(no subject)
Welcome To The World
McFly, PoynterJudd
Part: 4/4
Summary: Dougie’s life, not going smoothly.
Warnings: Language, violence. Crossover, but to tell you here would spoil the story.
A/N: Written for the mcsecretsanta challenge. For my lovely Emily ♥ She wanted AUs, crack, darkfic and adventure. Oh, yeah.
Additionally: Massive thanks to armillarysphere, for letting me bitch at her and for proofing the entire thing. Thank you also to silver_stargate for giving me pats on the head when I needed them, and to everyone who has read this and left me lovely comments :)
part i | part ii | part iii
The basement was dark, rows of free-standing shelves and glass displays lit by oddly-coloured neon. Rows of electronic games and action figures gleamed dully in shiny plastic wrapping, and low tables were set out with small radio-controlled toys, bumping and whirring listlessly. At the back of the floor a pay counter sat, squat and dark, and a young man sat playing on a bleeping Gameboy.
“Excuse me?” Dougie said cautiously, stepping up to the counter. He had to raise himself up on his tiptoes to see the man over the cash register. “Can you tell me where Santa is?”
“Grotto’s on the third floor,” the man grunted.
“No, not that Santa,” Dougie stuck his hand on his hoodie pocket, closing it around the stake hidden there. “The other one.”
The man looked up, and his eyes narrowed. “Slayer.”
Dougie turned to Tom triumphantly. “I told you!”
His triumph was short-lived as the man launched himself over the counter and straight at Dougie, knocking the two of them to the floor and trapping Dougie’s hand with his stake between their bodies. The man’s face had changed, morphed into something animalistic and frightening, too many teeth and rabid and howling. Dougie screamed as he shoved his free hand towards the man’s neck, desperately trying to keep the gnashing teeth away from his face.
“Danny! Danny, use the gun!”
“But it’s filled with water!”
“Exactly! ” Dougie shrieked. “It’s a fucking vampire, Danny!”
The creature screamed as Danny let leash a volley of holy water across it’s back, springing away from Dougie, snarling as he faced the boys.
“Tell me,” Dougie said fiercely. “Where the fuck is Santa?”
The vampire’s eyes flicked towards a door in the corner, marked with a shabby ‘Staff Only’ sign.
“Thanks,” said Dougie, and threw himself at the vampire. The two tumbled back, crashing into a glass display as Dougie brought his hand up and slammed the stake into the vampire’s heart. The creature vanished in a cloud of dust and Dougie fell forward as the body beneath him disappeared.
“Oh fuck,” he whispered, staring at the settling dust. “Oh fuck, oh fuck.”
“Wow,” Danny’s eyes were huge as he stared at Dougie. “This is what you do?”
“Only since about three seconds ago,” Dougie got shakily to his feet and leaned against the ruined display case. “Oh god, I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Hey,” Tom said gently, and Dougie looked up. The older boy nodded at him, looking thoughtful. “Good work.”
“Thanks,” Dougie said, surprised, and the nauseous feeling in his stomach lessened. He straightened up and looked towards the door. “Guess we better go find Harry now.”
The door led not to a break room as they expected, but opened onto a long, dimly-lit tunnel, grey-painted concrete and orange emergency lights, sloping gently downwards into the dark. The walls were damp with condensation and the air was chilly, settling against the boys’ lips and ears like it was alive.
“Great,” Tom said. “We’re in a fucking horror movie.”
“I’ll go first,” Dougie nervously stepped into the tunnel, looking back at his friends.
“Are you sure?” Danny’s fingers were white as he gripped the paintball gun tightly. “What if there’s a loud noise? You might run away.”
“Ha fucking ha,” Dougie glared at him and stomped off a little way down the corridor before turning back. “Are you coming or what? I’m not going down there by myself!”
The boys traipsed down the tunnel, looking around them nervously until they realised that they could see anything coming at them quite clearly and the long walk started to drag on.
“This is a really shit evil lair, you know,” Tom grumbled. “Takes fucking forever to get there. I could do so much better than this.”
