![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Title: Wallpaper of Broadway
Characters/Pairings: Glitch/Cain, everyone else in the series.
Rating: R for implied adult situations
Summary: What if Cain, DG, and Raw had first encountered Glitch working as a bartender in the Mystic Man's club? This story is an AU that parallels the series using this scenario.
Notes: This could not have been completed without the awesome beta work by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kseda. Whenever I shouted “LINE!” – she came through and I love her endlessly for it!
Chapter 2: Northern Island
There was a rush of brisk, musky air when the door opened and it triggered something in Glitch’s mind. Vague, half-formed memories of a lifetime he had long since forgotten, of long evenings next to a warm fire and chasing little girls on a frozen lake. Transfixed, he let go of his striped blanket and ducked inside after DG, staring around at the cavernous entrance hall of the ice castle.
Their steps echoed loudly, all four lost in their own wonderment at the sheer size of the room and the columns of marble that held it up.
“My mother was the Queen?” DG’s voice cut through the breathless silence. Everyone stopped behind her, staring in disbelief at the massive portrait hanging at the top of the central staircase. Then she turned to Glitch, who still had his back to the others in his daze, still trying to take it all in. “You knew my mother.”
Glitch swung around and tilted his head back, eyes wide as he recognized something of himself in the stranger in the painting. The hair was too short, the clothing too stiff, the face too timid, but it was him. A breathy laugh escaped and he looked down at himself, at the jacket he had worn for as long as he could remember. It was faded and a bit threadbare at the wrists and elbows, the tails starting to fray, but it had always made him feel like someone important. Now he understood why. “I don’t remember her,” he admitted awkwardly, reaching up to play with his chains out of habit. “Do you...suppose I was important to her?”
“By the looks of it, you sure were,” Cain said quietly, unable to look away from the image in the picture. Everything he had assumed about Glitch, about his past, had been completely shaken by this revelation and he couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt. “The Queen doesn’t have portraits like that made with just anyone.”
“I wonder – “ Glitch started, only to cut himself off, biting his lip thoughtfully.
“...waiting for her daughter to return...” DG’s voice finally registered and Glitch blinked quickly, in time to see her start running for the stairs. The rest of them had little choice but to follow, calling to her to slow down.
Upstairs, everything was swathed with dust covers but the feel of the room held the same haunting familiarity as the downstairs hallway. Glitch spotted an oddly shaped piece and frowned. “This is so familiar,” he said to himself, whisking the cloth free in a flourish. He gasped then his mind went blank. “No.” With a shake of his head, he dropped the cover and turned to where DG stood near a vanity table.
“Bad things,” Raw spoke, his voice filled with fear. That alone was enough to get Glitch’s attention away from the uneasy ghostly recall he was drifting through in his mind. “Bad things happen here. We go now.”
“What bad things?” DG asked urgently. “Raw, please.”
“Show her,” Cain ordered and suddenly, with the touch of Raw’s hands, they were watching the past unfold in the looking glass. It was dark and unsettling, to see the woman before them as a very young girl.
“That’s you,” Glitch realized out loud, his memory fixating on the images in the glass. “I knew you too!” He was remembering more here, in this place, than he had in annuals and it was almost overwhelming.
He shuddered when a young woman came into view, his revulsion deeply rooted in his psyche. If there was one thing he knew, it was her who had ordered his brain be removed. He had long since forgotten the reason why, but he some part of him knew it had been personal. At least he now had a better understanding. “That’s Azkadellia,” he muttered. “Evil like that, you don’t forget.”
“Azkadellia is my sister,” DG declared.
It was all Glitch could do not to roll his eyes. The rest of us figured that out about five minutes ago, the childish part of his brain sneered.
“She tried to kill me.”
“No, she did kill you,” Cain corrected, even as they watched the Queen return and bring the girl back to life.
“But that can’t be,” DG looked at her own hands, as if to assure herself that she had indeed lived past the age of five.
And when Azkadellia herself appeared with her soldiers, a new wave of fear and anger brought Glitch forward, the instinct to protect DG fierce. “Leave her alone,” he snarled, hands clenched at his sides.
Azkadellia dismissed him with a look. “Keeping the company of prostitutes, I see,” she sneered. But Glitch knew the truth; he could see the flash of recognition in her eyes. She remembered him – and he no longer mattered. That in itself burned.
Her hands opened to reveal a foggy glass lantern and a vision of their mother, bringing Glitch another pang of recollection. Before he could catch the fleeting feeling, DG had thrown the lantern to the ground and everything erupted around them. All around him, the world blurred and Glitch heard Cain order him to run, to go with DG. He hesitated only a breath, long enough to realize that Cain would not be coming with them, but staying to fight.
