@badthingshappenbingo prompt: precarious ledge
Fandom: Saw
Ship: Bobby Dagen x Cale
Summary: Bobby screamed Cale’s name, the sound blending with the way Cale shouted his own.
Warnings: Fix-It, canon divergent, Cale survives, arguing, hurt/comfort.
Words: 1,245
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
The boards between Bobby and Cale were dilapidated. They clearly hadn’t been maintained at all, broken down and messy. He didn’t trust any of the planks or beams that they would have to cross to get to one another. The instructions had been easy to understand, but the act itself was the difficult part. He planned one route then another then another, all of them having some flaw.
Cale had walked forward a bit, although it certainly wasn’t enough. His body trembled there on the board, swaying ever so slightly. Each movement added to Bobby’s rapidly growing worry. Bobby flinched when Cale’s voice spoke up again.
“Bobby,” Cale snapped at him, his voice tense and grating. “Keep fucking talking. Don’t go silent on me, I can’t fucking see.”
“I’m trying to figure it out,” Bobby’s voice was equally tense and he grew more frustrated by the second. “The boards are all messed up, just give me a minute.”
“We don’t have a fucking minute,” Cale argued.
Bobby knew they didn’t, the situation was bad as it was and it only grew worse as time ticked by. Cale’s shoes scraped harshly against the wood beneath his feet. Bobby’s back was pressed to the wall as far as it could go, but he had little room. The board splintered off near the wall and he barely had space to edge closer to Cale, trying to do most of the work of closing the gap between them. His hands tried to grasp at something, anything, to give himself more stability. However, he found nothing.
“Talk to me,” Cale screamed at him and Bobby’s jaw clenched.
“Shut the fuck up,” Bobby shouted back at him, years of frustration bubbling over all at once. “Just listen to me for once.”
He knew it would be easier for him to move towards Cale than the other way around, but at the same time, he saw very little he could step onto. His foot found one nearby board, pressing down some of his weight to test how much it could take. Almost immediately, it began to slide down under the pressure. It was too loose and rotted away inside, it would never hold him. Fuck.
“Just walk forward for me. Straight forward, okay? As straight as you can,” Bobby encouraged him, the words gentler this time. Cale shook harder, trying to follow the directions. “Good, just like that. You’re doing great, Cale.”
Cale took tiny steps, feeling out the board ahead of him with his feet. He was handling it better than Bobby expected, except for how much he was freaking out. Bobby couldn’t blame him for that, though. A deafening crack shot through the air suddenly. Bobby’s mind raced to catch up with what he was seeing and hearing.
Cale’s body dropped all at once, the board beneath his feet cracking across the center. It clattered to the floor, but Bobby’s eyes were focused on Cale. Bobby screamed Cale’s name, the sound blending with the way Cale shouted his. Cale flailed there for a moment, his arms wrapped around the board above him.
“Hang on,” Bobby yelled frantically, watching Cale struggle to try and pull himself back up to safety. “Please, God. Hang on, Cale.”
Bobby didn’t think a second longer, jumping from the ledge he was on. It didn’t give him much room to push off of and his body hit the beam hard when he landed. It left him winded and gasping for air, his chest feeling like something had to be broken. When he looked up, Cale was managing to pull himself back onto the plank. Cale’s breathing was short and ragged, unable to get a deep breath.
“Bobby,” Cale’s voice whined out, his legs shaky as he rose to his feet.
“I’m right here,” He promised and pulled himself up. “I’ve almost got the key, okay? Stay right there, don’t move. I’ll get it,” He tried to keep Cale calm, knowing it would make it worse if he wasn’t.
His lungs burned when he breathed now, further solidifying the idea that he had seriously hurt something. The key was right there, though. He could do this. Everything ached as he leaned for the key, teetering on the edge of the beam. His fingers swatted for it, brushing against the cold metal. It swung and he worried it might fall. But finally, his fingers pushed it into his palm and he tightened his hand around it.
“I’ve got it,” He told him, loud enough to be heard over Cale’s frightened breathing. “Cup your hands close to your chest. I’ll throw it on three,” He told him and gave Cale time to pull his hands close.
He shook so badly that Bobby worried he might drop it. He counted down slowly and finally threw it. It wasn’t his best throw, but he did the best he could. It hit the center of Cale’s chest and bounced in his hands, and Bobby couldn’t breathe. No, no, it couldn’t be like this. He couldn’t drop it after everything they’d gone through.
Cale’s hands clasped quick and tight, reminding him of a Venus Fly Trap. They wrapped around the key and kept it captured between his palms the same way a fly got stuck in its jaws. The key was raised to the contraption on his throat and he missed the lock a couple times, the shaking and the awkward angle making it difficult. Bobby let out the breath he’d been holding in when the chain clicked, dangling behind Cale’s head.
He shoved at the blindfold and collar desperately. The movement was harsh enough that Bobby worried again that he might make himself fall. Luckily, he had stayed upright and managed to push the blindfold away from his eyes. Tears streaked his face and his eyes were frantic when they found Bobby.
“Stay there,” Bobby encouraged and Cale nodded. “I’m going to come to you. Stay right there, Cale.”
“Be careful,” Cale said and repeated the words as Bobby struggled to move across the remaining smaller beams to close the gap. “Bobby,” He cried out and his eyes squeezed shut when one of the beams creaked beneath his body weight.
“It’s okay,” He reassured and moved quickly to the next. The final one broke at the last minute, barely giving him time to jump to the sturdier beam Cale was near. “I’m here. Come to me. I’m right here.”
His own voice trembled so much now. Tears burned behind his eyes and he willed them away, knowing he had to be strong for his group. Cale was careful as he finished crossing the plank, moving a lot better now that he could see. He nearly fell into Bobby once he was close enough, his legs seeming to give out beneath him. Bobby had him, though. His arms wrapped around him tightly and he held Cale close.
“I don’t want to die, Bobby. Please, fuck. I don’t want to die,” Cale rambled, sobbing once he was in Bobby’s arms.
“You’re not going to die,” He promised him. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
He wasn’t sure how they did it, but relief overwhelmed him. He couldn’t lose Cale, especially not like this. His hand moved to cradle the back of Cale’s head and for the first time, he realized he was shaking too. Tears began to leak out of the corners of his eyes, though the moment was short-lived. They had to keep coming.
