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“Oh come onn, Meddy! You’re such a hardheaded dork.” Subspace stated, intruding a little too much into Medkit’s personal space, resting an arm on his shoulder and leaning his head in so close to Medkit that their faces were nearly touching. “And you are an inconsiderate prick,” Medkit retorted, shoving Subspace away with his elbow, “Now leave me be, Subspace. I have more important things to do than waste my time here with you.”
Subspace gasped loudly and dramatically, taking a step back and clutching his hand to his chest like he had just been given the most devastating news. “You think that I’m a waste of time?? After everything we’ve been through?”
“We haven’t ‘been through’ anything.”
“Yes we have! And what could possibly be more important to you right this instant than catching up with an old friend, hm?” Subspace was mostly just prodding for a reaction now, but, in his mind, even a negative reaction would be much better than being ignored. “Well,” Medkit started, the irritation rising in his tone, “I had dinner plans. And before you ask, no, not with anyone. And I could be spending my time getting ready, rather than wasting my energy trying to get you to fuck off.” Medkit sighed, and started to walk away. “So for once, I beg you, listen to me and leave me alone.”
Subspace just stood and stared for a moment as Medkit walked away, trying to think through his options. Once the green horned man had gotten a decent distance away, sure that he was finally free of Subspace’s shenanigans, Subspace had gotten an idea, and he basically jogged to catch up with Medkit. Grinning under his mask, Subspace placed a hand on Medkit’s shoulder, which was immediately brushed off with very little effort. “Why don’t I join you for dinner?” Medkit scoffed. “Excuse me?”
“You said you were going alone,” Subspace chuckled, “so why don’t I come with to give you some company? I mean, what’s the worst that could happen??” Medkit let out a long, exasperated sigh. “The worst that could happen is that you could ruin my experience. I want to have a nice, quiet night, by myself . I don’t need you to take that away from me.” “Pleeeeaase Meddy?” Subspace begged, “I’ll be good, I’ll be nice, just let me come with you! I just wanna talk, that’s all. Promise.” He paused, trying to think of anything else he could say to make his ‘offer’ sound any more enticing, because he knew Medkit was hardly even considering it.
“I’ll pay for my own food, too.” Medkit let out another long sigh. The cons of this situation vastly outweighed the pros, and he knew that more than anyone. But he was so fed up that, if this is what got Subspace off of his back, even if it was only temporary, he was more than willing to take the risk. “Fine,” he agreed, bitterly, “you can come. But if you pull anything , I can promise you that I will personally remove you from the restaurant and the mortal plane.” Subspace laughed off Medkit’s threat nonchalantly, placing his hand back onto the shoulder of his ‘friend’. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll behave. I promised, didn’t I?” He chuckled. “Now, where are we going?”
Three hours later, Subspace stood outside of a rather nice looking restaurant, dressed in a dark suit with his signature bright pink accents and a tie to match. He had ditched his mask - he didn’t think it had matched the suit - which left a large scar on the lower half of his face for all to see, and his long hair was put into a very large, but well done, braid, which looked almost abnormal on him. He was a little early, but that was fine. He was sure Medkit would appreciate his punctuality. And he was right. Just moments later, Medkit arrived. Not only was he exactly on time, but he looked baffled that Subspace had even shown up at all.
“Hiiii Meddy!” Subspace greeted as Medkit approached. “Wow. Um.” was his only response. “What’s wrong?” Subspace questioned. “Cat got your tongue?” “No,” Medkit replied, “why are you dressed like that?”
“I’m just dressed nice for a nice occasion. Why, you don’t like it?”
“Dressing like that will have people thinking that we’re on a date.”
“Oh, but it’s okay when you dress all fancy-like, okay.” Subspace huffed and crossed his arms. “And so what if they do? It’s not like it matters. We both know that we’re not.” Medkit groaned. “Okay. It’s.. whatever. Come on.” With that, Medkit led the way inside.
