Archive of Our Own

Martyn never liked loose ends. Missed chances. Roads not taken.

To survive, you had to be opportunistic. And Martyn will boast about a lot of his traits, let’s be clear about that. So even if the degree to which he’s had to survive is to be on the down low under this backstory he’s assumed, he’s not gonna be shy about how well he can spot an opportunity.

To be blunt, the town is almost certainly doomed. Therefore, they needed everyone and everything they can get to pull through and beat the odds.

And Abolish has just strutted into town saying that Owen is dead. While Martyn wants to take this news in stride and prepare for another go at the castle, he straightens with the thought of an opportunity.

Owen is dead. So Legundo can be cured.

They can get Legundo back onside.

It’s pretty damn clear that some serious internal struggle is going on with the town doctor. If he’s cured, that’ll ideally nip it in the bud, and they’d be up a human and down a vampire. Not to mention Legs will be back to himself. Not hovering ominously on a rooftop like his sire, but back with the town. More numbers. More unity. More hope.

Legs has always been a voice of reason, even if it’s usually less active than a situation calls for. But he’s a good member of the town, and Martyn wants him back.

It’s easy to remember Legs’s voice cracking in a way it never did as a human when Martyn checked who his sire was just before the battle at the castle. Owen’s name became a writhing thing in Legs’s throat.

So they have to act quick.

Once Martyn mentions the possibility, Apo inserts herself into coming with him. After some very hastened discussion, they decide that Ren and Abolish should stay back and prepare for the night while Martyn and Apo try to find and cure Doc. If they can’t find him before it gets dark, they retreat back into the walls. They don’t try to go after any vampires, they don’t go for beacons or anything else. This is a rescue mission. Plain and simple.

Barely out of the walls, Apo bursts into a swarm of bats. “I’m gonna scout ahead,” she states. “Stay off the path so they don’t see you, but keep going this way. I’ll find you if I find him.”

“Yeah, good idea,” Martyn confirms. It’s hard to keep his eyes locked on Apo through the cloud of bats, but one of them zips away farther into the trees.

Well, maybe it’s not great for Martyn to be on his own right now, but Apo’s right that they’ll cover more ground. And if there’s any vampires, the sun is out, even if it’s cloudy. Martyn will hopefully have the upper hand against one or two. And they’re not here to fight, so Martyn can just run away if there’s trouble.

Still, he wishes maybe they’d taken Specs along. Or Abolish, Mr. Secret Agent or something. Looks like Martyn wasn’t the only one putting up a front, geez.

Martyn keeps an eye out as he moves in the direction of the castle, any sound of the forest enough to make him jump. But at least he doesn’t accidentally activate any of his abilities in his skittishness this time. They can’t afford that at this point.

Best to think ahead. Martyn doesn’t think it should take too much to get Doc the cure. The guy clearly doesn’t want to be a vampire. He’s fighting that hunger as best he can, and the book Martyn found can help him seal the deal in the good way. Unless Doc wants to say the words himself, the voluntary third book version. Anything goes as long as they get Doc back into town.

There’s that ever-present fear in Martyn’s chest at being isolated with two vampires that are only tentatively with the town. But Apo probably won’t do anything unprovoked, and Doc’s doing his best to keep in control. It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine.

Thankfully, Martyn doesn’t have to wait long for a clue. Because once he’s near the bridge, a red shape comes barreling at him.

“Martyn!” Apo squeaks, wings flapping frantically. “I found him! This way!”

Martyn starts moving, but it’s apparently not fast enough for Apo, because they hook their claws into the front of his shirt and pull.

It doesn’t hurt, but it does throw Martyn off. “Okay, I’m coming, I’m coming!”

“Hurry, Martyn! Come on!” Apo shouts, dropping Martyn and flying ahead, leading the way. She sounds… scared. Not frustrated or anxious, like she normally was, but downright scared.

Well, Apo’s clearly worried about something, so Martyn books it. There’s a shiver down his bad leg, itching in the long scar down it, but he can’t think about that right now. Apo flies to the right of the castle path.

