Archive of Our Own

Driven with desires to change your life, you didn’t hesitate to do a background check and called the said number. Pacing back and forth in the living room as you anticipate the call. You sigh in relief as soon as you hear a voice from the other end. Without hesitating , you immediately introduce yourself and stated your motive. The man enthusiastically informed everything you needed to pass and where the interview will be held. Hanging up you began packing your clothes, necessities, stuff and your sketch book. Calling the furniture moving truck as soon as you found an affordable apartment near the said work. Using your hardworking earn money from part time jobs and selling books online.

Days of waiting, you finally managed to move out of your childhood home filled with nothing but miserable memories. Mustering all your courage you opened the door and sat beside the driver. It wasn’t that far from the country side, after hours of driving you finally reached the destination. The apartment looks pretty decent, it doesn't look cheap or expensive, but hey you can’t be picky; you gotta survive, not live like a wealthy Madonna. Stepping inside the apartment, a man waiting for your arrival greeted and gave you a short tour before handing you the key.

You looked around in awe, the room itself looks neat and nice. The man helped you place your furniture. After hours of arranging, you plopped on the floor exhausted. You felt a pang of hunger and thirst, looking outside the window you saw a cafe and decided to stop by and grab a few pastries and drinks. You put on your shoes and stroll down in the streets heading towards the cafe. Not wasting any time you fastened your pace, opening the door you accidentally bumped into a boulder. A hot and skin-burning liquid splashed on your face. You jumped up and down panicking. You looked up to see a man in a lab coat towering over you. He was wearing mechanical goggles. It looked like it was personally customized cause there’s no way some shit will wear that outside. You gasp and jump slightly out of pain, wincing as you attempt to wipe it away. At the other end, the man pulled out a handkerchief trying to wipe the coffee spilled on your face — he apologized while trying to calm you down. 

Caught off guard by his voice, you froze for a second. With his huge build, you didn’t expect him to have such a smooth and gentle voice. It almost distracted you from the embarrassment creeping up to your face. “Oh dear, forgive me for my clumsiness.”.   He kept wiping the spilled coffee off your clothes and face while you tried your best to stay calm. Around you, people stared with either mockery or pity, making you feel even more humiliated. 

“I deeply apologized, young lady. Are you hurt? Please tell me so i can get you treated immediately.” You gave him an awkward smile and quickly shook your head. ”Y-yeah, it’s okay. I’m fine, really.” Focused on cleaning the stains, you didn’t notice how close he was. The man was towering over you, bending down just to match your height while helping you.

Your eyes slowly scrutinizing his physique. This man was huge. No… inhumanely huge. His broad frame towered over everyone around him, and something about his pale skin felt strange, almost unnatural. There was no way this man was completely human…at least, that’s what you thought. And he noticed. Your eyes met his, instantly making the situation awkward. The silence between you stretched longer and longer while you stood there frozen in embarrassment. Then suddenly, he let out a small chuckle, clearly amused by your reaction.

“Ah, yes. My odd physique,” He spoke with an almost amused calmenesss, as if he had long grown accustomed to such reactions. “I’m used to people looking at me that way.” he sigh before continuing. “I appear inhumanely huge, don't I, dear?”  Dear?, Caught off guard by his overwhelming height. But first of all why is this man calling you dear so intimately? Or maybe it’s just your assuming ass. You shook your head, forcing yourself to snap back to reality. 

“Oh. Um no! No, not at all. It's just this is my first time seeing someone this tall. I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable…I wasn’t judging you or anything.” You blurted out, your voice slightly higher from panic. Nervously fidgeting on your nape immediately after speaking as you avoided direct eye contact. 

“Oh no! Its okay. I spilled your coffee. I should be the one paying you. I’m sorry, here let m—” You quickly reached for you wallet, only for him to stop you. His large hand wrapped around your wrist before you could even pull it out. You looked up, immediately met by his cold expression. Even with the mechanical goggles covering his eyes, you could still feel his stare locked on you. 

For a moment, he stood there, still holding your wrist. “I said I'll pay.” his voice came out low and cold, sending a chill down your spine. Embarrassment burned across your face as you felt the eyes of everyone in the cafe on you again. Quiet whispers and judging looks made you want to sink into the floor. Having no other choice, you silently followed him after he finally let go of your wrist. Once your order arrived, he sat across from you. You lowered your head immediately, avoiding his gaze completely.

“Victor.” he stated tranquilly, you slowly looked at him. His whole aura changed abruptly. He was smiling now. “What?” You fidgeted your hands nervously under the table, confused by what he meant. “My name is Dr. Victor Gideon.” He tilted his head slightly, clearly amused by your reaction. “Doctor? You’re a docto—. Oh, I mean of course. You are literally wearing a lab coat.” you chuckled trying to compose yourself. He smiled again, still staring at you a little too intensely. It was enough to make you uncomfortable, this man is sure to have a staring problem. “I’m y/n L/n” you muttered, while forcing a soft smile. “I’m uhh… an artist. I paint and stuff.” 