After being seated and ordering drinks, Medkit finally asked the question that had been bothering him since he had originally allowed Subspace to meet him here; “What was it that you wanted to talk to me about, Subspace?” The man in question, who had been staring off into the corner of the large dining area at a particular painting, blinked a few times and looked back at Medkit on the other side of the table. “Huh? What?.. Oh, y’know, just… Life. How’ve you been? It’s been a little while.” Medkit was.. Thoroughly unimpressed, to say the least. “Absolutely wonderful,” he replied sarcastically, “thank you for asking.” “Oh, really? That’s gr—“ “No.” There was a small bout of silence, before Subspace responded with a quiet “oh”.
“You sound disappointed by my answer, Subspace.” “Well I- No- No it’s not that, just,” he stammered, “I don’t know, I thought maybe you would be honest?” Medkit laughed. Not a genuine laugh, of course not, but one of mockery. “You thought that I, of all people, would ever want to be honest with someone like you?” He scoffed, shaking his head. “That’s almost pathetic to hear.”
Just as Subspace opened his mouth to respond, their waiter cleared his throat. They both looked up at him, and Subspace seemed almost startled. Neither of them had seen him show up at their table, and they definitely didn’t know how much of that conversation he had heard. Not like it mattered.
The waiter stared at the two of them for a moment, before asking the question both Medkit and Subspace were expecting; “Are you ready to order?” Medkit said yes, and Subspace responded with a nod. Medkit ordered something that Subspace had no clue how to pronounce, but Subspace had decided not to get anything. He was content with just a drink. Once the waiter had confirmed everything and walked off, Medkit spoke up.
“You aren’t eating?”
“Nope. I thought maybe I would be hungry by the time I got here, but I guess not.”
“It has been three hours . As much as I would prefer not to be, I’m a bit worried about your eating habits, Subspace.” He stated. “And what about that food you promised me you would pay for?” He’d brought it up sarcastically of course, but Medkit did find it a little odd that the promise was even made knowing now that Subspace didn’t even know if he was going to eat or not. “If you’re so worried about it, I can just pay for yours instead.” Subspace chuckled, but he wasn’t kidding. “It’s the least I could do since you have to put up with me for this long, y’know?”
Medkit sighed, raising a hand in defeat. “If you insist.” “I do!” Subspace chirped, cheery as ever. Medkit could tell that this was going to be a long night, even if they were only there for an hour or two.
Shortly after their weird dispute over the food, Medkit’s own food arrived. Considering that they only had to prepare one meal, it made a bit of sense why it came out so fast. Again, after the food was delivered to their table, the waiter left. “Sooo… What did you get?” Subspace asked, pointing at the medic’s food. Medkit let out a long sigh. “You force yourself into my dinner plans, and then you neglect to even listen to me? Typical.” Subspace rolled his eye and crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh yes, complain about me when I’m buying your food.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“I still am!” He huffed, “And I was listening, I just don’t know what any of the words you said were.” “Riiight,” Medkit sighed, “It’s just.. soup and salad, basically. You wouldn’t like it.” “How would we know unless I tried it?” Subspace joked, picking up a fork and pointing it in Medkit’s direction. “You can’t have my food.” “I know, I know! God, can’t even take a joke, can you?” Subspace dropped the fork back onto the table with a metallic ‘ting’, then picked up his drink and raised it to his mouth.
The rest of the dinner went by in almost uncomfortable silence, before Medkit stood up unexpectedly. “Where are you going??” Subspace questioned, turning his head to look up at Medkit. “The bathroom,” Medkit responded, “why, do you want to follow me in there, too?” Subspace laughed. “No, I just thought you were leaving or something.” “Maybe I should just leave.” Medkit replied bitterly before walking off toward the restrooms.
