#hiddeninthunder

In the spirit of scientific cooperation 

Written for @hiddeninthunder, hope you enjoy! 

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jadzia Dax/B'Elanna Torres Characters: B'Elanna Torres, Jadzia Dax Additional Tags: fluff and first meetings, those federation scientific conferences are just great for meeting people Summary:

It’s for @hiddeninthunder! And I should tag @owfemslashexchange as well, who’re the people who organized this whole lovely thing, so go shoot them a thanks if you think this idea was cool. Read it below the cut!

((I tried for like ten minutes to find a fitting title for this but nothing sounded right. Oh well. This is for @hiddeninthunder! I hope you enjoy.))

“Ah, mierda!” Sombra exclaimed as she was thrown into a wall with a swipe from Winston, pain lancing through her arm. She tried to lift her gun to fire back on him, but had barely lifted it two inches before she was met with more pain. “Mierda, mierda, mierda…” she muttered, looking around for a place to hide. She darted around a nearby wall and leaned back against it, sighing. After taking a minute to calm down, she assessed the damage in her arm. Nothing seemed to be protruding at any odd angles, and a quick prodding along it told her confirmed that there were no breaks.

    ‘A dislocation, then,’ Sombra thought to herself. It would have to be reset, and fast, or she was as good as dead. She really ought to use her comms and ask for help, but… ‘I’ll just do it myself. No problem, right? It can’t be that hard.’ She tried not to think about how she’d only ever seen this done in movies, braced herself, and tried to force the arm back into its socket.

    It did not go well. The pain was some of the worst she’d ever felt, and it was all she could do to keep from crying out in pain and giving her position away. Five minutes later Sombra could have sworn the pain was actually worse than when she’d started, and her hair was damp with sweat. ‘I can’t say here,’ she thought frantically. ‘I haven’t improved my condition at all, and if I stay here any longer, someone is sure to spot me. I can’t believe I forgot to put a translocator down! I need to get out, and fast, but how am I gonna do that on my own with a fucked-up arm? Maybe it’s time…’

Breathing hard, Sombra reached up and activated her comms. “Mercy, I think I need your help,” she said resignedly. “I’m back by…” She paused, noticing a corridor a ways away, partially obscured by a wall, that she hadn’t realized was there in the initial surge of adrenaline. If she remembered correctly, that corridor led back to near her base, and it was a roundabout way of going anywhere, so there was little chance of an enemy finding it. If she could just make it back… “Actually, Doc, never mind. I’ve got this.”

“What?” Mercy asked over comms. She sounded worried. “What do you mean, ‘I’ve got this?’” Where are you? Are you hurt? Don’t do anything stu-” Sombra turned off her comms. She had to focus now.

____

    “Sombra? Sombra!” Mercy shouted into the mic. “What are you doing?! Sombra!”

    “Don’t waste your breath, Ziegler,” Widowmaker chimed in, and though Mercy could not see her from here, she could hear the smirk in the sniper’s voice. “Sombra doesn’t like relying on others to do things for her. She probably found a new way out of the situation and is trying to get herself out of it…” She chuckled. “… even if that way is harder and riskier than simply asking for help.”

    “Yes, but I thought she would at least have the sense to…” Mercy sighed exasperatedly and began massaging her temples. “I’m sure you’re right. I just hope she knows what she’s doing.”

    “Don’t worry,” Widowmaker said. The sound of a gunshot came through the comms, along with distant shouts of pain. “I’m sure she’ll be just fine.”

Ten minutes and a lot of worrying later, Mercy saw Sombra round a corner, sweating hard and grimacing in pain. “Hey there, Doc,” she said when she saw Mercy. “Sorry about cutting you off like that, but I didn’t want you to worry about me.”

“Well, if that was your intention, you certainly failed!” Mercy said, growing angry. “I didn’t know where you were or what had happened or if you’d been badly hurt or anything!” She noticed that Sombra was holding her SMG in her left hand, rather than her right. “Did something happen to your arm? Let me see.” She moved to grab Sombra’s arm, but Sombra wrenched it away, only to gasp in pain. “No thanks, Doc.”

