#i don't like logging straight onto to a meeting. i need like an hour before any meetings get going in the day | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy · 3 years

Text

Magic and Miracles and BEYOND Chapter 15

Woooo! Behold, the reignition of Magic and Miracles and BEYOND.

So, in case anyone was wondering, why yes, yes this does come from personal experience. Being in a high speed car accident SUCKS. Being careflighted from the scene and having all your clothes cut off of you, SUCKS. Having a tube crammed down your throat and being put on a breathing machine SUPER SUCKS especially when your brain wakes up and you're screaming at your body to breathe AND IT WON'T FUCKING LISTEN, SSSSUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKSSS. Having your mother, who you love dearly and your world would fall apart if anything ever happened to her be in the passenger seat with you in said accident OH MY GOD, IT SUPER DUPER SUCKS and she was just as scared and freaked out about me as I was about her. And yes my mother's ribs were broken and it took her forever to recover. Because usually if your arm is broken, you put it into a cast and you don't use it or touch it, it's fine. But your RIBS? You need to breathe! Constantly. There is no putting it into a cast and not moving, you need them to move so you can keep breathing! And it FUCKING HURTS.

Also, there is a nod to canon FFXV Kingsglaive in this too.

@the-immortal-marshal this is for you. This is your chapter. If you had not shown me the ways of the angst and I had not gone through what I have, this chapter may have never been written because I couldn't write it from experience. So, to balance all of the previous sweetness, here is- the angst, the hurt, the sorrow, the fear, the terror, the anguish and all of the wonderful- put your stomach in a knot anxiety. Enjoy.

Magic and Miracles and Beyond

Chapter 15

Two weeks later-

“Ok, we’re on our way to pick up Grandma Edie and then we’ll meet you there ok? Love you, bye.” Selena informed Ravus as she and her mom Sabrina were on their way to pick up Edith to take them to the florist to pick out flowers for Selena’s wedding and just as they were about to go through an intersection for a green light, two cars, a red brand new charger and a brand new black camaro, who had been racing each other, driven by the now graduated William Ronchester, aka Billy, the former captain of Niflheim Academy's football team and one of his former teammates- Chad Frawns, as the cars ran the red light and t-boned them, hitting the passenger side of the car where Selena was sitting and crashed their vehicle into the cars on the other side of them and thus into the cars that were starting to come in from the other side, so that it involved the already ten lanes of traffic, two lanes of traffic plus a turn lane in each direction, in the impact and carnage, Sabrina’s car got crumpled and overturned, pinning Sabrina and Selena between several other cars and upside down.

“Selena!” Ravus yelled into the phone when he heard the crash and her blood curdling scream through the phone and then the call dropped and when Ravus tried calling her back, it went straight to voicemail before he got on the app that showed where they were and rushed to his mom’s office from his own.

“Mom! Selena just crashed!” Ravus boomed as he came into his mother’s office before Sylva’s eyes went wide.

“I have to call you back.” She said into her phone as she quickly got up.

“Where? Where did Selena crash?” Sylva asked.

“At Kilgore and Stadium.” Ravus answered as his heart was pounding in his ears.

“Ok, ok, get down to the emergency room, I’ll dispatch an ambulance.” Sylva assured her son as she hit the speed dial on her phone and did just that as Ravus nodded and turned and hurried out and called Gladio.

“Please tell me you are out on patrol.” Ravus pleaded with Gladio.

“Yeah, why?”

“How close are you to Kilgore and Stadium, Selena just wrecked, she’s with her mom.” Ravus answered as he practically willed the elevator to get to the ground level as fast as it could.

“We can be there in about seven minutes.” Gladio told him.

“Dad, Selena and her mom just wrecked. We got to go make sure they’re ok. Kilgore and Stadium.” Gladio repeated to his father.

“On it.” Clarus nodded and put the sirens on and just then, a call came in about the crash over the radio before other first responders got called in as Sylva quickly got rooms ordered and readied for Selena and her mom and whoever else was in the crash as Ravus called Dorian. “Dorian, Selena and Sabrina just crashed.” Ravus informed his soon to be father in law.

“I know, I just got the call from Sabrina, they got t-boned, two knuckleheads were racing each other and ran the red light. They’re alive, I don’t know how ok they are though. I’m on my way there now, call Nyx for me, I gotta drive.” Dorian requested as he hastily left work to go there.