A minute or two passed, and Medkit still wasn’t back. Not that Subspace really cared, he’d just been expecting Medkit to be much faster. While he waited, though, his attention started to shift toward Medkit’s drink. There was a decent amount of it left, and he knew his old lab partner would probably drink more whenever he returned. He lingered on this for a moment, before taking something small out of his chest pocket. He looked around the room, scanning for any eyes that might’ve been on him. Not seeing any, he very quickly placed the tiny object in his hand into the glass, and it dissolved almost immediately. After watching and making sure the entire thing had dissolved, Subspace sat back, relaxed, and waited for Medkit to return.
Moments later, his green horned companion emerged from the restroom and sat back down, almost immediately taking a sip of his drink, and Subspace struggled not to grin. So, having no other option, he just stared at Medkit. Not like this was odd, though, he’d been doing it all night. Maybe that was the real reason people were going to think the two of them were dating.
“Soooo, Medkitty—“ “No.” Subspace laughed at how quickly Medkit had shut that down. “Okay, okay, Meddy ,” he paused, waiting for a negative response. Not getting one, he continued, “are you ready to head out? I’m sure you don’t wanna spend any more time here with me than you have to.” Medkit rolled his eye. “You would be correct. However, I’m not wasting this drink.” And with that statement, he downed the rest of what was in his glass, and much faster than Subspace was expecting, too. “ Now I’m ready.” “Great!”
Without another word, Subspace stood up and pushed in his chair, with Medkit following suit. Rather than waiting for their waiter, Subspace just left maybe too much cash on the table, and Medkit chose not to question nor protest this action. It wasn’t worth the energy.
They both exited the building rather quickly. Medkit, because he just wanted to leave, and Subspace because he didn’t want to be questioned about not paying (which he had , just not properly). Once the two of them had gotten outside, Medkit started to feel.. dizzy. He swayed a little, but did his best to keep his composure. Much to his dismay, however, Subspace noticed. “Woah, Meddy, you okay? Was your drink too strong or something?” Subspace stared at him with faux concern. “No,” Medkit started, his voice uncertain, “there was.. Hardly anything in it.”
Medkit’s legs started to shake, and he could hardly hold up his own weight. He unintentionally leaned on Subspace, and the inventor responded by holding him up with an arm. “Hey, if you wanted a hug you could’ve just asked ,” Subspace joked, but he knew this wasn’t really the time nor the place for it. “Seriously, though, are you okay?” It was hard to keep the facade of worry, but he knew that he wouldn’t have to for much longer. Medkit, on the other hand, looked almost scared. And for good reason, too. He didn’t know what was happening, or why , and he didn’t like that it was happening in this close of a proximity to Subspace. “No, I…” His vision started to grow dark and fuzzy, and he was practically clinging to Subspace for support now. But his grip on him was starting to get weaker, too. And suddenly, it hit him.
A silent and horrific realization washed over him, and with a quiet, fragile, “What did you do?…” everything went black.
Medkit went limp in Subspace’s arms, and for a moment he was worried that he had killed the doctor. But, Medkit was still breathing, so everything was fine. They were shallow, shaky breaths that he was taking, but it was breathing nonetheless. However, Subspace had no idea how long Medkit would be out for, so he had to act quickly. He scooped Medkit up in his arms, bridal style, and made his way away from the restaurant as quickly as possible, telling anyone who had questioned him that Medkit “just had a bit too much to drink”. And everyone believed him. It wasn’t abnormal for someone to get a hold of that much alcohol in such a big city.
When Medkit came to, his entire body ached. He opened his eyes, only to find himself on the floor of a dark room, rather than the sidewalk he had been expecting to wake up on. As he looked around, he realized this wasn’t just a room , but some sort of work area. A lab, maybe? He wasn’t sure. He tried to push himself off of the floor so he could sit, but his arms were shaking too badly to hold himself up, and he collapsed again. He groaned groggily, laying on the floor with nothing to do but wait. As consciousness set in, his head started to hurt, too. But that was the least of his many concerns.
Medkit waited for what seemed like hours before he finally heard footsteps echoing through what he assumed was a hallway. Shortly after, emerging from a dark doorway behind the immobilized doctor, was Subspace. He was still dressed like he had been for dinner, but he’d let his hair down and his mask was returned to his face. The only other difference was the abnormally white, clean labcoat he wore over everything. He leaned over Medkit, grinning under his mask and waving down at him. “Good morning, Meddy! You were out for much longer than I expected!”