“What?” Mercy asked, confused. “Don’t you want me to see how bad it is?” She tried to grab Sombra’s arm again, but Sombra simply turned away and marched back into their base.

“I don’t need the assist, Mercy,” Sombra called back. “It’s just a dislocation. I can fix it myself.” She left Mercy standing there, stunned, annoyed, and very worried. She would have to check on Sombra after the battle.

Luckily, the fighting was over pretty quickly after that, and Mercy was able to seek Sombra out. She wasn’t in the medbay, like an intelligent injured person, of course; Mercy instead found her in her sitting on her bed in her quarters, shirtless but for an undershirt that exposed a generous amount of her toned arms and smooth skin, desperately trying to do what looked like the reduction of a dislocated shoulder. The area around her shoulder was red and bruised, her undershirt was stained in several places, and Sombra was gritting her teeth so hard Mercy was worried she’d damage them somehow. “Sombra, what are you doing?!” Mercy shouted, shocking Sombra out of her efforts. “Never have I seen someone do something so stupid as this! Why didn’t you at least go to the medbay?” She felt both livid and on the verge of tears at the same time, though she was not entirely certain why. “Let me see it.”

Sombra scowled at her. “I already told you, I don’t need your-”

“Oh, shut up and let me see it!” Mercy said hotly. “I refuse to let you injure yourself further! This pigheadedness is completely childish and unnecessary, Sombra, and you know it. Now you will let me see the problem and you will do it now, or so help me Gott I don’t know what I’ll do!” She sat down on the bed next to her, and this time, when she moved to grab Sombra’s arm, she was allowed to.

“Hmm, yes, definitely a dislocation,” Mercy mumbled to herself as she prodded the area around the joint, trying not to notice how soft and smooth Sombra’s skin was underneath her fingers. “You were right about it in that regard, so that explains whatever the hell you were trying to accomplish before I got here. It’s certainly possible to reduce a dislocated joint back into its original position, but given your lack of medical knowledge, it’s highly inadvisable. In fact,” - She glared disapprovingly at Sombra - “it looks like your efforts have worsened the injury pretty significantly. A trained medical professional would be much better equipped to perform the procedure.” She paused for a moment, smiling thinly. “Luckily for you, however, I haven’t changed out of my uniform yet, and so I have my healing staff with me. The stream will fix the injury far more quickly, as well as less painfully, than I could resetting it by hand.”

Sombra was silent throughout the process. She was instead watching Mercy’s face as she worked, observing every raised eyebrow, every slight frown, every near-imperceptible micro-expression. It was a beautiful face, to be sure; Sombra had noticed that detail from the moment they’d first met. Her features were beautiful and delicate, with dazzling blue eyes, all framed by thick, luscious blonde hair kept up in a hairstyle that just fit her perfectly, inexplicably. Sombra would have liked to reach out and run her fingers through that hair and feel its softness, its smoothness, but she hardly thought that this was the right time.

Besides, she was still pissed.

When Mercy finished her initial analyzation, she fired up her Caduceus staff, set it to healing, and fixed the injury in less than twenty seconds. The nanomachines sent a funny tingling through Sombra’s arm, but the slight discomfort was more than worth the relief she felt as her shoulder was reduced and the swelling around the joint went down. It was such a welcome relief that Sombra almost forgot her indignance.”Thanks Mercy, but I almost had it, you know. You didn’t need to fix it for me.”

Mercy was dumbstruck at the ridiculousness of the statement. “What in the world are you talking about? Your injury was inflamed and you were clearly in pain! If you kept going like that, there’s no telling what could have happened! You might have permanently injured yourself!”

“Better to fuck myself up and deal with it on my own than get help from someone else,” Sombra said. “I never asked you for help; hell, I bet a lot of people never do. You just insert yourself into situations and decide to help people out. Well, maybe they don’t want your help; ever think of that? Let people figure shit out for themselves for once, instead of butting in where you’re not wanted!”

