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gumnut-logic · 4 years

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We’ll Be Home For Christmas 5.1

Title: We’ll be home for Christmas

Day Five – Here on Tracy Island – Part 1 Prologue | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 5.1

Author: Gumnut

20 Jun 2020

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can’t fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 3313

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos I started this fic before we saw it.

Author’s note: For @scattergraph. This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D

No, I haven’t forgotten about this fic, and yes, it hit the six month mark about two weeks ago. I started writing this 8 Dec 2019. I’m nearly there.

Landmark, though. It is now officially my longest Thunderbirds fic, overtaking Gentle Rain today at around 60,000 words, depending on which word processing program it is sitting in. Never expected it to be this long.

This chapter pretty much wrote itself. It is almost like a role call of the five brothers and their states of mind. So a little bit of all the bros in this. I hope you enjoy.

Many thanks to @i-am-chidorixblossom @scribbles97 and @onereyofstarlight for reading through various bits, fielding my many wibblies, and for all their wonderful support.

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

Day Five: Here on Tracy Island

Virgil woke late the next morning. It was a pleasant awakening, slipping from deep sleep to doze to a peaceful warmth beneath the covers. His room was dark. Darker than his cabin on A Little Lightning and with decidedly less sway.

He lay there for a while, enjoying the lack of need to get up and do anything and the absence of pain. He had slept the sleep of the dead and was thoroughly rested. There was something to be said about sleeping in your own bed at home that no holiday anywhere could provide.

But honestly, he wasn’t one to sit and do nothing for long, his brain kicking into gear while he lay there, listing off things waiting to be done. A visit to Two to reassure himself she had been checked over and was ready should she be needed. Not that he didn’t trust his family, it was just for his own peace of mind.

He should be able to get away with it so long as he didn’t spend too much time down there.

It took him a full half an hour of random rumination to realise that it was Christmas Day.

Oh shit.

The clock said eleven am.

His family...

He sat up abruptly and was thoroughly reminded of how stupid such a move was.

Oh, for the love of...

He grunted and rolled over until his face was smothered in his pillow.

The medic in his brain listed off the reasons why he shouldn’t have done that and why he needed to be careful and, goddamnit, he was sick of this. It was only an appendix, for crying out loud.

Stupid surgery.

That could have been so much worse.

He was being a spoilt child.

He let out a breath into his pillow, its warmth wrapping around his face. Another week and he would be fine.

But now, it was eleven oh five on Christmas morning and he was holding his family up.

He clambered out of bed with minimal complaint from his body, into the shower, a shave and into his familiar red flannel, jeans and boots.

It was such a comfort to be home.

He blow-dried his hair, gelled it up and made himself presentable.

The man who stared at him from his bathroom mirror was one appendix less and a whole pile of experience more.

He hummed to himself, tasting the notes in his throat. He could feel the soft whale skin under his fingertips, hear the lap of the water, the breeze in his hair...

And the music.

His eyes were closed without permission, the imagery taking over his mind. His fingers tapped against the bathroom vanity marking out the beat and rhythm of what he was trying to say, the pictures warping into abstract and lack of understanding.

Salty and long spoken, the notes repeated.

He didn’t know how long he stood there under the bathroom light, eyes seeing another world somewhere below the ocean surface.

By the time he shook off the haze it was eleven forty-five.

Almost lunchtime.

Alan would be foaming at the bit.

He pushed himself away from the sink and killed the light. Walking carefully across his room, he shook himself, rolling his shoulders. Get it together, Virgil. Your family is waiting for you.

Out through the door, down the corridor and, screw the stairs, he was taking the elevator.

It swallowed him whole.

-o-o-o-

Gordon had been up since before the sun. It was a sign that he was home. A session in the pool brought familiarity into the equation. There was definitely a difference between swimming in the pool versus the ocean and it had nothing to do with water salinity.

The ocean was beautiful and he adored it. But the pool sported no threat, no need to monitor his surroundings beyond the presence of a mischievous brother or two, leaving him to be able to focus on his stroke and let his mind wander.

The pleasant warmth of well used muscles pulling him forward through the water, simple thought processing...and considering the last few days, there were a lot of thoughts awaiting examination.

Some he had managed while piloting A Little Lightning on the home stretch, but there were still more needing answers and tactical decisions.

Sam. Mel. Scott. John. Virgil.

As far as he knew, Scott was still planning on inviting the neighbours over today. That would place Sam within reach of the apparently resistant Virgil.

He understood where both men were coming from. Virgil needed time and Sam was just a ball of eager energy.

Gordon was stuck between the two.

Push came to shove, he would side with Virgil regardless. He had too. But he really didn’t want to be divisive. If Virgil would talk just a little, it would help not only Sam and himself, but it might assuage the ball of worried energy that was Scott.

His arms sliced through water until he reached the end of the lane, his body automatically flipping and turning into the push off surge in the opposite direction. Air, splash and his hands slicing through the water again.

Okay, he would admit that he was worried himself. At first it was just amazing. His brother could sing to whales! A breakthrough. But yesterday he witnessed exactly how spaced Virgil became when singing and everything screamed wary. Humpback whales were beautiful creatures, but so big and so possibly unintentionally dangerous.

He couldn’t let Virgil anywhere near a whale alone. It just wasn’t safe. There was so much they didn’t know and the urge to protect his gentle brother just swelled in his heart.

They needed to investigate further. Find out exactly what was going on. Make sure his brother was safe. That it didn’t affect any water rescues.

They couldn’t afford to have Virgil spacing out in the ocean at random. As it was, Gordon wasn’t going to let Virgil anywhere near the ocean during rescues for the foreseeable future. He could stay up in Two.

Safe.

Whale song could travel around the globe.

His native realm had become a hazard for his big brother and that was unacceptable.

They had to find out what was going on.

John and Eos had made a good start, but Sam and himself needed to investigate further and soon.

Virgil needed to cooperate for his own safety.

Gordon broke his stroke, pushed himself to the side of the pool and rested his head on the concrete a moment, letting his body float randomly.

Blood pumped through his ears, his heart still running at exercise rate.

He needed to convince Virgil.

Somehow.

-o-o-o-

Scott revelled in the early dawn light. His feet pounded on his wonderfully familiar route around the Island. A trek he hadn’t laid eyes on for a week.

His runners crunched volcanic gravel beneath them.

The sun was just rising on Christmas Day, the beautiful weather hanging strong, the sea a stretch of glass disappearing off into the horizon. His current trajectory pointed him directly south where he knew beyond the glass lay Raoul Island. A single spot in a sea of blue, so similar to the even tinier spot that was Tracy Island.

Same sea of blue.

A pokey tree appeared on the side of the track, its red flowers quite glorious in the morning sun, and he found himself grinning. Sure, he knew the correct name of the pōhutukawa tree, but Alan’s name was so much easier to pronounce and it made Mel laugh.

His legs took the strain as he jogged up the rapidly steepening trail.

If he was honest with himself, the whole no strings attached thing was a lie. He found himself thinking about the woman more the longer they were away from Raoul.

And they only left yesterday.

As soon as the sun was high enough in the sky to be polite, he would be contacting Raoul with his invitation to her, Sam and Liam. It wasn’t the only time he had invited people to the Island, they weren’t entirely hermits, but it was rare and the first time in a long time.

And he was so looking forward to it.

Penny and Parker were due after breakfast as was the tradition. As soon as everyone was awake, they would have their present opening party, always a major family event. More for the company and laughter than the presents themselves.

He could almost hear Gordon declaring it ‘Tracy style’ complete with the arm movements to compliment the claim.

But Mel...it was like he was excited to show her the Island, perhaps because he knew she would be very interested in the ecosystem that had developed here since their father had begun repairing it over a decade ago.

And he was staring at it right now as he followed the path around the back of the Island. Pokey trees, palms and ferns were everywhere a foothold was available. Scott knew very little about their ecosystem beyond the need to keep it safe. Gordon and Virgil were the ones who knew most about it among the brothers. Gordon focussed on the sea and Virgil sometimes helped out with animal numbers and photography for the scientific group.

But Mel hadn’t been here since Dad...

He grunted and hurdled a rock he hurdled every morning as the slope inverted and started heading down. The view was stunning.

Despite the glass of the ocean, the swell still crashed on the back cliffs of the Island, jagged volcanic rock resistant to the relentless pounding.

Hopefully she would consent to the visit even though it was late notice.

He did have a Thunderbird, after all.

-o-o-o-

John hadn’t slept much. He never did when something was on his mind. His everything drove him to find a solution, particularly when a brother was involved.

Eos never slept, so she was the perfect insomnia companion.

There was also the factor that he was home, but he really wasn’t.

He was missing Five.

Now he was back on the Island, everything was screaming at him to go home.

Not that he didn’t like the Island, quite the opposite. The Island contained his brothers, his grandmother, Kayo, his family and he adored his family.

But the stars were calling to him. His body ached to feel the release from gravity. He wanted his home.

He ignored it.

His body needed gravity. It was an undeniable fact. It had evolved under the pressure exerted by the planet and while his mind adored the stars and the lack of gravity, nature demanded its return under the ‘use it or lose it’ mandate of life on Earth.

So, tired, but awake anyway as the sun hit the front of the villa, John made his way down to the pool where he found Gordon, as expected, in the water, but unexpectedly, not swimming. His head was lying on one arm at the edge of the pool, his body floating lazily behind.

John dropped his towel on a lounger and, bare footed to the edge next to his brother. Folding himself into a seated position he dropped his feet to dangle in the cool water.

“Gordon?”

“Hmm?” His head rose a little blearily. “Oh, John, hey.”

“Merry Christmas.”

“Huh? What, oh, Merry Christmas, John.”

A frown. “You okay?”

Gordon flexed his shoulders. “Yeah, just thinking.”

“Virgil?”

“Yeah.”

John sighed. “Same. But you do know he’s okay?”

“Yeah, just thinking it through.”

John pushed himself into the water and couldn’t help a relieved sigh as the water took away so many of the effects of gravity, cradling his body. “Swim with me?”

Brown eyes turned to him and John saw a reflection of his own worry in their depths. “Sure.” Gordon pushed off from the edge, his movements graceful despite his distraction.

