Chapter Text
I hope you don’t mind I wrote another fic for this AU. I just can’t seem to help myself!! I really am enjoying writing and reading everything for it!!
This one is a bit different then the others as it goes from Present to Past and back. Each one is separated by the ~~~~ So please let me know if it was just too confusing. I do hope you enjoy it though!
Warnings- Blood, Cursing, referring to borrowers as less then human, betrayal, implied drowning of borrowers, open ending I think that is everything, if I missed anything please let me know!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“you have GOT to be kidding me!” Deacon huffed out as he scrambled down another alley, the cage clutched tightly against his body, jostling the small figures inside. He wanted to apologize but he couldn’t, he didn’t have time or breath to do so. Besides they were not complaining. They were too frightened to complain at the rough treatment.This had not gone well at all, and the blood dripping from the human onto the cage was not comforting Roman in the least. He looked back towards the shouts of the men chasing Deacon, then back up to him as he made another sharp turn, scrambling to keep ahead of the group, and keep the tinies he was protecting from harm.
Roman did not like this helpless feeling at all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This had all started several weeks ago when Deacon was making the rounds at one of the auctions. Roman was sitting in the cage, waiting for the purchases, he winced at the thought, to be done and the new tinies to be brought to him. Deacon had managed to buy quite a few tonight actually, he’d been surprised but pleased that the money could get so many off the market. Not to mention he’d been approached and asked to take another few after the auction, naturally he agreed to it. As he was taking the last of the ones their owners didn’t want anymore, another person spoke up.
“How many you willin’ ta take at once?” The voice asked. Deacon turned slowly eyeing the person. He was short and of stocky build, and had buzz cut hair.
“As many as I am given. I have no limit to the ones I can take from others.” he said simply. The man nodded while eyeing Deacon up and down.
“We gotta bunch of defects, about four dozen of em. We’re looking to dump the lot. You willin?” he asked. Deacon nodded, feeling his heart racing a bit. That was a LOT of borrowers to take in at once. He knew the sanctuary could handle it, but hopefully these tinies wouldn’t be in horrid shape. If they were al injured or ill, or worse then they might struggle a bit keeping up with healing them.
“Naturally.” he said to him with a smile, keeping his voice even and charming as always. It really was odd how two things set people on edge so much. The first being the soft spoken tones, and the other the dark shadows of his cloak.
“Good. Here’s the address.“The man muttered thrusting a piece of paper at Deacon, who took it in his gloved hand. He didn’t like the feeling he was getting from this interaction.Still if he could save that many at once… he glanced at the address for a moment before pocketing it in the folds of his cloak.
“Meet us there in three days. We’ll have the lot of em boxed up ‘n ready for you to take.“The man muttered, he started to turn away but stopped short
"Whadda you do with em all anyway?” he asked, his curiosity getting the better of them. Deacon smiled very slowly, leaning closer to the other man, letting his shadow seemingly ooze over the other’s skin. The man finally shuddered.
“That.. is my own business.” He said softly. The man nodded before he turned and all but bolted out of the place looking pale.
“We’re going to be busy getting ready” He thought to himself as he turned, his cloak swirling around him. They had a lot of work to do!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He was loosing ground, he couldn’t keep this pace up much longer. But, he needed to get the attention off his tinies, he needed the men chasing him to not notice as he got them someplace safe. He looked down at the frightened faces, then back up scanning for something. His eyes finally landed on a desperate answer.
“Roman do you trust me?” he panted out. Instantly Roman was on his guard, staring up at Deacon.
“It’s never good when you quote Disney at me Dee!” Roman hissed. Deacon just nodded, not good, but this was his only chance to make sure that the tinies got away, that the attention was off them, and the men would focus only on him!
“Yes or no Roman” he hissed
“Yes of course Dee!” Roman said to him, though still wary, what was he planning?
“Good.. "he took in a breath and calculated the distances, listening for the shouts of the men chasing him. He had to get this right, he’d only get one shot!! He moved the full cage to one arm, while sliding another folding cage from his cloak. Roman watched in confusion, wondering what Deacon’s plan was. Finally he was sure they were kind of out of sight, and his goal was right there..