The incline gets harsher as Apo takes Martyn towards the cliff.

“I’m gonna go ahead. He’s up here!” Apo shouts, and then she’s gone.

Martyn starts panting as the climb continues. He really wants to take a break, but they can’t afford that. He needs to move. He can’t stop now, not when things are getting so much worse. This could all be over soon. The last thing Martyn needs is for his leg to give out.

Finally, Martyn can spot them. Apo’s returned to her humanoid form, and she’s next to Doctor Legundo. They found him. They actually found him.

Legs has his hands on Apo’s shoulders like he’s reassuring her about something. There’s no one attacking, so maybe Apo was just hurrying Martyn because they didn’t have much time, but-

“Ow! Fuck!” Martyn yells as his ankle stops supporting his weight. He stumbles and hits the dirt, hissing at the pain.

He’s too far away for them to have heard his fall. If they were human, that is.

Rushed footsteps. “Martyn!” someone calls.

Martyn looks up just in time to watch in awe as Legs transforms. Not literally, he should clarify, since Legs can actually do that now. But the face that’s been frozen in torment ever since Martyn caught sight of him on that rooftop is subsumed by a much more familiar expression.

It’s not the first time Martyn’s seen this happen, but it is the most explosive Legs’s shift into his medical mode has ever been. Back after setting the forest on fire, the slip from “They’ll burn” into “How are you doing physically?” had been so slight that Martyn almost missed it. But not after seeing this.

Doc is crouched at Martyn’s side in an instant, reaching for a medical bag that is no longer slung over his shoulder. “What happened?”

“It’s my bad ankle. Just decided to quit on me,” Martyn explains with a wince. It actually feels like he’s talking to Doc again.

Apo reaches them, kneeling next to Martyn. “Oh god. It’s your leg again?”

“Let me- Let me see.” Doc reaches out with clawed hands, but he pulls them back with a flinch. “Can you- Your pant leg.”

“Got it,” Martyn agrees, tugging up his pant leg as requested. There’s a collective drop in mood at the sight of the thing. It’s irritated, and that’s as far as Martyn wants to say. He looks away from the limb. It feels like the more he focuses on it, the worse it gets.

The fangs are huge in Doc’s mouth when he opens and closes his mouth in contemplation. He’s reaching around himself. “I- I don’t have… I don’t have my-” His eyebrows lift, and he digs a roll of bandages out from his pocket. “I- I have this. I can… Compress it… For swelling…”

Martyn nods. “Go for it, Doc.” He’s a little worried about the claws, but Doc seems a lot more in control of himself than earlier. Maybe the injury is helping him fight off that hunger, calling him back to himself.

With trembling fingers, Legundo wraps Martyn’s ankle. As it goes on, the loops around the leg become a lot more careful.

Apo holds Martyn’s arm the whole time, mumbling oh god a lot and glancing around the clearing with worried eyes. Martyn matches their scouting. Any of the castle vampires could ambush them right now. The fighting would mess Legundo up, and they’d be outmatched.

They need to be quick about this. They need to do what they came for.

“Your sire’s dead,” Martyn blurts. “We’re gonna cure you right now, Doc.”

“What?” Legs replies breathily. "What do you mean?”

Okay, Martyn knows things have been rough for the guy lately, but they don’t have time to waste overexplaining. “We can cure you! Owen’s dead. I have holy water and the words. We’re close to the ruined tower beacon.”

“We gotta keep the town one holy,” Apo adds. "It's the best option."

"Ren and Abolish are back in town getting ready. We’ll cure you and meet up with them,” Martyn finishes.

“No, you… I can’t,” Doc whispers, finishing up with Martyn’s ankle and retreating back into himself.

Martyn scrunches his face. “What do you mean, you can’t? Look, we need everyone in town. We don’t have time to second guess this! Anything could happen! We can do this now, so let’s do it!”

“I- I don’t…” Doc digs his claws into the bridge of his nose. “I can still be useful like this. Until the end comes.”

