The Bastard and the Butterfly

Chapter 14

7:00
Just a few hours before everything would either go incredibly right or incredibly wrong.
The last time was fresh in his memory. It always was.
Kondraki would go to Gears, Gears would kill him, but surprise! Ten years later, Kondraki would still be alive and kicking. Of course, that wasn't that bad, but ten years without Konny? You see, the best part about this particular reality reset was how far he'd come with Kondraki. Clef didn't want to let that go. Not for anything.
He took out his trusty shotgun. It had been a while since he'd done anything other than paperwork. They had stuffed him behind a desk all for a single termination. Clef had to admit, this plan was surprisingly well thought out.

11:45
Clef slowly walked down the hall. Though he was nervous, he masked it with his usual smile.
Clef came to a stop in front of Kondraki's office. He knocked. Clef let himself in before anyone answered.
He looked around the room and was surprised to see Bright sitting across from Kondraki.
"Clef! What are you doing here-" Kondraki cut himself off when he saw the time. "Never mind,"
"Yup. It's that time,"
"What are y'all talking about?" Bright asked, confused.
"It's... it's private,"
"Oh, I get it! I'll leave you two to it then." The immortal winked at them and left the room.
"What the fuck was that about?"
"I had to tell Jack about... well, pretty much everything we've done in the past 24 hours." Kondraki waved a dismissive hand.
"Why?"
"It's a long story..."
"Whatever." Clef shook his head, as though he was clearing his mind. "Are you ready?"
"Nope." The brunette laughed.
"Konny, I'm serious. We can't let things go wrong,"
Kondraki stood up and walked over to Clef.
"Look Cleffy, it's all going to turn out okay. I promise." He smiled.
"Fine," Clef took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, I'm just really worried,"
"Don't apologize. I totally understand. I'm worried too,"
Clef smiled and hugged Kondraki.
"Well we've got 15 minutes," Kondraki said after they pulled away from each other. "What should we do?"

11:59
"Don't die." Clef aimed his shotgun at Kondraki.
"I'll try not to." Kondraki took out his pistol.
They waited. A million thoughts ran through Clef's head. Would it all work out? Would it be a repeat of last time? Would it go horribly wrong and Clef would never see the love of his life again?
He shook the thoughts from his head and glanced at Kondraki. He seemed lost in thought.
"You ready?"
"Huh?" Kondraki snapped back to reality. "Oh. Yeah,"
"Try not to hate me after this, okay?"
"Got it,"
Clef shot Kondraki in the arm.

12:04
Kondraki ran through the hall. Right now his main objectives were to hide somewhere, preferably a closet, to avoid Gears, and to hopefully do something about his arm.
He turned the corner and almost ran straight into Gears.
"Doctor Kondraki, you seem to be injured. Are you and Clef having another fight? Here, come with me. I have pain relievers in my office." He showed no emotions.
Kondraki noticed that Gears's hand was in his pocket. He was holding something.
"You don't keep any sort of medicine in your office. You've told me this before." Kondraki backed away slowly.
Gears tensed up but didn't say anything.
"I can see right through you, Gears." Kondraki grinned. "Never thought I'd ever be able to say that,"
The older man pulled his hand out of his pocket. He was holding a gun. Gears aimed it at Kondraki.
"Fuck,"

12:20
Clef was desperately looking for Kondraki. He had checked every office, every closet, every place where Kondraki could be.
Well, except for one. Gears's office.
But he shouldn't have been there. That would mean everything went wrong. Things couldn't go wrong.
Clef noticed that there was blood smeared on the wall. It seemed to be making some sort of trail. Clef followed it.
It wasn't very long before the trail stopped. It stopped right in front of 408's cell.
The blonde man looked around. There seemed to be no sign of Kondraki anywhere. Clef was beginning to lose hope, but then he heard coughing.
"Konny?" Clef looked around.
The wall started flickering. Then a swarm of green butterflies appeared. Beneath the butterflies was a tired and injured Kondraki.
"Thanks guys..." he said, gently waving a few butterflies away.
"Ben!" Clef dropped to his knees and hugged Kondraki.
"Ow, ow, careful Alto,"
"Fuck. Sorry." The blonde man noticed a large red stain on the brunette's shoulder. "How did you get that?"
"Ran into Gears. Lucky for me, it's harder for him to hit a target while it's moving." He chuckled.
"Let's get you to the medical bay." Clef helped him up.
Kondraki was leaning heavily on the smaller man.
"Fuck... I think I'm getting too old to be shot twice in a row,"
"Ya got that right. Also, can I ask you a question?" They started slowly walking down the hall.
"Fire away,"
"How did 408 get out? I thought they were locked up tight,"
"I actually don't know. Maybe someone left a vent open, or maybe they snuck out. When I asked, all they said was that they were concerned,"
"Weird,"
They walked the rest of the way in silence.

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This chapter took a long time. My apologies. I had to keep reading The King is Dead and Yesterday (did I cry? Yes.). Also I had to rewrite a paragraph three times. But I think (hope) it was worth it.
Also drawing blood is a bitch