John moved to the lane next to Gordon’s preferred and lined up beside his fish brother. Gordon shot him a brief but grateful smile before pushing off the end in a careless surge into stroke. He was metres ahead before John had even shifted into form.

Typical.

Show off.

But he couldn’t help but smile as he pushed off the edge himself, automatically moving into a strong but leisurely stroke in warm up.

Swimming denied verbal communication, but it wasn’t needed, the two of them just keeping each other company.

By the fifth lap, John started pushing himself, putting his body through the exercise needed to keep it healthy. He had no delusions of keeping up with Gordon. He just paced himself as his body needed it. Twenty laps in, he eased up a little and checked on his brother.

Gordon was still going. John brought himself to a halt, treading water, muscles pleasantly buzzing.

“Hey, John.” The astronaut startled, turning in place to find Scott standing on the edge of the pool. His running gear appeared well used, sweat stains prominent, and he was still breathing heavily. “Just letting you know that I’m going to be taking One out in about half an hour.”

“You going to get Mel and Sam?” Gordon was suddenly beside him. It was a sign of how tired John actually was that his younger brother startled him almost as much as Scott had a moment earlier.

“Yeah.”

“Can I come with?”

“Don’t you want to be here for when Penny arrives?”

John arched an eyebrow in Gordon’s direction. The fish had been looking forward to Christmas for that very reason. Before Virgil’s illness, it had been Penelope this, Penelope that. Apparently, he had the ‘best’ gift lined up for their first Christmas as a couple. Whether or not that was still going ahead considering recent events, John had no idea. Gordon hadn’t mentioned it since Virgil fell ill.

“I thought you had the fastest plane on the planet, Scotty.”

Their eldest brother snorted. “Plane, yes, younger brother, no.”

“Hey, I can be fast.” A strawberry blond frown. “Regardless, I need to speak to Sam.”

Scott eyed him a moment. “Virgil?”

Gordon sighed. “Yeah, Virgil. Gotta handle this delicately.”

Scott’s lips thinned. “Okay, then you better be ready in thirty because that’s when I’m leaving.”

The fish was already climbing out of the pool. Wet footprints marked the concrete as he strode to his towel.

Blue eyes turned to John. “You okay? You look tired.”

John let water run through his fingers. “I am, but I’ll live.”

Voice quiet. “Virgil?”

A single nod, voice equally quiet. “Virgil. Eos, Gordon and I will work it out. We just need time.” And patience. Admittedly, he didn’t have much of that where his brothers’ health was concerned. He could fake it, but it didn’t mean he felt it.

Scott’s expression was thoughtful. “I know you will do your best. Don’t forget to look after yourself.”

A groan. This was why Virgil was always adamant that he was fine. I single hint of something wrong and their biggest brother was all over them, his concern obvious. “I’m fine, Scott.”

That earned him a grunt and John actually struggled not to smile at his brother’s exasperation. John swam to the pool edge and pushed himself out of the water. A wave in the direction of the rising sun’s reflection. “The pool is all yours, dear brother.”

Scott eyed him. “Thank you.”

The morning breeze cooled John enough to raise goose pimples on his arms. Before he could reach for his towel, Scott was handing it to him.

Ever the big brother. It was John’s turn to eye him back. “Thank you.”

Scott smiled at him, a definite smirk on those lips. He knew exactly what John was thinking and had likely done it on purpose. “Anytime.”

Hmmm. “Merry Christmas, Scott.”

Those blue eyes widened as his big brother obviously realised that despite all the preparations underway, despite the tree they had stacked with presents the night before, he had still managed to forget the significance of the day.

It was John’s turn to smirk.

But Scott recovered quickly, tilting his head, a small smile on his lips. “Merry Christmas, John.”

With that he turned and headed off into the house.

-o-o-o-

Alan loved to sleep in. He shared this love with his second eldest brother. Getting up early sucked big time and he had no coffee addiction to help him.

But there was one day of the year when you could witness the youngest Tracy out of bed, while not early, at least a decent time where breakfast could still be called breakfast and not lunch or even brunch.

Christmas Day.

Alan adored the day. Presents, food and family, what more could a guy ask for?

So, eight am found him stumbling down the stairs to the kitchen in search of the second and third items on the list. He found Grandma at the kitchen table eating her fruit and yoghurt.

Alan made no effort to be quiet, but she didn’t appear to realise he was there, staring out across the lagoon. “Grandma?”

She dropped her spoon with a clatter as it hit the bowl. “Alan!” She clutched her hand to her chest, gasping. “You frightened me. Gave my old heart a kick in the pants.”

“Sorry, Grandma. Are you okay?”

“This time. Though I wouldn’t recommend doing it too often.” She held out an arm. “C’mere and give me a Christmas hug.”

Now that was something he was quite happy to do. Grandma hugs were always appreciated. “Merry Christmas, Grandma.” He held her tight.

“Merry Christmas, honey. Are you hungry?”

Uh, that was always a loaded question and there were important indicators related to that. “Where is everyone?” He had expected to find at least John down here. His space brother would eat his breakfast staring out into the lagoon and follow it with work on his tablet just to be around family in his own way. But not today.

“Scott and Gordon have gone to Raoul to collect Ms Fisher and that scientist friend of Gordon’s.”

“Sam?”

“I guess. They were both in quite a hurry to leave.”

That set Alan grinning. “I think Scott likes Mel.”

An arched eyebrow. “I thought she liked Virgil.”

A snort accompanied the grin. “I don’t think she is Virgil’s kind of girl.”

Of course, that was the very moment Kayo decided to enter the kitchen. She had obviously been on a run, dressed in shorts and a high cut top.

“Who’s Virgil’s kind of girl?”

Alan’s eyes widened. “Um.”

Green narrowed at him. “What are you up to, Alan?”

“Nothing!” He held out his hands. “What did I do?”

“I’m more concerned with what you are going to do.”

“Suspicious, much? I’m going to eat breakfast, that’s what.”

She continued to eye him. “No practical jokes today.”

“I wasn’t planning on it. Gee, you’d think I was Gordy or something.”

“Gordon will be contained by Lady Penelope. You, however, are not.”

“And what? That makes me some kind of prank genius?”

“Genius, no, annoyance, yes.”

“Hey, Merry Christmas, Kayo. How about a little of the spirit?”

She glared and him and grunted before turning away and stalking off.

“What’s up her skirt?”

“Alan!”

“Well, you saw her. I didn’t do anything!”

Grandma was quiet a moment. “She has things on her mind.”

“When doesn’t she?”

“Let her be.”

“I didn’t do anything!”

Grandma sighed. “Things will work themselves out for the best.”

Alan stared at his grandmother. What on Earth was going on? Did everyone know something that he didn’t. He sighed. Wouldn’t be the first time. “I’m going grab some breakfast.”

“Yes, dear.” And Grandma was staring out at the lagoon again.

What the-?

Alan grabbed the refrigerator door and flung it open, his eyes raking its contents. Perhaps food would fix things.

A glance at Grandma found that she hadn’t moved.

There was definitely something going on.

-o-o-o-

End Day 5 Part 1

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderbirds #Virgil Tracy #Gordon Tracy #Scott Tracy #John Tracy #Alan Tracy #Grandma Tracy #kermadec fic

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xtolovers · 4 years

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The Best Of Us

The Last of Us Joel/OC Rating:M

AO3

Joel and Ellie nearly die on their way back to Jackson, Wyoming. Traumatized, tired and with a tentative new bond between them, they move forward into a new, very different life. Luckily there are new friends to be found that are not easily deterred by their wounds and flaws. And there is a woman who likes to laugh, to get into other people's business and help and heal were she can. Maybe she can help heal their bond. Maybe she can move more. It has been long since either of them had a home.

Chapter 2: Nursing Suspicions

Something wet splashed in his face and washed the darkness away with it. Slowly he blinked his eyes open. “Welcome back to the land of the living.” The woman was kneeling above him, with a soft smile and a canteen in her hand, the pale purple sky above her. Passed out again, goddamnit. With a grunt he took her outstretched hand and together, they heaved him up to his feet. Relieved, Joel found that the world had stopped spinning. “Also kinda the land of the dead.” The woman— Liv, it came back to him— rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue up at the teen peeking over the edge down at him. “Very helpful Jesse. Maybe he’s got amnesia— is this how you wanna break it to him?” “He fell into mud Liv. ” “Men have forgotten more over less.” “ Or so they’ve told you.” She laughed, but quickly concealed it as an outraged gasp. “You just wait till I get up there and we’ll see how big you’re talking then.” “Well, come on up then.”

She turned to him then, but Joel looked around, half expecting Ellie ’s stretcher to lie on the ground, only to find it nowhere to be seen. A tap on his shoulder drew his attention to a branch and the tip of a sneaker, barely visible over the ridge. Apparently they’d managed to grab on before he blacked out. Liv nodded towards the spruce-ladder. “You ready? I’ll go behind you.” She looked confident in her assessment, but he was a good head taller, and a lot heavier than her. “Doubt you can catch me.” “No, but I’m soft. I’ll cushion the fall,” she said with a grin, and to his mortification, he could feel his cheeks warm. “Ah, there. A little color. Well, if you fall, I’ll have to climb down again anyhow, so I’ll just spare myself the trip. Now. Up you go.”

