Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Mom!” Scar’s voice boomed through the rock, Bdubs jumped, he was focusing hard on the straps on his boots, Cleo wasn’t as startled.

“What is it, Scar?”

“Come out here!” Cleo and Bdubs turned to look at each other, Scars voice was hungry and deep, and they both knew that meant blood was about to be spilled.

Bdubs hadn’t stepped out of the base in hours, and he found it hard to believe the moon was already high above their heads. He watched as the stars and the moon pulsed with light, and how the bridges in the sky left dark shadows in front of them. He wished he could sleep, the moon was too big here, too visible, it made his bones hurt and his hands shake. It would only be a few more hours of this though, then he could leave this place and go back home to where he belonged.

“Don’t do it, Scar!” Skizz’s voice next to him made him come back into the present, and he sucked in a horrified breath when he realized what was happening before him.

Scar was in the center of a small ring of people. Tango had his bow drawn, and Impulse and Skizz both had their swords out. Cleo straightened beside him, and he could see shadows of the Bad Boys next to them.

“What’s all this?” Pearl’s voice came from behind Scar, and when he turned, Scott, Martyn, and BigB were there too.

Scar turned around to face his teammates then, and when he did, he dragged a half conscious body around with him.

“Etho-“ Bdubs said softly, immediately taking a step forward. He was stopped by Cleo, who put out a strong arm in front of him to stop him from going any further.

“Stay here, Bdubs.” He pressed his lips into a line and stepped back into his original place.

Etho looked horrible. His headband was missing and hair was full of dirt, and as Bdubs studied his head, he saw a large gash on the side of it next to his ear. It was bleeding bad, and if he didn’t get it checked out soon, Bdubs knew it would kill him.

Scar was holding Etho by his vest, and his shirt was ripped enough for everyone to see a large slash across his chest. Whatever Scar had done to Etho, it obviously wasn’t good.

“Scar! What did you do?” Bdubs tried his best to keep his voice normal, but he wanted to throw up at the sight of this. He needed to help Etho.

Scars smile was deadly, and he pushed his victim off of his knees and onto the ground. Etho tried to stop his fall with his arms, but they gave out leaving Etho fully lying on the hard rock, staining it with his blood.

“This is cruel, Scar. Even for you.” Tango pulled his bow back even more, and Bdubs knew he was about five seconds away from firing.

“Calm down! I’m not gonna do anything!” Scar held up his hands, and cocked his head towards Cleo, “She told me to bring him here.”

Bdubs turned to Cleo, whose eyes were just as dark as Scars. He felt a gut wrenching feeling in his stomach, and stepped just a fraction of a step away from her, “What are you doing?”

Cleo turned to Bdubs, and held out her sword, “Letting you prove your loyalty.” She stepped away from Bdubs and towards Scar in the middle of the circle, the rest of TIES tensed up even more, and Tango moved so his arrow was pointed at Cleo. “Come here Bdubs.”

He didn’t, in fact, come here. He stayed right where he was, “No. What are you doing?”

Cleo gave him a death glare, and Bdubs all but turned into a puddle, slowly making his way over to his team.

As Bdubs walked closer, he pointedly did not look at Etho, but when he got to them, he couldn’t help noticing how his old friend slowly tried to get back up to his knees.

“Bdubs…” His voice was full of pain and barely a whisper, and as Scar pushed his head down, Bdubs had to close his eyes for a minute to compose himself.

When he opened them again, Cleo and Scar where a couple steps away and staring at him, “Kill him.” Cleo's voice was robotically smooth, as if she had simply asked Bdubs to get her a some water, or pass the salt at the dinner table.

Bdubs stood silent for more than a couple seconds, trying to process what Cleo had just said. “What?”

“Kill him. Kill Etho.”

“What? Are you crazy?”

Cleo raised an eyebrow, “No. He’s our enemy. He killed your teammate just a few hours ago.” She pointed at Scar’s neck, which still had deep red marks where the fishing rod wrapped around it. Bdubs flinched, “So. Kill him.”

“Why me! Why don’t you do it?” Bdubs voice cracked, and Scar laughed at him. It sent bile up his throat, but he swallowed it down.

“Because we need to trust you.” Scar said, his voice on the verge of laughter. "We can't seem to figure out if your with us or against us, Bdubs!"

"I'm- I'm with you guys!" Bdubs tried to lighten the mood with his normal cheery voice, "We're the Clockers! We're family."

Cleo was having none of it. “Kill him. For Scar and I.”

He looked around at the others in the circle. Tango and Impulse were staring at him with hate in their eyes, and Skizz looked absolutely terrified. He turned his attention to his Neighbors and the Mean Gills, who were looking on with suspicion and interest. He didn’t turn fully around to see the Bad Boys, but he could hear Jimmy and Joel muttered to each other.

He still didn’t look at Etho, instead, looking back at Scar and Cleo. “No. I can’t- He’s… he’s our ally! He made a mistake, Scar.”

They were still not impressed with Bdubs' attempts to salvage the situation. Cleo took a step closer to Bdubs, and snarled, “Kill him, or I’ll do it and you’ll be next.” She grabbed her axe and held it against Bdubs’ chest, “Your choice, son.”