”here goes nothing, please god let this work“ he thought to himself. He took in a deep breath, looked back one more time before.
"yeet!” He muttered.
Roman’s eyes widened at the implication.
“Mother goth–” was all he managed to get out and then the world spun out of control.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Roman stared at Deacon a look of utter horror on his face as the human dressed for the meeting they had that night.
“What.. are.. those…” He said as he stared at the human. Deacon looked at him then looked down at his hands and then back at the borrower.
“Gloves.” he said dryly. Roman huffed at him and put his hands on his hips, staring at the offending items that hung from one of Deacon’s hands.
“Yes I can see that. But what is that color!??!” He demanded, stamping his foot in exasperation. Decaon gave him a look, before grinning smugly.
“Why Roman.. These gloves are yellow!!"He said in a surprised voice, like one would use on a child.
"I didn’t think you hadn’t learned your colors yet! These are yellow.. gloves. Do you need to go to school again?” He asked in a sugary sweet tone, keeping his words slow and measured. The way you’d speak to a child as you were teaching them Roman squawked at him in indignation and insulted.
“Those are not what you are going out in! I refuse to be held in those garish things!!” he said to him flailing his arms. Deacon snorted at the dramatic tiney. He shook his head as he pulled the yellow gloves over his hands.
“Roman my black gloves got trashed, and I didn’t have any extras. Not to mention anymore time. I bought these for now, it’s not that bad!” he protested. The little diva shook his head
“No! Nono no!! Those are not going out gloves! No self respecting villain would go out in gloves that didn’t have an ounce of taste to them! Those god awful monstrosities look like you just finished doing your dishes and forgot to take the gloves off!!” He shrieked at him. Deacon sighed and then stared at Roman.
“These are what I have. Take it or I’ll leave you behind.” he warned him. Though both of them knew that he wouldn’t leave Roman behind, this was too important.
“This is cruel and unusual punishment!! Torture of Tinies! You should be jailed!!” Roman wailed as he reluctantly climbed into the yellow gloved hand offered to him. He dramatically flopped across the, surprisingly soft and comfortable, material. Huh, looks could be deceiving, but he was on a roll, and there was no way he’d admit that he might have judged them too quickly!
“yes yes, I shall atone for my crim–”
“of fashion! You are to be judged by a court of your, -far more fashionable-, peers!!"he said to him as he pointed at Deacon, while laying comfortably as he was carried.
"Oh? And where is this court who shall judge me?” Deacon asked, his lips quirking up a bit at the edges.
“It is me of course!! And I call you guilty!! Your punishment is!!"He paused for the dramatic effect, Deacon felt his lips twitching more trying not to smile.
"You shall have to put socks with sandals! And jorts with a flannel shirt!!!” Roman said dramatically, he clutched at his own chest in pain at the sentence. Deacon was struggling not to laugh at Roman now.
“Oh no. The horror” he managed the deadpan tone. Roman nodded sagely up at him, looking sympathetic, wiping away a pretend tear.
“I know, the sentence is dire, but I feel you must have the harshest of punishments for the crime you committed.” he said. Deacon finally gave in and laughed out loud. Roman beamed, pleased at having accomplished that.
“I’ll serve my sentence after we save these borrowers alright?” Deacon promised still snickering. Roman nodded his head in agreement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cage hit the a bush with a dull twhump, while a large splash of another cage hitting the water behind them was heard. Theirs hit the ground and stopped, more or less out of sight of the group chasing Deacon.
“Fuck that asshole threw the lil fucks in the river!!” One man yelled as they ran past, not seeing the cage full of tinies hidden in the shadow of the bush.
“Screw'em!! there’s plenty more where they came from!! Get this fucker for the bounty!!” another gruffer voice shouted. The voices and feet all faded away as Roman groaned slightly, letting out the breath he’d been unconsciously holding, hoping they were not spotted.