“Will do.” Ravus answered before he called Nyx.

“Nyx, your mom and your sister just got into a car accident. Your dad said he got off the phone with your mom so they’re both alive, I just don’t know how hurt they are.” Ravus informed Nyx.

“Where?” Nyx asked.

“Stadium and Kilgore.” Ravus answered.

“I can be there in five.” Nyx said since that was closest to his work.

“Stacy! My mom and Selena were in a car accident, I gotta go!” Nyx hollered as he literally dropped what he was doing and made a run for the back door as Libertus picked up the dishes Nyx was about to finish before Nyx had dropped them and finished them and put them out before he quickly called Crowe to let her know what had happened since it was her day off.

Ravus finally got down to the ER and logged in to see which room Selena would be going into as he could see that his mom had already registered her to a room before he heard the code, it was an accident that involved several vehicles, one was overturned and first responders were on scene as many others were rushing in as dozens of ambulances were sent into the scene.

Ravus knew from the descriptions that the red overturned vehicle- was Sabrina’s before Sylva appeared in the ER only a few moments after Ravus did as she walked them to the nurses’ station.

“Sabrina’s car is overturned.” Ravus revealed to her as Luche came only a moment later.

“I’m so sorry Rae, hopefully they’re both ok.” Luche offered as Sylva nodded as she gently moved Ravus from the computer as she quickly got in there and made more arrangements in the computer and Ravus was too sick with fright to take notice of what was happening as Luche just put his arm around Ravus’ shoulder in an effort to comfort him. Remembering how sick with worry he was when Ada had been kidnapped before Sylva put them into the room Selena would be going into to get out of the nurse’s and doctor’s way in the nurses station.

Meanwhile Tredd had suited up and came with the other firefighters to the scene since his firehouse was only a few minutes away and his stomach dropped when he recognized Sabrina’s car and he was the first one off the truck as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him over to Sabrina’s car and recognized Sabrina as the airbags were deflating and hanging down as he cut them out so he could see them easier as Selena had passed out, her limbs had gone limp as her right arm hung down, clearly broken and mangled as her left arm hung as well while her legs were pinned inside the crumpled footwell, her promise ring and engagement rings sliding off her fingers and dropping to the broken glass that covered the mangled ceiling of the car as blood started dripping from all of Selena’s right side since she was the passenger seat.

“Get her out, get her out!” Sabrina screamed as she tried to reach over to touch Selena’s left arm to make sure she was still alive because upon impact, Selena had instantly screamed and when the car came to a stop, Selena had lost her phone in the wreck but Sabrina’s was still in it’s holder on the crumpled dash which allowed Sabrina to call Dorian but after that first scream, Selena went deathly quiet and Sabrina had feared for the worst and was screaming her head off for help. Tredd cut Sabrina out of the car and with herculean strength pulled her out and into the arms of the other EMT’s who had come to her aid before other’s came as Tredd crawled into the space where Sabrina had been to get to Selena.

“Selena!” Tredd yelled, hoping to get a response.

“Jaws of life! I need the jaws of life!” Tredd called as he tried to make sure she was still alive and felt some relief when she was at least breathing and had a pulse but he could see the blood seeping into her clothes as Selena's body simply hung there from the seatbelt.

“Come on Selena, you gotta stay with me, come on baby girl, pull through.” Tredd tried to coach as his fellow firefighters came with the jaws of life and crowbars to untangle the crumpled door and side panels to get her out as Sabrina was loaded into an ambulance and immediately taken to the hospital as Tredd held Selena's neck in place and kept his fingers on thumbs on her pulse to make sure her heart was still beating.

“The car is starting to smoke! It’s gonna catch fire! We gotta get her out!” His captain hollered as the others worked on breaking her out and what felt like hours but was in reality only minutes- they got the door and body panel off before Tredd let go of her neck as an EMT secured it with a C-collar and flipped onto his back to catch Selena once her seatbelt was cut as paramedics and Gladio came over to help get her out of the carnage and onto a stretcher before she was rushed to another waiting ambulance as Tredd had rolled over and noticed her rings and quickly picked them up and pocketed them and got out of there just as the car then caught fire just as Nyx ran to the scene.

“Selena!” Nyx hollered as he ran towards them.

