Raichu is an Idiot, Part 6: Attempting Amends
(TW: Some robot gore. Don't want to spoil, but I don't want you to lose your breakfast/lunch/dinner more.)
Raichu did return to Caprice's home once he'd had breakfast and done some work. He could feel the angry Wilybot, like the scent of blood and wild animal, but he had no idea where he was. The blond slinked into the hall and slipped into Xander's room to collect him, the brunet looked shaken and weak, but he didn't protest being moved. Cappy looked like he'd been sobbing non-stop since the other day, and Raichu felt yet another stab of guilt hit him.
Cappy admitted that Zero was angry and frightened to the point that he would no longer listen to Cappy, and now Cappy was afraid of Zero. Raichu confessed his part in the whole mess, and Cappy suddenly looked a lot less happy to see him until he said he'd be taking them both to Xav until Zero could get himself under control again.
It was obvious that Cappy's internal teleporter had been disabled, or else he would have left a long time ago, so Raichu grabbed them back and prepared to leave. And then Zero appeared, looming dangerously near and demanding to know what he was doing with his children. Raichu explained, as calmly as he could that he'd never intended to turn Zero's wrath on Xav, and that the boy wasn't an immediate danger so much as something to be watched, and that he felt it best that Zero be relieved of both dependent units until he'd started behaving sanely again.
Very flatly, Zero began accusing him of things--that he'd originally intended to come here and kidnap them when he gave Zero that information, that it was Raichu that might really be working for Omega. Raichu was so startled by the claims that the initial attack caught him completely off-guard. He wasn't entirely sure what happened then, just that his mind was full of flashes and he suddenly felt very lightheaded and confused as to where he was. But there was the hum of a beamsaber and the scent of coolant and someone screaming--and then it was quiet.
Cappy found himself standing in the middle of Xav's living room, clinging to Raichu and shivering in terror. He'd closed his eyes when Vati had attacked Raichu, but he wasn't sure what the outcome was, if Zero was even still alive, because Raichu was here--and missing part of his face. There was a ragged hole where Raichu's left optic was supposed to be, what was left of it was a naked, uncomfortably mechanical looking thing, The wound stretched from his eye down to his jaw, and Cappy knew it was from his Vati's massive, usually gentle hand. It was bleeding, he didn't think he'd ever seen so much blood, and oozing thick blue liquid Cappy couldn't identify.
He suddenly felt the need to scream again, so he did.
Xav hadn't stopped sobbing the entire time once he had entered his room, now fully aware of just who had been the one to tell Zero about what had happened. The other probably wasn't aware that he'd been listening, but he was starting to feel like his attempts to make peace with Raichu hadn't worked out in the least.
Rhythm was still fairly cranky, glowering at nothing and avoiding Xav for the time being while the teenager was still upset. The boy had calmed down in Frith's care, but coming back here had apparently pushed him too far again.
Of course, then Raichu teleported in, with Caprice and Xander in tow.
Even if Rhythm hadn't been there, demanding to know what had happened to Raichu and making sure the other wasn't going to die on his living room floor before pushing Cappy and Xander in the direction of Xav's room, Xav would have seen everything from the instant that Raichu teleported in.
And as much as the blond disliked Raichu at the moment, he wasn't going to let the other die unless it was him doing the killing.
Xav looked very, very white, and more like he was about to faint dead away when he saw the injury on Raichu's face, and was fully aware that could have been him. His eyes were still puffy and red and he was more focused on tugging Cappy away from the other two and uncertain of what to do.
Cappy didn't hesitate the moment he laid eyes on Xav, launching himself at the other unit with a sharp cry. He felt relieved, but still panicked. He'd never wanted to see someone hurt like that, or the inside of someone eye socket, but he had. And it had been his father who'd made that horrible injury.
It was almost too much to take in. Xander was very, very quiet, trying to brush speckles of blood from his clothes.
