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writers-thoughts09 · 4 years ago

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True Mind, True Heart

Act 1 Chapter 2 (Part 2)

Title: True Mind, True Heart: Act 1 Chapter 2 (Part 2) About 5.2k words Pairing: Zuko x OC (slow burn baby, it’s lowkey but high key my favorite type of story) Rating: PG with 13 mixed in there. Warnings: PTSD/ Anxiety attack, mean Zuko, ummmm fighting? A/N: Wassup I’m back again with part 2. I’m gonna go back later and fix this whole thing, but in the mean I hope you all enjoy it~ Also if you remember from chapter 1 Chan is the little boy Lila mentions in her journal.

At the revelation, Lila’s world slowed and all she could feel was her heart and her blood rushing through her veins.

“This child, no older than twelve, was the one Fire Lord Ozai sent his son to find?”

If they took Aang back to the Fire Nation, she’d be a witness and an indirect helper in the capture and death of the Avatar. She knew this already but..a child? She wasn’t prepared to see a kid proclaim to be the Avatar. Now, if they didn’t capture him, then no one would be free of this banishment. The conflict she initially felt doubled as the weight of what she learned pressed down on her. Lila’s heart constricted and she heaved a wheezing breath, her good eye watching the brawl between Aang and Prince Zuko ensue. Flashes of villagers from her hometown fighting off men in red attacked Lila’s memories. An image of a little boy named Chan who lived next to her when they were kids played before her eyes. Aang was doing the same thing Chan was, defending himself against fire nation soldiers, but unfortunately, Chan didn’t last long…

A pained gasp tore from her mouth, chapped lips parting. Pain stabbed at Lila’s chest. Continuous stabs of pain. Her chest began hurting so much so to the point she thought she was literally going to die. Now for some reason, it felt like her uniform was two sizes too tight. In order to try and alleviate some of the discomfort Lila arched her back to loosen the tightness around her chest but to no avail. Her red uniformed body sunk in a heap on the floor of the ship as her legs gave out, feeling weak like jelly. The only thing giving her a semblance of stability were tan hands that squeezed the ship’s railing. She squeezed so hard they paled a shade or two as metal bit into her calloused fingers. Short streams of air puffed from her lips, her breath fogging from the cold as memories of old plagued her. Their invisible arms wound around her stomach, chest, throat, and mouth. Choking her. The girl in red. Red uniforms. Screams. Lila knew what was happening. It was nothing new, but it was still scary each time it happened. She could feel her body temperature rising. The heat of her skin contrasting with the chills she felt, too. The warmth pooling specifically beneath her underarms, cheeks, and the back of her neck.

Not wanting to lose control of herself the petite girl mentally walked herself through her panic, “Okay, okay, okay, I’m on a ship, I’m holding onto the side of the ship. I’m here in the south pole, uncle Iroh is sleeping in his room.” Her breath shuddered as Lila raggedly gasped out, “One, two, three, four, five, six…” up to ten as she did her best to calm herself down. It felt like forever but soon enough the taut feeling in her chest subsided along with the temperature rise that suddenly assaulted her. Letting out a sigh, she leaned her cheek onto the crook of her shoulder and closed her eyes for a much needed moment. After a minute or so Lila shakily brought herself up from the floor and a spell of dizziness abruptly overtook her trembling limbs. Hands that still grasped the railing tightly reminded her of where she was while she collected herself.

Soon enough the ramp lifted from the snowy ground and the ship began pulling away from the freshly terrorized tribe.

A warm hand gently tugged on Lila’s shoulder and she whipped around like a feral fire fox, eyes wide and haunches tensed, only to relax once she realized who grabbed her. Uncle Iroh. The old man stood before her with his usual calming presence, although he still looked tired from his nap. Iroh observed her sweaty disheveled appearance, and concern welled up in him, rightly so. Not only was her hair falling out of her usual well-kept bun, he also caught her picking herself up from the floor when he came out on deck a few moments ago.

“Come, it seems my nephew has finally succeeded in his quest. We’re going home.”

Goading her with an encouraging grin, Lila could only nod, the happiness and relief she was supposed to feel evaded her all together as she followed behind him. “By the way, your hair looks nice when it’s out from that stifling bun you always wear,” Iroh added, wanting to make Lila smile. Appreciative of his efforts, she knew what he was trying to do so she gave a weak quirk of her lips in return. Prince Zuko’s guards and a few other men crowded around the bald teenager and Aang as one of the firebender’s roughly tied the Avatar’s wrists behind his back. Iroh stopped and stood beside his nephew and Lila stood a little bit away from Iroh, uncomfortable with the treatment Aang was receiving. Risking a glance at the kid she was surprised to see him already looking at her, puzzlement darting across his childish features when he saw noticed her red-rimmed eyes. Though at the same time, he held a bit of curiosity too, she didn’t look mean to Aang, and she’s been crying, but his attention was brought back to Prince Zuko when the Prince arrogantly began to mock him.

“This staff will make an excellent gift for my father. I suppose you wouldn’t know of fathers, being raised by monks.”

Seeing as how the Avatar didn’t bite the bate to argue back, Prince Zuko then ordered his guards to take the Avatar to the prison hold before shoving Aang’s staff into Iroh’s hands, telling him to take it to his room. Lila’s breath hitched when the men roughly pushed the kid to start walking below deck, her eye never leaving his kiddish frame, until uncle Iroh interrupted and handed the staff to her asking, “Hey, do you mind taking this to his quarters for me?” Before walking back to his room without waiting for a reply. Lila looked down at the intricately crafted wood in her hands, guilt, which she tried to push away, ate away at her before she looked back up. Once again, her eye caught Aang second’s before he was forced below deck, looking at her with that same expression she couldn’t decipher.

Inside the Prince’s room, her lips were sealed shut this time, she had no words after what transpired today. Prince Zuko was quiet too, only pointing to where he wanted the staff placed. When she turned to leave he stopped her, ordering her to help him untie his armor. Lila was quiet in doing that too as she quickly untied all the straps. Her hands trembled not quite in fear but fading adrenaline as the need to be far away from him bubbled within her being .

“Aang’s life will grant him his honor back and the end of this banishment,” Lila thought, “but at what cost?”

Finished with the task that was ordered, Lila left his room in a hurry and with a heavy heart as she closed the door behind her. Far enough from the Prince, she walked as if she were in a trance, the sound of her pants rubbing together was the only thing she could hear outside of her head. Mind muddled with colliding thoughts of not wanting to be a part of this quest any longer consumed her. She could handle the poor treatment of everyone around her and tolerate a life of banishment, but she didn’t think she could handle seeing the death of a child. Even on the main deck when the brisk wind mussed up her curls she was still in a daze until a body rammed right into her sending Lila tumbling to the ground.

