Getting to the Pitt was far more difficult than Octane ever planned. It was a shot in the dark, really. Maybe he had jumped the gun on this. He had yet to learn much about the other groups, but the Pitt sounds like just the place Caustic would be hunkered away in. Not because it’s surroundings or it’s fauna (maybe?) would be particularly appealing, but because Caustic could get away with his nefarious schemes below. If Caustic wasn’t there, then he was probably in uncharted territories, and that made Octane’s job harder.
Octane had strapped the broken portal maker to him, cleaned off his legs, fastening Caustic’s gift to the harness on his chest. He took a canteen and some fish meat as a snack, attached to his shoulder. Another member had loaned him a compass, and followed it going Northeast from the Tempest.
The cheetah body had its unfortunate limitations, and while Octane loved the new top speeds he reached with it (he was so fast! faster than ever before!) it didn’t have near the same amount of endurance. His running mask hung from his neck, removed from his mouth to make breathing easier. Octane could only maintain this speed of 113kph in short bursts of 20-30 seconds, which was nearly a whole kilometer, but requiring to slow down or eat something was drawing out his travel time. Octane wished he knew of the limitations before choosing to do this- the cheetah didn’t sweat, it panted and sat down and his lungs were screaming to stop in hot, white pain. Could he even push the limits of the cheetah’s endurance? It would take months, but could animals do that?

Octane reached the edge of the desert at the end of the first day, and found a tree root to sleep under. Travelling through the desert was equally tiring, the bun beating down on his fur. He kept a steady jog, and he reached the edge of the jungle in a little over an hour and a half. Octane collapsed underneath a tree, eating the last of his rations and drinking the remainder of his canteen. Okay. Maybe they’d let him have some food and water if this turned out to be a dud before kicking him out.

Octane weighed out how this would go in his head. He had ran through this scenario so many times: how he would greet Caustic, what his reaction would be, what they would do later at night.
Octane shuddered at the thought of Caustic killing him.
He would have to tell Caustic what happened, of course. Octane sat down on the border for a moment, wondering how he should approach. Should he barge in? Should he wait? He couldn’t imagine Caustic would just be out here. That wasn’t his brand. “Hello? Anyone out there? Pizza delivery!” Hehe. Funny joke.

Caustic’s ears perked, head raising from the ground, his prey running off with a growl of the wolf's stomach. He took in a scent- a stranger, another who braved the desert and thought there was something worthwhile in the Pitt. He was only obligated to approach. Caustic moved, appearing from the underbrush and locking onto the strange cheetah, noting all of his details and- no. It can't be.

There he was. All the searching was complete. He’d done his job, and now he would…. have to give the portal maker to Caustic. There wasn’t any way he could fix it, right? Caustic was smart, but not that smart. He’d either never be able to fix it or suspect sabotage. Caustic was before him now, that same analytical gaze that saw through  his skin and could recall the nicks on Octane’s bones. The daredevil couldn’t help himself. He watched Caustic’s face as it morphed from his hardened, neutral expression to visible confusion. “Caustic!” He was running at the wolf already, metal legs hitting the ground at rocket speed. They clattered together as he came to a harsh stop, wrapping himself around the wolf.

Octavio hit him like a train, leaping and wrapping his arms around Caustic’s shoulders. Caustic let out a cough, then pulled himself up in response, sitting back on his haunches and his forelegs awkwardly clinging to the cheetah’s side. It was uncomfortable to the Wolf, but it made Caustic feel human. He sucked in a breath, Octavio’s scent filling his nose.
It was different. As a human, Octavio had smelled like Stim and sweet, sugary energy drinks. He smelled like sea salt and fur now. He was clean though, and Caustic wondered if he was bathing properly or just licking himself. Caustic exhaled, a cloud of gas leaving him and wrapping around the pair like strings.

Caustic pushed him away slightly, moving his right paw to run it over Octavio’s cheek, inspecting his facial features, tail lightly slapping against the ground. “No piercings?” He mused, his paw moving Octavio’s face at the chin to inspect him, noting the curves of his new face, and running it over his Mohawk. The wolf’s paw moved, lightly tapping where Octavio’s piercings once were- each corner his mouth, his ear, his nose.

