Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Jon hung upside down from his office ceiling and squeaked into the tape recorder. “Testing, testing.” 

Martin crawled across the recorder and pressed the pause button and then played it back before giving Jon a thumb’s up. “It worked.” 

“Thank you Martin.” Jon flapped his wings and cleared his throat while Martin started the recorder up again. “Statement regarding being chased by an owl, recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist at the Magnus Institute…”

…

“So, boss, how did it go?” Tim swooped around the breakroom and scooped a delicious moth up into his mouth with his tail membrane. “Oh, I really love what Elias has done with the breakroom.” 

Jon nodded from his position resting on a branch in the corner, chewing on a mealworm as neatly as he could and waiting to speak until he was done. Jonathan Sims was not one to talk with his mouth full (though he would chew with his mouth open because that’s just how it was for bats). He swallowed and began. “It went okay - it was a statement about someone that got chased by an owl and only barely managed to get away. I’m going to need you, Sasha, and Martin to run a follow-up for me this week so I can add it on at the end of the recording.” 

“Of course.” Tim alighted on a branch and hung there, tucking in his wings leisurely. “Martin, did you hear?” 

Martin gave a grunt of acknowledgement from the ground where he was on all fours, painstakingly stirring a tiny stick in a bottle-cap of water with some leaf chunks in it with his jaws. Tim chuckled. “Making tea again, Marto?” 

Martin put the stick down for a second. “Yes.” Then he got back to stirring. 

Jon sighed. “Of course.” He surveyed the breakroom to determine what kind of bug he most felt like eating next and saw another mealworm crawling nearby. That would work. He crawled over and began voraciously chomping. Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

Sasha flapped her way into the breakroom and swooped down on a beetle, quickly scooping it up in her jaws before flying up onto a branch next to Jon and alighting upside down. “Hey guys, did I miss anything?” 

“Nothing that important - Jon was just telling us we need to do a follow up on the statement about someone being chased by an owl.” 

Jon nodded, his mouth still full of worm, and finished chomping as fast as he could. “Apologies - I shouldn’t have taken such a big bite.” 

Sasha chuckled softly. “It’s not your fault you’re so small, Jon. Those mealworms are much easier for the rest of us to eat quickly.” 

Jon twitched his ears in embarrassment. “...Yes.”

Martin perked his ears up, catching the stress in Jon’s voice. “Jon? Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine, Martin. Just…” 

Sasha interrupted, “he’s being self-conscious about his size again.” 

Martin sighed. “Ah.” Then he crawled up a branch and took flight, landing next to Jon. “Are you doing okay?” 

Jon brought his ears against his head and gave a tiny sniffle. “I’m fine.” 

Martin nuzzled into his fur with his nose until Jon let out a happy squeaking sound. “There we go.”

Tim let out a snort of laughter. “Can you two get a room? This is a workplace.” 

Jon let out a warning hiss and flapped his wings threateningly, baring his tiny teeth. Tim laughed and waved a wing. “Okay, okay, we’ll let you get your snuggles in with your boyfriend.” 

“Thank you.” Jon closed his eyes and snuggled into Martin who wrapped a wing around him. Martin turned to look at the other two and let out a happy little squeak before leaning in and beginning to groom Jon’s fur with his teeth. 

“Well.” Sasha smirked over at Tim. “I think we’d better give these two some privacy.”

Chapter Text

“Hmm, what are you doing?” Martin gestured towards Jon’s stack of papers with his nose. 

“So…” Jon flipped through the tiny pages with his teeth, trying to hide his stress at the fact that he’d just been caught. “I’m going to investigate this statement tonight.”

Martin hung from the ceiling by his feet, chittering softly. “Well… it seems a bit risky… I’m not so sure I’d like to go.” 

Jon fluffed his fur and twitched his ears, beginning to groom his wings in the coy way of a cat. “Well, you don’t have to come.” He massaged a wing with his nose, “I can go alone.” 

Martin eyed the much smaller bat with his propensity for getting into trouble. “Uhm, no.” 

Jon hid his expression of half-relief, half-disappointment behind his wing. He was happy to spend time with Martin but also he tended to put a damper on his more interesting methods of investigation, rendering them way less fun and informative. He acted like that was a good thing and called them ‘safer’ though - for instance, one didn’t typically break bones or end up with scars when investigating with Martin. But wasn’t that just part of the acceptable risk? “Seriously, I’ll be fine.” 

Martin fluttered down to a lower ledge from which to hang and nudged Jon’s shoulder with his nose. “Sure you will, like last time.” 

Jon fluffed his fur contemptuously. “I only barely got snatched by that cat and you know it.” 

