Chapter Text
Heaving heavily, the darkness that encompassed the alley that never seemed to end felt daunting in his eyes. He has no idea where he was nor did he know how he was going to get out of wherever he was. Alban could feel tears prickling the sides of his eyes, doubling on top of the tears that hasn't dried in his cheeks. His footsteps felt heavy on the asphalt that sounded loud in the empty alley.
He can still smell the revolting overly sterile scent of the room he was kept in. It was cleaned bi-weekly to prevent him from getting any sickness or—for lack of a better word—for him to not get infected by the previous 'occupants'. For him to be clean. It was kept thoroughly clean and overly sterile but it didn't erase the horrid smell and visual reminder of blood coating every wall of the small room he was kept in, it didn't mute the screams he would always hear inside the room when he wasn't the occupant of it, and it also didn't prevent the wounds that plastered his body.
With blood running down his wounded arm, he was panicking to get away when he saw an opening. He knew it might be his only chance to get away from that traumatizing place. He knew it was going to be something that changes his life forever, may that be for the worst or—as he wished—for the better. Alban, at the moment, has no idea what's going to happen now. All he knows is that he's in massive pain.
He had successfully escaped, at least the facility grounds. His left arm was lacerated with a huge wound and a steady gush of blood seeping through his fingers probably made a trail that followed him from behind. He can only wish that no one can look further inside the darkness that coated the alley as he couldn't. It was the only way he can escape the gruesome life he had suffered.
His whole body ached from exhaustion and exertion, his left arm throbbing from the unbearable pain it was emanating. His vision was starting to sway and swirl but the darkness that surrounded him masked it, all he knows is that he might fall over and pass out any second now.
Though, he can't...
"THERE YOU FUCKING ARE, YOU RUNT! GET BACK HERE!"
Alban jumped in fear after hearing the familiar voice of the person who always came into his room shout at the quiet alley. His feet stumbled forward as he ran, eyes brimming with tears from terror, momentarily forgetting about how tired he was.
There was no way they could see him in the alley! How did they find him!
He ran and ran, his breathing getting laboured as he pants and cried. He was scared, he was panicking, he wanted to get away from that place unscathed or injured, it doesn't matter. He just wants to get out of that place no matter what he does!
"P-Ple—ease—!" He gasps out, his legs close to giving up as he felt his vision shake. He might just be going crazy with desperation but even though his vision was starting to deteriorate, he can make out a figure of a person a bit taller than him. Before he can even think, his body slumped over a firm chest, his half-conscious brain was able to think that this person is wearing a vest.
"H-He... Help... Plea—"
Alban felt a strong arm wrap around his right side—thankful that it didn't touch his wounded side—his eyes closed as his warm tears continued falling.
"You're safe."
And before he knew it, his body succumbed to his fatigue and anguish making him pass out.
———
"Fruge. A human trafficking organization. Notorious for picking up homeless and/or abandoned children to use in their experiments."
Sonny clicked his tongue as he flipped through the papers his partner in (solving) crime(s), Yugo Asuma, had kindly brought him. It has been in their best interest to raid a certain organization that had not only caused trouble for the VSF but also brought suffering to a very special friend of his.
"They're still fucking operating?! What the actual—!" A certain ash-haired male tried stopping himself from exclaiming his disbelief but to no avail. This is so fucked up! Everything is so fucked up!
Fulgur could not believe both his eyes and ears, this is the first time he had known that the same organization that made him live a life with metal replacing his arms and legs was still conducting the same experiments they had done before on the people who weren't as lucky as Fulgur was to escape the facility they were kept in. Fulgur almost feels guilty for escaping by himself but there was nothing he can do.
"They abduct kids and teens, mostly orphans and those who live on the street, before using them as test subjects for their experiments." Yugo let out a shaky breath before he continued, closing his eyes to ground himself. "Most of them die from these inhumane experiments and those who continued being alive were kept for more 'intensive' experiments until their bodies were so hard to recognize and they too, eventually die."
"That's... How come you're only able to—to catch them, Sonny?" Fulgur clenched his fists, only hearing about the two of his friends pursuing the same organization that made him go through hell for the first time that day.