Medkit tried to sit up again, and had a little more luck this time. He managed to prop himself up on his own arms, but he was still aching and shaking an incredible amount. And Subspace more than noticed. “.. What… What the hell did you do?- Where..?“ Medkit’s voice was groggy, and he sounded like he was still a little out of it. “Well,” Subspace began, “I drugged you, of course. But I’m sure you already figured that out! For someone as smart as you, I’m surprised you’d ask such a stupid question!” Subspace giggled , and Medkit knew that he needed to get out as soon as he possibly could. “But you don’t need to be worried about where we are, my dearest Medkit. You won’t be leaving any time soon.” All of a sudden, Subspace’s voice had this threatening edge to it, and the way he looked down at Medkit made his skin crawl. He seemed so much more dangerous like this.
Medkit did his best to stand, but Subspace could tell that he was struggling. “Aw.. Poor Medkit. Here, let me help you.” Subspace held a hand out to his hostage, but Medkit pushed it away. He was upset with himself for not being able to put more force into it. “Do not touch me. You’ve already done enough.” Medkit snarled, and Subspace just stared for a moment, and the two of them shared a brief silence. Then, Subspace bursted out laughing. He took a step forward, and Medkit took a step back, now leaning against the countertop behind him.
Subspace only continued to get closer, and Medkit responded to this action by pulling his gun out of his shirt with a shaking hand. “Back up. Now.” Subspace stared for a moment, before chuckling softly and taking another step forward, pushing Medkit’s gun aside with ease and using his other free hand to pin Medkit to the counter. “Even when you’re hardly mobile, you still put up such a fight, Meddy,” his tone was sickeningly sweet, and it made Medkit’s stomach turn. “If you would just relax, this would be over so much sooner.” Medkit could hear the smile in his voice, and he hated it. He hated all of this.
Subspace very carefully took the gun from Medkit’s hand, but the doctor desperately reached for it. Unfortunately, he was still too weak to overpower Subspace, so he was left grasping for empty air. “What the hell do you want?” Medkit’s voice was shaking, and he wasn’t even sure if it was from fear or from whatever Subspace had used on him. “Well, my dear Fawn,” “Don’t.” Ignoring the interruption, Subspace continued, “we have.. Unfinished business, and you’ve really been getting on my nerves lately.” Subspace slid the gun across the counter and away from Medkit, once again leaving him with a free hand.
“What..? What are you getting at here, Subspace?-“ He questioned, watching the gun slide across the counter, only stopping once it had hit.. something. It was too dark for Medkit to tell what it was. “You’ll see!” Subspace sounded so giddy, Medkit couldn’t help but be fearful of what his plans were. But before he even got the chance to ask anything else, Subspace grabbed him by the throat, which forced a choked whimper out of him. Without another word, Medkit was dragged by the neck to a chair in the center of the room. He stumbled into it, and Subspace let go of his throat to pin his wrists down onto the arm rests. Medkit gasped desperately for air, and Subspace chuckled quietly.
The chair in question was some sort of metal, and it was bolted to the floor. Obviously, this had been planned in advance, otherwise just having something like this here would be an inconvenience to anyone who tried to work in this room. Medkit assumed that Subspace was the only one to ever come in here, though. And Subspace always found ways to work around even the most major of inconveniences.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw Subspace let go of his wrists, reaching down to grab something off of the floor, which he then tied around Medkit’s waist and legs. For once, Medkit didn’t fight back. He knew it would be easier not to, and he needed to preserve as much of his energy and strength as he could. Almost as if he had been waiting to see if he would, Subspace had bound his hands last. Any sense of freedom Medkit could have had was stripped from him, and it was humiliating. And Subspace knew. He had to know.
