#lit piece

(A Gotham AU lit piece)

(Trigger warning for gun violence)

Of all nights for someone to break into the institute, it just had to be the one he had a date. Not that any night was good for a break in, but Uriah had the sense this was some of the universe’s dark humor at work. And seeing as he had nothing else to do, being tied up in the back of a van after being caught by surprise, he might as well muse over the horrible irony of the situation.

Kenneth promised me reservations at that upscale Italian bistro downtown, damnit. He’s gonna think I stood him up. Unless this is on the news, if he watches the news…

“Hey, you!”

Uriah rolled his eyes to the metal screen that separated his compartment from the front of the vehicle. One of the masked men glared back.

“Yeah?” he snapped back.

“You’re one of those specialists, yeah?”

Uriah deadpanned. “What, the ‘doctor’ on my nametag didn’t give you enough of a hint?”

“Oh, great, you picked a smartass. Good job,” the driver complained.

“You said to grab somebody that looked important, I nabbed the first white coat I found!”

“Did you even go over the staff list the boss gave us? He had names circled!”

“I’m sure this one’s on the list!”

“How sure?”

“Girls, please, you’re both pretty,” Uriah drawled.

“Shuddup! Just check his nametag again when we get there, you idiot. Something tells me he’s gonna be uncooperative as hell,” the driver barked.

Uriah huffed, and tested the binds on his wrists. Rope of some kind. A shame he didn’t see or feel anything sharp enough to try and cut with. He’d have to keep his eyes open for something when he got to…wherever this van was driving.

“Dare I ask why I’m even here? I mean, who needs someone from a herpetology unit for criminal activity?”

“You’ll be told only what you need to know when you need to know it, and you’ll keep quiet otherwise if you know what’s good for you.”

Metal clanked, and Uriah caught the barrel of a gun tapping the grate between himself and his captors. Ah. Great. Well, that sobered him up a degree. He’d have to be very alert and mind his attitude until he saw an out. Uriah let his head fall back and rest against the side of the van with a resigned sigh. Maybe, if he got lucky, somebody already had the police working on this incident. Kenneth had money, and his own ‘special skill set’. Surely having a friend in high places would come in handy, this time.

As much as he would’ve loved to hear sirens, the drive remained quiet. He was eventually pulled into some dark garage, and manhandled out of the van and through heavy double doors. Uriah glanced around. An industrial complex? Medical testing facility? He couldn’t tell. Just something far more intimidating than the empty warehouse he’d expected. Eventually he was thrust into an amphitheater of sorts, shoved forward roughly. Uriah fell onto his knees, feeling the end of a gun pressed between his shoulders.

“Gentlemen! Is that anyway to treat a man of science? Let him up.”

Blinking in the harsh blue light of the room, Uriah looked up. He didn’t recognize the smug man before him, either, or any of the other seemingly captive people he now noticed. He was yanked up by the collar, and he pulled away with a glare over his shoulder.

“Quit manhandling! I get the picture!”

“And your name? Let’s see…” His badge was tilted up to be read more clearly. “‘Doctor Hoffman.’ Good, very good. You’ll do.”

“Do for what? Who are you?”

“That information is given out on a need to know basis. And you, Doctor, don’t need to know,” the man said. There was a threat behind his smile. Uriah understood.

“You need me for something, though.”

“I suspect your talents may come in handy for our…latest acquisition, shall we say. My people pulled you up on a list of potential helpful individuals. Care to see your latest specimen, Doctor?”

When the man stood aside, Uriah winced from further exposure to the cold, bright light source of the room. A massive cylindrical chamber stood tall at the center of the amphitheater, pipes and tubing connected at its top and base. It took some time to adjust to the light, but Uriah felt the back of his neck prickle and his blood run cold once he made out what was contained within. What at first seemed to be mechanical tubing turned out to be coils, with a more or less humanoid torso attached. A mask supplying oxygen was secured over the being’s face, and several IV’s were connected to its four arms. It appeared vaguely like Kenneth, when he let his human facade slip, but this…this was something unearthly.

“What in God’s name…?”

“That is precisely what we believe you can help us sort out, Doctor. You and our handpicked specialists.”

“Look, I study snakes, I don’t study…that!”

“Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. Doctor Hoffman, there are two possible answers you can give me. One is an enthusiastic, ‘Yes sir!’ The other, well. My associates can walk you through our termination procedure.”

Uriah scowled.

“Tick tock, Doctor. I won’t wait all day.”

“…Fine.”

“Escort Doctor Hoffman to his new colleagues, will you? And he’ll need his hands. We can keep close enough watch from here.”

His wrists were cut loose, and he was taken by the arm to a row of uneasy individuals, all seemingly taken in situations similar to his. How had he not heard of lab break ins across the city? Then again, bad news was the norm for Gotham. Perhaps he’d tuned it out, as he often did. Served him right, in this case. Once they were left with some space, the woman to his right nudged his elbow.

“Where did they take you from?”

“Gotham Herpetology Institute. You?”

“A distant NASA branch outside the city limits. You wouldn’t know it. Classified. What’s your specialty?”

“Biologic diagnostics and conservation.”

“Smart man. I’m sorry you’re lumped in here.”

Uriah glanced from the specimen, as it were, and up to the higher levels. Thugs with guns in hand were stationed along industrial catwalks near the ceiling and double doors he’d been forced through. Tight security, unfortunately, but too brutish to be something official.

