The South Side of Grand Line city had a reputation, and not a good one at that. More crimes happened here than in other parts of the city, especially the deeper you went. Police patrols were scarce, what few squad cars you did see that weren't responding to the most severe of calls were usually just speeding through the district to get somewhere else. Nay, in the heart of this lawless land, they were nonexistent, because here, nestled in these roughest of neighborhoods, was the central hub for all crime life.

The Underground. 

~~~~

A/N: Welcome back everyone! Here is the long awaited next installment of Modern Misfits! Sorry it took longer than anticipated to get it posted, so we thank you for your patience!

There is no estimate as to when the next chapter will be out. 

Chapter picture (if it properly loads this time) is a rough image of what Wire's bike looks like.

As always don't forget to vote and comment! We absolutely LOVE to hear from you, and it helps my lovely writer Phynix find her motivation to continue writing!

Now without further ado, enjoy!

**This chapter has a TW for violence and fighting and brief description of injuries as a result.**

*Song used: Leave a Light On (Talk Away The Dark) by- Papa Roach

~~~~~~~~~~~~

You clung to Wire's back, your hands fisted in the front of his leather jacket as he raced down the dark streets of the south side on his Harley. You were thankful he blocked most of the wind. What he didn't block your own leather jacket helped to, but your left leg grew pretty cold due to the fishnets you had on. It was part of your 'punk' outfit, the one you had set aside for the incredibly rare times you needed to help the boys with gang things. It fit with their aesthetic and would help others see you were part of them. From the feet up, you wore your black studded leather combat boots with neon blue laces. Your leggings were fishnet over the left leg, solid over the right to conceal your prosthetic and over those you wore short, borderline revealing leather shorts with your studded belt slung over your hips. Under your normal leather riding jacket you had on a fishnet crop top over a red studded leather bra, the clasp in front the same logo for the gang that Wire wore. It was the boy's first insignia, a white circular skull with a jagged outline. It was the only thing you hadn't updated in recent years since you were busy with college. 

On your left arm you wore a fishnet half-sleeve fingerless glove and on the right you donned a tight fitting leather glove, also fingerless that snapped closed around your wrist. Maroon lips, dark eye makeup, and your hair pulled up in an edgy style completed your look. It was a love-hate relationship wearing this outfit. You looked good in it, and it showed off your tattoos, especially the large dragonfly-like fairy wings that covered your back, but it also felt way too revealing. 

"We're here," Wire says, his voice low as he turns down an alley and rolls to a stop along a row of various other motorcycles before pushing down the kickstand and killing the engine. 

"Where exactly is 'here'?" You ask, waiting for him to get off, already shrugging your jacket off. He takes it from you and drapes it over the handlebars before helping you dismount.

"Someplace we never wanted you to be."

His jacket, which bears a large patch of the gang, a skull with Kid's flaming red hair and goggles in front of two crossed bones with a horizontal sword, joins yours revealing his own fishnet crop top that seemed more like a leather harness with fishnet filling the gaps, the center of which held the same insignia as your bra. Since he was riding his motorcycle, the usual leather shorts he wore for gang stuff had been replaced with skin tight black jeans with wide rips in the thighs and knees showing the fishnet stockings he wore underneath and completing his look were his black leather riding boots, belt studded with O-rings and necklace with two ax heads hanging around his neck. 

"Yeah, but where is here? And why would Heat be here?"

He ignores you, eyes narrow as he takes in the surroundings, clearly on edge. 

"Stay close to me." He drapes his arm over your shoulders and pulls you into his side, walking you around the corner of the warehouse looking building you were at and past the very intimidating, overly muscular bouncer with a nod of his head. "Do not wander. Do not look anyone in the eye. And for the love of god, keep your mouth shut!"

He's never talked to you like this, his voice so deep and cold, and it scared you along with your surroundings. You could hear the low thump of music, feel it reverberating through the floor as he led you down a hall to a set of stairs you descend. It was so dark in here, every other light busted or flickering on the verge of dying and smelled like stale beer, musty mildew, and body odor to make a few scents that assaulted your nose. The walls were grodie and even wet looking in some areas, covered in tags and graffiti left and right and the people you saw milling around.... You really did not want to be here, or anywhere near here. Not with the way they looked and certainly not with the way they looked at you. You even thought you heard a girl scream at one point, but you couldn't be sure over the other sounds that grew louder the deeper into the building he ushered you.

