protect icarus

thank you so much, i’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the other prompt fill! i hope you like this one as well! and thanks for the prompt! x

trigger warning for blood! i know there’s been blood in my previous fics too but i describe it a little bit more in detail here, or at least i felt i did. there’s also quite a few f- & s-bombs in there but hey, dirk is dying, it’s at least semi-warranted.

~

Of all the crazy things that had happened in Todd’s life so far, hell, even in the last few months, the current situation didn’t even make the top of the list.

I mean, three men dressed as ninjas with giant swords robbing the jewelery store at the very moment Todd and Dirk happened to be there? Literally to return diamonds previously stolen from the very same store by different crazy criminals? Please. After time travel and an alternate reality, this barely made the detective and his assistant raise an eyebrow.

However, these men seemed hell-bent on getting rid of the witnesses, as they hadn’t planned on anyone other than the employee being in the store that night.

Unfortunately Todd and Dirk had no weapons to defend themselves with. Or skills, to be honest. They had not exactly prepared for a crazy sword fight where they would be outmanned. They never did.

Against all odds, two of the three men had been knocked out by Dirk. Well, to Todd it had looked like Dirk made ridiculous attempts to fight off the men that never worked but would lead to something else that would then eliminate the threat. It seemed like the universe had their backs.

Until it didn’t.

By some crazy coincidence (which Todd had to remind himself did not actually exist), Todd managed to trip the last robber as Dirk was fighting him off, leading to the robber hitting his head on a display, shattering the glass and falling down unconscious.

The terrified employee must have managed to call 911 at some point during the scuffle, as Todd could already hear the police siren getting closer and closer. Great timing, as always.

Trying to catch his breath, Todd brushed a few wayward shards of glass off his shirt.

“Well, I’d say I didn’t see that coming but I feel like if I said that every time it was true, the phrase would lose its meaning pretty fast.” Todd said and finally turned to look at Dirk again.

Dirk was standing close to the back of the store, next to the counter and he looked… Off. His eyes were glazed over and his breathing was labored and shallow. For a second Todd was surprised to see Dirk so shaken, since most of the time the detective seemed to take the insane situations they found themselves in with an air of nonchalance. Then Todd noticed the blood.

Dirk was holding his hand over his abdomen, blood practically flowing out from between his fingers. It was starting to create a significant puddle on the floor. Todd felt a wave of nausea wash over him as his brain connected Dirk’s state to the red wetness beginning to cover the floor and their shoes.

“D-Dirk.” Todd whispered. He couldn’t find his voice.

“Shit.” Said Dirk. Then his knees gave out and he collapsed on the maroon puddle at their feet.

“Dirk!” Todd finally found his voice and rushed to Dirk’s side, kneeling in his partner’s blood.

He maneuvered their now blood soaked bodies so that Dirk was leaning against Todd’s chest and Todd wrapped his arms around Dirk’s torso.

Dirk let out a heartbreaking groan as Todd moved him. Todd bit back a sob and moved Dirk’s hand enough to get a look at the source of all the blood. Now Todd couldn’t help but let out a sob.

There was a deep stab wound on the left side of Dirk’s stomach. There was blood spurting out with every labored breath Dirk took and Todd could see inside Dirk’s body. Todd quickly shook off the flannel he was wearing over his t-shirt and pressed it against Dirk’s wound.

“Oh, I liked that shirt.” Dirk mumbled.

“Yeah, well, I liked your blood inside your body so… Life’s a bitch, I guess.” Todd replied gruffly.

“Todd…” Dirk whispered.

“Help will be here in a minute, okay, can you hear the sirens? They’ll be here in a minute, just hold on, Dirk.” Todd ordered.

“Todd,” Dirk said, followed by a cough which was accompanied by blood now spilling from the side of his mouth, “I just want to say-“

“Dirk, shut up.” Todd growled.

“Todd, you don’t understand-“

“No, Dirk, you don’t understand. Save your strength, and just this once, shut up and wait for help.” Todd cut Dirk off.

“But in case it will be too late-“ Dirk tried again, his voice distorted by disturbing gurgling from his throat.

“No, Dirk, no, nothing will be too late, you’re gonna be fine, just shut up.” Todd hissed.

“Do you really want ‘shut up’ to be the last thing you ever say to me?” Dirk tried to joke.

Todd’s chest felt unbearably tight. “You’re not fucking dying.” He simply said.

“You don’t know that.” Dirk replied, his voice serious again.

