[Author's note:]

So this is the first The Raid story on AO3, and the first on this website for Berandal.

I feel all warm and fluffy inside.

[About this little story of mine]
I wrote and posted this story a few days before the release of the film here in Indonesia, but edited it a little (along with the notes) after watching the film. WHICH. IS. SO. AWESOME. :D I can't stop thinking about it and the wonderful characters!

For those who don't know, Baseball Bat Man and Hammer Girl (Alicia) are brother and sister. They escaped from a broken home and an abusing father. Eventually they meet Bejo, who then takes them under his wing. Together they grow up to be assassins.

Hopefully their history will be explained in the extended version of the film! :)

Me and my friend are always talking about headcanons like "what if Bejo is like a father-figure to them" and "since Bejo's name is from the Javanese word "lucky" what if it means he's lucky and can do everything" and so on so on. They may seem cold, but what if there's warmth in their hearts?

This story is in Baseball Bat Man's POV.

Through the Red, There is Salvation

Alicia was bleeding in my arms.

I pounded hard on the door. BANG BANG. No answer. I was shaking all over. I felt like I would faint any second. But I fought the darkness attempting to take a hold of me. I couldn't lose consciousness. Not until I saved Alicia.

BANG BANG.

"Bejo, please, open up." My voice sounded so small. I began to shout. "Bejo, can you hear me? OPEN UP. PLEASE. I AM BEGGING YOU." The door to the small apartment seemed like a wall that was separating me and my sister from salvation. I wanted to tear it down.

But thankfully, it flung open. And there stood Bejo, tall, with his glasses off, eyes hard. He was wearing his expensive suit, as if he had just returned from a meeting.

His eyes analyzed the situation quickly. There I was, the hood of my jacket down, revealing my deathly pale face. And there was Alicia, in my arms, bleeding from wounds from her stomach and arms. Me and her were both covered in blood.

There was no way we could have gone to a hospital. They would have asked for our names. Our identities. Obviously we couldn't give them that.

"Bejo, Alicia's hurt. Help. Help, please—" The words tumbled out of my mouth. "—I'm sorry. There was just so many people—so many mobs. I tried to keep my eyes on her at every second but I was pushed back and we were both fighting and I could hear her screaming my name and I saw her hammers hit the floor and and—"

I stopped talking as I choked back a sob.

Shit shit shit.

I remembered it all so clearly.

Bejo sent us both on a mission. Both me and Alicia knew that we were strong, but unfortunately the enemy dominated us in numbers. I saw Alicia take down over a dozen men before one of them stabbed her in the stomach. I was separated far from her, the enemies pushing me back.

Oh God. Alicia. My sister. When I finally tore myself from the crowd, I saw her on her knees. The men grabbed her by the arms. They were going to kill her. I saw the fear in her eyes.

At that precise moment, I completely lost my shit. I was a monster. I was roaring as I destroyed whatever stood in the way between me and Alicia. Blood was splattered across my face, across my jeans, across my jacket. My baseball bat lost its gray color, covered in a crimson red.

And finally I reached her. Bodies of unmoving men were scattered across the street, surrounding us. I bent down and put my hands on her shoulders. I couldn't even move a muscle to form words in sign language. I was so terrified.

Alicia coughed up blood as she shakily picked up her hammers. And with her last strength, she looked up at me with a weak smile.

Her lips covered in red, I could see what she was trying to say with that smile:

"Sorry, brother. I messed up."

And then she fainted in my arms.

And now here I was, with Bejo in front of me, and my aching body screaming at me to rest. I could pass out at any moment.

"Please help Alicia, oh God please help—"

And then my legs gave out under me. Alicia wasn't heavy, but she was taller than me. And my body was just so tired with fatigue and stinging with cuts that I fell.

Thankfully, Bejo caught Alicia before I hit the floor. He held her gently in his arms, inspecting the wounds, his brow furrowed.

There was an aching silence before he spoke.

"You were supposed to protect her," he said. With no emotion. His face was placid.

It was at that moment that I realized I was crying. "I know," was all I could manage to say. "I know."

I didn't care whatever punishment I was going to get. All I cared about was Alicia. I didn't give a damn whatever the hell was going to happen to me. Bejo was cold. Hard cold. He could easily snap his fingers and kill anyone in the blink of an eye.

But to my surprise, Bejo knelt down and put a hand on my cheek. He examined the cut there, the blood pouring out. Then he looked at the rips in my jacket and jeans, seeing the wounds there too.

"And she was supposed to protect you," Bejo said. And he patted my cheek slowly. "Damnit, you're hurt too. Come on. I'll save you both."

And we were both in the apartment. I swear, Bejo was good at everything. There must be a reason why his name is "Lucky". He rolled up his sleeves, taking out bandages and all sorts of medical stuff that I didn't much understand. I didn't even say a word as he set my sister on the bed and carefully removed her clothes with the help of his trusty box cutter. I knew that he meant no harm. I knew that he wasn't like my terrible terrible father—who meant all the harm in the world to Alicia.