“That’s her brother, let him through.” Gladio and Tredd told the paramedics who let him approach.

“Selena?” Nyx asked as he grabbed her hand and squeezed but she didn’t squeeze back as Selena was strapped into the stretcher.

“She’s not responsive, I got a pulse and breathing but it’s shallow and awfully quick and she’s unconscious.” Tredd reported to the EMT’s as Gladio, Clarus and him ran with the stretcher and EMT”s.

“And these came off of her.” Tredd said as he gave Nyx the rings as Nyx simply grabbed them and put them into his own pocket before he got in the ambulence with Selena as Dorian had already gotten into Sabrina's ambulence with her as Libertus got off work and drove Crowe to the scene to pick up Nyx's truck and take it to the hospital.

“We’ll clear a path.” Clarus offered as he and Gladio left with Selena’s ambulance as the others who had come and gotten their charges from the accidents as Tredd then took care of putting Sabrina’s car fire out before he tried to salvage what he could from it, like their purses and other personal affects and sent them with Crowe and Libertus who came shortly after Selena left as Tredd told them what he found when he got there before he got called back to help with the others who had gotten invovled in the crash.

Meanwhile on the way to the hospital, Gladio called Ravus back.

“Ok, Tredd got to them first, he got Sabrina out of the car and helped pry Selena out of it. The fire department had to use the jaws of life to get her out before the car caught fire. Ravus, she’s...she’s not responsive. She’s barely breathing and has a weak pulse and she’s bleeding, a lot, Nyx is following us to the hospital. Right now we’re leading the way to you.” Gladio gravely informed him as his own tears flooded his vision as emotion choked his voice, never wanting to find his friends like this.

Ravus simply closed his eyes and winced as tears continued to stream down his face as his heart dropped and gut knotted up anxiously as he sat down in the room that Selena would be taken to once she got there as Sylva was still orchestrating all the surgery rooms if there needed to be any surgery for Sabrina or Selena as she also pulled all available nurses into the E.R. because she needed all hands on deck for the sudden influx of patients.

Sabrina was brought in first as her clothes were cut off of her as she was checked over before Sylva managed to squeeze into the room as Sabrina answered the nurses and doctor’s questions as best she could as they checked her over.

“Has anyone heard anything about my daughter? She was with me in the crash, she wasn’t responsive when I left.” Sabrina asked as tears streamed down her cheeks from inside the C-collar neck brace.

“Sabrina, she’s on her way here, Tredd pulled her out of that wreckage himself, she’s alive, she’s coming straight here, right now, just focus on your own recovery. I swear on my life we will do whatever it takes to make sure she’ll pull through.” Sylva offered as she came into view from Sabrina’s head and held her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“Thank you Sylva.” Sabrina thanked her before a roar of medics barking codes at the nurses was heard. “That’s her, I gotta go.” Sylva said as she quickly slipped out of receiving room into the others and simply stood on the wall and listened closely and watched as Selena was also cut out of her clothes, quickly intubated and rushed into a CT scan as she followed and Sylva’s heart was in her throat when she saw the blood pooling into Selena’s brain and had to cover her mouth to keep herself from crying out as Selena was then rushed into surgery as Sylva herself got prepped for surgery too and made sure she had multiple teams working on Selena as Sylva was silently praying like her life depended on for Selena to pull through as she did her best to kick into doctor mode since she had more than enough adrenaline pumping through her body and mind to do so.

Crowe and Libertus came and gave Ravus Selena's purse before going to Dorian to deliver his wife's purse as well as her phone that had been on the dash before they returned to Selena's room as they, Luche, Ravus, Nyx and Luna all crowded around the computer in Selena’s room as Ravus cradled Selena’s bloodied and scratched and damaged rings in his hands as Selena's purse was between his feet as Nyx had handed them to him before Pelna, Yasmine and Stella came rushing in, Yasmine, putting her own medical coat on since she was in the doctorate program already as she, Luna and Stella poured over the medical jargon.

“I got a call from Pashmina who heard from Gladio that Selena’s in the OR.” Yasmine explained before she got around to the computer to see everything.

“Fuck!” Yasmine cursed as she read through it.