"Wire!" You yelp as he pulls you back as two burly men burst through a door, fists flying and you swear you saw a flash of silver before one yelled in pain, his face now bleeding. It was horrifying to witness but he just moved you along to a wide set of double doors into a huge, better lit room, seemingly unbothered by the two men who resumed their brawl. It was so noisy over here, the sounds of cheering loud over the music which thumped with increasing bass, and there were so, so many people.

Wire drags you with him as he shoves through the standing crowd earning several shouts and started threats before they realized who he was, turning back to what originally had their focus with scowls that could almost rival Kid's. Almost.

"An tha vic'tree goes to tha Vipah! Poosh, get tha' scurvy dog ou'a here!" You suddenly hear over the din of the crowd, the raspy accented voice just barely louder than the music before the crowd erupts into a new slew of cheers intermingled with some displeased shouts. You weren't sure what was going on until Wire shoved his way through another row of standing men and down some stairs and you finally got a look at the rest of the room. 

The floor gave way to a series of tiered seats and stairs, leading down to a wall of rusted chain link fencing fashioned into a large, crude circular cage. The floor within was beyond dirty but you could still make out the cracked concrete through the larger dark patches that you were pretty sure weren't from water and it was then you realized what this place was. 

It was a fighting ring. Wire brought you to a fucking fighting ring!

Your horrified suspicions were solidified when the announcer, a rather thin but tall man with a bandanna tied around his head in a way it covered an eye and a messy mop of long greasy black hair danced his way to the center amid the rising jeers of the crowd around you where he spun in a circle, arms wide living up the moment before dropping into an over exaggerated bow as Wire led you to a pair of seats that were quickly vacated before sitting with you, his arm draped over the back of your chair.

"Tha' was one hell of a brawl, wasnnit ye scallywags!?" The crowd grows rowdy with their cheers when he stands back up, a few throwing beer bottles against the cage causing them to shatter, adding glass to the debris already inside the cage. "Vipah moves on ta thaa finowl roun' alawng whiff Mange an Grizzley! Uhp next we hav' one fer tha books! Give 'm yer rowdiest welcom, our first challangah, Sha'erbone!"

If you thought the crowd was loud before, they were even louder now, whistling and shouting as a large muscled shirtless man stepped into the ring, his face painted like a skull. He thrust his overly large hands into the air and the crowd responded in kind. You could only stare in disgust at the thought of what was going to happen next even if you wondered what poor soul would be this man's opponent. 

"Joinin Sha'erbone, back fer 'is fird fight o' tha day an still ready ta kick arse! Torchah!"

Your view was blocked before the second man could walk into the ring when the men seated in front of you surged to their feet as the crowd began chanting a mix of 'Shatterbone' and 'Torcher', most voices calling out for the latter, completely blocking your view. 

With the men standing, even with you shifting you try to see, you could only really get a glimpse of the first man who suddenly moved, the fight starting with a sickening sound of flesh hitting flesh, boots sliding and stomping on the dirty floor mingled with pained grunts as blows were seemingly landed. You didn't want to be here, didn't want to see something so violent, but deep down your human nature did and it irked you that the men in front of you continuously blocked your view. 

You wished a second later they still would, because when one of the men shoved the other out of his face after he got over eager in his cheering you got a clear view into the ring and your heart dropped before you surged to your feet.

"Hea-!" Your cry out to him was quickly muffled by Wire grabbing you, hand covering your mouth as he drags you back down into your seat with a growl into your ear. 

"Sit there and stay quiet!"

You wanted to shove at him, to yell at him and run to the cage and... well. You didn't know what you'd do, but you certainly didn't want Heat in there fighting! But a quick glance around, seeing the thuggish creatures both glaring and leering at you had you sinking into Wire's side, not wanting to leave it for even a second. When Wire sensed you would stay put he removed his hand from over your mouth and sat back in his chair, arm lowering to drape over the back of it once more as he turned back to the cage in front of you, reluctantly lifting your eyes to watch as well.

Heat was pinned to the other side of the cage, arms raised to protect his face as Shatterbone threw punch after punch into his bare stomach and side before he suddenly stepped back and lifted his leg in a kick towards Heat's head, a move he barely blocked before dropping down to a roll to evade the next swing of Shatterbone's oversized fist, pushing off the ground from his crouch to a nimble summersault to evade a fast hammer kick before popping back up onto his own feet, pivoting on one to land a sidekick square into Shatterbone's chest sending him stumbling back. 

Your view was blocked again but you were frozen, your eyes wide as you started to shake. Why what Heat here? Why was he fighting? And what was it the announcer said? Back for this third fight of the day? It didn't make any sense to you, and it broke your heart seeing it. 

