Work Text:
A loud explosion and a chorus of screams wake Isaac from his restless sleep. As it turns out, even on the twenty first floor of the abandoned hotel they've been taking refuge in, the sounds of the world's demise still ring clear as day.
Immediately, he looks to Scott, still sleeping soundly beside him, having heard nothing. Then he gets up, goes to the window.
Looking out he sees new black billows of smoke in the distance that weren't there earlier. Definitely a sulfur bomb dropped by the drones. Closer, right below him on the street, there's a gruesome Sweep. He counts ten...eleven...twelve people go down before he looks away. That's just the beginning.
The drones swarm up ahead and the droids pillage down below. There's nowhere to run.
Another explosion, closer this time, louder. It's close enough that he sees the bodies go flying; the screams are deafening.
Suddenly, behind him, he hears the rustle of the cotton bed sheets and thinks, no. Scott's standing up, walking over, most likely wearing that confused expression Isaac would take any day over the numb realization.
"Isaac? What was that? Is everything alright?"
Nothing's alright, "It was nothing, Scott. Go back to sleep."
"But I wanna see what's going on." He's walking closer, too close.
"No." Isaac's answer is clipped and immediate.
"C'mon, you can't keep me sheltered forever, Isaac." Scott says, coming right up behind Isaac, who panics.
You can't be this close step away from the window don't look outside.
He turns, hands on Scott's shoulders, shakes him, yells, "Go back to sleep!"
"No! I'm tired of you not letting me see what's going on! As if this isn't happening. What are you so damn afraid of?" Scott hisses.
And Isaac crumbles, hugs him, presses Scott's head to his chest. He kisses his hairline, breaths him in, and savors him. Scott goes easily. It's familiar and safe, the only thing nowadays that's unchanging.
"Gotta protect you, gotta- gotta isolate you, s-save you. Gotta keep you safe." Isaac mutters into Scott's hair, silent tears falling. His shirt is getting wet.
"Isolate me from what?" Scott tries to pull his head up but Isaac just presses harder.
"Yourself." Isaac whispers so quietly into Scott's hair.
Scott picks it up though, of course he does. "Myself? I don't get it."
Isaac breathes, lets Scott go, holds his head in both hands, looks into his eyes, "If I let you see what's out there, you'll never be the same. It'll fuck you up so bad. I've gotta keep you safe, protect you from your curiosity. Can't let you get tainted, you're the only pure thing I have left."
"I think I'm more fucked up not knowing. Isaac, please, I have to see. I have to know what's going on. You don't have to protect me. I'll deal with it, I promise. Just...please."
Isaac stares into Scott's eyes. They've got a fierce determination in them that he can't overlook. He realizes that maybe, maybe, Scott really doesn't need to be protected, that he should see for himself what the world has come to.
Slowly, he brings his hands to his sides, curls them into fists, steps aside.
Scott rushes forward, plasters his face to the window, like a kid outside a toy store.
Isaac watches Scott's reflection as his expression changes from that childlike wonder to a slow realization. He watches Scott recoil from the window like it's burned him, the horror spreading over his face.
"Oh my god."