“Yes I fucking do. You don’t die. The universe won’t let you die, right? That’s the deal. You’re gonna be fine. End of story.” Todd reasoned.

Dirk let out a sigh and more terrifying gurgles. “Everyone has to die at some point. Even me.” He said.

Todd felt like all air had been punched out of his lungs. This can’t be it, can it? No, there’s no way. After everything they’ve been through, a random robbing cannot be how Dirk Gently dies. He’s so young and he’s been through so much. This cannot be the end of his story.

“You are not dying, Dirk. Don’t you dare give up.” Todd growled.

“I am not giving up, Todd.” Dirk promised. “I’m being realistic.”

“Since when?” Cried Todd. “You’re literally the most infuriatingly optimistic person I know, even in the most hopeless of situations! Where’s that guy?”

Dirk was quiet for a moment. “Thank you.” He finally said.

Todd blinked for a moment. The blue and red lights of the police sirens finally illuminated the dark street outside of the store window.

“For what?” Todd asked after a moment of silence.

“For giving me everything I wished for.” Dirk whispered.

Todd felt like he was being stabbed now. Dirk really thought he was dying. These were his dying words.

“Dirk, please, just-“ Todd tried to plead with Dirk to not give up again.

“I know, I know, Todd, but… I’m sleepy.” Dirk replied and Todd noticed his eyes had slipped close at some point.

“No, no, no, Dirk, don’t sleep, you have to stay awake!” Todd cried.

“Thank you. Thank you, Todd… For… You.” Dirk mumbled.

“You don’t need to thank me, Dirk, if anything I’m the one who- Dirk? Dirk!” Todd cried, nudging Dirk’s slumped head with his, unwilling to move his hands from the stab wound.

Dirk wasn’t replying anymore.

Dirk wasn’t breathing anymore.

-

Todd could tell he looked like hell by the expression on his sister’s face as she rushed to his side at the hospital. Todd looked down at his blood soaked clothes and the bloody shirt he was still holding in his hand.

“Todd…” Amanda whispered. Despite Todd’s bloody appearance, Amanda wrapped her arms around her big brother so tightly Todd could feel her fingers digging into his back through his shirt.

“Is he?” Amanda asked carefully as she pulled away from the hug, leaving her hand on Todd’s shoulder for support.

“They don’t know anything yet.” Todd replied. “But it didn’t look good.”

“Fuck.” Amanda huffed and ran her fingers through her hair. “Where’s Farah?”

“Getting coffee.” Todd replied. Farah had arrived at the hospital about 30 minutes before Amanda.

“Let’s sit down while we wait, okay?” Amanda asked and tried to lead Todd to the row of chairs in the waiting room.

“I don’t wanna sit.” Todd mumbled, unable to focus his eyes on anything in particular. He was still shaking.

“Okay, well, you’re literally shaking, Todd, I think you need to sit. Besides, you’re scaring the kids over there. You look like fucking Carrie.” Amanda reasoned.

Todd glanced over to the nurse’s station and indeed, there were two kids, seemingly pre-teens, by the station with their mother, staring wide eyed at Todd.

Todd let himself be led to the chairs and finally sat down.

It wasn’t long until Farah showed up with two cups of coffee.

“Hey Amanda.” She said.

Amanda stood up to give Farah a hug, which she accepted and returned without protest.

“You want coffee?” Farah asked, offering Amanda one of the coffee cups.

“Nah, it’s okay, it’s yours.” Amanda replied and sat back down next to Todd.

“Actually, I feel like maybe I shouldn’t drink coffee right now. I feel…” Farah tried to explain.

Amanda reached to take the cup from Farah, not wanting to force her to explain. “Thanks, Farah.” She smiled.

Farah nodded. Then she pushed the other cup towards Todd. “Todd?”

Todd lifted his gaze from the bloody shirt in his lap to Farah and the cup. “Oh, yeah, thanks.” He said and reached for the coffee.

“No problem.” Farah replied and sat down on the other side of Todd.

None of them could think of anything to say. None of them wanted to acknowledge the possibility of Dirk not making it through his surgery. None of them were the type to offer false hope. So they remained silent. But they were together, which they all found some comfort in.