I watched Bejo as he stopped the bleeding, soaked up the blood with towels, and stitched the open wounds after he cleaned them. I just stood there, watching with awe. This was Bejo. The man who offered me and Alicia shelter. The one that fed us. The one that took care of us. The one that saved us over and over again.

I was so thankful to have met him.

Eventually, Alicia's major wounds were taken care of. Bejo walked towards me, and I opened my mouth to tell him to finish treating Alicia first but he put a finger to his lips in a "Shhh" motion.

"Shut up and let me heal you. Alicia's main injuries are treated. I'll treat the smaller ones after I take care of your main ones. Now. Off with your shirt."

I had no choice but to comply. I stripped myself of my jacket and T-shirt, and I sat down as he began to treat my wounds. My eyes were on Alicia, but sometimes they would flicker back to look at the man in front of me. It was hard to know exactly what Bejo was feeling, since he was so good at hiding his emotions with his facial expressions.

But at that moment, I could have sworn I saw worry in his eyes. And affection. It was the look a father would give to his children if they came home crying with a scraped knee.

"Thank you," I said. And I meant it. "Thank you."

Bejo only nodded in response.

Hours later and both me and Alicia were patched up. Bejo rented another apartment room for himself and gave me and Alicia this one. Alicia had regained consciousness for a couple minutes, but she didn't have the strength to talk. I told her to rest, and she did.

As she lay on the bed, me sitting on a chair, I held out a hand and gently pushed back a strand of hair that made its way onto her face. My dear sister. I loved her so much.

And then without warning, I broke down.

I had stopped crying hours ago but now the tears came back. Like a dam just burst open and this shitload of water just came pouring out. My arms were laying on the edge of the bed, and I buried my face in them as I sobbed uncontrollably.

I was just so relieved. So relieved that my sister was alive and well. And yet the memories were so fresh. The absolute terror and horror that I felt when seeing her covered in her own blood. The men holding her, ready to take the life out of her. Ready to take her away from me.

I tried to keep my crying to a minimum volume. I couldn't wake up Alicia. She needed rest. I scolded myself over and over again, telling myself to shut up. But I just couldn't stop. My shoulders were shaking. My arms were soaked with tears. Time passed.

Eventually I managed to calm myself down. Or more precisely, I just cried until I couldn't cry anymore. My voice was hoarse. My eyes were red, and my cheeks were wet.

And that was when I realized how exhausted I was. I hadn't slept a wink. The battle with the mobs consumed all my energy. Bejo had left two bowls of soup and two glasses of water on the nearby table for the both of us. Told us to eat. But Alicia wasn't strong enough and I couldn't eat a spoonful without wanting to throw up.

I was sure the soup tasted wonderful, though. I mean, come on, Bejo freaking owned restaurants. But after the fight and seeing my sister so injured, I just simply felt sick to the stomach.

But this time I forced myself to eat. I took deep breaths before I more or less grabbed the spoon and shoved it in my mouth. The soup should have been cold after sitting untouched for so long.

To my surprise, it wasn't cold at all. It was warm.

A small, shaky smile came to my lips. Oh, Bejo. Did you actually cook this? I imagined him bent over the small stove in his little apartment room, tossing ingredients into a pot and waiting for the water to boil.

Bejo sure was good at everything. It might have been that the soup really was warm, or it was just the warmth of whatever I was feeling in my chest that made it seem like so.

Damnit, I was just touched.

"Father never cooked like this," I said, my voice small as I took the bowl in my hands and drank the whole thing in one gulp. I wiped my mouth with a sleeve. "Father never even cooked for us properly." I set the bowl down on the table. I thought that I was out of tears, but apparently I wasn't. My vision started to blur as my eyes began to water.

Nothing bad with crying of happiness...right?

My stomach full, my heart feeling a lot less heavy, I sat myself down next to Alicia's bed and laid my arms over it like before. Using my arms as pillows, I closed my eyes. I would make sure that Alicia ate when she woke up.

There was actually two beds in the room but I preferred to sleep like this. With my sister close to me. I wrapped my hand around her pale fingers. I gave them a small squeeze.

"Goodnight, Alicia," I whispered.

I nearly fell asleep right away. I felt the world beginning to darken as I began to fall into the world of dreams. But right before I fell asleep, I heard the door creak open behind me. Then footsteps followed.

I was too tired to even lift my head. My eyes were half open.

I felt a blanket drop onto my shoulders. A big, warm, comfy blanket. Then I felt a hand on my hair, ruffling it up gently before patting it down.

"Goodnight, my little Baseball Bat Man."

Then Bejo walked over to Alicia's side and made sure that her bandages and stitches were all well, and he patted her on the head too.

"And you too, my little Hammer Girl."

And then he left the room, turning off the lights before he left.

He really was a good person.

end

[more author's note:] I am hoping that with the international release of Berandal, there will be more Raid fics out there :) And not just written by Indonesians like me, but also by people from different countries ^_^