《Fragile》SCP-049 x Injured!Reader

《Chapter Six》

With a dejected sigh, you set aside yet another manilla folder filled completely with useless information: boring technical stuff and the like. Your hopes of finding something, anything, to help you and your classmates escape this facility were beginning to fade... that is, until your hand brushed over certain file that made you audibly gasp. In bold black text read "SCP-106" but the thing that made your heart leap up into your throat was the photograph attached to the front with a paperclip.

It was the creature you saw in your English class.

Opening the file, you noticed a several-paged document stapled together that you began to skim through with curious eyes, hungry for any information on the thing that got you all into this mess in the first place. You learned, after flipping through the report, that the strange "elderly humanoid" entity has the ability to corrode solid objects in order to pass through them. At that, you felt a shiver rush down your back at the memory of him staring at you halfway-emerged from the wall of your classroom portable. He also sometimes disappears into something the report called a "pocket dimension." All this information bombarding your brain at once made your mind swirl. Closing the folder, you shoved it back into the filing cabinet and continued your search, hoping maybe to find a file on SCP-049.

A little more information about him can't hurt, right? For safety reasons, of course. Not personal interest or anything like that...

However, your diligent hunt for answers turned out to be fruitless, much to your disappointment. You were anticipating that the scientists here had gathered a lot of background on him, but there was nothing in any of the cabinets that correlated to SCP-049. Now that you're thinking of it, though, you wonder what the researchers here did to him while they kept him trapped in that cell. You remembered there being a surgery table in the middle of the room and you shivered at the thought of SCP-049 being cruelly experimented on by scientists.

From your first-hand experience with one of those aforementioned scientists, you could logically assume that he was not treated the best. A saddened frown made its way to your face. Considering the fact that you, a crippled and injured girl, had been carelessly thrown into the cell of a bird-masked man with a deadly touch, you came to the conclusion that everything here is purely for the benefit of the scientists with little regard to the wellbeing of those being held here.

Or the wellbeing of innocent bystanders, apparently, you thought bitterly.

You were just about to call it quits when another familiar picture came into view: the "komodo dragon," as deemed by Caleb, but SCP-682 seemed to be its proper name. When you opened the folder, to your surprise, the report on the creature seemed to be missing. Instead, in its place was a handful of pictures of SCP-682 and a laminated keycard. The pictures were all labeled on the back, however all the dates written on them had been blacked out in ink. The keycard was orange, with "SCP" printed in bold and "LEVEL 4 ACCESS" underneath it. It looked important enough to you, so you decided to shove it into your skirt pocket. It was just then that you realised you didn't have your phone; the red-haired scientist must've taken it. You rolled your eyes in annoyance, but it's not like there's anything you can do about it now. You highly doubt you would've been able to call for help, anyway.

Closing the cabinet drawers, you straightened up, your back sore after having been hunched over for so long. All in all, your search didn't really help much, but that keycard might come handy in the future. At least, that's what you told yourself.

The small room has been almost completely silent ever since SCP-049 had answered questions. Some of your classmates had the same idea as you and were rifling through the drawers of the desk, whispering quietly to each other, while most of them had fallen asleep, exhausted and drained from this whole ordeal. While you very much wanted to rest too, you knew that you wouldn't be any help passed out on the ground. You turned to see SCP-049's back to you, his hands clasped tightly behind him. He was staring closely out the one-way window, the white beak of his bird-mask almost pressed up against it.

For a long moment you stared, too, watching the way his shoulders rose rhythmically with his breaths. You had many questions about him; ones you were too unsure of to ask before. They all played in a loop in your mind, fogging your thoughts, as your eyes remained glued to his stoically-standing figure.

Almost spacing-out, you hadn't expected SCP-049 to turn around so sharply, so his sudden movement made you violently flinch. He seemed panicked, and you weren't the only one to notice. Ellie, who had been helping look through desk drawers, started to ask something, but SCP-049 quickly hushed her. The entire room's atmosphere grew uncomfortably heavy, almost tangible.

What's got him so anxious? you wondered, equal amounts concerned and terrified. Then, you heard it, a loud, echoing noise that sounded like scraping stones. In a normal context, the sound would be anything but alarming, but here and now, it just about froze the blood in your veins.

"Quickly," SCP-049 barked, motioning for the others to wake up anyone sleeping. "We need to leave this room immediately. It is no longer safe."

He made his way over to you by the filing cabinets in two long strides. Looking up at him with eyes blown wide, he gently gripped your forearm in his gloved hand and pulled you along with him. Exiting the room we had been cramped in, your classmates close behind you, the scraping grew louder, whatever-it-was' movements becoming more frantic. SCP-049 took the lead, walking in a swift pace, his grip supporting your injured knee as he kept you pressed tightly against his side.

You began to tremble. You couldn't quite tell if it was because of another dangerous creature chasing you and your classmates, the uncomfortable feeling in your knee at moving so quickly, the embarrassingly close proximity to SCP-049, or all three at once. After the group rounded the corner of the hallway, the masked man turned his head to address your classmates, never once slowing down.

"Stay near to me and, if you have any regard for your safety and the safety of your schoolmates, listen closely to what I have to say..."