Amanda put her arm around Todd’s shoulder and leaned her head against the side of his. Todd sighed and let his head drop to rest against Amanda’s. He glanced at Farah and found her staring at her hands and moving her leg up and down against the floor in short bursts of anxiety. Todd placed his hand on top of Farah’s in her lap. Farah turned to look at him with a sad but grateful expression. She turned her hand to grip Todd’s like a lifeline and turned to stare straight ahead of her. Todd closed his eyes and focused on breathing and the feeling of his sister and friend next to him.

-

Hours later, they were informed that Dirk made it through the surgery. His surgeon said that he did flatline on the operating table once, a piece of information which nearly had Todd hurtling towards the floor had Amanda not caught him by the arm in time. Fortunately the medical team were able to revive Dirk and the surgery was a success. If no complications were to arise, Dirk should recover in full.

Todd and the women were allowed into Dirk’s recovery room after their conversation with the surgeon. Todd dragged a chair next to Dirk’s bed and took a seat. Farah sat down on the armchair in the corner of the room and rested her head in her hands. Amanda jumped up on the windowsill and looked down at the sleeping detective with worry still in her eyes.

After a moment of the three of them quietly observing their unconscious friend, the silence was broken by a sudden burst of laughter from Farah.

This startled Todd and Amanda into turning their attention from Dirk to Farah.

Farah’s laughter died down as quickly as it had started. “I’m so sorry. I was just like… So scared and I don’t handle these kind of feelings well.” She explained, horrified at her own reaction.

Amanda scoffed. “Well, that makes, what, one, two… Oh yeah, three of us.” She replied.

Now it was Todd’s turn to laugh. Amanda turned to stare at her brother with wide eyes.

“Oh god,” Todd said, still laughing, “We are literally the three worst people to have to deal with something as serious as this!” He exclaimed.

Amanda and Farah looked at each other and soon enough they joined Todd in inappropriately laughing until their eyes filled with tears.

“This is the worst!” Amanda cried.

“Goddamn it, Dirk.” Todd laughed.

“What did I do now?” Suddenly came a fourth voice.

All laughter stopped immediately.

“Dirk!?” Todd exclaimed and jumped up from his chair to lean over the now conscious detective.

“That’s me.” Came Dirk’s soft reply.

“Oh thank fuck.” Amanda sighed and jumped down from the windowsill. Farah made her way to stand next to her on the other side of Dirk’s bed, across from where Todd was standing.

“Welcome back.” Farah said and smiled down at Dirk.

“You look like shit.” Amanda said. Farah elbowed her in the ribs.

“Good to see you too, Amanda.” Dirk laughed and then grimaced in pain. “Ouch.” He added.

“Yeah, be careful, Dirk, you got quite the stab wound there.” Todd said softly.

“I do?” Dirk furrowed his brows before realization seeped in. “Oh, I do. I got stabbed. By a ninja with a sword!” He exclaimed.

“Yeah, you sure did.” Amanda confirmed.

Dirk turned to look at Todd. “Is that my blood?” He asked, gesturing at Todd’s slowly drying bloody outfit.

“No, I held two people who were bleeding out in my arms today.” Todd deadpanned.

“Really?” Dirk asked.

“No, not really, Dirk, jesus christ!” Todd groaned.

“Oh. Well, stranger things have happened, I suppose.” Dirk shrugged and then winced.

“Stop moving so much, Dirk, you just got out of surgery. I’m too exhausted to watch you go through any more emergency medical operations today.” Todd said, feigning annoyance, but he reached out to softly brush a lock of stray hair out of Dirk’s eyes with great care.

Amanda cleared her throat. “Hey, Farah, you wanna come with me to grab some coffee for us?” She asked.

Farah’s brows furrowed. “But I said before that I-“

“Yeah, I can’t carry three cups by myself and Todd should stay here. With Dirk. So they can catch up. Together.” Amanda said, giving Farah a pointed look.

Farah caught on. “Oh. Yes. Let’s get… Coffee.” She said as Amanda was basically already dragging her out the door.

“Good to see you awake, Dirk. We’ll see you in a minute!” Amanda yelled halfway through the door and into the hallway.

Todd sighed. “Well, that was subtle.” He said.

Dirk smiled. “And you say I can’t lie to save my life.”

Todd laughed. Then his expression turned serious again.

“You scared the shit out of me, Dirk.” He said quietly.

“I’m sorry.” Dirk replied, matching Todd’s volume.

“No, like, seriously. When I realized you genuinely thought you were going to die, it was like… I don’t know. It wasn’t like anything else, it was… The worst feeling ever.” Todd explained.

