M-0 [Part 1]

[esp_dragonv2]

Fandom: Noblesse
Summary: M-21 and M-0 are saved from the Union by a blond stranger, who seems to know M-0 before he lost his memories. M-0's name used to be Muzaka...?
Contains: Off-screen torture, blood, dead bodies.
Notes: Frankenstein and Muzaka got together, and M-21 didn't make it out of the Union AU
Because apparently my brain just won't shut up, pfft. And I'm procrastinating from finishing Imposter and Breath of Life, ahahaha.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General
Word count: 2,282
Status: Work in progress



M-21 snapped his head up when he heard the tread of footsteps approaching through his door. He scooted back to the opposite wall, arms around his bent knees, trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

Not that it was fucking hard. He was fucking useless here.

The door opened, and M-21's heart lurched at M-0 being dragged in by two guards, everything M-21 could see a mess of red. M-0 hung limply in their arms, his head down, and he left a trail of blood behind him.

The guards threw M-0 in and M-21 lunged forward to catch him before his head smacked onto the tiles. The guards closed the door with a metallic clang.

M-0 was unconscious but.

He was breathing.

Wheezing, more like, but he was getting air in. That was what was important.

And M-0 had to be alive, or else the guards wouldn't have brought him back. They would have tossed him like garbage if he'd died.

M-21 checked his pulse anyway, exhaling at M-0's warmth and his heartbeat. It was sluggish, but it was there.

The scar down M-0's cheek peeked through all the blood, and what did the scientists have to do to make that one stick when he'd seen everything else M-0 could heal from? Why didn't they do it again?

Was it the same as what made his own scar? Or...was it from something before M-0 had ended up in the Union?

"Zero?" M-21 whispered, setting M-0 down gently, making sure he was on his side so he wouldn't choke on his own blood. "Hey."

No response.

M-21 hated this. He hated this. Hated feeling so fucking helpless. Because this was all he could do. Just make sure M-0 was as comfortable as he could be after the scientists were done with him for the day.

M-0 stirred, his eyes opening a crack. "Kid?"

M-21 breathed out a shaky laugh. "I'm here, old man." It was a little joke between them, as much as they could make in their current situation. M-0 hadn't been one of M-21's original comrades, just branded with the M-series tattoo one day and thrown in with M-21. M-21 might have been the one to have been experimented on for longer (or maybe not. Neither of them knew), but M-0 had just slipped right into some...mentor role with him, looking out for him. Just like M-24 and wanting to be M-21's hyung. It didn't help they looked like they were related with their silver hair.

And that was exactly why M-0 was getting tortured every day instead of M-21.

"Hey, hey, I'm still here," M-0 murmured, lifting a bloody hand to wipe at M-21's tears.

But for how long? How long would it be until M-0 was dragged away because he finally died, or he was taken away, because the scientists had finally broken him to be reprogrammed how they wanted? "Yeah, I know," M-21 said, scrubbing at his eyes. Either way, he wouldn't see M-0 again. Not like how he was now. "Zero, listen."

"Yeah?"

"I'll take your place tomorrow, all right?" M-21 said, squaring his shoulders. "I can-"

M-0 shook his head, his eyes a little clearer already. "Nah."

"Zero!"

M-0 drew him into a hug with a raspy chuckle. Even after everything he'd just been through, M-0 still had enough strength to pull him down easily. "Nah," he repeated. "They won't break me; don't worry about it."

M-21 was shaking. He knew he was, and that M-0 could feel it. But what could he do? Nothing. As always. Even if he insisted, he knew he was weaker. The scientists weren't as interested in him. He was something the scientists used to keep M-0 docile and compliant.

M-0 tightened his hug, rubbing his back, and M-21 hated that M-0 was comforting him when it should be the other way around.

He had to find a way that he could help M-0 somehow.

*
M-0's wounds were healing slower than they used to. Before, M-21 could watch the wounds seal up without a trace in minutes, but even after M-0 had dozed for an hour, blood still leaked from his cuts whenever he breathed.