“Maybe it’s like the doors in ‘Labyrinth’,” Dougie said. “You know, and we have to step into the walls to find them.” He looked at one of the walls, frowning, before running at it and bouncing right back off to the floor. “Ow. No door.”
“It’s probably, like, tradesman’s entrance or something and the front door is about three miles away,” Danny mused.
“Well, it was your idea to come here,” Dougie snapped, rubbing his bruised nose. “You should have come up with a better place!”
“At least I knew where the place was!”
“Through sheer luck, Danny!”
“Hey!” Tom pointed ahead. “There’s a door!” He looked down at Dougie, sitting by his feet. “And I mean an actual door, not an imaginary one.”
“Wanker.” Dougie scrambled up and moved in front of Tom and Danny, stake in one hand and small dagger in the other. “You guys ready?”
“Not really,” Danny muttered.
Tom nodded. “I need my drummer back. I’m not hiring a damn session drummer for the next album.”
“Okay then,” Dougie put his hand on the round door handle and looked at his friends. “On three, yeah? One… two…”
He flung the door open and the boys burst into the room beyond, stopping and blinking in the sudden light from hundreds of lamps and candles. The place was vast, crossed by suspended walkways that climbed high into the gloom. Water dripped steadily from somewhere above, forming puddles of filthy water on the uneven ground. Several doors led off the main chamber, in the centre of the room was a small dining table, and beside it sat Santa, drinking a cup of tea.
“Dear boy!” He put his cup and saucer down on the table, and Danny shrank back behind the others, shaking. “I was wondering when you would get here!”
“Um, hi,” Dougie waved with his stake. “Erm. Can I have my boyfriend back, please?”
“Oh, certainly not,” Santa frowned. “I didn’t make you come all this way just for you to leave.”
“Seriously,” Dougie said. “Where’s Harry?”
“You’re a very impatient child,” Santa sighed. “Boys! Bring out the whinging one!”
There was the sound of footsteps high above them on one of the walkways, the hollow sound of a heavy door opening and closing, and a faint, familiar voice drifted down at them.
“Look, would you just get your fucking nails away from me? This is a designer shirt, you know. Oh my god, do you even have any idea who am I?!”
He’s alive, thought Dougie, and the sudden knowledge made him feel suddenly weak inside, like water and happiness and love, and his face broke out in a huge smile. “Harry!”
“Dougie?” Harry frowned as he was unceremoniously shoved down the last few stairs of a metal walkway by a group of vampires. “Guys? What are you doing here?”
“We’ve come to rescue you!”
“What, by yourselves?!” Harry stared at them in horror.
“It’s okay,” Danny nodded from behind Tom. “Dougie’s a Slayer!”
“Unless that’s something that comes with a team of policemen and an armed battalion, I’m really not fucking interested.”
“Oh, for once in your life, stop fucking talking,” Dougie growled. “Danny, can you shoot everyone, please?”
“Sure thing, mate,” Danny grinned and pointed the paintball gun at the group of vampires surrounding Harry. Santa looked at him, confused.
“What are you doing there, boy?”
“Payback,” Danny grinned, and let loose a volley of pellets that spattered and soaked the group in holy water. The vampires, screamed, falling back and away from Harry, their skin smoking and burning. Dougie took the opportunity and leapt forward, grabbing Harry by the arm and dragging him back to the safety of their little group. Harry looked at Danny sourly.
“You soaked me, you twat.”
“You’re welcome,” Danny said cheerfully, pumping more rounds at the vampires who backed further and further away. Tom handed Harry the spare machete that he had been carrying as the boys backed slowly towards the door they had come from.
“Here,” Tom said. “Glad to have you back, Harry.”
“Thanks, Fletcher,” Harry nodded. “Why is Dougie in charge when he’s only holding a splinter?”
“Just go with it, okay?”
“Boys, where do you think you’re going?” Santa stepped forward. “You’re not being very nice.”