“What do they want?”

“Judging by the mix of specialties they brought in already, they’re hoping we can confirm this…thing…can be used as a sort of bioweapon. They keep us fed and it’s sanitary, at least, but it can’t be anything good. I’m just hoping they don’t off us when they get what they want.”

Uriah nodded to show he understood. “How long have you been here?”

“Two days. First specialists they brought in might’ve been here a week. It hasn’t been long. Somebody said they managed to pick this being up from a crash site. How they beat the government to it, I’ll never know. Feds keep this kind of thing on tighter lockdown than nuclear launch codes, as far as I know.”

Well, shit… Suddenly, Uriah didn’t feel so confident that Kenneth’s connections or abilities would be doing him any good at the moment. Or anytime soon. It seemed he was on borrowed time, only allowed to keep living so long as he was useful.

“Your best bet is to keep your head low and work slow,” someone a few seats over whispered. “You said you’re good for diagnostics, right? Whatever samples they give you, take your time. Fudge numbers if you have to.”

“…Can’t they tell?” Uriah nodded upwards, indicating their overseers.

“The thugs, no. Can’t tell about the big guy in charge. But if he could sort things out himself, what would he need us for?”

A good point. Uriah swallowed. So they all were playing at the same game, then. Better to be on the same team than working solo, he supposed.

“Do they let any of you up close to it? The…specimen?”

“Yeah, I guess, but it freaks me out, personally. I mean, it’s obviously not from Earth.”

“Certainly defies our understanding of the kingdoms,” someone sighed. He had to have been there a few days, based off of the stubble forming on his face.

Uriah didn’t fancy the idea of being kept locked up like this, either. He didn’t know if they’d be let go, but clearly the authorities hadn’t caught on to where several scientists, even ones working for classified offices, had disappeared to. This might be a situation they’d have to collectively finesse their way out of.

For now, though, he looked to the being in the tank. Uriah rose slowly, looking to make sure no one was going to come after him. When none of the guards approached, and neither of the other captive scientists made a sudden move, he slowly descended the stairs to the platform the tank was based on. Uriah stood before it, looking up at the captive being, and felt a twinge of sympathy mixed in with sheer awe. Perhaps knowing Kenneth had dulled him to its anatomy, to a degree—save for the arms and odd color. Maybe it was the light, but the being looked greyish-blue, and the scales on the serpentine tail appeared to shift slowly. There were glowing specks, stars almost.

…Friend?

Uriah froze. He glanced over his shoulder. No one had spoken to him.

Here.

Wait… He was hearing it inside his head. Uriah held his breath, looking up at the being, wondering…

Yes. Here. Friend?

It could hear his thoughts. It was projecting? What did it mean?

Me? Are you asking me?

Yes. Help?

I…Don’t know.

The voice of the being sounded disjointed. Uriah was surprised it could communicate with him at all. Or maybe he was hallucinating?

If…friend…help…

They’ll kill me.

Please.

That nagging sympathy attacked his conscience. Uriah wanted out. This being wanted out. He didn’t know what it was, what it could do, but…it asked for help, in what few words it could probably use.

…I’ll try. Give me time.

Ti…me…?

Damn language barrier. He could speak English, Spanish, and Latin, but he couldn’t speak a language of a being that he didn’t even know. Uriah wracked his brain for a way to get the message across. Perhaps if he only used the words the being had, and with the right intention.

Friend, he thought, hoping his sincerity came through. Will help.

“I’m seeing brain activity,” Uriah heard a scientist speak up. “Maybe it’s dreaming?”

“Is it waking up?” Their captor spoke up, elbows perched on a catwalk railing.

“No, sir, you…you have it too sedated for that,” he replied meekly.

“Well, figure out what it’s doing! I want results, and soon!”

——

One day passed, then two. Uriah could track the hours by the rotation of the guards, roughly. He’d only get to double-check himself when he had access to the monitors showing the being’s vitals, seeing the counter for how long the computers and systems had been going. The team was only alert with their tasks, or at least appearing to be, thanks to being held at gunpoint under constant supervision. To make matters worse, no one had any idea how they’d get themselves out alive. Uriah hadn’t even gotten much of a look at the facility to know which corridor led where. They could’ve been one short hallway away from the outside, and none of them would’ve known. The most he could do was cast quick glances whenever he was escorted—again, by some thug with a loaded gun—to use the facilities. Nothing looked promising.

And whenever he was close to the being’s containment chamber, he felt an odd buzz at the back of his neck. Sometimes he swore it was trying to reach out again, or preparing to, before someone else would approach or verbally speak to him. It wasn’t until the middle of the third day that Uriah finally heard that voice again.

Help. Out.

I don’t know how.

Uriah drug a hand down his face and sat back, staring at the monitors in front of him. He had made himself useful in the most minimal way possible, confirming, when asked, that the being’s blood samples had contained no known pathogens or toxins. The matrix of its DNA was entirely foreign, of course, so that could’ve been entirely useless information in the long run. But at least he was still kept alive to work on that puzzle, or pretend to.

He heard the door at the back click, and one of the thugs’ voices as he spoke to the others.

“Hey, Callaghan, Dobbs, come down. Boss needs something done.”

