Work Text:
It had been quite some time since the appearance of the Chaos Dragon. The day it was registered in SCOOP's database, you were given hurriedly blurted instructions amid the mayhem as your supervisors frantically threw together whatever they could before heading to the main timeline.
As you watched your colleagues pile into the Roadster and speed off, you looked down at the case files in your hands.
SCOOP-1127. Time Shadow Cookie was the anomaly's name.
You enjoyed working with him. He was a breath of fresh air to work with, considering the vast majority of anomalies SCOOP contained were...less than civilised, to say the very least.
You were usually the one sent to work with Time Shadow Cookie. Interview him, conduct some experiments, escort him back to containment when he escaped, keep the felon in check; the list went on. For SCOOP's typically brutal nature, your task within the organisation was surprisingly carefree. You enjoyed hearing him talk about anything he had done in the past, chatting with him during your regular visits to his cell, and sometimes you would bring some snacks for him. He'd often compare them to tidbits he had tasted in other timelines.
After a while, you started feeling a pleasant warmth blossoming in your chest every time you saw him, with that charming smile of his and that soothing cadence of his voice. Curse that Grade A time criminal, you thought, for making you feel that way.
You often looked at the interns with pity as another one of the researchers assigned them to deal with some of the more dangerous and annoying tasks. You've seen interns get designated and sent into the mansion of SCOOP-1721, Tick-Or-Treat, with nothing but a pair of earplugs, instructions to never meet the gaze of the anomaly, and an order to exit the premises when their watches were slowed.
Despite the immorality of it all, you couldn't help but feel that it was for the better. The interns would be traumatised, but they ran a much lower risk of crumbling instantly than the more experienced researchers, who knew they'd perish if the anomaly knew they were intentionally sacrificing their time.
Then again, SCOOP laid off their entire HR department. Ethics was not something you expected to be on their agenda.
When Povidone-Iodine Cookie, Black Vinegar Cookie, Litmus Cookie, and Mochacchino Cookie returned from the timeline, the Roadster battered and mauled to the point that it looked like it had been pulled straight from the junkyard, you had the slightest inkling that your work would only get much more tedious from there.
And, given that even the signature manic glint within Povidone-Iodine Cookie's eyes was gone, you knew their trip did not go well.
For weeks after that, you were mostly tasked with studying the data from the Chaos Dragon. You also ended up studying the biological composition of the wyverns it created, gathering ash samples while trying not to be reduced to dust.
Such was your day-to-day routine for innumerable days. Go to the lab, examine entropy levels, collect samples from the wyverns for testing, typically requested by Litmus Cookie or Povidone-Iodine Cookie, go back to staring at charts until your head ached and your vision blurred, and finally end the day half-dead and drained.
On some days, you wished you could go back in time to be there when your colleagues faced the Chaos Dragon so that you could bathe in its flames. Whatever you now had to go through as a result of the creature's inception was worse than being eradicated from every timeline, you figured.
So now, as you looked at the new notification that had popped up in the corner of your screen, you couldn't help but let out a relieved cry.
Cutter Circuit Cookie required Time Shadow Cookie for some new operation, but he was not being cooperative at all.
In fact, it had been an issue for quite some time, ever since you were assigned to conduct research and tests on the Chaos Dragon and its ashen wyverns instead of him. It hadn't escalated into a real problem until now, though, as he refused to answer to any researcher who entered his containment unit.
To make matters worse, he also attempted multiple breaches after you stopped showing up. He'd infiltrate the shadows of anyone who entered his containment unit and use it to get to who-knows-where, and no one could predict where he was headed. One of his more recent breaches ended with him getting caught within the shadow of a coffee table somewhere inside the staff lounge, which was halfway across the facility.
Because of this, your duties had been temporarily reverted to working with Time Shadow Cookie, at least until Chief Cutter Circuit Cookie could figure out if his cooperative temperament was linked to your presence in any way.
"Your presence is requested at his cell at your earliest convenience", the notification read, "and you may conduct an ad-lib interview with him to test his disposition."
You snapped the Chaos Dragon's file shut, the manila folder promptly forgotten on your desk as you strode out of your workspace, finally doing what you loved after so long.
Your colleagues might question where the Dragon's files were, and they would berate you once they found out that said files had been left unattended on your desk, but that would be a problem for future you.
All you could think about was finally going back to see your favourite anomaly.
Clipboard in hand, you punched in the code to his cell door and scanned your keycard on the reader. Even after weeks of not seeing him, you had performed the same motions for so long, day after day, going through the same flow until it came naturally to you.
As the steel hydraulic doors to his containment cell opened with a hiss, you noticed a flash of movement on the ground as you entered. You barely managed to catch a glimpse of a dark shape darting towards you on the floor.
"Time Shadow Cookie...is that you, or am I hallucinating from sleep deprivation again?"
You stared down at your shadow.
Your shadow gained a pair of white eyes and stared back.