He was getting weaker.

They were killing him.

Day by day, they were killing him.

Should he... Should he ask M-0 to give in? To stop being so stubborn and not protect him? M-0 working with the Union was better than M-0 dying.

M-21 knew what the answer would be though. M-0 would refuse. He wouldn't just give up, because he was doing it for M-21.

So then, maybe...? M-21 chewed at a nail, staring at the door.

It was because of him. He was the reason why M-0 was going through this. If it wasn't because of him, M-0 would have had the strength to fight back, to try escaping.

If... If he found a way to piss off the guards enough that they killed him, M-0 wouldn't be held back anymore.

M-0 would be able to escape without him.

That was it.

M-21's chest ached and he swallowed, trying to figure out what to do. He was doing this for M-0. He would die for M-0 so M-0 could live.

How would he do it though? The guards knew how to beat down an experiment to keep them in line and not kill them.

M-21 turned his head at a distant scream. While the walls were metal, that seemed to just make some noises reverberate throughout the entire area.

Screams inside rooms had a distinct sound to it though, a more muffled, lower tone. This one was clearer. It had to be coming from the corridors outside.

He frowned at a thud that made the walls shiver. That was different. Usually if an experiment was screaming, they shut them up quickly.

"What...?" M-0 mumbled, arm reaching out until he found M-21.

"It's...nothing," M-21 said, listening carefully, a flash of annoyance blooming in him for the person disturbing M-0's sleep when he needed it. "I think-"

There. The sharp rattle of gunfire.

"Yeah, someone's trying to escape." M-21 stared at the wall, as if that would help him hear better.

They would be taken out like all the other attempts. Be killed if they were lucky, or made into an experiment's punching bag as a reward for good behaviour.

M-21 let out a hissing breath, scrubbing a hand through his hair as the screams and thuds continued. Could M-0 escape from this? He had the healing to deal with bullets but then what? Because no-one could escape the Union once they had their claws in you.

And that was just how fucking far the Union had already broken M-21, without laying a hand on him. M-21 didn't think escape was possible for him, so he didn't think about it. Stayed in his cage as a hostage for someone else.

The sounds of fighting faded after a few minutes and M-21 exhaled, closing his eyes. Maybe now M-0 could go back to sleep.

"That lasted a while, huh."

"Yeah." It was normally done in a few shots but...

M-21 frowned at another distant thud, the floor shaking this time. A grenade? How many people were escaping that it was still going?

He eyed the door, but it stayed shut. Or did he only believe that? Had it opened and that's why so many people were escaping?

M-21 lurched to his feet, heading for the door.

"21?"

"Just... Wondering," he murmured. If they could get out now, they might have a chance in all the current confusion with all the guards' attention elsewhere.

He pushed at the cold metal and sighed. Nothing. Locked.

"You think everyone's gettin' out now?"

"It sounded like it." Or maybe their door was the only one that hadn't been unlocked. It would be his luck if that was the case.

He settled back down next to M-0, but frowned when M-0 pulled himself up to lean against the wall next to him. "Oi." M-0 needed to sleep.

M-0 ruffled his hair with a chuckle. "I'm not that old I hafta to sleep all the time."

M-21 kept frowning. M-0 did need rest.

They kept quiet though, still listening out for any more sounds, and it wasn't the same as sleeping, but it was close enough, M-0 leaning on M-21's shoulder.

All of M-21's senses went taut when he heard their door unlock. That didn't make any sense. It wasn't near meal time, and it wasn't when M-0 was meant to be taken either. A trip to the bathroom? No, it was too late for that too.

There was no reason for their door to be unlocked.

M-21's breath caught in his throat. Unless whatever was releasing everyone else had finally got to them?

The door swung open to reveal a blond man in a black suit and M-21 lowered his eyes. No. There was no escape for them.