"A corp tried going against their way before VSF even came to have the authority we have now. The Sororitiery. Ring a bell?" Fulgur flinched after hearing the familiar name, his blood running cold in his veins as he looked up to Sonny to make him continue. "They were able to infiltrate, yeah, but none of them came out alive. The Sororitiery soon fell afterwards with only the person who works behind the scene for the said corp left to fear for his life."
"You were just lucky that day, Fulgur. After you were able to successfully escape and put into the custody of the newly established VSF, the Sororitiery that saved you ceased to exist."
"...Are you guilt-tripping me, you bastard?!"
"Why would I do that to a victim? 'Sides, they're soon going to be dealt with, nothing but their victims would be left perfectly in one piece."
"The victims you speak of, aren't in one piece already."
Sonny leaned back on his chair as he removed the glove on his left hand, sighing with exasperation. He had been trying to subdue those bastards since he had become friends with one of their victims, that being Fulgur. He first met him when he was just starting in VSF as a lowly officer. He was eager to learn before but when he saw the state of Fulgur after escaping such monstrosities that existed in their world, he couldn't help but aspire for more not for himself but for the victims of such things. He had to witness how hard it was for Fulgur to grow accustomed to normalcy.
The blond can only wonder how he would be able to function in their position. The horrors of that place hunt even him who didn't even spend a day inside the confinement of the small sterile room all the victims seem to speak of. It was horrible to imagine and it absolutely was worse to experience it from what he had heard from Fulgur indirectly. Well, he knew of Fulgur's story through the VSF confession files.
"So... The boy you went back with. How is he?" Yugo released a breath he didn't know he was holding, never been one to keep calm whenever someone he knows was getting into an argument in front of him. Makes Sonny wonder why Yugo even accepted being his partner when VSF is always full of meat-headed bastards with egos that breach the heavens.
Sonny stayed quiet as he remembered the state of the brunet after he begrudgingly left him in the keeps of the medic to process the papers and other stuff in VSF but after a while, he sighed exasperatedly. "Bad. I don't even know how he survived."
"His body was falling apart from malnutrition, his left arm was horridly lacerated, they detected signs of strong chemical poisoning on him and they had no way to confirm it yet since he was still under heavy sedatives for the emergency surgery but apparently, they also detected problems with his eyes. Head trauma, broken bones, he's hardly living as what our medic said."
"God..." Fulgur could only shakily utter under his breath, tears starting to tickle his tear ducts. He could just barely imagine how traumatized the boy was.
"Not to mention the amount of damage it might've done to his mental state. You..." Sonny glanced at Fulgur before he sighed, deciding to just say whatever he wanted to say.
"You would know this, Fulgur..."
"Yeah, no fucking shit."
Their world is at the peak of a brutal and catastrophic failure of humankind. It's not from natural disasters or reproduction decline, it's from the high crime rate and tight hold syndicates have on the whole world. The police soon got eradicated which started the opening of their dystopian world and soon, different corps and organizations popped up to try and control the syndicates. None has been near successful but VSF is noticeably better than its ancestry organizations.
Sonny could still remember the desperation, the fear, the anguish of the brunet boy who had passed out in his arms. He was so shocked that he could only hold him protectively for a few seconds before his mouth uttered the words he never thought he was capable of. Those bastards from Fruge did a number on him and it looked worse on the light inside the medical chamber. It makes Sonny's blood boil in his veins as his hands balled into tight fists, his jaw gritting with how much he's clenching them with anger. The boy looked so small, so delicate, so fragile, and yet he was blue and purple, drenched in red.
"Sonny, what's your plan?" Yugo muttered as he flipped through some files regarding the syndicate they were targeting now, visibly avoiding looking at either Sonny or Fulgur. Their heightened emotions were making the room darker and colder than it should be.
"We're not going after them."
Those words made Fulgur's heart drop as he shot his head up to glare indignantly at Sonny. "WHAT?! THE FUCK, SONNY?!"
"We are not going after them," Sonny answered with conviction, his cold voice piercing through Fulgur's chest as the ashen felt his body tremble with familiar fear seeping into his body.