Before she could even let out a groan of pain, a childish voice that failed to sound truly threatening asked, “Where is my glider?”

Her curly head shot up in surprise, the Avatar himself stood over her.

“W-what?” With how hard Aang ran into her, Lila felt disoriented as she tried to process what he said.

“No time to talk! You tell me where my glider is, and I’ll help you escape with me; you seem like a nice lady!”

“But you just told me not to talk-” Lila stammered out before being cut off again.

Aang, whose hands were still bound behind him, awkwardly leaned down and pulled her up so fast all she heard was wind graze her ears as she tried to right herself. Barely holding onto her wits-end Aang was already running at an inhumanly break-neck speed, dragging Lila behind him as he ran back into the tower she just left. If it wasn’t for Aang’s hold on her Lila would’ve never maintained his speed, she would’ve fallen face first by now. On the first floor of the dim command tower, the tattooed boy turned a corner swinging the dumbfounded servant girl with him and skidded to a stop with her slamming into his back. The kid barely even moved. In front of them, stood a hand-full of shipmates that blocked the rest of the hallway. Just like Lila, they too were taken aback at the sudden appearance of the Avatar and their servant girl.

Looking at the Avatar, who was a few inches shorter than her, he seemed just as chipper as he was on the penguin when he asked, “You haven’t seen my staff around, have you?” With her hand still clasped with his, the boy gently squeezed it and whispered, “Jump on my back.”

A little budding sprout of hope sparked in Lila when she realized this boy was serious in helping her escape. So without a moment to waste she wrapped her arms around his chest as Aang hoisted her up, his wrists supporting the underside of her ample thighs and launched forward. Before the men could even move to apprehend them Aang tightened his hold on Lila, whispering a quick, “Hold on,” and ran up the wall of the corridor. Using his momentum and the air around him he sprinted across the top of the roof, down the other side of the metal walls in a corkscrew fashion, and repeated this until he bobbed and weaved each crewmate that stood in their way. All the while Lila shoved her face into Aang’s shoulder, squeezed her legs around his waist, as stifled her screeches when he ran up the walls.

After he blew passed the men with abnormal ease he yelled a “Thanks anyway,” leaving them to look back at the pair with gaping mouths and faces of disbelief. Lila held the same reaction as she too couldn’t believe the abilities this kid possessed, while holding someone too!

“Okay, as much as I think you’re nice, I’m going to need you to help me out here, I have no idea where I’m going.”

The Avatar turned down another corridor and Lila immediately spotted a short cut that’d lead them to one of the floors near the Prince’s room.

“The ladder, right there near the end of the hall,” She whispered.

The young servant girl could feel Aang bend the air around them, manipulating it to propel himself farther into the hallway, and without using any part of his body jumped up the ladder into another corridor on the second floor. This time one of Prince Zuko’s imperial firebenders blocked their path and he was ready for the duo.

A large blast of fire hurtled at the both of them, its burning embers reflecting in their eyes. Stiffening in Aang’s grasp Lila froze, her fear of fire flaring up, but the boy who held her was already two steps ahead of the firebender. Graceful and limber, in one large leap the kid jumped over the stream of fire, dodging its heat, and the bender himself, cutting the distance between them and their exit. Seconds before landing Aang used the sharp edges of the man’s helmet when he jumped to severe the rope binding his wrists. Luckily Lila was still hanging on tight, so she didn’t fall when he repositioned his arms and grasped the back of her knees. But she did scream a little too loudly in his ear, though he decided that was okay, he did just flip across the expanse of the corridor.

Again, Aang didn’t slow down and booked it up a couple of stairways Lila usually used to get to Prince Zuko’s room. Praying that in the cover of confusion and chaos the Avatar was creating for everyone, the Prince wouldn’t be in his room.

“Sorry for scaring you, it was the fastest way to get away from him,” Aang apologized, tip-toeing carefully now that they were on Prince Zuko’s floor. Gingerly, Aang squatted as Lila clumsily clambered off his back.

“It’s okay, we’re close,” She whispered, her insides tingling with nerves. The paranoia of being caught with the Avatar, aiding his escape, had her on edge. Lila knew doing this would put her in a world of trouble with the Prince.

Though she pushed on and led the way down the hall with Aang trailing behind opening and closing every the door he passed. Every squeak the doors made didn’t help in calming her down, scared the noise would give away their location.

“You know,” Aang started his voice a tad bit too loud making Lila jump. He gave her a sheepish smile when she turned quietly telling him to lower his voice in case anyone was nearby.

“Sorry,” he quipped back, “but this isn’t a trap right? A plan to capture me all over again?” Grey eyes narrowing in slight suspicion. To Aang, she didn’t look or act nearly as menacing as the other people on this ship, and now that he was walking beside her...yeah not evil; but he couldn’t be sure.

Answering right away Lila softly began, “No, I’m only a servant on this ship. If this were a trap I’m sure you’d be able to escape on your own easily.”

A boyish giggle sounded from behind her, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Why are you helping me though?”

The boy’s naivety and innocence unconsciously cracked a smile from Lila, “Well you didn’t give me much of a choice, considering you dragged me along,” to which Aang nodded in thoughful agreement, “but honestly, I don’t think I could live with being involved in the capture of a twelve-year-old looking kid.”

“Yup, I was right! You aren’t like the rest of the people here,” Aang happily declared before asking, “why are you here though?” as he haphazardly yanked open another door. However, this door he opened was Iroh’s, and Lila tensely held her breath. Painstakingly slow, Aang closed the door whispering out a prolonged sorry before dashing ahead of Lila, right past the open door of Prince Zuko’s room.

Wait, opened door? No, she was sure she closed the door behind her when she left his room- No.

“Aang wait! The Prince-” The boy didn’t hear her, too busy backtracking toward the room he shot past. Which was the room that held-

“My staff!”

The metal door slammed closed with a loud band immediately after Aang rushed in, his naivety striking again. Soon enough Lila could heard the commotion of fighting. The roaring sounds of Prince Zuko’s fire blasts along with Aang’s airbending could be heard loud clear from where she was standing. Rushing to the door Lila goes to open it, forgetting her injured hand, but retracts just as quickly and cries out a pained yelp when she grabbed the hot cogwheel. Prince Zuko’s fire was heating up everything in his room as he fought, including the metal door. Cradling the finger with her cloth tied around it Lila called out, “Aang are you okay?”

Inside the room, Zuko’s eyes widen at the sound of the feminine voice then narrow into angry slits once he recognized it was his servant girl, “Why that traitorous little-”

“I’m okay!” Aang yelled back, effortlessly evading another one of Prince Zuko’s attacks.

Helplessly Lila looked around the corridor, it felt like her heart was going to burst if Aang didn’t hurry up. Like an answered prayer, not too long after, the door swung open as Aang grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the room down the hallway. Lila could hear Aang pant slightly. He looked sweaty and his hand felt clammy, but he still managed to successfully get his staff which was clenched in his other hand.

