I'm not sorry for the last chapter :)
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All was ink and fog. Shapes and faces rose out of the darkness, voices hissed and whispered in the corners of Clockwork's mind. The skulled face of a Wendigo yawned before her, canines dripping with blood. There was a red sound wave that kept telling her she needed new screws in her elbows. Someone complained about a fly in their Nachos.
She was confused, drifting in this endless sea of black. She didn't recognize anything. Once she thought she saw a glimmer of light in the distance, but it was quickly snuffed out. She turned around and around, seeing nothing.
There was a click behind her and she spun around yet again. A barrel of a gun materialized in front of her nose and fired.
Clockwork jolted awake with a gasp. She was in her room: the simple box with a chair, a night table, a bed, and Cameron's Klock. It ticked at her loudly, as if to say "about time she woke up!"
After a short moment, her body caught up with her. Lightheadedness and pain rushed to her head, and she fell onto her back to avoid throwing up. Her jaw and right knee hurt with a persistent pounding, and everything else just ached.
Her brain felt fuzzy. She felt like she wasn't supposed to be at home, but she didn't know where else she should be.
She slowly lifted herself upright again and squinted at the Klock. It read 6:47, but she wasn't sure if it was afternoon or morning; the faint light oozing through the bottom of her door suggested either.
She longed to go back to sleep, but the hunger knawing at her stomach demanded immediate attention. She rubbed her eyes, took a deep breath, and swung her legs out of bed.
When she tried to stand, her right leg completely gave out from under her.
She barely caught herself on her bed post, daggers of pain slicing up her leg, making her dizzy. She shakily lifted herself against the post and looked down at her knee: a black brace wrapped snugly around it, preventing it from bending. She tenderly put weight on it and let out a breath.
When did I break my knee...?
Clockwork groaned to herself. Obviously she'd forgotten something important in her black out. She hated playing catch-up.
After a lot of painful limping and a few curse words, Clockwork made it to the bathroom. Her hand shook as she poured a cup of water and gulped it down in an attempt to soothe her dry throat. It didn't work very well.
She looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a rat's nest, the left side of her jaw was swollen and a nasty shade of red-violet, and there was dried blood crusted in her clock. It'd stopped ticking. She wasn't looking forward to cleaning it out.
She opened the medicine cabinet and rummaged around for some kind of pain killer, found a bottle of it, and swallowed twice the normal dose. That probably wasn't safe, but at the moment she didn't care. Clockwork closed the cabinet and put her head in her hands, already feeling drained.
"Good morning," A quiet voice said from behind her. She looked up, seeing Toby in the mirror. He had that black turtleneck on, and the old scar over his forehead had been reopened and joined by another deep red cut. He seemed tired.
"Hey," Clockwork said weakly. Her throat hurt to speak. She got herself more water.
"How do you feel?" He moved up behind her and pulled a lock of her hair over her shoulder and onto her back. She put her face back into her hands.
"Awful," Her voice shook.
"What do you remember?"
She shook her head. "I don't..."
"Do you remember breaking your knee?" His voice was so much softer than usual. Her heart rate increased.
"No,"
Toby got kind of quiet. She felt his warmth against her back. He slowly ran his fingers through her hair, working out all the little knots and tangles. She let him; something about her dream last night made her feel very differently about Toby.
They fell into silence. Toby picked up her hairbrush and started to use it, working from the bottom up so he wouldn't pull too hard. The feeling of the bristles gently raking down her spine was like a massage. Clockwork relaxed.
"What happened...?" She asked. She was starting to remember Thanos, and Dina, and Meta's decision to 'repay' her, but everything after that was gone or didn't make any sense. Toby heaved a sigh.
"I'll... Let Hoody explain." He said weakly. She gave him a puzzled look in the mirror and he added: "I can't remember very well..."
She stared at herself for another moment, then looked away. "Gosh I look like a nightmare."
He laughed a little. "You look much better than you could look." He pointed out. "Just a little beaten, that's all."
She glared. "Yeah, well you look fine."
"I look nasty, too," He said gently. "I just have my shirt covering it all." He set the hairbrush down and stroked her smooth brown waves with his hand. "And I'm not supposed to lift my right arm higher than eye level."
Clockwork frowned but it made her jaw hurt so she just winced. "You don't seem very injured..."
"I don't feel pain, Clocky." He reminded her.
"Lucky,"
"No," Toby muttered. "It's harder than you think." He took a shaky breath. He'd stopped playing with her hair (she wished he hadn't) and dropped his hands onto her shoulders.
