Chapter Text
The fireworks were always calming. Theta sent small rushes of endorphins whenever those lights went up into his field of vision. Something about it reminded him of home, reminded him of that simpler time before all of Project Freelancer took their lives away, reminded him of not having to run to be able to survive, reminded him that no matter what life threw at him now, there was always a small shred of happiness left in the world.
North struggled to get up, holding to his side where the blade of the brute shot had sliced through his body suit, tearing it like paper, exposing his ribs. He struggled to breathe, not knowing that one of his lungs was collapsing as he pulled himself to his feet. At such close range, his sniper rifle was useless, serving better as a means of pulling himself up than a weapon.
“Maine, why are you doing this?” North choked out, flecks of blood dotting his visor. He brought his hands up to wipe them away, swallowing hard at the metallic taste in his mouth he desperately tried to ignore before now.
“Agent North, you know very well why this is happening.” North could swear he could hear Sigma sneer, but AI weren’t capable of that, were they? “Theta is one of ours. You can’t keep him away.” North’s lip curled in a growl at the idea of Theta going anywhere. Theta was part of him, and he wasn’t going to give him up without a fight.
“Theta,” North ground out, standing as tall as he could with the pain in his side, his vision blurred, “isn’t going anywhere.” Where is South? She was right there. She should be helping me fight him off. Why is he having to fight him off in the first place? It didn’t help that Theta could hear every word, feel every stab, experience every bullet that ripped through North’s flesh.
“North, what are we going to do? Your healing unit is failing and I can’t fix it all,” Theta sobbed, breaking North’s concentration, “I can’t lose you! I can’t not when we’re so close to being out of this.” Theta’s voice continued to break, curling up in on himself.
“Theta, buddy,” North assured him, weeding the pain out of his voice, “South is nearby. She’s going to help. I’m going to be fine.” He knew Theta could read his thoughts. Theta could tells from the HUD that North was dying. His armor’s shield had already popped and his health bar was diminishing fast.
“You know she ran!” Theta yelled, voice cracking horribly through sobs, “you know she left and she’s not going to come back until you’re dead! You may have cared for her, tried to protect her, but she was always looking out for her. Even if you know I would never think it, maybe you’ll listen when I say your thoughts out loud.”
“Theta, I…” North coughed, flecking more blood onto his visor. Theta activated the bubble shield, calculating that he had a little more time left.
“Quiet North, you’ll mess me up.” Theta set the shield, retreated back into the recesses of North’s consciousness. Even if he couldn’t see him, he could feel the familiar twinge of his presence at the corners of his mind, dulling the pain that ate away at him as he bled out.
Maine’s footsteps got closer again, circling around for that last blow, to take the kill and claim the fragment as his own. North could hear the Earth move under Maine’s boots as the blood pounded in his ears, one of those last familiar noises.
“Well, Theta, just like I told you, to have a good offense, you have to have a good defense. I got sloppy. I’m sorry kiddo. Stay safe.” North made his last stand despite Theta’s protests, screaming at him there had to be another way for all of this to work. North’s efforts were in vain, collapsing under the blow from the blade of the brute shot and crumpling to the ground. He groaned in protest, thinking he could get back up, thinking he could still fight, thinking he could still make it out of this.
“North! You were supposed to be here for me! For South! Why would you just give up on us like this?!” If Theta was human, North could swear he could hear the sniffles of a child whose tears he had dried time and time again. “Why would you leave me here? You said you wouldn’t leave me!” North could swear he could feel Theta’s tiny fists beating against his chest after he fell to the ground. North could swear he could see those fireworks, just like Theta had done that first time.
“Thanks. I worked super hard on it.”