Chapter Text
The first thing he noticed when he came to was the screams.
For a moment, he’s back in the war, listening to the sounds of people dying. He didn’t know where he was, he didn’t know up from down, but he knew he was in danger.
Pain seems to hit him like a truck. One of his legs felt like it was burning, the searing pain hitting him in waves as his leg throbbed. The back of his head felt wet, with what was most likely blood.
He opened his eyes, surprised to find complete darkness. Wherever he was, there was no light.
“Hello?” He called out, surprised at how strained his voice was. He hissed through his teeth as his leg dared to throb again.
Where am I?
What happened?
He tried to go through his memories, but everything was turning up blank.
Ah, I remember now. The bombing threat.
He’d been assigned to stop it. He remembered that much.
So…he must’ve failed.
You really are losing your edge, Twilight.
He tried to push himself upwards, but his arms were shaking, and his leg hurt even worse when he moved, so he simply resolved to stay put and assess the damage.
His left leg was unharmed, but his right was certainly broken, crushed under rubble. That was going to be nasty to treat, but he’d suffered through worse. At least, It was easier to tell himself that.
He was alone, and help could take hours to arrive. And even then, it would be difficult to get him out, considering there was no light to be seen, meaning that he was completely buried.
He heard another scream, someone shouting a name. He couldn’t make out what the woman was shouting.
“LOID!”
He recognized that voice.
“Yor?” He said. “YOR!?”
He heard the area around him start to shake. He held his breath, hoping it didn’t collapse on him. A light hit him in the eye, and he quickly shut them tight.
“Loid!”
He saw the light through his eyelids, and he could tell she was analyzing his face. He felt cold hands against his skin, touching the previously unknown cuts on his face.
Her hands were shaking.
He opened his eyes.
She was unharmed - Thank God - and was staring at him with wide eyes. She had a flashlight with her, that was where the light had come from.
He’d never been happier to see her face.
Had he been scared?
He wasn’t sure.
“Yor,” he whispered. “What-“
“They told me you were in here,” she said. Her voice was shaky, terrified. “I-I had to save you.”
Her light fell upon the rubble that had his legs trapped. She sucked in a breath through her teeth.
“It’s okay,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve been through worse.”
“I’ll get you out,” Yor said. She tried to lift the rubble that was pinning his legs down, but he immediately began to feel a new wave of pain crash over him, as the world around them shook. He gritted his teeth, trying to keep himself from shouting out.
“Yor, wait,” he said. “It’s going to make the whole area collapse.”
“Oh,” she said. She set the rubble back in its original position, before kneeling down by his side. She ran her fingers through his hair, trying to calm herself.
“Help will come,” he reminded her. “Help always comes.”
“I know,” she said. “It’s going to be okay, you’re going to be okay.”
“Where’s Anya?” He asked.
“She’s with Franky. She’s safe,” she said.
They’re silent for a while, until their silence is interrupted by a loud bang.
“What was that?” She said, her voice worried. She picked up her flashlight, but it dropped out of her hands, and they were plunged into darkness. “Sorry, sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said.
And then he heard it.
He froze.
Running water.
“Yor?”
She must’ve heard it too.
He felt the water hit his leg, and he let out a pained hiss. The water slowly creeped up on them, starting to fill the area.
“A pipe must’ve burst,” he said. “Yor, you have to get out of here.”
“What?”
The water had reached his ear level. He tried to hold himself up, but his arms still felt weak. Yor held him up.
“Yor, the water’s going to fill up the place,” he said. “You have to…You have to get out of here.”
“I’m not leaving without you,” she said.
The water was up to his hips now.
“You have to,” he said.
“No, I’m not going to let you die here,” she said.
The water was getting higher and higher.
“Yor, you have to go. Anya needs you,” he said.
“ I need you ,” she said.
“I’m not going to let you die because of my stupid mistake, Yor,” he said, anger in his voice. “Please, Yor, go.”
The water reached his waist, his arms.
“I’m not going to leave you,” she said. “There’s nothing you can say to make me leave you.”
He felt his heart pound in his chest.