“But I’m not dead, Todd.” Dirk reassured him. “I’m fine.”

Todd scoffed. “You are so not fine, Dirk.”

Dirk smiled. “Alright, so I am a little banged up, but I will be fine. Thanks to you.” He said.

“Thanks to your surgeon.” Todd countered.

“Yes.” Dirk agreed. “And you.”

Todd sighed and took Dirk’s clammy hand in his. “I know there’s no point in even asking for this but… Please don’t do that again?” He said.

Dirk was quiet for a moment. “I promise to try not to.”

“That’ll have to be good enough, I guess.” Todd replied.

After a moment of comfortable silence, Todd spoke again.

“What were you thanking me for?” He asked.

“What?” Dirk replied.

“Back there, when you were… What did you mean by ‘thank you?’” Todd elaborated.

Dirk gathered his thoughts for a moment. “All I wanted as a child was for someone to spend time with. Solve mysteries with. Someone to care about, who would care about me too. I never had that. Until you.” He replied matter-of-factly. “And I thought I would never have that. Certainly not with someone like you. I am very grateful for you. I suppose I wanted to make sure you knew that, in case I didn’t get another chance to tell you.”

For perhaps the 15th time that day, Todd felt tears stinging in his eyes. He had no idea what to say to that.

“Well, I’m not that great but… If I could give you that then… Well, then that’s the best thing I’ve done with my pathetic life.” He finally said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head with his free hand.

Dirk smiled. “We have to work on your self-deprecating expressions, Todd.” He said.

Todd laughed. “Yeah, okay.” He was just glad that Dirk was still there to make him cry with his genuine expressions of affection one moment and give him shit the next.

Dirk was still smiling much brighter than someone in a hospital bed with a stab wound should be, and Todd couldn’t help but smile back. He leaned down to softly touch his lips to Dirk’s sweaty forehead.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” He mumbles against Dirk’s skin, burying his nose in Dirk’s hair.

Dirk closed his eyes at the feeling and sighed contently. “Me too.” He said.

“Aw crap, you’re having a moment.” Said Amanda from the doorway.

Todd and Dirk turned to look at Amanda just in time to see Farah kick Amanda’s boot with hers and hiss “Amanda!”

“What?” Amanda asked her.

Todd just rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah just give me my coffee, asshole.” He said.

Amanda gave Todd one of the cups she was holding. “Careful, coffee breath is bad for kissing.” She remarked.

Todd have her a threatening look but couldn’t help a slight blush forming on his cheeks. “I will literally kick your ass.” He said.

“I’d like to see you try.” Amanda countered.

“Good to be back, eh, Dirk?” Farah laughed awkwardly and placed a hand on Dirk’s shoulder.

Dirk just grinned at the room full of his friends. “Yes, yes it is.”

~

if you have any ideas for fics, send me prompts! my inbox is always open!

I didn’t know I needed this until I saw it. thank you.

this is just a short little drabble because I wanted to post something (it’s been a while, I’m sorry) & a little lighter than usual.