“An artist, how fascinating.” You couldn’t get over how this man's voice is so velvety and smooth. After receiving the order of both parties, you both say your goodbyes before parting ways. You stroll back to your apartment, halting just by the entrance—you looked back, he was standing there watching you walk back to your place. He waved at you, and you waved back before he turned around and headed to his car. “Such an odd man” you muttered to yourself. Plopping on the mattress on the floor, your gaze landing on the paper bag filled with pastries the Doctor had brought for you. They look ridiculously expensive for a piece of bread. Honestly, you would’ve never bought something like this for yourself, but he did.

Taking a bite, you savored the rich flavor while sipping your beloved mocha latte. After a while, you grabbed your phone and started looking through the map, trying to familiarize yourself with the town. One place immediately caught your attention, Rhodes Hill Chronic Center.

The building looked exquisite — almost too extravagant for a center, this place looked like a fucking mansion. This had to be the Doctor’s workplace. You scrolled further through the website, reading more about the center. It seemed strangely secluded, built farr away from the city like it had been placed there on purpose, suspiciously. But you shrugged the thought off your head, reminding yourself you have other priorities. Which was your new workplace.You needed the job, after all. Bills wouldn’t pay themselves, and unfortunately, you were still a slave to capitalism. “Oh man,” you sighed, rubbing your temples. You knew your new work wouldn’t cover all your expenses but its your passion, you loved painting and you will be paid for doing something you love.

Placing your phone down and plopped onto the mattress, your gaze fixed on the ceiling. Your mind began wanderring to the life waiting for you here. Would anything actually change this time? Would you meet someone who’d change your life completely? Or would everything stay exactly the same? Your eyes drifted towards the pile of treasured magazines you’d collected over the years. A familiar feeling of envy crept into your chest.

You’d always wanted to know what it felt like to live like the wealthy. No constant suffering, no surviving day by day, breaking your back for a penny — just living without having to worry about everything all the time.

VVV

His heels struck the floor with slow, deliberate clickings, each step shrap enough to make the room feel smaller. His massive figure towered over everyone in the cnter of the hall, an intimidating presence too impossible to ignore. Heads instinctively lowered the moment the Doctor walked in, staffs refusing to meet his gaze for more than a second.

It had been a rough day for him.

Especially after failing to locate Miss Ashcroft for the fifth time. He couldn’t understand why locating one woman had become so impossibly difficult. Already exhausted nearly every resource available to him — connections, money, influence, even people willing to dirt their hands in his places in exchange for money. Yet in the end, like always he failed.

He walked out of his office, closing the door behind him with all his force making the walls cry and shudder. The floor board creaking against his weight, his breathing heavy and quiet at the same time. He had decided to visit a nearby local cafe to freshen up his mind, and distract himself from all the frustration building up in his chest. 

Failure.

Such a simple word, yet it struck him harder each time it flashes across the blue screen. He was a brilliant man, at least that was what people always called him. A  child of science. A prodigy. A man blessed with vast knowledge in technology, science, and medicine far beyond ordinary minds. Yet despite all that, despite the power and intelligence people had praised him for, he stil could not locate one simple woman.

Miss Ashcroft. The name alone had became a wound to his pride. His jaw tightened as the word ‘FAILED’ glowed coldly against the holographic screen across him. Endless data flickernig in blue light across his face; reports, sightitngs, predictions, corrupted trailed — all useless. Every lead dissolved right before he could reach that woman, as if the woman herself had vanished the moment he get close.

It irritated him more than he cared to admit. No one had ever slipped through his fingers this many times before. And perhaps that was exactly why he had become so obsessed. The thought of his master praising him for continuing his legacy, refusing to let all his master’s hard worked projects go to waste.

The walk to the cafe was a torture to him. Not because of the distance, but because his mind has become unbearably loud. Chaos clawing through his thoughts, voices tearing at him from every corner of his mind, hissing insults and failures into his ears. Useless. Pathetic. Incompetent. The words repeated endlessly, each one digging deeper beneath his lifeless skin.

For not doing enough.

For not trying hard enough.

For allowing himself to fail after everything he had sacrificed.

The Doctor clawed his way to the top through years of brutal training, sleepless nights, and endles expectations placed on his shoulders. He ha d endured things that would have broken ordinary people long ago just to stand in the position he held now. Yet despite all of that effort, all that intelligence and power, he still couldn't track down one ordinary woman. Or was she?

The thought alone made irritation burn beneath his chest. He fucking hated this.

His jaw tightened as his heels echoed sharply against the pavement, each click growing harsher than the last. People instinctively moved aside as he passed, avoiding his gaze, shrinking under his cold and intimidating aura surrounding him.

