he's got abby to come up a couple flights of an old office building and out onto a roof because traveling across them is going to be a much faster way of getting around the mash of cars blocking the highway they're crossing, and– he's right, but it doesn't mean abby is pleased about it. she'll jump rooftops for him, of course she will, but. fuck, he isn't helping, the way he jumps with hardly any run up, without even really looking where he's going. he's so blasé about it. she knows heights have never bothered him but this is so many steps above that, it's almost like he's enjoying this.
he probably is. he's probably really enjoying that abby's been trailing her hand on the wall the whole way up here and is even now standing a good ways back from the edge, her eyes firmly set on the horizon even as he leaps around like a little rabbit in front of her.
she'll jump across, she will. she just. needs a moment.
(abby doesn't think that it is! lev seems to think that he can cure her of her fear of heights if he simply makes her confront it enough but abby isn't so sure. she crossed that entire fucking sky bridge some how and yet glancing out over the edge of the building and down still makes her stomach drop right to her toes.
she closes her eyes, and steps back again with a stumble.)
Fuck. Okay.
(okay. okay. it's just one jump, and she's not going to fall. she backs up a couple more steps, runs with her eyes firmly ahead of her, and clears the jump with ease. one down... many to go, by the looks of it. the rooftops stretch out in a grid ahead of them.)
Hate this. (she's out of breath, her heart thudding in her ears.) Hate you.
[He smiles and turns to look ahead. There's the remnants of the roof in front of him. Easy enough for him, but not for Abby. Thankfully, she can scoot along the edge if she wants.
He leaps, landing on a steel beam, and then leaps again to another section of concrete roof without even a thought. Like it's completely natural.
His feet touch the ground. Then it crumbles. He flails and tries to grab something but all he can touch is crumbling concrete. Lev flails hopelessly as the world seems to slow as he tumbles into the darkness below.]
(yeah, she's looking at those remnants and deciding no, thank you, not today. there has to be another way around, she's not jumping onto that. but lev is, he goes right ahead. it's like he forgets that she's twice his size sometimes, that she can't easily traverse the same places he can.
she's looking up to tell him that, when she hears the crumble of brick. and then he's falling. and abby's heart falls with him, all of the breath leaves her body, she can't even scream.
she just lunges for him, forgetting to be scared, but misses his hand as he slips past her and down.)
[His flailing hands manage to grab a steel bar sticking out from the wall. He grunts in pain at the impact and then just as he tries to press his legs against the wall to steady himself, the bar breaks and he falls further.
Thankfully the floor of the apartment below is intact. He lands on the top of the fridge with enough impact to dent the metal and then rolls off onto the floor.]
(she sees him catch that steel bar and immediately turns, sprinting for the stairs as fast as she can go. maybe if he manages to keep his grip on it she can run down a flight or two, scoop him out of the air–
abby's heart is pounding, she's running as fast as she can. he's fine. he's fine, he's– little, he doesn't have a whole lot of weight to support, he'll be able to hold himself up until she gets there. she has to get there. she has to reach him in time, there isn't another option.
she doesn't hear him fall for the second time, but she does hear him hit the ground.)
Lev– (oh fuck, oh fuck. he's lying crumpled on the floor when she finally makes it down there and abby pulls up, her eyes wide. there are warning sirens in her ears, she's walking down a long hallway, red lights flashing. there is a body on the ground. she's breathing so hard she thinks she's gonna throw up and she's almost scared to approach him. the steps she takes over to him are slow, and wobbling.)
[he says automatically. His arm hurts, his shoulder hurts but he’s alive. That’s being okay, right? He rolls over and tries to force himself to his knees.]
(it's better than the alternative, which abby has been stubbornly not addressing because that will definitely keep it from coming true. which it did, so. obviously it was worth it.
her whole body tenses up when he speaks, and then she exhales roughly, one hand flying to her chest to press down over her heart.)
Oh my god. (her voice is so hoarse. she crouches down beside him, one hand reaching out, hovering over him, pulling away again. he's trying to get up onto his knees, so for a second, abby just buries her face in both hands, trying to calm her breathing. tears well up in her eyes instantly; she wants to hide them from him, though. she keeps her hands where they are.) What the fuck, Lev.