Martin nodded. “Exactly. If it had been any quicker or you had been any slower you would have been eaten. You’re just lucky that human saved you.” 

Jon felt miffed. “I didn’t need a human to save me, I would have been just fine!” 

“Yah, right.” Martin nuzzled the top of his head. “I just don’t want you to have to go back to the bat rehab center again because you decided to poke your little nose where it didn’t belong.” 

Jon squeaked in indignation. “It’s cats that don’t belong here, Martin. Cats are the invasive species here, as are humans.” 

Martin nodded sagely, “oh, yes. I’ll just explain that to the next cat that decides to maul you and maybe it’ll just let you go.” Jon gave him a glare and Martin chittered softly, amused. “You’re so precious, you know that right?” 

Jon glared and squeaked again, “I am not!” 

Martin licked his head. “Yes, you are.” 

Jon closed his eyes and let out happy bat sounds. “Well, you can say whatever you want as long as you’re grooming me.” 

“Good.” 

“... You’d just better not stop. I’m grumpy right now.” 

“I know. Big angy.” 

Jon teasingly gave his most vicious snarl. “I am terrifying and vicious and you know that.” 

“... Yes. So very scary.” Martin nuzzled the top of his head. “But you can’t just change the subject and think I’ll forget - I’m coming with you.” 

…

Jon flapped through the night sky in front, enjoying the feeling of the cool breeze on his fur. “Oh, Martin. Isn’t it a lovely night?” 

Martin agreed that it was but didn’t want Jon to get too distracted. “Just don’t forget why we’re out here.” 

“Of course I do - we’re investigating those humans that were setting up nets over in Riverside Gardens.” 

Martin nodded. “I just don’t want to see you get yourself caught in any of those nets yourself.” 

Jon made a tsking sound. “Oh, I’ll be fine. There’s no way I’d get caught in -” he cut off as he was suddenly stopped in mid-air, his claws and wings tangled in something. “Ah!” 

“Jon? What is it?” Martin nervously treaded air where he was, not wanting to make the situation any worse by being caught in what had apparently caught Jon. 

“I, uh…” Jon sighed. “I might have been… caught in a net?” 

[Jon caught in a net]

Martin gave a heavy internal sigh and resisted the urge to say, “I told you so.” Instead he carefully inspected the surrounding area with his eyes and echolocation, trying to see if he could make out the netting. “I’ll see if I can get you out, it’ll be okay.” 

Jon struggled, clawing at the net and trying to escape. “I’m sure I can get out of here, don’t worry.” He was embarrassed and annoyed more than anything - Martin would never trust his plans now. Martin ignored him and continued searching for the edge of the net, hesitantly keeping his distance until he knew where it was. 

A light suddenly shining through the trees made both bats stop what they were doing and turn, horrified, to see a human with a flashlight. “Ack, fly!” Jon struggled anew against the netting, his claws scrabbling uselessly as his wings became more and more tangled. “Fly away, save yourself! I’m done for!” 

Martin panicked. “Jon!” He fluttered in anxious circles around the scene as Jon was scooped, chittering for all he was worth, out of the net and into a human’s gloved hands. A whoosh of air beside his ear alerted him to the fact that he was no longer alone. “Tim?” 

“Yep.” Tim kept pace with Martin, eyeing the scene below. “And Sasha - we saw you two were going out on a case and thought we’d come with. Mostly because it seemed to be Jon’s idea and you know how those tend to go.” 

“He’s been netted!” Martin felt his voice come out in panicked squeaks. “He’s going to die, he’s going to die, he’s going to die -” 

Sasha fluttered over on his other side and gently chittered in his ear. “Hey, no he’s not.” She gestured with her nose. “Those are scientists, they don’t kill bats.” 

“What?” Martin turned nervous eyes to face her. 

“They don’t kill bats - Jon’s probably going to have a pretty crummy time of it but we’ll just make sure he’s okay after and everything should be fine.” 

Tim nodded. “Now, let’s go settle in that tree and keep watch. If they try anything we can go in, fangs bared.” 

…

Jon squinted his eyes shut in terror as the giant hand held him, the thumb pinning his belly against the human’s palm, his wings neatly pressed to his sides. Wow humans had big hands - he was only as big as the thumb and was very aware of just how breakable his little bones were. “Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!" He tried to wiggle free but was pinned and his heart thudded painfully in his chest. The human said something but Jon couldn’t understand and he only flailed more as his tiny form was pushed down and another human brought a giant camera in, taking video. 

“Let me go! I’m Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute! Elias will surely do something about this!” Jon was grasping at straws and he knew it but he had to try something. 