“Who’s covering? We’re watching the brains for another two hours.”

“It’s a five minute job. What’re these ones gonna get up to? Not like they can get out, anyway. Sealed all the doors in the complex.”

Shit. Uriah growled beneath his breath. If they’d sealed all the doors, then none of them would be able to get out without whatever security measures were being put in place.

…None of the humans, anyway.

He slowly raised his head, turning just enough to watch from the corner of his eye. A bit more chatter, a threat to keep working, and the doors closed. No guns. No surveillance.

Five minutes was plenty of time for a system failure.

One of the other captive scientists looked up as Uriah moved towards the main controls. The access was password protected, so he’d need somebody with hacking abilities.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying something crazy,” Uriah huffed. He looked around at them all. “Who here is good at breaking into computers?”

“You’re messing with the system? They’ll kill you!”

“Not before the next five minutes is up. C’mon, one of you has to have logged in to somebody else’s account at least once in your lives, yeah?”

Somebody stood up, a man not much older than himself, coming to the controls. Uriah stood back to let him work.

“Not proud of it, but I did manage to break into a few multiplayer systems back in the day. Why pay for limited edition skins when you can hack the game and get em for free, yeah?”

“Whatever works,” Uriah muttered. He eyed the counters on the monitors tracking the being’s pulse. Four minutes and ten seconds…four and five…three and fifty-five…

“We’re gonna run out of time,” someone muttered.

“No, no, I think I got it—Fuck yes! I got it!”

“Move!” Uriah moved in, eyes scanning the screen, shifting through the various data windows open at once. One of them had to have the main system operations.

Three minutes and twenty seconds.

“What are you looking for?”

“Some way to shut this whole thing down.”

“Are you crazy? Just find a way to shut down the security system!”

“What do you think they’d rather spend time looking for, us or their specimen?” Uriah growled, glaring at the screen. “…Fuck it!”

He began pressing whatever ‘shut down’ buttons he could find. About five clicks in, and the bright blue lighting of the room shifted to pulsing red. Something attached to the specimen’s chamber began hissing. A computer system began speaking over the intercom.

“Warning: life-support system failure. Repeat: life-support system failure. Stasis cannot be maintained. Warning—“

“Shit, they’re going to hear that!”

Uriah looked up to the catwalk around the top of the room. Looked like their best shot.

“The rest of you, go! I’ll see what else I can do to slow them down!”

“What about you?”

A few more clicks. He flinched as unstable pressure caused a bolt to be forced loose, and a crack to form along the specimen’s chamber. Someone grabbed the back of his collar.

“Wait—“

Before he could react further, another scientist swung a chair right into the monitor. Sparks flew and its electricity choked out. A new addition of alarms added to the din already caused by the system failure.

“We’ve got the doors barricaded! Everybody go, now!”

“C’mon, brainiac!”

Nodding, Uriah scrambled back to his feet to follow. They had a potential thirty seconds to make it to the maze of hallways in the complex before someone broke down the door. He’d reached the catwalk just as he heard the first of the guards banging on it. Uriah spared only a second to look back through the smoke-filled room at the chamber, a massive crack spreading up the side.

Whatever you are—whoever you are—good luck.

He bolted as he heard the doors rattle again, following the rest down the closest hall. The more distance they could put between themself and that room, the better, even if they didn’t know the way out. And about five hallways later, they came to the conclusion that time wasn’t on their side, not if they kept in one group.

“At least one of us needs to make it out,” an engineer panted, peeking nervously around a corner. “If one of us can get out, we can get help. If they find all of us in one place, we’re all dead.”

“And I’d rather at least one out of all of us makes it out rather than none,” another replied in a hushed voice.

Uriah looked to the rest. From where they were now, there were three other hallways they could take, aside from going back the way they’d come. And that was out of the question.

“One third of us goes left, another third goes center, the rest go right,” he reasoned. “We keep splitting up until we can’t. Whatever you do, stay low, stay quiet, and don’t stop until you find a way out.”

Some frowned, others nodded. The young man who’d hacked the computer system clapped him on the shoulder as he split off to the right. “Godspeed, brainiac.”

“You, too. See you on the outside.” Uriah swallowed as he watched them go, following his cluster down the center hall. “…Hopefully.”

Whatever kind of facility this was, it made no sense to Uriah. The blaring sirens and flashing lights certainly didn’t help. He had no means to measure time properly, but it felt like at least half an hour had passed since the original group had split. His cluster had gone from ten, to five, to three, eventually down to just him on his own. And heaven help him, despite trying his best, he’d only just recently found a stairwell. Stairwells were risky; they were confined, and they magnified sound, but as long as he went up, he was bound to find a roof, or a way to it. That was better than wandering aimlessly in the middle of the complex, or getting trapped in a basement. If the chaos he’d kicked off in that chamber led to a fire, he stood a chance of waving down whatever emergency services showed up. His odds were better there than anywhere else.

Uriah paused to catch his breath mid-flight, looking up to try and gauge how many more steps he’d have to climb. It felt like a miracle when the emergency lighting gleamed off of a sign on the wall: Floor 10, Continue to 11 and Roof. Almost. Thank God.

Somewhere down below, a door flew open and slammed against a wall. Uriah clasped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from making a sound, not even wanting his breathing to give him away.

“One of ‘em went this way; they caught him on the cameras before they went down!”