(she sighs the word, and lowers her hands. wipes her eyes off on her forearm brusquely, like she's fine. lev's hand touches her arm, gently, and when she finally looks at him he looks small, and guilty. good. abby thought she was going to have a heart attack at the sight of him.
the amount that he means to her. she knew it was a lot but it's a little starting to be reminded so abruptly that he's all she has left.)
Don't sit up, (she says after a beat, and has to clear her throat after saying it because her voice is still hoarse,) Just– take it easy. That was a big fall.
(fuck. she's going to be seeing that in her nightmares tonight, abby just knows it. that look on his face, when he fell.)
[His voice feels far away to his own ears. Maybe it's because he's struggling to form words or because his head is pounding.
He stops trying to get to his knees and instead stops, somewhere between being prone and sitting up. In the back of his mind, he's aware that he feels vaguely nauseous.]
We're making a lot of noise, (she points out, and drops a knee down onto the floor to get a little closer to him. she's putting a lid on– everything right now, she can deal with it later.) If anything was in here with us, we'd know by now.
(it's... probably secure, but they'll cross that bridge when they get to it. okay, checking on lev. she has work to do.)
Okay. (he looks fine, just from the quick once over she gives him. fuck, what is she going to do if he has a spinal injury. or internal bleeding, or broken legs, or–)
Anything hurt? Don't lie. You know I always know when you're lying. (joke falls a little flat, but she's trying.)
[He doesn't actually lie though. Or at least in the way other people lie. He'll keep things to himself but he rarely outright lies.
He manages to sit up. His ears are still ringing but he doesn't feel any pain. The adrenaline is still coursing through his veins, numbing him to what he actually feels.]
I think... I think I should try to stand.
[He reaches out a hand for her to take so she can help him up. But the movement is awkward, like he's not actually sure he should get up but doesn't know what else to do. He's pretty clearly... not fine. He's dazed and shaken and both of those things are very unlike him.]
(yeah, it's really hard not to notice how out of it he is, but abby is swallowing the panic down because if something is really wrong she doesn't want her reaction to freak him out. it might exacerbate things.
fuck, she wishes her dad were here right now. he'd know what to do. he wouldn't be sitting here trying to remember the right way to check somebody for neck injuries.)
Slowly, (she mutters, and takes his hand. she's going to help him up bit by bit, but only because she knows it'll be no problem for her if she has to catch him suddenly.) Lean on me if you have to.
[He rises, slowly, on shaking legs and his small hand gripping hers tightly.
He’s badly bruised, he can tell that, but everything else seems intact. He doesn’t notice the pain in his left wrist.
When he gets to his feet he sways and his stomach lurches. His body shakes with the fading adrenaline and the sudden onslaught of pain. He leans over and retches.]
(she shifts her other hand to support the small of his back when he sways, ready to grab him if his legs go, but he's steady enough. and then he retches to the side, leaning over her arm and her expression pinches in concern.
fuck, she isn't hurting him is she? her hands aren't used to being gentle. he's gripping on so tightly to her, his nails in her skin.)
(okay. somebody needs to make a decision here, and it's going to be abby and what she's deciding is:)
Can I pick you up? We should find somewhere to stop for today, get you lying down.
(it isn't ideal but he seems dizzy, out of it, and she isn't keen on pushing him to try and walk. abby's not going any further across the roofs, she's going to double back, check out some of those houses they passed about twenty minutes back.)
[he initially opens his mouth to protest against being babies but his stomach lurches again and he shuts it.
His mind still feels like it’s moving slow and thoughts are hard to reach but he knows if doesn’t make sense to wait around here. It’s dangerous and too open.]
Okay. Just for-
[as he reaches up to wrap an arm around her neck, white hot pain shoots up his left arm. He cries out and collapses against her and cradles his wrist in his right hand.]
(ha. he didn't even sass her for treating him like a baby. so it's that bad, huh. he does this thing where he withholds from her, keeps what he's feeling close to his chest. usually abby lets him have that because he's lived thirteen years of adults prying into his shit and she doesn't wanna be like that with him, but right now? right now, not knowing what he's thinking, not knowing how he's hurting, feels awful. wanting to help but not knowing how.
he can't hide what happens next. abby's arm curls around him, ready to lift, but he jerks away in pain and folds against her like a leaf. only makes it easier to gather him up and into her arms as she stands, letting him lean into her.)