The human holding him made a rumbling sound in its throat and flipped him over onto his back and Jon held still, his breath coming out shallowly in dread. Please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me, please. The humans made more sounds and the camera took more video as the human holding him brushed a gloved finger to his chin. No, I hate this, get your gross finger out of my face, yuck, this is an outrage, don’t eat me, let me go, let me go, let me go! Jon held his jaw tightly shut, knowing there was no way his tiny mouth could bite through that glove. 

The human with the camera made amused sounds and cooed before reaching for something at its side and bringing it up towards Jon. He let out a panicked squeak as the human holding him grabbed the edge of one of his wings and started pulling it out. “Martin, help! Help! Help!” 

Sasha and Tim had to stop Martin from diving out of the tree to his lover’s rescue, both latching their claws into his fur. “Marto, it’s okay.” Tim gently nuzzled his fur. “He’s going to be just fine.” 

Sasha nuzzled him from his other side. “The best you can do for him is wait, okay? He’s going to need you there for him when they let him go.” 

Martin was in hysterics. “They’re not going to let him go! Look what they’re doing with him!” 

Tim and Sasha exchanged a look before Sasha sighed. “Martin. You remember what the case you’re investigating is, right?” 

“Yes!” Martin sobbed. “The humans were capturing and banding bats!” 

“Yes.” Sasha nodded. “And Jon’s been captured and presumably they’ll band him and then let him go. Traumatic, sure, but he won’t be physically harmed. The scientists don’t do that, at least on purpose anyway. And if he’s hurt we can take care of him after but there’s nothing we can do for him right now.” 

…

Jon’s eyes were wide with terror as they brought the band in and he let out pitiful squeaks of horrified despair. “Stop! Please, what are you doing?” He chittered up a storm of misery until the second human was finally done and withdrew their hands, making sympathetic sounds. The humans made a few more sounds, communicating, and the second human took a bit more video and wrote something down on a page - the number on Jon’s tag, seemingly - and then the first human walked safely away from the netting and opened their hand. 

[Jon captured and banded]

“Are… are you letting me go?” Jon breathed heavily as he stared up at the human then, realizing this was his chance, he took off. 

Martin was at his side immediately, gliding gracefully to right underneath him in case he were to suddenly fall. Tim and Sasha took position to either side of Jon and it was understood without saying that he didn’t feel up to talking right now and was just shy of a total breakdown. Without a word, the group began making their way back to their roost at the institute.

Chapter Text

Jon wouldn’t stop crying. Tim and Sasha hung awkwardly in the roost by their feet doing their best to pretend they couldn’t hear the pitiful squeaks coming from the floor of Jon's office.

“Get if off, Martin! Get if off!” Jon was beside himself, shaking like a leaf, and chittering up a storm. 

“I’m trying.” Martin was gnawing at the band as best as he could, one thumb claw pressed over Jon’s furry body and the other over the banded wing, holding him as still as possible. “But you’ve got to stop shaking so much - I don’t want to accidentally bite you.” 

[Martin trying to remove the band from Jon]

Jon sniffled and did his best but he was so scared, so very scared. “It hurts, Martin! It's… I think it's too tight.” He whimpered softly, letting out a miserable squeak, and Martin re-doubled his efforts. 

“It'll be okay, just focus on breathing." Martin continued gnawing at the band, using his teeth to try to file it down but the plastic was thick and smooth and his teeth kept slipping to the side. Jon suddenly let out a pained scream and Martin tasted blood. "Oh no, I'm so sorry Jon, oh G I'm so so sorry!” Jon writhed on the floor, letting out pitiful squeaks, and Martin quickly pinned him down and called for the others. "Tim! Sasha! Help!” 

The two were there in seconds, having heard the commotion, and they fluttered down to either side of Jon, gently holding him still while Martin examined his injury. It wasn't large nor deep but it didn't necessarily have to be - he was so tiny that any blood loss was significant. “I can't get it off." He anxiously poked at the band with a thumb claw and Jon let out a pained squeak. "I think we've got to go back to that human who helped last time he got hurt.” 

Sasha nodded. "Do you remember where she lives?”

"I think so.” Martin looked down at Jon. "Do you feel well enough to fly?”

Jon flapped his uninjured wing but as soon as he tried to move the other he let out a squeak of pain. "I can't - it's… it's too tight.” His eyes were wide with panic. 

Tim examined the wing where the band sat. "It really is too tight - I've seen banding and I think they did this one wrong.” He turned to Martin and Sasha with a worried look and lowered his voice to a whisper, “you’ve got to get this taken care of or he’s probably going to lose the wing.” 

Martin nodded quickly, turning back to Jon. “That’s okay, you’re small enough I can probably get you there. Tim, Sasha, please cover me just in case he falls.” He crawled over to Jon. “Okay, cling on with your claws and teeth as best as you can.” 

