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brucewhite · 3 years

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It’s a Trap | Gabruceric

Date: 20 March 2022 For context: Deep and Dark and Dangerous Featuring: @gabriella-marino @maritimeericandersen @brucewhite Warnings: Discussion of the merm trap incident + attempted murder, references to violence

Gabriella and Bruce seek out answers for what happened in the lake three weeks ago.

GABRIELLA:

As soon as Bruce had given her the okay that he was ready to meet Eric Andersen, Gabriella had put together the pieces needed to lure him. Like he had done to Bruce and Gabriella, she had set the bait and waited for him to take it.

It had been a simple text conversation. Gabriella asking if he wanted to meet her after she got off of work that evening to go do something together. He had agreed. She had told him to meet her at the antique shoppe. He had agreed. There was no reason why he shouldn’t. It wasn’t as if he knew that anything had changed between the two of them.

She and Bruce were the only ones scheduled for that evening to close. This was why she had chosen that particular day, knowing that they would have the place to themselves. Gabriella did feel a little bad that she was using Mr. Scuttle’s place to conduct her own personal business, but there was no where else they could go for this sort of conversation where they knew no unsuspecting person would wander into their, no doubt, heated conversation.

If they could even call it that. Gabriella had every intention of letting Eric say what needed to, but she didn’t plan on letting him defend himself or try to explain why he had lied to her. That much was already clear.

Once they had taken care of their actual jobs, Gabriella prepared for what was about to come. She had set out a chair in the back and was now staring at her phone, waiting for Eric to text her back. Glancing up, she caught sight of Bruce. She waved to get his attention before signing, “Are you still okay to do this? I can always cancel for another time.”

BRUCE

Bruce still wasn’t sure he was ready for this, in all honesty. He had never done anything like this before, interrogated someone. In the ocean, disagreements were sorted out by the elders, and Bruce had been relatively young when he was taken from his pod. He had no idea how to interrogate or dole out justice.

But he didn’t want Gabriella to reschedule. If he didn’t do this now, he was never going to do it. And the one thing he did know was that Gabriella wanted him here. That was enough for Bruce. Maybe he didn’t know how to interrogate someone, but he did know how to be there for Gabriella. One of his first friends, one of his closest friends, the only person he had trusted with his secret, who had given him another chance even after everything he had done. Bruce could do this for her– he could give her an warm smile, an encouraging nod, a kind word in the language this human would not know.

And if this human tried to hurt her, well… Bruce had sworn off violence. He was trying to be a peaceful, non-threatening person. But the thought of someone trying to put Gabriella in a cage again filled him with such anger…

Bruce tried not to think about that. Gabriella was brave. She could fight her own battles. Bruce was just here to back her up.

“I’m okay,” he promised, trying to muster a small smile. “How are you doing? Are you–”

A knock at the door. Bruce glanced over his shoulder, fear flickering over his face. He set his jaw, determined not to let this human see his trepidation. “That would be him. We should go get the door.”

ERIC

It was true— Eric had no idea that anything was wrong with Gabriella. Perhaps things had been a bit weird ever since that day at the dance studio, but nothing to make him suspicious in this sense.

So, when he received her text, he had been absolutely delighted at the thought of getting to spend time with her. (As he always was!) He had responded as soon as he had seen it, having no problem meeting her over at her job after she’d closed it down. The alarm had been set on his phone for it so he wouldn’t be late. As soon as it had gone off, he dropped what he was revising, called to Ollie he’d be back later, and was out the door.

His trek across the town toward Main Street showed how at ease he was. The lax speed of his gait, the easy smile and nod he gave to those passing him by. Eric stepped up onto the curb in front of the shoppe, reaching forward to give a rhythmic knock at the door, (Shave-and-a-hair-cut. Two bits.) before remembering Gabriella wouldn’t be able to hear that, and stepped back to get his phone from his pocket to text her.

As he waited, he took a moment to straighten out his appearance. Something he’d rarely ever done in the past as he always thought, eh, what does it matter? Turns out, putting in an effort because you cared about someone meant a lot. Just as he was righting his jumper’s sleeves, the door opened, and he looked up, smiling.