His heart rate was beating a million miles an hour, but he somehow had the strength in his body to nod once at Cleo, who in turn stepped back to give him some more space.

He finally looked down at Etho, who in the moments before managed to get up onto his knees again. They locked eyes, and Bdubs knew how scared Etho was in that moment. His good eye was blown wide with adrenaline and fear, and Bdubs suspected his redstone one was too damaged to see out of. “Do it.” Etho’s voice was just as small and horse as before, and it broke him even more. He doubted anyone else could hear him speak, even with Cleo standing so close. It was that small and soft, and Etho's mouth barely moved at all. “It’s just an hour.”

Bdubs stepped back, his mind was in a million places at once, Cleo’s axe at his back, Tango's bow aimed at his head, everyone else's eyes on him, and finally Etho’s beautiful eyes staring at him was too much He took a breath, and slowly raised his sword to Etho’s neck.

Tango shot an arrow and it wizzed past his head, “Watch it, Bdubs. The next one will hit your face.” Tango's voice was shaky but firm, and Bdubs knew he would follow through with that threat.

Scar shot his own arrow back at Tango, which landed right in between his legs, "I don't think you want to do that, Tango."

“Bdubs, common man.” Skizz’s plea made his legs shake, and he almost had half a mind to drop the sword completely.

Then Cleo pushed her axe into his back slightly, and he tensed up again.

Etho closed his eyes and tilted his head to expose more of his neck, and Bdubs took another breath and pressed into it even more. This game was supposed to just be 24 hours. So much better than the last times where they would be away from home for months. He didn’t want to come back, but Etho told him that there wasn’t anything important that could happen in that amount of time. He promised that they would be back in bed, whispering sweet nothings to each other before they both knew it, and that’s why Bdubs had agreed to this deal in the first place.

Now he was standing above his love with a sword to their throat and an axe to his back. Killing Etho was never an option in Bdubs’ mind. Even if they pretended to hate each other for the sake of the game, even if they stole and taunted and lied to each other, killing Etho had never been his plan, and here he was about to cut his throat in front of everyone. How did it all go so wrong in 24 hours?

Etho nodded, as if hearing all of Bdubs’ inner monologue, and Bdubs took yet another deep breath. He didn't think they were helping much, but he knew that's what Etho would tell him to do if they were back at home.

He raised his sword up over his head, and he saw Etho tense his entire body. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Impulse move in, and Skizz draw his sword.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, and swung the sword.

He swung high, missing Etho’s head and turning around fully to the body behind him. Without warning, he drove his sword into Cleo’s chest, and flinched hard when he heard her axe clatter on the rocks below them.

“Wh-“ Cleo’s eyes were wide, and she grabbed on to Bdubs’ hands in front of them. Everyone was quite, and Cleo slowly turned her eyes up towards Bdubs’ own.

“I’m sorry.” Bdubs whispered again, and before Cleo had a chance to respond, he pulled the sword out with a horrifying squelch. Before her body could fall to the ground, she disappeared without a trace, going into the void to respawn.

He turned around fast, only getting a second to register everyone’s shocked and confused faces before Scar lunged at him, his sword slicing his arm deep. He yelped, but quickly got his bearings and blocked the next blow with his own sword.

“Scar- Scar calm down! Stop it, calm-”

“You killed mom!” Scar’s anger was terrifying, and yet Bdubs knew it made him sloppy. As Scar stepped back to go for another blow, Bdubs lunged forward and slashed him in the gut, making him disappear almost instantly.

It was quite again, and he took the time to drop his sword and help Etho up from where he was kneeling on the ground. He took Bdubs’ hand instantly, leaning all his weight on him like a rag doll.

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

“We need to get you back to your base.”

“Bdubs-“ Etho's voice was worried. Bdubs knew it was for him.

“Bdubs!” Cleo’s voice rang out over the rocks, loud and angry, and Bdubs’ heart rate went from fast to faster.

“Common.” He hissed and turned to Tango, whose bow was now half loaded and pointed at the ground, “A little help? Maybe?”

That seemed to snap all of the TIES back to attention, and they all made their way to over to Etho to help him back on his feet, “We have supplies in the tower, let’s go.”

As they started walking away, Bdubs felt an arrow pierce his shoulder. Hissing in pain, he turned around and looked over to where Cleo and Scar were standing.

Scar had his bow out, and Cleo had her axe and sword, “You’ve chosen your side, Bdubs! Don't bother coming back.”

He felt Etho’s hands on his upper back, and a pinch of pain as he pulled the arrow out of his shoulder. The warm feeling of blood running down his back was grounding, and he felt the wind on his face again. “I’m sorry.” He hoped his voice carried though the wind to them, and he knew it did when Scar scoffed.

Cleo just smirked, but it was angry, “No you’re not.” She spat, “And you’re going to regret this.”

As he stared up at his now former alliance, he felt Etho’s hands around his arm again, “Common, Bdubs. Let’s go.”

After one more moment, Bdubs turned to look back at Etho and his team. They might not want him here, they might hate him for betraying them, but he saved their brother in arms, and that will trump any other feeling for now.

“Let’s just get Etho back to the tower.” Tango said, as if he came to the same realization in his own head on his own.

Etho leaned on Bdubs the entire walk back, and Bdubs held onto him tight for the rest of the night.