Work Text:
“You’ve gone too far, Armand,” Louis hissed as he turned from the laboratory, slamming the door behind him.
Armand laughed, a quiet huff slipping from his lips, as his shoulders began to shake. Gone too far? That was impossible. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for this to work. He needed this to work.
Tearing his soiled gloves from his hands, he threw them to the floor, letting them land on the dirt-covered floor. Normally, his lab was immaculate, but not now. Old mud stained the stone floor, cobwebs clung to every wall, and old glasses of wine were left untouched on any surface they could be left on. He hadn’t seen the sunlight in days, but none of that mattered. He would live the rest of his life in the worst filth without seeing a single shine of the sunlight, so long as this worked.
Louis could hold onto his false sense of righteousness. Armand knew that all it meant was that he would never have the courage to do what he had done.
Grabbing his apron from the chair, Armand dressed quickly before slipping on the large rubber gloves and pulling his work goggles over his eyes. Armand crossed the room quickly before his steps slowed to a hesitant shuffle as he approached the table. He stared at what lay waiting for him and tried to ignore the tightness around his heart at the sight of it.
Even in death, his beloved was the most beautiful creature Armand had ever seen.
Daniel’s body lay motionless against the cold metal beneath him. His skin had begun to discolour, growing paler and strangely blue, and his hair and nails appeared longer as the natural dehydration process worked through his body. But it was his eyes that still hurt Armand to this day. They were empty, devoid of any emotion or light, when in life, Daniel’s eyes had burned with an untameable passion. It was wrong to see them like this – to see him like this.
Which is why Armand had to fix it.
He had spent nearly every day since Daniel’s death working towards a solution, and he had finally done it. He was certain that this would work. He had to be. If it all went wrong…if he had messed even the slightest thing up…
Armand leaned forward and brushed Daniel’s hair away from his face. He kissed his forehead gently and, for the first time in years, he prayed.
Please. Please give him back to me, he thought. I cannot live in this world if he is not beside me.
Armand stepped back and walked to the control centre. He began turning the first dials, the hum of electricity building in the air, before he activated the crank. With a jarring clunk, Daniel descended into the small pool of water. Now that enough of his body was submerged, all Armand needed to do was pull the switch and activate the electrical outlets.
Armand placed his hand on the switch, preparing to pull it down, to light the charge that would bring his boy back to him.
You’ve gone too far.
The words echo through his mind. Louis was like an insistent little pest whispering in his ear. Constantly going on about right and wrong, and what would happen to those who made the wrong choice. But he could never understand. Not really. He still had his love, his child, everything he wanted was just a few footsteps away. Armand had nothing, no one to hold him at night, to listen to his dreams and worries. He couldn’t go on without Daniel. He needed him.
Armand held tightly to the switch and forced it down; the tough metal rusted and stiff. Sparks jumped from the machine as the buzz of electricity built in the air. Armand turned as the low levels of water bubbled and swayed from the sudden burst of electricity that ran through the water. Sparks and bursts of white light illuminated the room as Armand held his arms up over his covered eyes. Smoke rose from the machines as the body – as Daniel moved in the water, his body jolting and twitching as the current moved through him.
Armand counted the seconds and hoped for a sign. Anything to show that this was working, that it wasn’t all for nothing. That what he had done was right.
The buzz in the air grew louder as the sparks blew bigger and brighter. Armand fumbled with the switch, forcing it up again, only to catch it in the middle. He gritted his teeth and pushed up, straining his muscles until it fell back into place.
Armand leaned against the wall, breathing heavily as he squeezed his eyes closed from behind his goggles. He needed to check, to see if something had worked, but he was too afraid. That was until he heard something moving in the water.
Armand pulled the goggles from his face and opened his eyes. He let them fall to the floor at the sight of the soaking wet man struggling to get to his feet. He was dressed in an old suit. His brown hair appeared longer, but Armand knew that wasn’t true. He knew it had more to do with his body’s dehydration. He knew that only a few moments ago, this man had been dead. Dead to the world. Dead to him. Gone forever, but not anymore.
A shaking hand came to the off-coloured face and wiped over the water clinging to the eyes. The eyes that had been lifeless and cold, heartbreakingly empty.
Armand held his breath as he waited for those eyes to open, and when they did, tears began to fall.
“Daniel,” Armand gasped as he stumbled towards him. “Daniel, my sweet Daniel,” He sobbed as his gloved hands took Daniel’s and helped him out of the chamber. “Speak to me. Say something, my darling, say something,”
Daniel’s body trembled as he looked around the laboratory, his stare disoriented and lost, even when his eyes found Armand’s. He stared blankly at him for a moment before a sharp, sudden realisation came over him.
“Ah –,” He coughed, choking on his own voice after such a long time without any use.
Armand ran his hand down his chest, rubbing it soothingly as he waited for him to try again.
“Ah – Ah –,” Daniel squeezed his eyes closed, and Armand resisted the urge to mourn them. “Armand,” He croaked.
Armand’s heart swelled at the sound of his voice speaking his name again. His shoulders began to shake as he took hold of Daniel’s face and pulled him close, kissing him deeply even as his lips trembled and he fought back the sob that threatened to escape him.
“Armand,” Daniel whispered against his lips. “What have you done?”