“I.. am not letting him and Virgil hang out anymore unsupervised” He muttered under his breath as he tried to get his bearings.
“Wh.. what’s going to happen to us now?” one of the ones they rescued asked him with wide frightened eyes. Everyone had been jostled and shaken up, but thanks to the padding they were not too bad off. The impact on the bush first then the ground had helped as well.
“He’ll shake them off and come back for us” Roman said confidently. He was sure that Deacon would do that. He knew they could get out of the cage, it wasn’t locked, but the best thing to do right now as to wait.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I really am not liking the look of this” Roman muttered to Deacon as they stopped a few blocks from the address they had been given. Deacon nodded a bit, this was smelling more and more like something unsavory going on. Then again he was getting used to dealing with… unsavory things. Still, this place made his skin crawl. He checked on a few things, a taser, his folding cages (He’d brought two of them with him for this deal it would be crowded, but he didn’t have a spot for a third in his cloak) with the soft bottoms were in his cloak, along with pepper-spray and a couple knives. In the car was a fully stocked emergency kit, and some borrower sized supplies so Roman could help them out on the way back to the Sanctuary. Deacon let out a long breath as he made sure the car was fairly well hidden.
“Perhaps you should stay in here” He muttered as he looked at the run down warehouses around them. Roman gave him a look of disbelief
“You must be joking, as if I’m letting you go in there all alone” he snorted. Deacon smiled a bit he had expected that answer but it still felt good to hear him say that, and even though the borrower was tiny, it was an odd comfort to have him as sort of back up. He smiled
“Yeah, not funny I guess. Alright Roman, lets get this done with. ” he said to him as he got out of the car. He picked Roman up in his hand, then gently set him in his chest pocket. Roman was going to hide in there until they got away with the other tinies, and then he’d go into the cages with them to help calm them down and explain what was happening. Deacon double checked everything and then began to walk the few blocks towards the designated meet up spot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You’re sure he’s going to come back?” one of the tinies asked. Roman nodded, it had been over an hour, and they were still waiting. He was getting more and more worried about Deacon, he was sure he would come back for them. But what kind of shape would he be in?
Hour and a half passed
Two hours
The entire group stilled and held their breath as they heard someone coming towards them. The steps were slow and, drug a bit on the ground. Roman bit his bottom lip as he waited, moving towards the exit that he knew wasn’t locked… waiting, he’d get them out of there if someone unknown approached.
“Hey.. did you miss me?” Deacon’s voice spoke and Roman relaxed, the tension he’d been feeling evaporating.
“Took you long enough jolly green!” he said, he couldn’t hide the relief in his voice as he stared up at his friend. Deacon smiled, though he looked exhausted, the blood on the side of his face had partially dried and he was holding his ribs tightly with one arm as if he’d been kicked.
“Well what can I say, those jerks were rather persistent. Lets get everyone home.” he said. He leaned over wincing and gently picked up the cage, putting them under the warm cloak. It took a bit longer then normal but they finally reached the car and once the cage was buckled in he headed home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deacon entered the warehouse and looked around. Three men stood with a cage full of tinies. It seemed like a good deal less then the four dozen they had told him about and he narrowed his eyes.
“That does not look like the amount you spoke of.” He said slowly, letting his eyes travel around. He stayed were he was and one of the men spoke.
“There was a bit of a change and delay. So we only got this many, we figured it was a good faith shwon though.” he said. Deacon nodded slowly and moved over. He unfolded his own cage and then motioned
“Put them in here” he said to him. The guy shrugged and took the cage as he began to dump the tinies into it. Deacon kept his face blank at the small cries of pain that escaped the tinies as they were dumped into the cage. He reached out to take it back when the man spoke.
“Ya know, our boss lost his favoriate tiney a bit ago” He said. Deacon watched him with narrow eyes
“An he put out a reward for whoever brought in the bastard that killed em. ” He said. Deacon frowned and then he heard footsteps behind him, he turned, but not fast enough
CRACK!
