Synopsis: Modern!AU. The very last thing you expected to happen after an exhausting day at work was to meet a man you believed to be dead for years. Things get even more difficult once he asks you for an unusual favour.
➞ Masterlist
The bloodcurdling shriek which reached your mind seemed to completely dull your other senses, since you barely comprehended when Lucio grabbed the manual and turned it to the reverse gear while screaming:
“Go, go, go!”
When you instinctively listened to him and pushed the gas pedal with all your force, the car jolted strongly and drove back, giving you barely a second to look in the mirror and notice a motorcycle approaching you. Loud thud echoed in the cabin when they did not have enough time to turn and landed heavily at the car’s rear, causing you to ease your boot off the accelerator—until you saw Lucio aiming at the back window with the sheer purpose to kill the struggling human. Closing your fingers on the manual so hard that it hurt your fingers, you shifted into the first gear and drove off, not minding the red light, a person falling from your car on the street nor Lucio’s shouting.
What made your blood turn cold, however, were the sounds on bullets hitting the side and back reflectors of your car as you turned into the nearest road to disappear from their view.
“What was that?!” you screamed, the tone of your voice turning out way more high-pitched than you would expect. “Lucio, what the fuck was that?!”
“Why didn’t you run him over, it was so close!”
“You killed this man, oh my God, you shot him in the head!”
“Don’t slow down, they’re still after us!”
“Us? Us?! You’re the one carrying a gun!”
The chaotic exchange stopped only when you both heard the characteristic sound of motorcycle apparently chasing you. Lucio quickly turned back to measure the distance and reloaded his weapon, which you said nothing to. It was not the best time for explanations, after all, not when you saw other cars in front of you, the ones you had to somehow pass by to safely escape.
Without further thinking, you turned left into the one-way street, hoping that there won’t be any cars you could crash into.
You could not, under any circumstances, head home right now. Whoever were those people, they seemed to have no remorse to kill you both and giving them your personal address was the last thing you wanted to happen. Quick peek at the dashboard allowed you to check the amount of gas and in any other situation you would exhale with relief, noticing that if you only won’t get shoot, you might drive around the city for another hour. It should be enough to lose them or bring to life one of the clever plans Lucio surely kept hidden up the sleeve.
He had to, right?
“What do we do now?” you asked, trying to sound as calm as possible, although your throat has gone completely dry by now and the tongue felt like a sandpaper in your mouth. “Lucio, what do we do?”
To your terror, apparently he was no less terrified of the whole outcome than you were. Used to his overly confident and aloof attitude, it was difficult to watch him panic, because it was exactly what he did now—hiding the face in his hands, fingers still wrapped tightly around the gun and the involuntary shaking of his leg revealing his real emotions. It was the very first time you have seen him in such a pitiful state and even though he looked like was about to cry in any moment, you were far from mocking him for that.
You still did not heard the whole story; somebody was actively trying to hunt him down and straight up murder and so, you would probably not act much different if you were in his shoes. Currently you were nothing more but an unfortunate witness, a person put in the wrong place at the wrong time and it was enough to freeze your blood with fear.
Still, you could not simply stop and cry and therefore you addressed him once again:
“Lucio…” This time you forced yourself to be almost soothing—whether be it because you cared about him or the tiny voice in your head repeating that this man, utterly overwhelmed by emotions, still carried a gun and could fire in any direction at any moment if driven by panic. “Lucio, please, we need to think of something.”
When he peeked at you from behind the fingers, his eyes were already red and swollen.
“I’m sorry…” he muttered, his bottom lip trembling. “I had no idea they’ll find me so fast, you weren’t supposed to—“
“It doesn’t matter right now, okay? It doesn’t matter. We need to get out of this somehow. Look, I’ll be driving around and avoiding traffics for as long as I can but you have to look around and tell me when we’ll lose them. Can you do that?”
What a complete piece of shit he was, he could almost recall the venom in his mother’s voice when she called him as such, countless years ago, in another place, in another lifetime. You had to calm him down after he brought all of this upon your shoulders, you were trying to cheer him up, to make him feel better. You were driving the car with hands shaking so violently you could barely change the gears, you were thinking of a way out of this situation and all he was able to do was cry.
Pathetic, Montag.
“Alright.” He nodded frantically.
This time it was going to be different, this time he was going to protect you and get you both out of this situation alive and unscratched—whatever it takes. It was so hard to swallow the bile building up in his throat and ignore the nausea but he managed to and eventually wiped his cheeks off the tears and peeked at the mirror.
You have just reached another street and turned left again.
