigh, sitting back down on the couch and leaning to the front as he covered his face with his hands, running them slightly down, as his tired eyes were fixated on a specific spot in front of him.
“Whatever, I'll come up with an excuse once I come back. But if anything happens, I'm blaming you.” Armstrong said, stressed and tired enough, he didn't want to put up a fight against someone that wouldn't even listen.
Jaw Bone looked at him, fiddling with his fingers as he looked around the silent room for a few seconds and then back at the alien sitting on the couch.
“Wanna go grab some hot dogs or would you rather sit around sulking like an idiot?” The osteon offered.
Armstrong snapped out of his trance for a second and squinted his eyes, letting out a heavy sight as he slowly got up.
“What the hell, sure.” He said, holding onto the side of his stomach for a few seconds before letting go and following the taller to the door.
“Careful with those stitches, don't want your duende blood getting all over the dogs.” Jaw Bone said, going out and up the stairs, Armstrong stood still in the doorway for a second, his expression mixed with disgust and confusion.
“Huh??” He said. He hadn't heard that nickname before, but it sounded awfully familiar and he hated it more than the other names the osteon had given him.
Jaw Bone just laughed, as the alien slowly followed behind and tried to get him to explain, only to have him avoid the question at any cost before they got to his bike and drove off somewhere in the city.