“Not like this,” Martyn argues. “What use are you when you keep fighting with yourself? All that internal struggle? We need you back with us. You haven’t done anything yet, and you don’t have to.”

“You can get cured,” Apo emphasizes, something desperate in her voice. “So do it!”

Legs looks between them. “But I… There’s only so many… Like this, I can… What good would it… I’m not meant to…”

No time. Martyn tries to sound as convincing as possible. “You said he turned you as a punishment. This is how you get out of that, Doc. You choose to get brought back the way you want. And you won’t be hungry anymore. You won’t have to hurt anyone.”

That at least gets Legs’s attention. His red eye meets Martyn’s. “If I… I won’t…"

“We need to go,” Apo urges, shaking Doc’s shoulder. “Come with us. Please."

There’s a bad moment when Martyn thinks Doc’s gonna keep arguing, but with one last pained look, Doc slumps.

“Okay,” Legs mutters, and it sounds like the admission is pulled out of some deep part of him. “I- Yes. Yes. I want the cure. I- I want the cure.”

“We’ll get it to you,” Martyn promises. “I said I would.”

“Yeah. We’ll do it,” Apo adds, voice scratchy.

Finally, they get moving. It’s much easier to get down the cliff than to climb it, even with Martyn’s leg all wonky. Apo and Doc stay next to Martyn, and they get to the shore. It’s habit to get across the water at this point, even if Doc takes Apo’s usual spot behind Martyn. Apo boats on her own.

“Is your leg still bothering you?” Apo calls across to Martyn’s boat.

“I’ll manage,” Martyn answers. It hurts, but when it comes down to it, the adrenaline will help.

“I- I have an idea. Do you remember how I gave you blood when you almost died?” Apo asks.

“Yeah?” Martyn confirms, ignoring Doc’s flat what behind him. Martyn never told anybody about that, but at this point, it seems pointless to keep such a thing under wraps.

Apo shrugs through their rowing. “It healed you that time. Maybe it would work again?”

“I dunno. I mean, maybe?” Martyn says uneasily.

“We- You two-” Doc breaks off, clearly trying to get his brain working. “Do you know what vampire blood does?”

“No?” Apo answers. “I mean, it healed Martyn. Why? Do you know?”

“No. It just doesn’t seem like the sort of thing to risk right now,” Doc replies carefully. “We don’t know what too much in the system could do to a human.”

Martyn shivers. “Oh geez, the last thing I want is to become some weird half vampire mutant.”

“Your heartbeat is weirdly slow…” Legs notes before he audibly reassesses, as if he just realized he learned that without a stethoscope. “…Uh, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. We can ask Cleo or Abolish about it later to make sure there’s no unintended consequences.”

“Jesus.” Apo shakes her head. “I- It healed you. But… sorry. I’m… I’m sorry if it messed you up.”

“Hey, I’m not messed up,” Martyn dissuades, somewhat offended, even if his skin prickles at the thought of being even a little bit undead. “You… You saved me. No matter what, you saved me. We don’t have time to think about anything else.”

“Right,” Apo mumbles, Martyn nearly losing their words to the wind.

The rest of the river crossing lacks any conversation. Legs groans until he eats some animal flesh. Martyn doesn’t like the sound of eating behind him, as Legs keeps making awful noises during the process, but it’s better animal meat than Martyn’s neck, that’s for sure. Legs has to do what he needs to so no one gets hurt.

With Apo in mind, Martyn doesn’t think he could survive keeping two vampires fed. Not without getting seriously woozy. At least one of them won’t be a vampire for much longer.

Soon, oars hit the creepy shores of the pale oak forest, and Apo and Martyn park their boats. They’re as close as they can get to the ruined tower, so now they have to hoof it. Apo helps Doc out of Martyn’s boat while Martyn tries to scope out the clearest path forward, stepping a bit into the treeline.