He wanted to snap at someone. Anyone.

Just to ease the growing annoyance festering inside him before it consumed whatever little patience he still had left. Walking inside the cafe, without a second thought he went straight to the counter. Ordering his usual, a caffe amerikano. After paying for his order, he rushed out of the establishment, hands reaching for the handle when the door creaked opening on its own. There was a woman rushing inside, accidentally bumping into him. He had spilled the hot drink on the poor woman's face. She hissed and winced in pain, shrieking as she tried to wipe away the heat burning against her skin. He watched her jumping up and down trying to ease the pain, studying her for a brief moment before he reached out to his handkerchief tucked inside his lab coat. 

He placed his massive hands on her shoulder trying to calm this poor young woman, he wiped gently against her soft and delicate skin. Conflicted between wanting to calm her or comfort this stranger. But after a couple minutes, the young woman had settled slowly, calming down. She had looked up at him, staring at him with wide eyes open. Ah, yes. The usual reaction — terrified, confused or surprised. The Doctor is accustomed to this reaction, staring back at her, her eyes filled with innocence, something he craved a long time ago. Something inside him had unraveled, a foreign feeling crawling out of his chest. It wasn't love, nor any romantic feelings. It was strange… he had never felt this way before. 

Breaking the deafening silence, “Oh dear, forgive me for my clumsiness.” He spoke, with a gentle tone. 

After talking for a while, Victor and the young woman exited the building, waving goodbyes to each other. He headed toward his car; an old-fashioned vintage 1935 Duesenberg SSJ he had bought at an auction years ago. Before driving away, he gestured for his driver to wait for a moment, halting just for a second. Noticing the young woman staring at the car with a confused expression on her face. Only then did she step inside.

Minutes of driving passed in a sickening silence before he arrived back at the center. He was greeted by cold, sterile air; the place smelled of antiseptic and overused air condiotning. Walking back to his office, he placed the coffee he had bought onto the desk before ambling behind it, picking up the old pictures of Miss Ashcroft along with the folders containing aall her information. He tried to focus back on his work, rewriting data and sorting through more papers about the center. Doing this work used to be a bliss to him, but lately the papers had become nothing but a source of stress. He didn’t understand why.

Maybe all his pent up stress, memories and failures finally catching up to him. The suffocating pressure that had been clawing at the back of his mind for weeks are now impossible to ignore. With a sharp exhale, he slammed the stack of papers onto his desk with all his force, the loud crack echoing through the office as the desk trembled beneath him. A few folders slipped sideways, coffee inside the cup rippled from the impact. He rubbed his temple, eyes squeezing shut as he attempted to ease the growing migraine drilling into his skull. The sterile hum of the air conditioning only worsened the pounding in his brain, making the silence around him feel more deafening than before. Just as he felt himself drowning in tension and pressure, his phone suddenly rang.

The sound of his ringtone echoing throughout the walls of the room. He reached for it with mild irritation still lingering in his expression,but the moment he answered, Zeno’s voice greeted him with the same unbreakable confidence, calm and bold as always.

“Still working on the project?” Victor could hear muffled conversation and distant laughter in the background as Zeno spoke, as if he was surrounded by people while Victor sat alone in the suffocating silence of his office. Victor let out a quiet sigh, fingers tightening slightly around the phone. He hesitated, debating weather he should bring up the problem again for what felt like the fifth time. At this point, even he was growing tired of hearing himself talk about it but driven by his desire to follow his master’s legacy. 

“Yes, I am.” he answered at last, disappointment weighing heavily in his tone. A low snicker came from the other end of the line. Not mocking exactly, but enough to make Victor’s irritation flare. “Listen, you know we aren’t exactly friends,” Zeno said, his voice lowering slightly but the confident tone still lingers, “But I still do care about your health.” Victor leaned back against his chair, eyes drifting towards the mess of papers scattered across his desk while Zeno continued speaking. 

“Hey, someone invited me to an auction in the black market.” His voice dropped into almost a whisper at the last words, as if afraid someone nearby might overhear. “I think you seriously need a break, you’re overworking yourself too much. Why don’t you come with me? You might find something interesting there.” A brief pause followed by Zeno chuckling softly. “What d’ya say?” Victor paused for a moment, thinking over the offer. His eyes drifted toward the pile of papers on his desk before he sighed quietly. Maybe taking a short break would not hurt after all.

“I supposed I could come with you,” he stated, leaning back in his chair. “Great!” replied almost immediately. Victor could hear movement and people talking in the background before he continued, “I’ll send you the address, it’s on Friday don’t be late.” After hanging up, Victor glanced at the calendar on his phone. The faint blue light reflecting against his odd skin as he checked the date. Three days before the auction. That gave him two days to prepare and finish the rest of his work before everything started piling up on him again.