It's okay. It's okay.
(mindless reassurance; it's not okay. he's hurt, he's so light in her arms. she carried his sister like this, only a few months ago. the thought gives her pause, and a brief stab of grief, and guilt.)
[He has to grit his teeth and swallow to speak. The pain isn't as sharp as when he tried to move his hand but he can now feel it burning through his left arm. He keeps it held tightly to his chest, trying to prevent it from being jostled.
He can also feel Abby's heart race as she cradles him against her chest. He can hear how her voice wavers when she tries to reassure him.
It makes him feel horrible.]
It's okay. [He agrees. They keep saying it back and forth. Like if they say it enough it will become true.]
(the pair of them, huh. both sorry, and guilty, and far too empathetic; abby might have laughed about it if she didn't feel so frantic.
she's moving slowly, hoisting him up in her arms as lightly as she can to get them both back through the door and into the stairwell again. it's a lucky thing he didn't fall any further. she could have been scraping him off of the concrete right now.
he didn't though, and she isn't. she should focus on that, instead. that he might be broken in a place or two but he's still definitely, gloriously, thankfully alive; if she dwells any further on what it would have felt like to lose him in that moment, she'll crumple.)
Hey, Lev? (she's taking the stairs one at a time, in stark contrast to the way she all but threw herself down them before in order to reach him,) Once we're out of this, remind me to say I told you so.
[He sighs. He can't even argue with her because she's completely right. She did tell him so and he got cocky, stopped looking before he leaped. Jumping to that edge was a mistake and he should have known better.]
You can say it and I won't argue. But... I did avoid throwing up on your shoes so maybe that means you could say it less than you'd like to.
[He looks up at her, hoping she'll smile at that. He feels the way she's carrying him so carefully, like he might break if she moves to quickly.]
(she glances back at him when he tries to catch her eye. she can't really smile right now, she's too on edge for that. it helps that he's talking and cracking jokes, though. can't be all that hurt if he's dunking on her like he usually does, right?)
No. I think I'm gonna say it twice. Maybe three times, we'll see.
(so there.
fuck, he probably broke that wrist. that's his bow firing wrist and everything. she feels so bad.)
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(god, he is really pushing it today.
he's got abby to come up a couple flights of an old office building and out onto a roof because traveling across them is going to be a much faster way of getting around the mash of cars blocking the highway they're crossing, and– he's right, but it doesn't mean abby is pleased about it. she'll jump rooftops for him, of course she will, but. fuck, he isn't helping, the way he jumps with hardly any run up, without even really looking where he's going. he's so blasé about it. she knows heights have never bothered him but this is so many steps above that, it's almost like he's enjoying this.
he probably is. he's probably really enjoying that abby's been trailing her hand on the wall the whole way up here and is even now standing a good ways back from the edge, her eyes firmly set on the horizon even as he leaps around like a little rabbit in front of her.
she'll jump across, she will. she just. needs a moment.
of peace.)
Cut it out!
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[He glances back at her clutching the wall for dear life with a smile.
He’s tried to convince her not to be afraid. To show her how to map a route and leap from place to place but it never works.
So he navigates ahead and helps her along. He’s being helpful even if she doesn’t approve of it!]
Just come on!
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(abby doesn't think that it is! lev seems to think that he can cure her of her fear of heights if he simply makes her confront it enough but abby isn't so sure. she crossed that entire fucking sky bridge some how and yet glancing out over the edge of the building and down still makes her stomach drop right to her toes.
she closes her eyes, and steps back again with a stumble.)
Fuck. Okay.
(okay. okay. it's just one jump, and she's not going to fall. she backs up a couple more steps, runs with her eyes firmly ahead of her, and clears the jump with ease. one down... many to go, by the looks of it. the rooftops stretch out in a grid ahead of them.)
Hate this. (she's out of breath, her heart thudding in her ears.) Hate you.
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I knew you could do it.
[He smiles and turns to look ahead. There's the remnants of the roof in front of him. Easy enough for him, but not for Abby. Thankfully, she can scoot along the edge if she wants.