Hopefully, they can get to the beacon and back to town quick. Who knows what’s up with Specs and Abolish, or Sausage, or Pearl? Pearl didn’t come back to town after the fight. It’s only because Apo and Doc haven’t said anything that Martyn knows she’s not been turned already.

By the time Martyn walks back, Apo’s collected the boats. They should leave no trace.

“Right, it’s just ahead, so- ah!” Martyn yelps as his ankle smarts.

“Martyn!” Apo takes Martyn by the arms. “Jesus, your leg…”

“I’m fine,” Martyn insists. “This won’t take long, then we can get back to town and patch me up, okay?”

“You shouldn’t be walking,” Doc warns, something hopeless in his tone that Martyn can’t accept. As though Doc’s already decided this trek is too much of a risk and they should just give up. Like that’s gonna happen.

“I’ll carry you,” Apo offers, turning around and crouching down. “Get on my back.”

Apo hoists Martyn up, and Martyn is impressed by how unbothered she seems.

“Woah! Look at you, Miss Militia!” he praises.

Her face is out of view, but Martyn can imagine Apo’s half-smile. “Vampire strength, mostly. To be able to carry you for a while. But you’re also mostly skin and bones.”

“Hey!” Martyn flicks Apo’s forehead, and she retaliates by pretending to nearly drop him. “Careful!”

With his hazardous ride secured, Martyn looks over Apo’s shoulder as she and Doc make for the ruined tower.

Martyn hisses through his teeth as a stab of pain breaks out from his ankle. “Why’s it giving me trouble now? I gotta be able to run, don’t I?”

“It kept getting injured. Maybe it’s just catching up with you,” Apo wonders.

“Tell you what, after getting it twisted and broken and scarred and everything, I think I shoulda just taken up your offer to get it chopped off, Doc,” Martyn grumbles.

There’s an exhale from Doc that morphs into a bubbling, agonized guffaw. Doc laughs with his full chest, putting a clawed hand over his mouth. It’s an unstoppable thing, and as it goes on, Martyn can’t help but laugh with him. Even Apo does her subdued chuckle.

“Ah, I missed your laugh, Doc,” Martyn says as the laughter peters out.

Doc is still giggling under his hand. “Martyn, I- I was never going to amputate in the first place,” he corrects.

“Oh, sure. Easy to say that now,” Martyn pesters.

After that, it’s easy to slide into the trek. The ruined tower, name more fitting than ever, looms overhead. It was only a couple days ago that they were camping up there, with Doc human. Getting shot at by castle vampires.

This could all be over soon. And Doc can be human up there again.

“Hold on,” Apo warns.

That’s all Martyn gets before Apo lunges up the tower with Martyn against her back. Martyn does not scream on the way up, thank you very much, and Apo’s a liar if she tells you otherwise.

Apo sets Martyn off her back and on his feet, having him lean against the beacon, and she grimaces at the holy light. Meanwhile, that light’s actually doing wonders for Martyn’s leg.

There’s squeaking behind them, and Martyn turns to find Doc as a bat. It’s a weird sight to see friends turn into bats, and honestly, one Martyn’s getting used to. The bat thing is kinda cool, despite everything.

“Ah!” Doc’s breathy hiss dampens Martyn’s train of thought.

The little bat cringes away from the holy beacon just as he’s made it up to the platform, shielding his face with his wings mid-flight. Right, Apo was at her weakest form, but Doc wasn’t. Of course this’ll be really painful for him.

Crossing to Legs, ignoring the stab of pain from his bad ankle, Martyn cups his hands and lets Legs fall into his palms. “It’ll be fine, Doc. It’ll just hurt for a few moments, and then it’ll be done, okay? Then this thing’ll heal you instead of hurt you.”

Thankfully, the expression of someone who has a correction to give overrules the pain. The face is a weird thing to see pulled on a bat. Legs can always be counted on for his pedantry. “The books mention burning away the sanctity of the holy light, so I’m not sure what will happen to the beacon.”

“Well, we’ll find out, won’t we?” Martyn argues.

It’s really strange to be able to hold a person in Martyn’s hands.