Xav found himself suddenly with his arms full of redhead Reploid, and he wrapped his arms around the other, shivering violently and trying not to start sobbing yet again. He hadn't been able to stop ever since he had gotten home, and now that he had Cappy here - for all he knew, this was going to be the last time that he saw Cappy and Xander.
He turned just long enough to grab Xander and to pull him into the hug.
Xander let out a half-hearted purr and buried his forehead against Xav's neck, nose nudging against scars he faintly recognized. Everyone was so upset and he felt bad.
Cappy keened into Xav's shoulder, fear and shock and relief at the situation making him feel ill. But Xav's scent and presence were soothing on a primal level; all he could do was cling to his mate and hope things would go back to normal.
Raichu watched them with his one eye, eerily calm and vacant. Blue and red slid from the empty socket, painting his neck and shirt.
Rhythm didn't even comment before he dragged Raichu into the bathroom to stop that bleeding, not even speaking to the blond anymore as he forced him to sit down on the toilet instead of bleeding all over his bathroom floor.
Raichu watched Rhythm passively, still stunned. He couldn't feel any pain but he knew something was wrong and chose not to think on it further. It would hurt if he did.
"And this," Rhythm said sharply as he dressed the injury so that Raichu wasn't bleeding anymore - but he couldn't do anything about the way. "Is why you stay out of other people's affairs. You're only being helped right now because I don't want those kids to witness a murder."
Raichu's response was to turn his head away. He was shuddering, though he wasn't sure why, it was so strange to be sitting here, frightened, and now sure what was upsetting him.
Xav didn't even notice Rhythm and Raichu; he just wanted to never let go of the two of them again, and he didn't want to die, either.
Cappy gradually calmed down, snuffling into Xav's shirt. He felt worn out and anxious. Was Vati okay? Why had he been so angry?
By then, Xav had dragged the other two into his room so that they could curl up on his bed. What had happened?
Cappy curled up against Xav, grateful to be with him. Xander flopped down behind him, tired.
Xav hadn't stopped trembling the entire time, even with Cappy in his arms. The other's presence was calming him down, but he had been on the verge of another panic attack.
"Are you okay?" Cappy asked him, his voice hoarse from crying. He couldn't bear it if Xav had gotten hurt by Vati somehow.
"...My mind thought he was him when he was threatening me," Xav finally said in a small voice.
That made Cappy sad. His Vati was a good person, so why had he been acting so mean? "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay, you did nothing wrong," Xav muttered, pressing his nose against Cappy's neck and hiding his face there. But it did explain why Xav had frozen up.
"He thought you were going to hurt me. If it wasn't for me--!" Cappy blinked as tears threatened to spill down again. His eyes felt so hot and tender from crying.
"S-Shhh..." He patted Cappy's back, feeling bad that the other was blaming himself. "D-Don't think for one m-minute it's your fault. ...But I don't want to die."
"You won't die," he said fiercely. "Vati wouldn't kill you! It's not you he's upset with, it's.... him."
"He still wanted to k-kill me," Xav whispered. It was going to take him a long time to be able to go near Cappy's father again without trembling like a Chihuahua.
"Are you sure? All I heard him say was that he wanted to take you to a Lifesaver. I really don't think he wanted to kill you," Cappy sniffled.
"Th-Those Lifesavers h-hate me, you know that." Xav wiped his nose.
"They hate you? I know Dad doesn't like them..."
Xander hissed softly in distaste.
Xav nodded, wiping his eyes this time. "Always s-scowling, and n-not wanting to touch me, and t-telling me to go h-home..." Xav awkwardly patted Xander's head to try to calm him.
"Well, I'll make sure you'd go to another medic if you ever need to go to one here," he decided, watching Xander push gently into Xav's hand.
"I don't trust any," Xav muttered, burrowing into the other two. "A-And I'm mad at him."
"I'm mad at Vati too. He scared me, and he scared you," Cappy grumbled, rubbing his chest where Zero had accidentally bruised him yesterday.
"But I'm m-more afraid than mad." Xav sadly glanced down at the bruise on Cappy's chest. "A-Are you okay...?"