“Everyone start praying, Selena will need a miracle. She has a brain bleed, but they're trying to relieve it by going in through her arteries and pulling the blood out that way, instead of cutting her head open, a brain bleed that means blood is rushing into her skull and putting pressure on the brain, if they don’t relieve the pressure, either artillary or otherwise, she’ll either be a vegetable or could very well die. Her seventh through twelfth ribs broke and they punctured her lungs and her liver, that’s why she can’t hardly breathe and she’s inundated and she’s bleeding internally because of the punctured liver and the broken ribs punctured her side, so she’s bleeding externally and internally. But good news is her spine doesn’t seem to be damaged, so far, so yay on the paraplegia and possible quadrapalegic, we’re still waiting to see if her legs are broken or not but her right forearm is definitely broken in two places, both the radius and the ulna, compound fractures but her top priority is that brain bleed and punctured liver and lungs.” Yasmine offered as the rest of them simply wept and prayed because there was nothing else for them to do.

Meanwhile-

Selena was having the most peculiar dream, she was on a beach as she saw a really blonde guy painting a picture as two little blonde kids played in the sand, making a sandcastle with their mom but they either didn’t see her or were ignoring her.

“Selena,” the guy called her over as he smiled and waived her over. He looked familiar. Almost like a cross between Ravus and his uncle Vincent.

“Well hello there, it’s a pleasure to meet you, sit and rest a while.” He invited as he gestured to the sunchair next to him in the sheltered cabana after they shook hands.

“Your artwork is beautiful.” She praised as she saw it.

“Why thank you, no matter how many times I’ve repainted this picture, it’s never quite perfect.” He mused as he looked from the picture to the scene he was trying to paint.

“Repainted it?” Selena felt compelled to ask.

“Yup. I’ve repainted this picture many times, in more styles than I can count. But I always come back to this one, trying to make it look as real as I can, like a photograph. Like Paul Cezanne, painting his favorite mountain over and over again, trying to get it perfect.” He mused with a soft chuckle.

“Why this one?” Selena asked.

“Because this is one of my favorite memories. Ravus and Lunafreya aren’t arguing or fighting over anything, they’re getting along wonderfully. Sylva is happy and fully immersed into motherhood, the one thing she feels in her heart she was meant to do but her body wouldn’t agree. And she isn’t being pulled in a thousand and one directions, by her work, by her parents, or anything else. She’s simply present and enjoying the moment without having to always figure out and plan for the future. She always looks so young and her energy is equally so, but her soul is quite old, all the worry taxes her quite a bit. But she’ll always be my ray of sunshine.” He praised as he watched his family fondly, trying to make sure he got the hue of their blond hair just right as he mixed white with yellow with a pinch of gold and tan.

“Ravus and Lunafreya?” Selena repeated as she looked from the painting to the little kids and looked closer at them as she tilted her head and recognized them as children.

Suddenly her body felt really warm like it was getting sunburnt as the air got super hot and it was hard to breathe before the cabana stretched over both of them even more as the warmth and burning abated and it felt easier to breathe before pain started to seep into her body as she started to rock and clutch her middle like she had been kicked by a horse or something. Selena wanted to scream but she couldn’t.

“Selena, just breathe, just focus on my voice and the sound of the ocean, it’ll be ok.” He urged before the pain started to slip away again as she felt her body relax again before she noticed a strange bird nearby- chirping a beeping sound. It was kind of annoying but Selena was just grateful she wasn’t in so much pain now.

“Here, now you try.” He insisted as he handed her a canvas as a easel seemed to appear out of nowhere before helping her set up her own palette, sharing all of his paints and getting her set up before she started painting her own picture of them but one moment she could see Sylva, Ravus and Lunafreya as she looked from them to the canvas and, the next when she looked up, she could see Ravus only as an adult now, as he helped three kids build a sandcastle, two little girls, both as blonde and fair as he was, the eldest girl was only 5 or six, the other was only two, then a little boy, who looked to be about 4. He had her darker complexion and brown hair and was just darling as he was carefully sorting through all the seashells, organizing them according to size and kind while the youngest was simply squishing the soft sand between her chubby little fingers over and over again and giggling at the texture while the oldest worked most diligently with Ravus about setting up the base of the sandcastle as she pushed the sand into the bucket and drenching it and making sure the sand was dense and as solid as it could be before she dumped it very carefully where Ravus had directed to her as Selena just watched on happily before she felt a strange yet familiar weight in her abdomen as she laid back into the sunchair and noticed she was pregnant and watched as her feet were impossibly swollen as she simply resigned to enjoy the scene as she sipped on a refreshing but non alcoholic drink as she watched Ravus under his own big umbrella to shield himself and the kids from the scorching sun as it was now the artist in her cabana, the art supplies and canvases now long gone.