GABRIELLA:

Something caught Bruce’s attention, his hands stopping mid sentence, and Gabriella knew that it must have been Eric. Not even a few seconds later did she feel her phone vibrate in her hand. Her stomach, which had been tied up in knots ever since she had been inside that trap, pulled that much tighter.

It was one thing to be angry with someone when they weren’t in the same room, it was another when they were looking at you with their grey eyes and stupid smiles that you had grown so used to over these past few months entirely. She was scared she was going to lose some of her courage when he walked into the room. It made her hesitate. But only for a moment before she was steeling herself against those thoughts because no. No. If it was Eric who had done this then she didn’t know him like she thought she had. He wasn’t the person she…felt something for anymore. And he needed to be held accountable for his actions.

She needed answers. Both for herself and for the other merfolk living in Swynlake. Bruce, Aquata and all her sisters, Finn, and anyone else who may have been swimming under the radar. She wasn’t going to protect some Mundus over them just because she thought…

Whatever. Didn’t matter. She needed to tuck those feelings away to get through this.

Gabriella walked over to the front door, unlocking and opening it to greet Eric with a smile of her own. She tilted her head, wanting him to follow inside. When he was through the door she locked it again behind them, quickly checking to see if anyone was watching the store or something, before pulling down the shade of the window and leading him on to the back room where Bruce and the chair were. She motioned for Eric to take a seat, going to stand closer to Bruce, arms crossed over her middle.

BRUCE

While Gabriella disappeared to the front of the shop to let Eric in, Bruce paced the back room, trying to prepare himself. He had to keep this focused. Stay on topic, find out who exactly had laid the trap and make sure it never happened again. This wasn’t about what Bruce had done in the past. It was about making sure what happened to Gabriella in the lake never happened to anyone again.

But when he saw the boy from the boat walk into the room, it was hard to keep his composure. Bruce wanted to beg for his forgiveness. To promise that he would never hurt another human again. Never before had he had the opportunity to confront someone he had attacked, and now…

Bruce looked to Gabriella and reminded himself of how scared he had been in the lake. He remembered what they had agreed on: they weren’t going to blame themselves, they were going to blame the humans who had laid the trap in the first place. It was hard to be strong on his own behalf, but it was much easier to stand up for her. Funny how that worked.

“We have a couple of questions for you,” Bruce said, trying to keep his tone even and, hopefully, a little bit intimidating. It felt unnatural to him, but so was the anger that burned in his chest, anger he had never felt before, anger on behalf of a friend. “I’m Bruce. Gabriella’s friend. I’m here to help interpret. And…” He glowered, trying to look even more serious. “I’ll have you know, I’m trained in– in fighting. So if you try to hurt her again, you will regret it.”

I told him my name and that I’m going to interpret, Bruce added to Gabriella in Mermish. We can start whenever you’re ready. Or we can stop if you need it. Whatever you want to do.

ERIC

Eric watched Gabriella, taking her lead in all this. He had thought they were going to go from the shoppe, go get something to eat or whatever it was she had in mind when she had texted him to suggest they hang out. Instead, she was inviting him in. After hours at her place of work. That may have been a red flag to someone else, it wasn’t to Eric.

He didn’t get the sense that anything was off until he walked into the backroom to be met with— a very big fella. His dropped, furrowing with his confusion. Who was that? What was he doing here? Eric looked to Gabriella for some sort of explanation but she was giving him the indication to sit down. So Eric did, looking from Gabriella to the other guy as he slowly took his seat, his mended leg kicked out while the other bent normally.

Then the guy was talking to him, (Bruce, apparently, which he found to be fitting) only furthering Eric’s lack of understanding in everything. He sat forward, mouth opening to say something but having to wait until he was properly finished.

“Hurt her? What?” Eric looked at Gabriella, as if she could answer that question herself. “Listen, mate, I’ve no idea what you’re talking about but I can assure you I would never do anything like that to her— to you.” Again, he looked at Gabriella, nodding to her because it just felt weird to talk about her like she wasn’t right there. Even if she couldn’t hear what he was saying, that didn’t mean she wasn’t a part of this conversation.