~

Todd loved seeing his sister laugh. There had been a time where he worried he’d never see her truly happy and relaxed. Then there had been a time where he worried she wouldn’t let him close enough to see her newfound confidence. Things were finally looking up.Even if she was laughing at Todd’s expense. It felt good to see her laugh and enjoy her time with him, after everything they’d been through.“I’m glad you came, sis.” Todd said out of the blue.“Me too. Bro.” Amanda replied and punched Todd on the arm, brushing off the weight of the exchange.Suddenly a loud rumble of an engine came from outside Todd’s apartment.“That your ride?” Todd asked, already knowing the answer.“That’d be the boys, yeah.” Amanda laughed in response and grabbed her bag from the floor.“I’ll walk you out.” Todd said and lead his sister to the door.“I need to locate Dirk. I’ve left him alone for an hour, who knows what he’s gotten into in that time.” Todd said as they made their way down and out the main entrance.“Oh, he’s with the Rowdies.” Amanda replied.Todd stilled on the steps leading up to his apartment building.“He is?” He asked. Amanda nodded. “Yeah. Vogel said something about an open seat in the van and Dirk looked like he shat himself but jumped in anyway.” She explained.Todd sighed. “Why does that not reassure me?”Amanda let out a loud laugh.The door to the Rowdy van flew open right in front of the Ridgley.“Drummer!” Vogel’s voice came immediately.“Yo.” Amanda responded, throwing her back at Vogel, which he caught easily & threw it into the van.Todd scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Hey. Have you guys seen-““Stop moving!” Came Gripps’ voice, interrupting what Todd was about to ask.“We were just driving and, no offense to you, Martin, the driver is exceptionally reckless. How am I moving any more now than the car just was?” Came Dirk’s matter-of-fact voice from inside the van.Todd furrowed his brows and stepped closer to the van. Cross gave him a stern look, no doubt still holding a grudge for Todd for hurting ‘Drummer’ as they called Amanda. Todd swallowed uncomfortably. Eventually Cross moved over enough to let Todd see into the van, the borderline murderous look never leaving his face.At the furthest corner of the van sat Dirk, with his hands on Gripps’ lap. At first, Todd couldn’t make any sense of what they were doing. Then, Dirk lifted his left hand to his face to get a better look at his nails with a huge grin on his face.Gripps was painting Dirk’s nails.“Driving ain’t annoying. Your fidgeting is.” Gripps mumbled.Todd had never seen the punk rock vampire as focused as he was while applying the nail polish on Dirk’s fingernails. Dirk was smiling like the sun, which wasn’t unusual, but he did seem to be very excited about his fashion choice.“Dirk?” Todd asked, his voice giving away his amusement.Dirk turned quickly to the direction of Todd’s voice.“Todd!” He exclaimed.“Stop fidgeting, fidgety man!” Gripps groaned in frustration.“Oops, pardon me!” Dirk said and turned his attention back to the man doing his nails.“Got into any trouble while I hung out with Amanda?” Todd asked playfully.“Oh, no, we had pleasant and calm time. Well, not pleasant at first. And not actually very calm, at all, quite un-calm, but no trouble. All good.” Dirk replied in a Dirk-like ramble.“Done!” Gripps announced while raising his arms over his head victoriously.“Oh fantastic! Well done, Gripps!” Dirk exclaimed and examined his nails once again. “You have a talent!” Dirk praised.Gripps grinned and pretended to wipe some non-existent dust off his shoulder.Dirk quickly patted Gripps on said shoulder, careful not to mess up his freshly painted nails, and jumped out of the van.“Hey Dirk!” Amanda exclaimed and wrapped Dirk in a hug.“Watch the paint!” Dirk squealed and then carefully wrapped his arms across Amanda’s back. “Hello Amanda. Had a nice time, did you?”Amanda smiled. “Sure did. Good to see you. We need to spend more time together next time I’m in town, ‘kay?” She asked.Dirk gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up.Amanda climbed into the van and fist-pumped each and every one of the Rowdies. Then the engine revved again and they all waved at Dirk and Todd, except Amanda who flipped them off.The van could be heard even after they disappeared from view. Dirk kept waving as long as he heard the noise because of course he did.“Lemme see.” Todd said, crabbing Dirk’s hand as Dirk carried out his final waves.Dirk gave him a confused look until he saw Todd turn his hand over to look at his nails.“Oh, right. It was just something silly that Gripps wanted to do. He likes it. He’s quite good at it. So, I thought: hey, why not?” Dirk explained.Todd couldn’t help but smile at the bright yellow nail polish Dirk had already managed to smudge in some places.“I like it.” Todd said.“You do?” Dirk asked.“Yeah. It suits you.” Todd said and turned around to walk back into the building.He could hear Dirk happily skipping behind him.

~

if you have any ideas for fics, send me prompts! I’d be happy to write them. my inbox is open! xx

thank you so much! that means a lot to me! xx this is a quick, silly drabble to give you guys a break from my usual angst(also this basically has to ignore the last episode bc their reunion was quite different than we expected tho probably exactly what we should have)