The water had reached his shoulders.
This was it. He was going to die.
He doesn’t know what makes him say it, but, somehow, the words worm their way out from his lips.
“Yor,” he said. “I’m a spy.”
The words come naturally to him, like he’d been meant to say them from the day he was born.
“ What ?”
“My name is Twilight, and I’m a spy for the West,” he said, as though it had been rehearsed. “I was sent here on a mission to secure peace between the West and the East. I was tasked to create a fake family, infiltrate Eden academy-“
“Loid, what are you saying?”
“Anya’s not my daughter,” he said. “Loid Forger doesn’t exist. He’s made up. I used you and Anya for the sake of the mission. I-I’m not proud of it, but it’s what I had to do.”
He felt her let go of him, the water hitting his face.
“One more thing, Yor,” he said, twisting to face her. But he can’t see her, he can’t see her face one more time. “I love you.”
He meant it. With all his heart, he meant it. It was the truth. The one truth he could tell her.
“Go. I can hold my breath for a while. Just go,” he said.
He hears the water splash, as she runs away.
He takes in a deep breath as the water fully submerged him.
She’s okay. She’s safe.
He didn't struggle at first, he thought he could accept it.
He was wrong.
His lungs start to beg for air, feeling like they’re about to explode. Lights start to flash in his vision, as he keeps his eyes shut tight.
He’s going to die. And he knows it. And he hates it.
I don’t want to die. Not here. Please. I don’t want to die.
He tried to get his head above the water, but it was no use. He ended up taking in water, and now his lungs were burning, and he can’t breathe, he can’t breathe.
I don’t want to die.
She burst into the sunlight, gasping for air. Cold air hits her damp clothes, making her shiver.
What had he meant?
Her husband was a spy. A spy called Twilight. Loid Forger wasn’t real.
He wasn’t real.
“Ma’am, are you alright? Are you hurt?”
First responders had arrived, currently focused on getting people out of the wreckage.
“My- My husband,” she panted. “H-he’s in there, there’s water. He’s drowning- please, you have to-“
She’s doubled over, sobbing.
“We’ll get him, Ma’am,” the man said, patting her on the back. She flinched.
A spy. He was a spy.
“MAMA!”
She looked up. Her daughter was running towards her, tears streaming down her cheeks. She stood up, as her daughter ran into her.
“Mama, you’re okay!” She said, burying her face in her pants. “Scruffy said Papa was hurt. Is he hurt?”
She couldn’t say anything.
“Mama?”
“He’s going to be okay,” she lied. She tried to put on a brave face, a brave smile for her daughter.
She’s not his daughter.
She turned her head, looking back at the wreckage.
She froze at the sight of her husband.
Anya screamed.
They had laid him down in the grass, and she could see the full scope of his injuries. His leg was nothing but a bloody mass, bent at several awkward angles.
“I can’t hear him,” Anya said. “Why can’t I hear him?”
Yor pulled Anya to the side, blocking her view with her body. Anya tried to peek at him, but Yor kept her from seeing him.
“Mama, I can’t hear him! I can’t hear him!” She sobbed.
“Don’t look at him, just look at me, okay?” Yor said, kneeling down to her level. “It’s going to be alright. He’s going to be okay.”
In the corner of her eye, she could see them trying to resuscitate him.
“Mama, they’re hurting him!” She cried.
“Look at me, Anya,” she said, trying to keep herself from crying. “Just look at me.”
She would do everything in her power to make sure Anya’s last memories of her father weren’t him dying. Just as she did for her brother.
Anya sobbed into her dress, shaking like a leaf in the wind. She jumped at the sound of sirens, as Yor tried in vain to comfort her.
“It’s going to be okay,” she said. The lie tasted horrible in her mouth.
Anya didn’t answer her. She was watching Loid.
Yor didn’t register much, her mind was a violent storm of thoughts and worries. She vaguely remembered them bringing him into the ambulance. She could remember Anya clinging on to her. She could remember someone driving them to the hospital.
But his words were so clear in her mind, and they kept replaying over and over.
“One more thing, Yor. I love you.”