As Subspace was standing up, Medkit.. headbutted him. It was supposed to be an attack, but Medkit had done it so weakly that it just felt like a gentle bonk. It didn’t hurt, but it did shock him. The two just stared at each other for a moment before Subspace spoke. “I would really, really appreciate it if you would just cooperate, Fawn.” Medkit stayed silent. Surely, Subspace was just looking for a reaction here, right? He had to be. If his intent was to kill, he would’ve done it while Medkit was sprawled out on the floor. So this had to be to fuck with him, but.. why go through all of this trouble over something so petty? Medkit just couldn’t wrap his head around it.
Subspace chuckled as he reached for whatever Medkit’s gun had slid into on the counter, and as he lifted it, Medkit could see now that it was a rather large handheld saw. It looked very clean and pristine, like it had never been used before. But that wasn’t the only thing he’d picked up. He’d also gained a rather small looking knife, and Medkit couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be cookware or a weapon. He didn’t want to find out.
“You’re behaving so well, Meddy! Or have you just run out of things to say?” He cocked his head to the side, propping the saw up against the chair. Medkit’s eyes never left the saw, even after Subspace had set it down. A million thoughts were racing through his head. Questions, arguments, he was confused, he was scared, he was angry, and worst of all, betrayed. Again. Despite all of his thoughts going through him at the speed of light, all he could muster was a quiet, “Why?” Without the shake in his voice that was still more than present from everything happening to and around him, it could’ve been argued that Medkit was completely unbothered. He wished he could have kept that front.
Subspace chuckled, uncertainty ringing in his voice, but confidence never leaving it. “Whatever do you mean, Fawn?” His innocent tone sent waves of chills down Medkit’s spine, but he did his best to ignore it. “This. Why are you doing this? How are you doing this? How did you do this to me?” The initial grogginess in his voice was long gone now, instead replaced with the occasional - but unintentional - slurring of his words. Again, Subspace giggled. But it didn’t stop there, no. His giggling unraveled into almost manic cackling, and it took him a moment of leaning against the countertop and catching his breath before he could manage to speak again.
“How?” He echoed Medkit’s question, voice edging on the verge of laughter once again. “My dearest Medkit,” he crooned, stepping closer and cradling the doctor’s face in his hands - which looked so fragile, so weak, so easy to ruin - much too gently for someone with such a murderous spark in his eye, “you let your guard down.”
A sharp pang of realization struck into him, stabbing much deeper than he thought any knife ever could. Subspace was right . He’d let his guard down. He’d left himself vulnerable, making it so, so easy for Subspace to have his way with him. To hurt him. To humiliate him in a way that would stick with him for the rest of his life, if he even had much left to live. People, strangers , saw his downfall but did nothing to help him, because he’d let his own persona slip long enough to somehow let others know that he felt safe with his now-captor. What the fuck was he thinking? How could he be so naïve? How could he let this happen? If he had just been more cautious then maybe—
A sudden strike from Subspace’s thick, heavy boot connecting with Medkit’s lower leg snapped him back into the present, back into reality, sending waves of pain through his entire body. Subspace had more than noticed his silence, his lack of attentiveness, and he couldn’t stand it any longer. He needed to hear Medkit say something, anything. But he didn’t get the reaction he was looking for. Instead, all he got was a quiet hiss through clenched teeth, followed shortly after by a quiet, strained whimper as Medkit endured the harsh pain and reality of his situation. He hadn’t even noticed that Subspace’s hands had left his face, and as much as he hated how much more trapped it made him feel here, he almost missed the tender touch now.
Subspace didn’t need to say it, but his silent, neverending glare was screaming for Medkit to look at him. To pay attention . Medkit wasn’t sure if his immediate obedience of this silent command was out of fear or instinct. He didn’t care.
