Building Better Worlds - Chapter 2

This fic is rated Mature.

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**2. Morning Comes**

Light found its way through the blinds. Morning had arrived. New dawn, new day. Especially for the young man Midnight had found absolutely heartbroken during the night.

She attempted to stretch as her body clock forced her eyes open.

Only to fall off the sofa with a yelp and a thud.

Followed by some giggles. "I'm OK!" She said to herself.

She got up to her feet and stretched properly, her tail curling right up and then back down again. She also yawned.

Before anything else, she decided to check up on the guy she had started to dub "lost puppy." Note to self, ask what his name is over breakfast.

She opened the door quietly, only a crack, just enough to see him still asleep.

He needs it. His body needs time to heal.

What happened to him still makes Midnight's blood boil. How dare someone who claimed to love him do that to him! He's so innocent... Or at least that's the impression he gave off on first meeting. Innocent and vulnerable. Probably could do with being held gently for a few hours. Add that to the to do list.

She made her way to her kitchen, searching for some bacon she knew she had here somewhere.

Ah, bingo!

Midnight set about cooking the bacon, using her Bavarium to open cupboards and set the table, and sort out bread for sandwiches. Ah yes. Bavarium, good for multitasking and making domestic tasks a damn sight easier and fun! Honestly she would be rather lost without this miracle element.

She finishes the sandwiches and quickly goes to wake him, knocking on the door and calling, "Hey, I uh... I made some bacon sandwiches... You can uh, come get it when you're ready."

His eyes opened to her voice. He hadn't noticed how sweet her voice was last night. Why didn't he notice that? Perhaps this was her morning voice? Either way it was comforting. He slowly untangled himself from the bed covers, noticing where he was bruised was now stiff. Those scars won't last forever, but the ones on his mind will. Honestly looking at it now, he wished he could have found it in him to leave sooner. But maybe if he had done that he wouldn't have ran in to cat girl who basically stopped him getting hypothermia.

He found Midnight sat at the dining table, eating a bacon sandwich. She gestures for him to sit, which he does. He then takes the sandwich and nibbles at it slowly.

"So," She starts as she finishes chewing. "We never really introduced ourselves last night. I'm Midnight. Midnight Soul." She smiled and then instantly took a big chunk out of her sandwich.

"First of all, thank you for saving me, Midnight. Secondly, I'm Dan. Dan Smith." He smiled warmly back.

They spent the rest of their breakfast in silence, until Midnight got up and switched her clothes.

"So, where does this ex girlfriend live then? I cannot wait to give her a piece of my mind." Midnight smirked wickedly.

Dan quickly waved away the idea. "No way. Please don't. I'll get Ralph to go with me to get my things..."

"Do you even have your phone?"

"In my soaked jeans."

"OK, better idea, I go with both you and Ralph, we'll pass me off as Ralph's buddy or something, I dunno, and if she tries to have a crack at you then I'll give her what for! Sound good?"

Dan hangs his head slightly. "I don't know... I mean... She doesn't deserve it, really..."

Something in Night snaps. "Doesn't deserve it???!! Doesn't deserve my wrath for finding you broken and shivering in the cold??? Doesn't deserve her karma!? Ohhhh honey, she has had this coming for a long as she has been hitting you!!" Midnight pants after finishing her rant. "Sorry... But... The state she left you in... I can't let that go unpunished. I'm now contracted by my higher authorities to take on this case, and bring justice. I cannot let this woman get away without even having the slightest idea of what she put you through."

Dan had his head in his hands. "Just... Be careful... I... I still... There are still... Feelings... Don't... Hurt her... Please... I could never do it myself..."

Midnight folds her arms and scowls at him. "I will give her what she's been asking for since she first hurt you. And you can't stop me."

Dan sighed heavily. The motion of his chest puffing out giving a painful twinge, and his face showed it.

Midnight instantly realised she took things a step too far, her expression softening upon seeing that state he's in.

"Sorry... I uhm... It's in my nature to get defensive... Part of my job... Keeps my team safe... If you don't want me to go, I won't. It's your decision. I'm just... I'm worried she'll hurt you again. And you've been through enough." Her voice is soft, delicate as if she's dancing on a thin sheet of ice.