Except... Something was wrong. M-21 continued staring at the man's shoes as his mind worked. No-one wore a black suit here. It was either the white labcoats of the scientists, or had the clearly bulletproof jacket underneath clothes of the guards.

This man had neither.

VIPs given a tour of the lab were always flanked by guards and lead by scientists. This man was alone.

And as M-21 stared further, he saw the flecks of blood staining the man's clothes.

"Muzaka!"

Startled, M-21's gaze jerked up, seeing the joy on the man's face as he stared at M-0.

M-21's world tilted.

It couldn't be.

Did. Did the man know M-0 before he'd been taken into the Union?

"What?"

M-21 saw the man's smile freeze, his eyes going wide.

He knew M-0. He knew who M-0 used to be.

"What do you want?"

M-21 wanted to hiss, to jab M-0 - Muzaka in the ribs, because wasn't it obvious?

The man cleared his throat. "I'm here to rescue you."

M-21's chest tightened and he beat down the feeling. Stomped down on it hard. It was good. It was good Muzaka had someone who had the resources to fucking fight the Union for him.

Who could come and rescue him.

It meant Muzaka wouldn't be tortured anymore. Didn't have to worry about him anymore. He could live his life free and M-21 wasn't going to hold him-

"Gggk!" M-21 couldn't stop the sound escaping his throat as Muzaka looped an arm around his neck.

"Him too."

M-21 would have stared at Muzaka because what the fuck, but Muzaka's hold on him was as tight as it always was. It meant M-21 saw the man's gaze flick to him.

And then soften.

Not out of pity.

M-21 didn't know what his expression was. He'd never seen it before.

The man nodded. "Of course."

What?

What?

"Great! Let's go, kid!" Muzaka dragged M-21 to his feet and M-21 stumbled along, trying to make sense of everything.

M-21 could smell the blood before they even exited and he peeked down the corridor.

Blood. It was splattered everywhere, limp bodies slumped against walls, their eyes unseeing.

M-21 felt a surge of triumph at seeing that, seeing all those fuckers dead after everything they'd done to M-0, to everyone else in the building.

"How many people do you have with you?" M-21 asked, their feet making small splashes in the cooling blood as they walked through them.

"It's just myself."

M-21 almost slipped. One person. One person had taken on everyone here, and by the look of it, came out unscathed? He had to be modified, but M-21 only knew of a few experiments who would...be willing to attack a Union base.

Wait.

If the man was modified, then was he part of another organisation? Was this another trap? Thinking they were getting freedom, to end up in another organisation anyway?

M-21 glanced back at all the bodies they were leaving behind, and then back at the man.

Muzaka would be protected with the man. That much was clear. M-21 didn't have that same protection, but at least he would finally pay back what he owed Muzaka.

"So how do we know each other?" Muzaka asked as they headed up the stairs. Around and around and around, and just how far deep underground had they been?

"Friends," the man said, not turning back. "We were friends."

"Heh, we musta been really close friends if you were willin' to come find me at the Union."

"Yes," the man said. "We...were."

M-21 stared at the man's back as they kept going. Past tense. Did he not think Muzaka was the person he rescued?

Except, Muzaka had used the same past tense as well?

And the man was one of the few people who could take on the Union without any difficulty apparently. "What's your name?" M-21 asked. He must have heard of him before.

At that, the man paused, and turned around. "Ah, my apologies. Frankenstein. It's Frankenstein."

M-21 had never heard of any modified human by that name. He glanced at Muzaka, and his face was blank too. No recognition at all.

"And...yours?" Frankenstein asked.

Muzaka grinned, "I'm M-0, and this-" He wrapped an arm around M-21's shoulders. "-is M-21."

M-21 stared at M-0. What was he doing? He had his name and he was still going to use M-0?

"All right. M-0 and M-21," Frankenstein said, looking at them individually as he said their names. As if he was learning them.

As if. He just accepted that was M-0's real name, and not Muzaka.

But...

What?