Happy to look at nothing for a minute, Joel followed her instruction and set about climbing out of the ditch. It was both easier and more difficult than he’d have thought; easier to traverse, but exhausting physically. Every muscle in his body was straining, his whole body felt heavy as lead. After the first three feet he nearly lost consciousness again, his left foot slipping from its hold, and he sliced his leg open on the cut-off branch. A round of curses erupted — not just from him — and he held on for a second, gathering himself. He bit the inside of his cheek and nodded his quiet acknowledgment that he was okay, before he slowly continued his way upward. Above him, both men had lain down at the edge of the ditch, reaching towards him, ready to help, and as soon as he got close enough, they grabbed onto him and nearly lifted him up just by themselves. With a mumbled thanks he hobbled over to Ellie and collapsed next to her, relieved to find her safe. He tried to untie her binds, and the kid next to him bent down to help as he saw Joel struggle — his fingers were weak and his skin chaffed raw from his efforts to climb the ditch throughout the last days. While they were working, Eugene bent down again and lifted Liv over the edge, clapping her shoulder good-naturedly afterwards, sending her staggering. The man was tall, broad-shouldered and clearly strong, his wild mane of greying curls the only thing making him look less threatening. “All right. Let me see your ankle real quick.” Liv wiped her hands on her jeans and knelt down at his feet. She made quick work of it, cleaning the wound with a rag and some water Jesse handed her, before she tied the rag around his leg to stem the bleeding. “Not too deep, but I’ll probably have to stitch it up later.” She stood and exhaled heavily before studying the sky. “Let’s take them up to the lodge, then we can make some food and clean up. See how we go from there.” Eugene nodded. “Sounds like a plan. You’re better riding with me, buddy. Can’t have you fall of the horse if you black out again.” He wanted to argue, but Liv declared that she’d take Ellie so she could keep an eye on her, and as much as Joel didn’t want anybody to split them up, he knew that they were right. He’d have to trust them— no help if he keeled over with both of them on the horse. “All right.” He accepted Eugene's hand and climbed up in front of him.

Liv carefully lead the way, trying to keep Apollo steady beneath her so the girl wouldn’t get shaken up too badly. She was burning up in her arms, the fever doing it’s best to burn off the infection, but without a proper exam, Liv was worried about her state. The last patrol that came through had been a week ago, and the rains had started after, but by the looks of them, they’d been down there for days. “ What ’s her name?” She glanced over her shoulder to Joel, who was watching her like a hawk. “Ellie.” His voice was still raspy from disuse. There was no doubt he was Tommy’s brother; they shared the same eyes and jaw, and while Liv hadn’t met him, Tommy had told her his brother had been at the plant back in autumn. What troubled her more was the haunted look the familiar eyes held— she was used to seeing traumatized people, their world made sure of that enough, but Joel looked like trauma on legs. His whole focus was on the girl in her arms, she could feel his eyes boring into her back, or rather, through her, always careful, always calculating, making sure they weren ’t harming her, although she could see him fighting it, trying to push down the impulses of survival. Maybe she should be more careful— there was something almost… feral about him, and she had seen the look that crossed his eyes when she suggested lifting the girl out of the pit, a look that calculated what leverage Liv could give him if he attacked her, should any harm come to the girl — but he was also barely standing, and she had Eugene and Jesse with her. She figured that as soon as they were safe and she could patch them up, he ’d relax, too. He was in survival mode, something she knew all too well. So she made sure to stay in sight, to keep him calm and move slowly. Jesse kept bickering with her, apparently picking up on her carefully kept ease and trying to help her, bless his heart. Eugene was silent for once, but didn’t look bothered at all. Then again, little ever bothered Eugene. About half an hour later, the roof of the ski lodge came into view over the tree tops. They hadn’t seen stragglers in weeks, but she’d rather be too careful than be surprised with two injured people under her care. On her sign, they dismounted, and she handed the girl to Joel, who looked almost ghostly pale. She tried to catch a look at his ankle, but as far as she could tell, there was at least no fresh blood. After she dismounted, she took her bow and arrows over and nodded to Jesse, who dutifully shouldered his rifle. “Well go and see if it’s clear, just to be safe. You stay here with them.” “Is this some kind of comment about my sneaking skills?” Eugene scoffed, but Liv saw the glint in his eyes. She patted his cheek as they moved past them. “So glad we understand each other, Eugene.” At her nod, Jesse and she left the path and sunk into the woods, deciding to approach from the side, where they wouldn’t be spotted as easily. Jesse stayed next to her, and she felt fondness well up for him. He was a good guy: responsible, level-headed, loyal to a fault. This was the fourth patrol she was doing with him— he’d just turned sixteen and had started his training with her out in the field.

For the last months, he’d been stationed to help her out at the Med Bay, and had impressed her thoroughly by never flinching or hesitating to wash, shave or massage body parts that weren’t his own, something most struggled with. All Jackson inhabitants landed as her apprentices now and then, so they’d learn something and Jackson wouldn’t be left without medical help should something happen to her, but most that came were either squeamish in general, or expected only to treat the most gruesome wounds, cut some flesh and set some bones, easily forgetting that most of her work still was nursing . Jesse however, despite clearly having goals to fulfill a different role in the community later, had taken on his duty with a grace that was uncommon for his age, and had been an immense help. That ’s why she was out here in the first place— everyone had patrol duty now and then, but Liv had made up some excuses about checking up on the first-aid stashes they kept at the outposts, opting to take Jesse with her as her current apprentice. This had the benefit of also counting as patrol training, effectively qualifying him to apply for group patrols after his service with her was over. Liv had the feeling he knew what she was doing, but neither had breached the subject. For her, it wasn’t necessary, Jesse, she was sure, didn’t want to say something, afraid that might make him look insecure. His carefully crafted grave maturity was important to him, in the hopes of securing the bigger responsibilities he craved. Liv, unable to try and be helpful, had almost pulled him aside when he first came under her tutelage, and told him to loosen up a bit, but she soon found that Jesse wasn’t uptight at all— unless there was responsibility to be carried, so she let him be. No, he was alright. As always, she didn’t have to tell him much. He was new to this, but not new to reading her body language and understanding what she wanted without many words, and he was a natural. Jesse wasn’t the first teen she’d taken along, but he was the best, and she was proud of how far he’d go. They stalked the perimeter of the building, just behind the tree line, but found no movement anywhere. On her sign, they rushed to the doors, and as he slid the doors slightly open, she peered in, bow drawn taunt. “Clear.” They slipped inside, and Liv exchanged her bow for the revolver that she’d stuck into the back of her jeans. They split up, methodically screening the side- and backrooms, before meeting up to check the hallway that went back out to the utility sheds and the old abandoned parking lot, but found nothing. Relieved, they dropped their cautious stance and made their way back through and down to the others. “You really think that’s Tommy’s brother?” She threw a glance at Jesse, but he seemed more curious than bothered. “Yeah. Tommy told me he already passed through a couple of months ago. Besides, they got the same eyes.” “If they were already here, why didn’t they stay?” “I don’t know.” Liv had asked Tommy the same, and he’d closed off and said they had something else to do. She knew Tommy well, and the way he’d evaded her had made her neck tingle. Still, if Tommy didn’t feel like disclosing it to her , Jesse didn ’t need to know more, even if it were only her guesses. “He said they still had some business to wrap up somewhere, but that they might come back after.” Which wasn’t entirely true. Tommy had said that Joel might return, and from the way he said it it sounded like it ’d be a couple of weeks at most. When winter came around, Liv felt like Tommy deflated a bit, and she’d theorized it had to do with his brother not returning. When she asked, he’d brushed her off again. At least Jesse seemed satisfied with the answer. “Seems like they’ve been through some stuff. You think his daughter will live?” She hesitated. “I can give a more confident answer about that in an hour.” The rest, she left unsaid. Liv knew that Joel’s daughter was dead; Tommy and she had often talked about Outbreak Day on their patrols, and she knew the story of how he saw his niece die that day, killed by a FEDRA soldier, and what it did to his brother. This girl was also too old to be another daughter; she had to be thirteen or fourteen, and Liv knew that Tommy and his brother had stuck together for a couple of years after the outbreak. If she were Joel’s, Tommy would’ve been there when she’d been born. She had no clue what was going on, but she was sure that she wouldn’t get any answers out of Tommy, or Joel for that matter. Especially not if I can ’t keep them alive. “Clear?” Eugene called up to them when they came into sight, and Liv simply waved her arm. Eugene helped Joel up on Apollo and set Ellie in his arms, before he mounted himself and led them up the hill. Liv and Jesse turned around and walked back towards the lodge. “Can you get a fire going and boil some water for me?” With a nod, Jesse jogged ahead to the far side of the cabin where they stored some firewood, while Liv went over to the bar and grabbed the key they’d hidden on a small ledge beneath it. With it, she went to open the back room they kept locked, were they had stashed medicine, bandages, drinkable water and some non-perishable food rations. Usually the patrols carried their own rations with them, and they always kept something “free” to grab that they left outside their locked stashes, so stragglers would have something to eat and grab, but each watch post had a hidden stash for the Jackson patrols in case anything happened. While she grabbed what she needed, she heard Eugene talk outside, and as she stepped out of the room, Joel was stumbling inside, carrying the girl. “Put her down over here.” Liv gestured to one of the two sprawling couches surrounding the two luxurious fireplaces that hung free from the ceiling, in one of which Jesse was just piling up firewood. She dumped all she’d taken on a table that she pulled over, sat her backpack down and pulled out the sandwiches she’d taken with her. Then she shoved both her canteen with the slim rest of water that was still in it and the food in Joel’s hands. “Drink this, slowly, and then eat a couple of small bites. Just one or two, slowly . I know you ’re hungry— “ he interrupted her with a nod. “I know, otherwise I’ll just throw up.” He gave a small sardonic smile and a light bow of his head. “Not my first time starving, I’m afraid.” Liv sighed. “ Didn’t think so, but you’d be surprised by how many people will still make themselves sick despite knowing better.” “Hunger will do that to you.” “Well, be smarter.” Satisfied by his dutiful unscrewing of the bottle, Liv turned her attention to her work. Jesse had successfully started a fire and she sent him to fill up three pots of water and set them to boil, when Eugene came over to them. He was carrying the blanket from his bedroll— they’d planned on staying the night— and spread it over Ellie, who was now laid out comfortably on the sofa, before he settled against the armrest near her head. “Signed us in.” “Thanks.” “Anything I can help?” “ We’ve got that basin in the back. Could you fill that up with some water from the brook? Just to clean up.” He nodded and lumbered out, and for a couple of minutes, they all worked silently. Liv prepared some bandages and the small bottle of iodine she kept for emergencies, to treat the girls arm. For the smaller and less dangerous wounds, she got out some cloves of fresh garlic that she kept in her pack and had Jesse peel, crush and boil them. “ Garlic is the best natural disinfectant we have, vinegar helps too. Witch hazel helps with healing, and cherry bark acts as a painkiller if you boil it,” she explained to Jesse, and after showing him each, added them to the garlic water, then set some of the bandages in to soak. Eugene had prepared the small tub, poured the boiling water in and chased down a relatively soft cloth. Under Joel’s watchful eye, she first cut open Ellie’s sleeve, then the improvised bandage. The cut was deep, that was easy to see, even though it had scabbed over completely. The angry, red, swollen skin surrounding it was a bad sign, but it could be worse.

