Weāre leaving in the morning.
The words echo in Nineās head as he paces through the penthouse.
Heās angry, heās so damn angry, at himself, for luring that damn Mog to that damn elevator, and at Sandor, for just expecting him to up and leave his - his home. Their home.
He needs something to take his mind off this shit. He ends up in the Lecture Hall, just fighting and fighting and fighting because the adrenaline is the only thing which can make his mind go blank.
Somehow Sandor ends up in the Lecternās seat. They exchange words and suddenly, Nineās standing on the wall. Sandor lets out a whoop of delight and it makes Nine mad, so very, very mad. He isnāt really in his right mind when he uses his staff to shear the Lectern in half.
The room is dark and Sandor puts a hand on his shoulder, and Nine feels like running.
But he doesnāt, and he wonders why.
āNineā¦ā Sandor is saying. āIā¦ Iām sorry,ā
Nine didnāt know what he was expecting Sandor to say, but it wasnāt āIām sorryā.
All of his anger fades. Now, heās just sad.
Sandor says something else, choking on his words. āI was never meantā¦ take care of youā¦ my girlfriendā¦ā Nine registers his tears with some sort of detachment. He just moves his arms robotically and pulls his Cepan into a hug, not saying a word.
He starts crying too, and they just stand there, hugging, crying, in one private moment that they will never share with anyone else, ever.
He Ā doesnāt remember how they eventually separate, but itās the middle of the night, heās in his room, and heās packing his things. Maddy is better off without him, anyway.
Weāre leaving in the morning.
Theyāre both silent as they watch the city thatās been home for the past five years fade slowly into the distance as they make their get away amongst digested traffic.
Neither off them catch sight of a car entering the city, containing a Mogadorian General who is wasting his time.
Theyāve spoken only one or two words to one another all morning. They donāt need to. Neither of them slept a wink, and neither of them acknowledge it.
They ride in silence, their only possessions a single laptop, Nineās chest, his iMog, and their personal bags. Who knew what use it would be - it had pretty much saved his life just yesterday.
Nine doesnāt know what their destination is, nor does he ask. Heāll find out when he gets there. He should just try and enjoy the journey.
Somewhere along the road, he falls asleep, and when he wakes up the sky is starting to turn orange. Nine turns his head to stare out of the window, just in time to lock eyes with some blonde kid, probably about his age. A normal, blonde kid playing with a dog. Heās pretty sure itās a Beagle, but heās not entirely sure because before he can blink the boy and the dog are fading figures.
The kid is nothing like Nine.
A few minutes later, they pull up in front of a vacant house in some small town neighbourhood, and Sandor must have made some calls while he was out or something because inside they meet a woman, and Sandor must have mentioned something because sheās all quiet and sympathetic, and within minutes the house is theirs.
āWell,ā Sandor looks at him. āParadise, Ohio. What do you think?ā
Nine canāt stand it. Itās nothing like Chicago. Itās tiny and itās quiet, no cars zooming past at all hours of the night. But he doesnāt say that. What he says is:
āI think Iām more like Spiderman than Batman now, donāt you think?ā
And he says this because he needs things to be alright between him and Sandor, because heās the only thing thatās ever been constant in Nineās messed up life.
Sandor cracks a tired, wicked grin, and Nine thinks that maybe, just maybe, they could settle down here. It might not be Chicago, but at least they are together.
Because a world without Sandor? Nine couldnāt even imagine it.
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