He simply looks at her with those fractured eyes, tears brimming it seems. He licks his lips and let's out a shaky breath. "... I'm... Honestly terrified... Even with Ralph there I..." He stops himself, choking on a sob.

She moves closer to him, her arm moving to wrap around his shoulders. But again she stopped herself. *Let him come to you.* "Hey. Tell you what. I won't do anything unless it looks like she's going to pounce at you, OK?"

"... Just don't hurt her..." Dan mutters.

Midnight nods. "OK. Bavarium shield it is." She gives a small smile. "Now call Ralph. The sooner we do this the better. You need your things."

He nods, standing up and moving towards the living room.

Dan fishes his phone out of the pocket of his jeans, and flicks through his contacts to find Ralph's number. He selects it and it starts to ring. Midnight stands in the doorway, watching him.

*"Hey Dan!"* Ralph's voice comes through. *"I haven't heard from you in a while, good to know you're OK!"*

"H-hey, Ralph..." Dan's voice shakes.

*"... Or maybe you're not OK?"*

"... Listen... I uhm... I left her... Last night..." His voice goes quiet.

*"You did what? Oh my god that's amazing! I'm proud of you!"*

"... I uhm... Left in a rush... I left my stuff there... My keyboard, music... Everything. I uhm..."

Ralph interrupts, *"Want me to go with you to get it? No problem mate. Say around 10?"*

"Y-yeah OK... Oh! And uhm... When I left I had nowhere to go... And uhm someone saved me from the rain and patched me up... She uh... She also wants to come with. Just to... Protect me from her... Yanno? She says it's her job..." Dan rambles.

Ralph is quiet for a moment. *"OK, sure. She can come. I need to thank her for saving you..."*

Dan huffed at that. Too broken for anything else.

"See you at 10, outside ou-- her, house." Dan confirms.

*"Alright."* Ralph responds, then hangs up.

Dan drops his phone to the sofa, letting it bounce. He rubs his hands over his face, grimacing as his hand touches the bruise on his cheekbone.

Midnight walks in to the room. "That was brave. Now keep being brave until we retrieve your stuff. If you need to you can break down again afterwards. But for now, be brave."

Again Midnight reaches to touch him, but stops herself. She really wants to hold him close, but in his state she knows better.

"Thank you... For saving me last night..." He whispered.

"You already said that." Midnight smiled.

"Did I?"

"Yes." Midnight nods.

"Well I can't say it enough. I am truly grateful that you did. That you let me stay here... Just. Thank you so much." He chokes on the last word.

"Hey. Brave, remember? Just for an hour or so. Not forever." She looks at him, studies him. Freckles dust under his eyes, which are as blue as anything. Still that fractured look within them. He didn't smile, and even if he did it wasn't genuine. His hair was a spectacle to behold however, all sticking up in different directions, looking incredibly fluffy. Dark brown in colour, it must add at least an extra inch to his already towering height.

It seemed as she studied him, he studied her. Her eyes are mismatched, one green and the other red. Her striped ears hardly stay still, and one has an industrial piercing in it. Her smile is sweet and welcoming, and the little blue marks under her eyes are so delicate. Midnight's hair is blonde in colour, with multicoloured highlights in it; pink, purples, blue, orange and a hint of white. Dan had never seen a hybrid before, this was all new to him. He had heard they existed, but never encountered one himself. He was glad he encountered this hybrid out of all of them. He had heard that not all of them where friendly.

Her tail moved slowly, and she broke the eye contact.

"Come on." She started. "Let's get over there."

Dan nodded, following close behind her to get out of the building, and upon being outside, leading the way.

Midnight checked her systems as she walked, making sure that she had enough power for a shield or three. Perhaps if she can't fight her, she can give her a piece of her mind through words. Midnight's words were powerful when she was angry.

Dan started to walk faster as a little car pulled up to the curb.

The occupant exited the vehicle, smiling at Dan.

Ralph, probably.

"Hey man." He greeted.

"Hey..." Dan sounded so small and broken.

Midnight came up behind him, standing at his side. "Brave, remember? You can do it."

Ralph took a look at her. "So you're the one who saved him last night?"

Midnight nodded in response.

"... Well, thank you. He's my best friend. Thank you for helping him."

"It's no problem. Just part of the job." She shrugged slightly.

Ralph turned to Dan. "You ready pal?"