In fact, it seemed like she was the one behind it.

“What questions? What is this about?”

GABRIELLA:

Her eyes went from Bruce to Eric, watching their mouths move around words she couldn’t quite make out. She didn’t really need to in order to understand that Eric was confused. Some part of her wished she could feel satisfied by it but it wasn’t there. All she felt was this vague sickness of nerves.

Bruce gave her the option of an out. It would have been easy to take. Before they could really get into any of this, before they gave Eric the ability to deflect or lie or whatever else he was going to try pulling out of the bag in order to convince her that he was somehow the good guy here. If he even did that. There was a chance that he didn’t even care about her. That everything that had happened between the summer and now had all been an act. Him wanting to be her friend had just been a ploy, his in to her for…what? She didn’t know. She figured she was about to find out.

She gave Bruce a firm nod. You, too. Just let me know if it gets too much.

Looking back at Eric, she knew she was ready to get this over with. But in order to do that they needed a place to start. The trap needed to take priority, not her relationship with him or her feelings for him. Whatever his motivations had been in continuing to talk to her, they didn’t matter as much as that giant tangible death trap that was still sitting out in the water.

There’s a trap for merfolk out in the middle of the lake, she signed, making sure Bruce had a view of her hands but her gaze was on Eric. Did you and your friends put it there?

BRUCE

Bruce was grateful that Gabriella took the lead on asking the questions, and all he had to do was relay what she had said to Eric. Even if it was a simple question, the only question, really (though Bruce was sure they would both have many more once he answered that first one– why was it there? Who knew about it? Were the other two from that night on the boat in on this? How was his leg? Did he know that Bruce was–)

Never mind. Not those last two. That wasn’t what this was about. Even if it felt like it.

Bruce had never properly been able to confront anyone he had attacked before. He had never been able to apologize. Because admitting to what he had done had real consequences now– he could be driven out of town, or worse. And now here he was, facing a victim of his bite. But he still couldn’t say anything about it.

And maybe, Bruce thought. Maybe he shouldn’t apologize. Maybe Eric hadn’t hurt Gabriella physically, but he knew she was hurt in other ways. And that thought was enough to remind Bruce why they were really here. To find out what Eric knew about this trap, and to put a stop to the whole operation.

He repeated what Gabriella had said to Eric, this time in English, and looked at him expectantly. Then, on second thought, he added, “Gabriella was caught in it. I was able to get her out. But we need to know who put it there.”

He repeated his addition to Gabriella in Mermish, then waited for Eric’s response, ready to relay it back to Gabriella.

ERIC

Whatever was left of that mood that had been hanging over the night had quickly turned cold and curled into a concentrated ball at the bottom of his stomach, like a stone being plopped into water.

“Wh—” Eric had to swallow, looking from Gabriella to the bloke, trying to catch up with the fact that there was a trap in the bloody lake only to have that terrifying statement dropped on his head right after. “What?”

His eyes darted back to Gabriella, scanning her over for any injuries or sign of harm— but he couldn’t find anything. Not until he looked into her eyes. That’s where it all was and it was pointed straight at him like he had been trying to avoid all this time by not telling her the truth about him. He thought he had been protecting her but she had gotten hurt anyway.

And he hadn’t been there to do anything about it. He felt like his chest was too small for the hurricane of emotion that came tumbling down on him thinking about that, about how he could have lost her, about how he wouldn’t have even known he had until he was too late. She would have been gone and he wouldn’t have told her anything because he thought they had all the time in the world! But they didn’t— no one did.

“You think I did this? Of course you do. Why wouldn’t you.” Eric fell back against the chair and squeezed his eyes shut, the night at the lake right there waiting for him. She had known what they were doing, Eric had told her what they were doing (had written it down, same thing).

Eric opened his eyes and started to push himself to his feet, wanting to get closer to Gabriella, to take her hand, to do anything to close that space between them— but he stopped himself, settling back, thinking better of it. She had asked him to sit, he would sit. It was her choice if she wanted to get closer.