“Well, neither are you!” Dougie retorted. “Going around kidnapping peoples’ boyfriends! What did you think you were playing at?”
“I’m not about to reveal my secret plans to you!”
“Well,” Dougie thought fast. “You have to! It’s in the ancient Slayer code!”
Santa looked puzzled. “It is?”
“Yeah! Page… thirty two! You either have to tell us, or you have to let us go!”
“What a stupid rule,” Santa sighed. “Well, in that case. I’m an annual being. I sleep for fifty weeks a year, and when I wake up, I get to spend a glorious fortnight feeding on all the little children who have been naughty that year.”
“That’s disgusting,” Dougie made a face.
“That’s who I am,” Santa signalled to the smoking vampires, who started moving cautiously closer, circling the boys. “Always ravenous, always needing to feed. But if I ate you, dear boy, I would never be hungry again. And I would have the power to be awake for the entire year, feeding every night on whoever I wanted. But you’re either always with that damn bodyguard of yours, or out of the blasted country. Two weeks a year really isn’t a long time to work with. So I sent some of my boys over to the Hellmouth to distract the bodyguard and got your little secret boyfriend here with me, and in you toddled to save him. Nice and neat.”
“You,” muttered Harry, “Are a fucking idiot.”
“I thought it was quite a splendid plan myself.”
“Not you,” Harry turned to Dougie. “You! ‘Tell us or let us go’. Well, now he’s told us, you muppet!”
“Oh,” Dougie swallowed. “I didn’t think of that.”
“And now,” Harry looked behind them. “We’re surrounded by vampires. Good plan, Dougie.”
“Fuck.” Dougie said. “Think we better fight them.”
The vampires attacked the boys, screaming and howling and hurling themselves at them. They huddled behind Danny at first as he kept shooting pellets of holy water at the vampires, driving them back and making them stand there, hissing as Danny threatened then with the gun. Dougie started feeling optimistic, like this could work, like they could simply back their way down the corridor and into the shop and late-night crowds, slip away among the people and let Connor and Giles deal with this, but then one of the larger vampires hurled himself at Danny, knocking the boy back and into the wall. His head crashed against the concrete and the gun fell from his hands as he fell limply, unconscious, to the floor.
“Danny!” Dougie screamed, but Tom was there first, crouching over the fallen boy, protecting him, clutching his sword in his hands as the vampires closed in.
“Dougie!” Tom called.”Dougie, what do I do?”
“Chop their limbs off until you get the head!”
“That doesn’t sound very practical!”
“Just do it!” Dougie called as the vampires split the boys apart, pushing them further away from each other. Harry grabbed Dougie’s wrist and tried to push the smaller boy behind him, but Dougie shrugged the hand off, stepped in front of Harry. “I know what I’m doing, Harry!”
“So tell me what to do.” Harry’s voice was quiet, firm, and Dougie turned to look at him, saw for the first time the trust and openness in Harry’s eyes. I’m yours.
“Kill them,” Dougie said fiercely, and he felt nothing but hate for the creatures that had tried to take his Harry from him. “Kill them all.”
The fight was short, brutal, and the boys never had much of a chance but they tried anyway. Treated the whole thing like some ultra-real video game, swinging swords and stakes at the vampires, arms heavy and aching as they were separated further and driven back. Dust from the dead vampires blew onto their skin, mixing with their own blood from cuts and the scrapes of teeth against flesh and Dougie thought I’m sorry, I’m sorry and a scream from behind him made him freeze.
Tom was held against the wall, Danny unconscious and forgotten a few feet away. One of the vampires had its hand around Tom’s throat while a second slowly, almost tenderly, raised Tom’s pale arm to its lips to bite. Halfway across the chamber Harry went down under the combined weight of three vampires, roaring as one of them wrenched the machete from his hands. Dougie shoved away the last vampire attacking him, shoving his stake through the thing’s dead heart and watching it explode into dust with a viciousness inside him that he didn’t know existed.
“I can’t believe you’re still fighting.”
