what have i done with my heart on the floor
written for @jupeterweek day 3: AU
Peter hasnât pulled off a job in months. Heâs had multiple opportunities, of course, heâs heard tappings and gotten tips from contacts. But his heart just isnât in it, he finds it exceedingly difficult to don the mask. His fingers slip on his lockpicks, grip clumsy in a way it hasnât been in decades.Â
He canât help but blame himself for his misfortune. If he had just turned his back on Hyperion City, the entirety of Mars, like he had sworn to himself he would, this wouldnât be happening. But Martian elections are always frightful things and he couldnât help but feel⌠concern. Juno always manages to land himself directly in the middle of frightful situations and Peter knew that if he kept his ear to the ground long enough heâd hear the detectiveâs name. And he had.Â
Following whatever it was that occurred in Old Town Hyperion following the landslide election, Mars was plastered on every news stream for a week.Â
Peter remembers the sound his comms had made when he threw it against the wall of his hotel room. The screen cracked, but the report continued out of the tinny speakers. âThis election week was not without its casualties, however,â the news reporter said. âFormer Mayor Pilot Pereyra has been reported missing and presumed dead somewhere in the Martian desert, along with Private Detective Juno Steel, local investigator in Hyperion City.â The comms shattered easily under Peterâs sharp heel, but the words still rang in his ears.Â
His stomach dropped straight into the floor, and kept plummeting. Itâs been almost half a year, but he can still feel his heart ache with the pain of it. A keen sense of loss he hasnât experienced in twenty years. He doesnât remember it hurting this much, the hollowness inside. A genuine, physical pain he canât break free from. His hands shake most of the time, these days, and his words escape him. He finds himself stumbling over the details of his aliases, even when alone, never mind what might happen if he was actually in the middle of a job and needed to remember the information.Â
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