"Ah, if it isn't my favourite muse!"
Your own shadow shifted and warped, distorting as a figure rose from the darkness. Time Shadow Cookie himself.
He wore a wrinkle-free suit with matching trousers, his collar folded back and his lapels immaculate. His white dress shirt was pristine as always, and the gold buttons on his cuffs gleamed in the dim lighting of his containment unit. His black boots and their silver spangles were well polished, and his cape flowed behind him like liquid smoke. The aiguillette he wore over his left shoulder was clasped to his pocket watch, alongside its shiny gold chain. Per usual, his hair was tied back into a long ponytail that stretched to his knees, its ends fading into little wisps of grey, where light met darkness.
He doffed his hat to you, bowing as he did so. "Now that we have exchanged pleasantries...my, my! It has been quite some time, has it not? Were you commissioned to work on another script?"
You let out a quiet chuckle as the door to his containment cell shut behind you. After working on the Chaos Dragon for quite some time, you were happy to finally speak with him again and hear the low, velvet baritone of his voice. "Yes, yes...a script for a rather dangerous play."
"Dangerous?" Time Shadow Cookie's eyes glinted with amusement as he finally stepped out of your shadow. "Ah, yes, I was informed of that...I remember now. They have requested that I perform on such a perilous stage! What a preposterous idea!"
"At the end of the day, it's still in Cookiekind's best interests. Without this act, it will be the end for all of us. The curtains will fall, and the show will end for good. There won't be an audience left to watch the show, you know?" You tapped your clipboard as you spoke, Time Shadow Cookie's eyes wandering to the paper on it.
"What's that, my dearest scriptwriter?"
A small smile played on your lips. "Oh, nothing. Just more...details...on the act."
In a blink, he was back in your shadow, his chin resting on your shoulder as he studied the paper.
Before you arrived at Time Shadow Cookie's containment cell, you printed out a heavily simplified version of the Chaos Dragon's files on the way there so that you could convince him to assist.
As his pale eyes scanned over the document, you could feel his disposition shift from curiosity to distress. "That is...a concerning role to play. To think that all the world's its stage, too..."
He let out a low hum. "Truth be told, I would not mind taking centre stage in this show. This show is unpredictable, however. If everything goes wrong..."
Your breathing momentarily stuttered as Time Shadow Cookie wrapped his arms around your midsection.
"...I won't be able to see you, my favourite playwright, ever again, will I...?"
Your mind went numb at the contact, heat rising to your cheeks. You let your free hand come to rest on his upper arm, the fabric of his suit cool against your skin.
"I suppose...but the alternative is that our identities get wiped clean off this timeline, with nothing to remember us by."
He whined softly, burying his face into the fabric of your uniform. You had, on rare occasions, seen this clingier side of him. Perhaps he truly did miss you.
"Indeed. We've been separated for far too long, though; surely I can't be sent off to act so soon?"
You shifted your palm to rest over his. He was surprisingly warm to the touch, considering his nature. "I know...I know, Time Shadow. I enjoy working with you too. Perhaps I could arrange something with Cutter Circuit Cookie? If you go, maybe they'll let me stop by more often..."
You felt him perk up, the light pressure on your shoulder lifting as he raised his head to look at you. "Do you truly mean it? Would the Chief truly allow it?"
With a huff, you patted his head, his wispy tufts of hair soft to the touch. "I'm not sure, but it's worth a try. You could try asking the next time they visit you about it. Times are difficult, but I'll do what I can."
Your phone buzzed in your pocket. You pulled it out. It was a notification from Povidone-Iodine Cookie.
"(Y/N) Cookie? Where are youuuu? I've gathered some new data on the Chaos Dragon for you to check out!"
Your shoulders drooped. Time Shadow Cookie noticed that minute movement. "Your colleagues are calling, I presume?"
You shoved your phone back into your pocket. "Indeed. I may have to take my leave earlier than expected. I promise to drop by whenever time allows it, alright?"
His arms uncurled from your waist with a dejected huff. "Right...just give me an iota more of your time, will you, my dear?"
With a smooth flick of his wrist, he pulled out a rose from god-knows-where.
"Time Shadow Cookie, how-"
He gently tucked the rose into the lapel of your uniform. "I have my ways, my nightshade. Ah, and- ahem- about the mission...I do not want to be separated from you, but I'll do it. Just for you, and to keep you safe."
By then, your ears were burning. "Oh, I see...! Thank you. I...should really be off now. I'll see you around, Time Shadow Cookie."
As the doors to his cell opened, you walked out, internally squealing like a lovesick fool.
You were starting to think you really were one for him.
Your fingers brushed against the rose. It had been carefully de-thorned prior.
As per protocol, you stared down at your shadow. "Time Shadow Cookie, are you there?"
But there was no response. He was in his cell. It was the first time in weeks someone visited the Grade A time criminal without a breach resulting from said visit.
He truly did miss you, after all.
And maybe, just maybe, he cared for you too.