“Quick, Lila,” he heaved, “where do I go now?” Stuttering, the girl struggled to recall the ship’s design for a moment; she was sure Prince Zuko was going to chase them soon and knowing that prevented her from thinking clearly.

Forcefully pushing herself, it hit her, “Up ahead there’s another ladder with a hatch above it, like the one we jumped through on the first floor! This one here is usually closed but it leads to the bridge of the ship,” Lila rushed out in one breath, panting as they ran.

Aang looked back at her in confusion and she realized he didn’t know what a bridge was so she clarified, “It’s the room where the helmsman, or the captain, steers the ship. We can get out through the observation deck there.”

Nodding his head, Aang picks up the pace once they neared the ladder at the end of the corridor. Thinking it’d be easier to climb with Lila on his back he skids to a stop in front of her and crouches down right as Lila stumbles into him.

He steadies her hastily, making sure she has her arms and legs wrapped around him as he climbs up the ladder, preparing his glider for their escape. Once he reached the top Lila grabs the cogwheel of the hatch above them. Her arms strained at first, but once she felt the metal slack and turn she twisted it as fast as she could. When they heard the hatch unlock Aang sent a blast of air pushing it open then quickly airbended them up from the last ladder step and into the bride.

“Straight ahead,” Lila directed.

Without stopping Aang runs through the room, ignoring the helmsman, toward the balcony of the observation deck. Both Lila and Aang smile once they felt the southern air greet them, Lila had never been happier to feel the cold than right now. Freedom was at their fingertips. Swiftly like a fire ferret, Aang opens the glider and throws it over the balcony catching the air current as he jumps right after it with Lila on his back. The girl would’ve closed her eyes and screamed when Aang launched himself over the railing, had she not seen the open air.

Although time didn’t stop, she still feasted upon the sight that laid before her; committing everything she saw to memory. From the height that Aang jumped from, Lila could see the icy blue expanse of the southern pole around her. The gradually darkening sky, the sun that was holding onto the horizon with its fingertips, the same one that was begging to be admired earlier. The blue and white glacier walls surrounding them, and the waters below. It was beautiful, Aang kept his word and helped her taste the sweet flavor of freedom, and Lila wanted to see more.

Just when Aang grabbed the glider a sudden fierce shout of desperation broke Lila from her reverie as a weight closed around Aang’s ankle, pulling them down. Looking back she saw the Prince holding onto Aang glaring at the both of them. The Avatar grunted, trying with all his might to keep them afloat but the combined weight of the three proved to be too much of a strain on the glider as they all fell from mid-air. Lila gasped her scream stuck in her throat, butterflies erupted from her stomach and her heart dropped from free falling, though her eye remained on the view above her.

The trio hit the deck hard tumbling over each other. Aang for sure bruised his bottom and his tailbone. Prince Zuko hurt his stomach. The side of Lila’s face and shoulder slammed into the floor. Pain bursting through the seams. The three of them groaned laying still for a moment. Though when they fell Prince Zuko ended up breaking Lila’s fall without realizing it, because she ended up sprawled atop his back. She could feel the blood rushing to the side of her face, her temple down to her chin was hot to the touch.

Lila had no time to gather herself the pain too great to ignore. For Prince Zuko he was already on his knees growling, inadvertently rolling Lila off of him, barely registering that she was even on him as he rose to his feet. Too fueled with determination and anger in getting Aang back in his clutches. Zuko promised to himself a long time ago that he would not lose his shot at going home. Aang was already on his feet taking a defensive stand with Zuko utilizing an offensive one.

Grabbing onto her shoulder the young girl wobbles to her feet and sways for a second as a wave of nausea hits her. Lila did her best to ignore the pain, which she was losing that battle, groaning to herself. Sparing a glance at her Aang silently asks if she’s okay to which she discreetly nods her head yes. With Zuko and Aang about to square off for round two, Lila closed her eyes, her blind one aching from the fall, attempting to concentrate on calling the water beneath them.

Once again she couldn’t feel anything, the nerves and adrenaline from all that’s happened blocking her, until she hears a loud growling in the distance,

“What is that?” Zuko exclaims, his mouth parting in disbelief.

Looking over his shoulder behind him, Aang sees, “Appa!”

All three of them look up to the sky to see a huge six-legged sky bison soaring through the air. Lila hears that same girl from the village calling out to the Avatar along with the boy that fought the Prince. Relief fills Lila knowing that aid has come. Aang quickly turns back to Zuko who shot a fireball and utilizes his glider and the air to dispels his attack. Though Aang didn’t expect the ferocity of the Prince’s fire, pushing him into the side of the ship, almost knocking him overboard. Frustration wells up in Lila, fear tickling her spine and holding her feet down, forcing her to watch Aang fend off the Prince. Lila gasped when a stream of fire knocked the staff from Aang. Even while dodging and avoiding Prince Zuko’s moves, he was unavoidably pushed to perch on the edge of the ship’s railing, arms flailing to keep from falling. Breaking the paralysis on her body, Lila yells, “Aang!” Stretches her hand out and runs toward the kid after the Prince fires three more shots from his hands and feet. Trying to call on the water below but to no avail, she, unfortunately, doesn’t reach the kid in time. The fireballs knock Aang off-balance finally pushing him overboard seconds before Lila reaches the railing.

She lets out an ear-shattering, “No!” In anguish, having been forced to see the young Avatar plummet into the water and disappear beneath its liquidy surface. At the same time, the girl from the water tribe hysterically screams, “Aang! No!” The sky bison named Appa coming closer to the ship.

At that moment, with Lila desperately searching the waters over the side of the ship, her lack of sight frustrating her along with her bending not coming to her; Zuko rounds on her. Fury raining on his visage at her mutinous betrayal. He should’ve seen it coming the second she started asking him what he was going to do! With everyone distracted, the water tribe girl on the bison screaming for the Avatar and his servant looking over the railing, he makes up his mind .

Suddenly, before Lila’s eye, the water begins to ripple and lap at the side of the ship, a vortex swirling in the middle of the sea. Just then as the swirling began to intensify, out of the whirlpool, Aang shoots up from the depths of the ocean, bending the water up encasing his body from the waist down. Suspended in the air higher than the command tower, Lila, Zuko, and his crewmates that filed onto the deck looked up in wonder – on Lila’s part – and fear.

With Aang at the center of this enormously tall waterspout, Lila breathes “Amazing,” taking in his glowing eyes and arrow tattoos, it was just like the beam of light they saw from before! “He truly is the Avatar”.