“Now, isn’t that a sight you wish you could make last forever?” The artist asked her as he watched the scene with happiness, pride and fondness with a bittersweetness in his eyes.

“Yes.” Selena answered happily.

“Now all you have to do is hang on, just hold onto life as hard as you can. Pain is coming, but you can endure it. If only to enjoy this. You’ll get there, you just got to endure the pain.” He advised her as Selena once again felt pain wrack her body and it felt like she couldn’t hardly breathe.

“Wait for the air, it’ll come, remember, three taps, they mean “I love you”, three squeezes, you can do it, three squeezes.” He urged her as he turned to her and held her left hand and squeezed three times before Selena mirrored the motion as air finally got pushed into her lungs as she breathed in as deep as she could before it was gone again, like it was being sucked out of her a moment later.

“Just wait, it’ll come right back. Just keep your eyes on them, just focus on them , your family, they're worth living and surviving for. The air will come. Just hold onto them. Don’t lose your focus. You have to get through the nightmare before you can make this dream a reality. You can do it Selena, I have faith in you, I’m so proud of you and I am so grateful and thankful for you to come into my family’s lives, you’ll be ok, it’s not time for you to leave them yet, not for a good, long while. Remember, I love you- three squeezes, one, two, three, three taps, one- two- three.” He insisted as he did it again as she did it back.

“Just don’t let go.” He repeated before Selena could hear yelling and machines and the beach started to fade to black as she tried to hold onto him.

“Selena, come on, pull through. You can do it.” The artist’s voice morphed into Sylva’s voice.

Sylva had been talking to Selena, begging her to pull through as she held Selena’s hand as she watched her face before Selena’s hand squeezed her hand back in a pattern of threes as Sylva’s eyes went wide as tears continued to flood her vision as a hopeful smile soon threatened to bloom as Sylva squeezed back three times, like all the times she and Victor would squeeze and tap each other in their way to say ‘I love you’ back when they first met and because Sylva had never heard ‘I love you’ spoken to her often, she had a hard time saying the words so Victor and her worked out that three squeezes, three taps, meant “I love you”. She knew Ravus knew about this, she just felt that he must have told her about this as she hopefully returned the three squeezes before Selena did it back again, over and over again back and forth.

“Atta girl Selena! You’re doing great! We’re almost done, hang on! Just hang on a little longer. You can do it!” Sylva encouraged as she kept squeezing back three times as much as she could.

“Just keep squeezing my hand, let me know you’re still there Sweetheart, listen to my voice, you’re on a breathing machine, just wait for the machine Darling, the air will come.” Sylva coached as she noticed Selena struggle to breathe on the monitors as Sylva and Selena just kept squeezing back and forth as Sylva cried tears of happiness and relief that Selena wasn’t lost mentally. Everything else could be fixed as the doctors were setting her right arm back into place as the surgeons were stitching up her sides from setting her ribs back into place and fixing her punctured liver and lung as it was a miracle that her legs were not also broken. She was almost done with surgery and Sylva had been praying the whole time for Selena to pull through and it seems her prayers had been answered.

Once the surgeries were done, Sylva noticed Selena was crying from her eyes and when she was unplugged from the breathing machine, she started gasping for air, trying to catch her breath.

“She’s breathing on her own, just let her catch her breath.” Sylva ordered.

“We’re done Selena, the surgery is done, we’re going to the room now.” Sylva told Selena as she kept a firm hold of her hand and wouldn’t let go as they kept squeezing three times back and forth.

Selena was brought back to her ICU room in the Emergency room where Ravus and Luna and everyone else was eagerly awaiting them.

“She’s ok, she’s tapping!” Sylva announced happily through her own tears when she saw them as Selena was put into place in the room.

“Tapping?” Ravus and everyone else repeated.