“Sombra, I save people’s lives when I ‘insert myself,’ as you put it,” Mercy said. She could feel her voice rising, but there was no stopping it at this point. “I’ve found that the vast majority of people would rather live than die, and while yes, some initially try to be tough and deal with it themselves, they always realize that I am more qualified to help than they are. You, on the other hand, seem completely oblivious to the fact that you’re being a complete child when you refuse my help! How is it possible for someone as brilliantly smart as you to be so stupid when it comes to this?”

The fire in Sombra’s eyes had gone cold. “Get out, Doc. And don’t help me again.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sombra. I’m not going to let you hurt or kill yourself just because you’re-”

Sombra suddenly surged forward and grabbed Mercy by the arm, wrenching her forward so her face was only a few inches from Sombra’s. “If you call me stupid and stubborn again, you’re gonna get yourself killed… Angela. Now get. Out. And don’t you dare help me.” She let go of Mercy and shoved her back, almost knocking her off the bed, before lying down and rolling to face away from Mercy.

Walking out of the living area and down the halls to put her gear away, Mercy realized that for once, she had no idea what to do. Practical solutions to problems had always come easily to her; it was how she had been able to pioneer a breakthrough in nanobiology at such a young age. However, this was an entirely new situation for her: how do you help someone who doesn’t want to be helped? She supposed she could use force to get Sombra immobilized so she’d have to accept help, but Mercy was not about to use violence to get Sombra to comply, and quite frankly, Sombra was probably stronger than her, and with better reflexes, not to mention substantially more experience with hand-to-hand combat. So what was she to do…?

When Mercy finally hung her gear up and returned to her own quarters, she tried to read to clear her mind of what had happened, but it was no use: she couldn’t stop thinking about how angry Sombra had been. Her beautiful purple eyes, usually bright and playful, had been filled with a rage that Mercy hadn’t even known she was capable of. It was obvious that she had offended Sombra deeply, and the last thing she wanted to do was ruin their relationship. It wasn’t particularly strong, but they had been becoming closer, and Mercy had hoped that perhaps, one day…

Mercy shook the thoughts of soft hands and softer lips from her mind. She thought about it some more before resolving to leave Sombra alone for a few days to let her cool down before trying to talk some sense into her. Attempting to do anything about her refusal when she was this upset was an exercise in futility, and besides, there were no missions planned for next week. It was not the best plan in the world, but it was her best bet. She only hoped nothing came up.

____

    She was woken up two days laters by a blaring siren, followed by Athena’s voice telling them to suit up and prepare for immediate dropship boarding and takeoff. Apparently she had just received a report that there was something happening at the Ilios ruins, though there was not enough information to tell exactly what, and this team was the only one currently available to handle it. As Mercy hurriedly put her armor on, she caught Sombra entering the armory out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head, met Sombra’s eyes for a half-second, and felt a twinge of pain when Sombra averted her eyes. They hadn’t spoken since their fight, and had generally avoided being in the same room as one another if they could help it; even at meals, Sombra had loaded a plate up and hurried back to her quarters. Mercy had hoped that the two days might have been enough, but clearly that was not the case.

    The dropship was capable of flying at hypersonic speeds, so the trip couldn’t have taken more than ten minutes, but with the two of them not speaking, the flight might as well have lasted hours. Their not talking also dampened the moods of the other agents, leaving the dropship eerily quiet. Mercy could have cried out of sheer relief when the ship finally touched down at the ruins.

    As they were preparing to depart the ship, Mercy mustered up her strength and walked up to Sombra. “Hello, Sombra…”

    Sombra raised an eyebrow, a blank expression on her face. “Can I help you with something?”

    “I just, um… I was thinking that given the limited amount of information we have, it’s probably best if I do watch your back on this one. We don’t know what sort of-”

    Sombra’s eyes grew cold and she pressed a gloved finger to Mercy’s lips. “I’d advise against finishing that thought, Doc. I can handle myself, and I’ll prove it to you.” She gave Mercy a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Trust me on this one.”

