Steampunk Shenanigans

Damien was probably lucky he wasn't killed for what he did, but he wasn't sure what overcame him when he saw Corbin hit Evie. He got a pretty nasty shock and punch to the gut too, but he could hardly feel it over the adrenaline from the rage he was feeling.

Now they were back at the house and Damien was quietly cleaning the gash on Evie's forehead so he could bandage it up for her. He hadn't said a word the entire walk home, and Evie mostly kept her eyes down. She looked at him when he tilted her head up to get a better view of what he was doing. She stared at him with big eyes, on the verge of tears.

"Are you mad at me?" she finally asked.

"Mad at you?" he frowned. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because it's my fault you got hit," she said.

"It's not your fault," he told her. "And I'm angry, but I'm not angry with you. I'm angry that anyone thinks he has the authority to hurt you like that."

"I've never known anything else," she said dully.

"Well that's done," Damien said firmly. "It's not happening anymore. If he- or anyone- lays another hand on you, then I've deeply failed you."

"Damien," she said softly. "You can't change the way the world works."

"I can't, but I can protect the people I care about," he told her. "I'm not playing coy here. You won't be hurt like that anymore."

Damien was lighthearted and easy to be around most of the time, but when he was dead serious like this, he was a different person. Almost intimidating. Evie seemed to pick up on this, and her eyes were still teary as she leaned in to kiss him.

"How's your head?" he asked.

"Better," she said. "Much better."

"Good."

"We should get back to the lab," she said.

"It's okay," Damien told her. "We can rest today. Tomorrow morning we'll get back to it."

She looked like she wanted to protest at first, but her exhaustion betrayed her. They ended up going back to bed for most of the day, and things weren't so bad when they were cuddled up with each other.

The next morning, they were both up bright and early to go to the lab and get to work. Not so much on the spider, but on the remote. They tried and failed a few more different plans, and it was starting to get frustrating. Even with the power from the moon crystal, there was some flaw in Damien's design that had him ripping his hair out.

And then there was the spider, which sat there and mocked him every day. They were in the lab until late, and at some point Evie had fallen asleep in an armchair with Minnie curled up in her lap. Damien took the opportunity to turn his attention back to the spider. Since getting the plans for what Corbin and Olessa wanted to do with it, he knew he couldn't just do things as planned.

Instead, while Evie was asleep, he installed a secret control unit. The spider normally responded to whoever turned it on, unless there was an alternate connection. He managed to put this connection in a small switch, then turned that switch into a small pendant the size of a thumbnail. He slipped out of the lab to stop by the building's lost and found just a room over, then helped himself to a delicate bracelet someone had left behind one day. He attached the switch to the bracelet, then checked it over.

It was good work, for such a short amount of time. And as far as it looked, it appeared to just be a normal bracelet. When he returned, Evie was just beginning to stir. She rubbed her eyes and sat up in the chair with a yawn.

"What time is it?" she asked groggily.

"Four in the morning," he told her. "We've been here all night."

"And you've been working this entire time?"

"Hey, let me see your wrist. The free one."

She seemed a bit confused, but held out her wrist that didn't have the two cuffs on it. Damien attached the bracelet around her wrist. He opted not to tell her what it did quite yet. It was safer if she didn't know. If Damien was the only one with that information, it was less likely to fall into the wrong hands.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Just a little gift," he told her. "I know you're not fond of bracelets, but I thought this would suit you."

"It's so pretty," she said. "You really picked this out for me?"

"Promise you won't take it off?" Damien asked.

"I promise," she said with a smile, leaning in to kiss him again.

He felt a little guilty lying about what the bracelet did, but he would apologize for it when everything was over. They spent the next two days working on the remote, and Damien hadn't slept a wink. Even Evie was taking small naps here and there, but he couldn't stop.

"Damien, you need to rest," she pleaded. "You look dead already."

"I've almost got it figured out," he mumbled. "I'm fine. I just need a coffee."

"Coffee isn't enough."

He didn't say anything and she sighed in defeat to pour him a cup from the pitcher off to the side. He stayed focused on the remote, and one cable in particular that was giving him trouble. Suddenly, it connected with a snap and the entire device whirred to life. Damien thought it was going to blow up for a moment, but then the glow from the crystal dimmed. It really worked.

Damien closed the remote and hesitantly pushed the release button. As Evie walked over with the cup of coffee, there was a sudden click. All three cuffs released their hold on them, and both Evie's cuffs clattered to the floor. She stared down at them for disbelief and the cup of coffee dropped from her shaking hands, shattering on the floor.

"You... actually did it."