He looked up, meeting Subspace’s gaze, and they locked eyes. He immediately wished that they hadn’t. “Please,” Medkit pleaded, something he never thought he would have to do with Subspace, “just do whatever it is that you’re planning. I— I can’t stay here, Subspace, you know that. You cannot keep me h—“ he was cut off by his own cry of pain as Subspace grabbed him by his hair - which was much more unkempt now than it had been at dinner, not that it mattered - forcefully yanking and pulling his head back, leaving his throat uncomfortably exposed. The knife, which Medkit could see now was definitely not cookware - the handle was very intricately decorated, with small carvings and carefully placed gemstones, and it looked like some sort of collectible he would find in his own home - was now back in Subspace’s free hand, just centimeters away from his throat.
“No,” Medkit choked out, clearly straining himself to speak, “please, no—“ He could feel the cold, sharp blade pressing softly against his bare skin now, and he knew that if he could see under Subspace’s stupid fucking mask, he would be wearing a grin so wide it would put the cheshire cat to shame. He almost wished he could see it. Maybe it would be less intimidating, he would feel less afraid. It had been years, but Subspace’s smile was so familiar, so unthreatening , that even after all this time, Medkit couldn’t help but hope that Subspace would just ditch the damn thing all together.
Subspace didn’t seem to even consider the plea, only pressing the knife into Medkit’s throat. “Why shouldn’t I, hm?” He mused, fingers still tightly laced through his victim’s hair. His eyes were glowing with excitement, knowing in full certainty what his plans were for his old friend. And he knew that things weren’t going to end here.
Medkit shut his eyes tightly in a silent surrender. He knew there was no reasoning with Subspace, he wasn’t sure why he’d even tried. So he sat there, trembling, waiting for Subspace to slit his throat. Except, he didn’t. After a few seconds of silence that felt like an eternity, Medkit felt the pressure on his throat subside, but he could still feel Subspace’s hand gripping his hair much too tightly to be even remotely comfortable. “You’re no fun when you aren’t begging, Meddy,” he pouted, now raising the knife to Medkit’s face. “How about we change that?” Finally, Medkit opened his eyes, only to be rewarded with a sharp blade cutting into his flesh right beneath his right eye, and gliding, smoothly and quickly, down to the bottom of his jaw.
Medkit winced, and his breath hitched in his chest. The motion had happened so fast that he hadn’t even registered it until it was over. But now, feeling the blood - his own blood - dripping down his face was making his head spin. Subspace, however, seemed disappointed by the lackluster reaction. He sighed, releasing the doctor’s hair, leaving his head hanging. But even this annoyed him. “Look at me, Fawn.” Medkit did his best to comply, lifting his gaze to meet Subspace’s, but his vision was still incredibly hazy. However, his attempt seemed to satisfy Subspace, and his grin returned to his face.
“Good boy,” he praised, cupping the bleeding side of medkit’s face with his free hand, twirling the knife in the other. “Now, I want you to take a deep breath, okay?” He spoke like a doctor would to his patient. “.. What?-“ “Do it. Hold it, too.” Medkit hesitated, looking quickly and briefly between Subspace and his knife. After a short moment of contemplation, though, Medkit did as he was told. He inhaled deeply, held his breath, and waited very anxiously for whatever Subspace was planning.
Luckily for him, he didn’t have to wait very long. Within a matter of a few short seconds, Subspace raised his knife, and brought it down hard into Medkit’s thigh. He let out a pained cry, shutting his eye tightly as tears started to form. Subspace chuckled, releasing the handle of the weapon and leaving it lodged in Medkit’s leg.
It took much longer than he would’ve liked, but eventually Medkit did recover from the initial shock of his injury, though his breathing and heartbeat would have stood as proof against that. He opened his eye, trying his best to blink the tears away. “No more,” Medkit pleaded in a hushed whisper, “please.” His voice was shaking from a combination of fear, pain, and exhaustion, but Subspace seemed more delighted by this reaction than anything. “Oh, Meddy,” his voice carried that same sickeningly sweet tone from before, now laced with faux pity, “we’ve hardly even started.”