"W-Why... Sonny, there are still so many people there—so many kids! So many children are still suffering! I left them there!" Fulgur started hyperventilating as he gripped his shirt tightly, trying to steel himself and not cry. "For fuck's sake, you just saw... You saw what they're doing to us..."
"Fulgur, I did not say we were going to let them get away with this monstrous scheme they do."
"B-But, you—"
"I only said we aren't going after them." The blond smiled maniacally as he clasped his hands together on top of his table. "We are going to let them come to us."
The silence thickens inside the room while both Yugo and Fulgur tried to assess Sonny's mood. The commander was an odd person. He was quiet but vicious. He can be cruel if he so wanted to be, that's why he's a commander of the strongest and abominable VSF. He was one of the main reasons why VSF got where they are now, as much as the cowards who hide behind their mock military titles try to deny it.
Everything didn't get any better when an officer barged into the room without any warning. He stood straight and saluted to the commander but the panic leaking through his resolve was obvious.
"Commander Brisko, the boy is awake and is frantically wanting to leave the premise of the medical room."
———
Alban cried in distress as he caved in on himself, trembling so hard his bandages were starting to crumple when he hugged himself. Everything was so white, the smell of the alcohol and the sterile feel of everything in the room was so familiar, it hurts him. Everyone was foreign and was looking at him, they tried to calm him down but he flinched away so hard when they even tried to touch him, afraid that they were the same people that wanted to catch him. That they would pin him down and electrocute him with those guns they often used other than that chair they would put them in for punishment after disobeying or fighting them.
Everything hurts and he couldn't breathe, his trembling hands creeping up to his ears as he covered them, his legs pressed so tightly against his chest. He was so terrified of everything. That was when arms enveloped him. A scream left his mouth as he tried to scramble away and fight back but soon melted when the same voice he had heard before he passed out spoke the same words in a careful whisper.
"You're safe."
Alban melted in the person's arms as he cried heavily, almost wheezing with how much he was sobbing he couldn't breathe properly. His hands grabbed onto the person tightly in panic when they tried to move back, his heart beating so loud in his chest from the dread he was feeling. It didn't help that he was feeling drowsy from the lack of proper amount of air making it to his lungs.
"—Need to let go. You need to let go for a second, come on. I just need to make you drink some water, hmm? Calm down." The person's voice was still in a careful whisper as his words broke through the mist coating Alban's mind. He slowly let go of the person though kept one hand gripping their shirt, trembling through his violent hiccups and overbearing sobs.
Sonny's chest was a mess of tears and snot but he didn't mind it, grabbing the cup of water one of the medical staff handed him. He was about to give it to the boy but argued otherwise with his brain. He knew this boy doesn't trust anyone besides him to some degree and it was confirmed by the way he was eyeing the cup with fear.
"It's water."
Alban shook his head as he hiccuped like there was no tomorrow, his eyes red and so very irritated. It physically hurts Sonny to see him like this and he doesn't even know why he cares so much. He was there when Fulgur arrived at their facility after being rescued and he was in a condition way worse than how this boy is. As if his bionic arms and legs don't say how much he had suffered.
"Do you want me to prove it?"
All it took was a single reluctant nod from Alban and Sonny was taking a sip from the cup he was holding just to prove that it wasn't poisoned or that it was another liquid other than water. The boy seemed more relieved than ever as he hesitantly reached out for the cup. The braveness the boy displayed tugged at the sides of Sonny's lips but he didn't let himself smile. He needs to be composed and stay as what the brunet boy was used to from him for now. He can't risk confusing him or scaring him more than he already was.
Sonny guided the boy as he drank from the cup, his hands trembling so much he almost dropped the cup on himself making the commander grip the bottom of the cup. He wasn't pushing it though, only supporting it from the bottom to lessen the weight of it in the boy's weak hands. Alban drank the whole cup in one go, looking back to Sonny as if he was asking for another one. With that, Sonny couldn't hold himself back from smiling slightly as he gently pulled the cup away from Alban. The medical staff on standby refilled the cup that stayed in Sonny's hands as per the brunet's insistence. The commander took a sip once again to ease the boy as they repeated their earlier position with Sonny holding the bottom of the cup so Alban can drink with no difficulty.