“Ravus you did so good by telling Selena about the tapping and squeezing in threes to say ‘I love you’ the way your father and I used to all the time when you were growing up, Selena was able to squeeze that over and over and over throughout the surgery. She’s there, we didn’t lose her. She’ll be ok.” Sylva announced as Ravus just stared at his mother in confused shock.

“Mom...I never told her about that…” Ravus confessed as Sylva let go of Selena’s hand so that Ravus could hold her hand so Sylva could get changed out of the special operating room scrubs before Selena grasped Ravus’ hand and squeezed three times before he squeezed back in kind before he completely broke down in tears by the bed as they kept doing that back and forth.

“Well then did you?” Sylva turned to Luna who shook her head no.

“I completely forgot about it, I never told her either.” Luna professed as she looked to Nyx.

“I’ve never heard of it either. Dad?” Nyx turned to his dad as everyone else looked at each other in surprise but everyone was at a loss because they had never heard of that kind of thing either.

“No, we don’t have anything like that in our family either.” Dorian shook his head no.

“But she’s squeezing it over and over like her life depends on it.” Ravus confessed before he let Dorian feel it and return it then Nyx got to then Luna got to also, all of them crying tears of happiness to feel it though.

“Maybe she’s trying to say ‘I’m still here’. Three words, ‘I’m still here’.” Regis offered.

“Oh, maybe.” Sylva allowed as she frowned.

“Selena, can you open your eyes?” Dorian asked as he reached out and wiped the tears from her eyes from the other side of her but all Selena did was scrunch her eyes shut as she continued in her labored breathing. It hurt so bad to breathe but her lungs and her body were screaming for air.

“Hey, it’s a response.” Sylva allowed as Ravus got Selena’s hand again and squeezed three times again as Selena’s toes then started tapping together like she was standing up and tapping her foot, three times.

“Yay! Her legs still work!” Dorian cheered.

“And it’s still in threes, ‘I’m still here’.” Regis insisted as he clasped Ravus’ shoulder because Regis had surprisingly been the one to offer the most comfort and support to Ravus through all of this because Regis had been through the same thing several years earlier before Dorian left to tell Sabrina the news that Selena was ok, and asked if Sabrina knew about the tapping or squeezing three times thing and Sabrina as well as everyone else was also at a loss to explain it but Sabrina was relieved to know that she had not lost her daughter and was grateful Selena made it through surgery and was still alive as she was in the next room over as her parents and siblings had come to the hospital and were currently in her room and none of them could come up with a solution either before Selena stopped squeezing and instead tried to sit up before Ravus and Sylva gently tried to push her back down.

“Selena, you’ve been in a really bad car accident, you’re in a neck brace and we need to keep you as flat as we can to make sure your spine is ok. Your right arm is broken and in a cast right now which is why you can’t move it. You also broke some ribs, they hit your lungs and your liver so that’s why your right side probably hurts as bad as it does and we had to intubate you because your ribs hit your lungs, that’s why you can’t talk. But we’re so happy that you’re alive.” Sylva informed her as Selena tried to chew on the tube itself before she got a good bite on it and just kept crying but she was able to lift her left hand as everyone turned their attention to her hand as she held up her index finger to indicate 1 then made a fist.

“One squeeze?” Ravus asked as Selena signed ‘yes’.

“One squeeze means yes?” Ravus asked as Selena signed yes again before she then held up her index and middle finger to indicate two then made a motion of two squeezes and signed in ASL ‘no’.

“Two squeezes say no?” Ravus continued before Selena signed yes again as she felt the strength in her arm start to zap but she needed to get this last bit across if it was the last thing she could do. So then she held up three fingers and slowly spelled ‘I L U’.

“Three means I love you?” Ravus asked as he smiled through his tears before he wiped his falling tears off her face before Selena reached for his hand before she found it and gave one squeeze and then three more squeezes before she gave him a pained smile.

“So it does mean I love you!” Sylva beamed.

“Are you in pain?” Ravus asked and he got one squeeze.

“How much more pain killers can we give her?” Ravus asked as Sylva came over to check Selena’s eyes for a concussion and saw the signs of a small one.

“Her left pupil is larger than her right which is a sign of a concussion.” Sylva realized before she lowered the lights in the room so that they weren’t blinding Selena before she ordered more pain meds before she went and got them herself from the ER pharmacy and came back and administered them herself as Selena took a deep, and steadier breath and began to breathe easier before she squeezed Ravus’ hand four times.