The men in front moved again, the crowd's energy rising with new cheers and you saw now Heat on his back, Shatterbone straddling his stomach landing a hard blow across Heat's face that sent blood and spittle flying when his head jerked to the side. He wasn't able to land another when Heat moved, twisting as he thrust a palm up into Shatterbone's face that sent him off balance enough for Heat to buck his hips up with enough force to jolt Shatterbone forward, further off balance as he continued to roll until their roles were reversed, Heat landing blow after blow to the now downed man's face as he struggled to block the onslaught until he brought his legs up, body scrunching and kicking Heat away from him. 

You jumped feeling the man next to you suddenly grab and run his hand up your thigh and when you looked over he had a gross, suggestive smirk on his face as he looked you up and down. He wasn't the only one, you noticed, and it made your stomach roll. Suddenly, the man was recoiling with a slew of cusses, reaching up to hold his profusely bleeding nose and you let out a yelp as Wire pulled you across his lap, his hand replacing the other man's in a possessive manner while his free arm went around your waist and you stiffened feeling him nuzzle into the side of your neck. 

"I'm sorry for this," he whispered, barely audible over the roar of the crowd and thumping of the music, his hand lifting to wrap around the base of your throat as he tugged you closer. "Play along."

How could you play along when the next words out of his mouth, loud enough to be heard by the surrounding men and laced with veiled threats towards them, could make the most seasoned of sailors blush, each statement punctuated by a possessive growl as he jerked you closer before he crashed his lips against yours. Or, at least, that's what it was meant to look like, as instead of his lips touching yours he 'kissed' your chin, his hand coming up to artfully hide the fact he wasn't really kissing you and when he pulled back all you could do was hide your face against the side of his neck and tremble wishing he never brought you here.

"An Sha'erbone is knawked owt!" You suddenly hear the announcer call out, peeking from where you hid to see Shatterbone lying prone on the ground, his face a bloody mess over his ruined face paint but a slight rise and fall of his chest indicated he was still breathing. "Ya know tha' rools, Torchah. Ya gotta stan' un'sisted fer thir'y seccens ta be declared tha winnah!"

The crowd start chanting out his name and you watched as Heat clenched his jaw and pushed off of where he was using the fencing to brace himself and stood hunched over with a slight sway, an arm wrapped tightly around his middle as he lifted his free hand to wipe a trail of blood from his nose before spitting more from his mouth. 

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One!" The crowd counted down before erupting into even louder cheers drowning out the announcer officially naming Heat the winner of the round as he stumbled out of the ring.

"Ge' tha pile o' shyte ou'a 'ere!" The announcer shouts while flipping off the downed man with both hands before he spun away, three muscular men rushing in to lift and cart Shatterbone out of the ring. 

The crowd reigned in their excitement when the announcer raised his hands and motioned them to settle down so he could be heard again, spinning in a slow circle with a wide toothy grin on his face before he let out a laugh. 

"Excitin, ey?! An naw we ge' ta tha main event! Tha fa'al four way!"

You were confused but the others knew what he was talking about, hooting and hollering with renewed vigor as the announcer gave them a few moments to get it out of their system. 

"Fuck! This is bad!" Wire hisses out, holding you tighter, his body tensing and you look up to see him grimace before schooling his face back to what it was. 

"What is it?" you whisper, worried. 

"I didn't realize they were doing that match so soon. They usually wait until the end of the month."

"What match?"

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before turning back to you. "Heat's fight was a bare fists match, which is how most of them go. No weapons allowed, only your bare hands. In this next one anything goes. Any weapon, any devil fruit power or natural ability. The only thing not allowed are guns. The fatal four way."

"W-why is it called that?" You asked, fearful of his answer and you were right to be.

"Because it's four men fighting each other with live weapons. And almost every time, at least one of those men die."

"B-but Heat's fight is over. He's done fighting, so he'll be fine.... won't he?"

Wire just looks at you, his lips set in a pained frown as the announcer calls out again. 

"Ahnyfin goes fer this brawl essept fer firearms an las' man standin wins! Le's welc'm back are fi'ers! Mange!" 

A small, wiry man with wild, patchy, jagged brown hair and dirty skin comes running out similar to how an ape would run before launching himself at the fence, snarling and growling with spittle running down his chin as he violently rattles the chain link and you caught sight of two knives fastened to the belt of his baggy, ripped pants. The crowd just erupted in cheers, nearly drowning the next fighter's name as it was called. 

 "Grizzley!"