“Could be better, could be worse. I can treat her here, for now, but I’ll be much more relaxed the sooner we get her to Jackson. If you two leave now and ride fast, you’ll be back by sundown. I’ll give you a list for Ellen of things to prepare for me, and some I need for the way. Get Tommy, get a truck, get someone to relieve us for patrol, and come here at first light.” As expected, both complained. “That’s too dangerous.” “You’re alone with two injured people, it’s too risky.” “I know what I’m doing. We haven’t seen anyone in months. We’ll barricade the doors, and Joel is exhausted, not incapacitated. I’m pretty sure he can still hold a gun if necessary.” Eugene looked at her, and she knew exactly what he was thinking. That’s what’s worrying me. “It’ll be fine. It’s a risk we’ll have to take.” Before they could complain again, Liv mustered her best Maria impression. “No discussion. You can disagree all you want, I’m afraid I’ll have to pull rank here. Now, go. You’re losing light.” Jesse was displeased, that was easy to see, but Eugene knew her long enough. He clapped him on the back and they both went to their horses. Jesse gave her his bedroll and both of them tried to give her their food. She took half of it and insisted they eat the rest. “We’ve got rations here, and they shouldn’t eat that much anyways right away. If the kid wakes up at all tonight.” She rubbed her face wearily and shooed them off. “Hurry, but don’t risk anything, okay?” “Barricade the doors and keep the lights low. Keep out the generator at night.” “I will, but we need a fire.”

“We can see the lodge from the east gate, right?” Jesse asked. “I’ll stay up and take watch there with someone through the night. If you’re in trouble, flash the lights or give us a visual, and we’ll come and get you.”

“Someone like Dina, maybe?” Eugene asked as they mounted their horses, making Jesse blush quite a sensational shade of red and sending him mumbling. Trying his best to keep his dignity, he kicked his horse into a trot and started away from them. Eugene chuckled before he sobered up and pointed at her. “Be careful.” She gave him a mock-salute and he rolled his eyes before he turned to catch up with Jesse. When he caught up, both kicked their horses into a gallop, quickly vanishing around the corner. With an uneasy sigh, she grabbed Apollo by the reigns and led him inside the entry hallway. Let ’s do this.

#the last of us #JoelxOC #joel miller #tlou #tlou2 #the best of us #tlou fic #writing

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write-havoc · 6 years

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This Is How I Disappear Ch. 36

Summary: A girl named Chuck finds herself in the exact place she doesn't want to be, living with violent men in a desolate nursing home. After her former gym teacher finds her, will he be the savior she was looking for?

Fandom: The Walking Dead AU

Pairing: Negan/Original Female Character

Status: Completed (story continues in The Flame Is Gone, The Fire Remains)

Contains: swearing, violence, sexual assault, blood, smut

Readers 18+ of age only

Masterlists in my bio

Chuck is sitting on her own bed, listening to music, and knitting her blanket. All the while, she’s thinking over what happened last night. The fight with Negan, Negan telling her that he loves her, being intimate for the first time in a while. She smiles.

Negan actually loves her.

She had been so caught up in thinking that true happiness was something that would never come to her that she missed his feelings for her completely. And nearly ruined everything.

She thinks about how her actions must have seemed to Negan. Having someone you love tell you that they don’t love you...

God. No wonder Negan was upset. That was the very thing I was afraid of. And I put that on Negan. I feel terrible about that.

But I can make it right. Because I do love him. I’ve known that the feelings I’ve had for him are different than I’ve felt for anyone else in my life. But I just didn’t allow my feelings to go that extra step forward. That’s changed now. And I intend on showing him.

Chuck’s door opens and Negan walks in. She feels her cheeks blush uncontrollably, which catches her off guard. It’s not like she doesn’t blush at all around Negan anymore, but it’s usually only when he’s teasing her. Or they’re in bed together. His mere presence has never caused her to blush.

“Hey, baby girl.” He looks at her face. “You hot or something?” He comes forward and puts his hand on her forehead then moves to her cheek.

She giggles uncontrollably. “No. I’m fine.”

He narrows his eyes at her. “What?”

She slaps his hand away, continuing to giggle. “Stop teasing me!”

He laughs. “I didn’t even say anything! What’s fuckin’ up with you?”

“I don’t know! Shut up!”

“Are you-“ he narrows his eyes again then laughs. “You’re acting like- Do you have a fuckin’ crush on me now? Is this you with a crush?” He gestures to her.

“No!” she answers quickly, even though she knows that’s probably what’s going on. She hadn’t gotten a lot of crushes in her life, but when she did, she was always reduced to a blushing giggly mess when around the guy. And the way her feelings for Negan have shifted apparently has her body showcasing all those embarrassing little quirks of having a crush.

“Holy shit! You got a crush on me, little girl!” He laughs again.

“Stop! Shut up! Stop teasing! You suck!” She slaps at his chest then brings her hands up to cover her red cheeks.

He lets out a low laugh, almost a growl. “As much as I would fuckin’ love to explore this further, I got a surprise for you down on the second floor.”

Chuck clears her throat and tries to get the blood to drain from her face. “Surprise? Do I need to change?” She’s not in her wife uniform. She’s wearing black leggings (her regular jeans had to be retired because of her expanding belly) and a rather baggy graphic T-shirt with Deadpool on the front.

Negan looks at her clothes. “Nah. You’ll be with me so you’ll be fuckin’ fine.”

They head down to the second floor and to Negan’s meeting room. He pauses outside the entrance and gives her one last smirk before opening the door.

Chuck walks in and sees two men in the room, Simon and another man that she instantly recognizes as her uncle Aaron. Even though she hasn’t seen him for a few years, he looks exactly the same. Curly brown hair only a little longer than he used to wear it. Neat beard on his face just like when would grow it out before because he “got sick of shaving”.

Aaron turns his head to look at her and jumps up to rush over to her. “Chucky!” he cries as he hugs her tightly.

“Uncle Aaron!” She starts to sob immediately.

His own tears start to flow. “I thought you were dead.”

“I thought I’d never see you again.”

They hold each other and cry for a few moments until Aaron pulls away. He puts his hand on her stomach and looks up to her with a wide smile and tear stained cheeks. Her belly isn’t exactly noticeable, but Chuck’s sure he could feel it while he hugged her.

Chuck nods, answering his silent question.

“Oh my god! I’m so happy!” He lets out a laugh. “You’re alive! And there’s a baby!”

Chuck giggles, but her face falls after a moment. She knows that Aaron needs to know about her mother and she doesn’t want to make him wait. “Mom’s gone.”

He looks down and a tear falls from his eyes. “You were with her?”

Chuck shakes her head. “I found her at the house. Someone had killed her.” She lets out a sob then regains her composure to continue. “She was shot in the head, so at least she didn’t turn. The house was trashed. They must’ve killed her for food.”

“Shit,” Negan says under his breath. Chuck never told him any of those details, so this is the first he is hearing it.

“I buried her in the backyard.”

“Oh, god, Chucky. I’m so sorry.” Aaron wipes his face. “I tried to get there as fast as I could. When I got there... It must’ve been after you had already been there. I thought maybe she was with you somewhere. I hoped.”

They both start to sob again as they hug each other.

Negan lets them take their moment before he speaks again. “Why don’t you guys sit down and catch up?”

They both sit down beside each other, with Negan sitting opposite them on the other side of the table with Lucille right in front of him. Chuck and Aaron both calm down and start to talk.

“Eric?” Chuck asks tentatively. He had been Aaron’s husband before, but she doesn’t know if he made it

“He’s good! We’re living together at this settlement called Alexandria.”

“That’s great! I’m so happy he’s okay!”

“Yeah. We got there pretty quickly after the start of all this. We’ve been living pretty good. What about you?”

Her face falls. “I’ve had ups and downs,” she answers vaguely.

Aaron lets out a sigh. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. I looked for you...”

“It’s okay,” she laughs to brush it off. “I’m just so happy you’re here now.” She wipes her eyes. “How is it at Alexandria?”

“It’s really good. It’s safe. We have good people.” He flicks his eyes to Negan for a second. “We have power and water. We have a real community.”

“That’s amazing. It sounds like The Sanctuary! We’re good here, too.”

“How long have you been here?”

Chuck thinks. “Uh. Four months about. God, so much has happened in such a short time.” She looks to Negan and smiles at him.

“Fuck. Has it only been that long? I guess shit moves faster now,” Negan responds.

“I can’t wait for Eric to see you. And this baby!” He puts his hand on her stomach again. “I’d love to meet the father. Is he still around?” he asks nervously, like he’s afraid to bring it up.

“Yeah!” Chuck answers excitedly, but is unsure if Negan would want a stranger (to him, anyway) to know that he’s going to be a father.

Negan doesn’t give her a chance to say anything further. “You already met him.”

Aaron looks to Negan and realizes what Negan is saying. He whips his head back to Chuck and throws his thumb out in Negan’s direction. “Him?!” Aaron does not sound happy.

Chuck’s face drops at his sudden change in demeanor. “Yeah, him.”

“He’s twice your age!” He turns his head to glare at Negan. “She’s too young for this!”

Negan starts to say something, but Chuck interrupts him.

“I’m twenty five! I’m an adult.”

“He’s in his fifties, Charlotte!”

“Hey!” Negan booms. “I’m not even in my fifties yet! Fuck!”

“You meet this guy four months ago and you immediately get pregnant? What are you thinking?!” Aaron still sounds disapproving. He had always been a little overprotective of Chuck. Just like her mother.

“I didn’t meet him four moths ago. We’ve known each other since I was in high school!”

Negan tries to interrupt her with a “No, Chuck” but she keeps going.

“He was my teacher.”

Aaron’s eyes get big.

“Goddamnit, Chuck,” Negan says under his breath.

Aaron whips his head to Negan and back to Chuck. “What?!”