Jon squeaked up at him, embarrassed. “I’m not a pup, Martin!” 

Martin chuckled softly and groomed him behind the ears until he purred. “I know. But I don’t want to have to try to figure out how to lead the human here and this is our best option.” 

Jon sighed but relented, grasping onto Martin’s soft belly fur and nuzzling in. “I’m scared.” 

“I know.” Martin turned a worried look towards the others and leapt off the ledge, heading off into the night. 

…

Tim gestured with his nose towards a building. “Is that her house?” 

Martin looked down. “Yep, that would be the one. Okay everyone, on your left.” He angled down and the four made their careful way to the tree in the front yard, Jon letting out pitiful squeaks as he held on as best as he could, the wind buffeting him and jostling his injured wing painfully. Martin turned towards Tim and Sasha and nodded. “Okay, I’m going in with Jon. You two stay on watch and make sure that cat doesn’t get us but once the human’s come head on home - we’ll be back when Jon’s better.” The three nuzzled each other affectionately for a couple seconds, Jon simply doing his best to hold on, before Martin leapt from the tree and took flight towards a window-ledge, panting. Jon shivered against him and Martin felt a surge of worry as he noticed the grip on him loosening. “Hold on, Jon. It’s not much farther.” He gently landed and whispered softly, “okay, you can let go now.” Jon’s grip immediately relaxed and he flopped onto the ledge, motionless other than the weak and shuddery rise and fall of his chest. Martin nudged him gently before making his way to the window pane and looking in. There she was. He began to tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. 

Georgie was sitting on her couch and eating a bowl of microwave lasagna while watching TV when she heard a tapping sound from her window. “Just a tree, probably.” She continued eating but it continued and she felt herself getting annoyed and eventually stood up, putting the bowl down and getting to her feet. “Don’t eat that, Admiral. You know better.” She eyed the cat ruefully as he stared her down from the other end of the couch, his tail twitching faintly. He wanted that lasagna and she knew it. Unfortunately Georgie seemed to realize that simply telling him not to get into trouble wouldn’t be nearly enough as she scooped up the bowl and sat it on a high counter that he could not easily reach. Ugh. 

“Now, let’s see about this tree.” She walked carefully over to the window but couldn’t see anything with the night as dark as it was so she walked over to the switch by the door and flicked it on. “Oh!” 

Martin looked up as the human came over towards him and Jon and he stood over him protectively, baring his teeth slightly. “You’d better not hurt him.” Georgie seemed to understand as she brought over a towel and made soft cooing sounds, though unfortunately Martin was unable to understand anything she was saying. 

“Are you little bats together? Is he your friend?” Georgie stared down at the pair, perplexed. She reached out a hesitant finger and Martin stared her down as ferociously as was possible for his tiny self but allowed her to scoop Jon up into the towel and immediately crawled up after, nuzzling him comfortingly. Jon was barely conscious, his eyes half-lidded and his wings limply draped. 

Martin looked up at Georgie imploringly and squeaked. “Please, help us. His band is too tight.” 

Georgie looked down at the little furballs and carefully placed the towel into a box she was carrying, sealing the lid securely before heading back inside. The Admiral yowled at her, his eyes trained on the box, and she chuckled softly. “I’m going to be busy for a bit, you just entertain yourself.” With that she walked into a room and shut the door behind her. 

Martin watched through the side of the box as she sat it down on a table and opened the lid, gently removing the towel and sitting it on the table. Georgie eyed Martin warily but he refused to leave Jon’s side and she seemed to accept that, at least tentatively. Once satisfied that he wouldn’t be unjustly ousted, he turned his focus to the objects around the room. He didn’t understand what any of them were but there was the somewhat familiar scent of antiseptic from the last time Jon had been injured. 

Georgie gently scooped Jon into a smaller cloth in her hand and Martin watched nervously. Georgie noticed and made reassuring cooing sounds and Martin crawled up the side of a nearby cardboard box to get a better look, keeping his eyes locked on his tiny boyfriend. “Are you the worried loved one waiting at the hospital? Oh that is so sweet.” Georgie felt her eyes tear up as she turned her attention to the motionless ball of fur in her hands. Jon breathed heavily, his wing held out limply, the joint where the band was attached inflamed and bleeding. “Oh, that’s no good.” Georgie muttered to herself as she lifted a tool off the desk and carefully laid Jon out on the table, holding his wing in one hand and the tool in the other. Jon glanced at her briefly before closing his eyes, continuing to breathe heavily, and Martin watched with bated breath as Georgie meticulously grasped the band in the tool and cut it in two. Jon was free. 