“I think I have a better idea,” he added, although his voice was unusually small and goodness, he could not remember the last time when he felt so ashamed of himself. “They won’t stop, they’ll chase us until we’ll finally have to pull over. You need to let them closer and then…” He swallowed thickly. “And then I’ll deal with them.”
“Lucio, it’s not—“
“It’s okay, I can do it. I won’t let them get anywhere near you. I promised you shopping, remember?”
It was a forced joke and the chuckle which left his throat was just as dry. Still, you appreciated the change in the attitude and decided to stick to it since it was much better and promising than dealing with his breakdown.
“Right.” You nodded, not truly convinced. “Right...”
Another turn, another look in the mirror to check if you were being followed. The image of an empty street managed to soothe your nerves a little, enough to make you stop holding the steering wheel as if your life depended on it, even if in some twisted way it truly did. Just when you opened the mouth to ask for some detail about your so-called plan, you heard a roar of an engine rapidly approaching you and in the very same second, your heart seemed to freeze before exploding with a newfound panic.
“Let them catch up,” Lucio instructed with a trembling tone, not taking his eyes off the car behind you.
You noticed how the gun was ready in his hand and wondered if he was going to kill them all.
For some reason, watching the shootings in the movies was completely different than actually experiencing it, no matter how bloody they were and how much did you see. There was some kind of primal fear within you, terror of the very real possibility of dying and your instincts lead you to the conclusion that you had to fight no matter what. There will be time for thinking later, once everything settles down.
“Okay, keep it up, sweetheart,” Lucio kept reassuring you, although your mind did not truly recognize the words. “Keep it up, you’re doing great, just don’t—Fuck!”
You did not understand what happened when the cold, steel fingers closed painfully around your arm and pulled you down with a little bit too much force, causing your temple to hit Lucio’s knee and your fingers to slip from the steering wheel. It was hard to tell whether your head was spinning because of the impact or lost control over the vehicle, nevertheless it was not what worried you the most for the rain of bullets piercing the side of your car at the windows’ level was way more concerning.
You heard Lucio curse under his breath as he caught the steering wheel with one hand and aimed the other at your window, holding you down in an uncomfortable position by resting an elbow upon your spine.
“Can you speed up a bit?” he asked and within all this chaos you found enough strength to actually press the gas pedal further, blindly trusting him that he won’t send you both to crash against the wall of the nearby building or another car.
Shots echoed in the area, the sounds of pierced steel and shattering glass reaching your senses when your gaze was glued to Lucio’s shoes and his knee pressing against your cheek. You were going to die, oh, there was literally no way you two could get out of this ridiculous situation alive and for some reason you honestly thought of it as hilarious.
Hi, Portia, what were you doing this weekend?
Nothing much, went to eat out in this restaurant I’ve always wanted to try. What about you?
The usual. Running from the criminals with our boss who faked his death four years ago.
Sudden push brought you back to reality and in front of the dashboard where you could finally see where were you driving to. Although your side of the car was devastated, pierced by the bullets, which some of them scattered around the floor or got stuck in the steel, there was no other vehicle next to you anymore. Before you managed to ask whether Lucio was alright, you saw him abruptly leaning out of his window and using his metal arm to grab the motorcycle rider who apparently managed to catch up with you when you were too busy avoiding the car, only to pull him closer and therefore force to let go of his vehicle.
“Don’t slow down now, baby!” he shouted at you through the blasts of wind, sounding disturbingly excited as the man struggled against his hold, now dragged across the asphalt and desperately trying to climb up to the side of your car.
It took you a moment to realize what was Lucio going to do and the thought felt like a slap. Quickly, you stepped on the breaks but before you managed to slow down enough to let the man go unscratched and escape, Lucio pushed him down and the bloodcurdling shriek reached your ears.
“Fucking stop!” you screamed. “Stop it right now!”
To your surprise, he let go of him soon after, perhaps not expecting you to intervene. You shared one last glance at the mirror to see the dark silhouette growing smaller and smaller as you were driving but in the end you thought it moved, as in an attempt to get up.
Then, your vision got blurry.
“Oh, no, no, fuck,” Lucio gritted through the teeth. “No, don’t cry, it’s alright. It’s all good now. They’re gone, we can head back home, just take another round to make sure, okay?”
“Like hell I’ll let you inside my house!” You wiped your eyes and tried to focus on the road.
Driving the car was your advantage, he would not dare to attack you no matter what, unless he wanted to cause an accident. You were not going to stop now, not until you reach your destination. Why was there no police chasing you already? Did nobody pay attention to what happened? Did no camera catch this whole misery? It was as if you were left all alone in a completely foreign world with nowhere to seek help from.