“Which one?”

“The scrawny bastard with the glasses!”

“How d’you wanna do this?”

“…You go down. I’ll head up.”

Uriah got moving again once he heard their own footsteps; it would help hide his own. Two more flights. Just two more. Then maybe a fire escape or some other crazy way out of this hellscape. Floor eleven…there, the door to the roof. He’d heard another door open, and waited as footsteps continued upward. They sounded five—no, four floors down.

C’mon, go in another door. Just any other fucking door.

A door creaked. He held his breath. It closed. Good. Uriah finally wrenched the door to the roof open, bursting out into the frigid air. Wherever they were, it was nighttime outside, a breeze blowing the scent of old weather-worn metal, damp concrete, and smoke. He must’ve started a fire, after all. Uriah scrambled away from the door he’d come from, almost tripping over himself to get to the edge of the building. He had to get his bearings, figure out where they were. Could he see anything important, any signs, landmarks…? The lights made it impossible to find any stars. In the distance, though, he saw the glow of Gotham, and a mess of hills and woods along the way.

Maybe if there’s a direct way off the roof, I could just follow the roads, use the trees as cover…

A muffled boom caught his attention. The far corner of the massive building was up in smoke. Sirens in the distance indicated a fire team had been alerted, but he wouldn’t have time to wait for them. Uriah frantically looked along the ledge he was closest to. No railings, no fire escapes. That couldn’t have been OSHA approved… But there was a catwalk to a detached smokestack, and a ladder built into the brick. A way out was a way out. He’d he exposed the whole time, but he had to try.

Uriah bolted—

A bang sounded behind him, and he only just dodged the bullet that flew past him, ricocheting off of the metal guard rail of the catwalk before rolling to a stop. A second grazed his leg, forcing him to stop as a sharp twinge in his ankle slowed him into a limp. Uriah panted breathlessly, turning to see the corrupt head of operations glaring at him across the roof.

“Well, well, Doctor Hoffman, you’re a bit of a troublemaker, eh? Normally, I admire that trait in a man. Unfortunately for you, in this instance, it just pissed me off.”

Uriah swallowed, his throat suddenly tight and dry. His eyes were fixed on the gun at first, flickering to the billowing smoke overtaking the far end of the building behind his assailant, and then back to the weapon. As the man took slow, confident steps forward, Uriah answered with equally measured steps back, wincing from the pain in his right leg. He was on to the catwalk now, but it wouldn’t do him any good. He knew it, and the man—whose identity he still hadn’t ever figured out—knew it, as well.

“You think you’re getting out of this, Doctor?” he laughed. Cold, full of malice. “I told you, there was one way out of here. Perhaps you just wanted me to handle your termination personally?”

“You’re not getting away with this,” Uriah finally spat back. If he was going to die, he’d at least go out with some spite. “You’ve lost your specimen, yeah? Kidnapped how many people? Gotta imagine you’ve got a long list of folks who want you behind bars!”

“In quite a few countries, but they’ll never get their hands on me. By the time those EMS boys arrive, this place will be one big bonfire, and you and all your little science fair buddies will just be bits of ash in the heap. I’ll be set up somewhere nice and cozy by the time they put the flames out.”

Another explosion sounded, and the entire building’s structure trembled. Uriah lost his balance, slipping and grasping onto the guard rail as the metal groaned and creaked. Whatever was happening, it was going to take the whole place down.

“Looks like we’re out of time, Doctor. Any final words? Maybe if you beg nice enough, I’ll let you live long enough to make all this up to me on the next project. I do hate to waste a perfectly good resource.”

Uriah glared at him. “Go to hell!”

“Have it your way.”

Something surged from the smoke. The man let out a yell as he pulled the trigger. Uriah heard the gunshot, and moments later felt his left shoulder burn with an intensity he’d never felt before. He couldn’t see through the swirl of smoke that the wind had blown through, raising his arm to try and cover his mouth and nose with his sleeve, but he could hear two more gunshots, a yelp, and a wet, snapping, splintering sound. Then, a dull thud before the gun came skittering past him, bouncing off of a pole on the guard rail before falling to the ground far below. Uriah gasped, teeth grit against the pain in his left shoulder, and squinted into the smoke. There was a red glow from the increasing inferno, now, and he could barely make out a figure through it. Uriah backpedaled as it began looming closer, his right hand grasping over his opposite shoulder to try and stop the blood that was seeping through his sleeve. His head pounded, and his vision began to blur, whether it was from his injuries or his adrenaline wearing off, he couldn’t tell.

Two pale blue lights came out of the smoke. Like…eyes. Uriah froze, unable to move any further. He didn’t have it in him. A cough forced its way out of his lungs as smoke began to overwhelm the air. Uriah looked up as the metal creaked again, seeing an eerily familiar silhouette looming over him. Not all human, almost serpentine… His head felt fuzzy, and his vision took a moment to focus, but when it did, he was looking up at the being he’d seen in the stasis chamber. Uriah didn’t have the energy to be shocked or afraid, or any other sensible emotion; he stared up and simply accepted whatever would happen next.

The being leaned close, looking to his bleeding shoulder, then to Uriah’s face.

Friend. Help.

Uriah coughed again. “Y-Yeah? Great.”

