Chapter Text
It's always challenging being born. Babies have it easy, their shitty little brains won't retain those memories, or at least not for long. They just inhale, and scream out all the rage and pain and resentment, and then cry for a bit, probably out of pure self-pity, and then nap.
You weren't so lucky this time around.
"What?" The voice sounded confused. The man looked confused. The man looked like a lot of things, and honestly 'human' was barely in the top ten, but he had his hands on yours and when your knees buckled he'd caught you, and you glanced down.
His long hands were absolutely as sickly colored as his cheeks, fingers calloused and ending in jagged nails, and that would have upset you more had your own hands not been-
"What's wrong wif her?" Another voice asked from far away.
A glance down revealed what he meant as your skin flickered through shades, warping, freckles and scars coming and going, changing shape, the hands of a million million people, and you screamed.
It probably ought to have been a scream of fear, but it wasn't, it was rage and pain and resentment of course. Almost in answer your skin settled, hands their normal shade, scars and freckles and fingernails in their normal places. You panted, then screamed again simply because it felt good, then heaved for breath before looking up at the man still holding your hands.
For a guy with greenish skin he'd gone awful pale.
"You look like shit," you said, and you saw his lips twitch in just the faintest glimmer of a smirk before your body decided that was really enough of that and you blacked out.
"You shouldn't have taken her," a hissing voice said. It sounded deep, wild, bassy, like the wind howling over snow. It was primal, and raw, and terrifying.
"I told you I would have a daughter," another replied, higher in tone, growling and haughty.
"I thought you a liar, not a killer."
"She was only a little dead, I put her right back!"
"You," said the hissing voice, "are such a fucking moron."
You felt like you were eavesdropping, and tried to ignore the voices, only to realize they were nowhere and everywhere, and you weren't conscious. You didn't remember falling asleep or waking, just that smirk, then the hushed voices. The darkness was warm, and comfortable, and you were tired: you desperately wanted to go back to sleep, to roll over and get another few lifetimes of napping in.
"You shouldn't have kissed her!" a reedy voice whisper-yelled. There were sounds of pacing, fabric moving,
"S right," another deeper one agreed.
You were about to complain when a cockney accent cut through, "Will you lot shut up? She's sleeping."
"Yeah," you muttered.
The room went silent.
"Did she-?"
"Shut up!" The cockney voice said to the other speakers, then it was closer, volume lower. "Hello, dove. Are you waking up?"
"Was I 'sleep?" you muttered, and opened your eyes.
The green man was a foot away, smiling rather than smirking now, and looked less awful.
"You look less like shit," you said. The man grinned, which actually made him look worse. You lifted your hands, uncoordinated and confused, "Be further away from me."
The man leaned back a few inches.
"Hello," said another voice, and a man with blue hair leaned into view. "Yew alright?"
"I don't know," you said, closed your eyes for a bit and tried to sit up. When you opened your eyes again you realized you were in a hospital room with three strange men. "Uhm. Qualifying questions: where am I? Who are you?"
The three men blinked at one another in turn.
"I'm 2D," said the blue man. "That's Murdoc. That's Russ. You're in a hospital, because, well… Yew passed out. You're not admitted or anyfing, they just wanted to be sure you were okay. Yew were only out ten minutes or so."
The man who'd been introduced as Russ was wearing a hospital robe. Murdoc seemed to be in robes that were much more formal, and garish. 2D was wearing Mickey Mouse ears. He was also handcuffed to your bed.
"Is it a mental hospital..?"
A woman entered the room fast, shoving a bundle of cloth at Russ, "Put these pants on, we need to go. Now."
That was apparently enough information for him, because the big man was already shimmying awkwardly into the jeans while the woman pressed sunglasses into 2D's hand and knocked the ears off his head with a sweep of her arm. While 2D objected with a wordless exclamation, she grabbed Murdoc by the shoulders and yanked the pink robe off of him.
"Oil! What the fuck?!"
"We leave now, right now, and we don't all go to jail. No identifying clothing, no mose ears, no fucking pink," she hissed, picking the handcuff on 2D's wrist easily. "Is she awake?"
"Yeah," 2D said while struggling out of his shirt and flipping it inside out.
Murdoc was ripping off the layers of pink with frenzied fingers, "You found a car?"
"Obviously," the woman said, and pulled at Russ. "Turn the robe around: I'll drop it and it'll look like an open button up shirt."