Then Aang shots down from the sky, landing on the ship deck, still glowing, and bends the water into a circle. Barricading him from everyone that surrounded him with Lila unintentionally being a part of that ‘everyone’. With him in the center of it, he then releases the watery circle barricade and expands it outward blasting Prince Zuko and his men away from him. The majority of them went flying off the ship but Prince Zuko manages to save himself from the fall by grabbing the chain of the ship's anchor. Lila was whipped into the wall of the command tower, pain exploding through her already injured shoulder, and now her back. Falling to her stomach, the girl groans, every movement she made hurt. Unconsciousness batted at her body, her ears ringing, the voices around her sounded muddled, like her head was behind held underwater. As her body began to shut down against her will, she tried fighting the feeling when she saw the furry beast, Appa, land on deck, the two water tribe kids jump off the bison. Once she saw them lift the weary twelve-year-old, knowing he was safe now, Lila mentally waved her white flag and gave into the darkness.

However, Aang notices Lila’s limp body, remembering the promise he made with her.

“Katara we have to get that girl!” Pulling from her hold, wobbling a little, he runs toward Lila with Katara following behind. Sliding on his knees to close the space between him and the fallen girl, as gently as he could Aang tugs her onto her back and gasps. The whole right side of her face was bruising up and her body jerked when he touched her shoulder.

With a small groan, Lila weakly opens her eyes, the water tribe girl and Aang leaning over her. She sees the girl, Katara she recalls, recoil at the pale color of her right eye as Aang worriedly calls her attention.

“Hey, I’m so sorry for knocking you out but I need you to get up, we have to go!”

“N-No,” Lila whimpers, “there’s no time. You and your friends need to get out of here before it’s too late.”

“Stop! Don’t say that, I promised I’d help you escape if you helped me. You held your end of the bargain now let me pay mine.”

Lila lets a laugh gurgle from her throat, repeating what she told him earlier, “Again, you didn’t give me much of a choice, but thank you, Aang.” A sharp pain travels along her shoulder making the girl bit back a groan before adding, “You let me experience what freedom looks like.”

“I can carry you,” Katara offered, but once more Lila shakes her head no.

“No time, take Aang and leave.”

The said boy opened his mouth to argue again but Lila stopped him with a smile. As pained and banged up as she looked, Aang saw the sincerity in her face. She nodded at him mouthing the word, “go,” before nodding off into the land of darkness again. With a heavy heart, Aang shuts his eyes before he turns and holds Katara's hand as they race back to Appa, clambering onto the saddle on the beast’s back.

After the Avatar and his friends fly away Iroh emerges from the tower, his eyes ladled with sleep. Despite just waking up, Iroh knows he didn’t just imagine a sky bison flying overhead and looks up in confusion until he notices Lila unconscious on the floor and his nephew struggling to pull himself back onto the ship. Rushing to Prince Zuko’s aid, he pulls the boy up who was growling and snarling in anger,

“Shoot them down!” The prince barks, rushing to the middle of the deck in unison with uncle Iroh, the both of them launching a massive bolt of fire at the Avatar and his companions. Katara and her brother look back in horror at the encroaching fire until Aang jumps from his spot on Appa’s head to the back of the saddle, and with his staff, the boy musters up the energy surrounding him and swings the staff with all his might. Aang airbends a gale of wind so strong it sent the fireball, made from the combined powers of Prince Zuko and Iroh, right into a nearby ice wall cliff. The Prince’s plan backfires immediately as a huge amount of snow from the cliff falls like an avalanche onto their ship. Aang, Katara, and Sokka laughing in triumph at their clever escape.

Ice was everywhere, it covered the expanse of the fore-deck and half of the mid-deck, the Prince knew that they’d for sure his ship was heavily damaged and needed to go to the nearest harbor for ship reparations. A growl bubbling from his lips.

“Good news for the Fire Lord,” Iroh quipped light-heartedly, “The nation’s greatest threat is just a little kid.”

“That kid, Uncle, just did this,” snapped his nephew. Motioning to the snow buried ship before turning toward Iroh. “I won’t underestimate him again. Dig this ship out and follow them!” Prince Zuko ordered but stopped when he saw half his men were incapacitated by frozen water, the remaining shipmates melting the ice with their firebending. “That water tribe girl,” he concluded.

Speaking of girl, the Prince sees his traitorous servant lying motionless in a heap of red clothes by the tower wall. Anger floods his veins as he stalks over to her, Iroh warily following after his nephew. Towering over her, Prince Zuko raises his heel and rouses her with his boot, roughly shaking her injured shoulder. Iroh was about to grab his nephew and demand what he was doing to his friend until they heard Lila whimper. Before she could even open her eyes the Prince was already grabbing her shirt and pulling her up by her sleeves.

“You are in a world of trouble!” He spits.

Now fully alarmed Iroh demands, “What could she have possibly done? Let her go!”

Wave upon wave of nausea beats against Lila, the black dots slowly disappearing as she weakly lifts her head. Rage-filled eyes glare down into her, she didn’t need to be reminded of what she chose to do, everything was fresh in her mind.

Prince Zuko sneers down at the quivering girl, the mere sight of her and what she did brought him to an even higher level of vexation.

“Wouldn’t you like to know Uncle? This servant has truly lost sight of where she belongs and thought it’d be funny to try and help the Avatar escape.” He venomously spits before calling two of his men, one of them being Lieutenant Jee. Coming up on either side of the girl, the Prince shoves her into their arms, a gasp tearing from her lips at his rough handling.

“Take her to one of the holding cells!” He orders. Iroh’s lips part in stunned silence, but even he knew he couldn’t change his nephew's mind.

Lila looks at the Prince in surprise although she knew she shouldn’t be, she knew the consequences she’d face the second she decided to help the Avatar. Her betrayal would lead to her punishment, but she knew she couldn’t let the fire nation get a hold of the Avatar. Her heels dug into the floor when the men began pulling her away, her arms trying to jerk out of the men’s hold in a feeble attempt to get away. However, the Prince suddenly ordered them to stop.

Slowly and meticulously Lila listens to Prince Zuko’s footsteps as he rounds on her. With him so close her chest involuntarily begins to heave when he breaks through her personal space, leaning in close to her face. He takes a moment to examine her. The tremor of her hands, the panting of her breath, the rapid rise and fall of her chest. Last but not least the shiftiness of her eye, her blind one closed, as she struggles to hold his stare. “Defense mechanism,” he thought.

“Funny,” he begins, “when you were looking for the Avatar in the water I was wondering if I should punish you or not. Even back in my quarters, when you spoke without permission, I was considering it. You were doing so well, staying off my bad side. A model servant, probably the best I’ve ever seen. You even managed to befriend my Uncle. Then you go and stab me and all of my men, your crew mates in the back. Even my Uncle,” Lila’s nervous gaze was about to shift to Iroh but Prince Zuko blocked her as he circled in front of her like a sea lion. “Ah ah ah. Don’t look at him.” His voice was uncharacteristically silky and velvety. Her eye following his every move, apprehension visible in her demeanor. Lila had no idea what he was going to do, she let out a shaky breath, the crisp air fogging up, and Prince Zuko heard it, “You were so bold when helping the Avatar, what happened?”