The sirens were closer. The building shuddered again. Bricks began falling loose. Glass in windows exploded from the building heat inside. Uriah winced as the catwalk shifted again, forcing him to hold on a little tighter with his good arm. The being adjusted its lengthy tail in return, looking around wildly for an explanation before turning its pale gaze back to Uriah. Before Uriah could even think to ask, the being bent and took him into one set of its arms, initially turning back towards the building but pausing once it saw the roof beginning to collapse at the edge of the smoke. Uriah groaned as his shoulder throbbed again, and he could feel his sleeve growing heavy and damp. How much blood had he lost? How much more could he afford to lose? Did it even matter anymore…?

His blurry vision fixed on the being’s face. It was the last conscious memory he had.

——

Warm. Quiet. Those were the first things his senses picked up on. Uriah’s eyes cracked open to dim light.

“Uriah?”

He blinked, unusually tired, and forced his head to turn toward the sound of his own name. His eyes almost forced themselves closed once more, but Uriah fought it. Someone was leaning over him, but there were no blue glowing eyes this time. They were brown, instead, and his vision steadied enough to make out the entirety of the face watching him.

“…Kenneth…?”

“Hey, Doc,” came the soft reply. Uriah exhaled heavily as a hand brushed through his hair. “Easy, now, easy.”

“Where…?”

“You’re in the hospital,” Kenneth explained. “I’ve got extra security outside your door. The police want a statement from you, but I’ve set up an attorney to keep them away until you’ve recovered fully.”

Uriah nodded slowly, then groaned. He shifted his head to look down at his left shoulder, seeing stitches just above the collar of the hospital gown he’d been put in to. He wagered he had similar treatment for his leg injury, even if he couldn’t see it.

With a heavy sigh, Kenneth sat on the edge of Uriah’s bed and frowned. “What in the world happened, Uriah?”

“You’re gonna think I’m crazy,” he said, swallowing thickly.

“No.” Kenneth reached over to the bedside table, uncapping a bottle of water and holding it up for him. “Here, drink.”

A few sips helped the roughness in his throat. Uriah nodded his thanks before trying to answer the question.

“Some assholes broke into the herpetology institute and grabbed me. Next thing I knew, I was in a van, then some messed-up facility, and now…here, I guess.”

“But why? Not because you know me, I hope?”

“No, no,” Uriah reassured, shaking his head slowly. Even that made him a little dizzy. He held his eyes shut until the sensation stopped. “Some…really messed up science project.”

“Like what? A weapon or something? I know Gotham’s got its characters, but you wouldn’t fit into any of their schemes.”

Uriah sighed, eyes searching the ceiling before landing on Kenneth’s face again. “They had a…a thing. A being, really. It looked kinda like you.”

He saw a seriousness on Kenneth’s face that he hadn’t before. A mix of bafflement and concern.

“What do you mean, like me?”

“Not a clone or anything, but…the bottom half looked a lot like a snake tail. Top half…kinda human, I guess, but…four arms. Some other weird stuff. They wanted me to check its vitals and all that shit.”

He watched Kenneth nod, processing.

“…How’d you find me?”

“I didn’t,” Kenneth answered. “EMS did, when they got there. Reports said they found you near a smokestack, just before the eastern side of the building went down. When you didn’t show up for our date and I couldn’t get a hold of you, and then seeing the news about the break-in and you being missing, I had feelers put out, but didn’t know anything until your identity was confirmed through police scanners and the hospital.”

“And they just let you in?”

Uriah saw his expression fall into a sort of helpless smile for a moment, before a softer-than-usual smirk took over. “C’mon, it’s me. You know the kind of charm I have.”

He chuckled, the sound still rough. “Thank you, for all you did.”

“I got ahold of your mother, too. Found her number through the emergency contact form you gave my office. She’ll be in soon; I paid for her flight. I figured she’d be the one person you’d really want to see, after everything.”

His mother… God. Uriah felt his chest swell and his throat tighten, damp heat reaching his eyes. A clumsy hand rose up to wipe at his cheek as the emotion hit him all at once. Kenneth shifted closer and held his other hand.

“I-I almost died, Kenneth.”

“I know. And I’m sorry.”

“Do you know about the others?”

“The scientists, you mean?” Kenneth’s expression fell a degree. “They…didn’t all make it, hon’. I think I saw they lost about seven of them, last time I caught a glimpse of the news. A bunch are here like you, in different phases of recovery.”

Tears spilled over. Had it been the astronomer? The young guy who broke into the computer? What about the engineer who he’d overhear whispering prayers about their kids? None of it was fair. And then for the survivors, for him, how were they supposed to get back to normal?

“What—W-What do I even do? Just…go back to work like nothing happened?” he sniffed, swiping his hand beneath his eye.

“I could always take you onto my payroll full time. No extra strings attached, no questions asked.”

“I-I’ve put so much of my life into that place… And my mom. Hell, she’s got to be scared out of her mind.”

Kenneth nodded. “How about for now, you just focus on getting yourself patched up? I figured I’d stick around, make sure your mother got in, and then when they’re ready to discharge you, I could take you home. Or, if you’d feel better about it, you can come to my place. Plenty of security. Nobody’s getting to you there, I promise. I’ve even got space your mother could stay there, too. Whatever makes this easier for you.”

Uriah inhaled shakily, and Kenneth handed him several tissues from the bedside table. He accepted them with a tearful mutter of thanks, wiping the dampness from beneath his eyes as best as he could.