Or maybe you were dreaming. Goodness, how you hoped you were just dreaming.
“Where are you going then?” Lucio wondered, his tone now lower than before but not threatening as you would expect.
Even if he would not be holding the gun, he still had the mechanical arm, apparently much stronger than it looked.
“Nadia.” Was your only answer.
“No, no, no, you can’t do that.”
“I can and I will. She’s your wife, she’ll know how to deal with all this…” You vaguely gestured in the air.
“She won’t! Don’t do it, you’ll only make everything worse and—and you’ll get her involved!” he pointed out triumphantly. “Is that what you want? Drag her into this mess, too?”
Whether he was trying to manipulate you or not, you could not deny that this argument made a lot of sense. You were in deathly danger and Nadia’s oblivion was a blessing in that case. As much as you wished you could share the secret with somebody, you did not want her to get in trouble. You were the one who was too foolish to let Lucio in your life once again, forcing someone else to do it also seemed like a cruelty of some kind.
You remained silent and Lucio sighed with relief, aware that he managed to convince you.
Cautiously, you parked the car a whole crossing away from your home, not that you believed it would stop the criminals from finding your whereabouts if they only wanted to. The whole drive back was the longest you have ever had and once you closed the door behind yourself after stepping inside the uneasily quiet apartment, you realized that unfortunately, it was no nightmare. All your things were still there, untouched, just as you left them and no less real than battered Lucio taking off his shoes in the hall.
It took you much longer than usually to take a shower, put the pyjamas on and prepare your favourite drink in vain hopes that any of those actions would actually calm your nerves. When you finally headed to the living room, dragging your feet on the carpet, you noticed Lucio sitting on the couch with an opened bottle of wine in one hand and a glass in another. He was staring blankly at the wall, perhaps not even noticing your presence and after a while of observing him in silence, he took a gulp of the beverage straight from the bottle, apparently forgetting about the glass. You approached him slowly and sat at the other end of the sofa.
None of you said anything for the next few minutes and it was Lucio who eventually broke the silence with a simple:
“Want to take a sip?” And offered you a bottle in outstretched hand.
Your gaze followed through his arm to the torso, half unbuttoned shirt, Adam’s apple moving as he swallowed and the tired expression on his face. Whether you did not notice it earlier or only now were they caused by the light’s and shadow’s angles, bags under his eyes suddenly became much darker and the flamboyant makeup smudged. You wondered if there were many people who happened to see him in such a pitiful state before.
And yet, the sudden memory of him shooting the other people without hesitation made you tremble, unpleasant shivers running down your spine like a colony of wiggling worms. However unbelievable it was, Lucio truly did kill at least two people tonight, maybe even three, and he did all of that to protect both you and himself from getting murdered.
How were you supposed to feel about it?
Faced with lack of reaction from you, Lucio withdrew his arm and took another gulp himself. He did not seem to be angry at you, on the contrary, you have never seen him being as miserable as in that very moment and it pained your heart. Fear of him mixed with fear for him and created a twisted combination in your mind, the one you were not sure how to react to. Currently, Lucio was both the only one who could actually keep you safe and the reason for why did you need saving in the first place. The mere thought about going to work tomorrow seemed so distant and irrelevant you almost laughed at the sudden realization.
It was still dark outside, barely few hours until dawn and it felt as if today lasted for the whole week.
“So…” Lucio cleared his throat. “Are we going to talk about it or…?”
“I don’t know,” you replied quickly. “I’m… I don’t know how to feel about all of this, I’ve never been in such situation before.”
“Yeah, I get it, that’s pretty normal but believe me, you can get used to it, too.”
You noticed the playful tone in his voice but this time it did not amuse you in the slightest.
“I’d rather not.”
“I know, I know, sorry. Bad timing.”
You wanted to go to sleep and at the same time you were way too agitated to even try resting in bed, so you decided to stay with him. For some reason his company seemed to be much better solution than being all alone, even if only in the next room.
“Listen…” Lucio started again, his index finger trailing the shape of bottle’s opening and stare glued to it as if it was the most important thing in the whole world—just to avoid your gaze. “I know you must be confused and scared and all of that but I want you to know that… Those were the bad guys, right? They wanted to kill us both and they’d do it without my intervention or your awesome driving skills. Really,” he chuckled sadly, “in any other circumstances you’d make a perfect sidekick. But I mean that, uh… Shit. I just want to say that you don’t have to be afraid of me. I’d never hurt you, no matter what. You’ve been very kind to me and I’m aware I partially forced you into that but you still did it and… I’d never hurt you.”