As the deep voice resonated around the chamber the fighting stooped, everyone’s heads turning towards it. Santa stood there in the middle of the chaos, smiling benevolently, and he held his hands out towards Dougie.
“Just give up. I’ll make this easier on you.”
“Go fuck yourself!” Dougie snarled, stepped towards Santa with the barely-used dagger raised in his hand and at the back of his mind he wished that he didn’t sound so terribly young.
“I’ll make it easier on your friends.”
“Dougie, don’t you fucking dare listen to him!” Harry shouted, pinned down on the floor, struggling to get back up. One of the vampires punched him in the chest and he fell back, choking.
Dougie felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes, terrified and desperate and exhausted and he was going to die, he knew it, and the knowledge beat against his insides like a panicked, trapped animal.
“Will you let them go?” Dougie was surprised by how steady his voice sounded, expecting it to sound like shattered glass. “If I let you kill me, can they go home?”
“Oh, dear boy,” Santa shook his head sadly and closed the distance between them. He looked down at Dougie and gently patted the boy’s cheek. “Of course not. But they’ll die instantly, and without pain.”
The tears really did start down Dougie’s face, hot and salty and Santa closed his eyes, breathed in deep.
“I can smell your life.”
“You should have said you would let them go,” Dougie whispered, and plunged his dagger deep into Santa’s chest. Santa roared deeply, terribly, flinging out his arms and smacking Dougie to the floor. The boy’s palms hit hard against the concrete, an awful hollow sound before his head connected next and his vision went white, everything around him suddenly garbled and confused and there was the sensation of something heavy falling beside him. There was screaming coming from somewhere, high-pitched and hysterical and through the ringing in his ears Dougie could make out vague sounds, rushed words. The world tilted under him and he could feel the rough concrete under his knees and palms, feel the dirty water soaking his jeans and the bone of the knife under his throbbing fingers. Everything snapped back suddenly, bright and dark and startlingly clear and Dougie could hear Harry from somewhere behind him, voice carrying over the screaming that he thought may be Tom.
“Kill him!” Harry sounded terrified in a way Dougie’s never heard before and he wanted to run, wanted to throw up and he couldn’t, he had to stay. Had to finish this. He pushed himself up onto his knees, stared at the lump of red and fluff and leather lying next to him on the shaking ground.
“Kill him!” Harry screamed again, and Dougie clutched the knife tighter. “Kill Santa!”
Dougie looked at Santa, writhing and screaming on the ground, and he looked just like a little old grandfather who had fallen and couldn’t get up. The knife hesitated in Dougie’s hand; one blow was easy, but two was so, so hard. Staking a vampire was easy enough, just motion and then dust, but this would leave a body, evidence, something solid screaming out that it was murdered. Dougie knelt, shaking, staring horrified at Santa, who gripped the boy’s wrist suddenly, hauling himself towards upright, and snarling in Dougie’s face.
“I’m going to start with your boyfriend.”
Dougie slammed the knife into Santa’s throat and watched as the old man fell backwards, fingers scrabbling at the hilt sticking out of his flesh. Blood and air bubbled awfully around the blade as Santa tried to scream, but nothing would come out. He thrashed on the floor, convulsing and choking and, finally, dying.
~*~
The remaining vampires ran as soon as they saw Santa lying dead on the ground, scattering away into the darkness. Dougie scrambled away from the body in front of him, feet and fingers skittering over concrete as he tried to avoid the rapidly spreading pool of blood steaming slowly towards him. He pushed himself up, spinning round to look for Tom. The other boy had stopped screaming and was sitting numbly on the ground, blood running down his arm and his hand clenched around Danny’s.
“You okay?” Dougie said hoarsely. Tom shook his head.
“It bit me!” He looked at Dougie, wild-eyed. “The fucker bit me!”
“It’s okay!” Dougie rushed over to them, knelt on the ground. “Just being bitten doesn’t turn you into one of them.”
“Are you sure?” Tom said shakily. “Cos I think you might be a really fucking awful Slayer, and I’m sure I took you out of school too early.”
