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Stephan struggled to push itself up onto its arms, every part of it stinging in agony. The bruises on its arm burning at the pressure, though its stomach cried in relief.
It needed to leave.
It gasped through sobs, a painful, wet, almost-choking sound, trying to get enough air with its nose broken. It hated that it was crying. It hated crying in general, the uncomfortable raw itch in its eyes, the stinging in its throat, the shaky, wet, gunky feeling it left behind.
Most of all, it hated the burning of its tears down its cuts and bruises. All always left by one terrible man.
It needed to run.
Martin had already left, like he always did after. Dropping Stephan to the ground carelessly, ignoring the whimper of pain it caused, kicking it one more time for good measure, and leaving it there. Bleeding and broken on the floor. Nose red and bleeding steadily, eye screwed shut with swelling, lip busted and adding more blood to the growing pool.
All over some insignificant blunder, neither of them could even remember at that point.
It needed to get far away.
Its throat stung more with every gasp and every hitch of breath, the lack of immediate danger doing nothing to help it calm. The fear and pain still mixing with the adrenaline pumping its heart painfully. Its body couldn't take much more of this. Its brain still supplying only one coherent thought.
It needed to get out of here.
It needed to run, hide, to do anything to be away from him. It needed to leave.
So that's what it did.
It walked(stumbled more like) straight past the medbay. The doctor never failed to convince it to stay. Something it knew it couldn't do.
Its bones ached, the metal pressing hard on its insides in the worst possible way.
Its legs protested every movement, threatening to give out at any moment, yet never daring to.
Its spine ached more when it bent down to pack, shoving everything it could into the bag with reckless abandon. Money, medkits, clothes, and anything it could focus on enough to think was important.
Stephan pulled the bag over its shoulder, ignoring the burst of pain the action caused as the bag crushed the bruises decorating its back.
It snuck through the halls, carefully avoiding any Vehicons before they could start worrying about it and dragging it to the medbay. It knew they meant well, but it couldn't take the chance.
Stephan finally pushed open the emergency exit, rushing down the sidewalk until it was suitably hidden from the station.
It ducked into an allyway and collapsed against the wall. Oh, if only that was it.
It counted the shanix quickly. It had just enough for a few, maybe two, nights at a motel. Four if it went for a lower quality one.
Stephan took a deep breath and blew it out. It pushed itself off the wall.
Stephan sank pitifully onto the bed.
It had three days, as it went for a mid quality place. The paint was chipped and peeling, but the bed was soft and clean, and the water pressure was off, but at least the water pump worked.
It sighed deeply, trying to hold off another wave of tears. It was all too much.
Its desperation to do anything to get away from Martin made it blind and stupid. How could it forget it tried this before? How could it forget it always went back to him? The danger and pain were too much to bear, yet so secure in its familiarity.
He was undoubtedly aware that it was gone. And would probably be incredibly smug when it returned.
Because it would. He knew it would. It knew it would. Everyone knew it would. Where would it even stay without Martin? He had control over all its finances. He was its employer, the only one who'd accepted it, and Stephan lived on site.
Stephan ruthlessly rubbed its eyes raw in a vain attempt to stop the tears from falling. There had to be something it could do! Right? It could... call its siblings? It doubted they wanted to hear from it, but it could try.
Stephan pulled out its phone, the red case cracked and scuffed, yet somehow the phone itself was completely unharmed and scrolled through its contacts.
TotalKnockOut
TheBastard
SneakySound
IllogicallyLogical
LittleBirdie
CrypticBitch
Getoutofjailfree
SpellCheck
It clicked on Sal's and let it ring. And ring. And ring. The message informing it the number was unavailable was barely audible over the sound of its own blood pumping in its ears. It shouldn't even be surprised.
It reluctantly clicked on Ted's. It rung once. A second time. A third. Stephan cancelled the call before the message could play out.
Tears dropped onto the phone screen. When did it start crying?
Well, it might be able to call Slippy? Fae actually picks up when it usually calls.
But the last time it called Slip, they had a massive argument. Stacy was not exactly known for being overly forgiving.
Still, Stephan scrolled till he found faer(TheRemix) and called her.
Surprisingly, fae picked up almost immediately.
"Star? Why are you calling me?" Stephan opened its mouth and paused. How would it explain it? How did it describe how much it hated Martin, yet how much it couldn't stand being without him? Where would it even begin?
"Star? Hello?? Seriously? I'm with Nova right now, I'll call you later, okay? I'm sorry about what I said, but I'm busy at the moment."
Stephan silently listened to faes explanation. Why was fae apologising? Stephan was always the one in the wrong. Wasn't it?
Stephan's ears were filled with beeping, which told it Stacy hung up. Of course, fae did. Fae was busy with something much more important than Stephan's tantrum.
Stephan dug its palms into its eyes, trying to rub the tears away. It struggled to muffle its sobs, curling tighter into itself.
It was pathetic.
Martin stood in his office, staring at the door.
He was supposed to have gone off shift and turned in a few hours ago. But here he was.
He was definitely going to have to punish Stephan for that later.
Still, he was standing in his office. The door clicked slightly, the handle jerkily moving down. They were clearly hesitant to return.
Martin sighed and grumbled to himself, mostly for show, as he went over and pulled the door open.
Stephan flinched back harshly, the light from the office pouring into the hallway. Stephan rubbed at their already red and raw eyes, blinking frantically to adjust to the light.
Their eyes shouldn't still be that red or raw. Something else made then cry before they returned.
Martin sighed heavily again, stupid emotional seeker.
He wrapped his arms around their torso and pulled them into the office, ignoring the flinches both actions caused, and quickly shut the door behind them. None of his workers could catch him being soft on Stephan. It would set a terrible example.
Stephan blinked up at him owlishly again. But then, they wrapped their own arms around him and nuzzled into him on their own.
"'M s-s-s-s-or-ry-ry." Their apology was muffled by his chest, so he'd have to drag another out of them later. He tried not to smile at the thought.
He pulled them closer against him, leaning back on the chipped brown door, and rested his head on theirs. He grunted in response, simply squeezing tighter so they'd know he'd forgiven them. For now, at least.
"Did you go to Knockout yet?" He asked, his tone dismissive, but his grip tightened slightly at the image of someone else patching them up.
"I-i-it's to-o-oo late-late now. I'll g-go-go-o tom-tom-tomor-r-row-row." He reluctantly accepted the answer.
It being so late was the perfect excuse to drag them to his room. He'd be able to keep track of them easily.
(The idea of them falling asleep curled up in his bedsheets and reaching out during the night to cuddle him at their most vulnerable was too cute to resist.)
Martin picked Stephan up under their knees, and they sagged onto him. It looked like he wouldn't even have to convince them. They wouldn't be making it their room regardless.
They curled into him, resting their head between his shoulder and neck.
Times like this was what made him make sure they always came back.