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Dakota and Cavendish stood in front of a comically large door. It was bigger than any garage they had ever seen, bigger than any airplane hanger. But they weren't here to figure out why this door was so massive, they were here to grab one piece of paper before this place fell to the ground. That was it.
They had only done a handful of unimportant missions so far as new partners and both of them were equally excited for this opportunity. It wasn't a huge mission since those were saved for the top agents, but it wasn't meaningless. The paper was classified which meant it had to be important in some aspect. They couldn't mess this up or it would leave a permanent dent in their careers.
Cavendish looked up with not-so-well disguised horror on his face. The door was similar to that of a garage, moving up and down rather than side to side, and it was old. The Bureau wasn't lying when they said they had to get in and out fast before this place crumbled. He took a deep breath and went to take a step.
Pop!
Cavendish jumped back, fearing the worst; the building had fallen earlier than expected. Anger surged inside of him once he looked over to realize his partner was blowing bubbles with his bubble gum.
“Are you serious? You hooligan!” Cavendish yelled at Dakota, his fists clenched at his sides. “Take this seriously Dakota! We are on a schedule if we mess up we DIE! Do you want to die?? Hmm??”
Dakota couldn't stop himself from laughing in the face of the blonde. He shoved his hands in his pockets and smirked.
“Alright, alright. I know. Time limit. So, get going.”
Cavendish huffed but wasted no time storming over to the door, only stopping right outside of it to glare at Dakota who was walking behind him. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted.
“I'm coming! Can't you see? My feet are moving, I'm walking, towards the giant door of doom.”
“Well you could hurry.”
“We're time travelers, Cavish.”
“It's, Cavendish. Ca-ven-dish. I don't call you Kota! Or Da!” He rubbed his temples and mumbled under his breath, turning around and taking a step forward. “I should call you a fool with how ridiculous you act. You make me feel even more intelligent than I really am. You know, I should have reported you! I don't know why I didn't. You've been nothing but a thorn in my side this entire partnership! It's only our sixth mission! How are you THIS id-”
Dakota was just out of arms reach when the door dropped.
It was a gruesome sound, the squeal of the door falling and the shattering of Cavendish’s bones. It was wet too. The blood splattered all over Dakota with so much force behind it that it felt like hail.
The gum rolled out of Dakota's mouth as he stared, slack jawed. There wasn't much to stare at. An arm, what looked like part of his shoe, blood, blood, and more blood. Yet, he still stared for what felt like forever. He wanted it to be a prank, so he took the missions more seriously, or maybe it was April fools today and he had forgotten! It wasn't. He knew it wasn't.
He screamed, an ungodly scream. His whole body shook as he finally realized what just happened and he stumbled back, falling onto the ground. He cried and screamed until his throat was sore but that didn't bring back his partner. Cavendish wasn't even alive long enough after the door hit to say goodbye. The door dropped and that was it. The end of their new story.
He sat there for a long time, hoping somehow Cavendish would walk around from the back with the paper and they could go home, he hoped that it never happened. The blood flowed over the dirt path, staining the rocks and the worms. It soaked into his pants and ruined his shoes. The blood smelled real and the arm didn't look like a prop. Cavendish never came from around back.
It was dark before he remembered something very important. He was a time traveler.
He stood up on shaky legs and ran back to the car with all the strength left in his body. He threw himself into the drivers side and missed the ignition 6 times before finally putting the keys in and turning it on. He slammed his finger onto the button and was pushed into the time stream.
Seeing the clocks pass him he took deep breaths which were meant to be calming but ended up being closer to hyperventilating. He didn't think this through. What was he gonna do once he reached his destination? He could save Cavendish but then there would be two Dakotas and Cavendish hated dealing with one! No, Cavendish couldn't know. He would just give his past self the keys to this time machine and then he'd go somewhere and everything would be fine. He'd save Cavendish and they'd pretend this never happened! Yeah. Yeah.
Dakota didn't know Caavendish very well yet, but knowing that he could have stopped his death if he had just moved a bit closer was impossible to live with. As much as the guy complained he was all Dakota had in his life right now. He had to do this. He had to save him.