“M-Maybe. I don’t know. I’ll ask her,” he said. Kenneth nodded and leaned in to kiss his forehead.

“I’m gonna go grab a coffee. Remember, extra security at the door. You’re safe, alright? I’ve got you, Doc.”

Uriah nodded, watching Kenneth move to the door. “Thank you again, Kenny. For everything. For trying to find me.”

Kenneth smiled over his shoulder. “Always, Uriah. Be right back.”

Uriah slumped back against the pillow and raked a hand through his hair. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the past few days, let alone his last memories before he’d passed out. He supposed the next step would be setting himself up with a good therapist. But…would a therapist be able to handle the full truth of the situation? Kenneth could, but Kenneth was a unique circumstance. Maybe he could still get the help he needed with little white lies.

He turned his head and stared out the window. The sun would be coming up in about an hour, so long as the clock in the room was accurate. Uriah’s eyes slowly roamed over the familiar Gotham skyline.

A Uriah & Kenny Lit Piece

It was late in the evening when Uriah finally finished the examinations he’d been called in to perform. Thankfully nothing went beyond routine, surface-level inspection. Every snake he’d gotten to handle proved docile and healthy, kept under excellent care and conditions. If anything, a few seemed close to shedding, and they’d merely be kept back from the—for lack of a better word—unique services Kenneth Huggins’s business provided. The only downside to the day was how long and exhausting it had been. Lab work, diagnostics, sample collection, breeding attempts and so on for his day job, and then this called-in favor on top of eight hours. Uriah was rolling his shoulders to ease tension from his back by the time he caught the elevator to the HR floor.

“Well, at least he’s paying me for my time,” Uriah muttered to himself, leaning against the wall. He sighed heavily, watching the numbers slowly tick by on the elevator screen. This was a strange sort of circumstance he found himself in, knowing the secret the CEO kept, but the additional money was a boon when bills came due. And he did need to go on a grocery run soon…

Though, he’d be lying if he said the money was all that made him accept the offer. He’d crossed paths with Kenneth once or twice since the day the not-quite-normal businessman sauntered into his own office at the institute. The initial attraction was still there. Try as he might, Uriah couldn’t deny the natural charm Kenneth carried himself with. He was cordial, gracious, and very easy to look at. It had been a good long while since Uriah had pursued anything intimate. Kennth Huggins, however, wasn’t the average fling, nor was he standard relationship material, if tabloids were to be believed. Normally, Uriah wouldn’t pay such rumors any mind, but in this case… Perhaps weighing the pros and cons was in his best interest; he didn’t want to end up being a call boy for one of the city’s elite. He’d focus on the pay for his work, and if Kenneth made another move, then he could broach the subject.

He pushed himself upright as the doors opened, sliding sideways past a cluster of clerical staff headed home for the day. Uriah nodded to them politely before heading for the front desk, still manned for the next half-hour.

“Hi, miss. I’m sorry to bother you so close to quitting time, but I was told to head up here for payment?”

The woman looked over the rim of her angled glasses. “You’re in the right place. Something wrong with your direct deposit?”

“Oh, no, no, I’m not a regular employee. Mr. Huggins offered me some extra work, but… Come to think of it, he never did send me paperwork about the payment aspect, just my clearances and the description.”

She seemed perplexed, then raised her eyebrows in recognition. “Ah, yes, now I remember. You’re the herpetologist he brought on for routine checks, right? Doctor Hoffman?”

“That’d be me.”

“Yes, that’s right. Mr. Huggins informed me your pay would be handled personally.”

Uriah lifted one eyebrow. “Personally?”

“Personally,” she repeated. “I did suggest offering you a routine direct deposit, but he said you two were on friendly terms and he’d prefer to cut your check himself. A little unorthodox, but…”

“Seems the usual for him,” Uriah quipped, drumming his fingertips on the counter. “So, where do I go to see the man in charge, then?”

“You can head on back to his office. It’s at the end of the hall there, certainly can’t miss it. He’s not in right now, finishing up his last conference call downstairs, but he should be up in—“ She swiveled in her chair and glanced at the clock behind her. “—Oh, give or take the next fifteen, thirty minutes?”

“Greeeeaaaaaaat,” Uriah drawled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Past closing time…”

“I know it’s a bit inconvenient, but he says you’re allowed to go on ahead. I’ll be locking up things here, but Mr. Huggins always stays late a few times a week. He knew you were coming today, so he shouldn’t leave you hanging too long.”

“Right.” He sighed, turning to trudge down the hall. The skeptic in him began to worry this was an elaborate ruse to avoid paying him for services rendered. “Guess I’ll wait, then. Thanks…?”

“Donna.”

“Donna,” Uriah confirmed, nodding. “You have a good night.”

Parting from the desk, Uriah followed the directions he’d been given until he reached the rather heavy and impressive door to Kenneth’s office. For a moment, he hesitated, considering simply coming back in the morning. He was tired, and he’d had a long day, and the last thing he wanted was to be driving home any more exhausted than he was. But he was already here, so he may as well get it over with.

