Eat My Heart Out (Jeff the Killer x Eyeless Jack)

Partners

It's been several days now. Jeff's ankle has healed enough that he can walk easier on it now. Jack wants to wait a little longer to move on until it's completely healed. But Jeff has a point that they can't stay too much longer. Not after his dumbass stunt with that couple. The police are out in force now, looking for them. And Jack does need to eat at some point. Only, it's getting harder and harder to get him anything. They can't stay here anymore. Jeff keeps telling Jack that he should just leave if he's worried about Jeff traveling with the injuries. But Jack won't even let him finish the sentence anymore. He won't leave, no matter how logical Jeff makes it seem. 

"I've got almost everything packed now. I'll carry it though, you shouldn't be lifting too much right now."

"You know, you should just-"

"No, Jeff. I'm not gonna leave you here. We're in this together now."

"What does that mean?"

Jack stops packing and slowly stand, but keeps his back to Jeff. "It means, where you go, I go."

"Really?"

Jack finally turns. "Yeah. Wherever you go, I'll follow. Even into hell. Even if you tell me to fuck off."

"Good. Cause I wasn't letting you run away anyway," Jeff comments. Jack laughs. They finish packing together and wait for the cover of darkness. That may be when the police will be looking for them, but it's also much easier to hide. Especially considering their faces aren't exactly subtle. 

"Alright, let's get going. If we get caught, you keep going, got it?" Jack says.

Jeff pauses. "What about you?"

"I'm not the cripple."

"You're gonna distract them." It's not a question. Jack doens't meet Jeff's eyes. 

"Yes."

"You'll get yourself caught. Arressted."

"Probably."

"That's a pretty stupid idea."

"Come on, Jeff. I'm a demon. They can't hold me anyway. I'll get out."

"Maybe."

"Let's not talk about this. It might not even come to it."

"Jack, you're an idiot."

He jerks. "What? Why?"

"If you think that I'm going to leave you, you're an idiot. Like you said, where you go, I go."

Jack yanks his mask down quickly. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Which means, no matter what Jeff says, he's going to take the fall. Jeff shakes his head, but he doesn't feel like arguing right now. They start out slow, hoping to not draw attention to themselves. Hopefully, people will think they're going camping or something, which is what it looks like they're doing. If they just keep their heads down and don't walk too quickly, most people won't even notice them. At least, that's what they want to happen. Luckily, they're on the edge of the city. So it won't take too long to get out and they're not too close to the police station. However, it doesn't matter since they see droves of cop cars driving around. Every time they see one, they duck into an alley until it passes. 

"Are we ever gonna get out of here?" Jeff wonders.

"I sure hope so." They have a few close calls, but it seems they're out free. Until a cop car with lights flashing pulls in front of them. They start to back up, but another one squeals in behind them. They're trapped. The police get out, guns raised, and begin ordering them to surrender. 

"Jeff, do you remember what I said?"

"And do you remember what I replied? No fucking way, EJ." 

"What did you just call me?" Jack shakes his head. "Nevermind. You should run."

"And I said no way in hell. We're in this together right? That means if we're going down, we're going down together." Jeff glances around. "There's only four of them. We can take them."

"Maybe."

Jeff locks eyes with Jack. "We're gonna make it out of this. Together."

Finally, EJ nods. "Yeah, alright." They charge. Jeff throws his knife, hitting one officer in the shoulder. He goes down and Jeff pounces. He rips the knife free, before slitting the man's throat. The other one tries to shoot him, but he ducks behind the car door. He throws the first officer's radio, which distracts the second one. He darts out, tackling the woman to the ground. He brings the blade down and ends her life quickly. He's a little banged up with some scrapes, but otherwise uninjured.

"You okay?" Jack runs over, checking on Jeff.

"I'm fine. Nothing major."

"Then let's get out of here before their backup arrives."

"Sounds like a plan to me." They jog off, exiting the city limits. Now, even if the police wanted to chase them, they legally can't. The two are safe for now.

"Finally, now we can take a break," EJ says. He turns back to find Jeff hunched over. He rushes to the smiling killer. "Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah. Just...winded..."

"Here, sit down for a minute. Your body is still trying to heal itself. You'll get tired quicker." Jeff flops down, laying his face on his knees. He takes a few deep breaths and manages to feel somewhat better.

"Okay...I think I'm good now." Jack stretches out a hand and Jeff gratefully grabs it. EJ helps him stand up. They walk for a while, until night falls again. 

"We should stop for tonight. Get some rest, even if we don't sleep." Jeff lays down and falls asleep quickly. Maybe he should get hurt more often if it means he actually gets to rest when he's injured. Sometime later, he's not sure how long, Jeff wakes up again. It's still dark out and, at first, he's not sure what woke him up. Until he feels an unusual warmth next to him. Blinking in the dark, he sees EJ curled up at his side. He's shaking and his skin is pretty cold. But he's not close enough to really warm up. So Jeff gently pulls him closer and falls back asleep. If Jack is cold, then Jeff will melt that chill. 

~*~

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"EJ, I'm not dying. It was just a bite wound and a twisted ankle."

"There it is again. You called me EJ."

"Oh. Sorry. I guess I didn't notice. I won't use it again."

"No. It's okay. I...kinda like it."

Jeff raises an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah." EJ looks away. "You can call me EJ if you want." Jeff smiles and keeps walking. He can't stop thinking about last night. How Jack curled up to him in their sleep. Even without realizing it, his walls are lowering for Jeff. He's finally truly trusting Jeff and seeking comfort from him. Jeff never thought he'd ever be happy to have someone trust him like this. He never would've thought himself able to care about someone else. Not after his brother. Jeff tries to tell himself that he hates Liu for taking the blame. But the truth is, he still loves his brother. Even though Liu is dead now, Jeff misses him. And somedays, he finds himself regretting getting Liu involved in the first place. Jeff shakes the thoughts away. He can't think about this anymore. He shouldn't even have any regrets. That's not how he lives his life. Besides, he wouldn't be here now, with EJ, if he didn't make every choice that he did.