“Please believe me when I say I had nothing to do with this.” He glanced over to her friend, hoping that he was relaying this properly. If he wasn’t so preoccupied with the situation, Eric may have found it odd to be saying all of this in front of a practical stranger. But that stranger was helping him, in a way, and he had said he had saved Gabriella’s life when Eric couldn’t, so he didn’t really mind at that moment. “I said it wouldn’t happen again. Not from me. I would never do anything, anything, to put you in that type of danger.”

GABRIELLA:

Gabriella was both thankful and displeased that Bruce had shared that bit of information. Thankful that she didn’t have to do it herself and displeased because she hadn’t wanted this to become such a personal thing, despite how personal it felt. She had been forging on ahead in the name of all merfolk but now it may have seemed like she was only here because it had happened to be her who was stupid enough to swim into the trap.

But, oh, the way Eric’s face fell when he learned that. She wanted to think it was because he was innocent but she knew it could have just been out of guilt. Guilt that his trap had caught her and that he wasn’t sorry for having put it in there in the first place, wanting the lake monster instead. So she kept still, glancing back to Bruce’s hands as Eric continued to talk.

Yes! Of course she thought it was him! Who else would it have been if it wasn’t him and his friends? If not them then they had a whole new problem to deal with! If there was a professional poacher lurking around instead of some idiots with a boat and a sword, then what were they going to do?

She didn’t flinch when he started to move forward but held her breath until he settled back down into the chair. This was because Bruce was standing right beside her and she knew he alone could probably take him, and if not she was there to help, too. But mostly because she didn’t think Eric would hurt her.

Which was why, when Bruce relayed that just a moment later, she couldn’t help but to believe him. Eric had always been too sincere, to the point where it embarrassed her with some of the things he would say. Especially in regard to her. So, he was either telling the truth or he had been playing this fake role ever since she’d met him properly back in the summer.

She looked at Bruce and nodded, giving a small little half smile, I think he’s telling the truth. Ask him if he knows who could have put it there.

Gabriella didn’t want to outright say Henry Charming or Rose Whitman’s names in case Eric got defensive, but it seemed pretty obvious to Gabriella that he knew why she suspected him so hopefully he could fill in the blanks for himself.

BRUCE

When Eric started to stand, Bruce tensed, Herc’s words from the other week running through his mind. Left foot forward, right foot back. Aim behind the target. Make the connection. The thought made him queasy but if Eric was going to—

Thankfully, Eric sat down again and Bruce could relax slightly. Not all the way. He still regarded Eric suspiciously. Part of him was skeptical— was Eric really claiming such a coincidence, that he, who had been with the last hunting party looking for the lake monster, had nothing to do at all with this latest attempt? He wanted to argue with Eric, to press him further, but he was letting Gabriella take the lead here, so he repeated her question to Eric.

“Gabriella believes you,” Bruce said reluctantly. “But you must have some idea of who could have done it.” He was going to leave it at that, but he was starting to get restless. If they didn’t get any leads from Eric, the next leads were strangers. And that was even more likely to get dicey, considering their last encounter.

So Bruce tried to channel a character from a police procedural he had watched, interrogating a suspect in a sparse room with a singular, bright lightbulb. He hardened his expression. “Think long and hard about it.”

ERIC

He sighed, visibly sagging as all that pent up anxiety left his body when the bloke told him Gabriella believed him. It was surprising how she hadn’t hesitated, hadn’t needed anymore confirmation, but Eric was grateful for it— her trust in him. It hadn’t bent or broke until she’d given him the opportunity to say something.

It made him feel all the more guilty about the real secrets he had been keeping from her because if she knew them, if she knew what his family had done, what he had done, then would she have felt the same? It wasn’t fair. He needed to tell her.

“I do.” He gave a nod. They all did, didn’t they? Gabriella had said it before. Him and his friends. He had no idea if Rose was involved but he knew that Henry might be. He had been so dead set on getting the thing in the lake that he had been willing to go around the Order to continue hunting it. (Of course that was the thing he rebelled against them for!)