“I’ll keep guard,” Apo offers, moving as far away from the beacon as they can get. While they do, Legs drops the transformation and ends up with Martyn’s hands on his elbows.

“Yeah, keep an eye out,” Martyn bolsters. “Don’t let them interrupt us.”

There’s a steady nod from Apo, and then she turns to survey the surrounding area. She takes the familiar pose that she adopts at every beacon, the only differences from when she was human being her white hair getting tangled in the wind and the claws flexing at her sides.

It’s weird to say, but Martyn trusts her to actually keep guard more now knowing she’s a vampire than he had all those times before. It’s no longer just an excuse she uses, she’s actually just keeping guard. Not an act. Not filled with suspicion. They can just count on each other to do what they need to. Martyn knows she’ll watch their backs.

There’s a sigh from Doc. “You should sit down, Martyn.”

“Right. Here.” Martyn pulls Doc down to rest on the ramshackle platform of the ruined tower, near the beacon.

Doc fusses until Martyn elevates his ankle, and then Martyn won’t let them waste any more time.

“Okay, we got the beacon. We just need the holy water and the words.” Martyn unhooks a bottle of holy water from his belt.

There’s hesitation from Doc. “You don’t want to waste that.”

“Don’t worry, Specs has one set aside for Apo,” Martyn assures. “Pearl and I can make more. Besides, kinda the furthest thing from a waste, yeah?”

There’s no response.

Martyn hazards a guess. “Yeah, this part will hurt. But it’ll just be a blink, okay? Here, we’ll do it quick, so let’s figure it out now. Do you want to say the words, or do you want me to do it?”

A pause. “I… I think you should say it,” Legs answers hoarsely.

There’s something bothering Martyn, but it’s faster to not argue with Legs. “Right, okay. We'll get it over with. One and done.” Martyn fiddles with the stopper on the holy water and looks to Legs. “Uh, where do you want me to…”

“I’ll drink it. Consume or apply,” Legs recites the cure book from memory.

“Suit yourself.”

The bottle changes hands, and Legs downs the vial like a champ. His fangs twist into a snarl as the thing clearly sears going down. He makes a throaty noise of pain, but he swallows and shakes his head vigorously.

“Okay. Good. Ready?” Martyn asks.

Legs pants for a moment, breathing stilted and wrong. His eyes are squeezed shut, and he turns his head away. “Martyn, I- I can’t…”

Martyn inches forward and puts a hand on Legs’s cheek, palm against his facial hair, pulling him back forward. “It’ll just be a second. You just gotta come back to us.”

The claws in Legs’s lap grab the fabric of his shredded, bloodstained robes. His eyes flicker open, and Martyn stares into that shaking pool of red. It’s like seeing a stone statue and watching cracks open up in front of you. There’s someone in that stone, waiting to be pulled out. And Martyn can break the casing open.

“We need you, yeah?” Martyn’s thumb runs under Legs’s bad eye, scratching away some of the dried blood. “Come on, Doc. We can do this.”

Legs’s head lists forward, and Martyn stops it with his own forehead. There’s a low sound in Legs’s throat, and his double chin moves under Martyn’s hand when he speaks. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Martyn echoes. The words are at the front of his mind. Crystal clear. No second guessing. “Hoc vinculum tibi dirumpo mala creatura Legundo.”

The holy words spill out of him and bring with them an overwhelming feeling of purpose. Of resurrection. Bursts of holy light that make Martyn reel back erupt around Legs, quick images that feel so unreal. The orange glow in the beacon deepens until it’s an inky black, and the boost that Martyn was getting from the beacon is gone.

There’s a whisper on the wind echoing what Martyn did, that a vampire’s been cured and the beacon’s been permanently corrupted. So everyone will know.

Legs gasps like he’s been drowning, and then he doubles over, coughing. It’s rough and painful and living. Martyn inches forward and rubs Legs’s back to help him through it.

Okay. Okay, Legs is still here.