The hiccups were gone after Alban downed his second cup of water, his throat no longer feeling so parched and crinkly. It's been a while since he was able to drink that much water in so little time. The facility he was kept in didn't give two shits about them so they were rarely to never fed and hydrated. They were kept alive by chemicals and pills.
Or those things that were pumped in them with syringes.
Sonny stayed beside Alban as he tried to feed him. It wasn't difficult at all when Alban genuinely wanted to eat the moment he saw the food but was still very wary of it despite the loud grumbles of his stomach. Sonny pretty much had to do the same procedure he did with the cup of water, taking small bites of the food before he tried to feed Alban those portions of food. He had noticed that the boy took comfort in seeing him do it so he kept doing it without feeling annoyed by the repetitiveness of the actions, surprisingly enough. It went on for a whole hour at most but Alban was able to finish one platter of food and two more cups of water to go along with it. That in itself was impressive, given that Alban wasn't keen on being in the medical room just an hour ago before Sonny arrives and had a serious breakdown.
Though, as the medical staff that had stayed quiet the whole time were cleaning up the little table they had set up for Sonny's convenience as he spoon-fed Alban, an unannounced guest walked into the medical room with heavy footsteps and a frown ironically colouring his lips. Fulgur walked in, eyes fixed on the only blond in the room, completely missing Alban who was alarmed by the sound of him coming.
"Yugo sent me out here to get you. Said he needed to ta—" The ashen halted in his tracks as his eyes landed on a familiar face, his hands growing weak and making him drop what he was holding. His eyes widened as one of his bionic hands shot up to cover his mouth in surprise and sheer horror in his expression.
"H-How—Alban—Why—" Fulgur felt his knees weakening even though his bionic legs were holding him upright, his eyes got filled with tears he didn't have the strength to stop from falling.
Alban wasn't fairing well either as his body went rigid at the sight of the person he never thought he'll see ever again. Before he knew it, he was on the floor, his legs failing him when he tried to climb out of the medical bed he was in, focused solely on getting to Fulgur.
"Fuu-nii... Fuu-nii-chan!" Alban cried as he desperately tried to get closer to Fulgur. The ashen head rushed to the boy on the ground, dropped to his knees with no care and engulfed him in a tight hug, crying his heart out.
"H-HOW?! WHY DO THEY HAVE YOU?! WHY—HOW DID THEY FUCKING GET YOU?!" Fulgur yelled as he clutched desperately at Alban's medical dress as if the brunet was going to disappear again.
"I-I thought..." Remembering everything that happened, Fulgur slumped onto Alban as he wailed like a little kid.
"I thought I saved you from them..."
A few more minutes passed, Sonny quietly ushered all the staff to leave the room and helped get the two situated on the bed for their comfort. The brunet's injuries were too serious for him to stay on the floor so Fulgur agreed. Fulgur was also not advised to kneel on the floor for long periods due to his bionic legs and soft knee tissues so he had no other choice anyway. The medical room had grown quieter than a few moments ago, the room bare of any unfamiliar faces as Sonny had sent the staff out of the room. Inside, there was only him, Fulgur, and as he had learned, Alban.
"Is he your brother?" Sonny had to will himself to soften his tone, not used to talking to delicate people as a commander. He only knows how to shout orders and feel his resolve harden at the savagery of those bastards.
"Yeah, somewhat," Fulgur answered with longing, his eyes fixated on Alban who was now sleeping on his thighs, the only part of his legs that weren't metal, having passed out from crying too much. "He was adopted into our family after one of my older brothers found him on the streets."
"Yugo said Fruge targeted homeless and orphaned children. How did they get you?"
"You said it yourself. They targeted homeless and orphaned children. Alban is a homeless orphan. We had taken him in but even before the adoption process was finished, our older brothers had sniffed out that Fruge had set their eyes on him." There was bitterness in Fulgur's voice as he felt the heaviness in his chest.