Then his knowing stare flickered to the cloth tied around her pointer finger and back to her eye before he pulled the cloth free and held it mockingly up to her face before hissing, “Try covering your eye now.”

Finito. I quickly double checked it, I’m gonna go back and edit this more later on. BUt I hope it was entertaining~~ Be blessed.

Taglist (If i missed anyone of if you want to be tagged let me know:))

@bangtanboyswriting123 @agentsofblinks @lilmou5ie @eury-dice3 @shephard17895 @duh-dobrik @yourlivewire @luleck @oraclebirds @eridanuswave @bucky-blogs

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thorne93 · 5 years ago

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Inside the Criminal Mind (Part 20)

Prompt: You’re married to Dr. Spencer Reid of the BAU, and are a distinguished doctor yourself on the team. You’re sent down to Miami, Florida for teaching and as a side request from the FBI, to investigate a string of missing persons. When you think you’ve figured out who the unsub is, your life becomes more complicated than you ever could’ve imagined.

Word Count: 2430

Warnings: (throughout the fic –>) death, blood, gore, killings, language, disturbing mental notions, mentions of rapes/murder/etc (You know, Dexter and Criminal Minds related business)

Notes: Thank you so much to @arrow-guy, @carryonmyswansong, and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo - without each of you, I couldn’t have finished, written, or properly navigated this story. Each of you helped me fish out details that were incredibly important to me. Beta’d by @carryonmyswansong and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo… Aesthetic by @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo

This is a crossover of Criminal Minds x Dexter. First time writing Dexter.

Also, the timeline is after Season 1 of Dexter, but during season 14-ish of Criminal minds into Season 15. Enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you got up the next morning, you felt like a truck had hit you. You slept maybe thirty minutes, if that. The anxiety settled on you heavily. Your marriage, career, and freedom were on the line.

The worst part was you knew if you lost one of them, you’d lose them all. Everything that had transpired between you two lately seemed so insignificant at that thought. Yes, you were the one doing the killing, being the accomplice, but suddenly, the problem with JJ felt miniscule. When Spence was kidnapped and you weren’t sure you’d ever see him again, you still wondered how he felt about her, how you two had a future together.

Yet, now… now you were terrified you’d pushed him into her arms. Between keeping your distance physically and emotionally, and literally admitting to being a serial killer, you weren’t sure there was much hope for your marriage.

How did it all go so wrong, so fast? Six months ago, you two were the picture of a happy, perfect marriage.

Now you’d spend the next two weeks looking over your shoulder, wondering when and if your husband would show up with the handcuffs -- and not for pleasure this time.

You only had to teach ten classes - two a day each day this week. Then next week, you would be giving out finals. This was your late afternoon Monday class, and you were just getting started.

“Alright everyone. Hope you had a great weekend,” you said with a cheery smile, thinking about how you had a horrendous weekend. “Today, we’re going to be talking about resolving the case. You’ve found the killer, now you’re at trial. We’re going to talk about everything that could go right, or wrong, and how a forensic psychologist might be able to help with this.”

Just then, the door towards the back of the room opened and you saw a very familiar face. It was Rossi.

Your gut dropped. Oh no, did Spence tell the team to just go ahead and come arrest you?

But his face said otherwise. There was no disappointment or grimness, or hesitation. No, actually, he had a shiteating grin on his face.

“Well, look who it is everyone. This is my very esteemed boss, David Rossi,” you announced as he made his way to the front of the lecture hall. “Are you here to ream me on my teaching?” you teased.

“Even better, I plan to sit in on it and correct you when need be,” he stated cheerfully before slightly turning to your students who laughed.

“It’s always a pleasure.”

He smiled at you before pulling a spare chair up to sit somewhat behind you in the corner as you taught and went through your powerpoint. You were only on your second slide when he interjected. You’d just asked the class, “What does it mean if a defendant wants to plead NGRI.”

A boy who usually spoke up in your class, raising his hand. “It means not guilty by reason of insanity.”

“Right, and what happens when they plead that?”

“They get cut slack and the jury sees them as insane. Then instead of going to prison, they go to a mental institute for a shorter amount of time,” the student explained.

“Actually,” Rossi started before standing up, “that’s not usually the case. An NGRI is only successful 1% of the time, and when it is, the defendant has to usually stay in a facility for a lot longer than the prison sentence would’ve been and they have to prove themselves capable to a doctor.”

At this point he was pacing and you couldn’t help but grin fondly as you gave him the floor.

“This actually reminds me of a case I word back in the late 80’s,” he continued. With that, he took off down memory lane. It was one epic story after another. Some included you, some were decades before you, but all of them had the kids on the edge of their seats, soaking up every one of his words. After each anecdote, the kids had questions.

Before you knew it, class was over. Rossi sort of touched on the points you wanted to, but mainly it turned into a lot of his exciting tales of being in the field. Which was ultimately fine. You’d just post the lecture notes online for the kids tonight.

When the kids left the lecture hall, you gathered your things and turned to Rossi as you exited the room.

“So what brings you down, other than crashing my lecture?”

“That was it. Hadn’t seen or heard from you in a while, thought I would come visit the ole sunshine state,” he informed. “How’s it going down here? I hope I didn’t step all over your class.”

You shrugged. “Oh, it’s fine. You talking about the glory days is a lot better than me droning on about court cases.” You laughed slightly.

“So you sad to leave it? I know your classes are almost up.”

“No, not really. Teaching is fun, but I miss field work. Actually catching criminals, instead of teaching how to catch them.”

“I think your husband might say the opposite.”

At the mention of Spence your heart hammered and went icy.

“Spence would probably say that because he doesn’t like the fact that we do have to do our jobs.”

“This is true.”

“Hey, you wanna grab dinner? You flew all the way down.”

“I’d love to, kid,” he agreed, taking you up on your offer.

“Awesome. I know a great seafood joint nearby. I know you might prefer italian but maybe a change of pace would be nice.”

“Just point the way,” he said, gesturing forward. You smiled and led him to your car where you two piled in and drove about five minutes away to a nice restaurant. You got in, ordered your drinks, and settled in.

“So you ready to be back in the field?” he asked with a grin.

“Yeah, I think I am. Every time Spence calls and mentions a case I’m profiling immediately,” you stated with a slight laugh, trying to hide how you felt like you were dying inside. Your stomach was a war of anxiety, dread, depression, and a tiny flicker of hope.

“Yeah, he tells us,” he remarked. “So your time as a professor down here is ending. What’d you think? Would you want to keep it up back up at Quantico?”

“You offering me a job?” you teased.