Medkit dreaded finding out what that meant, but he knew that he wouldn’t have to wait very long. But he wasn’t entirely sure what else Subspace could even use on him, with the knife still clad in his thigh, the only thing left was the saw, and Medkit knew Subspace better than that. He was saving it for later, he had to be. He must have really looked like he was thinking hard about this, because Subspace started to laugh at him. “What’s on your mind, Fawn?” He cocked his head to the side, but that was not what Medkit was looking at. Instead of answering, he just watched as Subspace stuck his hand into the pocket of his lab coat, and ever so carefully drew it out. He was holding something.
“Oh, are you worried about this?” He held his hand out to Medkit, fist still closed around whatever he was holding. “You’ll find out what it is very soon,” Subspace chirped, tone uncomfortably giddy, “but I need you to tell me something first.” Medkit held his silence for a short moment, before he realized that Subspace was waiting on a response. So Medkit let out a quiet, inquisitive hum, and that was enough for the inventor.
Subspace leaned down again, leaning in close enough to Medkit’s face that there was hardly an inch of space between them. “How long did you think I was going to let you get away with this?” He was staring very intently at Medkit’s face while he spoke, almost like he was studying every individual feature. “What?” Subspace ignored the confusion, continuing to scan Medkit’s face until his eye stopped on Medkit’s own, locking them in a silent staring contest until the eye contact became too much and Medkit had to look away.
“I hardly even scratched you, Medkit,” he continued on, “compared to what you’ve done to me, at least. So tell me, my dear Fawn, how long did you think this would go unpunished?” Medkit stared at the ground, pondering Subspace’s question anxiously. He was right, Medkit had hurt him, but Subspace hadn’t exactly left him without injury either. Still.. Subspace deserved it. Medkit wouldn’t have done that if he hadn’t. He knew that Subspace deserved it, but even now, so many years later, he doubted himself. If what he’d done really was the right thing, the only way to safety, then how did he-
Again, he was violently pulled from his thoughts by a sharp pain, this time caused by Subspace ever so slightly turning the knife still lodged in his leg. Medkit hissed in pain, eyes flickering up to glance up at his captor for a short moment before returning his gaze to the ground. He could feel the blood trickling down the side of his leg. “Answer me,” Subspace demanded, “or I’ll let you bleed out right here in this chair.” Medkit let out a shaky breath and shut his eyes, bracing himself for whatever Subspace would do upon hearing his response. “I did what I had to do.” It was a statement, but the tremble in his voice made him seem uncertain.
There was a long, uncomfortable silence. Medkit kept his eye shut, but he could feel Subspace back up - did he stand up again? - and a little bit of pressure release from his leg. The silence lasted for what felt like minutes, but in reality couldn’t have been more than a few seconds at best, before Subspace burst out laughing. Medkit opened his eye and looked up at Subspace, who was leaning back and laughing hysterically .
“You think,” he forced out between laughs, “that this was necessary?” He locked eyes with Medkit, and he stopped laughing almost just as abruptly as he had started. “You absolutely ruined me, Meddy. And you still think you ‘had’ to do it.” He scoffed. “For being a doctor, you’ve really got a knack for beating people until they can’t move, don’t you?” It wasn’t a question.
“Subspace, I didn’t-“
“You didn’t what? You didn’t mean to?”
Silence.
Subspace let out a long, dramatic sigh. “Y’know, I thought maybe you’d be able to own up to what you did. It didn’t seem to bother you then, not sure why it does now.” He shrugged, raising his still closed fist to Medkit’s face. “Oh well. Your loss, Meddy.” With that, he opened his fist, revealing a bright pink crystal. He held it carefully between his index finger and his thumb, letting Medkit get a good look at it.
Medkit held his breath. He knew what the crystal was, and he was terrified of what Subspace planned to do with it. Almost on cue, Subspace very gently commanded, “open your mouth.” Medkit was stunned. Did Subspace want him to eat that? He hoped not. Subspace was clearly growing impatient, though, and rolled his eye. “Come on, Fawn. Say ‘aaahh’.” Begrudgingly, Medkit did as he was told, opening his mouth ever so slowly. With his free hand, Subspace grabbed Medkit’s jaw, forcing his mouth open even wider. Medkit shut his eye, and Subspace placed the crystal between the doctor’s canines, but he didn’t let go of it just yet.