Oh, oh, that was it. That’s what was itching at Martyn. Abolish explained the forced cure in detail when he came back with the story of Owen’s death. Since Martyn said the words, Doc could’ve chosen to die right then and there. And Martyn… Martyn doesn’t know what he thinks could’ve happened. Doc wants to be the difference for others. He said that. So he wouldn’t give up on all that now. Martyn’s just worried about nothing again. That’s all it is.

“It worked, Doc. It’s done now, yeah?” Martyn tries to sound encouraging. The holy words felt itchy in his mouth. Well, he’ll get used to it. Hopefully, Doc isn’t the last person he’ll get to cure.

Curled in on himself, Legs trembles under Martyn’s hand.

Martyn tries to get a better look at the guy. “Hey, hey, you good? You’re human, right?”

It’s quiet. It’s raspy. But it’s there. “Yes.” Legs looks up, and Martyn can’t help but break into a smile at the sight of that green iris.

“Yeah! Apo, it worked!” Martyn twists, but Apo isn’t at her post. He nearly panics, but a sound interrupts him.

There’s a stifled sob above Martyn. He glances up to find Apo beside him, standing and looking off into the distance. She must’ve gotten closer while Legs was cured. Pinkish tears roll down her face.

“Apo?” Martyn asks.

“I’m fine,” Apo gets out. “It- It’s just… It’s real.”

“It’s real,” Martyn echoes, reaching out to take Apo’s hand. “And you’re next, okay?”

Apo squeezes Martyn’s fingers tightly. She nods wordlessly, wiping at her eyes.

Martyn lets his shoulders drop, and he keeps a hold on both Legs and Apo. They still have to get back to town, and make sure none of the town got caught up in something terrible, but at least there’s this. At least Legs is human again, the way he wanted to be. And Owen can’t ever hurt Legs again. Martyn might mumble something like that, while Legs presses his head into his hands and cries quietly. It’s not anybody’s place to judge, really. As someone who’s been eavesdropped on a lot during his time in Oakhurst, Martyn can say with confidence that some things aren’t for prying eyes.

Eventually, Legs pulls himself together. “We should go,” he states, getting to his feet with surprising steadiness.

Martyn and Apo mutter in agreement, but Apo squints. “You’re okay, though?”

“I feel… better than I have in weeks,” Doc admits in awe. “Physically.”

“Good thing for a doctor to be,” Martyn approves. “Let’s go, then.”

The descent is awkward, as Apo has to essentially leap down with Martyn in her arms. Again, he does not make a sound, that is not something he’d do. Doc has to climb down normally, but he makes good time, with an odd amount of energy in him, even. Soon, they’re all heading back to the shore.

Martyn fills the silence. “It’s good that we’re near water, yeah? You can wash your face before we get back to town.”

Doc hums in agreement. He looks… awake.

Before Martyn can continue the line of thinking, Apo stiffens. “I see something.”

Squinting, Martyn spots it too. Twin bats in the distance, getting closer.

Apo pulls a stake from her belt in one easy motion, but Doc grabs her wrist.

“Apo, don’t fight,” Doc instructs.

Rigidly, Apo jerks her arm away. “But we need to fight!”

Legs holds Apo’s shoulder with a steadier hand than he’s had in days. “If they’re on the attack, I want you to get Martyn out of here. They have less reason to kill me now that I don’t affect the barrier, so I can occupy their attention while you carry Martyn back to town.”

Apo stares at Legs before dropping her head. “Fine.”

There’s an understanding between them that Martyn doesn’t get. He remembers the way they’d went on the attack together, with Apo deferring to Legs. But hey, it’s giving them an actual plan when they could be in trouble, so he’s not complaining.

“If we get separated, come back to town,” Apo says firmly to Legs.

“I will,” Legs promises. Martyn hopes he means it.

Before Martyn can even consider getting on Apo’s back again, the bats touch down not too far away, and they unveil themselves to be Scott and Cleo.

“You!” Legs and Apo snarl in unison at the sight of the former. Meanwhile, Martyn stutters in surprise and keeps a hand on the hilt of his sword.