Chuck looks to Negan, who has his head slightly down. She finally realizes how what she said sounds. “No! No, not like that! He was just my teacher back then!”

“I’m taking you back to Alexandria with me,” Aaron blurts out to Chuck.

Negan picks up Lucille and slams her down on the table causing everyone to jump. “That’s not fuckin’ happening!”

Simon leans forward over the table and puts his hands out to Negan and Aaron. “Why don’t we just take a breath. Calm down before something gets done that can’t be taken back.”

Chuck feels a need to make things right, so she continues to explain things to Aaron. “Everything is really good with me, Uncle Aaron. You don’t need to worry. I know Negan’s older, but that doesn’t matter to me. And I’m old enough to make my own decisions.” She looks to Negan, but he’s still glaring at Aaron. He finally looks over to Chuck and his face softens. Chuck looks away to speak to Aaron again. “Negan’s my husband. And... I love him. And he loves me. And we’re gonna be a family.”

Aaron lets out a breath. He still looks a little angry. “Are you sure? He’s so...” Aaron gives Negan a look and lets out a huff.

Chuck knows what he’s thinking. “I know Negan can be... gruff, but he’s a good man. He’s always been good to me. And the rest of the wives.”

Aaron’s face drops.

“Jesus Christ, Chuck. You can’t just stop talking while you’re ahead.”

“Wives?!” Aaron yells. “He has wives ?!”

Chuck scrubs her hands down her face. “It’s not- Let me explain!”

Negan jumps in. “Chuck is my wife. That’s it. She is the only one I consider my real wife. Before Chuck came here, I had... women that I called wives before her. They were women that I fuckin’ protected. Women that needed protection. And I did that by telling everyone else here that they were bound to me. And they’re still, technically, to everyone here, my wives in title only. But they fuckin’ know that Chuck...” Negan lets out a huff. “Chuck is fuckin’ different. Always has been.”

“I want to speak to Chucky alone.”

“Absolutely not,” Negan responds quickly.

“Negan-“ Chuck starts, but Negan cuts her off.

“I’m not leaving you in a room alone with a strange fuckin’ man.”

“She’s my niece!”

“He’s my uncle!” Chuck says at the same time as Aaron.

“I don’t know him!” Negan growls.

Chuck looks at him with wide eyes. “Please, Negan. He’s my family.”

Negan huffs out a few breaths and throws Simon a look. “Me and Simon are gonna be right outside the fuckin’ door.”

Negan and Simon get up to leave. They exit the room, but leave the door ajar slightly.

“Chucky,” Aaron starts quietly, “you can come back to Alexandria. Me and Eric still have and extra room. You can stay with us. Or... There are extra houses-”

Chuck shakes her head and interrupts. “I don’t want to leave. This is my home.”

“He’s-” Aaron looks to the door. “He’s- The way he talks... The way he acts...” He shakes his head.

“He saved my life. More than once,” Chuck cuts is. “My first group... It was good at first, but then they all died. Except me and a few men.” She scratches her nose and rubs her face. “They... They hurt me.”

Aaron looks away. “Oh, Chucky.”

“Negan found us. And when he found out what they were doing to me, he took me away. He killed them so they couldn’t hurt anyone else.”

“I’m so sorry, Chucky.” A tear runs down his cheek.

“Negan helped me after that. He made sure I was okay. Made sure I was healthy. Without him, I don’t know where I’d be. If I’d even be alive.”

“Sweetie,” he rubs her arm and it reminds her of her mother. “I just want what’s best for you.”

“Negan is what’s best for me.”

Aaron nods slowly after a moment. “Okay, Chucky.”

Chuck clears her throat and changes the subject. “So... How did you cross paths with Negan.”

Aaron looks away nervously. “Another group asked us...” He runs his fingers through his curly hair. “We were lied to about Negan and his men. We were told that he had killed members of another group and were keeping their women.”

“What?!” Chuck exclaims.

Negan and Simon burst into the room. Chuck’s raised voice had apparently triggered some alarm for them. When they see that nothing is wrong, they calm down.

Chuck looks to Negan. “Aaron and his people were told that you kidnapped women?!”

Negan gives a stern look to Aaron. “Is that all you told her?”

Chuck looks from Negan to Aaron, who has shifted his gaze down.

“Why-“ Chuck starts. “What happened?”

“Why don’t I fill her the fuck in, uncle Aaron.” Negan sits down on the other side of Chuck. “The now former leader of Hilltop didn’t like me much. So he went and asked the Alexandrians,” Negan gestures to Aaron, “to kill my ass.”

“What?!” Chuck whips her head to Aaron. “You were going to kill Negan?!”

“Chucky,” Aaron grabs Chuck’s hand, “we thought he hurt people. Murdered people. Stole from them. We made a deal with Gregory. He said he’d give us the food that we need if we stopped Negan. We thought it was a win/win.”

Chuck processes the information. She looks from Negan to Aaron. “You really thought he was a bad guy?”

“Yes,” Aaron answers. “Gregory told us that he murdered his people, kidnapped his women, and stole most of the food they produce every week. We thought we were doing the right thing.”

Chuck believes Aaron. She hates to think that he and his group wanted to kill Negan, but she can’t really blame them. They were given bad information. And, obviously, they didn’t go through with it. It still upsets her and brings a tear to her eye, though.

“Is everything settled between all the communities now?” Chuck asks hopefully.

“Yeah, baby girl,” Negan puts his hand on her back. “There’s nothing to fuckin’ worry about. Everything is peachy fuckin’ keen.” He looks back to Simon who is still close to the door. “Why don’t you escort Chuck upstairs. And call down to the kitchen for dinner. I’ll be up after me and Aaron have a little chat.”

“Can uncle Aaron eat with us?”

Negan looks to Aaron then back to Chuck.

“Please,” Chuck adds.

“Fuuuuck. You kill me, girl! Fine. He can eat with us.”

“Thanks!” Chuck gets up and hugs Aaron again before leaving with Simon.

——— Negan’s POV ———

I watch Chuck and Simon leave, then turn back to Aaron. “We gonna have a fuckin’ problem?”

“I don’t want any problems with you, Negan,” he answers. “Chucky’s my family. I just want what’s best for her. She says you’re good to her. So, despite some...” he raises his eyebrows, “red flags, I won’t fight with you about her.”

“Good.”

“But I will fight for her if I think she’s being hurt.” That fucker is looking me straight in the eye.

“That makes two of us, uncle Aaron. You have no idea the shit I’ve done for that girl. So if you want what’s best for her, want her safe, want her in a community that doesn’t have to commit fuckin’ murder to feed its residents, then you should want her right the fuck here.”

He gives a slow nod knowing that I’m fuckin’ right.

“You’re her family. And I think it’ll be fuckin’ good for her to have you in her life. But she is not going to leave these gates. Period. Ever . You can stay here a few days and catch up with her. Then, when me and your group get shit settled between us, you can come visit her regular-like.”

He looks at me with a fuckin’ grimace. “Okay.”

“And I do not want you making her upset. I didn’t exactly get a great first impression of your group, and that includes you, so I don’t know what kinda guy you fuckin’ are now. Chuck was excited to see you, so if you turn out to be a fuckin’ dick and disappoint her, things will not end well for you.”

He sneers at me. “I get that you don’t know me or my people and that what happened today doesn’t exactly paint us in a good light, but we really aren’t bad people. We’ll show you that.” His face turns more sad. “And I’ll show you that I truly care about my niece. She’s all I have left of my family.”

I suck on my teeth as a nod at him. “Alright, uncle Aaron.” I stand up. “We’re all gonna have a nice ass dinner now.”

He gets up and follows me upstairs to my room.

——— ———

Chuck and Simon leave the meeting room to walk up to the fifth floor. Chuck can’t help but smile at the fact that her uncle, who she had been close to before the turn, is alive and well. And in the area, close enough to be with her.

“So, your uncle, huh?” Simon starts, sounding a little awkward as he opens the door to the stairwell for Chuck.

“Yeah! It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Chuck looks up at Simon and passes by him. “I can’t believe he’s here.”

“You were close then?”

“Yeah. He was my mom’s only sibling and they were really close. So he was always around.” She lets out a little chuckle. “I’m just so happy to have him back.”

Simon replies from behind her on the stairs. “I’m happy for you, kiddo.”

They leave the stairwell on the fifth floor and enter Negan’s office. Simon clears his throat and Chuck turns to him. He looks nervous about something. Almost sad. She’s just about to say something when he starts himself.

“You and Negan...” He rubs the back of his neck.

Chuck is confused at first, but then realizes what he’s getting at. Simon knew that things had been strained between Chuck and Negan. She hadn’t discussed it outright with Simon, but she could tell that he noticed a change.

She hadn’t really realized it because so much stuff was happening, but she admitted that she loved Negan in the meeting room. In front of Simon. And he had heard what Negan said about her, too.

Chuck isn’t sure how to breach this topic with Simon. She lets out a sigh and pushes her hair off of her face. “Negan and I had a talk last night. Well, it started as a fight and turned into a talk.” She swallows hard. “He told me that he loves me. And I realized that I love him, too. So we decided to be together. Like a real couple.”

Simon nods with his head down. “Okay,” he says quietly.

Chuck hates that she is hurting him. “I’m sorr-“

“No,” he interrupts. “Don’t apologize,” he continues softly. “If you’re happy with Negan then I’m happy.” He doesn’t sound too convincing, but he’s trying.

“You’re a good man, Simon,” she replies genuinely.

He inhales deeply and exhales, giving her a soft smile. “Thanks, kiddo.”

She smiles back at him.

Simon clears his throat. “I’m gonna call down for your dinner and head out.”

“Okay, Simon.”

After Simon leaves, Chuck paces around the room. She’s filled with emotion. Excitement from seeing Aaron again. Sadness from potentially breaking Simon’s heart. Fear from what Aaron’s group almost did.

Eventually, Negan and Aaron walk into the office carrying three trays of food.

Negan gives Chuck a little nod, signaling her to sit down at the kitchen table. Which she does.

“We bumped into the kitchen worker on our way up here, so I thought I’d put uncle Aaron here to fuckin’ work.” Negan holds up the plates in his hand indicating the food, then sets them down on the table, one for Chuck and one for himself.