    “Sombra, I…”

    “Trust. Me.” Sombra spun around and ran out the door as it opened, leaving her team in the dust.

    ‘Oh, Sombra, I hope you know what you’re doing,’ Mercy thought worriedly.  

____

    The mission was going well. The disturbance turned out to be Talon agents trying to enter the ruins and claim the artifacts within. Overwatch managed to get to them before they were too far into the ruins, and was slowly pushing them back out. Mercy flew between her teammates quickly, healing them up in mere seconds with her staff, narrowly missing stray bullets and more than a few grenades. She found herself distracted, however, by Sombra’s absence. She couldn’t get the nagging voice out of her head: ‘Where is she? What’s she doing? I haven’t seen her for the entire mission. Is she hurt? What if she’s dead?’ The unwanted thoughts almost got her shot multiple times, but she couldn’t help it.

    Finally, blessedly, the fight wound down, and there were only a few Talon agents left, clumped together in a side chamber in the underground part of the ruins. As her team was finishing tying them up, Mercy heard a shoe scraping against stone behind the team, and turned just in time to see a Talon agent standing in the doorway to the chamber, cocking his arm, about to throw a grenade. She gasped and let out a shout, dove behind some nearby cover, and waited for the blast to come, but it never did. Instead, there was the faint patter of liquid hitting the stone floor. Mercy peeked above her cover to find Sombra standing behind the Talon agent, a knife shoved clean through the back of his skull. Sombra pulled her knife out and let the man fall, his fingers going limp. She looked at Mercy and gave a smug smile. She held her arms out and did a little twirl, showing that her armor was completely undamaged, if a little ruffled. “See, Doc? I don’t need you to-”

    Her sentence was abruptly cut off as the grenade that had slipped from the Talon agent’s fingers went off in a burst of hellfire, sending Sombra flying backwards and into a wall. A sickening crunch resounded through the chamber as her body collided with the hard stone.

    The sound of the blast, amplified in the closed space they were in, had rendered Mercy temporarily deaf, so she could not hear herself screaming, but she could certainly feel it, just like she could feel the hot tears streaming down her face. She rushed over to the broken body in front of her and tried to fight through her wild emotions to assess the extent of the damage.

The right half of Sombra’s combat suit had been ripped to shreds, and the skin below was severely burnt; the flesh was as red as a lobster where it was not totally blackened and was weeping blood from where it had been split. There were also multiple blisters that had formed, marring the side of her face. The hair she hadn’t shaved was now almost entirely burnt off, and her limbs were splayed out at unnatural angles that changed the further you went along the arm, signifying breakage at multiple spots. Additionally, during a quick prodding of Sombra’s back and front, Mercy noticed a sharp bump sticking out just below her chest; it seemed that her ninth or perhaps her tenth rib had been broken and was jutting out. The damage was enough to have killed her already, but when Mercy put her fingers to Sombra’s neck to check for a pulse, she still felt a faint pulsing. ‘She’s still alive,’ Mercy thought with relief, which quickly turned to distraught when she realized that she was woefully under-equipped for the situation.

‘The damage here is too great to be healed by my staff alone,’ Mercy thought frantically as she powered up her Caduceus staff and set it to work. The burns healed somewhat, and the blood stopped flowing, but the majority of the injuries remained. ‘The staff will stabilize her, but it was never meant to repair injuries of this magnitude. Third-degree burns, multiple full breakages, and Gott knows how many punctured internal organs… you’d ideally need a full team of doctors to tackle something like this! I have things on the dropship to get her into a good enough condition that she won’t be critical anymore, but…’’ Mercy could feel herself begin to panic. What was she going to do?

“Reinhardt!” She heard herself say, though it was still muffled and sounded far away. “I’m bringing her back to the ship. Handle the prisoners.”

“Bringing her back to the…” Reinhardt was baffled. “Mercy, Sombra is of a weight with you, and badly injured besides! You’ll kill her and hurt yourself trying to do that. Let me go to the ship and bring back your equipment while you keep her stabilized.”