There was motion all around him, horrible creatures attacking from above as he tried to find DG and Raw amid the dizzying columns downstairs but he was engulfed by the mobats, their claws pulling painfully on his tangled hair and chains. He covered his face and lost track of everything, the world around him filled with screeching and pain until it all faded away.
~~
Glitch woke with a start, unmoving until the blood rushed from his ears and his hearing cleared. He was alone and it was quiet. It was a relief until he grasped that this was a very bad thing.
Flipping over and sitting up, his hand went up to check on his zipper. The last thing he remembered was dozens of sharp fingers and claws pulling on his chains. Tab still closed, chains still attached. He pulled them where he could see, running their length over his palm to make sure everything was still where it belonged.
Reassured, he stood and was immediately swamped with dizzying nausea. He stumbled, touching his temple until it passed. Looking around the empty hall, he called out in a pathetic attempt to find what he could not see. “Raw?”
His feet took him upstairs and back to the room they had come from. On the floor, he found a familiar hat and gun, but no sign of Cain himself. Glitch felt his stomach tighten, terrified that he had already lost the few people who knew anything about him, who had taken it upon themselves to care. Who he had grown, in such a short time, to care about in return.
A cold breeze caught him by surprise and he looked up, snow drifting in from the shattered window. Carefully, he peered out the gaping hole and saw a dark shape broken through the lake below.
Sickened at the implication, Glitch stood and turned, running as fast as his numb body would take him until he found his way back to the front door.
Outside in the snow, a second spot of darkness took form and Glitch stepped up to it. He knew that jacket almost as well as his own by now. “Cain.”
Glitch wondered if he would ever feel warm again as he tucked the gun into his pocket and stuck the hat on his own head, pushing the hair down and pressing the freezing chains into his scalp. He knelt down and dragged the stiff, cold body onto his shoulders, then set out into the snow, following the faint outline of their tracks back to where they had left the wagon. It was their only chance.
He just hoped the body on his shoulders still held life in it.
~~
End Chapter 2
On to Chapter 3
Characters/Pairings: Glitch/Cain, everyone else in the series.
Rating: R for implied adult situations
Summary: What if Cain, DG, and Raw had first encountered Glitch working as a bartender in the Mystic Man's club? This story is an AU that parallels the series using this scenario.
Notes: This could not have been completed without the awesome beta work by
kseda. Whenever I shouted “LINE!” – she came through and I love her endlessly for it!Chapter 2: Northern Island
There was a rush of brisk, musky air when the door opened and it triggered something in Glitch’s mind. Vague, half-formed memories of a lifetime he had long since forgotten, of long evenings next to a warm fire and chasing little girls on a frozen lake. Transfixed, he let go of his striped blanket and ducked inside after DG, staring around at the cavernous entrance hall of the ice castle.
Their steps echoed loudly, all four lost in their own wonderment at the sheer size of the room and the columns of marble that held it up.
“My mother was the Queen?” DG’s voice cut through the breathless silence. Everyone stopped behind her, staring in disbelief at the massive portrait hanging at the top of the central staircase. Then she turned to Glitch, who still had his back to the others in his daze, still trying to take it all in. “You knew my mother.”
Glitch swung around and tilted his head back, eyes wide as he recognized something of himself in the stranger in the painting. The hair was too short, the clothing too stiff, the face too timid, but it was him. A breathy laugh escaped and he looked down at himself, at the jacket he had worn for as long as he could remember. It was faded and a bit threadbare at the wrists and elbows, the tails starting to fray, but it had always made him feel like someone important. Now he understood why. “I don’t remember her,” he admitted awkwardly, reaching up to play with his chains out of habit. “Do you...suppose I was important to her?”
“By the looks of it, you sure were,” Cain said quietly, unable to look away from the image in the picture. Everything he had assumed about Glitch, about his past, had been completely shaken by this revelation and he couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt. “The Queen doesn’t have portraits like that made with just anyone.”
“I wonder – “ Glitch started, only to cut himself off, biting his lip thoughtfully.
“...waiting for her daughter to return...” DG’s voice finally registered and Glitch blinked quickly, in time to see her start running for the stairs. The rest of them had little choice but to follow, calling to her to slow down.
Upstairs, everything was swathed with dust covers but the feel of the room held the same haunting familiarity as the downstairs hallway. Glitch spotted an oddly shaped piece and frowned. “This is so familiar,” he said to himself, whisking the cloth free in a flourish. He gasped then his mind went blank. “No.” With a shake of his head, he dropped the cover and turned to where DG stood near a vanity table.
“Bad things,” Raw spoke, his voice filled with fear. That alone was enough to get Glitch’s attention away from the uneasy ghostly recall he was drifting through in his mind. “Bad things happen here. We go now.”
“What bad things?” DG asked urgently. “Raw, please.”
“Show her,” Cain ordered and suddenly, with the touch of Raw’s hands, they were watching the past unfold in the looking glass. It was dark and unsettling, to see the woman before them as a very young girl.