Martin breathed a sigh of relief and fluttered down to his boyfriend, hurrying over, but Georgie had him scooped back up in the air again, examining his face. “You’re not doing so well, are you?” Jon briefly opened his eyes halfway and let out a most piteous squeak before closing them again. She pulled out a wing and examined it briefly before gently pinching some of the fur on his back. Jon let out a faint annoyed chirp and Georgie quickly wrapped him up halfway in a cloth, covering his head and leaving his back and feet exposed. “Just a little dehydrated, hold still a few seconds.” Martin watched anxiously as Georgie took another tool and moved it towards Jon, eliciting angry hissing sounds once it touched him. “Hey, hey, everything’s okay, shhh.” Georgie soothed and gently sat the angry bat back down on the table and Jon quickly wriggled completely into the cloth. 

Martin fluttered anxiously to his side. “Jon, Jon, are you all right?!?” Jon hissed a bit more and Georgie, dutifully ignoring him, unfolded the towel and brought over some antiseptic before beginning to gently clean his wing injury. Jon glared up at her but was too weak and tired to do anything but allow it to happen. Martin watched patiently and when she was done hurriedly crawled to where he was, half-covering him, and began licking his fur, grooming him feverishly. “Are you all right? Did she hurt you? What’s going on?” 

Jon closed his eyes and sank into the cloth. “I’m so tired.” His ears flicked slightly, taking in the sounds around him, and he let out a soft chirp. “So tired.” Martin groomed him carefully, making sure his fur was neat and that his wing looked decent. He avoided licking the area covered by the antiseptic though as it smelled rather unpleasant and he reckoned that the human had a reason for putting it there. Instead he simply stuck to elsewhere and, when finished, gently nestled down beside him. He had been so engrossed in his task that he didn’t notice until he heard a clicking sound that the two had been locked in a strange sort of container. 

“Wait! Let us go!” Martin crawled over to the side and stared out, his thumbs scrabbling uselessly against the smooth surface.

Jon sighed from across the enclosure. “It’s like the last time, Martin. I’m probably going to be kept here until I’m feeling better.” He let out a rueful chirp. “At least I’m not alone this time.” 

Martin crawled over and nestled in next to Jon. “True. And at least it’s warm - is this cloth heated?” He nudged it with a claw.

Jon let out a pleasurable sigh, relaxing fully into it. “I think so.” 

Martin nodded appreciatively. “Nice.” Then he turned to the side where he saw a container full of mealworms. “Hmm, room service.” He licked his lips and crawled over, selecting a worm and carrying it back to Jon and depositing it in front of his face. “Here you go.” 

“Thank you.” Jon gave him a faint smile and began his meal. 

Chapter Text

Jon woke up several hours later with a yawn, opening his tiny mouth as wide as it could go and showing off all his pointy little teeth. Martin took this as his cue to stuff said mouth with a worm. 

“Squeak!” Jon did his best show of indignation through the mouthful of worm and Martin chittered at him wickedly. Muhahaha! Jon made his way through the worm with a full minute of furious chomping, then eyed him, somewhat annoyed. “Why, Martin?” 

Martin continued chittering. “Why what, Jon?” He turned and began grooming his wing like nothing had happened. He was innocent, after all. What proof did Jon even have that he’d done anything? 

Jon pondered his next move. Hmm. Then a loud meow split the silence and the two bats turned towards the closed door. 

“I know you're in there, little play things. I can smell you." 

Jon sniffed, somewhat affronted. “I'll have you know that I groom myself very fastidiously!" 

The Admiral audibly licked his lips and purred. “Oh, I should hope so. I wouldn't want to play with a dirty toy.” 

Martin and Jon exchanged a look of concern. Could this beast get inside? Jon still remembered the last time he felt the Admiral’s sharp claws on his flesh and he huddled in on himself, shaking slightly. Martin groomed him reassuringly. “It's okay, he can't get in here - the door is closed." 

The Admiral let out an amused purr. “Oh, you think I can't open a simple door?" 

Martin let out a defiant squeak. “No, I don't think you can. Only humans can open those things." 

The sound of clawing came from the other side of the door, harsh and grating, and the little bats shook with fear. Oh no. Jon started to cry out in mortal terror, “oh no, we're going to die, I'm so sorry Martin! I should never have allowed myself to get caught in that net, I'm so very sorry!" 

Martin looked from his whimpering boyfriend to the door which was not going anywhere. “Jon… he might be all talk.”

Jon sniffled and looked up at Martin with shining eyes. "What?”

Martin sighed. "The cat - it can't get in, at least I don't think it can.”

The Admiral seemed to be coming to this conclusion himself as he let out an exasperated hiss. “Oh come on, why did she have to put a round doorknob on this thing? It used to be oh so easy to move with my paw.” 

