#galaxycops

Balthazar smirked. “Or as someone for you to fall in love with.” Bad Cop’s face turned scarlet. “I think it’s good you found each other, though. From what I’ve seen, you balance each other out quite well without your aspects conflicting.”

“I suppose,” Bad Cop sighed. “He has to stay in the palace, though, to keep Rex in the Shadowlands. And with my work keeping me here, I doubt I’ll ever have the chance to see him again…”

Balthazar hummed in commiseration and reached to pat his shoulder. “You’ve been working yourself so hard since he left. You should go get yourself something to drink and just unwind for the night. We’ve got this.”

“I don’t want to give myself time to dwell on it,” Bad Cop grumbled in admittance.

“Just take the night,” Balthazar insisted. “Trust me. It’s just for tonight, then you can lose yourself in work all you want.”

Bad Cop relented with a rough sigh and let Balthazar shoo him away. A drink did sound nice, really. He couldn’t remember the last time he let himself relax. He made his way to the kitchen, intent upon fetching a good vintage from the wine rack, and froze in the doorway.

Benny stood there leaning against a prep table, the ripped up peel of a pomegranate casually abandoned on the tabletop beside him. His lips were starting to stain red from the juice.

Bad Cop’s heart skipped several beats as the sight before him registered, then sank in dismay. “Benny… You can’t…”

The Sun god only gave him a knowing look and deliberately shoved several more seeds into his mouth. Bad Cop choked on his words. He meant to step forward but his legs wouldn’t respond. One arm jerkily lifted up, reaching for Benny. The Sun swiftly closed the distance between them, pressing Bad Cop to the wall and their lips together. Bad Cop whimpered and clinged to him as if for dear life.

“I can, and I want to,” Benny murmured when they pulled apart again. “And now the others have no say. I dreamed of this, you know.”

Bad Cop drew in a shaky breath of shock. “You did?” Benny nodded. 

“I didn’t know it was you specifically, but I dreamed of being held just like this.” Bad Cop’s grip on him tightened.

“But if we do this… there won’t be anything to keep Rex imprisoned.”

“Lucy and I worked something out,” Benny said. “I gave her part of my Light to use to keep Rex trapped. She takes over for me for a few hours, and I get to come spend time with you.”

“And you trust her with that, after what she pulled.”

“I don’t think she’s really all that bad. It was mostly Rex’s influence. I think, given the chance, she’ll prove herself worthy. She certainly seems wiser to his ways now.” Benny gave him a sly grin. “But enough about them. I want to spend the next few hours focusing on you.”

Space between us is a truly generational fic. Been revisiting it with boyfriend and I am truly still obsessed. These two have had my heart for years. Everything still holds up so much better than I’d dreamed- the business plot line is so elegantly executed and so achingly accurate. I could say a thousand things. Perfect perfect fic. Thanks forever @cleversnail

I dive deeper into this fic and the grittyverse as a whole on college radio:

Benny didn’t get the chance to ask what he meant by that as Good Cop finally stepped through the Veil, giving his twin a concerned look. Bad Cop just ignored him. “Is everything ready to go?” the Messenger asked.

“I think so,” Benny answered in Bad Cop’s stead as the god of Death continued his nervous pacing. “He’s got all kinds of contingencies in place to make sure everything keeps running smoothly while he’s gone.” Good Cop reached out as his brother passed by him again, gently grabbing his shoulder.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about,” he murmured. “Watevra’s on her way with the others’ tokens. It’s almost over.” Bad Cop sighed and dropped his head onto his brother’s shoulder. “I know you’ve grown comfortable with these walls. You can still stay here. You just won’t be forced to anymore.”

“I know…”

“It’s getting bad,” Good Cop said to Benny. “Rex has been slowly destroying the palace. And the longer he and Lucy keep everything under their control, the weaker the others are getting.”

Benny paused. “...I thought it was just an effect of being in the Underworld,” he said softly. “I didn’t realize…”

“You’ve felt it too?” Benny nodded. Good Cop sighed. “The mortals are losing faith. They’ve never been without your Light for so long, and it’s causing the others’ aspects to fail as well.” Benny winced. “There’s a lot of unrest out there. War and Rebellion are starting to affect them now.”

The Sun god was silent as that sank in. “Any idea how long it’ll take Watevra to get here?”

“There’s no telling, unfortunately,” the Messenger muttered. “Though I’m sure she’ll convince Sweet and Unikitty easily enough, I have no doubt Rex suspects something is up and is watching them all very closely. Plus you know convincing Metalbeard will be no easy task.” Benny snorted. “And I have to go track down Vitruvius. Jerk didn’t bother to give his token to Business when he stopped by to talk to him last night and save us some time.”

Benny rolled his eyes. “Of course not. ‘Convenience’ isn’t in his vocabulary, I swear.” Bad Cop snorted.

“Anyway, I’m going to the other side of the barrier now to look for Vitruvius. Once I have his token and Watevra gets here, I’ll come back to get you.”

“You’re not taking me with you now?”

Good Cop shook his head. “With my brother being the bundle of nerves that he is right now? I think he could use your company in the meantime.”

“I don’t need babysitting.”

“Buddy, if you weren’t immortal, I’d think you were about to have an aneurysm. You need to calm down. Benny can help with that.” Benny grinned at the exchange.

“I really don’t mind,” he added. “I like your company.” Bad Cop turned away as his face turned red.

“Oh,” Good Cop said. “I nearly forgot- I swiped this for you while I was in the palace earlier.” He pulled a corked bottle out of his satchel and passed it to Benny. The Sun god’s eyes widened.

“Is that-”

“I keep forgetting you burn through it faster than the others,” Good Cop admitted sheepishly. “And you’re going to need your strength to help take down this barrier.” Benny yanked the cork out, savoring the sweet smell of ambrosia for a moment before tipping the bottle up and chugging nearly half of it in one go. Good Cop snickered. “I take it you’re hungry.”