The next man, if you could call him that, came walking out at a leisurely pace. He was massive. Broad across the chest and shoulders, thighs and arms thick with muscle and it seemed that just about every inch of him was covered in hair. He pumped a fist in the air when he reached the center of the ring and you saw he wore a pair of gloves with short claw-like blades coming from the knuckles.

"Vipah!"

The next man appears in a series of nimble flips and tumbles before doing what you could only describe as some kind of breakdance ending in a handstand before slowly lowering himself in a smooth way until his body was parallel to the ground at which point he jumped back up to his feet. You could see he also had a long sharp knife tied to his thigh. 

It hit you then. The panicked realization that had your heart hammering in your chest. Mange, Grizzly, and Viper were the previous winners. No. Just... no! You were wrong! The last fight literally just ended! There's no way-

"Torchah!"

A sob stuck in your throat as you saw your precious Blueberry walk out into the ring looking little better for wear. Whereas he was previously shirtless wearing only his loose pants and boots he now had on his black corset, cinched together with blood red ties and a leather armor plate over his right thigh and attached to his hip he had his own sheathed dagger.

"Wire, you have to stop him!" You begged the tall man who's lap you still sat on, grabbing at his top with trembling hands. "He can't do this!"

"He doesn't have a choice."

"What do you mean? Of course he does!"

"No, (Y/n), he doesn't." Wire's voice has gone cold again but he refuses to look at you and after a moment you can feel him trembling too. "If he forfeits now, his reputation and that of the crew's will be tarnished. He'll be seen as weak and labeled a coward and in this kind of life, that's the same as a death sentence."

"But he could die!"

"I know." Wire finally looks down at you and you see his eyes shimmering with the slightest hint of tears he couldn't let form or fall. Not here. "I'm so sorry I brought you here."

~~~~Heat~~~~

"Best o' luck, lads! May tha bes' man live!"

'Skiddy never told me this match was going to be a fatal four way, slimy rat bastard that he is!' Heat thinks to himself as he dives out of the way from a wild punch from Grizzly, tucking into a roll only to kip up in a backflip as Viper swung down at him with his dagger. Out of the four here, Heat definitely had the biggest target on his back and taking him out, in any way, would be an insane boost to the victor's reputation so he had to keep his head on a swivel. 

Grizzly's focus was taken off him mid lunge as Mange latched onto the man's back, arms locked around his thick neck in an attempt of a sleeper hold, still growling and nearly frothing at the mouth and Heat gave a slight sigh of relief at having his opponent narrowed down to just Viper for now. Not that it would do him much good. Viper was a nimble little shit with extensive martial arts training. He had to be on his guard and-

He hissed as the edge of Vipers blade just barely caught his arm as he jumped away, but he couldn't stop to focus on it for now, ducking and dodging wide wild slashes and swipes before he sees an opening, pivoting quickly to land a rib breaking roundhouse kick that knocked the air from Vipers lungs. He continues the motion, bringing his fist up to land a powerful punch across his face sending the smaller man sprawling. Well, that was easy enou-

He heard a crazed yell from behind and barely lunged away, tucking into a roll before popping back up on his feet turning to face the wild Mange who ran at him, both of his daggers drawn. 

'No choice!' Heat thinks as he draws his own knife, using it to block the downward swing of one of Mange's knives, hand catching the wrist of the other. While he knew Viper from previous matches, Mange and Grizzly were both newcomers and he didn't know how they fought which made predicting their moves difficult, especially those of Mange since he had no rhyme or reason behind his attacks.

Mange used Heat's hold on him to his advantage, hooking his knife over Heat's, pulling against the hold on his wrist to run up Heat's torso before kicking him him in the side of the head, the force of which makes his ear ring, grip loosening enough for Mange to slip away. He was back at it the moment his feet hit the ground, charging and slashing at him, Heat barely able to block and deflect. He could feel his arms sting with cuts and nicks as he was backed into the cage wall. Not good!

He takes a deep breath, holding it in his chest as he feels it start to grow warm but just before he can spew his fire forth Mange is grabbed from behind and thrown clear across the cage by Grizzly who stomps after him with an animalistic roar. Heat takes the moment to catch his breath, exhaling a cloud of smoke, the remnants of the fire he no longer needed. He winces when Grizzly lashes out, the claws of his gloves leaving deep jagged cuts across Mange's torso before a violent kick to the middle of his chest sends him flying into the side of the cage where he slumps in a heap, blood quickly pooling around him. Viper was already gone, carried out while he was focused on the little devil and now the same three men as before rushed in to carry Mange out, leaving Heat to face Grizzly alone. 

Heat stared down the beast of a man, adjusting his grip on his dagger as he eased into a crouch. Skiddy was saying something to the crowd, but he couldn't focus on him, easily drowning out the roar of the crowd to background noise. This is how it has been over the past two weeks; Show up to The Underground, sign up for a fight or two, get the shit beat out of him before knocking the opponent out and going to cool off in the locker room and heading out, not always back home. His body by now was nothing more than a patchwork quilt of bruises and abrasions and he was sure more than a few ribs were cracked but no matter how beat he was, how run down and broken his body became, it wasn't enough. Nothing would ever be enough after how he hurt you. 

If he had known, had even suspected your drink had been tampered with, that something was wrong or that you'd been drugged, he never would have touched you like he had. Never would have... would have also... If you hadn't passed out when you did, before he had his chance like Kid and Killer... He felt sick again, bile rising in his throat as he gave a grimace, his vision going blurry. It's the main thing that continued to haunt his thoughts since the day after the party when Killer got the results that you and Kid had been drugged. That he'd almost raped the woman he loved.

He snaps back to reality, narrowly dodging a wide swing from Grizzly's clawed fist, ducking out of the way as he landed his own punches to the hairy man's abdomen and side but they did little to deter the beast who rounded on him, punching down into his side and he braced for the hit, hearing a familiar feminine scream call out his name. 

His eyes grew wide as he looked out into the crowd, unsure he truly heard what he did, thinking he caught a flash of you holding a horrified, no, an utterly terrified expression before it was blocked by several men, but, no. His eyes had to be playing tricks on him. You would never set foot in a place like this, no matter what. It was the one place the four men had decided with utmost certainty that you would never learn about, no matter the fact it was the central hub for the majority of the crime of the city. There's just no way...

Grizzly roared out realizing his claws struck Heat's armored pad instead of the soft flesh he had tried to hit, lashing out with animalistic fury Heat continued to block and dodge until he held both of the large man's wrists in his hands, his arms trembling to repel the force behind them even as he was forced down to a knee with a grunt. One wrong move, and it would all be over, and if he truly wasn't careful... it could be a permanent end.