He shrugged, raising his eyebrows. “The academy is always looking for teachers. But I’m curious. I know Reid loves teaching, didn’t know if that extended to you now.”

“Well, if it was back in DC and it didn’t take me too far away from the BAU and Spence, yeah I’d probably be up for it.”

“See? You were nervous for nothing.”

You chuckled. “Hey, I’d never done this before!”

“Talking to a crowd of people is a lot easier, and safer, than talking to one unsub.”

“I’ll drink to that,” you said as soon as the drinks hit the table.

“Are you going to miss all this sunshine?”

You peered around the restaurant, as if you were actually gauging it. That’s when the question hit you -- if, by some miracle, Spence didn’t turn you in, you would be leaving behind Dexter. Your truest friend. You’d miss him dearly. He was unusual, yes, for an FBI agent, but he was also… very real. You could joke, be yourself, not be judged around him. He wouldn’t take what you said too seriously or get offended. He found your dark humor delightful. You hoped that he found a friend in you too.

Yes, despite everything, you’d miss Dexter, the one person who truly knew every part about you.

“I’ll miss some things about the state. Yeah,” you admitted with a fond smile.

“Well you can always visit,” he reminded as he raised his glass.

The two of you talked, caught up like old friends. Shop talk was little, and you discussed life with Spence, kids, the marriage. You pretended he didn’t know you were a serial killer and you weren’t on edge, wondering if you were going to prison any second. Rossi didn’t know about JJ, or if he did, he didn’t say one word and you didn’t feel like airing your dirty laundry. So you left the topic alone.

Other than that, it was a great dinner with a friend. He said he and Krystal were on their way to a little resort for a few days. She was sightseeing in Miami while Rossi visited you. As soon as he was done with the restaurant, he was going to meet her at the resort.

Unfortunately for you, your distraction was gone now, and you were back to being consumed with anxiety. Seeing Dexter didn’t help either, or at least, you didn’t think it would.

-------------------------------------

The next day, around 4:30 pm, you got a text from Dexter asking if you’d want to grab dinner. You agreed.

The two of you met at a little outdoor restaurant. It was a beautiful night. Very warm, but a cozy kind of warm, not a strangling type. The ocean breeze was doing an excellent job at calming your nerves.

You were daydreaming, wondering when or if you’d ever see or feel anything this beautiful again when Dexter took a seat right in front of you.

“Hey,” he greeted, a slight smile on his face.

“Hi,” you softly said. Not one little part of you was mad at him. Maybe some part of you should’ve been, but how could you be? You were the authority in this relationship. You could’ve locked Dex up a long time ago, not looked back, and been a local and FBI hero. But no, your personal vendetta and vices got in the way and you gave into a darkness inside you that you never knew you had. Not until you met Dexter and knew what a good vigilante looked like.

“How’s...uh, how’s everything going?”

“As good as can be expected,” you truthfully stated, frowning a bit. “Listen I’m so sorry I--”

He held up his hand. “Nope. No. You don’t have to apologize. I knew that there was a risk in teaching you. I knew that one day your coworkers might figure it out. I was sort of hoping they’d only take you down though,” he stated with a grin that made you laugh. “But seriously… I knew the risks. I could’ve said no. Like I said, if this is how I go out, then your husband is a worthy opponent.”

A sorrowful smile touched your face for the briefest of seconds.

“So you’re not mad?”

“Mad? Y/N, I’m the killer. I know the dangers I face every time I take someone out. That was happening long before you were in the picture.”

“Yeah but having an FBI agent for a partner must not be ideal.”

“On the contrary, there might be hope. Do you really think he is going to turn you in? Turn us in?”

You heaved a large sigh. That’s all you’d thought about since the words came out of your mouth and you were still no closer to an answer.

“I honestly don’t know. The fact that it’s been a few days and we haven’t been arrested is a good sign. But, Spencer is practical too, he may be waiting until I get home to sort out details of the marriage, the home, and everything else before asking me to give myself up.”

He nodded. “I don’t know him as well as you, so I can’t say anything on that. But we should take it as some form of hope that there aren’t feds at our door.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

He eyed you up and down, seeing as you were clearly miserable.

“Hey, well, worst case, he does… Don’t spend your last days of freedom sulking. Spend them doing what you want. Go take a tour, go see a museum, go… do whatever it is you do to relax. Speaking of, do you ever relax?”

A half smile perked up on your face. “Yes, Morgan, I do relax.”

“Oh, ‘Morgan’, did I hit a nerve, Agent?”

You shook your head and laughed, sticking your tongue out.

“Hey, Dexter…” you started, your eyes down at your fingers that were playing with each other. “I want you to know that you’re a really good friend. If it wasn’t for you when Spence got kidnapped… I would’ve been a mess. I would’ve gone off on JJ. Hell, I’d be a lot of things.” You took a deep breath. “But not just that. Spence, he knows me inside and out. He even knows about my… secret now, but you… Well you saw all of me and didn’t judge me. I mean, you know I’m an agent and you didn’t give me a lecture.”

“That’d be a bit of a double standard, don’t you think?”

You shrugged. “Maybe, but you could’ve, and you didn’t. I appreciate that. Even when we weren’t… teaching, I liked just hanging out with you. It was nice to have a friend that wasn’t so by the book. I mean, the BAU is great, and we’re a family, but I can’t be my morbid self with them. They just don’t share my ideals and if I said half the shit I did to them that I did to you, they would be so offended that I’d be sent off for a psych eval faster than you could say ‘unsub.’”

He slightly grinned. “Yeah, I liked our time too. It was nice to be myself too. Harry… he did his best but I could tell he didn’t accept me, not all the way. With Deb… shit, with Deb, she barely knows me. Rita sees a little bit more. She can tell when I’m upset, or agitated but… yeah it’s nice to have a real friendship. I’m going to miss this.”

“Yeah… me too.”

“Thanks… for looking behind the mask and not being afraid.”

“Thanks for letting me look behind the mask,” you countered, raising your beer, clinking it with his.

The rest of the evening was spent just talking. Not about kills or teaching. Not about prison. Just about your accomplishments, why they meant so much to you, what you’d seen, what you loved about Spencer.

But something had clicked with you. Dexter said something and it resonated deep inside you. So you set the plan in motion when you got home that night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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#inside the criminal mind #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fic #spencer reid #dexter #dexter morgan #dexter fic

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jamesbucksiclebarnes · 5 years ago

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Rating: Mature

Chapter List: [1] | [2] | [3] | [4] | [5] | [6] | [7] | [8] | [9] | [10] | [11] | [12]

[AO3 Link] | [Fic Page]

Tag List: @crossbowking

SERIES SUMMARY:

"Not human. She was not human. They all knew it. Could almost feel it, but couldn't make sense of it. That was why they were afraid. Not because of what she used to be Before. But because of what she was now."

