Thirty-Seven (bxb)

Chapter Thirteen

At some point in the night, after Danny and Vses fell asleep in each other's arms on the couch, Thirty-Seven made a very rash decision.

Had Thirty-Seven known that his presence was as dangerous as he understood it to be now, he might have made the decision much sooner. He didn't know why he obliviously thought that he had managed to escape permanently, that the scientists would let him leave without consequences. He knew better now, knowing that as long as he was with them, he'd inadvertently put them in danger. With the blanket's warmth wrapped tightly around him, Thirty-Seven cracked open the bedroom window and slipped out, wandering carefully down the fire escape until his feet touched a light snow-covered sidewalk, thousands of flurries flittering down from above. He had seen the snow before when they first met Danny. While he had never been able to say it, Thirty-Seven was more than grateful that the male had taken the two of them in, now more than ever.

The snow was frigid against his exposed feet, and the wind threatened to snatch away his blanket with each gust. Thirty-Seven didn't like the cold. He had no idea where he was going to go or what he was going to do. All he knew was that leaving was the only way he could keep Danny and his savior safe, even if the idea of leaving hurt more than the burning sensation in his toes. Thirty-Seven ambled down the street, sticking close to the safety of the lit storefronts, finding the darkness of the alleys too frightening to dare to venture down them. This world was still unknown to him, with the majority of his knowledge coming from the violence of the numerous televised news platforms, which didn't offer the world in a very glamorous way. Thirty-Seven was terrified, but he pushed forward for their sake.

He didn't care what happened to himself. If getting reclaimed by the scientists meant that his savior and Danny would be safe, then so be it. But, on the other hand, Thirty-Seven didn't want to go back to living, if you could even call it that, within the confines of a cell. He had no intention of returning to the laboratory, at least not without putting up a fight. Whenever he thought about being forced back into that horrible place, Thirty-Seven pondered if dying would be a better alternative. He didn't want to think about it like that, not when he had just been introduced to the potential glories of life. He wanted to experience everything, to explore the world, the vastness of everything.

Thirty-Seven discovered rather quickly just how much humans took the world for granted. Of course, he understood why; they had never been forcefully raised within a cell underground, unable to see beyond four white walls, oblivious to the world above. If they had, they would be more grateful for the world around them, for the lives they deemed mediocre. But, even now, with how painful the snow was beneath his feet, Thirty-Seven was amazed by the way it felt, by the way something so delicate could formulate in the sky and join together on the ground, how the organisms on the planet worked together to create a unique exosystem that relied on each other for survival. Everything was new and intriguing; Thirty-Seven wanted to absorb everything he could, learn to speak and communicate, write and paint; he wanted to do it all; he just hoped he would have the chance to experience it all himself.

He wanted to see a waterfall, touch sand, observe fireworks, taste cotton candy, and see all that and more. Didn't he deserve at least that much?

"I . . . " Thirty-Seven tried to verbalize the thought. For some reason, humans seemed to value communication and harbor significance within their words. He knew Danny had wanted him to talk, and Thirty-Seven had wanted to talk back, honest. To tell Danny how thankful he was that he took them in, provided them with shelter and warmth, and taught him everything he had during their short time together. He'd hug his savior and portray as best he could just how grateful he was that he broke him out of the laboratory.

Thirty-Seven would never admit it out loud, but he knew that if he had stayed within that cell for much longer, he would have 'disappeared' as the others had. He would have to be stupid not to comprehend the reason they disappeared and never returned. They were experiments, and once the conclusions had been drawn, they weren't needed anymore. He didn't even want to imagine how long he had had when his savior arrived. And to think he had been mindlessly obliging, there had never been an inkling of rebellion or resistance.

No, things were different now, a lot different. Thirty-Seven had a will to fight, a reason to live, something he didn't have before being saved. He'd get as far away from the laboratory as possible, and while doing so, he'd see the world even though he would have liked to have done so with them.

Thirty-Seven kept walking, enjoying every mildly agonizing step he took because life was too short and uncertain not to appreciate every lingering moment, no matter how painful.

Of course, blocks away, two people were flipping out.

"VSES!" Danny shouted after he discovered an absence of a teenage boy in his bedroom, running away from his open bedroom door and back into the living room where a disfigured Vses shot up from his relaxed position on the couch. "God, HE'S MISSING AGAIN!" Danny could not believe that he would have to go through the same panic, not even twenty-four hours apart.

"What do you mean he's missing again!?" Vses shouted back, pushing past Danny to enter the bedroom, which he promptly destroyed in his rapid search for a not-there teenager. Danny tried not to panic as he searched through the same spaces he did before, but this time, there were no traces of Thirty-Seven. When Danny returned to his bedroom, he found Vses standing before the double windows, staring at the subtle gusts of wind blowing in the snowflakes.

"Oh god, you don't think he was kidnapped, do you?!" Danny began to panic, only Vses shut down the idea quickly.

"There were no signs of a fight, and I would have heard if someone broke in," which is what threw Vses for a loop. Why would Thirty-Seven leave? He had minimal knowledge of the area and was mute, which isn't even considering the weather outside and Thirty-Seven's lack of environmental protection. "We need to hurry."

"You mean he left? By himself?" Danny asked as the two rushed down the hallway and out of the apartment, grabbing some coats and an extra seat of boots beforehand. "But he doesn't know the city or anyone, so why would he leave?"

"I am unsure," Vses was unsure, which worried him. He had no idea where Thirty-Seven was, and he was afraid, but what of, Vses wasn't sure. He wanted to say that he was scared that Thirty-Seven would get captured or hurt, but deep down, a part of him was afraid that he'd never see the hybrid again, and that idea hurt.

Similarly afraid was Danny, only he knew the horrible nature of the city and how cruel people could be, and found himself in a panic wondering where Thirty-Seven could have wandered off to.

"Gosh, kid, please be okay," Danny muttered. 

A/N: Wow, has it been a year already? (insert blush emoji)