Dan simply nodded in response.

The trio walked up to the door, Dan letting himself in.

There was definitely an eerie atmosphere about the place. Felt like something died here long ago, and no one had bothered to clean the place after it happened.

... Love. Love died here. And Dan's very joy died here too. Lots of things that belonged to Dan died here. Call it some kind of sixth sense, but Midnight could feel the heavy weight of it in the atmosphere of the house.

Dan suddenly stopped walking. His breathing picked up in pace. He was panicking.

And that's when she stood up from her perch on the sofa. She was, to put it simply, beautiful. Midnight could see why at the start, Dan had fallen for her.

The worst part was, there was no remorse in those eyes. No guilt for how she had made him feel. In fact, her eyes almost had a predatory glint in them, as if she was sizing Dan up for another beating.

Midnight returned the glare, putting on the expression she wore when going to war.

"Moved on rather quickly, haven't we?" She speaks. Her movements are robotic, head tilting itself towards Midnight.

"She's just a-"

"She rescued him after you left him broken." Ralph snarled, interrupting Dan.

In the corner of her eye, Midnight noticed Dan begin to tremble. He was afraid. So very afraid of her.

She took steps closer. "You're pathetic, Dan. Weak. A real man could take it."

"A real man shouldn't have to." Ralph scowled.

She glanced at him. Quick to dismiss him.

Ralph shifted in place before, "Come on Dan, let's get your things, yeah?"

Dan bowed his head and nodded, turning to walk towards where most of his things were kept.

"Need others to fight your battles for you?!" She said as they walked.

Midnight glanced at her, noticing the anger in her face. She strode towards Dan, "Answer me!" She yelled at him, stopping him in his tracks. Ralph already slipped in to the room to start packing things up.

Slowly, Dan turned, but not to face her.

Everything about the way he moved was fractured, it didn’t flow.

"Look at me." She spat.

Midnight's ears fell back, Bavarium now swirling around her fingertips.

"I said look at me!" She raises her fist as though to deliver a punch.

Dan recoils.

And she swings for him.

But it never hits.

Instead her first connects painfully with a translucent blue wall.

Dan scrambles away to find Ralph.

She looks at her hand, breathing a mess. Then to the wall. Midnight's handy work.

The cat hybrid glared at her. "How dare you." She spat.

The woman turned slowly to face Midnight. "How dare you hit him! Hurt him! Take away his joy and leave him with troubled fractured eyes! How. Fucking. Dare. You." Midnight spat, her fangs and claws showing themselves.

"And who do you think you are?" She responded coldly.

"I am a protector. A guardian. I have been assigned to Dan and I will not see you bring him anymore harm." *Bending the truth a little but it's not like it's a lie.*

She stares at Midnight in almost disbelief.

She then scoffs. "Right so, you expect me to believe, that you've been assigned to that pathetic mess?"

Midnight shrugs. "We're assigned to those in need. Besides the point. You completely shattered him. And everything he stood for. And it breaks my heart to see someone like that, stranded out in the rain, broken and bruised, sobbing. I'm lucky I found him when I did. If I had been any later I likely would have found him unconscious!" Midnight paused to growl. "Learn from this. Your next partner does not deserve what you did to Dan. And I hope, I hope to god, that seeing what you've done to him sticks with you for the rest of your life. And I hope it keeps you awake at night." It's on that note that Midnight drops the shield, and Dan and Ralph return.

Dan carries a heavy looking keyboard while Ralph has a few bags.

They walk past the two girls and outside the house.

"Remember what you've seen here. Remember what you did. And don't you ever do it again." Midnight spits, turns on her heel and slams the door angrily behind her.

The boys turned to look at her, putting Dan's belongings in Ralph's car.

Midnight growled and hissed. "That woman deserved a lot worse than I gave her."

".... She's not worth it.... I just need to... Move on..." Dan's voice shook.

A moments silence.

"How about we all go to my place and watch a film?" Ralph suggested.

"Oh I... I shouldn't I have paperwork to take care of--" Midnight started.

"Please?" Dan asked. "Please? ... It's the least we could do to thank you... Standing up to her like that... Something I could never do..."

Midnight thought about this.

"Come on, how can you say no?" Ralph chirped up.

Night smiled. "OK fine." She shook her head slightly. "But just one movie."

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