Legs steps in front of Apo and Martyn. It’s a stance he’s taken before, and Martyn’s relieved to be on the side of Legs’s protection, unlike the other two times.

Apo takes Martyn’s hand. Martyn meets her eye and gives her a small nod. She nods back.

“We’re not here to fight,” Cleo says. One hand curls around a sunflower.

Well, the sunflower is a good sign at least. One threat instead of two, even if Martyn thinks Cleo wouldn’t fight Scott alongside them. The hell was she talking about earlier saying Scott’s done nothing? Scott nearly ripped him and Cleo apart! She shouldn’t be defending him, let alone standing beside him!

“She’s telling the truth, but I dunno about him,” Martyn offers.

“Rude. Here I come with an offer of peace, and you’re acting like I’m such a monster,” Scott bemoans.

“You are a monster,” Apo spits. Yeah, tell him, Apo!

“Yeah, right, like you want peace after everything!” Martyn argues before Scott can retort. “Whatever it is, it’s a trick, isn’t it?”

Scott huffs. “See, Cleo? They don’t like your plan. They call it untrustworthy. That’s the civilized ones for you.”

“Don’t talk to her like that!” Martyn counters, and Cleo shifts her shoulders back. “Stop, like, trying to think for her! It’s creepy!”

Scott scoffs, and is about to open his mouth to winge, probably, but Legs interjects.

“What do you want, Scott?” Legs asks, sounding more dangerous than he had as a vampire.

“Oh, I want a lot of things,” Scott says airily. “But we’ll start with just good old information, if you’re so keen. Were you the one cured, Doctor? We heard it on the wind.”

Legs squares his shoulders. “Yes.”

“Ah,” Scott says with a note of disappointment. “Well, that’s a bit of a snag, isn’t it, Cleo?”

There’s something loaded in the statement. Martyn watches Cleo’s face harden.

Whatever that silent decision is, Martyn doesn’t like it. He warbles, “What’s that mean? What’s that mean? Getting cured is Doc’s business, not yours!”

Scott holds his hands up. “I didn’t say anything accusatory. The doctor can do whatever he wants with being a vampire. I don’t care about that. It’s just that we had a proposition that’s no longer an option for him.”

“Cleo,” Legs states, the name sounding far more wanted in his mouth. “What was the plan?”

“It’s still happening, Doc. You just won’t be the one in it anymore,” Cleo says quietly. “If a vampire turns the rest of the humans and then sacrifices themselves, then the remaining humans can leave cured. Pearl agreed to be the one to stay behind and throw the holy water.”

From this angle, Martyn can’t see Legs’s face. But he can still watch the revelation descend on him like a stab through the heart. Legs drops his shoulders slowly, taking a step back towards Apo and Martyn. His clawless hands move to cover his mouth, and Martyn’s close enough to hear the mumbled no leave it.

Something terrible shivers along Martyn’s skin. He remembers seeing Doc on the cliffside, remembers waiting for Doc to be cured. “Doc’s not going to do that.”

“Well, yeah. Obviously not now,” Scott muses, sounding bored. “I suppose we’ll have to rethink some things.”

“Oh my god, can you leave?” Apo groans. They’re squeezing Martyn’s hand pretty tight. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

“Fine, fine. I know when I’m not wanted,” Scott dismisses. Martyn doesn’t believe him for a second. “You let me know when it’s sorted, Cleo. I’ll just be over here.”

Scott lunges away, not even turning invisible, which is a surprise to Martyn. He stands a good distance away, even out of vampiric earshot. Apo keeps an eye on him, so Martyn focuses back on Cleo. Oh god, hopefully if Apo’s focused on Scott, she and Cleo won’t start arguing again. But they seem content to ignore each other.

“I’m going to do it,” Cleo states. “It’s what I have to do.”

“No,” Doc barks, hands coming away from his mouth. “No. No, Cleo. You won’t do it.”

Cleo’s face doesn’t even look like her face. “Doc, you know why I will. You know why I was going to offer it to you.”