Your name rolled over his tongue in a silent plea but before you managed to say anything to such a peculiar confession, he placed the bottle at the coffee table with a loud thud and quickly stood up to jog-trot to the kitchen. Any qualified therapist would probably mention something about avoiding one’s true intentions and facing the consequences but you were way too exhausted to think whether his behaviour was healthy or not. Instead, you watched him go and start looking for something in the various drawers.
“I’ll make it up to you,” he informed from behind the counter and continued roaming through your belongings.
In a meantime, you analysed his previous words, repeating the whole events of the night in your head once again, only now remembering details you did not pay attention to before, although your brain has clearly registered them. And to think that you believed Lucio’s sudden reappearance was the weirdest thing that could happen to you!
It was difficult to decide what should you do now, whether to keep up with him or throw him out of your house before it will be too late to do anything. Undoubtedly, you felt much safer having him by your side—armoured in both the gun (were you certain it was only one?) and his surprisingly advanced arm which seemed to be giving him inhuman strength. This and he was also aware who was his enemy and how to properly deal with them. What was still concerning you, however…
“Why was there no police?” you asked after hearing the fridge door closing. “Why is nobody after us already, somebody surely noticed this chase and…” You peeked at him, curious. “What about the cameras? Witnesses?”
“Oh, this.” Lucio pointed a knife at you and quickly withdrew it as if it burned his skin, once again focusing on whatever he was doing on the counter. “Well, do you remember when I told you about The Devil?”
“How could I forget?”
“He has his ways of getting rid of people he’s not particularly fond of and having contacts in the police certainly is an advantage for him so… Let’s say none of this was accidental, not the place they caught us nor the fact that nobody else intervened.”
You frowned.
“Does that mean he knows where I live anyway…?”
“I mean…” He forced a cough. “I’m not in his head, I don’t know what does he know but… there’s always a possibility that he knows more than I assume he does but on the other hand you can never be sure whether he’s simply playing along to make me believe he knows something which he really doesn’t.”
“Can you just answer my question?”
“I don’t know, okay? I hope he doesn’t, I killed them so he wouldn’t have any more sources but I honestly can’t be sure. There.”
He grabbed a plate and approached you before handing it to you. When you looked down at his creation, you saw two, very plain looking sandwiches with cheese slices and smiling faces drawn with ketchup on them.
“I thought you might be hungry,” he added and almost forced the plate into your hands, now eyeing his artwork critically. “The right one looks like it had a stroke though…”
“Lucio, changing the subject won’t solve the situation we’re in,” you explained calmly, “but thank you. You’re right, I’m very hungry.”
He sighed deeply as he sat beside you again.
“Aren’t you hungry?” you inquired but he simply grabbed the bottle and raised it. “I see. Well, now that The Devil knows you’re alive and not dead it somehow changes the whole situation, don’t you think?”
“I just have to pay my debt and it’ll be fine. He has no interest in going after you so he’ll simply let it go once he has his stuff back.”
“And what exactly are we talking about?”
“Do you really want to get into more details?”
“As if it could ruin my position even more.”
“Fair point! Still, I’m going to keep it to myself.”
You took a bite of the sandwich. It was definitely not the best but it was the very first meal anyone has prepared for you since you moved there and the realization made your heart beat faster. Foolish, hopeless heart beating for equally as foolish, hopeless man.
“So,” you continued after swallowing the bite, “what is your plan?”
“I’ll make it up as I go. Until then, I think it’d be the best to simply live your life as if nothing happened and I’ll concentrate on paying the debt as soon as possible. How does that sound, partner?”
You looked at his slightly drunken face, hearing the desperation in his voice and decided to not make any decisions in that very moment—not when you were feeling like passing away in any second. Therefore, you simply reached to him in the same way you did in the car tonight, right before all this hell started, and stated:
“Deal.”
If you enjoyed this story I’d greatly appreciate it if you supported me by commenting or reblogging it. Thank you!
I promised @sassygaysatan that I would show the upright/reversed branching options for the secondary three’s routes. I’m doing them in chronological order, so here is everyone’s favourite goatman! Beware, this is a long post, and will only get longer as I will be updating after each new chapter release. (italics = timed option), (Effect: TBA = it has an effect on the outcome but I’m not sure what effect).