"Come downstairs, I'll make you breakfast." He persuaded, changing the subject. She eyed him.
"Can you even cook?" She asked doubtfully. He rolled his coppery eyes.
"I can do scrambled eggs."
"Everyone can do scrambled eggs."
"Your point?"
She scowled at him. He winked, that mischievous half smile playing on his face. Her heart skipped a few beats.
"C'mon Clocky," He nudged her and left the bathroom. She went to follow but stumbled. He caught her; the feeling of being steadied by her shoulders felt familiar.
"You good?"
Clockwork nodded tiredly, but he didn't let go.
"You sure?" He asked. "You're really pale..."
She sighed. "I'm just hungry, Toby..."
He slowly raised an eyebrow, the seriousness fading from his face. She caught herself blushing at how attractive that made him look.
"Can you get down the stairs?" He asked with sarcastic doubtfullness. She groaned and put her forehead on his chest.
"Probably..." Her unsureity must've leaked into her voice, because Toby didn't believe her. He rested his face in her hair and slid his arms around her. She stiffened and inhaled.
"I'll carry you." He murmured. She swallowed nervously.
"Y-you don't have to do that." She stammered. "You'll hurt yourself..."
He scoffed. "Please, you weigh like eighty pounds." She could feel the gentle rumble of his voice.
"That's still a lot!" She protested. There was a pause. "How could you know that, anyway?"
He sighed deeply, his breath ruffling her hair. "Had to carry you out of the staircase," He said, voice barely above a whisper. "Wendigo nearly killed us both."
Chills ran up and down her spine. She remembered the Wendigo with vivid detail, but couldn't recall any scenario where she and Toby were on a staircase. What had happened? Why couldn't Toby remember enough to tell her?
She realized he might've lied to her. Maybe he didn't want to tell her.
Toby pulled away. It felt cold without his arms around her. He looked at her, his eyes flashed, and she knew exactly his intentions; too late.
"Do NOT -" He swung her into his arms and she yelped, struggled. "Toby put me down I swear -" She was blushing, she knew, and it only made her more upset. He laughed.
"Clocky, honestly," He reajusted his grip. "Do you want to go down the stairs?"
"Well, no, but -" She gave up on struggling and collasped over his shoulder. "I can do it I just -"
He trotted down the stairs with ease, reaching the bottom much faster than Clockwork would have if she'd done it alone. She bit her lip with frustration.
But he didn't set her down at the steps, he carried her all the way into the kitchen, ignoring her protests. Hoody was there, leaning heavily on Slenderman's bedroom door. He looked worn, with deep shadows under his eyes and a messy ruffle to his hair. There was a large greenish bruise right next to his left eye; it looked like it hurt a lot.
He glanced up at them from where he was gazing into his coffee mug and heaved a sigh. "Don't carry her, Toby, you'll hurt yourself." He said as Toby eased her into a chair.
"I told you!" Clockwork snapped. Toby laughed.
"I'm fine."
"Did she even want you to carry her?" Hoody spun his mug around, dark brown liquid spiraling around at the bottom.
"Of course," Toby said lightly.
"No I didn't."
Hoody smiled a little. It looked kind of forced. "You two..."
"What happened to you?" Clockwork asked, purposefully changing the subject. Toby had started the stove to make her eggs.
Hoody shrugged and set his mug on the table. "Just a little torture..."
Toby snorted. "They shattered your left shoulder with a sledgehammer."
Clockwork's eyes widened. She stared at Hoody, dumbfounded. He only shrugged again; she noticed he only used his right shoulder. His left arm hung limp at his side.
"I've seen worse..." He muttered. He leaned his head back on the door and closed his eyes. He coughed painfully.
Clockwork noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Masky?"
"Dead," Toby said instantly.
"WHAT!?"
"He's not dead!" Hoody snapped. "Gods, Toby, what the hell is wrong with you!?"
Toby shrugged. The eggs hissed loudly. "He hasn't moved for twenty four hours..." He said under his breath.
Clockwork turned to Hoody, wide eyed. He had shifted his gaze to the floor.
"He's fine," He said after a moment. "Just recuperating..." She heard his breath shake as he inhaled. "He'll be out for another day at least..."
Toby dumped a clump of yellow eggs on a plate and put it in front of Clockwork with a fork. She immediately started wolfing it down. She couldn't think of anything that tasted better.