Aaron sits down with his plate between Chuck and Negan at the four-seat table. He gives Chuck a smile and she returns it.

“Everything’s good, right?” she asks, a little worried about what they talked about when she wasn’t there.

“Everything’s hunky fuckin’ dory, baby girl,” Negan answers then gestures to the food. “Eat up.”

They start to eat, but Chuck can’t help herself from wanting to know everything about what Aaron has been through since she last saw him. She starts to ask him questions about his community, which he answers. There are about fifty people living there now, though their numbers were once bigger. They lost a bunch of their people when a group called The Wolves attacked at the same time that they were trying to lead a huge herd of the dead away from them. This led to the herd going straight through their community. Talking about this seems to upset Aaron, so Chuck changes the subject.

“Remember that one Thanksgiving where our oven decided to die half way through cooking the turkey? And mom didn’t realize it and was so upset when it was time to eat and the turkey wasn’t done?” Chuck giggled.

Aaron laughs and jumps in. “Oh yeah! We ended up getting Chinese takeout. And every year after that, we’d get fortune cookies with our dinner.”

“Remember the first year after that, when you first brought the fortune cookies?” Chuck can’t help but laugh at the memory. “And mom was so mad at you for reminding her about the turkey fiasco!”

Aaron laughs, too. “And her fortune was like ‘You must learn to laugh at your mistakes’ or something!”

“Oh my god, it was !” Chuck laughs so hard that tears stream down her cheeks. She looks across to Negan and sees that he he can’t hold in his own laughs. She calms down enough to ask Negan, “Do you celebrate Thanksgiving here?”

“Fuck, no! The only thing we celebrate is not fuckin’ dying.”

“It’s only two months away now,” she adds, but then lets out a gasp of excitement. “Halloween is coming up!”

“Oh, god. Halloween,” Aaron says not exactly excitedly.

“I love Halloween! Me and my mom would go all out. Every room in the house was decorated. And I used to love dressing up! We need to have a party or something this year!”

Negan chuckles. “Why the fuck would we celebrate Halloween? Isn’t the world enough of a nightmare as it is?”

“But Halloween is fun! Unless your a scaredy-cat like that one.” Chuck points to Aaron and laughs.

“I’m not a scaredy-cat! I just don’t like horror movies.” Aaron throws his arms up, still chuckling. “Oh, wait! Someone has a birthday coming up.”

“No, no! Don’t change the subject!” Chuck exclaims.

“Oh, shit!” Negan starts. “When’s your birthday, sweetheart?”

“Birthdays really aren’t important now,” she replies. She never really cared about her own birthday. Her mom always tried to do her best to have fun with Chuck, but all Chuck could ever really think about was how she never really had any friends to celebrate with.

“The fuck they aren’t! They’re even more important now. Every year you keep on living is definitely something to fuckin’ celebrate! So what day is it?”

“Ugh,” she groans dramatically. “October 17.”

They continue to talk at the table, even though they are all finished with their food.

“Oh, Chucky,” Aaron says as if he’s remembered something, “I have your mom’s guitar.”

“Oh my god! You do?!”

“Yeah. She left it at my house before... everything got bad. And I took it with me to Alexandria.”

“I tried to find it when I went to the house. I thought someone stole it!”

“I can bring it back here for you. If you want.”

She wants to say yes immediately, but then thinks about it. “No. You keep it.” She smiles at Aaron. “I’m happy just as long as it’s still in the family.” Chuck looks to Negan. “Besides, I have my own guitar, now.” She chuckles. “There’s a beautiful piano in the wives’ lounge. Oh, you’ll love it Aaron!” Chuck gets up from the table.

“Now, wait, Chuck! I’m not letting a fuckin’ strange man into the wives’ lounge!”

Chuck lets out a huff. “What’s he gonna do, Negan? He’s gay.”

Negan narrows his eyes at her. “Fine,” he grumbles and gets up, too.

Chuck excitedly runs to her room to get her guitar, then goes to the lounge with Negan and Aaron trailing behind.

“We got a visitor, ladies,” Negan calls out as they enter the room.

All of the women look to the newcomer curiously.

“Are you finally adding a man-wife, Negan?” Tonya jokes.

“Ha ha, Tonya,” Negan starts, “but, no.”

“This is my uncle!” Chuck jumps in. “Aaron.”

“Hello... ladies,” Aaron greets awkwardly.

Kayla makes an excited sound. “That’s so great that you found a family member!” She steps forward to shake Aaron’s hand. “I’m Kayla. That’s Tonya, Frankie, and Sherry.” She points out the women and they wave to Aaron.

Negan plops himself down on the couch. “He’s here to see the piano. So... There it is.”

“You play, too?” Sherry asks Aaron.

“Yeah,” he answers, looking over the instrument. “Though I’m not as good as Chuck on the piano.”

“Here.” Chuck hands him the guitar and sits on the piano bench. “Let’s play something.”

Aaron thinks for a moment. “Hey Jude?”

Chuck doesn’t even answer but immediately starts to play. Aaron throws on the guitar and joins in. They sing the familiar song easily; it had always been one of their favorites to play together. They and Chuck’s mother would play it at every family get together.

When the wives join in, it brings a smile to Chuck’s face. No one can resist the “la las” of Hey Jude. She even sees Negan let out a few.

They finish the song and everyone claps. Including Negan.

“You two sound great together,” Frankie compliments.

Chuck shifts on the bench and it makes a loud cracking noise. Negan jumps up and lifts her from the bench before it crumbles to pieces.

“What the fuck!” Negan calls out as he sets Chuck back on her feet.

“I don’t think I’ve gained that much weight,” Chuck jokes with a chortle.

“Oh, uh...” Tonya starts. “I think that might be our fault. Me and Frankie were... uh... doing something and kinda broke the bench.”

“Jesus Christ, Tonya,” Negan mutters under his breath.

Tonya shrugs. “I didn’t think we broke it that much.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Aaron jumps in. “I brought in a guy back home a few weeks ago that can fix it. Or build a whole new bench for you. He’s a good guy. Lives with me and Eric.”

“What’s his name?” Negan immediately growls out.

Aaron looks from him to Chuck with confusion on his face. Chuck starts to breathe heavily as she arrives at the same thought Negan must have also.

“What’s his fucking name!?” Negan yells.

“It’s- His name is Brendon.”

#negan #negan fanfiction #negans thirst squad #negan x oc #negan x original female character #negan x ofc #negan / ofc #negan / oc #negan / original female character #jdm #jeffrey dean morgan #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead au #the walking dead #this is how i disappear #tihid #writehavoc writes #writehavoc this is how i disappear

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daydreaming-scribe · 6 years

Text

Kiss it, Make it Better: Apotheosis

Another superb gifset from @gaywitchtwins, this time for the third chapter of Kiss it, Make it Better.

Max and Sam come face to face with the Dryad. This is the main chapter with violence. May be triggering to some - be warned.

The Dryad is much smaller than Sam anticipated. At scarcely five feet, she doesn’t strike him as an ancient nature spirit. In fact, she’s how he’d expect an ancient Grecian to look like – tanned olive skin and ringlets of dark long hair. Her smile is as wide and bright as a child’s, but the corners of her mouth and eyes are lined with endless crow’s feet, and her cheeks are rough and leathery from being exposed to the sun. She’s dressed in a chiton that looks like it’s been patched together from scraps of old clothing.

His and Max’s shirts are probably going to get woven into her next chiton. Seeing that she saw fit to remove their upper layers before binding their arms and legs with vines and placing them practically on top of one another against the wall. He’s glad she at least let them their jeans. He’d prefer that any situation where that the two of them are naked together be consensual, not the result of being forcibly stripped by a crazy Hellenic forest monster.

Max’s head slumps against his shoulder. Forcibly stripped naked by a crazy Hellenic forest monster while one of us is unconscious, Sam amends. This scenario is already so far out of his comfort zone. He barely needs to close his eyes to see a smug expression and hear the cocky was it good for you? Even if it makes him sadistic or misogynistic or whatever, he’s not exactly heartbroken that Ketch slit Toni’s throat and bled her dry like a pig. The only thing keeping Sam from drowning in memories of her and Lucifer is the hope that the Dryad’s intentions aren’t sexual. That, and the dagger he can still feel strapped high up on his thigh. He isn’t completely convinced by the first one, however. Those haunting green eyes are fixated on the pair of them like a wolf when it stalks deer. Or Dean, when he’s busy leering at a slice of pie or the waitress in whatever diner they’re holed up in.

“I have to say, you’re quite a catch.” She says, walking towards them. “I was intent on getting Handsome here, but I didn’t anticipate you.” Sam shifts in his binds, nudging Max slightly to rouse him. After the first few tries, the witch wakes up, lifting his head from Sam’s shoulder.

“What the hell?” Max groans, blinking slightly. “Where are we?” The Dryad’s lair seems to be the interior of a gigantic tree, probably the one they saw earlier. It’s not very large, probably 10 feet wide at the most, the only light streaming in from a narrow entrance on the far side, but it’s enough that they might have a way of running past the forest spirit. Or, they would have a way of running past her, if their prison wasn’t made of wood and they weren’t so deep into her territory that they had no possible way of escaping.

“You’re here to complete the ritual, my dears.” The Dryad smiles. “And none too soon. I’ve been waiting for nearly two centuries to finish it.”

“The other people, where are they?” Sam asks, looking intently at the Nymph. Her green eyes flicker, illuminating for a second as she peals with laughter. Holding up her arms, she spins slightly.

“Everywhere.” Glancing around the room, Sam feels his stomach drop. The walls of the lair are bumpy and made of bark, resembling a tree’s exterior more than anything else. On closer inspection, some of the bumps in the walls are eerily formed, seeming almost too deliberate to be accidental. There’s a shape in the bark to the left of Sam that looks like a set of toes. On Max’s right, a set of handprints protrude outward from the wall. Across the room is a face, caught mid-scream, as if it had been flash-frozen in wood. “It was effort, picking them all out and managing to get them alone so I could snatch them up. Planning, waiting for a hundred and eighty years – but, all in all, worth it for the ritual.”