Having found herself serving as the right-hand to the Governor for too long, Synnove le Jacques does her best to make things right with the people of the Prison. Stuck beside her partner in crime, her irritatingly obnoxious and hideously problematic best friend, Merle, she does her best to fight back against the monster she has let the Governor become.

CHAPTER TITLE: To Love the Unlovable.

By the time I’d come back inside, Merle had destroyed the entire collection of mattresses on the first floor. He’d made it partway through the second floor, too, though someone had stopped him before he could ruin them all. I didn’t doubt Rick had likely found him, rummaging through the thin foam within the stained mattress cover for whatever source of substance he could use to take a brain-vacation. Whatever had transpired between them, Merle was no longer in the cellblock. Rick looked troubled, sitting upon one of the metal tables with Hershel, staring blankly out toward the upper window. I wondered if he were rethinking his decision.

Probably not.

When I walked past him, his gaze flicked to me and the creased in his forehead smoothed out. I met his gaze evenly as I passed, giving him a slight nod before walking past him into the corridor of cells. He could take whatever he wanted from that exchange. I didn’t care. It wasn’t as if I had accepted the likelihood I would be back with the Governor before nightfall. I didn’t. In fact, the thought of it made me almost physically ill. But I wouldn’t put these people at risk for my own sense of comfort. Not like I had for so many others beneath Philip’s reign.

Searching for Merle became more of a chore than I’d been prepared for. I passed Carol in the cellblock corridor. She gave me a pensive look, stopping mid-step and opening her mouth as if to say something before snapping it shut, having thought twice about whatever it was she’d been about to voice.

“You seen Merle?” I asked her. It was the first thing I’d ever said to her directly. She looked slightly troubled by the question.

“Yes,” Carol answered. “He’s down there.” She thrust a thumb in the direction she’d been walking from, thin lips pursed into a frown. “I don’t know how you put up with him.”

“I don’t,” I responded with a snorted chuckle. “He’s a lot easier to deal with when he knows you won’t take his shit.”

She gave a non-comital hum, watching me as I walked past her, toward where she had gestured.

“For the record,” I called over my shoulder. “Don’t hold back when it comes to him. He’ll see right through you, anyway.”

She didn’t respond, but I knew she’d understood what I’d meant. I didn’t need to look behind me to know she was watching me walk away.

The sound of Merle’s voice is what lead me to him, down the series of steps and into one of the machine rooms beneath the cellblock. He wasn’t alone when I arrived, standing silently enough that neither of the Dixon brothers within the room noticed me at first.

“He ain’t got the stomach for it,” Merle was saying plainly, seemingly amused. “He’s gonna buckle. You know that, right?”

Daryl nodded, slight though it was, to indicate his agreement. “If he does, he does.”

“You want him to?” Merle asked. He spotted me, then, standing at the bottom of the staircase, though made no mention of my presence to his little brother, who had his back to me.

I could see how tense his shoulders were and guessed he was likely quite uncomfortable with this conversation. As if he were toeing some kind of line even he was unsure of. As if he were still undecided upon whether his need for his brother’s approval outweighed the place he’d found and the man he had become without him.

After a moment, Daryl responded with a shrug. “Whatever he says goes.”

Merle coughed out a harsh, humourless laugh. “Man. Jacques, you wanna come in here and find out if my little brothers still got a set of balls? I mean, are they even attached anymore – and if they are, do they even belong to you?”

Daryl jerked his head to the side, looking at me over his shoulder. He barely kept his eyes on me for more than a millisecond before turning away, cheeks red.

Merle snorted again. “You used to call people like that sheep. What happened to you?”

“What happened with you and Glenn and Maggie?” Daryl snapped back.

I felt my own shoulders tense at that question, jaw clenching as the memory played itself back over and over again in my mind. Merle’s eyes turned to me as he chewed his lip.

Daryl stepped sideways, blocking off his older brother’s line of sight to me. “I ain’t askin’ her, I’m askin’ you.”

“I’ve done worse,” Merle answered.

I cringed.

“You need to grow up,” Daryl spat, his voice harsh and low. “Things are different now.”

At that, Merle snorted, taking a step to the side in order to gesture at me around his brother’s form. “Grabbing up those little love birds weren’t just me, little brother. She’s just as guilty as I am but ain’t none of you looking at her like she’s the damn devil.”

That was because they didn’t know better. Merle, they’d had a series of bad experiences with. Me? I was just some girl that had come to her senses and was trying to do right by them. They knew too little about me to look at me the way some back at Woodbury did. And I hoped it remained that way.

“What’s that about, huh? Do I gotta get myself a nice set of tits and a tight ass before I get any respect?”

I reached out to the open toolbox sitting atop the shelf in the wall to my left, grabbed a loose screw, and threw it at him over Daryl’s shoulder. The metal struck him in the forehead, and he stumbled back a step, lifting his hands to his face with a curse.

“God damn it, woman!” he yelled.

“Watch your mouth, asshole,” I growled.

He looked at me through the gaps in his fingers, glaring. I just looked evenly back at him, brow raised, daring him to say something else.

Daryl glanced over at me, silently watching, waiting to see which one of us broke first.

It was, unsurprisingly, Merle. He looked away, dropping his hands with a grumbled huff. “Ya’ll are just doin’ the same damn thing we did, anyway,” he stated, looking back to his brother. “Snatchin’ someone up and delivering them to the Governor.”

Ah. So, he didn’t know. Rick hadn’t told him the whole story. I wasn’t surprised, of course. Daryl had made the point quite obvious that Merle wouldn’t go along with the plan if he knew I was at risk, too. I could tell he was concerned that I was about to tell him. The way Daryl partially turned his head to look at me out of the corner of his eye, the hair hanging over his forehead obscuring the look from his brother’s view, told me as much.

I didn’t say anything. There was too much of a likelihood that Merle would lose his shit if he knew, and none of us here, in this room, needed that.

“It’s different,” I said softly after a moment of silence. “Rick thinks it’s the only way. That we can’t win this fight.”

“And he’d be damn right,” Merle answered. “If we didn’t have you.”

I gave him a pointed look, warning him to watch his wording. He knew I didn’t intend on informing these people that I used to literally murder people for a living. We both had the same inkling none of them would take that knowledge too well.

“Don’t give me that fucking look, woman,” Merle hissed. “I’m right and you know it. Why the hell am I going? What we should be doin’ is sending you. Get you nice and close to him so you can do your thing.”

Daryl turned to the side in order to look between me and his brother, one thin brow slightly raised.

“You tell Rick that strategy?” I asked tensely.

Merle scoffed and tossed his metal hand out in a wild gesture. “You think I’m stupid?”

“That a trick question?”

