Hey! For the fic title thing how about "Mercy"?
Bounty Hunter Lucio x MC, AU fic.
Lucio works as a bounty hunter with low (read: no) moral codes - heâll bring in anyone and anything no matter the reason, so long as the price is right.
He has been sent out on a hunt to find a low-level threat, one he scoffs at and almost passes up until he sees the price tag: 500,000 coins.
He doesnât bother studying the notes or witness statements, he sees low threat and knows itâll be an easy target, and so he sets out with minimal weapons and nearly yawning at the ease of it all.
Soon enough, heâll be a stinking rich man. Find, corner, behead, collect. The easiest payday heâll ever have in his life.
But when he finally lays eyes on them, somethingâŠisnât quite right. Not with them, with him - thereâs thisâŠweird thing in his chest, no itâs not his fucking heartbeat, itâs likeâŠwarm? And it kind of does a thing to his lips too, and his eyes, and some of the equipment in his pants that isnât knives.
He watches MC from afar as they move throughout the market place, and itâs almost irritating to see them being so sloppy - why the hell is someone with 500,000 coins on their head not wearing a robe? Why have they not cut their hair? Why are they talking to people, donât they know itâs going to get them killed?!
He follows them to an alley and corners them, snaps at them to be more careful, donât they know anything?
MC gets flustered, wide-eyed, stutters. They seem to know who or what he is. They seem terrified. That weirdness in his chest is back he doesnât have time for this
He shoves a cloak at them, tells them to leave the city, cut their hair, and for the love of the Gods stop talking to people.
And heâs satisfied with his work, though when he gets home that night heâs cursing and throwing things because did he really just throw away 500,000 coins because of a pretty face and doe eyes?! What the hell is wrong with him!?
So he goes out the next day to check if his words were heeded, and lo and behold, they were not.
Another impromptu meeting in an alley. MC seems less startled, but insists they couldnât leave, they haveâŠthey canât leave, theyâre needed here.
That weirdness comes again.
Curses himself, a g a i n.
And so it repeats itself, for days on days, with MC insisting they canât leave but refusing to say why, and so Lucio just keeps throwing things at them trying to guess what it is they need - cloaks, blankets, shoes, food, medicine, books, what do they need? What will make them leave?!Â
And itâs such a frustrating ordeal but he doesnât even seem to think twice about it after the second day, heâs just trying to get rid of them so he doesnât have to see their wide eyes and so he doesnât have to listen to that weird feeling in his chest gods fucking damnit will it ever go away!?
And each time they meet itâs for a little longer, and they talk a little more, until MC finally tells him why they canât leave: they need to take someone with them, someone very sick who needs medicine and expensive travel and they wonât leave without them, they are the only family they have left.
And so Lucio does the only thing that makes sense:
He finds a person that looks vaguely like MC, decapitates them, takes the severed head to the Bounty Hunters Association and collects on those 500,000 coins.
The next time he sees MC, he shoves the bag at them. He tells them this will be enough to get them anywhere in the world, a thousand times over. Come back tomorrow night with their relative, he will make sure they make it out of the city alive and wherever they need to go.
MC nods, kisses him on the cheek, and departs.
The next night, Lucio returns, but there is no MC. Only a note, stuck to the wall with one of his own knives he hadnât even realised was missing.
Sorry, big boy - I can spend these 500,000 coins all on my own, fake relative or not. Maybe if you had read your study notes you would have succeeded. Pleasure doing business with you. x
And then heâs set upon by a swarm of palace guards, and as heâs thrown up against the wall and cuffed and read a list of his crimes (illegal bounty hunting, murder, public indecency, threatening royalty with phallic objectsâŠ), he laughs.
And he cannot stop laughing the entire carriage ride to the dungeons because by gods, the moment he breaks himself out of that place, heâs grabbing his belongings, leaving this town and finding MC so he can fucking marry them.