“What ritual?” Max growls, sitting up a little straighter. “You don’t need sacrifices – you’re a nymph, not a pagan.” The Dryad shoots him a haughty look.

“Pagan’s a rather simple term, dear.” She tuts, green eyes rolling. “It’s such a catch-all, and you humans insist on using it even where it doesn’t fit. It’s dirty, and inaccurate, and groups too many things together. Not all ‘Pagans’ need sacrifices to endure – the Olympians, for example, are just fine and dandy on their own.”

“Why are you different, then?” Sam shoots back.

“Not all of these entities start out the same way. Some, like Zeus and his ilk, have always been as they are now – fearsome and powerful and godly. However, if you follow lore closely enough, you’ll notice that other deities were originally not worshipped as such.” Her eyes glimmer again. “Some started out as just being nature spirits.”

“You’re trying to deify yourself.” Max says, eyes wide in realization. The spirit laughs, nodding her head.

“Precisely. This ritual’s an old one, written in a tongue even most nymphs don’t understand, but it’s simply enough – Twelve human souls, at the least, each with sufficient enough qualities to represent one of the Twelve Olympian Gods, are sacrificed to the source of a Nymph’s power. Once the final sacrifice is made, the Nymph destroys the place where she made the sacrifices. Her power’s then generated from within, and she’ll be like unto a goddess.”

“We’re in your heart, then. You made a few trees fuse together, and put a part of your soul inside each of them.” Sam concludes, looking around at the bark walls.

“Very good – you’re a smart cookie.” She nods, impressed. “Yes, you’ve caught me. I might not be powerful as other gods, but I can make these trees do whatever I want. Hence this neat little room and its,” the dryad brushes a hand over the face frozen in wood. “decorum.”

“So you’re the Lorax, but with a God complex and homicidal tendencies.” Max snarks. “Maybe you should try yoga, take the edge off. In any case, you don’t get to act all victorious now. You’re two sacrifices short on the ritual. Unless you’re trying to tell us that the two of us match personalities with one of the gods you have left. My mythology’s shaky, but I don’t remember there being a Gay Witch God or a Sexy Wisdom God in the Pantheon.” Goddamnit, Sam shouldn’t be getting flustered at that comment like some blushing virgin, not in the middle of a kidnapping by some insane wannabe-deity.

“The ritual’s imprecise on what deems a soul the ideal match for a respective god.” The Dryad admits. “There are some things that can’t be avoided: a virgin and an academic for Athena – that spinster professor fit the bill. A hedonist for Dionysus – like that alcoholic bartender. For Queen Hera, a woman of the home, her husband being the only man known to her – the silly doting housewife. Familial bonds aren’t stressed too much, which is a relief. It’d be impossible to find people with as much incestuous heritage as the Olympians. It’s taken me a long time to gather enough people as it is. So, relationships are ignored in favor of personality traits, with a single exception. The most important bond between any two Olympians.” Sam feels Max stiffen beside him, and knows the witch has come to the same conclusion as he has. “The Huntress and the Healer, Artemis and Apollo.” She holds up two fingers. “Twins.”

“Alicia isn’t here.” Max challenges, struggling in his bonds. “She doesn’t know where we are.”

“She’s at the edge of the forest with your little entourage right now, and she’s going to find you with ease thanks to your phones’ tracking features.” The nature spirit counters. She withdraws both of their cells from her chiton, flashing them as if to prove a point, before tossing them on the ground beside her.

“She’ll come ready to fight.” The Dryad gives another high laugh.

“You were no match for me, and you’re a witch of Natural Affinity. Your sister’s pathetic imitation of a life is being held together by your magic and wood shavings.” Max glares, to which the nymph sneers. “Oh, please. My sight may not extend far, but nothing in the area surrounding my forest escapes my gaze. Not a better spy in this town than me, or my name isn’t Menodice.”

“Why take the effort with the ritual?” Sam asks suddenly. “I get the power boost, and not being bound to the forest, but you’re making yourself an easier target – I saw someone kill Zeus a few years ago. Took a lot less effort than finding a few trees and burning them.”

“So I wait for someone to cut down every last tree in the forest?” The Dryad demands. “Or maybe I don’t have to wait. I may not see what happens in the outside world, but I can feel the Earth slowly dying. Eventually it won’t matter if humans cut them down or not – the trees will die by themselves. I’m content to wait out eternity on a dead planet, as long as I’m here to endure.” She gives Sam a wide smile. “Got to say, though, you’re quite the unexpected bonus, Handsome. I already have the twelve souls, but yours is a strong one. Brightest I’ve ever seen.” Lucifer told him the same thing in the Cage, how even demon blood couldn’t dim his soul. Menodice walks toward them, predatory smile widening. “I think I’d like a little touch, before the ritual is finished.” Sam’s backing against the bark wall, pushing away from the Dryad’s outstretched hand as much as he can.

A shriek leaves her lips, and the nature spirit recoils in agony. Sam’s panting hard, more than a little panicked, but he still takes notice of the enormous burn running up her arm. Except instead of blistering flesh or an angry welt, it’s smoldering wood, ash-white and glowing with orange embers. The Dryad looks up from the wound, her face seething with rage. Beside Sam, the last of a conjured flame extinguishes in Max’s hand, and the floor on his other side is scorched black.

“You should probably reconsider.” The witch snarks. “Seeing as you were dumb enough to bring us into your life source, and I can burn it to the ground.”

“I’ll kill you first, you insolent little – ” Menodice’s cut off mid-snarl, suddenly grasping her hand. A long gash is running across her palm, oozing a dark fluid. Then, another gash appears alongside it. And another.

“Max! ” They hear Alicia call. “Sam! Hold on!” The Dryad snarls, stalking toward the narrow opening on the far side of the room. She only makes it halfway before another fire is summoned beneath Max’s fingers, incinerating a larger portion of the floor and wall behind him. Menodice cries out, the burn on her arm spreading wider and wider. With a tug, Max breaks free of his bindings and struggles to his feet.

“Alicia! Get back!” He shouts. A column of flame sprouts from his hand and coats a portion of the wall close to the narrow opening. Sam manages to break free of the the vines tying his own hands and legs, just as the Dryad gives another scream, this one reverberating throughout the tree. Her eyes are burning green, with a hand and part of an arm burnt away to nothing. Gone is the lecherous expression she’d been giving the two of them earlier, rapidly giving way to murderous fury.

“Sam, come on!” Looking past the injured Dryad, Sam sees Max exit through the gaping hole he made in the tree. His legs suddenly spring into action and he follows the witch through the still-burning cavity in the bark. Max and Alicia are caught in each other’s arms on the other side. Behind them, Jody, Donna, and Claire carry armfuls of axes.

“You look like you’ve had some fun.” Alicia jokes, earning a snort from Max as she pulls away from the embrace.

“Yeah, getting tied up by a Psycho forest woman’s my idea of a good time.” He drawls, turning back to face the tree. “Maybe next time you can join in on our fun.”

“Let’s deal with the psycho forest woman first, and you two can have your guy-time later.” His twin bites back, just as Menodice emerges from the tree.

There’s no doubting the Dryad’s inhuman nature now. Her eyes are completely green, glittering like emeralds in the afternoon sun. Large chunks of her flesh are gone, replaced with smoldering white bark. One arm has burnt off entirely, only a black stump at the shoulder remaining.

“You’re not going anywhere.” She snarls, lunging forward. A wave of her hand rips a root from the soil, sending Max flying. Alicia screams her brother’s name as he collides with a nearby tree and crumples to the ground. “I won’t be denied what is mine.” Sam grabs a spare axe from Jody and heads straight for the Dryad. He doesn’t make it far – another gesture from Menodice brings a branch low enough to make impact with his chest and knock him back a few yards. Donna and Jody make it to the Dryad’s tree, driving their own axes deep into the bark beside the gaping hole Max made. Dark stains blossom across the Dryad’s tattered chiton, as she grabs at her chest in pain. The victory’s short-lived, of course. Menodice shoots a glance back to her tree, and an enormous branch plummets onto the two sheriffs’ heads.

Sam and Claire charge the Dryad from different sides. The teenager reaches her first, embedding her axe into Menodice’s side before receiving a harsh punch to the shoulder and falling to the ground. Sam stops a dozen feet short, using all his momentum to send his own hatchet flying. It soars far above the Dryad’s head, making a satisfying crunch as it lands deeply into the top of her enormous tree. A new wound crosses Menodice’s face as she looks back at Sam, leaking that same dark amber. She’s on top of him in a flash, wrapping her remaining hand around his throat with a strength belied by her stature.

“I won’t be denied what is mine.” She growls again. “I think I’ll get those twins first, and maybe I’ll keep you around for fun.”

“You’re not getting anyone, lady.” Alicia growls from behind the Dryad. Her axe comes down, the metal singing as it cuts through the air. The sound stops abruptly before the axe can make contact with flesh. The fingers around Sam’s throat tighten further, and a low chuckle leaves the Dryad’s mouth.

“That’s adorable, dear.” Menodice coos, turning to face Alicia. “Were you trying to hit me?” The hunter is frozen, axe just inches from the Dryad. Menodice tuts in disappointment. “Twigs and twine, dear. You’re held together by nothing but twigs and twine.” A few yards away, Claire stirs and begins to crawl toward a leftover axe. The Dryad gives her a fleeting glance, before staring into Alicia’s petrified eyes. “Take care of her, will you?”

Menodice tilts her head in the direction of Claire, and Alicia’s body gives a violent jerk. She begins marching towards the younger girl, axe raised high. Each step she takes is like that of a puppet on a string, stiff and lurching. Claire manages to rise to her feet, looking on at the rapidly approaching hunter.

“Alicia, what are you –” She halts mid-sentence, ducking just in time to avoid getting decapitated. “Alicia, snap out of it!” Only Alicia’s face remains under her own control, showing the fear inside.

“I can’t!” She cries, swinging yet again at the younger woman. “I can’t move!” Claire lifts her axe, blocking the blow from Alicia’s own. At the base of Menodice’s tree, Jody and Donna are stirring slowly. Max is still motionless several yards away. Sam snarls and squirms in the Dryad’s chokehold, struggling to get free and help Claire. But the fingers around his neck are rooted firmly. He inches back toward the tree behind him. Sam feels the dagger hidden in his jeans rub its cool metal against his flesh as he presses against the bark. His captor sneers.

