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Things had been quiet for days. Not in the sense of actual silence. Keegan imagined such a thing would actually drive her crazy. But the Commission hadn’t been begging for them to provide them with anything other than their basic duties as loyal lap dogs, and Keegan found that it had provided them with plenty of time to rest in between patrols and what not. Everything was at peace in their world. If only for a minute.
Hell, she could even see it in Keigo. In the way he seemed to rest easier, he smoked less, did things she knew he enjoyed like yesterday she’d woken up to the sounds of him playing the piano. Something she thought she’d never have the honor to hear again, even though he had one right in the middle of the living area downstairs.
But of course, all good things had to come to an end right. And the Commission’s dream team was back out for another mission that only they could handle. Because they couldn’t send someone else. Of course not.
The tunnel system was far too quiet, it seemed as if they’d been lied to. Nobody was down there. Nobody was here, if there was anyone in these tunnels she’d be able to pick up on it. And the only thing she could hear was the scurrying of bugs, the hiss of a singular snake, and---
The further they went she seemed to pick up on a sound that didn’t quite fit in with their surroundings. The low hum of an electrical generator. It was out of place and annoying to her ears, each individual tone to the sound attacking her senses and leaving her trying to pull herself together the closer they got to it.
“Hawks, there’s a generator or something back there. I can hear---” The sound spiked, a frequency that left her twitching her head and crying out as she tried to adjust to the sound. That wasn’t a generator--- A generator didn’t make that sound. And Keigo while calm on the outside, was on alert, especially after her reaction to whatever it was she was hearing.
“Siren, you good?” He asked, fingertips trailing gently over her arm as if to pull her focus back to him, to the mission. The sound stopped entirely.
Silence filled the space around them and Keegan found herself falling against the tunnel wall, her balance off.
“What the hell was that?” She asked through labored breath. “Someone’s back there. There has to b---” Her voice broke on another cry as the sound returned.
A high pitched whistle that persisted until she was gripping at the sides of her head and covering her ears trying to escape the sound. The one flaw the Commission had always found in her, they’d never been able to desensitize her to the pain that came when things were just too much for her heightened hearing to handle. And fuck, she was starting to wish that they had.
The sound persisted this time--- And it didn’t let up. She bit into her lip so hard she could taste the blood to keep herself from screaming. If she screamed here, not only would she risk collapsing the tunnel, but causing serious damage to Keigo too. It wasn’t--- She wasn’t willing to do that.
The sound persisted until she was struggling to keep herself upright, and Keigo’s alertness had shifted to concern. They’d picked a frequency that seemed to hit her, and only her. Whoever was back there was targeting her. Fuck. Silence fell again, and she choked on a sob.
"They're a fucking coward." Keigo hissed under his breath, his hand coming up to pull his noise cancelling headphones from his head.
She shook her head at him. He needed those. But the ugly sound was back, another pitch higher and she felt like her head might explode. He clamped them down over her ears and kept his hands over them as if to hold them tight to her to help alleviate some of the stress. And it might have worked, maybe. If she were normal.
Her face contorted with her pain as the noise continued. She needed to find it's source to shut it up. She could silence it if she could just find it.
"Where is it coming from? I'm gonna make it stop." Keigo asked, his eyes watching her.
Keegan whimpered, her throat dry as she whined her response. "I can't… everywhere. Please get out."
Keigo shook his head, feathers puffing up. Several of the smaller ones flying off into the depths of the tunnel in an effort to find the source of the sound. Breathing was becoming increasingly difficult and she tried oh so desperately again to make him leave.
"Please… Go."
"I am not leaving you here, Keegan."
She knew. The moment it started. This wasn't a mission. It was a trap. A reminder. You're a monster, Keegan and you're not worthy of his love. You'll only hurt him… just like everyone and everything else you touch.
Her breathing was labored, sobs broken as she clawed at her hair, at her ears. At whatever she could reach. "Please… I don't want to hurt you." Her voice broke on the plea.
She could feel it bubbling up in her throat. She needed him out. Fuck. He wasn't going to leave. Lungs burned, nausea set in, she was so damn dizzy she thought she might faint.
She tore his headphones from her head, shoving them back at him. If he was going to stay he needed them more than her. And he nodded, putting them back on himself, only to pull her against him.
"This isn't the first time we've done this, Songbird. I've got you, and I'm not going to let you go." Keigo said, his voice a mere whisper over the pulsating throb of her headache against the screeching that wouldn't stop.
And she clasped a hand over her mouth, as if to hold it in just a little longer, but her hand fell from her lips and she whimpered another apology before the scream she'd been holding back tore out of her throat.
Cracks ran up concrete walls, and the world around them shook, but the sound stopped. It stopped. And she felt him tense around her, his arms tightening as the pain hit him in waves, feathers taking the ultrasonic waves and attacking his nervous system. Fuck. She did that. She was hurting him.