The thing was, Eric didn’t know for sure and he wasn’t going to toss Henry under the bus. Even if he had known for sure that it was Henry, he wasn’t going to do that either. He might have been pissed at the idiot for having done something so absolutely fucking stupid, like putting a trap in a lake where he had seen Gabriella swimming in, but he felt like Henry was his responsibility. After all, Eric had been the one to put together the first capture mission, and gotten this whole thing tangled up into an absolute mess. He needed to fix this.

“I need to go confirm it before anything else because I don’t know for sure.” God, how could he have been so bloody careless? Henry knew Gabriella was a mermaid and he knew she was Eric’s friend and not a threat. That was the only thing making him think that it might not have been Henry— that he wouldn’t have done this to an innocent. That’s why he was still in the Order, because he thought he had to protect those people, right? “No matter who put it there, I promise that thing will be out of the lake as soon as possible. Even if I’ve got to haul it out of there myself.”

GABRIELLA:

She had figured he would say yes but it was the next part that Gabriella was scared about because those people were Eric’s friends and what if he sided with them? What if he tried to explain to her why it was important that that thing was left in the lake and that she just should have been more careful? She didn’t want the entirety of their relationship to be hinged on one single response, feeling like that was childish and petty somehow, but it was going to. A line had been drawn in the sand and she was waiting to see which side he wound up on.

But like Eric always seemed to do, he surprised her. Like high tide, his reply seemed to rush ashore and wash away the line entirely.

She admired his loyalty, how he didn’t outright say their names, but to Gabriella simply getting the trap out of the lake wasn’t good enough for her anymore. If Eric knew who had put it in there, friends of his or not, Gabriella wanted them to see retribution for their actions.

No. Whoever put it out there needs to know that they can’t do things like that anymore, she signed, movements a bit calmer now that she felt sure that Eric wasn’t the one to place her anger on but no less sure in their beats. I want to go to the police to report it so it needs to stay there for them to find when I do.

Which she didn’t like since any merfolk in town she didn’t know about, if there were any, and couldn’t warn might get captured in it. She wasn’t planning on waiting long, though, now that she knew it wasn’t Eric and couldn’t drag him down there to confess himself.

BRUCE

Bruce told Eric what Gabriella had said, but the idea of it made him nervous. Every day that the trap stayed at the bottom of the lake was another day an unsuspecting merperson might swim into it. And while Bruce hoped the door to the trap remained open the way he had left it, he hadn’t been back to the lake to look (lately, the thought of going in the lake filled him with dread all over again) and so he couldn’t be sure.

“We’re going to the police and we want there to be evidence,” Bruce added, trying to keep that hardened-detective demeanor even though he was starting to lose his grip. Gabriella clearly trusted Eric, but Bruce didn’t have the same history with him. He had no way of knowing whether he was telling the truth, and he was inclined to believe he wasn’t.

But it was the only lead they had to go on, wasn’t it?

“By the way– and this is coming from me, not Gabriella–” Bruce clarified. “We’re trusting you, but if you even think of trying to trick us, or lie to us, you will regret it. You’re a very lucky person to have earned Gabriella’s trust. I hope you know that.”

I told him he had better not be trying to trick us, Bruce clarified in Mermish for Gabriella. I know you trust him, so I’m trusting you, but I just think he should hear it.

ERIC

The urge to laugh stopped short before it could shift his facial expression or jump from his mouth. It was not that he wanted to laugh at Gabriella or her friend (was that what he was? Bodyguard maybe?) for their rather logical choice in a next step, but just the thought of taking something like this to the police at all. That was another thing the Order had done to him, made the police seem obsolete and rather useless— unless they were one of them or understood that the only way to get rid of their dangerous Magick problems was to let the Order do their work and simply deal with cleanup duty. It was why they still operated, thinking they were above the law and were doing what was right. When, really, all they were so far below it they were having to dig around in the mud so as not to be found out.

