Archive of Our Own ^beta

It had been another day within Grace, John had been progressing as normal. They couldn't shake off a feeling something would go horrifically wrong this time though, as if something like this had happened before on his previous attempts to survive. Nevertheless, they kept moving. They had improved from their previous failures drastically and the red repeating brick walls and concrete floors had become a new normal for them. This would just be another failure to learn from if anything did go wrong though, that is what they always told themselves to stay determined. Though, it began to get difficult to stay awake, John was barely keeping ahead of Carnation and they could barely move out of the way in time for Slugfish.

Constantly moving, John had to admit they were growing tired and loosing focus. They had not slept in days, absolutely exhausted and unable to cope much longer, it wasn't too long until they would mess up and make a mistake. It felt like something was breathing down their neck, tormenting them and watching every step as they struggled and barely held onto their life. As expected, eventually, John had failed. Standing before then was a familiar face, one that usually brought comfort that now brought terror and fear. Dozer stood in front of John, it's eyes closed shut. John assumed it would be their saviour, but they were terribly wrong.

It's eyes slowly opened, a horrific gaze that couldn't be ignored. It's pitch black pupils staring right back at John's in an eerie, unforgettable way. Death was ready to claim John. It's smile widened as it looked at John. It was too late before John realised what was happening, it had claimed their soul, they were going to die painfully but it was at least quick. John reached forward for one last embrace but before he could it struck. Dozer began violently tearing their head into two pieces, it was split right in the middle and blood gushed and sprayed out splattering the walls and floors. The cold brick was painted a bright, crimson red that couldn't be ignored before John's lifeless body dropped to the ground. John's brains were scattered on the floor in a disgusting clump.

Their lifeless, cloudy eyes stared at Dozer. This made it feel some remorse. Then, it finally realised what it had done to John, it immediately picked up their limp, mutilated corpse. Quietly, it sobbed to itself as it held the corpse of it's once love in its arms, the blood was fresh and it dripped onto its clothing. John was becoming pale and ashen within its arms. This was the consequences of its actions, its only hope now was John coming back to try again as they always did and to rebuild that strong bond they once had, the trust between them and the connection that was so dear to it. It's hands began to shake and it's stomach ached as it thought of trying to rebuild their relationship again.

Solemnly, It hugged John one last time, setting their body down where it had killed them. The shame and guilt was too much to look back at what it had done again. It was too prideful, it let its pride for itself harm another person, a person it cared about, even if it was better than John by a long way. The pride of which it was built off of was its own enemy, ruining everything it and John had over and over again like a never ending loop.

This was not even the first time such events had happened and unfortunately it would never be the last. Dozer was always this way; violent, prideful and extremely stubborn. It wanted all the attention, all the respect, yet never considered John's suffering or their constant deaths. Yet, Dozer still felt proud of itself. It deserved that respect it wanted, even if it meant it would need to show aggression or even kill. John would come back. John Grace was a determined person, constantly retrying and constantly improving. Dozer almost felt inspired by their determination but still knew it was better than them by a long mile. It had completely forgotten, really it was stood in front of John's decomposing, disfigured corpse.

It sighed, looked at the body one last time, it was time to move on until they met again. Dozer dragged itself away from the murder, as far as it could, until the next time they would both meet again. It would be another chance to improve their relationship, right? A new opportunity to admit it's love for John and finally live a happy life with them. That's what it always told itself.

This twisted, sick, painful love would never help either of them. Even in the good times, they would never forget the pain of them trying to be together when it would just never work.