The Lovers
"Shush." (Effect: Reversed)
"Be patient." (Effect: Upright)
"Is this a trick?" (Effect: Reversed)
Follow him through. (Effect: Upright)
"That's horrible!" (Effect: Reversed)
"She wouldn't do that." (Effect: Upright)
The Chariot
"Yes, you should have." (Effect: TBA)
"I'm fine." (Effect: TBA)
"Why *did* you leave?" (Effect: TBA)
"Tell him yourself." (Effect: Reversed)
"Fine, just a moment." (Effect: Upright)
"I know what I'm doing." (Effect: Reversed)
"I will." (Effect: Upright)
"I'm worried about Asra." (Effect: Upright)
"I *am* talented." (Effect: Reversed)
"It's that way." (Effect: Reversed)
"It might be dangerous." (Effect: Upright)
Strength
"Um..." (Effect: Upright)
"I loved your parties!" (Effect: Reversed)
"I don't remember." (Effect: Upright)
"What did you say?" (Effect: Reversed)
"What's bothering you?" (Effect: Upright)
Leave him be. (Effect: TBA)
"It's also *your* fault." (Effect: Upright)
"Vlastomil is creepy." (Effect: Reversed)
"Not any more." (Effect: Reversed)
"Yes...?" (Effect: Upright)
The Hermit
Listen to Death. (Effect: Upright)
Listen to Lucio. (Effect: Reversed)
"Why?" (Effect: Upright)
"Don't be afraid." (Effect: Reversed)
"Wait!" (Effect: Upright)
Run after him. (Effect: Reversed)
Wheel of Fortune
"It's a long story." (Effect: Upright)
"Lucio never mentioned you." (Effect: Reversed)
"Unfinished business?" (Effect: Upright)
"I'll come with you." (Effect: Reversed)
"It's not your fault." (Effect: Upright)
"Let's keep moving." (Effect: Reversed)
"I'm fine." (Effect: Reversed)
"What!?" (Effect: Reversed)
"Lucio, is this true?" (Effect: Upright)
"It's a work in progress." (Effect: Upright)
"Yes it's true." (Effect: Reversed)
Justice
"What's this about?" (Effect: Upright)
"Can this wait?" (Effect: Reversed)
"Now we *are* alone." (Effect: Reversed)
"What do we do now?" (Effect: Upright)
Jump in. (Effect: Reversed)
"Okay. You can do it!" (Effect: Upright)
The Devil
“Priorities, Lucio.” (Effect: Reversed)
“What was the worst?” (Effect: TBA)
“We’ll celebrate later.” (Effect: Upright)
“She’s still your mother.” (Effect: Upright)
“She can handle Vulgora.” (Effect: Reversed)
“Valdemar’s worse than I thought.” (Effect: TBA)
“But *you* were the Count.” (Effect: TBA)
The Tower
“Free me.” (Effect: Reversed)
“Free Lucio.” (Effect: Upright)
“What *are* you?” (No effect)
“What do you mean?” (No effect)
“...” (No effect)
ALTERNATIVELY
“We’ll figure this out.” (Effect: Upright)
“It’s not your fault.” (Effect: Reversed)
“...” (Effect: Reversed)
“It’ll be hard.” (Effect: Upright)
“It’ll be fine.” (Effect: Reversed)
“Let’s follow.” (Effect: Upright)
“Let’s just stay here...” (Effect: Reversed)
“What did you see?” (No effect)
The Star
“We have no choice.” (Effect: Reversed)
“It’s a lot for me too.” (Effect: Upright)
“I need help.” (Effect: Upright)
“I’ll see this through.” (Effect: Reversed)
The Moon
“Let’s not worry about it.” (Effect: Reversed)
“Something’s fishy.” (Effect: Upright)
Help Lucio. (Effect: Reversed)
Stand back. (Effect: Upright)
“Whatever’s necessary.” (Effect: Reversed)
“Whatever we can.” (Effect: Upright)
Greetings Ronald McDonald, it is your local Lucio simp here humbly requesting some headcanons of him with an s/o who is really shy and soft spoken. I thank you kindly and pray my weekly sacrifice has appeased you 💕💕
I have been appeased. Thank you for the request, feeding my lucio simping. Ily💗💗💗
Lucio with a shy s/o
Lucio likes to hear himself talk. And he likes others listening to him talking. So, he kind of likes that you're soft spoken. He thinks it's cute
Although, when you do want to talk, he is uncharacteristically quiet. Because, while he likes to talk, he loves it even more when you talk. He thinks your voice is heavenly
If you don't feel like dealing with people, he stays in with you for the day. Obligations be damned. There will be a cuddle pile in bed with Mercedes and Melchior
If anyone ever talks over you, he will go on a full rant, calling them out. Do they know who he is? They can't just ignore his s/o and think they'll get away with it
You're probably going to end up having to apologise for him a lot
He means well, though. He only wants the best for you
But be prepared for a lot of teasing. He thinks you're adorable. If you blush, he'll melt
He's a big softie in the inside, even though he tries to look cool. And honestly, is an idiot sometimes.