It was also a bit scary to think that if this was Henry, if, that he may get caught by the police. Not that a trap in a lake would really do much to him, would it? As far as the legal system went— Eric was thinking more about the public view. His friends, his girlfriend, and the Order themselves surely wouldn’t like it. Especially if they didn’t know what he had been doing.

They’d probably do worse to him than simply putting him on probation this time. Eric’s heart sank at the thought.

At the stranger’s words a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth though he fought against them, having to duck his head to hide the sheepish way that made him feel and ashamed, too, because she shouldn’t trust him. Not like this. Not fully. If she only knew.

“More than you could possibly know.” Eric looked up at the stranger, holding his gaze for a moment before turning his attention back to Gabriella. His eyes didn’t stay on her though as he was too guilty to keep her gaze anymore.

“I understand and it’s only right but—” He clenched his jaw trying to think of what needed to be said, of how he would say it. (A rare thing for Eric Andersen.) “If this is who I think then it'll be more complicated than that.”

Eric stood then, his emotions making him too antsy to stay still, but didn’t move forward, just took a step back and passed the chair. His attention was still unable to stay on Gabriella or even the stranger, too scared of what they’d see in him and if they saw it then they wouldn’t let him go yet. “I’ll go ask and when I know if it is or isn’t, you’ll be the first to know, alright? I promise.”

GABRIELLA:

She gave Bruce a nod, because he was right. There was still a chance that Gabriella was just a naive little girl who was letting her feelings and the allure of kind words and dark curls get the best of her.

It was apparent in Eric’s body language that something was wrong, the way he wasn’t looking at either of them for too long. He was hiding something, holding back. He was usually so open and carefree. Now he was retreating, pulling away and being so blatant about it Gabriella had to wonder if he wanted her to see it. Obviously he was trying to protect his friends but…

What do you mean more complicated? She asked, too angry now to be scared of him. Gabriella followed, taking a few steps after Eric, getting closer than was probably best for someone who may have been a poacher. Right now though, he was still just Eric. Stupid, stupid Eric who made her feel things so amplified that it felt like it consumed her half the time she was with him. Like right now, she was getting frustrated and angry with him that it filtered out everything else. She didn’t want him to go like this, with a sudden wall between them when he had just acted like there were no sides to take.

What’s so complicated about this? Someone put a trap in the lake that could have killed someone and didn’t care about who got caught in it. That person needs to know what they did was wrong. Even if they are your friend. Are…are you really willing to let that slide because it’s complicated? she signed, the last question hesitant, like she wasn’t sure she really wanted to know his answer. Gabriella leaned forward, lowering her head to deliberately catch his line of sight and forced him to look back up instead of anywhere else, searching between his eyes for the person she knew had to still be in there, who had wanted to make this right not just a few minutes ago.

She frowned, glancing back at Bruce, wondering if Eric just didn’t want to say in front of someone he didn’t know. Gabriella didn’t care. It wasn’t like it mattered, she would probably just tell Bruce after he had gone anyway. So she held firm, shaking her head a little, What aren’t you telling me?

BRUCE

Bruce had never seen Gabriella like this before– he had seen her upset, of course. Sad, scared, angry, even. But never this angry. Never like it was personal, like she had been betrayed. Gabriella had told Bruce that Eric was a friend of hers, but something about the way she looked at him and signed at him was familiar to Bruce. He knew the sting of betrayal too. And it only made him trust Eric all the less.

He stepped forward, not getting as close as Gabriella, but just so that he could still see her hands– and step in if this did go south like Bruce feared it might. This boy was a hunter! He had been in those boats with the swords and the nets! Bruce didn’t trust him not to try something.

(Not that Bruce had any confidence in his fighting abilities. But he could try. His tips from Herc had to be good for something).

He repeated everything Gabriella had said back to Eric, even though he didn’t fully understand the relationship here, then glanced at Gabriella. Maybe he didn’t understand everything, but he could try his best to be there for her. Are you okay?