Mercy could here the logic in his words, but she was too upset to care. “Thank you, Reinhardt, but I can’t trust you to know exactly what I need from the ship, and besides, the Valkyrie suit gives me slightly increased strength as well as greatly increased mobility. On top of all that, the things on the ship aren’t even enough to fully treat her, so there’d be no point in doing an operation here. I’m sorry, but I have to go, now.” She scooped Sombra up in her arms and ran out of the chamber before Reinhardt could protest.

Mercy didn’t cry the whole way back to the ship. She didn’t cry when she laid Sombra down on the table that she’d hastily cleared to make room for operating space, nor did she cry as she fetched the necessary equipment from its container. It was about twenty minutes into the operation that Mercy looked at Sombra’s face. Unconscious as she was, Sombra looked like she was sleeping. She appeared so peaceful now, so beautiful, even with half the skin on her burnt and blackened, that Mercy could not help but burst into tears. It wasn’t light crying either, but great, heaving sobs that wracked her whole body. Even as she was doing so, however, the small part of her brain, the Dr. Ziegler part, was screaming at her to get a grip. ‘Now is not the time, Angela! You have a patient in front of you in critical condition! She’s going to die if you don’t keep working on her right now!’

Fortunately, the doctor in her won out over her raw emotions, and she was able to force herself to stop crying (mostly) and continue with the procedure. It felt like hours before the rest of the team got back to the ship with the captured agents and they were able to take off, though in reality it could not have taken them more than another fifteen minutes. As they landed back at the base and a team of doctors rushed with her to get Sombra to the main facility, Mercy couldn’t remember being this exhausted since her first few years in Switzerland, and it barely even been an hour.

The operation took ten hours to complete, with remarkable results. Aside from the hair loss and some scarring along the damaged side, Sombra was in perfect physical health. The entire team was astounded; they had never seen such impressive results before. Mercy found herself smiling faintly at that. “Yes, well, she certainly is a stubborn one…”

____

    Mercy visited Sombra later that night. Sombra was asleep when she walked in, wiping all the usual playfulness and smugness off her face and once again leaving it peaceful. Mercy considered leaving to let her get rest, but she couldn’t help but pull up a chair and sit next to Sombra for a while. The scarring had marred her face somewhat, but they were likely to fade to near nothing in time, and besides, it did nothing to make her any less beautiful to Mercy. She suddenly had an overwhelming urge to touch Sombra’s face, to run her fingers along the smooth skin. She fought it for a time but in the end gave in, and once she first touched Sombra’s cheek and felt how warm and soft it was, she couldn’t help but begin to stroke it, and once she started that, she couldn’t stop.

    Mercy’s mind was a flurry of emotions: anger, relief, joy, and a thousand others that she couldn’t put names to. She tried to ignore it, but the thought of how she almost lost Sombra today, how close it really had been, and how this remarkable recovery was a fluke, especially considering the potential of the tech that she’d implanted in herself frying and interfering with her bodily functions. It could have gone the other way in a second, and Sombra would be dead right now, utterly, irreversibly dead, and the thought of that caused Mercy to begin to cry again, though this time she managed to keep it quieter than before. She smiled through her tears at her dumb luck and almost started laughing out of sheer joy.

    Suddenly, Sombra stirred. Mercy gave a short gasp and immediately withdrew her hand and wiped her tears away. Sombra slowly opened her eyes and focused on Mercy. She gave a small smile. “Hey, Doc.”

    Mercy grinned. “Hello, Sombra.”

    “I guess you didn’t listen to me, huh?”

    Mercy’s smile faded for a moment before coming back. “No, I guess not.”

    They were silent for a moment. Sombra looked away from Mercy, as if she were ashamed to make eye contact. “Um… about our argument… well, I’m just… I’m really sorry, Mercy. If you hadn’t helped me there I would have died for sure, and…” She paused. “Well, I’m glad you helped me, and I want you to help in the future.”

