The Obligatory Egos Swap AU - Jacksepticeye Egos

Pure of Heart, Dark of Mind - Part 1

Ace shivered in the autumn night air, staring at his phone and the notice saying he'd just missed the last train from the station. He'd tried to get there early, but with no luck; the taxi had taken so long, followed by the process of getting the ticket with the last bit of money he had, and now he was left with a train ticket that was of no use to him, a closed station that he couldn't even use for warmth while he figured out what to do, and no leftover money.

He cursed his luck, his body sparking with magical electricity fuelled by his anxiety and anger. He tried to calm it down, but it only worsened until a light blew out above him and he began to walk away. Maybe the cold air would help, actually.

As soon as he turned to leave the station, a car started pulling into the lot, headlights beaming Ace right in the eyes so he had to stop and shield himself. The light worked to hide his sparks from prying eyes that may have been inside the car, but then they turned off and a man stepped out. Ace moved to continue walking away from the station, but the man called out to him. "Excuse me, sir? It's kind of late to be here, is everything okay?"

Ace nodded, backing up and hoping the man wouldn't come any closer or be too observant. "I'm fine. Just missed my train. Listen, I've got to go."

The man began to approach, not seeming to get the hint. "Well, where are you going? Maybe I can drop you off?" The closer he got the more Ace wanted to run. The man was smiling widely, his deep blue eyes looking deeper and crazed in the nighttime shadows.

"No, no, it's all right. My shelter isn't far from here."

Run, run, run, run, run-

"Sir, it's cold, I insist you get in the car." He was talking through his teeth now, accented voice straining to stay calm. "Now."

RUN.

Ace gave in as his legs pulled him toward the small, silver car. He was tired and cold and he didn't even notice he'd stopped sparking until he was sitting in the warm vehicle, his bags tucked in the back seat along with a bunch of junk the driver had back there. He was forced to buckle in as he gave directions to the nearest shelter that he knew wouldn't even take him, especially this late at night, but had been the only scapegoat he could think of to get away from this man.

Then they were passing the street and Ace realised his worst fear about listening to this man was coming true. He bit his tongue, knife sharp teeth cutting into the muscle and making it bleed almost immediately. It was all he could do to distract himself from talking to the man any further.

Vaguely, he wondered what this man was going to do to him. Was he just going to kidnap him and kill him within a few hours? Or had he seen his magic—almost like a nervous tic for most of his life—in action and was wanting to dissect and do experiments on him?

"I noticed your accent," the man said a while later. "You're from Ireland?" Ace turned his head to him slightly, swallowing a trickle of blood on his tongue. "Just wondering because I have another friend from there. Jackie McLoughlin. He lives here now in training to be a doctor. I was also, but shit happens and now I'm- well, I don't really know what I'm doing."

Something told Ace that his kidnapper being even partially trained as a doctor was bad news, and his imagination began to run wild. He started biting on his nails.

"Not much for talking, are you? Well, that makes two of us, usually, but I'm feeling friendly today. I suppose you don't mind since you're not exactly actively trying to block me out. The company is nice, isn't it? Which means you're alone most of the time." Ace blinked. "Don't let your thoughts eat at you, I'm not going to kill you."

"You're not?" Against Ace's better judgement, the words slipped out without a second thought. The doctor only laughed.

"Of course not. If there's one thing I learned in my time studying it's the interesting nature of the human body. How it can handle so much but so little at the same time. Don't think you were subtle at the train station, I saw how you blew out that light before I even got onto the right road. How your body does that is beyond me, and though it's not my main concern it will be something to study eventually."

Ace let a tear slip loose as they continued driving down the dark road.