“It’s not the same.” Legs steps forward and takes Cleo’s hands in his own. “I- I’m sorry. If I’d known-”

“No!” Apo growls, nearly breaking Martyn’s fingers. “Don’t talk like that! You wanted to get cured because it was the right thing to do! Stop talking like it was the wrong call!”

“She’s right, Doc!” Martyn agrees. “You came back to us. That’s a really good thing. We can still figure this out without anybody needing to sacrifice themselves!”

“I’m going to do it,” Cleo repeats, as if none of that conversation happened.

“You’re not. They’re right, Cleo,” Legs intones. “Look at me.”

It’s strange, since Cleo was already making eye contact, but they blink at him.

“I didn’t think…” Legs shakes his head. “I didn’t think this would happen. But it can happen. Cleo, if I’m going to live, then you’re going to live. I swear I’ll get you out of here alive.”

“That’s not a promise you can keep,” Cleo replies shortly. “If nobody will sacrifice themselves, then there is no plan. But you can leave right now.”

“I won’t. I’ll stay. I’ll do what I can.” Legs breathes deeply. “We’ll make a new plan. It’ll be hard, but we can do it. Trial and error. We’re all tired. We don’t want to die. So… let’s stay alive.”

Cleo closes her eyes for a moment. “If you can’t come up with anything…”

“We’ll figure it out,” Martyn chimes in.

“We’ll gather the townsfolk. You can gather the castle. We can talk amongst ourselves. Surely, between the eleven of us, we have to have one good idea,” Legs says with a strained smile.

“Where’d all this come from?” Cleo asks incredulously.

Legs chuckles, glancing back at Martyn and Apo. “Believe me, I truly don’t like that I’m relying on a supernatural mood boost from being raised from the dead. But for once, I’m not going to argue with such a thing.”

Martyn raises his and Apo’s linked hands. “Yeah, good on you, Doc.”

There’s a lengthy pause. “…Fine,” Cleo eventually acquiesces. “We’ll wait. I’ll get Scott and tell the castle.”

“Be careful,” Doc bids, stepping away from Cleo.

“You too.” Cleo loosens for a moment. Then, she lunges away towards Scott. Before long, the two of them have disappeared into darkness.

After a moment, Apo offers her back to Martyn. Once settled, Legs leads Apo and her passenger back to town.

“Man, why don’t we get to teleport?” Martyn whines. “This isn’t fair.”

“You’re not even walking. But if it makes you feel better, I can’t teleport either,” Apo offers before she sighs. “I wish we’d killed Scott.”

“I know, but if we make any moves now, it’ll break whatever fragile stalemate we have,” Doc reasons. “I’m sorry, Apo.”

“Whatever. If coming up with some kinda compromise gets me out, then I’m down,” Apo settles on. “I just wanna go home.”

Martyn nods. “If I can’t get you cured, then I’ll get you home.” Keep Apo on their side. He owes that to her.

Apo gives a small smile over her shoulder. “Thanks. And I’ll… figure out the blood thing. We’ll get you out, too.”

“You’re basically good, Doc,” Martyn calls. “Otherwise we’d throw you in too.”

“It’s fine. You two have already done too much for me,” Legs replies.

“Eh, I don’t think so,” Martyn says flippantly. Legs just huffs. Martyn counts that as a win.

It’s some time into their treck back that Martyn risks a second win.

“Say, Doc. You got any ideas yet?” Martyn asks, hoping he doesn’t sound too eager.

“I’m working on it,” Legs answers.

Martyn breaks out into an enthused grin, shaking Apo’s shoulders. “Yes! Oh my god, he said it! Apo, he said it! I got him to say his catchphrase!”

“Hah, nice one, Martyn,” Apo praises.

Legs sighs and puts a hand to his forehead, but he’s smiling. “I did that to myself.”

“Fuck yes. We are so back. This proves it.” Martyn rests his chin on Apo’s head. “Oh, it’s so good to have you back, Doc.”