Little Red
I have crawled out of my cave once again to provide the Heart Pangs fandom with wild fanfic.
. . . also I’m maybe a little bit still very much in denial about Chapter 60.
There’s one line in Chapter 57 when Lenora and Lux look at each other during the Benji hand-off that I’m obsessed with—this basically spiraled out of my thoughts about it.
This is a fanfic based on Heart Pangs by @mmmleckerlecker!
This was it.
Benji curled in on himself, trying to become even smaller in the cramped space.
This was every nightmare, every lingering fear laid bare. This was it.
He wanted to be mad. He should have been terrified. Instead it was just . . . relief. It was over.
Then he began to burn. Benji started to gasp, then clamped his mouth shut as sour fire leaked past his lips. The acrid burn in his nostrils became too much to bear, and he choked on what little air he had. His limbs were kicking and pushing against the slick, burning surface all around him. He managed to roll slightly, pulling his arm away from his body and digging his elbow into soft, smothering muscle. His wrist sank into the dark.
He felt a ripple pass along the stomach wall. Muscles around him clenched abruptly, then twisted, before everything went dark.
When he woke up, all he could see was Lux, curled up in the dirt beside him.
***
“Mr. Marotta?” The Facility worker from earlier—Lenora?—entered his chamber. She sighed. "Benji. He's here."
Benji stood, stiff after sitting so long. He got to the middle of the room, beside the table, when the pred held out a hand to stop him.
"I’m going to ask a favor of you.”
Benji could only gawk in confusion.
The worker reached into the interior pocket of her jacket and handed him something. As soon as Benji registered the curve of cool metal in his palm, he jumped back and dropped it, like it was white-hot.
Lenora twisted her lip and picked up the wristband, then set it on the table beside them.
"I won't force you to do anything. But I'm asking. For Lux."
Benji shook his wrist in front of his face. "Already taken care of that, sorry."
Lenora closed her eyes briefly and held her forehead in one hand. "Yes, obviously. This is mine. I think . . . I'm not entirely sure. And I don't think I would tell you if I did know what was happening."
"I'm not entering a contract—"
Lenora cut him off with a hiss. "We don't have time for this. I'm not asking you to. I don't want my name in this mess. Which should go to show you how serious I am about this."
She delicately picked the wristband off the table and extended it toward Benji. It was cocked open, like a mouth about to snap shut. "You're never going to see me again. Lux can ask me for the code and get it off later, if you want. But right now—please."
There was something familiar in her eyes, enough that Benji took the band from her. He grasped it with the tips of his fingers. He didn’t know who he was doing this for.
The clink of the double orange bands on his wrist felt impossibly loud as Lenora led him down the corridor.
***
Lux hacked bloody phlegm onto the grass and looked up. "What the hell are you doing?"
Benji finished removing his soaked shirt and tossed it aside. Lux blinked at him from where he was hunched on the ground. "Acid burns. They’re only going to get worse the longer it's on my skin." With a curt nod, he started on his jeans. He watched Lux lurch forward and grab the shirt, then bring it to his mouth. Benji shivered.
“Felix?”
The pred had a white-knuckle grip on the fabric, pulling against his clenched teeth. Benji watched his clothing slide down Lux’s throat, a pale imitation of a shed skin. Lux reached out in the dark, and Benji backed away toward the car.
He tried to take stock of their situation. He knew he wasn’t going to find a solution in here, but it felt safer than waiting outside. His eyes searched the cabin and landed on a neatly folded pile of fabric on the backseat. Desperate for anything that would make him feel less exposed, Benji grabbed whatever was on top and started pulling it onto his body. He startled at the frenetic laugh that jumped from his lips when he recognized it as a Facility uniform.
He heard a low bellow from outside, a ghostly groan, and shuddered. He squeezed his eyes closed and gripped the endless folds of black fabric around him. Lux broke off into a fit of wet coughs. Benji managed a shaky breath and reemerged.
“Felix?” Benji stood in the light, fracturing the beam around his shadow. He saw something shift in the dark beyond.
“Get back in the car, Benji.” Lux’s voice was a croak.
“I need to call—” A hulking shadow appeared to his left and Benji nearly lost his nerve. He swallowed and tried again. “We need to call Lenora. If you give me your phone—”
Lux stepped close enough that the diffuse light glinted off his lips; Benji wasn’t sure whether it was saliva or blood. Lux was visibly shaking.
He sank to his knees and pulled out his phone, then slid it over the dirt to where Benji was standing, stock-still and watching, like a rabbit. “It’s unlocked,” Lux managed through gritted teeth.
It took fighting against every instinct to move slowly and not dart his hand out to pick it up. Benji took a few steps away, just to the edge of the light; his feet nearly carried him back to the car, but he held firm. Lux was panting between jagged breaths.
Benji dialed the number and held the phone to his ear. It rang. And rang.
They watched each other from across the river of light, and waited.
Based on Heart Pangs by @mmmleckerlecker