“Just a bit,” Benny sighed in relief. “That hits the spot. You should have warned me I can’t eat the food here, I would have brought my own along.”

Bad Cop frowned at his twin. “I wondered why you didn’t have any food with you,” he grumbled. Good Cop scratched his head.

“Ah, well- at least now you know for next time?”

“Good. Get out there and keep watch before I have to hurt you.”

Benny laughed as Good Cop gave a mock salute and scurried back beyond the Veil. He then turned to Bad Cop. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Bad Cop finally paused in his pacing and let out a soft sigh. “It’s like Good said- I’ve grown too used to these walls. And as you pointed out when you first got here, I’ve had very little opportunity for socialization, aside from my brother’s visits. I don’t… know how to act around anyone else anymore. I don’t know how I’ll handle being on the outside again.”

Benny stepped closer and took his hand. “I know what it’s like to find yourself in surroundings completely unlike everything you’ve ever been used to, to have to adjust to circumstances you have no prior experience with. I know how hard it is.”

“You do, don’t you,” Bad Cop murmured. “I still remember the day you fell to Earth…”

Benny nodded and squeezed his hand. “So I’ll be here to support you in whatever way you need. You’re going to be okay.”

Bad Cop squeezed back. “Thanks, Benny. That means more than you know.” Benny smiled at him. “…Why did you fall, anyway? I don’t think you ever explained that, at least not before I was sealed away in here.”

“I still haven’t,” Benny admitted. “Not even to my siblings. Mostly because I didn’t even know myself. I think I do now, though.”

“And what is it?”

The Sun god glowed softly as he gave Death a warm smile. “I’m pretty sure I got caught in somebody’s gravitational pull. Damned if it didn’t take me over a thousand years to figure out whose, though.”

“…Me?”

Benny took his other hand as well. “You.”

Bad Cop let out a shuddering breath as he leaned down to touch his forehead to Benny’s. “I don’t know how we’ll make this work…”

He slapped a palm to his forehead as he belatedly remembered. It had been Benny’s Light that kept the others trapped down there, and with him now in the Underworld, there was nothing keeping the others down here. But- why couldn’t he sense Business, either? Good Cop had no doubt the younger two deities would jump on the chance to go cause some real trouble, but Business had seemed to have learned his lesson…

He got another chill.

His stomach churned in realization.

Oh, hell.

“No, no, no-” He raced toward the villa, hoping he wouldn’t be too late. He’d hoped those two wouldn’t pull such a stunt, but really, he should have known better. Of course Rex would dare, and of course he’d sway Lucy into aiding his plot. She’d fallen for Rex’s sob story right from the start, and refused to listen when Good Cop and Business tried to warn her otherwise. They were old. They were corrupt. And so she’d written off their attempts to advise as simply trying to corrupt her as well.

“Man Upstairs save me from bull-headed children-” Good Cop cursed as he checked every room in the villa. He finally found Business in his private quarters, slumped on the floor and so utterly still. The sight made him freeze up for a moment. With a terse shake of his head he lurched back into motion, quickly crossing the room to check on the other god. With shaking hands he reached for Business; he looked dead.

But there was still the faintest spark of life.

Good Cop let out the breath he’d been holding. Gray eyes opened and turned their unfocused gaze toward him. Business croaked out two words that Good was pretty sure was his brother’s name. How far gone was he to think that Death had come for him? “No, sir,” he murmured, pulling Business’ limp form against him and pressing a hand over his chest. “It’s not your time yet. Not if I have any say about it.” He carefully began feeding tiny amounts of his own magic into the body slumped against him, relief flooding him as Business twitched and began to stir in his hold, his skin regaining some of its healthy glow.

“Good…?”

“It’s me, sir,” he answered softly. “I found you just in time.”

“Surprised you bothered…”

That stunned the Messenger for a moment. “Why?”

“My fault we’re in this mess…”

Good Cop sighed. This argument again? “Sir, how many times do I have to tell you-”

“My fault that Rex even exists in the first place.”

That got his attention. “What do you mean…?” None of them had the power to create new deities like The Man Upstairs-

Business drew in a shuddering breath, trying to pull away from Good Cop’s hold but not yet having the strength. He settled for staring resolutely at the floor. “Been doing everything I could think of to get your attention for centuries. Went fooling around with humans, thinking it might make you jealous. Worst mistake of my life. And you still never looked my way.”

Good Cop was silent as that sank in. “I never realized…”

“Of course you didn’t,” Business muttered bitterly.

“...We’re going to have to have a talk about this later,” Good Cop sighed. “As much as this subject intrigues me, we’ve got to get you sorted out before we can come up with a plan to stop Rex and Lucy.”

“If we could just find Benny, we could probably put an end to whatever they’re plotting pretty quickly,” Business said with a roll of his eyes. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen him?”

Good Cop tensed. “Ah… I may have…?” He gave Business a sheepish grin as he finally managed to turn to stare at him incredulously.

“WHAT did you do?!”

“Umm… Took him to meet Bad Cop…?”

“What were you thinking?! You KNOW his Light is all that’s kept us down here!”

“I forgot, okay?!” Good Cop protested with a pout. “The way you all carry on about ‘those spoiled brats on the hilltop’, it’s pretty darned easy to think you all choose to sit down here and sulk all day!”

“You have to go get him. NOW.”

“I can’t.”

Business glared at him. “What do you mean ‘you can’t’.”

“If I go back now and interrupt them, that’ll be the end of everything! If we can convince Benny, then he can convince the others and Bad Cop will finally be free again…”

Business sighed, massaging his temples. “Do you ever think the consequences through before putting your harebrained schemes into action?”