~~~~Reader~~~~

You followed behind Wire as close as you could, holding onto his belt as he shoved his way through the crowd making his way to the locker rooms. You didn't dare look anywhere, focusing on Wire's broad back as your stomach rolled replaying that last fight over and over in your head. It was hands down the worst thing you've ever experienced aside from the accident that killed your sister and took your leg and you never wanted to see anything like it ever again. It would've made more sense to have the locker rooms near the ring, but you guessed no one here had common sense since you had to take several turns down other hallways before you saw the first sign pointing the way. Part of you wondered what all these other rooms were used for, but after a moment you pushed that aside deciding you didn't want to know. 

You're not really paying attention, so you don't notice when Wire stops until you run into his back with an ''oof', feeling him tense up.

"Ownly fi'ers 'lowd back 'ere- Oh! Wellookie 'ere! Lawng time no see G'liath! Aye goht anuhva few fai'ts t'nite. Come te sign uhp-"

He's cut off with a painful wheeze when Wire grabs the man by his shirt collar and slams him into the nearest wall that dazes him for a moment, Wire's eyes narrow and blazing at the slim man.

"What the fuck were you thinking!" Wire growls in a voice that scares even you and you hold onto his belt tighter when you notice others around you stopping what they were doing to watch the scene, some reaching slowly for their concealed weapons. "You know we don't do fatal four ways! Why'd you let him fight in one?!"

Skiddy lets out a sharp laugh, lips curling up into a cold amused smirk. "Is cuz ay changed tha fite las' minnit. Coul'n pass up tha oppartuni'y of 'avin one'a ye givin a good show."

Wire's expression reads cold murder as his hands tighten until his knuckles pop but as much as he wants to he refrains from beating the slimy rat knowing it wouldn't end well for him if he did. Instead he gives another growl and shoves Skiddy away, the man tumbling against the wall where he falls to his ass laughing madly as you and Wire continue towards the locker room. 

Wire moves, suddenly stepping to the left and you yelp at the abruptness of it, barely managing to hold onto his belt and not run into the tall man heading the other way. He stood out compared to the others, fully concealed in his long black trench coat, the hood pulled up over his head. You couldn't see his face since it was tilted down as he typed away at his phone, further hidden by the brim of a fuzzy white hat poking out from under the hood and he wore surgical gloves. When you looked behind you after passing him you saw a medical backpack on his back with a heart keychain hanging from the zipper before he suddenly stops and slowly turns his head, and you could swear he was looking at you, even though you couldn't see his face before Wire turns and walks into the room the man, obviously a medic of some kind, had just come from.