~

Dirk ran fast, flailing his arms as he went and trying his best not to trip on anything on the forest floor. He glanced behind him to see if The Beast was following him, but so far it seemed like he’d be able to outrun her.His sprint came to a sudden stop when he collided with something in front of him and fell on his arse.“Ouch!” He screeched and looked up to see what he’d ran into.“Son of a-“Or who he’d ran into.“Todd!?” Dirk squealed, recognizing the grumpy voice.“Dirk!?” Todd responded.Quickly they both got up and grinned at each other. Dirk’s hands immediately placed themselves on Todd’s shoulders in excitement, to which Todd responded by grabbing a hold of Dirk’s biceps.“Oh I’m glad I ran into you, though the literal running into each other could have been avoided, nonetheless, most importantly, I solved the case!” Dirk screamed and did a little victory dance.Todd looked puzzled. “Wait, you said you quit being a detective like, an hour ago, and now you’ve solved the case?” He asked.“Yes!” Dirk replied.Todd laughed. “Of course you have.”“No time to waste, Todd, we have work to do!” Dirk exclaimed and patted Todd on the shoulder.“Wait, slow down, how did you solve the case? What happened? Who’s the boy? How do we get out of Wendimoor? Do you know where Amanda is? And… What the hell happened to your hair?” Todd asks in one exhale and then furrows his brows while turning his attention to Dirk’s unusually styled hair.“Oh, yes, that-““Bibbit rude!” Came a gruff but feminine voice from behind Dirk. Dirk jumped. Todd screamed, reaching for the weapon at his belt.“No, no! Todd! She’s harmless! Well, not harmless per say, she did tie me up and hold me hostage, however, she doesn’t want to hurt us. Or me at least, I’m not sure where she stands with you.” Dirk rambled.Todd blinked a few times. “Huh?”“Bibbit my boyfreen!” The Beast said and hugged Dirk’s leg with her whole body.“You- I am so lost right now.” Todd deadpanned.Dirk shrugged. “It appears that she has grown quite attached to me. Again, rather literally. Anyway, the case-““Are we really just gonna ignore the creature currently hanging onto your leg?” Todd asked.Dirk looked down at The Beast and then back at Todd. “Yes?”Todd sighed. “Fine. So?”Dirk grinned again. “So! To answer your questions: from clues, while being stuck in that cave of a throne room, Moloch, no idea whatsoever, unfortunately no and what’s wrong with my hair?”Todd took a minute to go over his questions and matching them with Dirk’s answers. He didn’t know where to start, so naturally he looked back up at Dirk’s hair.“It’s… A mess, frankly.” Todd snorted.Dirk furrowed his brows. “Oh.”Todd laughed fondly. “Here, let me.” He said as he reached up to sort out Dirk’s hair, only to find his hand aggressively pushed away at the last second.“MA BOYFREEN!” The Beast screamed.“What the hell!” Todd replied.“Now, now, darling, things are a bit different outside of that cave… Thing.” Dirk explained softly to The Beast.The Beast frowned. “Bibbit my boyfreen.”Dirk stared at her for a moment. “Right. However, I’m not just Bibbit anymore. I’m also Dirk. A non-lumberjack detective. And Todd is my friend.” Dirk gestures towards Todd as he tried to reason with The Beast and all Todd could do was roll his eyes.“Toad Bibbit’s boyfreen?” The Beast asked, visibly confused.Todd’s eyes widened.For once, Dirk seemed at loss for words. After a moment of consideration, however, The Beast however didn’t seem to need an answer.“Bibbit’s boyfreen ok.” The Beast said excitedly and poked Todd in the shin.Todd turned to stare at Dirk.Dirk let out an awkward laugh. “I believe her definition of ‘boyfriend’ might just mean, you know, a friend who’s a boy.” He reasoned.“Right.” Todd replied.“Bibbit still ma boyfreen. Toad no steal. No seefish.” The Beast said and gave Todd a threatening glare. Todd had no idea what would be the best course of action.“Alright, well, we should get moving! We’re on a case!” Dirk exclaimed and nudged The Beast to start walking, well, her way of walking.“Wait.” Todd said and Dirk stilled.Todd walked up to Dirk, quickly glanced at The Beast who was still walking in front of them and then reached up to touch Dirk’s hair. He brushed the messy fringe back into its place and smoothed the shorter hairs down. Not that he would ever admit it, but he might have ended up just petting Dirk’s head and running his fingers through the longer parts once he’d already fixed his hair.Slowly Todd drew his hands back, trying to fight the blush forming on his face.“Thank you, Todd.” Dirk said quietly. He seemed to be blushing slightly too.“Yeah. Sure.” Todd mumbled.Neither of them thought to start walking again, they just stood there, as if challenging each other in a weirdly fond staring contest.“Bibbit and boyfreen slow!” The Beast groaned from a few feet away, breaking their eye contact.Dirk definitely blushed now. “We should-““Yeah.” Todd said.They started walking. Soon, Todd spoke up again.“You think we could get her to stop calling me your boyfriend before we find my sister? Cause we’ll never hear the end of that.”

~

if you have any fic ideas, please send me prompts! I’d love to write them. my inbox is open! x

I’m all for kid!dirk angst.

and boy did this turn out to be angst.