Strong familiar arms turned her so fast she'd have fallen were it not for his grip holding her steady. And just as quickly, Keigo's lips were on hers, silencing her.
The walls were starting to collapse around them. He broke away, she chased after him not wanting the moment to end.
"Baby, listen to me. This place is coming down. I know you're disoriented and you're scared, but whoever's back there isn't going to make it out. We are though. We're gonna get out of here, just like we always do." He said, "Nod for me if you understand."
She nodded.
"Good. Hold on tight." He said, scooping her into his arms and spreading his wings as she wrapped her arms around his neck to keep herself pressed against him. They moved so fast she almost couldn't comprehend it, and she watched as they moved as the walls crumbled down behind them. It was almost as if the collapse was chasing them, staying just out of reach.
The sound of the walls crumbling tore into her already frayed nerves, and she hid her face in his neck as if the action could hide her from all the things that hurt.
Labored breaths met with the flesh of his neck, and she was a weird sort of stuck between the feeling of ultra-awareness and being half dazed and half unconscious. She sighed as they broke out into the natural light of the world as the sun set before them, a mess of oranges, pinks, and purples that faded into deep and dark blue the lower the sun crept beneath the horizon.
She was lost. Reality couldn’t seem to hold onto her as well as it should’ve been able to, and it made her want to cry. Her head spun as they climbed into the sky upon reaching freedom beyond the mouth of the tunnels. And she held onto him tighter with a weak whimper. The sounds of the city tearing into her as they got closer and closer to the place they called home, and because she didn’t have the protective gear that he had--- he took a more leisurely pace, whispering placating promises of making it all stop soon.
When they touched down on the penthouse balcony, it was the smaller alcove just outside their bedroom that opened into familiar comfort. Henna greeted them just inside the door, the fingers of her hologram twiddling with her fingernails as she took in the sight of them. Keigo wasted no time.
“Hina--- Bring the window tint up to 100, sound proofing too. Soften the overhead lights to a dim glow. Please.” His voice was hoarse, like he was the one who had been screaming.
Henna nodded, hologram fingers hovering just over Keegan where she rested in Keigo’s grasp, worry written across her face. Of course she was worried. But Keigo could already tell the difference as the protocols ran through her mainframe, and the ambiance of their surroundings changed and blissful silence filled the space with the exception of Keigo’s breathing and heartbeat, and her own.
“Done and done. I’ve also started a bath in the master bathroom, with lavender bubble bath and epsom salts.” Henna said, with a nod.
Keegan herself was barely there, and the words were barely registering. Even as Keigo carried her off to the master bathroom. He eased her down so that she was sitting on the toilet seat, she could feel the plush of the cover where she’d sat so many times before to watch him meticulously apply his eyeliner, or joined him for a chat while he showered. Things were effortless here.
In the penthouse, when things were peaceful. Why couldn’t they just have peace? Hadn’t they done enough. God how she hoped there would come a day when they’d done enough to deserve peace.
She shivered, as he pushed her leather jacket from her shoulders. There was a chill to the air in the tiled room, and the warmth of her jacket protecting her sweat slicked t-shirt was gone. The air seemed infinitely colder now.
“Do you want me to help you?” His tone held all of his worry now. His usual calculating calm was replaced by hoarse tones and frantic edges to his words. And she could feel the edges of his anger, as though he’d come to the same realization that she had earlier. The whole thing had been a trap. A lesson. A punishment. And even then, while she registered the tones, she didn’t quite register what he’d said.
“What?” She asked, blinking herself into focus.
“Do you want me to help you?” He asked again.
Keegan found it in herself to nod, and she was the one who ended up assisting him, rather than the other way around. Piece by piece sweat soaked clothes were removed, until finally she was being sunk into the embrace of the warmth of the bubbled bath water. And he stayed, right there beside the tub, fingers trailing soft lines over her shoulders and her arms. The soft soothing motions grounding her to her current reality.
They had survived. He hadn’t been severely hurt, even though she’d lost control. And here he was, comforting her in soft silence as she soaked the sweat and misery from her skin. She was unsure of how much time had passed between when she’d gotten in, and when the water had started to shift from warm to luke warm--- but when Keigo noticed the shift in temperature, he reached for her bath sponge, lathered it with soap and took it to her body with soft and caring brushes against her skin.
And inevitably when she started sobbing again, as she often did when these things happened, he rubbed soothing circles into the skin of her back and waited while she cried it out.
Soon the water was cold as the air that had started to chill her shoulders, but she was clean from head to foot, and she felt better, even if she hadn’t been able to necessarily stop crying. He helped her from the water, wrapped her in a towel that seemed to wrap around her at least twice, it was so big, and began patting her curls dry with another smaller towel.
“Thank you.” She whispered, as they wandered back to the bedroom together, her body leaned against him, one red wing wrapped protectively around her.
“Hey--- It’s what we do. We take care of each other.” He said, as he got her settled in the massive bed, “You get some rest, honey. I have some business to take care of. I’ll be back soon.”