A human voice came from down the hall. “Oh, Admiral! You naughty kitty! Leave the poor patients alone!” Georgie shook her head as she scooped up the protesting ball of fur. 

Martin turned to Jon and grinned, chittering with amusement. “Haha, guess we’re not cat toys after all!” 

The Admiral let out an angry yowl as he was carried off to the bedroom and closed inside. “I will get you, little bats! Just you wait!” 

Georgie made a tsking sound as she made her way to the bat rehabilitation room and opened the door, coming over to check on her charges. “Are you little ones all right?” 

The bats of course couldn’t understand her and simply stared up at the human in anticipation - was food incoming? Would they be released? They both hoped so. Georgie opened the container and gently scooped Jon out and he let out a panicked hiss. “No! Let me go!” 

Martin crawled over to the edge and looked up at Georgie and Jon with wide eyes, opening his mouth wide and showing off his sharp teeth. “Hssssss! Hsssssss! Hsssssss!” 

Georgie sighed and carefully tipped the container on its side, allowing Martin to crawl his way over to where she had sat Jon down on a cloth and was gently examining his injured wing. Jon looked over at him with a slightly annoyed expression as Georgie poked and prodded at it, checking for inflammation or injuries. “I don’t like this. I don’t like being touched and now I’m going to have to clean human scent off myself again. Yuck.” 

Martin chittered at him. “Oh, be grateful you messy ball of fur. It’s your own fault you got yourself captured in the first place.” 

Jon sighed. “No.” He turned to Georgie and let out a small hiss of displeasure. “You’re getting on my nerves.” 

Georgie dutifully ignored him and finished up her examination. “You seem to be doing well little bat, can you fly?” 

Jon was grateful when she let go of him and he pulled his wing back to his side, glaring up at Georgie, before beginning to pointedly groom himself of her scent. Martin chittered with amusement and turned to Georgie. “See what I have to deal with?” Georgie, not understanding bat, did not reply. 

When he was quite done licking himself clean, Jon gave his little wings a test flap and left the desk, taking off into the air. “Wheee!" He glided through the air making happy squeaking sounds and Georgie laughed out in joy. 

“Yay! Good job little bat!”

Jon did a loop in mid-air, relishing the feeling of air rushing against his wings and fur. This was lovely. “Wheee!” Martin watched him fondly, accepting the mealworm that Georgie offered him and crunching down on his entertainment snack. 

“Good flying Jon! Feeling better?” 

“Mostly!” Jon stretched his injured wing. “It hurts a bit but I can use it just fine.” 

Martin turned to Georgie. “Thank you, kind human!” Georgie made an adoring face at his little squeak and gave him another mealworm which he gratefully chowed down on. Jon joined him in a minute, gently landing on his cloth and opening his mouth in askance. Georgie smirked at him and brought over a dish of mealworms, sitting them under his chin. Jon let out a grateful chirp and began to feed.

Chapter Text

The Admiral spent the day pacing Georgie’s bedroom, trying to find a way out. He had to get to those fun little morsels, he simply had to. Georgie would be releasing them that night when she got back from the day’s errands and then he would lose his chance. “Mrow? Mrow?” He scratched at the door and hissed. “Mrow?” A tapping sound came from the window and he swiveled his head to see a rather large bat hanging outside from a tree branch. The Admiral leapt up onto the bed to talk to it. “Hello, toy.”

The bat nodded a greeting. “Hello, Admiral. I am Elias Bouchard, head of the Magnus Institute and I have reason to suspect that you would like to become acquainted with some of my employees?”

The Admiral swished his tail. Did this bat seriously think he wanted to have a civil conversation with the bats in the other room as opposed to brutally mauling them? His loss. “Yes, I would love to," he purred. “Unfortunately I’ve been trapped in here.” He gestured with his ears to the door.

“Oh, how inconvenient.” Elias made a tsking sound then flapped his wings and descended, landing on another branch. “Here.” He echolocated and the window shattered, whereupon he flapped his way inside and did the same to the doorknob on the inside of the bedroom door, causing it to silently swing open. The Admiral briefly considered attacking this bat but reckoned he might be more useful as an ally.

“Oh, thank you. Do you think you could get me into the room with your… colleagues?” He had to avoid a purring laugh at that last word. Oh, this bat was such a naive and trusting fool.

“Of course.” Elias flapped his way over and echolocated into the doorknob. “There you go.” He alighted upside down from a piece of trim and groomed his wing. “Now I really must be going - do have a good chat.” With that he leapt down and flew from the room, disappearing back outside from whence he had come.

The Admiral gave a little wicked kitty smile as he pawed at the door and watched it swing silently open. Perfect.