“I tried going to a few events to look for you, but you never showed up. I figured you were hunched over a dead body in a cave somewhere.”

They could see eachother, as they truly were. Octane’s paw raised, gracing along Caustic’s maw, where his salt and pepper beard once was. Caustic had a soft belly and heavy eyes. Octane could see his exhaustion and annoyance, alongside some positive emotion he couldn’t quite put a name to. Maybe Caustic was happy to see him? It was some result of that.

Caustic could see Octavio’s face, under the cheetah. Snakebites on his bottom lip, brown skin, a midline piercing as he stuck out his tongue and a nose ring. The illusion flashed away, and Caustic was sourly reminded of his current form. Octavio’s head moved under his chin, rubbing against him and sinking his face into Caustic’s fur. The wolf rumbled lightly, letting his chin rest upon Octavio’s head for a moment.

They stayed like that. Just for a moment.

They had business to do. Caustic pushed the cheetah off, letting Octavio hit the jungle floor in a mess of limbs, his metal legs clack together.

“Listen, Amigo, I brought this for you!” Octane took off the box strapped to his chest, placing it in front of Caustic and bouncing mindlessly as he watched the wolf open it. Caustic pulled the prosthetic out with his teeth, setting it down to get a good look. The wolf took a pregnant pause, glancing between it and the cheetah.
“Thank you, Octavio,” he picked it up to shove it onto his left paw, strapping it in place with his teeth, and giving a few test stretches, “That’s very kind of you.”

Octane nodded excitedly.

“How did you get here?”

Octane unclicks the device from his back, grabbing the harness by his teeth and setting it down in front of Caustic. “Wraith helped the Syndicate build this… it’s a portal maker. I was supposed to come find you and then the both of us would get to go back but…”

“It’s broken.”

“Si, si, si,” Octane pushed it closer. “I would have tried to open it, but I don’t have any tools.”
The wolf nudged the box with his nose, blowing off the sand and looking over it. Caustic exhaled, releasing a deep sigh in a cloud of gas. He looked down at it again. “You certainly broke the casing. I would need tools to open it.” Caustic sat down, pulling the portal maker towards him to take it home soon.
“So can you fix it?”
Another sigh, “I am a chemist, but I will see what I can do.” Caustic closed his eyes briefly, sitting back and letting his tail lay flat against the earth. “Well, hopefully I can cobble together some form of radio and hopefully contact the Syndicate. It would be unlikely, though. I would need a large satellite and-”

“Caustic,” Octane stepped closer now, the wolf silencing to listen to him. “The Syndicate doesn’t exist here.” The daredevil’s ears pulled back, knowing Caustic wouldn’t take the news well. His anger was an active danger and it made Octane’s heart race in anticipation. “It’s 2020 here.”

Caustic was silent for a moment, gas leaking from his mouth more and more as it slowly opened. He sat up, squaring his shoulders, his eyes narrowing as anger morphed onto his face. “You came here-” The wolf coughed, throwing his head down, choking out his following words, “with our only means of escape, and you broke it?” Caustic’s body hacked and heaved violently as the string of coughs left him, each more forceful than the last, until he regained control of his breathing.

“I’m sorry, Caustic. Lo siento,” Octane found himself lowering, making himself smaller, raising a paw to touch the wolf’s shoulder. “It was an accident. I landed on my back when I got here and it broke,” he chittered, and Octane could feel his fur raise as Caustic stared into him. The wolf moved forward, eclipsing Octane’s vision and standing over him.

“Octavio, it is going to be centuries before any of the structures that lead to the Syndicate are going to be constructed. My grandparents have yet to be born.” He moved in closer, nearly face to face with the cheetah now, gas blooming from his mouth in a thick cloud. Caustic’s lips curled back bare his teeth.

Octane’s heart raised and his blood burned, eyes on Caustic’s fangs. He bit his lip, tail waving back and forth, ears perking back up in interest. If only Caustic would take the lunge- he was brought out his thoughts as the wolf raised his paw, bringing it across Octane’s face and shoving his head in the dirt, onto his side. The metal digits stung a little more than the flesh ones. Brown eyes met green as the cheetah looked up at the wolf.
There it was, the wrath of God.