    Mercy felt a wave of relief wash over her. “I’m… very glad to hear that. But, please… could you perhaps tell me what the problem was, now that we’ve made up?”

    Sombra gave another small smile and looked back at Mercy, her deep purple eyes locking with Angela’s blue ones. “Heh, yeah, I guess I could do that. It’s the least I can do, considering how you saved my life.

    “So… I was an orphan, after the Crisis. My father died in the fighting, and my mother, well, she left. I was too young to remember why she left, but my bets are on either her not having enough money to support us both or simply not caring. Doesn’t matter either way, though; she was gone, and I was alone. I survived on my own for a while, using my gift with computers to my advantage, but was eventually taken in my Los Muertos, which ruled and still rules much of the streets of Mexico.

    “The gang gave me a food, water, shelter, a place to improve my skills… they gave me a home. But that doesn’t mean it was easy all the time, you know. I was in a street gang, and street gangs are tough places to put it lightly. They’ll give you the basics, but you mostly fend for yourself, and if you get hurt, you handle it yourself. We have some doctors, sure, but they’re the kind of doctors that would lose their medical license for malpractice, so you don’t go to them unless you’ve really got no other choice. In the end, most people just handled their injuries themselves, and even when they knew they would be permanently messed up or even die from their wounds, they stuck it out, and told me to stick it out if I ever got hurt. I never did get super hurt, but… I guess it rubbed off on me, hearing it all the time for years. Not to mention that outside the general camaraderie of the gang, most gang members weren’t very close to each other on a personal level, so I learned not to let people in past what was absolutely necessary. I think, when you expressed  such deep, genuine concern for my well-being like this, on top of how - at least it seems this way to me to me; correct me if I’m wrong - we’ve been becoming better friends recently, I got scared. And… I pushed you away. I thought that I could handle it myself, that I didn’t need anyone to take care of me, that I didn’t need close friends, or… or anything else.

    “So… yeah. I have issues.” Sombra smiled thinly. “After this whole experience, I think, I might be better about it, but, um, don’t count on it all the time. There might still be times where I don’t want your help, but just… don’t listen to me, okay?”

    Mercy smiled sympathetically. “I understand. Being exposed to something so frequently for so long can certainly rub off on you, especially at a young age. I don’t hold it against you, and I promise I won’t let anything like this happen to you ever again. Oh, and… you’re not wrong about us becoming closer. I noticed it too, and I don’t mind it at all, if, er, if you don’t.”

    “Thanks, Doc,” Sombra said, her thin smile transforming into a warm grin. “I know I can count on you. And no, I don’t mind the being closer. Not at all.”

    They were silent for a few moments, simply staring at each other and smiling, before Mercy cleared her throat and rose. “Well, yes, er, while you may be physically fine, the procedure has taken a toll on your body, and you need to rest. Just press the button next to your bed if you need something. I’m glad we were able to talk about all this.”

    “Yeah, me too.” Just as Mercy was about to leave, Sombra said, “Hey, Mercy, I actually need to tell you something.”

    Mercy turned back to her. “Yes, Sombra? What is it?”

    “It’s a secret. Come closer. Closer. No, closer.” She repeated this until Mercy was back at the edge of the bed. “Now lean down. I needa whisper it in your ear.” Mercy did so.

    “Sombra, what is it, already?”

    “Well, you see…” Sombra whispered in a slightly husky voice, “I was awake when you were stroking my face. And… I liked it.” She placed a soft kiss on Mercy’s cheek. “Now, run along. I need rest, right?”

    “Rest… yes, of course. Rest is important. Goodbye, Sombra.”

    “Bye, Doc.”

    Mercy could feel the color rushing to her face as she once again rose and strode out the room. It was only when she closed the door and walked a few dozen feet down the hall that she allowed herself to burst into grins and giggles. She never would have expected that, not in a million years. She’d wondered about it after Sombra started talking about them being closer, but she’d never considered, at least not so soon… ‘Well,’ she thought as she walked to her quarters, a stupid grin still plastered on her face. ‘that went better than expected.’