Inside, the office was sleek and, dare he say, seductive almost. Floor-to-ceiling windows along the outer wall with a pleasant city skyline view, a desk that probably cost more than a two of the doctor’s paychecks, and a rather impressive leather couch. For the size, he was surprised it didn’t have much furniture, but then when he considered Kenneth’s unique anatomy… Perhaps opulent minimalism made the most sense. He put his hands into his pockets and traipsed around slowly, letting out a low whistle as he glanced at a small table with a personal espresso machine. One of the nicer ones on the market.

“Well, can’t fault him for taste.” Uriah eventually wound back to the couch. Seeing as he still had plenty of time to wait, he could take a load off. The sigh he let out felt bigger than he’d anticipated as he reclined, eyes on the ceiling, briefly glancing at his watch before letting his arm flop back down. “And now, we wait…”

Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen… The longer he lay there, the more the wear and tear of the day got to him. And it was an extremely comfortable couch. It was unintentional, but Uriah found himself drifting off. He wasn’t sure how long he was out before a gentle tapping to his forehead began to rouse him.

“Doc…Doooooooc… Anybody home in there?”

Groggy eyes blinked open. First, he noticed the pen dangling above his face, lightly poking him. Then, the playful smirk on Kenneth Huggins’s face beaming down at him. “Good evening, starshine.”

Uriah groaned and shooed his pen away, running a hand over his face before sitting up. “Ugh, what time is it…?”

“Eight-thirty, roughly.”

“Wha…? Damn, you took your time.” He’d gotten in to the office at seven.

“Had I known you were waiting, I would’ve ended the meeting early,” Kenneth teased. He ruffled Uriah’s hair, laughing as he was swatted away, and moved to his desk.

“Look, I’ve been up since five this morning. I’m beat, okay? I just came up here to sort out my pay.”

“Hm?”

Uriah stood, hands in his pockets again. “My pay, Kenneth? For examining your extensive noodle collection downstairs?”

“Oh, right. Your check. We should settle those terms,” he said casually, leaning back against his desk.

“I mean, you gave me a number when you cornered me at work, remember?”

“But there’s more to this mutually beneficial venture than the money, no?”

Uriah met his jovial expression with one that was work-weary. “Are you suggesting…?”

“I’m a businessman, darling. Negotiations are my day-to-day. I am more than happy to debate terms and conditions of our little arrangement.”

“Ha! Terms and conditions,” Uriah scoffed, lightly scuffing the carpet before walking over to look out the window. For a crime-riddled metropolis, Gotham certainly had its perks in the nighttime views. He watched a few distant headlights cruising the streets below.

“I want us both to be happy, naturally,” Kenneth said with a shrug. “Consent is key, you know.”

Uriah hummed in acknowledgment, and Kenneth watched him watch the city for a few beats of silence.

“So,” Kenneth said, rocking to his feet to approach from behind, “what would make you happy?”

“You’re serious?”

“Of course.”

He huffed, humored. “Well, I’ll be…a member of Gotham’s elite caring about the wants of little ol’ me.”

“Oh, take me seriously for a moment, sweetheart! You wound me!”

“Alright, alright, I get you.” Uriah folded his arms, exhaling as he gave it some thought. “…How serious were you about liking me? What you said, when you found me at work?”

“You mean besides keeping my secret?”

“Yeah. The…other part. Look, I know what the tabloids say about you, I get you’re popular, and plenty of people fall all over you, alright? I’m not expecting exclusivity. I just…y’know, prefer sincerity. If you actually like me, great. If not, I wanna know how far to lower my expectations.”

“If it’s sincerity you want,” Kenneth said softly, hands resting on Uriah’s shoulders and gently stroking down his arms, “it’s sincerity you’ll get.”

“On a scale of one to ten?”

“What? As in how I’d rate you? Don’t cheapen yourself,” he chuckled.

“Kenneth—“

“But if you must know, a solid ten. You’re adorable when you’re playing coy.”

“Ugh, I don’t ’play coy,’” Uriah insisted. But he blushed all the same as Kenneth bent close and kissed his cheek.

“Shall we proceed?” When Uriah hesitated, heat coming off of his face, Kenneth chuckled against his ear. “With the negotiations, sweetheart.”

“Oh. Oh, uh, yeah, I just…don’t know what all to ask for… I mean, I want paid, obviously.”

“That’s the bottom of the barrel right there,” Kenneth teased. His arms held Uriah’s waist, fingertips toying with subtle folds in the fabric of his shirt. “Ask for more. Go big.”

“…Limo?”

A laugh escaped him. Uriah cracked a smirk.

“Not that big!”

“Fair. Wouldn’t know what to do with the damn thing, anyway.”

“If I may make a suggestion? Perhaps routine visits outside this office, to…ensure my continued sincerity, shall we say?”

Uriah chuckled as Kenneth kissed his cheek, down his jaw, slowly moving lower. It felt good, getting that kind of attention. He let himself drift in it for a moment, breathing, relaxing.

“Mm…Kenneth?” Uriah cracked open an eye, head tilting to the side as he felt Kenneth’s lips getting a little more insistent against his neck.

“Hmm?”

“This is nice,” he murmured dryly, “but it won’t pay my bills.”

“Won’t it? That’s a shame.”

“You promised to pay me,” Uriah lilted, smirking as he felt a small huff against his skin. Kenneth reached around and pulled at his tie, the knot and his shirt collar loosening.