"He didn't mean to do it," he muttered. "I'm okay."
"...It still hurts," Xav murmured, uncertain if he was referring to Zero's actions towards him or Cappy's bruise.
"I'm not going back until Vati's himself again," he said with a shiver, throwing a leg over Xav's as though he was debating crawling on top of him. "He'd keep me from seeing you."
"I'll never see you again if you go back," Xav murmured, grabbing the blankets to wrap around the three of them. "I can't take something like that again."
"I guess I can't go home then," Cappy said, feeling conflicted as he admitted that. "It's warm..."
"I'm cold," Xav told him. "...I can't ever go there again, can I?"
"Not until Vati starts behaving again," Cappy scowled. "And he will then he'll love you again."
Xav looked uncertain. "......"
"He will," Cappy insisted, tugging lightly on his scarf. A speck of red on his hand caught his attention and he was suddenly frantically scratching at it.
"C-Cappy...?" Xav pulled the other's hand to check up on it, feeling his stomach turn slightly at the sight of blood. Oh Asimov he wanted to puke again.
"Raichu bled s-so much," Cappy whispered, staring at the smear. "Why did Vati hurt him?"
Xav placed his hand over his mouth, turning away from the blood smear so that he didn't vomit all over the two of them and on his bed. "............"
"X-Xav?" He noticed his boyfriend's reaction and sat up. "Are you okay?"
"T...Too much blood..." Xav muttered, keeping his eyes squeezed shut. Raichu had been bleeding and he'd been missing an eye, and - Okay, he just couldn't think about it anymore or his breakfast was going to come out. He’d never handled blood well.
"I'm sure he's okay," the redhead whispered weakly, not convinced of his own words. Cappy reached out to rub Xav's back gently up and down--the way Vati used to when Cappy felt sick of sleepy.
He drew his hand back as if he'd been burned.
"...Cap?" He whispered, trying to force his thoughts away from Raichu's injuries. Why had the other suddenly stopped touching him like that?
"I feel kind of sick too..." Cappy tried to smile, reaching out to put his hand tentatively on Xav's back again.
Xav leaned against his hand. "...Sorry. I didn't want any of this to happen... maybe I should've told Vati from the start."
"And then maybe everything would have happened the same and we would have never gotten together." He stroked Xav's back, smiling as he heard Xander's gentle snores. "Raichu told him..."
"I know," Xav whispered. "Dad interrogated him. He was so angry... I thought he was going kill Raichu." He paused for a moment. "I felt really betrayed."
"I really like Raichu," Cappy nodded, sharing Xav's sentiment. "I don't know why he doesn't like us."
"...He claimed to like us when Dad was yelling at him," Xav said quietly. "I just... don't know if I can believe him."
"Well... why did he do that? And then why did he get hurt trying to get me and Daddy over here when he could have just run away?"
"Dad yelled at him to fix things, or he was going to make sure that... he didn't get a chance to," Xav muttered. "I think he was afraid of dad."
"But he was afraid of Vati, too..." Cappy laid his head down on Xav's back for a few moments, and then he frowned, stiffening. "Did you... see that blue stuff on Raichu's face?"
"...Yeah, I did, as weird as it was. That didn't look like coolant..."
The little redhead was quiet as he thought about it for a few minutes. The blue fluid cutting through the blood and refusing to mix with it until it thinned out. It had been almost electric blue.
"Xav," Cappy whispered, almost fearful.
"...?" Xav tilted his head. "What's... wrong?"
"I think.... I think that was gel."
Xav's face was unreadable as he looked at Cappy. "Are you saying he's like you?"
"I'm not sure... can you think of any other reason why a Reploid would have gel in them? Unless that was some new kind of antifreeze or coolant. But he looked like he--" Cappy swallowed hard. "--had normal coolant."
"Unless they're like--" Juice, but he couldn't voice her name without his new core hurting. "--But other than that, no, and... do you really think he's like you?"
"I dunno. I've never really asked him about anything like that, and I didn't get a close look..."