“That’s you,” Glitch realized out loud, his memory fixating on the images in the glass. “I knew you too!” He was remembering more here, in this place, than he had in annuals and it was almost overwhelming.
He shuddered when a young woman came into view, his revulsion deeply rooted in his psyche. If there was one thing he knew, it was her who had ordered his brain be removed. He had long since forgotten the reason why, but he some part of him knew it had been personal. At least he now had a better understanding. “That’s Azkadellia,” he muttered. “Evil like that, you don’t forget.”
“Azkadellia is my sister,” DG declared.
It was all Glitch could do not to roll his eyes. The rest of us figured that out about five minutes ago, the childish part of his brain sneered.
“She tried to kill me.”
“No, she did kill you,” Cain corrected, even as they watched the Queen return and bring the girl back to life.
“But that can’t be,” DG looked at her own hands, as if to assure herself that she had indeed lived past the age of five.
And when Azkadellia herself appeared with her soldiers, a new wave of fear and anger brought Glitch forward, the instinct to protect DG fierce. “Leave her alone,” he snarled, hands clenched at his sides.
Azkadellia dismissed him with a look. “Keeping the company of prostitutes, I see,” she sneered. But Glitch knew the truth; he could see the flash of recognition in her eyes. She remembered him – and he no longer mattered. That in itself burned.
Her hands opened to reveal a foggy glass lantern and a vision of their mother, bringing Glitch another pang of recollection. Before he could catch the fleeting feeling, DG had thrown the lantern to the ground and everything erupted around them. All around him, the world blurred and Glitch heard Cain order him to run, to go with DG. He hesitated only a breath, long enough to realize that Cain would not be coming with them, but staying to fight.
There was motion all around him, horrible creatures attacking from above as he tried to find DG and Raw amid the dizzying columns downstairs but he was engulfed by the mobats, their claws pulling painfully on his tangled hair and chains. He covered his face and lost track of everything, the world around him filled with screeching and pain until it all faded away.
~~
Glitch woke with a start, unmoving until the blood rushed from his ears and his hearing cleared. He was alone and it was quiet. It was a relief until he grasped that this was a very bad thing.
Flipping over and sitting up, his hand went up to check on his zipper. The last thing he remembered was dozens of sharp fingers and claws pulling on his chains. Tab still closed, chains still attached. He pulled them where he could see, running their length over his palm to make sure everything was still where it belonged.
Reassured, he stood and was immediately swamped with dizzying nausea. He stumbled, touching his temple until it passed. Looking around the empty hall, he called out in a pathetic attempt to find what he could not see. “Raw?”
His feet took him upstairs and back to the room they had come from. On the floor, he found a familiar hat and gun, but no sign of Cain himself. Glitch felt his stomach tighten, terrified that he had already lost the few people who knew anything about him, who had taken it upon themselves to care. Who he had grown, in such a short time, to care about in return.
A cold breeze caught him by surprise and he looked up, snow drifting in from the shattered window. Carefully, he peered out the gaping hole and saw a dark shape broken through the lake below.
Sickened at the implication, Glitch stood and turned, running as fast as his numb body would take him until he found his way back to the front door.
Outside in the snow, a second spot of darkness took form and Glitch stepped up to it. He knew that jacket almost as well as his own by now. “Cain.”
Glitch wondered if he would ever feel warm again as he tucked the gun into his pocket and stuck the hat on his own head, pushing the hair down and pressing the freezing chains into his scalp. He knelt down and dragged the stiff, cold body onto his shoulders, then set out into the snow, following the faint outline of their tracks back to where they had left the wagon. It was their only chance.
He just hoped the body on his shoulders still held life in it.
~~
End Chapter 2
On to Chapter 3
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
This never fails to make my heart hurt. No matter how many times I watch it or read about it.
Glitch wondered if he would ever feel warm again
This was prolly my fave line. It's absolutely chilling. You are doing an awesome job putting everything in!
From:
no subject
Oooh, thank you! :D I'm so happy to hear that it's working so far!
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
oops, edit!
This was very poignant, there's so much imbued into that old coat for him.
He pulled them where he could see, running their length over his palm to make sure everything was still where it belonged.
This tugged at my heart, too, that making sure everything was still OK after the ordeal of the mobats.
DG looked at her own hands, as if to assure herself that she had indeed lived past the age of five.
(This always makes me chuckle a bit... Yes, DG, you're really still standing there!)
*rushes off to Hypothermia Town*
From:
no subject
*rubs hands gleefully* I love chasing you down as you read each chapter!
From:
no subject
Ya know, we should have seen this reaction in the mini - your take is better.
And Azkadellia's recognition of him, and dismissal because he no longer mattered, feels just right even as it hurts. And the mobat attack, with the zipper bling! Eek!
From:
no subject