Jon was dreaming of chasing delicious bugs, his little feet twitching in his sleep, when the container he and Martin were in went suddenly crashing to the floor. He woke up with a panicked chorus of squeaks and saw Martin was doing the same, desperately doing his best to keep the both of them from crashing into the hard sides as a large paw batted it around. “Martin! What’s going on?!?”

The Admiral purred, extremely pleased. “Oh, little toys. Did you seriously think I’d never get in here?”

Jon gulped. This was not good. Martin hissed ferociously, baring pointed teeth. “You stop that right -” the container was flipped again and he and Jon went crashing into the side with a thump and a snapping sound. Jon started crying out in pain, his left wing bent at an odd angle, and Martin's eyes widened with horror. “JON!”

Jon simply continued crying, letting out pitiful squeaking sounds as the Admiral continued pushing the box. “I will get you out of there, little snacks.” He stopped moving it temporarily to kneel down and stare at the tiny inhabitants, relishing the pain on their panicked faces. “Aw, are you having a bad time?” He gestured with an ear towards where Jon was huddled in a corner, crying.

Martin glared at him. “You will pay for that!” He hissed for all he was worth and bared his teeth, holding out his wings to look as large as possible.

The Admiral let out an amused purr and gripped the top handle of the container in his teeth before backing out of the room and making his way to the kitchen. Then he leapt up onto the table and gave the container a hard shove, sending it crashing to the floor. As it hit, a large crack split down the side and the top popped off, sending both Jon and Martin skittering against the floor. The Admiral didn’t waste a second, immediately leaping towards the already injured bat and sinking his teeth into the soft and squeaking flesh. Jon began to outright scream.

Martin felt his vision go red with absolute fury and he scrambled towards his adversary as best as he could on his thumb claws and feet. “You vicious brute!” He snarled as he reached the cat’s tail and sank his teeth into the fleshy part, causing the Admiral to let out a pained yowl. Jon went tumbling from his jaws onto the floor where he proceeded to lay, panting desperately between agonized gasps and squeaks.

The Admiral turned to Martin. “Oh, you little fiend.” He swished his tail and pounced, claws surrounding Martin on both sides. “You’re lucky I’m not hungry or I would have killed you right away but…” he paused, licking his lips, “fortunately for you, I’m more in the mood for some entertainment.” With that he moved one paw out of the way, leaving an escape path for Martin. “Go on little bat, go ahead, crawl for it.” He let out an amused purr. “You’re not going to escape but you can try.”

Jon squeaked weakly from where he lay on the floor, his chest barely rising and falling as he struggled to breathe. “Martin!" He coughed and blood splattered across his fur. “Fly!"

“Jon, I'm not leaving you!" Martin feigned to the left to trick the cat then sank his teeth into the Admiral's right paw.

“Hssss!" The Admiral yanked his paw back, fury burning in his eyes. “You will pay for that, little bat!"

“I don't think so." Martin glared back, baring his now bloody teeth. “I think you'll be the one paying for what you did to my boyfriend."

The Admiral let out an angry meow and stalked over to where Jon lay gasping on the ground then with one deft move scooped him up into his jaws and bit down, hard. Snapping sounds and agonized squeaks filled the air until the squeaks turned to choking sounds then finally silence. The Admiral dropped the mangled, bloody mass of fur and shredded wings to the floor and stepped back, admiring his handiwork. "What boyfriend?”

…

Georgie returned home to a dreadful keening sound coming from the bat rehabilitation room and hurried in to find Martin crying over the motionless body of his precious boyfriend and the Admiral sitting across the room and twitching his tail in annoyance. Why wouldn't he just shut up all ready? "Oh no!” She ran to the bats and scooped them up carefully, immediately placing the two on the desk, before racing to get the Admiral out of the room. “Bad Kitty!"

The Admiral let out a purr of amusement. “That was an afternoon well-spent."

Georgie looked down at Jon and sniffled, gently stretching out his wings to examine the damage. Jon opened his eyes and let out a mournful agonized wail and Georgie immediately let go. “Oh no… oh no." Jon was clearly not doing well, suffering from multiple broken ribs and completely shattered wings, bits of broken bone sticking out from every angle, covered in a red sheen of blood. His breath came out in choking gasps, blood coming out with it in tiny bubbles, and one of his legs was snapped. There was nothing to be done. It was frankly surprising that he was still alive.

Martin watched with bated breath as Georgie, crying, opened a desk drawer and took something out. "It'll all be over soon, fuzzy, don't worry.” She turned to Martin with a choked sob. "I am so sorry.” Then she gently lifted Jon up and stabbed him.