He leaps, landing on a steel beam, and then leaps again to another section of concrete roof without even a thought. Like it's completely natural.
His feet touch the ground. Then it crumbles. He flails and tries to grab something but all he can touch is crumbling concrete. Lev flails hopelessly as the world seems to slow as he tumbles into the darkness below.]
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(yeah, she's looking at those remnants and deciding no, thank you, not today. there has to be another way around, she's not jumping onto that. but lev is, he goes right ahead. it's like he forgets that she's twice his size sometimes, that she can't easily traverse the same places he can.
she's looking up to tell him that, when she hears the crumble of brick. and then he's falling. and abby's heart falls with him, all of the breath leaves her body, she can't even scream.
she just lunges for him, forgetting to be scared, but misses his hand as he slips past her and down.)
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Thankfully the floor of the apartment below is intact. He lands on the top of the fridge with enough impact to dent the metal and then rolls off onto the floor.]
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(she sees him catch that steel bar and immediately turns, sprinting for the stairs as fast as she can go. maybe if he manages to keep his grip on it she can run down a flight or two, scoop him out of the air–
abby's heart is pounding, she's running as fast as she can. he's fine. he's fine, he's– little, he doesn't have a whole lot of weight to support, he'll be able to hold himself up until she gets there. she has to get there. she has to reach him in time, there isn't another option.
she doesn't hear him fall for the second time, but she does hear him hit the ground.)
Lev– (oh fuck, oh fuck. he's lying crumpled on the floor when she finally makes it down there and abby pulls up, her eyes wide. there are warning sirens in her ears, she's walking down a long hallway, red lights flashing. there is a body on the ground. she's breathing so hard she thinks she's gonna throw up and she's almost scared to approach him. the steps she takes over to him are slow, and wobbling.)
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[he says automatically. His arm hurts, his shoulder hurts but he’s alive. That’s being okay, right? He rolls over and tries to force himself to his knees.]
Abby, I’m okay.
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her whole body tenses up when he speaks, and then she exhales roughly, one hand flying to her chest to press down over her heart.)
Oh my god. (her voice is so hoarse. she crouches down beside him, one hand reaching out, hovering over him, pulling away again. he's trying to get up onto his knees, so for a second, abby just buries her face in both hands, trying to calm her breathing. tears well up in her eyes instantly; she wants to hide them from him, though. she keeps her hands where they are.) What the fuck, Lev.
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[He mutters as he tries to sit up. It hurts to see her expression like that. With his right arm, his good arm, he reaches out to touch her arm.
He can’t stand to see her like this. So upset so... vulnerable. He hates it. And he hates being the cause even more.]
Abby, it’s okay. I’m okay.
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(she sighs the word, and lowers her hands. wipes her eyes off on her forearm brusquely, like she's fine. lev's hand touches her arm, gently, and when she finally looks at him he looks small, and guilty. good. abby thought she was going to have a heart attack at the sight of him.
the amount that he means to her. she knew it was a lot but it's a little starting to be reminded so abruptly that he's all she has left.)
Don't sit up, (she says after a beat, and has to clear her throat after saying it because her voice is still hoarse,) Just– take it easy. That was a big fall.
(fuck. she's going to be seeing that in her nightmares tonight, abby just knows it. that look on his face, when he fell.)
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[His voice feels far away to his own ears. Maybe it's because he's struggling to form words or because his head is pounding.
He stops trying to get to his knees and instead stops, somewhere between being prone and sitting up. In the back of his mind, he's aware that he feels vaguely nauseous.]
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(it's... probably secure, but they'll cross that bridge when they get to it. okay, checking on lev. she has work to do.)
Okay. (he looks fine, just from the quick once over she gives him. fuck, what is she going to do if he has a spinal injury. or internal bleeding, or broken legs, or–)
Anything hurt? Don't lie. You know I always know when you're lying. (joke falls a little flat, but she's trying.)
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[He doesn't actually lie though. Or at least in the way other people lie. He'll keep things to himself but he rarely outright lies.
He manages to sit up. His ears are still ringing but he doesn't feel any pain. The adrenaline is still coursing through his veins, numbing him to what he actually feels.]