“Can we play first? My checkbook isn’t going anywhere, and neither are you.” Kenneth’s voice was almost a growl in his ear. Uriah couldn’t help but chuckle softly, patting one of the hands teasing along his torso.

“You just don’t like being told ‘no’, do you?” Not that he was saying ‘no’. Uriah was always very clear when he was putting his foot down, and Kenneth respected his wishes in such circumstances—if not for the teasing even as he’d back off.

“It’s not my favorite word in the English language,” Kenneth joked. Uriah’s shirt was unbuttoned, fabric slipping off his shoulders. Thick, scaled coils pooled around the two of them where they stood. A soft gasp left the man’s lips as the space between his throat and shoulder was lightly bitten. Uriah barely swallowed the moan that tried to escape him. Not yet. He’d make Kenneth work a little more to get those sounds out of him.

“Shall we negotiate, then?” Kenneth purred. Uriah met his gaze through the reflection in his office’s window.

“Isn’t that what we’re doing already?”

He was guided back, coils shifting to allow him to be cornered against the desk. His shirt was lost to the scaled mass, Kenneth’s strong hands lifting Uriah onto the desk’s surface before working on unfastening his belt.

Kenneth whispered into his ear, “What about dinner?”

“I’m not picky.”

“Italian?”

Uriah chuckled as a ticklish kiss was placed on his cheek. “I hope you don’t just mean pizza?”

“No, no. I can do better than that, I assure you.”

“So, somewhere nice, then?”

“Somewhere nice,” he confirmed. Uriah felt his belt slowly pulled free. He swallowed.

“What else…?”

Kenneth pulled back and smirked at him, humored. “You’re the one negotiating terms, darling.”

“O-Oh, right, right…” His face reddened as Kenneth eased him down, a coil cradling his head. His eyes roamed the ceiling as he felt Kenneth working on removing the last of his clothes, taking his time. Every gesture was calculated, sensual. He stroked a nearby patch of tail as Kenneth slipped one shoe off, kissing his ankle.

“I come to your place after…?”

“I’m agreeable to that,” Kenneth said with a smile. That one was less playful, more genuine. “For more of this?”

“Perhaps.”

“At least a cuddle, and I get to use my eyes on you.”

Uriah raised his head and gave Kenneth a scrutinizing look. “At least a cuddle, and maybe you get to use your eyes.”

“It’s more fun with the eyes.” Kenneth let his eyes pulse once, a ring of blue breaking up his golden brown irises, and Uriah stubbornly averted his gaze, one hand raised to block further attempts.

“Maybe I want my head to be clear sometimes,” Uriah countered. “I might like to remember the details now and then.”

Realizing what he’d said, he quickly let his head drop back down onto the coil pillow behind it and stared up at the ceiling with a flustered huff. He could hear Kenneth chuckling.

“Don’t laugh,” Uriah pouted, crossing his arms. “Not when you’ve got me half-naked and on your damn desk like this!”

“You’re very endearing, Doc, that’s all,” he said. His tone was genuine again. The end of his tail stroked through Uriah’s hair and down his cheek before playfully tapping his nose. Uriah lightly swatted it away. He almost didn’t realize when Kenneth finally tugged his pants off. But then the handsome creature was leaning over him, hands bracing on either side of his head, smiling down with that dangerous allure of his. He reached up with a hand and traced the line of Kenneth’s jaw.

“Any other demands you’d like to make?”

“Don’t smoke around me, if you can help it,” he replied, voice firm.

“Ah,” Kenneth sighed, amused, “I was beginning to suspect it bothered you.”

“You might be immune to it, but I’m a standard human being and I don’t fancy the consequences of the habit. Or the smell. No offense.”

“None taken. So, I keep my cigarettes out of sight and mind when you’re around. Easily done. Anything else at this time, handsome?”

“…Not at this time,” Uriah said quietly, eyes roaming over Kenneth’s impressive figure before focusing on his face. Knowing what he could do, it was a rather bold move of vulnerability. Kenneth admired and appreciated that. Scales brushed against thighs, bodies close together. Uriah inhaled deeply as a kiss was placed on his forehead first, and then one on each cheek, before Kenneth finally drew him into a proper one. Uriah tried to hold back, he really tried, but Kenneth clearly knew what he was doing, and a moan finally slipped out of him.

“Shall we seal the deal, then? To potentially be amended later, as both parties see fit?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go with that.”

“Very well…Ah, I nearly forgot. Eyes?”

Uriah searched Kenneth’s expression. He was…actually letting him choose. That gave him a small flutter in his chest. As he mulled it over, Uriah brushed some of Kenneth’s hair back from his face, traced his broad shoulders, took in the sight and feel of him. He could’ve never anticipated finding himself in this particular scenario, bargaining what was essentially a friends-with-benefits arrangement with one of Gotham’s wealthiest bachelors. The said bachelor wasn’t human, on top of it all, and Uriah was surprised that little detail didn’t phase him. He gently toyed with a lock of Kenneth’s hair a moment more before he exhaled and fully committed to his decision.

“No eyes. I wanna be lucid this time around.”

“This time?” Kenneth raised a brow and smirked playfully.

“Yeah, well, if you ‘negotiate’ well enough, maybe I’ll agree to it next time,” Uriah teased back. “Maybe.”

the house imposes meaning again brick layers leak it, birds that rest in refusal to fly thunder reads out its epiphanies