Chapter Text
Yoru awoke with a start. The moment he registered he was awake was the same moment he heard the beeping and smelt the almost toxic bleach smell of the med bay. He went to sit up, but let out a groan of pain. Where was Chamber? His mind whirred, trying to give him an answer, but coughing up a blank memory.
"What the fuck-" he choked out, voice crackling, as a searing pain split through his skull, his fingers pressing to his head. But all it did was make him wonder; what had he done? He heard his own heart rate go up, the pitch making his migraine worse. He wanted to punch the machine, but doing so would require him to sit up. He stared at the ceiling, blank and boring. Was it really necessary to make it this dull? They couldn't try and disguise the smell of bleach?
He blinked, mind rolling on dumbly. Why the fuck was he thinking about the ceiling? A deep set feeling buried in his gut; something he couldn't understand, couldn't grasp. There was something off-putting here, a feeling that struck him as odd. Whenever he woke up in the med bay, he didn't wake up like this. But if this wasn't how he woke up, how did he?
Yoru's heart beat in his ears lined up with the beep of the machine. His eyes trying to scan the room, mind slowly rolling on as he tried to figure out what the hell was wrong. Then the first thing struck him. He was alone.
Chamber always stayed the night whenever Yoru was here. It didn't matter if he slept on the floor, on Yoru's bed, or awkwardly curled up in a chair. He stayed. It didn't matter if it was freezing or boiling hot. If he was given permission to stay, or if he was forbidden from staying. It didn't matter; Chamber always stayed. Yet he wasn't here.
Yoru almost gagged as he took a sharp inhale of what should have been lavender, in his panicked attempt to draw in more breath. It was bleach. He tried to sit up again, fighting the migraine. He needed to. He couldn't give in now. He groaned, struggling to force his eyes to remain open, black spots dancing across his eyes. His vision doubled in his efforts, showing him two blank walls instead of the one that was really in front of him.
He propped himself up with his forearms, shoulders shaking from exertion. What was wrong with him? Even when he was sick it wasn't like this. The deep feeling pooled in his gut more, as his eyes darted around. He knew what it was now. It was fear. There wasn't a goddamn door. Where was Sage? Her flowers she kept in the head quarters medbay? The colourful walls? The windows? The other injured people? The bigger room? Where was the goddamn fucking door?
The heart monitor was having a fit now, accelerating as Yoru shook violently, a clanking noise rattling in his ears. He felt liquid under his nose, dripping down his face, and he knew without even touching it that it was blood. But that wasn't what mattered. He wanted to know what color it was. He threw out his hand in desperation, reaching to tear open the rift. He felt for it, the snag and pull as the rift aligned with his world, but it wasn't there. He was grasping at normal space.
"Fuck, fuck oh fuck fuck-" his voice rushed as he vision began to haze, darkening on the edges. Blue blood dripped down his chin onto the stark white sheets, soaking into them with a stain that would be permanent.
Yoru tried to sit up properly, to remove the weight from his forearms, eyes swimming as he felt the disgusting urge to vomit. Bile, hot and burning, built in his throat, and he begged himself to not let it climb any higher, to spill out and mix with the bleach smell. His hands, white knuckled, gripped the sheets, which were like a vice; holding him tight onto the bed. The shake of his hands made metal clank. Metal? His shaking vision flicked down. There were chains around his wrists. He hadn't seen those before in his panic, his mind trying to skip over the threat. He violently ripped his arm forward, trying to rip the chains.
They bit into his wrists, rubbing them raw. His eyes hazed as he felt like someone had buried a sledgehammer in his skull, caving it in. A pained groaned slipped from his lips, as he tried not to give in. He needed to stand up, to put his feet under him. He bit his lips, trying so hard not to vomit. His arms gave out, dumping him back onto the sheets, swear rolling down his brow.
"Oh Ryo."
That voice. He liked that voice, normally. But it had an edge to it, a strange coldness and cruelty that didn't belong to the person who had the same voice. His eyes ticked to focusing as a face loomed over him. A feint smile ticked to his face before it dropped cold. The heart monitor sped up, an inane beeping filling his ears with a pained squeal.
"You look terrible, cheri."
Yoru bit back a shout, wanting to tear out the man above him eyes. The nickname was tainted when it came from his lips. Silver lined the man's head, and Yoru knew they went down his neck, down his arms and legs and back. But he knew the golden ones. The man's grey eyes peered at him, a sneer on his face.