I think... I think I should try to stand.
[He reaches out a hand for her to take so she can help him up. But the movement is awkward, like he's not actually sure he should get up but doesn't know what else to do. He's pretty clearly... not fine. He's dazed and shaken and both of those things are very unlike him.]
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fuck, she wishes her dad were here right now. he'd know what to do. he wouldn't be sitting here trying to remember the right way to check somebody for neck injuries.)
Slowly, (she mutters, and takes his hand. she's going to help him up bit by bit, but only because she knows it'll be no problem for her if she has to catch him suddenly.) Lean on me if you have to.
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[He rises, slowly, on shaking legs and his small hand gripping hers tightly.
He’s badly bruised, he can tell that, but everything else seems intact. He doesn’t notice the pain in his left wrist.
When he gets to his feet he sways and his stomach lurches. His body shakes with the fading adrenaline and the sudden onslaught of pain. He leans over and retches.]
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fuck, she isn't hurting him is she? her hands aren't used to being gentle. he's gripping on so tightly to her, his nails in her skin.)
Lev?
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At least he missed her shoes. He leans against her weakly, still shaking, trying to catch his breath.]
'm okay. Just a little... a little... sick.
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Can I pick you up? We should find somewhere to stop for today, get you lying down.
(it isn't ideal but he seems dizzy, out of it, and she isn't keen on pushing him to try and walk. abby's not going any further across the roofs, she's going to double back, check out some of those houses they passed about twenty minutes back.)
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His mind still feels like it’s moving slow and thoughts are hard to reach but he knows if doesn’t make sense to wait around here. It’s dangerous and too open.]
Okay. Just for-
[as he reaches up to wrap an arm around her neck, white hot pain shoots up his left arm. He cries out and collapses against her and cradles his wrist in his right hand.]
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he can't hide what happens next. abby's arm curls around him, ready to lift, but he jerks away in pain and folds against her like a leaf. only makes it easier to gather him up and into her arms as she stands, letting him lean into her.)
It's okay. It's okay.
(mindless reassurance; it's not okay. he's hurt, he's so light in her arms. she carried his sister like this, only a few months ago. the thought gives her pause, and a brief stab of grief, and guilt.)
Was that your wrist?
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[He has to grit his teeth and swallow to speak. The pain isn't as sharp as when he tried to move his hand but he can now feel it burning through his left arm. He keeps it held tightly to his chest, trying to prevent it from being jostled.
He can also feel Abby's heart race as she cradles him against her chest. He can hear how her voice wavers when she tries to reassure him.
It makes him feel horrible.]
It's okay. [He agrees. They keep saying it back and forth. Like if they say it enough it will become true.]
It just needs a splint, that's all.
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(the pair of them, huh. both sorry, and guilty, and far too empathetic; abby might have laughed about it if she didn't feel so frantic.
she's moving slowly, hoisting him up in her arms as lightly as she can to get them both back through the door and into the stairwell again. it's a lucky thing he didn't fall any further. she could have been scraping him off of the concrete right now.
he didn't though, and she isn't. she should focus on that, instead. that he might be broken in a place or two but he's still definitely, gloriously, thankfully alive; if she dwells any further on what it would have felt like to lose him in that moment, she'll crumple.)
Hey, Lev? (she's taking the stairs one at a time, in stark contrast to the way she all but threw herself down them before in order to reach him,) Once we're out of this, remind me to say I told you so.
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[He sighs. He can't even argue with her because she's completely right. She did tell him so and he got cocky, stopped looking before he leaped. Jumping to that edge was a mistake and he should have known better.]
You can say it and I won't argue. But... I did avoid throwing up on your shoes so maybe that means you could say it less than you'd like to.
[He looks up at her, hoping she'll smile at that. He feels the way she's carrying him so carefully, like he might break if she moves to quickly.]
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(she glances back at him when he tries to catch her eye. she can't really smile right now, she's too on edge for that. it helps that he's talking and cracking jokes, though. can't be all that hurt if he's dunking on her like he usually does, right?)
No. I think I'm gonna say it twice. Maybe three times, we'll see.
(so there.
fuck, he probably broke that wrist. that's his bow firing wrist and everything. she feels so bad.)
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