VVV

You woke up to the sharp ringing of your phone. Glancing toward the window, warm light seeped through the gaps in the curtains, spilling across the room. It was time to start your day — your first day at the workplace. You hurried to the kitchen, placing the kettle on the stove and quickly putting together a quick light breakfast. Steam filled the small space as you moved around the quiet urgency. After washing up, you dressed in your best clothes, smoothing out the fabric carefully. You wanted to look presentable and neat; at aleast enough to make a good first impression and secure the job.

You took a shaky breath, adjusting your collar in the mirror. “This is it,” you muttered to your self with quiet confidence. “Time to rewrite my fate.” You walked out of your safe haven, locking the door behind you before stepping into the morning air. Taking your phone, you opened the message from the job recruiter. The location was about forty minutes from your house. You took a bus, then a train, moving from one stop to another until the surroundings became unfamiliar. By the time you arrived, you were in a place you didn’t recognize. Without thinking much  about it, you kept walking forward trusting your own map knowledge — until you found yourself drifting into a dark alley, the light of the main street slowly fading behind you. 

“Holy shit, where the f-fuck I am?” you whispered to yourself angrily but the fear lingers in your tone as if you didn’t put yourself in this situation. You decided to turn back — but the moment you did, you froze. A man in a hoodie was standing just a few feet away from you. His face was hidden by a mask. You stared at him, terrified, already sensing what was about to happen next. Instinct kicked in and your hand reached into your bag, searching for your pepper spray. The moment your fingers wrapped around the can — He lunged at you.

You barely had time to react. You struggled immediately, trying to push him off, kicking and swinging your arms with everything you had. Panic made your movements messy, but you kept fighting back with whatever strength you could muster. You were calling out to anything internally, you could think of, your mind panicking as you fought for your life. You struggled harder, even as your strength started to falter. The man three times stronger than you, slammed your head on the wall. The impact hit hard, and your head throbbed immediately. You stumbled back, a hand going up on instinct as you felt something warm at your temple. You vision started to blur a little, the alley suddenly feeling unstable as you tried to stay on your feet.

Just as you began to lose consciousness, you could feel being hoisted up, the man was carrying you. You groan in pain as the throbbing increases, your body going heavier by seconds. Everything started to fade, and eventually you slipped into unconsciousness. Hours later, you slowly began to wake up. You felt cold and damp. Your body was restrained tightly, like you were tied up, and your eyes were covered. Even your mouth was gagged, making it hard to scream for help. And again, you drifted into unconsciousness.

Muffled whispering and a static television playing in the background. Being deprived of seeing, you depend on your hearing. Trying to get information about your whereabouts. Two men were talking back and forth about something you couldn’t understand, chuckling and sounds of glass clicking against each other filled your hearing. The pain from being bound started to get worse, the tightness making your limbs feel numb. You struggled a little, but it only made it uncomfortable. You began to cry, your muffled sobs drawing the attention of the two men talking nearby. Their voices stopped. Then, just as you were breaking down, the man walked closer and removed the cover from your eyes.

Everything was blurry and painful. You sobbed harder as you tried to adjust your vision. There, the same man stood before you, predatory eyes scanning you up and down. A sneer spread across his face at the sight of you struggling. Your muffled screams echoed through the room, filled with terror yet stubborn determination. He tilted his head, scrutinizing you carefully before reaching out to cup your face with his one calloused gloved hand.

“Such delicate features…the folks will love you,” he whispered calmly. Slowly, he pulled the cloth from your mouth, finally giving you a chance to speak. “P-please, please let me g-go!” you begged immediately, breathing ragged and painful. “I-I don’t know what you wanted from me. But please…let me go, I beg you.” Your voice cracked as the sobs grew harder, each breath becoming harder to pull in between your cries.

“Tch tch tch…no, darling. we needed money as much as you do,” A mocking tone lingers in his voice. He looked down at you with something close to pity. You were a mess, your face smeared with dirt and marked with small cuts from the fight earlier, or was it the other day? You don’t know. Your body aching beneath the bruises scattered across your skin.

“What do you want? Money? I-I’ll give you money… But let me go…please,” you pleaded, desperation clawing in your voice as your sobs grew harsher. Your entire body shook violently, exhaustion slowly catching up to you. “Can you?” he asked softly. “You have no idea how much you cost, sweet pea.” He stood and walked toward the laptop resting on the table. Picking it up, he returned and turned the screen toward you. Your stomach dropped at the sight — photos of you displayed across the site, posing in different gross poses while you are passed out; sick bastards.The site filled with bidding numbers climbing higher and higher.

“See this?” he murmured. “Darling, people are offering such lovely prices for you.” You wanted to vomit and kill yourself at this point. He laughed at your horrified reaction, the sound making your skin crawl. Darling. His pet names disgusted you more than the cold look in this bastards eyes.