#also Hopclair is finally fully there!

[horsechestnut]

Scientifically Proven, Chapter 6: Conclusion

El was the one who finally brought up. That was probably the least surprising part of the entire night, she’d always been the most likely to say when something was bugging her. She was always more direct, less likely to dance around a subject the way Lucas might or ignore it the way Max did. It was one of Max’s favorite things about her. One of Lucas’s too. 

“Something’s off.” 

As simple and straightforward as that. No more avoiding the topic.

(Sorry for the delay I had a really shit week)

[fruitsyrups]

Here be another snippet from me and @lumaxramblings, angst version, with a talk between Lucas and El as they think about everything in the aftermath of the final battle that was never the final one. Max is in a coma because parallels are neat, and everyone’s in pain because angst <3

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"I think it's…my fault,” El mumbles softly, eyes filling with tears.

Lucas blinks, confused. "Your fault that what?"

"That Max is...like this. I did this to her."

"W-What—? No, you didn't do anything, El, you—"

"You don't understand!" El leaps to her feet. "I hurt her!"

Lucas takes a step back in surprise.

“I hurt her right before we fought the villain. I was so— so angry— a-and we were fighting and I hit her so much a-and— and I h-hadnt known…” El can only let out wracked sobs as she tries to explain how it’s her fault, because it is.

If only she hadn’t fought and hit her.

If only she hadn’t disliked her.

If only she hadn’t been so blinded by her dislike of her.

“I-it’s…” She feels herself shatter a little more. “…all my fault.”

“N-No, it couldn't've been serious—" but then he thinks of the bruises that had adorned Max's face - from a strong fist instead of a hunk of metal - and backtracks. "I mean—you couldn't have known he'd attack then, if it'd been any other time, spiderwo-" he chokes on his own breath. el flinches. "I mean, Max, she would've been fine, she's been through—she's been through worse before—”

"No." El cuts him off sharply. "She was hurt b—by me more than anything. If I hadn't been so—so—stupid—IF I'D JUST LIKED HER—"

Then she takes a deep breath. It startled lucas, how quickly she changed from calm to yelling to back to calm.

"...it should be me in that hospital bed. Not Max."

Lucas’ eyes widened, before immediately shaking his head. “No— No. You don’t deserve to be in that hospital bed.”

“B-But I—”

“And neither does Max.” His words stop her in her tracks. “Neither of you deserve to be hurt, when all you both have done is protect the city, protect everyone.”

El can feel tears blur her eyes.

“The circumstances weren’t on our sides, but…you and Max can talk it out, okay? We can all talk it out. We just have to wait.” Lucas tries to form a smile that doesn’t fully reach his eyes.

El swallows, trying to push away the horrifying thought in her head.

But what if…what if she doesn’t—?

“She’ll wake up.” Lucas’ voice is quiet. “She will.”

Because they didn’t know what they’d do if she didn’t.

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also, i would like to leave you with this image of:

“why am i imagining a parallel to canon where a knocked out max (kinda already coma-ish because angst) is being held by a sobbing lucas and el after the villain escapes”

this was one of the first thoughts we had in the first hour we were talking about this au <3

Ooh yes I love hopclair bonding (platonic or romantic, though I lean towards platonic) while Max is in a coma...

I MEAN not that I enjoy Max being in a coma, but !!! El and Lucas bonding !!!