He landed safely in the forest, just a few feet away from the time machine from the past but it was still hidden well enough that it wouldn't be spotted. He turned the key off and watched as past Cavendish and Dakota got out of the car. Dakota popped a piece of gum in his mouth and looked over to Cavendish who looked disgruntled from the ride.
Bloody Dakota quietly got out of his own car. Once he did he remembered his pants and shoes were soaked with blood. As quickly as he could while still maintaining stealth he threw himself into the back seat and took his pants and shoes off, grabbing a spare pair of his pants and a pair of Cavendish's shoes which were two sizes too big. He grabbed the keys from his bloody pants and stalked up behind his past self, using the past car as coverage.
He had the perfect opportunity since Cavendish went ahead, his head shoved into a map of the building. Carefully, present Dakota tugged on the pants leg of his past self. Shockingly, his past self didn't scream or jump, he just looked confused.
Present Dakota signalled for the other to dunk down behind the car where he crouched. He did so.
“You know I'm you and I wouldn't do this for something not worth it.” He shoved the keys into his past selves hands and pointed to the car hiding in the bushes. “You have to take that car and travel somewhere far away. I don't care where but you- you can never come back.”
His past self looked scared, for good reason, but he still nodded solemnly. He wiped a speck of blood off of present Dakota's face and threw a stick of gum at him before quietly walking off.
That was easier than expected, but he kinda knew that he would have to do this eventually, he just thought it would be for his mom or something, not his partner. He took a deep breath and with a still shaky hand put the gum in his mouth.
“Come on Dakota, we don't have all day!” Cavendish yelled over his shoulder.
Dakota stood up and walked up beside Cavendish. He wanted to stop him and hold him so tightly to see if he was still alive, cry into his arms just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, anything to convince himself that this was Cavendish and he was alive, but he didn't. Instead he just set a hand on his shoulder with a grip too shaky and too tight.
“You can't go through that door.” He choked on his words. Clearing his throat he continued, now pointing at the top of the opening. “That things gonna fall before the rest of the building. I'm sure we can slip in through the back just fine though.”
Cavendish looked upset with Dakota and brushed his hand off of his shoulder leaving Dakota with an aching pain and a fear of watching that happen again.
“I hate to admit this but you're right. There's a door on the side, if anything it's closer to the paper so we'll be fine.” He tucked away the map and picked up the pace he was walking to make it to the side door.
Dakota followed, not speaking a word and only going through the motions until they were back in the safety of the car. Dakota sat in the passenger seat this time, still too shaken up to drive. He looked over at Cavendish.
His face was so youthful, his glasses magnified his eyes making them appear even bigger and more full of life than they already were. His hair was short and well kept, showing that Cavendish was someone who paid attention to detail, someone who was important. Irreplaceable.
Dakota couldn't stop himself from looking at Cavendish's arm as the man pushed the button and they were sent into the time stream. It was attached to his shoulder, still a part of his body. He grabbed his own jacket to avoid touching Cavendish to see if he was real. It all felt too easy.
Cavendish was disturbed by this silence and looked over to Dakota only to meet eyes with him.
“...what? We got the paper. The mission is done, no thanks to you. All you did was follow me around like a puppy, where's that show you put on the first time we met? And-” he stopped. “Are those my shoes??”
Dakota broke his stare to look at his feet. He forced a slight smile. “Yeah, sorry bout that. I didn't have a spare and I stepped in something rank.”
The gum in his mouth had a slight metallic tang and it made him immediately nauseous. He spat it in his hand and shoved it into a crumpled napkin he found in the cup holder.
Cavendish wrinkled his nose at that. “This is the quietest I've ever seen you, you act like you've seen a ghoul!”
Dakota sank into his seat. “Mm fine. No worries, just stayed up too late last night, that's all.”
Cavendish grumbled but pressed no further. Dakota was glad. He couldn't keep coming up with excuses like this. He needed a long break and soon. Immediately when he got back he was going to sleep and eat until he entered a coma, maybe then he'd forget how the blood got close enough to his mouth to taint his gum. Forget the sound of bones crunching and forget how he could have reached out and grabbed him if he hadn't been slacking.
To this day he still can't taste anything bubblegum flavored.