“Is four times ‘thank you’?” Ravus guessed before Selena squeezed one more time as a ghost of a smile spread on her face as she tried to blink away her own tears before she signed ‘mom’.

“Your mom is ok, she’s banged up but not nearly as bad as you Sweetie, she’s in the next room.” Dorian answered before Selena signed ‘ok’.

“Thank the heavens for ASL.” Luna murmured as she wiped her relieved tears from her own eyes as she and Nyx held each other tightly as Gladio and everyone else nodded and murmured their agreement to that before the surgeons made back into the room and gave the family updates on what they found and what they did and about how long it would take for her to heal as Selena raised her hand and pointed to the tube and made a motion to pull it out over and over again.

“How about we move her to a room and make sure she stays stabilized and then we get the tube out.” The surgeons advised.

“On it.” Sylva answered before she had the nurses help get Selena prepped for moving as Sylva also ordered for Sabrina to moved to a room too before they all followed Sylva who moved Selena’s bed herself to the elevators and up to the VIP rooms of the hospital before in a few moments, Sabrina was moved in right next door.

And thankfully once Selena moved and was stabilized and all the results came back that her spine had not been damaged and she could sit up, they sat her up and took off the C- collar and made her comfortable before Sylva helped remove the breathing tube.

“Now, very little, slow sips of water.” Sylva urged as she disposed of the tube as Ravus handed her a little cup of water so Selena could drink some.

“Thank you.” Selena thanked him as she squeezed his other hand three times which brought a little wry grin to his lips as he squeezed back three times. This was going to be their new little thing.

“Tea.” Selena requested as she winced as the way the ice cold water assaulted her throat.

“On it.” Luna practically lept from her spot on a sofa and immediately went to the cafe on that level and got four cups of hot water and two of every kind of tea they had before she came back and listed them off before Selena chose one before Luna got that going for her before Tredd came in since Stella had been texting him updates ever since she had come in with Yasmine, Tredd still in his work uniform and not looking cleaned up at all, but he was clearly still anxious and worried even though he had gotten several texts from everyone about the update throughout the rest of his shift as he was so relieved and grateful that Selena made it through while Billy and Patrick were still downstairs in the ER getting attended to as he handed Selena her phone which had actually been ejected from the car itself upon impact but thanks to it's protective case, which had taken a beating, the phone was still functional.

"Thank you for saving my life." Selena thanked Tredd as the two hugged.

"Are you kidding, the shit Ravus would give me if you had died on my watch? He would harrass me and make me pay- eye for an eye and all that shit. You would haunt me yourself from beyond the grave, I have bad enough karma as it is, I don't need any more." Tredd tried to tease and play off as he wiped his relieved tears from his eyes but his happy and relieved smile still showed how deeply he still cared.

"But you're welcome." Tredd offered lowly.

"But don't you do it ever again, I don't have that much good luck to doll out to just anyone and everyone, you got L-U-C-K-Y, lucky girl." Tredd added as Selena just snorted a laugh because actually laughing would hurt too much as she gave him a grateful and appreciative smile before Luna came over with Selena's tea.

“Thank you.” Selena managed to whisper to Luna with a grateful smile once the tea was given her as she took a sip of it with her left hand since her right was still laying on her in a cast and a sling.

“So we have some updates.” Gladio came back into the room with his dad.

“William Ronchester, aka Billy, the former captain of Niflheim Academy's football team and one of his former teammates- Chad Frawns, who just graduated in May, were the drivers of the cars that smashed into you, they were racing each other and ran the red, we have them on the cameras from the intersection, going at least 80 in a 35.” Gladio reported.

“Fucking Nifs!” Nyx, Luche, Ada, Tredd, Crowe and Libertus all growled as Craig just shook his head and groaned in frustration.

“Of course they were, Chad and Billy were always doing stupid shit like that, it’s always a pissing contest between those two.” Craig offered up.

“So that’s two attempts on the Ulrics by the Niflheim football team, by the same people, by the same, exact fucking people, great.” Luna grumbled angrily as she and Nyx had flashbacks to when that football team was hired to have it out for him.

“But the important part is both of them lived through it. As long as Selena doesn’t get any complications from any of her surgeries, she should make a full recovery.” Sylva consoled.