“You’re not going anywhere, handsome.” She says. “I’m stronger than you. The puppet is going to knock off your hunter buddies one by one, and the two of us are going to watch it happen.”

Claire’s holding her own against Alicia, parrying each swing that comes her way. She’s losing fast, however. The Dryad is puppeting Alicia’s movements with the intent to kill, while Claire’s only trying to defend herself from a fatal blow. Eventually the older hunter gets an opportunity, driving her weapon down hard. Claire barely has time to lift the handle of her own axe. It’s just enough to protect her head, but it snaps the handle in two and sends her sprawling back.

“Claire!” Jody shouts, finally on her feet with a gun in hand. Claire holds the two broken halves of her axe tightly as Alicia looms over her. A shot rings out, and Alicia stumbles slightly, continuing in a limp. Several more fire in succession, these ones ending dangerously close to Sam. Menodice grunts in annoyance as a bullet grazes her, loosening her hold on Sam and turning to Alicia.

“Kill the girl, then take –” The Dryad’s cut off abruptly, staggering backward. The handle of Sam’s dagger gleams in the light of post-midday, embedded beneath her chin. Sam takes advantage of the Nymph’s distraction and darts toward where Max still lays motionless.

“Max!” He shouts, falling to his knees by the witch and jostling his shoulder. “Max, we need you to get up, man.” Menodice’s managed to pull the dagger free of her mouth, slowly approaching them with the amber-coated blade in hand. Her commands clearly don’t need to be spoken to Alicia, because the resurrected hunter is still swinging with all the might in her constructed body. Claire uses the two broken halves of her axe to stab at the assailant while avoiding being hit by Alicia’s blows as best she can. Jody and Donna run to the teenager’s aid, abandoning the task of chopping down the Dryad’s tree. “Max, Alicia’s in danger – the Dryad’s using her, we need you to burn down the tree!” The young man gives a soft groan “Max! Max, come on –!”

Sam’s airway cuts off. Gasping, he reaches for his throat. The thing around his neck tightens at a touch, hauling him off the ground. Sam grunts and kicks as his oxygen diminishes. Eyes skimming the forest around him, he fights against the suffocation, forcing his body downward with all his might. He’s rapidly growing dizzy, desperate for one of the others to cut him free. But Max still lies prone beneath him, and the rest are trying to subdue Alicia.

“Shame.” The scowling Dryad looks up at him. “You could’ve just given up.” Sam kicks harder, trying to swing toward the trunk of the tree he’s hanging from. His vision gets progressively darker, and his entire body is numbed from an overwhelming coldness.

An unearthly wail pierces his mind. Sam gasps as his entire front lights up in pain. Air and the scent of dirt rapidly fill his lungs, and he realizes he’s pressed against the ground. A hand grabs his side, tugging him upward. His body’s too pained from the drop and numb from oxygen deprivation for him to struggle against the person holding him, so he just slumps in their grasp. The acrid scent of smoke fills his nose, the chill that overwhelmed him before fading fast and replaced by warmth.

“… –Sam? Sam!?!” He opens his eyes, greeted by a panicked Max. “Sam! You with me?” The witch jostles him slightly, his tone sharper. Sam nods sluggishly, groaning at the pain in his neck. “It’s okay, Sam. We got her.” He scans the scene around them, resting his gaze on a roaring inferno. The Dryad’s nowhere in sight.

Well, not entirely true. A few yards in front of them is a charred lump, roughly the size of a human. Looking closer, Sam can see its face frozen in a gruesome expression of pain. A squeeze at his sides has Sam glancing back to Max, whose own face is measured with tiredness.

“You okay?” He asks. The witch snorts, the corners of his mouth lifting up.

“You just were choked, tossed, and hanged by a forest spirit. I think I should be asking you that.” Max says, honey-colored eyes raking over Sam. They go wide, and he’s suddenly jabbed in the side, pain shooting through him. “Shit, that looks really bad.” Sam looks down to see a long gash across his ribs, blood trickling slowly from it. “Let me heal that.” Sam grabs Max’s free hand.

“It’s fine for now. Let’s just make sure none of the others needs it more.” Max gives him a worried look, but just tightens his grip on Sam as they slowly make their way across the clearing to where the rest of them are. Alicia’s looking a little worse for wear, seated up against a tree and rubbing her temples and stomach like she’s suffering from the world’s worst hangover and belly ache at the same time. Other than that, the rest of the group only has scratches and bruises. Of course, the number of times they all got knocked around will probably mean more than a few concussions, but they’ll worry about that later.

“Leesh, you okay?” Max asks. His twin gives a chuckle, lazily flicking an eye open.

“Feel like I got hit by an eighteen-wheeler.” She quips, tilting to one side. “I’ll live, I think.” A grimace flashes across her face. “Can’t understand what happened. I was ready to cut Poison Ivy into pieces, then I couldn’t move a muscle.” The arm holding Sam up tightens around him, and he and Max meet eyes briefly before turning back to her. “I mean, it makes no sense. None of the lore we’ve read on nymphs says anything about mind control.” Sam clears his throat.

“The lore’s obscure enough as it is.” He points out. “Some myths in Greek mythology talked about nymphs luring people into their lairs. It’s not such a stretch to think mind control would be in their power.” Max’s fingers are digging into his side now. Sam feels terrible, lying to Alicia, but he can’t risk telling the truth in front of the others.

“Would make sense how she was able to get all those people.” Jody adds, dropping the remaining axes into a large bag laid out on the ground. “Did you figure out what she was doing with them?”

“Ritual. Alicia and I were the last two sacrifices she needed.” Max explained. “She nabbed us when we weren’t prepared, and her plan was to lure Alicia in so she could turn herself into a god.” They all go silent.

“Fun, fun.” His twin chuckles nervously. “Here I thought you two were off having sex. Glad I was wrong. Might’ve kicked your asses if you’d made me panic for no reason.” Sam flushes, suddenly feeling far too close to Max. The fact that they’re missing their upper layers probably doesn’t help Alicia’s suspicion. Unfortunately, the shirts and jackets they’d been wearing are probably still in the Dryad’s tree, burnt to a crisp by now alongside their phones.

“I’m offended.” Max says, accepting Jody’s jacket and slipping it over one shoulder. “Do you know me to go off to have sex and leave you to do all the work in the middle of a hunt?” Alicia gives her brother a pointed look. “That one time outside Portland doesn’t count. And no, we didn’t have sex, for your information. Sam here can verify we only lost our shirts after we got knocked unconscious. I was a complete and utter gentleman.” He and Donna help ease Sam into Donna’s jacket, which is ludicrously tiny on Sam but still by far the closest fit. Sam’s pretty sure his face is as red as a brick. Thankfully, Donna’s also blushing fiercely. Jody and Claire, on the other hand, seem more amused than embarrassed by the twin banter.

“I’m glad to hear you haven’t taken advantage of this poor guy yet.” Alicia snickers. Wincing, she slowly pushes herself to her feet. “I was afraid you’d ruined another set of perfectly good hunting partners by flirting too much with them after Rock River.” The light in Max’s smile dims like the sun behind a cloud, but no one besides Sam takes notice. “I’ll let you two ‘gentlemen’ have the room tonight if you want. I’m hitting the bar.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Jody asks, walking over to the younger hunter. “Looks like you’re in a lot of pain, Alicia. Alex is waiting in the car, we should probably get back and drive you to the ER.” Alicia shakes her head, placing a hand on her stomach.

“I’m totally fine, Jody – it’s probably the stupid Dryad Magic running its course or something.”

“I’m with Jody on this, actually.” Claire says. Her gaze is locked around Alicia’s stomach. “Even with the stick part of the axe, I know I got a few good hits in. I swear I stabbed you at one point, Dude.”

“That’s ridiculous, Claire.” Alicia laughs, lifting the edges of her shirt. “See, no bleeding, just a couple bruises.” As she looks down, the laughing cuts off into a shriek.

On her stomach is a large, deep puncture.

Alicia places a trembling hand against the wound and pushes a probing finger inward. The hand is removed, clean as it was when she pushed it in. A second, and then a third go back, each time free of blood.

“Oh my god.” Alicia whispers, lifting her shirt up higher. “Oh my god.”

“Alicia?” Jody takes a few steps towards her. The sheriff has the demeanor of someone approaching a wild animal, stretching out an arm. The second it touches Alicia’s shoulder, she jerks back as if burned with a brand.

“Get away from me!” She snarls, backing away from them. She resumes poking her wound, making distressed sounds. “Oh my god. What the fuck?”

“Alicia.” The name is layered with hurt and heartbreak. Glancing to Max, Sam can see tears welling up in his eyes. Slipping from under Sam’s shoulder, he approaches his terrified sister. “Leesh, relax. Don’t move.” The woman’s face suddenly goes slack, expressionless eyes staring straight ahead. She doesn’t back away, or move at all, when his hand comes to rest on her side. The witch’s eyes glow violet for a moment as he brushes over the wound. The cut is covered when his hand lifts away. Sealed from the inside with twig. In the next instant, Alicia snaps out of her trance, shrieking and retreating from Max. She looks down to her sealed injury, then back up into her brother’s eyes, bewildered.

“Max?” At his name, her brother looks off to one side. “Max.” Alicia repeats, trying to meet his gaze. She shakes his shoulder. “Max!” He finally looks back to her, tears running down his face.

“Alicia.” His voice cracks. His sister places a hand on his shoulder before he falls to his knees. “Alicia, I’m so sorry.” Alicia stiffens, looking down at her brother in fear. “I’m so, so sorry, Alicia.” He reaches out to his sister. She flinches away from his grasp. Max breaks, tears streaming down his face as sobs begin to wrack his body. “Please, Alicia. Please, forgive me.”

“Max.” Alicia says, voice filling with horror. “Max, what have you done?” Max only cries harder, covering his face. “Max,” she repeats, louder. “What did you do?!”

#supernatural #my stuff #sammax #sam winchester #max banes #alicia banes #jody mills #donna hanscum #claire novak #gifs #gaywitchtwins #Kiss it Make it Better

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