When Toby had left to the freezer to get himself some waffles, Hoody gave Clockwork a significant look.
"He must really like you," He muttered in a tone too low for Toby to hear. "He made you food, carried you down the stairs..."
Clockwork flushed pink and didn't answer. Hoody laughed a little to himself and picked his coffee back up to take a sip. She remembered when she'd first seen him with a coffee cup, how she'd mentioned she didn't think he drank coffee. Now I do, he'd said. She couldn't help but wonder what that meant.
Slenderman materialized in front of the door so quickly Clockwork flinched. Toby was waiting for his waffles to microwave; when he saw Slenderman he got oddly stiff and wouldn't look him in the face - or lack of.
Slenderman paced over to Hoody, standing across the table from Clockwork. He looked at her with obvious disdain, then turned to the proxy.
"How's Masky?" He asked in his silky voice. Hoody drained the rest of his coffee and set the mug back on the table.
"Stable, but still out cold." He replied.
Slenderman paused. "How are you?"
Hoody glanced up at Slenderman's white head. "Better," He mumbled. "It numbed out overnight..."
"Can you move it at all?" Was there concern in his tone? Clockwork couldn't believe it.
Hoody shifted like he might lift his left arm, but gasped with pain and let it fall limp again. "N-no," She thought she'd never heard his voice so uneven as it was today.
"Mm..." A shadowy tendril twitched. It was the same tendril that always twitched. "Where's Judge Angels?"
"Upstairs I think," Hoody said. "She's sleeping in Pepper's room.
"Wouldn't be surprised if she slept with Helen." Toby mused, grinning. His waffles were almost done microwaving; Clockwork had finished her eggs and felt much better.
Slenderman turned around. The air darkened around him and the temperature seemed to drop a degree or two.
"Toby..." He said coolly.
Toby got very still and slowly raised his eyes to look at him. "Yes...?"
"What were you thinking?!" Slenderman abruptly snapped, like he'd been holding back. Toby recoiled. "Leading them into a trap like that!?"
"I didn't -"
"You nearly killed Masky!"
"He was defending me!" Toby retaliated. "I didn't ask him to do that!"
"He wouldn't have had to defend you," Slenderman snarled. One of his tendrils flicked in Clockwork's direction. She shrank back. "If it weren't for her."
Toby glanced at Clockwork, his eyes flaring with frustration before he looked back at the tall suited figure.
"What, you think I'd just leave her behind!?"
"You should have," Slenderman hissed. "If you were actually competent and realized what was more important in the situation."
"You weren't even there!" Toby exploded. "What's the point of giving me orders now for something that's already over!?" Clockwork hid her head in her arms.
"Because you need to learn -"
"Leave me alone!" Toby suddenly cried, a slight tinge of desperation in his tone. "I can't do everything exactly how you tell me when are you going to get that through your THICK head and l-leave me alone for once!?"
Clockwork sensed Hoody tense; obviously Toby had gone too far. Hoody closed his eyes like he didn't want to see anymore, while Clockwork peeked at the scene from between her elbows. Slenderman's tendrils were churning around behind him, almost indistinguishable from each other in the mist of shadows around him. Toby had shrunk as small as he could, the anger gone from his eyes and replaced with terror. He knew he'd crossed the line.
Then Slenderman hit him. His muscles tensed all at once and in a furious release, he drew his hand across Toby's face with a loud slap. Toby flinched hard; he wouldn't've felt the pain, but the shock was enough to silence him. Slenderman drew his hand back. It had a faint pink tinge to the back of it, he'd hit him with so much force.
Hoody inhaled sharply and pressed himself into the corner between the kitchen counter and the wall. He seemed to want to turn invisible.
Clockwork wished she were invisible, too. She ducked behind the table. Toby's cheek was flaring red from the impact. Her cheek itched with the thought of how much it would've hurt if he could feel it.
"Do not," Slenderman's voice was tight with fury. "Ever speak to me that way."
"Y-yes sir."
Slenderman snapped a tendril like a whip; it didn't touch Toby, but he jerked away instinctively. "Get your gear on." He spun on his heel and headed for the front door. "We're going out."
"Yes sir..." Toby said in a very small voice. Slenderman melted through the doorway like he was only shadow. Toby remained, gazing into space, the right side of his face red and irritated.
He glanced in Clockwork's direction sullenly, then retreated upstairs, forgetting his waffles in the microwave. Clockwork covered her head.
Should have left you behind.