“We are going to die here if I do not fix the device, do you understand?” Caustic’s paw pushed further still, applying the cruel pressure to Octavio's face.

“Si, si!” Caustic’s paw lifted, the snarl pulling away and the refined, stoic expression of the scientist returned. Octane watched his eyes- his pupils had narrowed and his face strained in an attempt to make an expression akin to annoyance. Caustic was trying to move brows that weren’t there and it was replaced by his pointed ears laying back and a rumble exhausting from his throat.
Caustic wasn’t happy, and some pang of guilt hit the daredevil. They would have each other. Just for a while, until Caustic fixed the portal maker. He wanted Caustic’s attention, so badly. Unimpeded by others or experiments, by the games or by fans, just the two of them. He wanted Caustic’s obsession all to himself, just for a bit.

“So, uh, what do you want me to do?”

The wolf had turned from him now, slipping into the portal maker’s harness to take it back to his cave. A new experiment, a new test, something to work on with any actual meaning. “Leave.”

“What?” The cheetah ears perked forward, sitting up and splaying his paws out. “Why? I went all this way for you and-”

Caustic waved a paw, dismissively. “Leave.” He would have to begin working on fixing the portal maker immediately, and maybe they could get out of here within the coming days. He didn’t want Octavio distracting him.

“No!” Octane watched Caustic’s ears perk, and the wolf’s head turned to look at him. “I went all the way here, I deserve something, it took me two days to get here!” The least Caustic could do was bring him down to his spooky cave or something!

Caustic’s eyes narrowed, ears flipping back. “Oh? You think you are entitled to reciprocation?” Rage-filled eyes stared at him from Caustic’s peripherals. It was asking him to test the scientist, see what disobedience would get him.

“Yes!”

The wolf huffed. “You’re not. I am going to occupy myself cleaning up the mess you made. I will come for you when I am finished.” Fixing this was too important. Octavio knew Caustic’s boundaries, knew his rules, knew what breaking them would get him.

“I made? I MADE? You got trapped here in the first place and I-” Octane didn’t get the chance to finish the statement, as the wolf had lurched around and tackled him, sending the cheetah onto the jungle floor. Caustic’s teeth were in his shoulder, and he could feel something being injected into his flesh. Octane yowled, pain and desire twisting into an ouroboros inside him. This was what he wanted. He wanted Caustic’s wrath, for it to hurt, just as it always did.
Caustic’s teeth pulled out of him, and he felt the wound pulsate with blood.

Caustic got off of him, rubbing his blood off on his paw in a disgusted manner. Only total lack of contact meant anything to Octavio. Cut him off for a few days. Let him come back. “Get out of here, Octane. Come back later. I can’t kill you safely and you have caused me enough of a headache.”

Octane scrambled up, shaking with anger as he established gaze with Caustic, tail lashing and ears pulled back.

The wolf couldn’t perform what Octavio wanted here. He didn’t have the tools or the patience. He needed the cheetah to stay away for a few days so he could collect himself and start devising a new plan and begin fixing the portal-maker. Green eyes scanned over Octavio’s form longingly. “Do not make me repeat myself.”

That was a warning, it always was. Send him away for a few days? Fucking asshole. Caustic was his only means of escape, too, but the scientist wouldn’t leave him here. Never. Octane growled, rolling his shoulders. “Come on, Caustic, anything, please, por favor,” last try, anything, just a little time together. He would have smirked. “One slip of the rules, Caustic. We spend some time together tonight, and I’ll leave in the morning to let you work. Okay? Please?”

Caustic scanned him, up and down, thinking. It was a long, pregnant pause before the wolf spoke again, gas puffing from his mouth. It was undesirable to look weak to Octavio, and any bending of their rules must follow up later with strict enforcement. Here he was, offering to still be a part of Caustic’s grand experiment, be in his life. Caustic sighed, and it was quickly followed by a puff of gas from his throat.

“One time. This one time.”

// oneshot! both of them are heading back to the pitt for now