~

Svlad’s throat was sore from screaming.He didn’t know how long they’d been driving, how long he’d been stuffed in the back of this van, but it felt like forever. He started to feel like the van would never stop.A voice came through the wall between him and the driver’s seat.“Seriously, kid, shut up! No one but us can hear you and it’s getting real annoying.” Said one of the guys that had dragged Svlad into the van.He did not stop screaming. He screamed for his mum, he screamed for help, he screamed for God to help him. But nothing happened. The van kept going in a steady pace, taking Svlad further and further away from everything he knew.The van had stopped for periods of time, took weird turns, gone up weird ramps and Svlad kept waiting for him to be let out.Eventually, he wasn’t able to scream anymore. No voice would come out when he tried. His throat hurt and his face was swollen from tears.What did he do to deserve this? It wasn’t his fault he was different from other people? He never asked for it? He tried to be normal, he did. He’d promised to be good, he promised his mum he would be good. He wasn’t given the chance.Svlad didn’t know how much time had passed, but by the time the van came to its final stop, his stomach hurt from hunger and he felt incredibly tired, like all energy had been drained from him.The door to the van opened suddenly and the light hurt Svlad’s eyes.A man with cold eyes and an evil smile stood before Svlad.“Welcome home, Project Icarus.” He said.“What?” Svlad croaked.“This is Blackwing. This is where kids like you belong.” The man said and leaned in to the van to grab Svlad by the arm.“Where’s my mum?” Svlad asked, trying to lean away from the man’s touch but the man was strong. He forced Svlad out of the van.“You don’t have to think about her anymore. She sure won’t be thinking about you.” The man replied and started dragging Svlad towards a grey building. Svlad tried to take in his surroundings in case he could get away from the man. he felt like a heavy rock was placed on his heart when he realized he wasn’t in England anymore. “Wh-what?” Svlad asked.“Your mother told us to take you here. She didn’t want you around. Why would she? This is your home now.” The man said and punched a bunch of numbers into a machine and the doors to the building opened with a loud ringing noise.“She-““She’s not your mother. Not anymore. This is your new life.” The man said and gestured around the facility they had entered. There were a lot of grey walls, long hallways and weird, too artificial smells. The hallway was cold. Men in white coats watched through a window as the man dragged Svlad further down the hall.“W-why?” Svlad asked, fresh tears forming in his eyes. His arm had started to hurt from the way the man was gripping it.“Because you’re not normal. You cause trouble for normal people. You belong here, where we can keep an eye on you.” The man replied.“I won’t cause trouble, I promise, I-““Yes, yes you will. You’re dangerous, Svlad. It’s not fair for other people. With you here, normal people are safe.” The man interrupted.Svlad let out a sob. He’d heard that he was different his whole life, but dangerous? Was he really? Was his mum scared of him? Is that why she let those men take him away? Is that why she didn’t love him anymore?The man stopped in front of a door with a weird symbol on it. It was a big diamond shape with a smaller circle inside it and a horizontal line across it.“This is your room.” The man said and pushed Svlad in.The room was dark and cold. It smelled like chemicals. There was a small bed, a cabinet and a table with a single chair. And nothing else.“You might wanna sleep. Tomorrow’s a big day.” The man said and turned to leave.“Why? What’s tomorrow?” Svlad asked in a shaky voice.The man smiled in a way that made Svald’s stomach turn. “Your first experiment.”“My what?” Svlad whispered.“You’re different. We want to figure you out.” The man said then his expression turned more threatening than any Svlad had seen before. “And I do suggest you help us to. You don’t want to know what happens if you don’t cooperate.”Svlad whimpered. He felt hot tears make their way down his face again. He was afraid of many things; the dark, spiders, monsters under the bed… But he had never been afraid of anything as much as he was of this man.“Please, just let me go, I promise I’ll be good.” Svlad begged.“I can’t do that, Svlad. You’re a monster. This way people are safe and you can be useful. We can make you useful. This is the only way.” The man replied. “And stop crying. It’s annoying.” He added.Svlad tried his best to make the tears stop. He held his breath, trying to control the sobs. He was shaking. This couldn’t be happening.“Why are you doing this? Who are you?” He whispered.The man smiled again. “You can call me The Priest.” He said and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving Svlad alone in the cold, dark room.And during the next decade or so, in that cold, dark room little Svlad would disappear and Project Icarus would take his place.

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