state of dreaming ; until dawn one shots

chris x josh x ashley: the trans squad

(a/n: transboy chris, transgirl ashley, and non binary josh because fuck me up. also i'm actually gonna use capitals for once?? lmao that's new anyway trigger warning: transphobia (oh shit oh shit))

Chris and Josh were bored, so it only makes sense that the two went on a walk at midnight. They tended to do this a lot, weird as it may be. Mainly because Josh had nightmares, and walking around the city was calming to them. The city wasn't exactly a great place at night (or during the day, though night was worse), but Chris and Josh managed to stay out of trouble.

Tonight seemed different though. As the two walked hand-in-hand, they heard what sounded like sobbing.

"Should we uh, go check that out?" Josh asked nervously, nudging their head toward the direction of the whimpering. Chris seemed hesitant.

"What if there's like, a murderer or something over there?" Josh shrugged.

"We could save someone's life! Local news headlines and stuff will mention us," Josh exclaimed, sounding like a little kid. Chris giggled at their enthusiasm.

"If it means that much to you, let's go be the heroes of the day," Chris said, pecking Josh's cheek. The two walked toward the sound, Josh practically dragging Chris. They walked behind a building and found a small alley. The crying seemed to echo from there. Josh lead Chris into the area to find a girl with auburn hair and a beanie. Her makeup was smudged around her eyes, and one eye had a bruise around it. The girl had a seemingly fresh cut running down her cheek to her jawline. She looked up at Chris and Josh, looking panicked.

"Oh god, please don't hurt me," she whispered, tears falling from her eyes, "please."

"We're not here to hurt you," Josh reassured, "we heard you crying. We wanted to help. What's your name?"

"I'm Ashley. And uh, I think I'll be fine..." the girl mumbled.

"If you're comfortable saying, uh, what exactly happened?" Chris asked, hesitating slightly. Ashley sighed.

"I don't know, it's kind of a blur at this point," she mumbled, "some guy at a bar kept leading me on and I got really happy, but it turns out he was some transphobic ass who just wanted to beat me up."

"Wait, so you're trans? Join the trans squad, dude. What are your pronouns?" Josh asked, making Ashley smile.

"Uh, she pronouns are appreciated," she replied quietly. Josh kneeled down to reached Ashley's level and examined her wounds.

"Chris, you're smart. How bad are these?" Josh asked, gesturing to Ashley's cuts and bruises. Chris kneeled down next to Josh.

"I'm fine... You don't have to help me, I swear, I'm okay," Ashley insisted. Chris frowned.

"This cut is deep... Did he like, pull a knife on you or something?" he asked, giving Ashley a nervous look.

"Uh, he scratched me with some syringe that was on the ground..." Josh's eyes widened.

"That's not good. Like, not good at all," he muttered, glancing at Chris. Chris stayed quiet for a moment.

"We should probably get you to a hospital," he finally spoke up, eyeing the cut and the needle on the ground. Ashley sighed.

"I'm sure it's fine. Really, you guys should leave me, I'm not a big deal," she argued, flicking the needle away and dabbing at her cut with her sleeve. Josh shook their head stubbornly.

"I want to help you," they insisted. Ashley sighed.

"Fine," she mumbled reluctantly. Josh helped her off the ground with the help of Chris. Ashley limped the whole walk to the hospital, so Josh and Chris had to walk slowly as to not go too far ahead of her.

Once they arrived at the hospital, they waited in the emergency room waiting area until a doctor finally came in and got the three.

Ashley sat on the bed in the room while Chris sat down with Josh in his lap. The doctor grabbed a clipboard and a pen.

"So explain what happened to you?" the doctor asked, tapping her pen against the clipboard.

"Some guy beat me up and- and he scratched me with some syringe on the ground," Ashley explained quietly, staring at the ground.

"Do you have any idea what was in that syringe?" the doctor questioned as she scribbled something down on her papers.

"No. It was all kind of a blur," Ashley said, sighing. The doctor nodded.

"Do you feel strange? Dizziness, headache, blurry vision, nausea, anything like that?" she asked, looking up at Ashley.

"No, I feel fine other than the cut stinging and my bruise hurting," Ashley answered. The doctor nodded again and jotted more things down.

"Alright. We're going to take a quick drug test to make sure nothing in that needle got into you. It's doubtful it did, but we have to be sure." The doctor lead Ashley into another room, and Chris and Josh were left alone.

"I hope she's okay. I know we've only just met her, but I feel bad for her. Plus, she's cute," Josh admitted. Chris rolled his eyes and laughed.

"Thanks for calling someone cute right in front of your boyfriend, dork."

"You've had heart-eyes on her all night!" Josh argued, giggling and pecking Chris's cheek.

The doctor and Ashley soon returned, both seeming relived.

"Ashley had no drugs in her system," the doctor explained, "but we should keep an eye on that cut. God knows what was on that needle. I cleaned it, but make sure to keep it clean. I don't want you coming in here with an infection."

Josh, Chris, and Ashley left the hospital and walked around the city until the three were all tired and cold.

"Hey uh," Ashley started hesitantly, "my roommate isn't exactly happy with me right now so uh, could I maybe stay at your guys' place for tonight?" Chris and Josh glanced at each other and nodded.

"Yeah," Josh replied, smiling. Ashley pecked their cheek. Josh's eyes widened slightly.

"Thanks."

"Uh, no problem," Josh mumbled, blushing. Chris giggled at Josh's flustered attitude. Ashley smiled and laughed.

"So wait, what's the whole "trans squad" thing you said? Are you trans too or something?" Ashley questioned.

"Chris is a tol trans dude and I'm a smol non-binary," Josh explained. Ashley giggled.

"No one beats the trans squad."