ERIC

There was too much to even begin answering those questions and Eric knew he couldn’t do it right now. First he needed to know who had put the trap in the lake because if it was Henry— he tried squashing the emotions that were trying to leak out of him now, that all too familiar burn of anger that was only getting fueled by the heat of Gabriella’s own. If he let it get too far then he would say something he was going to regret and he didn’t want to do that anymore, especially not with her.

When she bent, deliberately catching his eyes and pulling him back up with her, he followed and faced the consequences of his actions. Seeing her confusion and hurt, he knew it had to stop somewhere. This useless cycle of lies that he continued by keeping quiet. All this time he thought he had gotten out from under the Order and yet here he was, still letting their reach get right passed him to the people he cared about.

Eric steadied himself. A hand ran over his mouth for a moment, a subconscious effort to keep the words back because maybe a second could change the situation so that he didn’t have to say anything, didn’t have to see the way she was going to look at him when he said it.

He pulled his hands away.

“A lot of things. About who I am, what I’ve done. I want to tell you, I’ve wanted to ever since you found me again but— not like this. I know I have no right to, but I’m asking for just a little more time. Let me go get this answer for you and then you can have all of them, I promise. I’ll put a timer on it, alright? If you don’t hear from me within the next 24 hours you can do whatever you want. Go to the police, tell them I’m a suspect, whatever you need to do. Just— a day. That’s all I need.”

GABRIELLA:

She caught Bruce’s question but did not know how to answer it quite yet. So she refrained, instead she waited on Eric’s answer. As Bruce translated them for her she shook her head mintely, both in denial and from the deluge of confusion that was pouring over her.

What the hell was he talking about?

She wanted to demand anders now. Not later, not in these 24 hours where he could run off and form a plan that could potentially be even worse than what had already happened. He knew her secret, as did the other two, what was going to stop them from outing her? Or worse?

But…but she couldn’t help the feeling of safety that she got in his presence, embedded so deeply inside of her at this point that it was in her bones. Why would he have risked himself against those zombies at the risk of his own life if he was just going to kill her anyway? He’d had a cast on his leg and a tree branch for a weapon, but had still helped her. After he had spent however long she’d been stuck with her tail in the pool, making sure she was okay. Just like he did when they were simply hanging out, exchanging texts or notes, making her feel like she could share anything with him and he would never judge her for it.

He was telling them they could go to the police with his name if he didn’t come back with answers. That didn’t seem like something someone would say if they weren’t desperate, and Eric looked pretty desperate right now.

It was her gut that was telling her that she couldn’t trust him, though, and she couldn’t shake that feeling either or go against it. He was hiding something from her. A lot of somethings, apparently. So, did it even matter what they were if he had kept them from her all this time?

Again, he wanted her to wait for him and she was left to decide whether or not he was worth it.

Fine, she relented. A day. No more and no less.

A pause. Gabriella raised an eyebrow, then pointed toward the door with a look that was meant to communicate, ‘Well? What’re you still doing here?’

When he was gone she turned back to Bruce, her guard letting down to show how worried and wrung out she really was.

BRUCE

Bruce was concerned at first– and then he realized that Gabriella probably did not want to answer that question honestly with Eric around. Which was fine. Bruce could understand that. He had his guard up, too. But he was starting to feel lost, with Gabriella and Eric’s exchange becoming more intense and more confusing by the second. He wanted to give Gabriella an out if she needed it.

But, as Gabriella proved, she was very capable of kicking Eric out when she needed to. He watched warily as the boy left, then turned back to Gabriella. She looked exhausted. Her guarded interrogation face was gone, and Bruce couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he should have done more, if he could have–

No. What was the rule they had made? They weren’t going to blame themselves for the things Mundus put them through.

“That was hard. But you did a good job. That took a lot of bravery,” he told her in Mermish. “We’re going to figure this out. Don’t worry.”

Bruce wasn’t certain about that last part, but it felt like the right thing to say in the moment. And the first part was true, he knew that for sure. Gabriella was brave. And it was times like these that, being by her side, Bruce felt just a little braver too.

#it's a trap #gabriella #eric #this whole arc still got me 🥺 about gabruce

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