“Bite down. Gently.” He commanded, and Medkit did as he was told, eye still shut tightly. “Good boy,” Subspace praised, removing his hand from Medkit’s mouth. “Now, let me fill you in on something; If you bite down too hard, that crystal will explode in your mouth, and it will fill your body with a very, very deadly poison. If it falls out of your mouth, there’s a very good chance that it could shatter, releasing that very same poison into the room. And unfortunately for you, you don’t have a mask.” He crooned condescendingly at his victim, and pointed to the mask he wore on his own face. “So please, do try to be careful. I’d hate for our fun to be cut short, wouldn’t you?” He chuckled.
Medkit let out a shaky breath as he felt Subspace pull away, and he slowly opened his eye, which he very quickly regretted. Subspace now had the saw in his hands, and Medkit couldn’t possibly brace himself for whatever was about to happen. But he could tell that his captor was grinning so wide it would’ve put the chesire cat to shame. But he wasn’t doing anything yet. If anything, he seemed to be contemplating. Maybe he would stop, finally leave Medkit alone, hell, he’d even take being left here to rot over the torture he was enduring. But Medkit knew that was far too optimistic, even when he watched Subspace set the saw back down on the cold, hard floor.
He then watched, eye wide with fear, as Subspace stepped forward once more, reaching toward the Medic’s face once again. His eye snapped shut as soon as he felt Subspace’s hand make contact, and suddenly a part of his face was strangely cold.
Oh. His eyepatch. Subspace took his eyepatch . The hands left his face just as suddenly as they had made contact there, and he could hear noise, he could hear Subspace’s voice, but it all sounded so fuzzy and far away. Medkit couldn’t think, he couldn’t breathe, everything felt so incredibly wrong, and he could feel tears running down his face but the sensation hardly registered in his mind and even if it had he wouldn’t be able to stop it from happening.
A sharp, stinging sensation on his now bare face was what brought him back. He hadn’t realized he had been hyperventilating before, and now he was sure that if he’d been clenching his teeth any harder it would have killed him. His eyes were still shut tightly, and he couldn’t tell if he had been cut or slapped, but he didn’t care. He could finally hear Subspace’s voice again, and the sound threatened to throw him back into his panic attack. “It’s rude not to listen when people are talking to you, Fawn. You’re lucky that all I did was hit you.” The demon sounded irritated, but all Medkit could do was let out a choked sob in response.
“Regardless of your rude behavior,” Subspace began, “you look so much better without that lousy patch, Fawn. It’s a shame you don’t have it off more often, don’t you think?” Medkit wanted to shake his head no, to protest, but he was scared that Subspace might take that as a form of disobedience.
And he didn’t want to know what kind of punishment he would receive for that.
“Now then,” Subspace spoke once more, his voice overly cheerful, “why don’t we get those horns off of you?” Medkit choked, and almost dropped the crystal. He shook his head no rapidly, trying desperately to silently plead for himself, but it was no use. Even with his eyes closed, he could hear the soft sound of Subspace picking up the saw from the floor, and he could hear the two quiet footsteps it took for him to be close enough to do his work on the doctor’s horns.
Subspace giggled, and grabbed Medkit’s right horn with his free hand, holding his head in place. “Try not to squirm too much, Meddy! We don’t want to make a mess, now do we?” Medkit held his breath as he felt the saw make soft contact with his horn, and then winced as he felt it move.
Tears started to pour down the doctor’s face as the pain of the saw on his fragile horn got worse, and worse, and worse. He could hear the occasional grunt from Subspace as he strained himself to work the saw through the hard material, and the smell of his own blood was starting to make Medkit nauseous. He wasn’t even sure if he was breathing.
He was getting dizzy again, and the only thought in his head as everything went fuzzy was how badly he wanted, needed, even, for this to be over.