Jon let out a pitiful squeak and flinched before relaxing, his eyes fluttering closed. Georgie gently sat him in a soft cloth on the table and turned to Martin. “Come on, little one…” she sniffled. "Say goodbye.”

Chapter Text

"Martin, you have to eat something.” Sasha sat beside him on the soft cloth that he'd nestled Jon in a couple days previously before beginning a vigil from which he hadn't left since other than to relieve himself.

Martin sniffled into Jon's soft, cold fur. "I don't want to.”

Tim nudged him with his nose. “You're not going to accomplish anything by starving and dehydrating yourself."

Martin flung a wing over Jon's lifeless face and wailed, “what if I want to join him?"

…

Jon fluttered aimlessly through an endless forest, calling out desperately for help. “Martin! Tim! Sasha! Where am I?" He didn't know, all he knew was he kept being waylaid by past statement givers who would set upon him in panic and fury. Panic while facing their statements’ reasons and fury when Jon was unable to help them. He'd tried reasoning with them - it wasn't his fault he was only a tiny bat and couldn't take on such things as cats, owls, white nose fungus, giant leaves, and spiders. It didn't matter. They all hated him.

“Please, stop!" He scrambled to escape one angry bat who had latched sharp teeth into the soft flesh of his neck. “I'm sorry, I don't mean to stare and watch your suffering! I don't know what's happening to me!”

The bat hissed. "You just keep watching and staring and drinking it all in as I have to watch the white nose fungus take my mate again and again and again. No decency inside you, you wretched voyeur!"

Jon wailed, “I’m sorry, I didn’t -”

“This is all your fault!” Another bat fluttered down and sank its claws into his back. “Why won’t you help us?”

A chant began as hundreds of bats started flying in circles around Jon, enveloping him in a sphere of misery. “Help us, help us, help us, help us!” Jon could only cry.

…

Tim and Sasha were concerned. “Sash… I don’t think he’s eaten in days. If he keeps up like this we’re going to need to take him to the bat-rehabber.”

Sasha winced. “I doubt he wants to go back there… it’s probably triggering for him.”

“I know.” Tim groomed himself in agitation, nosing at the inside of his left wing. “But I don’t know what else to do.”

Martin could hear their soft squeaks through the wall and he sniffled as he groomed Jon’s lifeless fur. “Oh, precious bat. Why did you have to leave me? Why? Our friends want me to stick around but I don’t want to, not without you.” He sniffled again. “Fortunately I won’t have to for much longer.” He nudged the cloth with his nose, revealing the small pellet of rodenticide he’d grabbed last time he was ‘using the restroom.’

“We should go in and talk to him… and if he doesn’t eat we need to have an intervention.”

Martin stiffened.

“Let’s just give him a bit more time. Maybe in half an hour.”

Martin gently nuzzled Jon’s fur. “They’re coming? Then I’ll be brief. O, happy pellet,
This is thy home. There dissolve, and let me die.”

Chapter Text

Sasha was startled by a sudden whoosh of air and she looked up to find an unknown bat quickly landing on the rock ledge outside the archives. “Hi, who are -"

“Oliver Bats and there's no time to explain why I know this but you need to get to Martin right away." When Sasha failed to move immediately, Oliver nudged her with his nose. “Come on!”

Martin was lying on his side, seizing, and his eyes were partially glazed over slits. “Oh G, Martin!" Sasha dove to his side and began to nuzzle him frantically. “Martin, what's wrong? Martin, squeak to me!"

Oliver nodded. “You need to take him to that rehabber - she'll know what to do. He's poisoned."

Sasha looked up in horror. “Poisoned? How -" she paused and looked down at the bat who'd been admittedly making not-so thinly veiled threats of offing himself the past couple days. "Oh, Martin!”

Martin only let out a piteous wheezing squeak.

"You and your friend - apologies but I only know the names of the dying or the soon to die - can get him there in time if you leave now.” Oliver then let out a thunderous wave of echolocation that filled the area. Hurried flapping wings sounded and Tim ducked his head in.

“What's all the racket?... Oh no, Martin!"

Oliver sighed. "There's no time to freak out - you both need to take him to the bat rehabber. Now.”

“What -"

“No time for questions either. Now go." He gestured towards the opening in the rock shelf with a wing.

“And you -"

“I have my own task to work on here." With that, he bent beside Jon and nuzzled his icy fur and Sasha and Tim noticed his eyes take on a black glow. “Now go, because I've done all I can for that one."

Tim and Sasha each grabbed one of Martin's shoulders in their claws and they took off into the night. Oliver nestled in comfortably beside Jon and let out a yawn, showing his adorable sharp pointy teeth. "Now, Jon. I have a statement for you.”