"I was really close with Alban. We would fight like little children all the time but we were the closest between the four of us. So when I heard that he was being targeted, I—" Fulgur closed his eyes, trying to will himself hard to not cry. "I sacrificed myself and had myself get taken instead."
"Fulgur..."
Though it was futile as tears slipped out of his eyes, before he knew it he was sobbing once again. "I-I couldn't risk it... I didn't want Fruge to get him..."
"I have no idea what happened after I was kidnapped and experimented on but..." Fulgur ran his fingers through Alban's brown locks, his eyes heavily blurred with tears. "I'm just so happy to see him again even though he was in the same position as I was."
Sonny watched his friend desperately hold onto Alban, he can see how fragile the two are and it only served to fuel his rage even more. He will make the people who made them like this pay for everything.
He will make them pay with their lives.
"Do you have any idea where your other brothers can be?"
"I... I don't... But I can tell you their name?"
Sonny nodded, wanting to do something for the two people that had so far sparked and ignited the fire inside him. He needs to do something for them before he goes on a killing spree.
"It's Vox Akuma and RPR."
"Those..." Sonny released a firm cough as he tried to select his words carefully, not wanting to offend Fulgur with his words. Though he didn't need to be careful as Fulgur's quiet laugh made it to his ears.
"I know. Their names are weird. We all have the same mother, RPR is the oldest and he's the only one who doesn't share a dad with us. His dad died so our mother remarried and had us, Vox and I. Don't question RPR nii-san's name, he's just weird."
"Sounds like a happy family."
Fulgur laughed again as his eyes subconsciously looked down at Alban's sleeping form, noticing how the comfort of having someone he trusts so close to him is starting to seep into his sleeping expression. Fulgur could only smile painfully as he recalled so many childhood memories they had, where they were unscathed and happy.
"It was. We were a happy family."
———
Feeling the familiar distress rush through him, Alban sat up and wrapped his arms around him in a protective hug. He woke up in the same room, too white, too sterile, too much for his trauma-filled brain. His eyes were getting wet as he started trembling on the bed he was sitting on. He felt as if his tongue has rolled to the back of his throat, not being able to speak the basic human language after a long time of torment and abuse he received at the facility, not to mention the chemicals they had added to everything he consumed, that being liquids being pushed in his veins with a needle on his wrist.
Alban wanted to wail and scream, tears starting to slip down his cheeks as he practically looked around for Fulgur or that person who fed him. The room was too clean, too empty, it was triggering him more and more. He wanted to get out, wanted to escape once more despite not knowing where he was but his legs were weaker than his arms. His now stitched-up arm is stinging, reminding him that he may have escaped where he was kept before, they might've found a way to find him and get him once again.
White. Sterile. Empty.
Too White. Too Sterile. Too Empty.
TOO WHITE! TOO STERILE! TOO EMPTY!
Sonny barged into the room, almost breaking the door that had almost scared Yugo—who he was talking to about certain things—if it weren't for the scream that broke through the silence. The blond rushed to Alban, carefully yet urgently wrapping his arms around the boy to hopefully help him calm down. Alban has his ears covered with his hands, eyes tautly shut as he wept loudly, his knees closely pressed to his chest trying to appear as small as possible.
"Shh, I'm here..." Sonny whispered, his hands protectively holding onto Alban, hugging him even tighter. "Focus on me, Alban. Come on, you can do this. Focus on my warmth and my arms wrapped around you. Focus on me, fully on me, Alban."
Doing as the guy has told him to do, Alban focused on Sonny. He focused on the way he breathes, the way he smelled like a rich deep scent of something he cannot name but he somehow likes, he focused on the way Sonny's hands are rubbing his arms on either side ever so gently, being so gentle with his left arm that was wounded, and the way he was hugging him slightly tight to help him ground himself.
The unintentional bystander and third-wheel, Yugo, watches as the two hugs each other to ride out one of Alban's outbursts. He had never seen Sonny be this soft even for victims of the very things that make him want to eradicate all the syndicates in the world. He doesn't know whether to be scared of the boy or to be curious about how the fuck is this even possible.
Something is up with that boy and their commander is willingly wrapped around his finger.