"Fuck you," Yoru managed, wanting to spit on him, and to claw out his eyes but to also vomit on him, because he was about to vomit. Yet still, he took the risk and spat out another word, blood slipping down his lips. "Deadeye."
"Where the fuck is he?" The door to the medbay slammed open, bouncing into the pale grin wall. Chamber didn't pause to apologize, or even check he hadn't dented the wall, he continued charging through until he found who he was looking for. He wasn't without an audience either, Neon and Fade were watching, both speechless at the rare display of...well, any emotions other than cocky cheerfulness. It was hard to explain as just rage or sadness; it could be equated to burning food. It all mixed together into a burnt, charred, disgusting ruin that couldn't be distinguished from one another the longer it burnt.
Chamber looked a mess too, adding further to the fact that the madman running through the medbay could not possibly be the sassy Frenchman that was always perfect. His vest was missing, completely vacant from his being. His tie was loose, hanging like a dying man from his neck; about to fall off any second. His glasses were fractured through one lens, but he still kept them on because he would've been blind through both eyes. His top button was popped, and his shirt that he always spent so much money on was in tatters.
He probably shouldn't have even been walking, as rogue cuts and injuries were everywhere. There were cuts down his cheekbone from his shattered glasses, and his clothes were ruined. He had been fighting, and he had been fighting hard. His shirt sleeves showed his tattoos, which over the top of glimmering gold, there was shines of dark red.
"Sage!" The room was vacant of the healer, and his golden eyes narrowed. He glanced at Neon and Fade, but by the way they were staring at him like he was a madman, they were probably to shocked to say anything back.
He stormed outside, leaving the door open as it was partially stuck in the wall. Chamber's dress shoes clicked on the floor, as he resisted the urge to run. Oh fuck it. He took off sprinting, heading for Brimstone's office. He skidded to a stop, hand shaking as he rapped on the door with his fist. If he knocked any harder, he would've shattered the fogged glass.
"Monsieur, I suggest you open the fucking door." His teeth gritted together as he tried not to shout. If he did he probably would've elicited more of an audience than two. "You have ten seconds, or I'm afraid I'm breaking it down." He jaggled the handle, tearing it back and forth as he tried to open it.
He heard the door unlock, and stepped backwards as it swung open. He looked down at the older man staring up at him. He looked uneasy. And that only made Chamber feel worse.
"Fabron." Brimstone said in greeting. He already knew what this was about from the almost nervous look on his face. "Come in." Chamber stepped into his office. He heard a gasp from his side, as his sorry state graced Sage's eyes. He turned his head to survey the room properly. Sage looked tired, like usual, but an extra layer of anxiety crossed into her face as soon as he met her line of sight. Viper saw him, but in his opinion, it didn't even break her consciousness, seeing him. She wasn't disturbed seeing him, or even remotely bothered. He might as well have not been there.
"Vincent!" Sage's frantic eyes drifting across his body, to survey every little bit of damage. "You need to come with me to the medbay." Chamber bit back a snarl, knowing she meant the best for him. His hands shook with barely hidden rage. It was going to surface in a moment if they didn't let him speak. Viper murmured in Brimstone's ear, discussing a situation which Chamber knew without even hearing.
"After," He said clearly, enunciating his words enough, trying not to sound annoyed. Annoyed. An understatement. He was furious, afraid, upset, so fucking scared. "Liam, where is Ryo? Why isn't he in medbay, why did you lie to me, Sabine, that I couldn't see him because Wei said so?" His hands curled into fists, as he spat more and more questions. Fear racked his brain, almost ripping off the mask that revealed the dark side of him he tried to hide.
"I didn't say that!" Sage crossed her arms, frowning at Sabine. Sabine rolled her eyes, shrugging it off. Chamber normally enjoyed tormenting Viper, and at moments like this, he was reminded why. She was cruel. She didn't care who she hurt as long as it wasn't her. And he relished the fact that she found him intolerable.
"Then why did you lie, Sabine?" Chamber was moments away from making her choke on her poison. Viper checked to Brimstone, almost uncharacteristically looking to someone else for confirmation. Brimstone nodded, and she took a deep breath. "Where is Ryo?"
"We don't know where he is."