"I don't care, Skiddy," You hear Heat say in a gruff voice that hinted at the pain he was in. "I'm not doing the next fight. Not after that stunt, so find someone else."

"You were going to do another fight after all that?"

Heat looked up quickly with a wince to see Wire standing there, his large form blocking you entirely as you hid behind him trying to collect yourself before you could face your beloved friend, especially since just the sound of his voice had you nearly in tears.

"Wire..? What are you doing here?"

"We're here to bring you home, Heat. Here to stop this madness!"

"We? What do you...you...." Heat trails off, his eyes shifting down and going wide when you slowly step out from behind Wire, still clutching onto his belt with a trembling hand. He just stares at you for a moment, his breath hitching before he rounds back on Wire. "Are you insane?! What the fuck is she doing here?!"

"She wanted to come. To bring you home."

"But to bring her here?! Wire, you've lost your fucking mind!"

"You're the one who's lost his mind!" Wire shouts back, taking a step forward. "All this fighting! Disappearing for days at a time only to come home bruised and bloody! It needs to stop, Heat!"

Heat just shakes his head and lowers it once more with a sigh. You could tell he was already getting quickly overwhelmed. "You won't understand..."

"Of course I won't, because you won't talk to me!" Wire says, his voice laced with frustrated desperation. "Why are you doing this to yourself? What possible reason could drive you to hurt yourself over and over like this!?"

"I'm doing this because of her!" Heat yells as he surges to his feet, pointing in your direction and in the next breath his eyes unfocus and he sways with a groan as his legs buckle. Wire lunges forward to catch him, supporting his weight before lowering him back to the bench.

"What do you mean?" Wire asks softly, his face reflecting the same confusion you felt as you stood there with your hands clasped over your mouth. 

"Because of what I did to her," Heat says between shuddery breaths that made him wince. "Because of what I let happen. Because I hurt her and betrayed her trust and....and almost raped her, too!"

He breaks off with a choked wail, his walls finally crumbling as his face takes on a pained expression, tears flowing freely from his eyes between hard jagged breaths hitched with pain as he curls in on himself in Wire's hold.

"I can't forgive myself for it," he sobs out, clutching onto Wire's arm. "So this is my punishment. My penance for all the pain I caused her! For hurting my Dragonfly!"

Tears slide thickly down your cheeks as you blink rapidly to keep your vision clear hearing him break down in such a way, hearing his reasons for why he willingly put himself through all this pain and abuse and don't realize your feet are moving until you're kneeling next to him, pulling him into you as you hold him tightly, crying with him as he clutches at you.

"Oh, Heat. No.... No, hun. You didn't hurt me."

"Yes I did... You can't tell me I didn't," he sobs harder, shaking his head. "I hurt you by not realizing something was wrong. I hurt you by giving into temptation. You left us because of what we did. Left me! We didn't know..! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

It was pointless trying to get through to him like this, when his body was wracked with sobs, when he was trapped in his head and you knew it. Instead you just held him tighter as he cried himself to exhaustion. 

"Wire... we need to get him home," you whisper between sniffles as you hold Heat tighter yet being mindful of his multitude of injuries. "He brought his car, but... I can't drive it and you've got your motorcycle here."

"I texted Bubblegum and Tank to come get my bike. They're gonna take it to the shop." Wire gives one more gentle rub against Heat's back before pulling away to gather his husband's belongings including the keys to his Jeep. "I'll have to support him, so hold onto my belt like you did on the way down here and stay close."

You nod and pull back from Heat as Wire takes his better arm, draping it over his shoulder before helping the battered bluenett to his feet, holding him close and supporting him with ease as he leads him to the door. You follow closely behind, grabbing hold of Wire's belt as he leads further through the halls up a different staircase and final set of doors, emerging to a covered open space full of various cars and other modes of transportation. Wire had you get into the back of Heat's oversized Jeep first before maneuvering Heat in so he laid across the seat with his head resting on your lap. You vaguely heard the door close, followed by Wire getting into the driver's seat, sliding it back before the vehicle roared to life and he set off.

Your focus was entirely on Heat as Wire navigated the dark roads, your hands smoothing over his light blue locks as his head laid restlessly on your lap, frowning at the bruising forming on his face, the red swollen split in his lip, black eye. His torso was bound in tight bandages, as were his forearms and hands but you could see the beginnings of blood seeping through from the cuts and wounds he received in that final match. Seeing him this way broke your heart.

