SAHLO FOLINA < tyler joseph x reader >

< 26 >

I hear noises. Muttering, fidgeting. I can't make out the words, but I recognize the deep voice.

It's Nico.

I stop and stay hidden, thinking through the plan again. I put my hand in my pocket and grab what I brought.

My leverage.

Just as I'm about to go in, Nico says, "I know you're there. You might as well come in."

Slowly, I walk in, putting on a mask of confidence. "I saved you the trouble of coming to Trench to get me this time."

"So you did," he replies. He's sitting at a desk, and his back is to me. He turns. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to defeat you."

He raises a brow. "Defeat me?"

"In one way or another."

"And what is one way?" he asks.

I pull my leverage out of my pocket - a tool made by the Banditos, used for a plethora of things around camp. It's red due to the material used to make it.

A knife.

It's cruder than the ones used in Dema, but it's much sharper.

Nico looks worried, but he tries to mask it. "And you plan on stabbing me with that thing?"

I position the knife at my chest, the tip nearly piercing my skin. "Something like that."

"So you picked up on our 'little connection'?" he asks, amused.

"You hurt, I hurt; I hurt, you hurt. I figure that applies to dying, too."

He pauses for a while. "You would really die just to kill me?"

"Yes."

He continues talking; he's stalling. "You would leave the Banditos behind? You would leave Y/N behind... all just to kill me?"

"Yes."

He chuckles mirthlessly. "Tell me, how deep do you think our 'little connection' goes, Tyler?"

This catches me off guard. I never thought about why Nico and I are connected like we are. I was just happy I had an advantage. "I don't know."

"Of course you don't," he replies, standing now. "Do you know why you never knew your parents?"

"They died when I was a baby."

"That's what you were told," he says. "How about a little history pop quiz, hmm? Question one: When did Dema first become oppressive?"

Growing up, I'd heard older citizens talk about how 'Dema didn't used to be like this', but oppressive Dema is all I've ever known. I guess at the answer. "When... When I was born?"

"Oh, you're smarter than I thought."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Okay, maybe not so much."

"Where are you going with this?" I repeat, this time more forcefully.

He sighs. "Do you not see it? Do you not feel it? Why do you think we feel each other's pain? How do you think I knew where you were - not only a few minutes ago, but in Trench? The second time, I followed you back, but the first time, I went out to Trench, and when I got close enough, I could feel where you were - the general area, at least."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"You are so blind!" he shouts, frustrated. "Do I really have to spell it out for you?" When I don't say anything, he does. "Tyler... I am you."

<><><>

We're setting up barricades as fast as we possibly can - blocking off the living quarters, blocking stairwells - with whatever we can find, then covering them in yellow. Some citizens wake up, but they're not devoted. They lend us things to set up barricades with, then go outside to wait in the graveyard for it all to be over.

We're just waiting for it to start.

"Do you think Tyler has found Nico yet?" Josh asks. Other Banditos are waking up citizens and hurriedly getting them outside. A few fight back, but quickly realize they're outnumbered. (Not that we'd hurt them, but we don't make that explicitly clear.)

I shrug in response to Josh's question. "I don't know. Maybe. He'll be the one to call the Watchers in to attack. Either that or Reisdro or Lisben when they find us in their districts."

Josh nods, then, after a pause, says, "He's gonna be okay, you know."

I sigh. "I hope so."

Suddenly, I hear masses of feet from above us.

The Watchers.

"It's time. Let's get ready."

We light torches, then, a minute later - one of the longest minutes of my life - Watchers come running into the ground floor, lights blinding us. They run into the barricades, trying to navigate over and around them. They can't see the yellow, and they don't have good eyesight as it is, even with the lights, so it's difficult for them.

I look for a Bishop commanding them. I see none; someone's doing it remotely. And there's only one Bishop powerful enough to do that.

Nico.

••••
•HIDE YOU IN MY COAT POCKET•