“I’m sure,” Dougie soothed. “Here.” He picked up a loose paintball pellet that had fallen on the ground when Danny went down and crushed it in his palm. He dipped his finger in the water pooled there and slowly drew a smiley face on Tom’s hand. “See? It doesn’t hurt you.”
“Oh, yeah,” Tom whispered, and smiled. “Okay. I’m okay.” He looked down at Danny, who was stirring slightly. “We’re all okay.”
Dougie patted him on the leg and stood up, walking over to where Harry was still lying, chest heaving, coughing slightly.
“You okay?” Dougie asked. Harry nodded. “Good.” Dougie dropped down and straddled Harry’s hips. “Because we need to talk.”
“What, right now?” Harry raised an eyebrow. “Can’t it wait?”
“No,” Dougie looked thoughtful. “Because I think I have everything straight in my head now.”
“There’s a body over there.”
Dougie reached down and gripped Harry’s shirt, clenching it between his fingers. “It’s not going anywhere.”
Harry’s eyes flicked over to Tom and Danny and back again. “Okay, then.”
“I love you.”
“Well,” Harry frowned. “I love you too.”
“No. I mean.” Dougie thought for a moment. “I am completely, madly, one thousand percent in love with you. I have been since about three minutes after I met you. I would actually die for you. And I’m not going to let you fuck me anymore.”
“Wait, what?” Harry sat up, and Dougie slid down his legs slightly. “Why not?”
“Because it isn’t fair,” Dougie said simply. “You’re breaking my heart. And it isn’t right, me being your bit on the side. I have to… I have to take responsibility for myself.”
Harry grabbed Dougie’s wrist. “Don’t leave.”
“What? I’m not leaving.”
“Don’t leave me.”
“Harry,” Dougie bowed his head, and like this they were close, so close. “We can’t do this.”
“We can if there’s no one else,” Harry breathed.
“What?” Dougie looked up, and Harry’s face was right there in front of him, eyes bright and blue and clear.
“Like fuck can I live without you,” Harry laughed. “You stupid little shit.”
“But you’ve got a girlfriend.”
“You’re more important,” Harry gently reached up and cupped Dougie’s face in his palm. “I thought you knew that.”
“Not really, no.”
“You’re not very bright, are you?” He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against Dougie’s. “Now do you get it?”
Dougie looked at him, eyes narrowed and thoughtful. Then he leaned forward, grasping Harry’s face in his hands and kissing him solidly, desperately, putting every fibre of feeling into the moment. Every moment of sadness, every piece of fright and confusion, every bruise, and they gasped into the kiss and held on tight.
“Oi!” A shout from behind them made them break apart, and they turned to see Danny, being held upright by Tom. “You can do that later. Can we go home now? I need food.”
~*~
They limped out of Hamleys and past the surprised security guards, who took in their bloodied and bruised faces with a politely raised eyebrow and opened the door for them to leave. Pushing their way back through the last of the late-night shoppers back towards Trafalgar Square, they bought chips from a burger vendor and slowly made their way back to the car. Dougie breathed in the smell of London, of people and cold and pollution, hot vinegar and salt between his fingers, and the Christmas lights shone brightly against the dark. He linked his arm through Harry’s, and it was awkward balancing their chips, but they didn’t let go.
“Fuck!” A wail from up ahead brought them to a stop, and Tom turned to look at them, distressed. “My car’s been towed!”
“Or stolen,” Danny said helpfully. “You going to finish your chips, Tom?”
Tom stomped off and Dougie laughed, tugging gently on Harry’s arm. “How long do you think it would take us to walk home?”
“Oh, about a day.”
“Taxi?”
“I think that would be for the best.”
They calmed Tom down and fought other Londoners for a taxi and when they were finally in the back of a cab and in the warmth, they huddled together, sleepy and bruised and alive and together. Sharing chips and holding hands and sharing silence, and in the middle of it all Dougie leaned his head against Harry’s shoulder, smiling for the first time in days, and closed his eyes.
T h e E n d.