A pipe smacked him hard in the head and Deacon crumpled to the ground with a pained cry, he could feel hot blood pouring down the side of his face. His head was swimming and everything was doubled and echoed. He was honestly shocked he wasn’t unconscious, he’d gotten lucky turning and not gotten hit in the temple, but instead more his cheek and jaw. He was relieved he’d managed to fall not on Roman, and instead on his other side, but his head was swimming as he tried to focus. This had been a set up.
“So! We’re gunna tun ya in and get that reward!” the man laughed as he walked towards Deacon. Gritting his teeth Deacon summoned all the strength he had and grabbed his taser from the cloak, disguising it as an attempt to get up, before the man got close enough. He jabbed the taser in his leg sending the guy screaming back.
“You fucker!!” He yelled hissing. Deacon grabbed the cage full of tinies, thank god on the first try, always aim for the middle when you’re seeing double, and bolted out the door.
“Get em!!” The shout followed him as he ran for everything he was worth, he wasn’t going to let these tinies down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The drive back to the Sanctuary was quiet, Roman could see the black and blue bruise spreading over half of Deacon’s face while he drove. One hand kept tightly around his ribs, and he winced as he moved. They must have kicked him pretty hard, or perhaps they hit him with the pipe again?
“We’re here” Deacon said, his voice quiet. He stopped the car and took in a slow breath, then he reached over and undid the belt hissing slightly.
“They really got your ribs good didn’t they?” Roman asked as Deacon’s dark red glove scooched the cage closer before he picked it up.
“yep, a good kick” he smiled a bit. He picked the cage up and headed inside, his hand going back to his rib.
“Thomas we’ve got them!” Deacon called out as they entered the place. He knew everyone was expecting them. And he heard rapid footsteps approaching, both big and small. Patton and Virgil and a couple others hurried along the walkway, while Thomas hurried into the room though the main door.
“Oh thank goodn.. What happened to you?!?!” Thomas yelped seeing the dried blood on Deacon’s face and the bruise on his cheek.
“It was a set up, I’ve apparently got a bounty on my head for taking some gangs tiney.” He said nonchalantly, dismissing Thomas’s worries.
“More importantly I had to throw these guys when I was escaping. They need looked at. I’m fine, the bleeding’s already stopped” he said as he held the cage out. Thomas took it quickly in both hands and nodded
“Fine but I want-"Thomas started and Deacon waved his hand
"Later once I know this lot is fine. I think some of them have broken bones” He said. Thomas huffed but he nodded and hurried off towards the medical wing.
Roman was frowning. Something was niggling at him, something was off. He got out of the cage and helped the others. What was it that was bothering him?
It was another half an hour before he stopped short realizing what it was.
“OOF!! Hey you dolt what did you stop in front of me for?” Virgil demanded rubbing his nose
“….Red Gloves….” Roman said, his eyes wide, his chest feeling like someone was squeezing it.
“What?” Virgil asked frowning confused. Had Roman hit his head or something when the cage had been thrown? Perhaps he should be looked at?
“Red Glove.. Red.. He doesn’t have red gloves! He’s got yellow on! He was holding his side.. he said he got kicked!! He was pale and silent the entire ride!!” Roman said his eyes wide as he finally figured it out. Pale, wincing, holding his side, dismissing everyone. Deacon was hurt worse then he’d let on. Roman cursed and dropped the things he was carrying
“Thomas!!” he yelled
“Thomas we need to get to Dee now!!” He cried out. Thomas looked up from where he was bringing in some blankets for a few of the new people.
“What why he said he–” He started but Virgil was right behind him
“He lied!” Virgil said having figured out what Roman was getting at. Thomas blinked, then he reached down, both tinies climbed onto his hand and soon they were held to his chest as he ran down the halls towards Deacon’s room.
They burst into his room to see the man in question sprawled out on the floor, he’d shed his cloak and his shirt. Apparently he’d been trying to get to his bathroom when he’d finally passed out and crumpled to the floor. A pool of blood was spreading around him from the deep gash along his side that had sliced clean though the clothing and flesh like it was nothing.
“Dee!!” three voices cried out in unison.
There was no response.