“Shut up,” he growled. “I’m just sayin’. Why bother sending him Michonne, like it’ll make some kind of difference? We all know he ain’t gonna stop just ‘cause we asked nicely.” Merle looked to his brother, pursing his lips and shaking his head. “Maybe you and your friends need people like me and Jacques around, huh?” he mused. “Do their dirty work for ‘em. Be the bad guys. How’s that hit you?”

Daryl just looked back at him, a miserable look in his eye as he watched the man he called brother standing before him, prepared to be the villain everyone already saw him as. After a moment, the younger Dixon let out a sigh and said, in a soft voice that almost tore my heart from my chest, “I just want my brother back.”

I felt my expression soften and my throat tighten a little. When my gaze slid across to Merle, I forced myself to take a deep breath. His expression was almost as miserable as Daryl’s, though I could see the moment he shut himself off, put up that wall between his mysterious inner workings and his outside persona.

“Damn it, man. Get out of here.”

He waved his brother off, turning away from him and continuing with his mission to rummage through the entire prison block, looking for crystal.

Daryl stood there for a moment, watching his brother’s back with a sad frown before he realised, I was watching him. Once his eyes locked onto mine, he straightened his slouched shoulders and took a deep breath, wiping the sorrowful expression from his face.

Without another word, he turned away and climbed back up those stairs, every step weighted by the world atop his shoulders.

I watched him go silently, my own mirrored sadness beginning to boil, simmering until it had morphed into anger. Once I was sure the younger Dixon was out of range, I whirled on Merle. He had straightened, having also watched his brother leave, and caught sight of my hardened expression. The way his eyes widened would have made me laugh under any other circumstance. He turned instantly, making a run to hide behind one of the machines in the centre of the room. I chased after him, just missing getting a grip on his shirt by a centimetre.

“Get back here!” I yelled, following him through the gap between the machines.

He ducked behind another one just before I could reach him. “No! You’re gonna hit me!”

“Damn right I’m gonna hit you!”

We continued this stupid dance for another minute, while Merle tried to multitask between running from me and trying to explain himself.

“It ain’t like I’m gonna change!” he called from behind the green mechanical monstrosity to my left. “No point givin’ him hope!”

“You can say that without being a dick about it!” I called. “And stop bringing me into it!”

He poked his head out from behind the machine. “I wouldn’t have to if you’d just do what you damn do!”

“I’m not going after him on my own,” I snapped, leaping forward and trying to get a hold onto the sparse hairs on his head.

He ducked back behind the machine before I could, running around to the other side of it as I chased behind him. “Why the hell not?”

“Because Rick –“ I paused mid-step. “Because Rick hasn’t asked me to.”

“You’re kiddin’ me,” Merle groaned, stepping out from the machines. “You’re just jumpin’ from one damn master to another.”

“Fuck off,” I hissed. “It’s more than that and you know it.”

“You don’t want Officer Friendly finding out your dirty little secret, that it?” Merle asked patronizingly.

“Mostly, yeah,” I admitted, though my tone was harsh. “What the hell does it matter, anyway? You know Woodbury will suspect me if he’s killed like that. How would that help us, huh? Do you think Martinez would look the other way because it’s me? Or do you think that’ll spur him into taking vengeance into his own damn hands?”

Merle let out a long breath before turning and thrusting his fist into the green metal side of the machine by his left.

“Sending in Michonne won’t help, either.” I lifted a hand to rub my face, looking to the sky in exhaustion. “Doesn’t matter what Rick thinks. Phil only made the terms to deliver us to him to make things easier for himself when he finally decides to lay waste to this place.”

Merle went silent and still. I didn’t notice for a few moments, too busy trying to calm myself, to let my shoulders relax as I breathed in and out through my nose. This entire thing was starting to stress me out.

When he spoke next, his voice was different. Softer, almost unguarded. The tonal shift surprised me so much, my attention snapped directly to him so fast I almost broke my damn neck.

“Promise me somethin’,” he said.

My face went blank as I gave him an even stare. “You know I can’t do that.”

“The hell you can’t,” he responded, taking a step toward me. “You just won’t.”

“I’m not like you. I make a promise, I have to keep it,” I answered.

“You sayin’ I don’t?” he asked, shifting slightly back into that aggressive tone of his.

“No. You know what I’m saying.”

Merle had no idea what I was. I’d never told him, never planned on it for the obvious reason of possible immediate annihilation. But he knew something. Though he’d never outright asked, as if voicing the question would make it all-too real, I’d given him enough information to go off without actually saying anything that would enable him to put a decent picture together.

Enhanced senses, inability to lie, the way I was bound to my word…

He knew enough. Enough to know better than to ask me for a promise.

“Just one thing,” he pressed, pushing off the machinery he’d been leaning on to stand in front of me, closer than he usually dared. “Please?”

I blinked up at him, my entire body jerking in surprise. “Did you just say “please”?”

He looked down at me without answering.

I found myself stuck on repeat. “Did you just, completely unironically, say the word “please” to me?”

“Syn…”

And now he was calling me by my first name? What the hell was going on? I looked up at him, at the earnest expression on his otherwise harsh face, and felt something odd settle at the pit of my stomach. It was an unease, an instinctual feeling of wrongness, as if, somewhere deep down, I knew something about this interaction wasn’t… right.

After a moment, I licked my lips and swallowed back against the strange sharp sensation in my throat. “Okay,” I breathed. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Promise me you’ll look after my brother,” he said. There was no scorn beneath the words, no condescending smirk or smug little grin. It was a true, honest request.

This entire thing was too weird. “Merle…” I began, tilting my head to regard him, to really look at him. “What are you going to do?”

He sniffed and straightened, plastering on a grin that I don’t think even he believed as he opened his arms and made a face. “What make you think I’m gonna do anything? I’m offended you’d even ask.”

“Do not lie to me, Merle Dixon,” I hissed, reaching up to grab the neckline of his wifebeater and pulling him close to me.

The startled look in his eye faded quickly, replaced by that same odd look he’d had a moment earlier. Fear? No. Something else, something more. Resignation?

He was going to do something stupid. I just knew it. But what?

“You said you’d promise,” he said, his voice low, barely louder than a whisper.

I stiffened slightly. He was right. I had.

With my lip curled up over my teeth in a snarl, I said, “I promise to do my best to look after your brother.”

That irritatingly pleasant pang of magic shot through my body, signalling the solidification of that promise into my very core.

With a growl that was more animalistic than human, I shoved Merle backwards. He stumbled a step, slightly put off by the strength of it, reaching out to catch himself with his good hand on the corner of the machines.

“Thank you,” he said.

Every cell in my body felt as if it were on fire with the force of my anger in that moment. How dare he force me into that! Whatever the reality of his knowledge about me, he knew I wouldn’t be able to break that promise. Knew it just as well as he knew I could hear him calling out my name, even as I passed through the gate and back into the cellblock.

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