Chapter Text
The sky is clouded today, or well, more clouded than it normally is.
Enjin can feel it in the air. The humidity clinging to his shirt, the atmospheric pressure worsening his headache, all of it a clear indicator that is going to rain soon.
Of fucking course it will. Why wouldn’t it? Why would the universe allow Enjin to catch a break for once?
Man he would kill for a cigarette and to share bottle of the cheapest booze with Gris and Semiu back at headquarters and hopefully pass the fuck out. God knows he needs it, but as he said before he can never catch a break, can he?
He could ask Gris for one, but he knows that he too had already burnt through his pack. Plus he is not sure he would even talk to him right now.
None of them would honestly.
He is alone in the car, the others had decided to get out of it with the excuse of setting up a perimeter.
Enjin knew the truth though. No one could stand the dense atmosphere of dread and anger inside the car. No one could stomach the idea of what was about to happen.
They had to get out, otherwise someone would have said something and ignited another fight and they can’t honestly afford to be distracted right now.
Still, the situation is bleak to say the least.
Zanka and Follo have each planted themselves on either side of the car, far away from one another which is a sensible choice. Last time they spoke, they were ready to throw hands so it’s better if they don’t interact for now. .
Riyo is on top of the jeep and she hasn’t said a word either. Doesn't need to though. He’s known her long enough to understand the rage and the bloodlust shimmering in her sharp green eyes. It is best to leave her alone. He cannot risk her snapping and becoming trigger happy.
Gris is by the front, clearly upset as well. As calm and collected as he always is, the man wears his big heart on his sleeve all the time. He hasn’t looked at Enjin since they got out of headquarters and he can see the indents and the cracks on the steering wheel. He is barely holding on as it is.
Enjin wishes he could get out of this car and tell each one of them to just chill, as he always does. Tell them that everything will be okay and they will get out of this alright.
It would be a lie though. He knows damn well that after all is said and done no one would be remotely alright after this.
Plus he cannot move. Not while he has the unresponsive body of Rudo resting on his lap.
He looks down at said kid, wrapped in Enjin’s big coat that almost swallows him whole, keeping him warm and hidden from the world. He hopes that is bringing the boy some comfort.
A vain hope really . Nothing has brought any sort of comfort or relief to Rudo this past week.
He’s lost so much weight, Enjin thinks. He was already so scrawny when he found him on no man’s land, his strength coming from his wish for revenge, adrenaline and sheer stubbornness. They had made great progress on that front, with a little bit of insistence and proper food, team Akuta had managed to put some fat and muscle on those thin limbs, bringing him closer to a healthier standard (or as healthy as one can be on the ground, However seeing how Rudo had lived in a worse squalor than most of them, the Ground standard would certainly be an improvement) Now though, that effort had gone to waste. He looks emaciated, brittle, a breath away from breaking apart.
He wishes Rudo would say something, an insult, a growl, a deadly glare, anything to signal Enjin he won’t turn to dust and disappear. In the end it’s just wishful thinking, because Rudo is not here. Physically, yes (barely), mentally though? The boy has been gone for a long time.
His eyes are glassy and unfocused, and have been for the majority of this goddam awful week. There is no visible sign of lucidity there, no recognition, no alertness, no nothing. He is so unresponsive that Enjin has to put a finger under his nose to make sure that he is still alive and breathing.
The silence too is uncanny.
And to think, a week ago Enjin would have killed for this silence.
Surely, when Rudo was trashing and sobbing because even a fucking breeze or a light contact with the bedsheets would trigger another flare up of his arms, Enjin had desperetly wished for the screams and tears to stop. To have a moment of reprieve in between trying to stop Rudo from clawing his own skin out and the heartwrenching sobs coming from his mouth.
Then suddenly Rudo just stopped. Completely. Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, his body just gave up on him and Enjin had never felt so guilty to have his wish granted.
It’s heart-breaking, seeing him like this.
It’s a cruel reminder why they are doing this.
A light tap on the glass, that might as well have been the toll of a funerary bell, takes him out of his thoughts.
“They are here” Zanka says, eyes forward all the time, tight grip on Lovely Assistaff.
Enjin takes a deep breath and looks at Rudo one final time before steeling his resolve.
It’s time to do this.
He gets out of the car slowly, trying desperately not to jostle Rudo too much and starts walking forward, towards the center of the esplanade were they had parked the jeep.
He feels, more than sees, how Gris tries to follow behind him, but before he can take another step Enjin stops him in his tracks by handing Umbreaker to him. The act is a declaration, an effective one, judging by how everybody else is stunned into stillness.
The message is loud and clear. Enjin will go alone and unarmed. One because it is his responsibility as the leader and second because, as much as it hurts, he cannot trust any of them to not go rogue.
Honestly, he doesn’t fully trust himself either.
Three lone figures stand in the distance, the iridescent light coming from the portal behind them enshrouding their faces in shadows. He recognizes the big one on the left as Bundus, his imposing figure a huge contrast small to the chick on the side who must be the one responsible for the portals.
The one in the middle, standing tall and completely still, wrapped in his signature dark coat doesn’t need an introduction.
Enjin has never hated Zodyl as much as he does now.
He hopes that the man knows this. That he can see it in the way Enjin glares at him as he approaches them. How much he wants him to fucking catch on fire right this moment and drop dead.
Sadly Enjin knows that, even if Zodyl sensed his hostility, it wouldn’t matter. The man does not care. His dead eyes have not stopped looking at Rudo from the moment Enjin had gotten him out of the car.
After a few more steps, they finally shorten the distance between each other. With a last deep breath, Enjin extends his arms offering the inmobile body of Rudo to what feels like the devil.
Said devil extends his hands slowly taking the boy in his claws, but Enjin doesn’t let go, not yet.
“You have to fulfil your end of the deal” Enjin says, more of a threat than a demand. However Zodyl is unfazed by his clear animosity, coldly observing Rudo’s catatonic state with a clinical indifference that enrages Enjin.”Swear it!”
Finally, Zodyl raises his head and looks at Enjin’s with his unsettling, deep,dark eyes. ”I am a man of my word,”he says. His monotone, uninterested voice making Enjin’s blood boil even more.
Still, without any other choice, Enjin eases his grip, allowing the raider leader to take Rudo away from his arms once and for all.
The loss of that meager weight and warmth hurts much more than he thought it would, but it doesn’t matter anymore.
The deed is done.
Unsympathetic to Enjin’s grief, Zodyl takes a few steps away, ready to turn around and leave, but not before speaking his last words “besides, he is no use to me in this state”
Motherfucker.
Enjin has to contain the urge to punch him in the face and take Rudo away from him, clenching his empty hands to the point he is sure his nails are leaving indents on his palms. It becomes nearly impossible when Zodyl carelessly hoists Rudo's limp body on his shoulder, uncaring of the heart-wrenching sob coming from the poor kid.
He feels the others move behind him, instinctively reading their weapons when they hear the sound, but stopping themselves abruptly. They won’t attack, because they know better. There won’t be a fight today.
Because they came here to do this.
Zodyl knows it, so with a calmness that borders on arrogance, he turns around and steps into the portal. Not bothering to look back at the grief-stricken people behind him.
The Cleaners however cannot look away. They do not avert their eyes, not until that portal closes completely and Rudo’s body disappears.
Nobody moves, nobody even breaths. Not until reality starts to sink in.
Rudo is gone.
Enjin just gave him away to the devil.
Willingly.