2D was holding his eared cap looking morose.
"Come on, dove, up you get," Murdoc's hands were on your arms, gently urging you to swing your legs off the edge of the bed. You stood, shakily, and took a few steps with assistance before Murdoc released you. You smiled up at him, more than a little proud of having found your balance in such a hurry, and he nodded, grinning too wide, too happy, "Good, okay, not going to have to relearn walking, that's great."
You stumbled, almost fell. Murdoc's face fell too.
"Leave her!" the woman said dismissively.
"She stays, I stay," Murdoc barked.
"You can't fucking- if any of us get arrested we're all fucked," the woman hissed.
"I got her," Russ said, and easily scooped you up.
"Uh. Thanks," you managed, then awkwardly patted his chest.
"Okay, stay close," the woman said.
You'd made it through several hallways, past a nurse's station, and into a stairwell when you felt a wrench under your ribs, like a hook tugging your spine forward.
"Wait," you heard yourself say. No one listened, except Murdoc, who froze. You struggled to see around Russ's arms, to look around the hospital.
"Wait!" You said.
Russ slowed, saw Murdoc had already stopped, and stared at you.
"What?"
"Cops!" Noodle hissed, and the five of you scrambled back to the landing as quickly and quietly as you could, then ducked through the doorway as a group. 2D huddled against the wall, Russ crouched slightly with you in his arms, and Murdoc glanced out the small window set into the stairwell door.
The sound of boots came closer, Murdoc ducked down, and everyone held their breath… The footsteps came to the door and went, up, up, up. Past you.
"Let's go," Murdoc hissed, slipping back into the stairwell and ushering you all downstairs quickly.
The woman was watching you.
Three floors later everyone was high stung and nervous. There'd been no lights, no sirens, no alarm. Yet. As you came to the parking lot the hook in your chest tugged.
"Left," you said.
The woman looked you dead in the eye, and jogged to the right.
"Stop right there!"
"Shit," the woman hissed. You thought Murdoc laughed.
There was a dash through the parking lot, careening around corners, punctuated with shouting from strangers, screaming from 2D, and manic cackles from Murdoc. You missed most of it, opting to wrap your arms firmly around Russ's neck in case he lost his grip on you. It was loud, and confusing, and terrifying, and you didn't know why you were going along with these people. Fleeing from the cops seemed both inherently right and wrong, somehow, and you wondered if you'd done it before.
The lights flashed, you glanced over and saw the woman jab a punch at a security guard's face and watched him drop like a bag of stones. You hid your face in Russ's chest.
By the time you looked again you were being passed from Russ to Murdoc, who was already in the back of a black sedan. You didn't really think about what you were doing, but reached out for the other one, your arms straining to reach Murdoc, wrapping around him as he took you from Russ and settled back into the car. There was room for you to sit beside him. You stayed half draped over his lap.
"Hello again dove," he purred. "Good job."
"Fuck," you whispered.
"S alright."
The car fishtailed out of a parking lot and merged into late night traffic seamlessly. The woman slowed to match the speed of the cars around them, turning seemingly at random, while 2D hunched low in the passenger's seat and Russ eyed you and Murdoc from the other side of the back seat.
When you said "right" she turned right without hesitation. Three directions from you and a mile later and the hook under your ribs was gone. You sighed.
"I think we're okay," you said.
The woman eyed you in the rearview mirror and nodded once.
"What's your name?" Russ asked.
You could tell Murdoc was glaring at Russ, even if you couldn't see it, and you blinked up at Russ for a moment before admitting, "I don't know."
"Where you from?" Russ tried.
"I don't know."
"Who am I?"
"Russ," that was easy.
"Who's he?" Russ pointed at Murdoc with his thumb. You felt Murdoc's hands twitch on your skin, and you leaned almost imperceptibly into him.
"Murdoc."
"Who's he to you?"
You laughed, "Who the hell are any of you to me?"
The car was silent for a long moment. 2D was biting his nails, blinking at you with blank eyes.
"What is she, Muds?" the woman asked quietly.
"Perfect," you heard Murdoc say. "She's absolutely perfect."
The rational part of your mind was terrified by the possessive satisfaction in his tone, but you were too tired to listen to that part of yourself, so you simply leaned your head against the green stranger's chest and let his fingers trace up and down your arms as you drifted to sleep.