"Should we take him to the hospital?" You ask Wire, finally breaking the tense silence of the car. 

"No need. The medic you saw back there took care of him. If they said he needed the hospital, we would go, but he didn't, so Heat will be fine."

"....Are you sure?" You asked softly, biting on your lip to keep it from trembling, a tear sliding down your face to land on Heat's cheek.

"Yes, Sprite. I'm sure. We'll give it a few days and if anything gets worse I promise I'll take him in. Kicking and screaming if I have to."

A nod is all you can manage as you turn your attention back to your beloved Blueberry. The words he said in the locker room repeated in your head, the reason why he did this to himself night after night and it broke your heart. Why would he purposely seek out such violence and abuse even if he felt he hurt you? Didn't he know how much it always pained you to see them hurt over the years? How it was killing you now seeing him like this?

You're still lost in your thoughts, silently crying as you soothed Heat however you could when Wire parks in the driveway and comes around to get Heat, carefully rousing and pulling him from the car, supporting his weight. You rush out your own door carrying Heat's discarded sweater, running to the house ahead of them, unlocking the door to let them in, watching Wire all but drag him up the stairs to their room.

You hesitated at the bottom of the stairs, unsure of what to do before you took a breath and climbed after them, pausing in the open doorway to Heat and Wire's shared room watching Wire carefully unlace and pull off Heat's boots. His corset was already off and discarded on the floor and you turned away when Wire pulled off Heat's pants, your face growing warm with a slight flush but still you stood there, wanting to do something, to help in some way. Wire must sense your conflicted thoughts because he let out a soft sigh. 

"There isn't anything to do now other than let him rest. He needs it, and so do you. I'll stay up with him, so go get some sleep, (Y/n). We can talk in the morning."

"Are...are you sure?"

"Yeah." Wire gives a slight nod and looks up at you, trying to give you a reassuring smile. "It'll be okay now that he's home."

You look up at them, chewing at your lip before nodding, but rather than going to your room to lay down you grab a change of clothes and head to the bathroom to take a shower and wash off your makeup and the lingering smell of that horrible place, replaying all that happened over and over again as the water washed over you. Heat's first match you saw, the four way when he won against Viper and fought off Mange before Grizzly took care of the crazed man. How the human bear went after your sweet Blue and hurt him so badly, nearly clawing him apart like he had Mange before Heat finally unleashed his fire against him. It was your first time seeing him use it against another person. The smell of burning hair was awful and you were sure that man would forever have bald spots from the burns he received but it had allowed Heat to finally knock him out. Grizzly had to be sprayed down with a fire extinguisher before they could haul him away and before that rat-like man, Skiddy you vaguely remember him being called, could declare Heat the winner he stumbled out looking so, so battered and bleeding. It hurt to think about, yet you could think of nothing else and it wasn't long before your tears mingled with the cooling water of the shower. 

The water was ice cold by the time you finally got out and changed into your sleep clothes and hobbled to bed. You kept your door cracked in case Wire needed you but no matter how hard you tried you just couldn't calm down enough to sleep, and reaching for your ever faithful cuddle dragon was futile since he was nowhere to be found. You wondered if Heat had taken it back to his room when you remembered that you still had Heat's sweater so in lieu of your Spitz, you grabbed Heat's sweater from your dresser and wrapped it around a pillow, clutching it tight as you buried your face into the familiar comforting scent and it was there, tears still streaming from your eyes, that you finally fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~

You weren't sure what woke you, but you steadily found yourself reaching a groggy consciousness as your dark room came into focus. There's no way you could have been asleep long, and a glance at your alarm clock proved that, its red numbers reading out 3:26 am. It was way, way too early, especially since you only got to sleep about two hours ago after coming home from the underground fights Wire took you to so you could bring Heat home.

"It's too late to be up," you mumble to yourself with a wide yawn before you shift to a comfier position but before you can relax too much, a sound reaches your ears. Soft and low, and almost... sad? It sounded like singing, maybe, but everyone else should be asleep as well. Whatever it was, it had your attention now and you wanted to find out what it was. 

Throwing the covers off you, you slowly sit up and rub the back of your head as you yawn, your other hand reaching for your crutch and with its support you stand and make your way to your door. It was definitely getting louder, even more so when you opened the door fully and you realized with a silent gasp it was coming from Heat and Wire's room across the hall. The way the doors were situated, you couldn't see directly into their room while standing in your doorway, so you hobbled across and leaned against the wall outside their door to better listen. 