((Well that was fun. Angsty n stuff. I hope you enjoyed!))

For: hiddeninthunder Author: grelluffandwillsprout Pairings/Character: Grell Sutcliff Warnings: none Prompt: Grell getting lost in the city and being adopted by a group of kids Author’s Notes: I hope you enjoy it! <3

“Oh, dear, it seems like I’ve gotten myself into quite the predicament,” Grell mused, walking under a street lamp and pulling a map from his pocket. “I volunteer for a temporary transfer to New York City, and now I can’t even find the way back to my own apartment!”

Grell sighed irritably as he unfolded the map and held it under the flickering amber light. “Honestly, this place is like a maze,” he grumbled. “I don’t know how the reapers here find their way around-“

“Excuse me, are you lost?”

Grell turned around and came face-to-face with three children of about eleven or twelve, two boys flanking a girl. The girl wore a white button-down shirt, a black pleated skirt, and black loafers. The two boys wore similar outfits to their female companion, except they wore black trousers instead of a skirt.

“Are you lost?” the girl asked. “It’s alright if you are, even the natives get lost every once in awhile.”

“Yes, I am quite lost,” Grell replied. “Although my apartment is quite far off from what my map tells me.”

“You can stay with us for tonight,” the boy on the right offered.

“Then we can help you find your apartment in the morning,” the left boy finished.

Grell considered it for a moment, then finally said, “I don’t see why not. Where do you three live?”

The girl, who seemed to be the ringleader of the group, went up ahead and beckoned for Grell to follow her. “Our house is this way, just follow me!”

As the four of them walked, Grell was bombarded with questions by the second boy (the first one didn’t seem very inclined to talk):

“Why do you have a chainsaw?”

“Are you a boy or a girl?”

“Why are you wearing so much red?”

“I’m Abraham, by the way,” the second boy finally told Grell, before pointing to the first boy and then the girl. “He’s Gabriel, and she’s Jamie. We work at the Fifth Avenue Hotel.”

“Are you all siblings?” Grell inquired. “Do your parents work at the hotel?”

“We’re here!” Jamie called, standing before the hotel. “This is one of the best hotels in New York City.”

Jamie pushed open the doors and skipped up to the front desk as Grell and the two boys followed behind her. As they approached the front desk, Grell saw a tired-looking woman sitting behind it. She had dark rings under her eyes, and looked up to face Grell, a kind but tired smile crossing her face.

“Well, hello there!” she greeted Grell as energetically as she was able. “Jamie says you need a place to stay for the night. I’m Cath. What’s your name?”

“Grell Sutcliff, deadly efficient grim reaper at your service!”

A confused expression flickered across Cath’s face, but she didn’t comment on it as she slid a key across the table towards Grell. “Your room is 1203, on the third floor. Jamie and Gabriel will take you, I need to talk with Abraham for a bit.”’

“Sure, Mom,” Abraham replied as he went behind the counter with his mother. Gabriel tugged on Grell’s coat and beckoned for the red reaper to follow him and Jamie. The three of them eventually reached Grell’s room, and the two children left Grell to his own devices.

“There’s a room service bell in your room if you need anything,” Jamie explained. “We’ll send someone up as soon as possible. Enjoy your stay!” Grell watched for a moment as Jamie and Gabriel walked down the hallway, before entering his room and retiring for the night.

The next morning, Grell went down to the lobby and asked for directions back to his apartment building.

“…and you make another left turn, and the building should be on your left,” Abraham finished, writing down the instructions on some hotel stationery, with Jamie and Gabriel looking over his shoulder. The three children looked up at Grell with curious eyes.

“Are you sure you can’t stay?” Jamie asked, placing the quill into the inkwell for the time being. “We really liked having you around. Especially Abraham, even if he didn’t show it.”

“I’m afraid not. My boss can be quite irritable if I don’t show up to work on time,” Grell replied apologetically.

“We understand,” Abraham nodded. “Just know that you’re always welcome at the Fifth Avenue Hotel.”