"Rain comes following an endless drought

To wash away the remnants of all your doubt

I hope you see me looking out."

You remain silent as you hear Wire singing over the sound of sniffling. Heat must be awake and crying again, and the thought of that made your chest ache.

"It's not like me to worry

But when I see you fading in the dark

I'll leave a light on for you

Through the long nights, I will be right

There for you if you drift too far

I'll leave a light on for you!"

Even when his voice slowly fades with the end of the song you stand there, hearing Heat's sniffles and soft whimpers slowly fade and you can only guess he's exhausted himself once more to the point he finally fell back asleep, not making out Wire's soft comforts to him. It's silent then for a few more minutes, minutes in which you're still not able to move before you jump hearing Wire's voice as he talks, his voice soft and deep. 

"He wrote me that song years ago, back when we still lived on the streets," he says softly with a sigh. "It was hard back then. So, so very hard trying to survive on our own, running from our pasts afraid that they would catch up with us."

You finally move, albeit slowly, until you're standing in their open doorway looking in to see Wire relaxed against the pillows, one arm around Heat and gently stroking his hair as the other drapes over his body to hold Heat's bandaged arm, the bluenett curled into his side with his head on his chest. Even from here you could see the thick tear trails over his bruised cheeks.

"It was harder when Kid and Killer were caught. Yes, you guys let us into the orphanage or fed us when you could, but when it was just us two out on the streets? I often went to a dark place mentally, and it was there on those streets, hunkered down in a filthy alley between garbage bins and cardboard boxes that Heat first sang that song to me as he held me. It drew me back from my past. Pulled me from the memories that still try to consume me to this day."

Wire sighs softly before finally turning his eyes away from his sleeping husband to look at you, lips turned down in a soft frown. 

"He's not doing well, (Y/n). You saw how he was at the fight, but I don't think you realize just how bad he's been. Ever since the party..." He trails off letting out another sigh, face twisting into a pained expression. "He never wanted to hurt you. None of us did. I know you're still upset about it, but you need to know just how much it's killing him to think, to know he hurt you, in any way. He can't... and I... I'm trying but I don't know how long I can hold him together. Not with him hurting as bad as he is."

"Wire..."

"You heard him. It's why he's been fighting so much. Letting the men beat on him like he has been. He hurt you, we hurt you enough you left and wanted nothing to do with us, so this is his self proclaimed punishment. Getting hurt night after night, fight after fight because he thinks this pain will help him to atone for what we did that night, but we didn't know. We didn't know..." Wire lets out a soft sniffle, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of Heat's head as he holds him tighter. 

"He loves you, (Y/n). Truly loves you, with his whole heart. He has from the moment we first met you but like you he values your friendship too much to risk it. Even if you don't, even if you can't return it, please. Help him. I can't lose my light."

Wire's words, his pleas to you have tears welling in your eyes you quickly try to blink away, your heart aching. You knew Heat had been doing bad, that much was evident from the fight and how he broke down after, but you never knew just how bad. And it hurt knowing your Blueberry was suffering. Hurt knowing Wire was suffering as well because of it.

Adjusting your hold on your crutch you hobble over to Wire's side, leaning down to give him a hug the best you can with how he was laying with Heat resting against him and Wire wrapped his free arm around you and held you tight, nuzzling into the curve of your neck with a sniffle. He was shaking, trying so hard to stay strong for Heat's sake. He wasn't alone, and you hoped he knew that as you pulled back and cupped his face, leaning up to kiss his forehead before you made your way around to the foot of the bed and crawled up behind Heat so you were sandwiched between his back and the wall, shifting carefully until you could hold him close, mindful of his injuries as you nuzzled into the back of his shoulder, placing a gentle kiss to his warm skin.

Wire shifted then, carefully extracting his arm from under Heat's head drawing a whimper, Heat instinctively clutching at Wire as he moved but he didn't stop until he was free from his hold and stood from the bed. You remained still, your own grip loosening around Heat as he shifted and curled up, almost seeking Wire once more but finding nothing he rolled over with a soft pained cry, his breath hitching and hissing through his teeth and it made your heart ache all the more until he curled up against you, his arm heavy around your waist as he held you close leaving you utterly pinned between him and the wall behind you. This side of his face was even darker, swollen around his black eye and you had to bite your lip to keep it from trembling as you gently brushed his hair away.

"Oh, Blue..." you sigh out, running your fingers through his hair as he nuzzles into your hold on him before finally relaxing back into sleep once more. "I've got you, and I'm never letting you go again."