“Well is it too early to start pressing charges?” Ravus asked as Gladio and Clarus grinned wryly.

“No it’s not.” Clarus answered before he got Selena’s statement to add it to Sabrina’s and once it was clear that Selena was going to be ok, Nyx went back and spent more time with his mom as Dorian had done the same as they hung out as Gladio and Clarus went back downstairs to check up on everyone involved in the wreck as the other officers were at the other hospitals where the other patients had been taken to and finished the rest of their jobs as well as inform Billy’s family as well as Chad’s family of who they hit as Clarus and Gladio saw the color drain from their family’s faces as their eyes go as wide as saucers.

Ravus was adamant that he wasn’t leaving Selena’s side as Luche simply went to Ravus’ office and packed what he could from Ravus’ office so that Ravus would have some of what he needed there before Luche left and he and Ada went to Ravus’ and Selena’s apartment to get what Selena and Ravus would need for staying in the hospital for at least a few weeks and simply got their dogs and brought them to their own yard. Sasha being all too happy to play with her siblings Kona and Kahlua while Bunny simply laid down forlornly.

“Mommy’s ok. I promise, she’ll be home soon.” Luche offered to Bunny as he pet her affectionately as Duchess simply took command of the tallest level of Luche and Ada’s cat tower as Luche pet Duchess affectionately in turn before Ada went through her own tea collection to get what she thought Selena would like and once they were ready they went back to the hospital just as Sylva had ordered dinner for everyone who was left as Selena very slowly ate the soft foods that the hospital prepared for her as Sylva made sure that her pain medication was always given on time so that she wasn’t in too much pain in any one time and was of course administered the best pain medicine available.

When it was late and after everyone but Nyx and Luna went home to rest and Ravus was getting ready for bed himself, Sylva made one last check up to see if Selena needed anything before Selena simply reached out and gave Sylva’s hand three squeezes sleepily but smiled sweetly nonetheless, despite her pain and exhaustion.

“Where did you learn that?” Sylva asked curiously.

“When I was in surgery, I think I was dreaming, or in a coma, or something. I was on a beach. I was in the picture that’s in our living room. Only, it wasn’t finished yet. I saw you playing with Ravus and Luna, only they were little. And..this artist, he looked like he was a cross between Ravus and Vincent, he was painting the picture, he asked me to sit and paint with him. He said that it was his favorite painting, that he had repainted it over and over and over again, trying to get it perfect, trying to make it look as real as a picture. He said it was his favorite memory because Luna and Ravus weren’t fighting and you were there and not being pulled in a thousand directions at once, and that you just got to enjoy the moment with your kids and being a mom. He said that you were an old soul from worrying about everything all the time. But that you were always his ray of sunshine. I think my imagination built Victor. He’s the one who held my hand and told me that pain was coming but that I could endure it. He held my hand and said that three taps and three squeezes meant ‘I love you’ and we just were squeezing it back and forth and then his voice morphed into yours in surgery.” Selena confessed as Sylva, Ravus and Luna were utterly sobbing.

“That’s nothing short of a miracle.” Lunafreya cried as she soaked up her renewed tears.

“I don’t think it was your imagination. I’m pretty sure you met him in the afterlife, he always told me that- that was one picture that he would give anything to redo and repaint over and over again because it was the perfect moment and he wanted it to last forever and he was sure that he could get it perfect eventually.” Sylva revealed as she sobbed before she held Selena.

“We’re so happy you lived and you made it through Darling.” Sylva cried into Selena’s shoulder.

“Ditto, I would have lost my mind if I lost my best friend.” Luna confessed as she hugged Selena next before Nyx came over and hugged her tight before they bid her goodnight and left Ravus and Selena in peace before saying goodnight to Sabrina and Dorian who were in the next room over.

Ravus waited until it was just himself and Selena before he slipped Selena’s rings back on her hands.

“They fell off in the accident. Tredd picked them up and saved them from the wreck.” Ravus told her.

“Only Stella and your mom could have seen the great man underneath the asshole, turns out he was exactly who was needed in that moment, I owe him big.” Selena noted as she looked at her rings affectionately.

“We both do.” Ravus had to admit. “He saved your life today, I never would have thought that he of all people would have been the life saving type.” Ravus admitted.

“But he was a natural wasn’t he? From what Gladio said he saw, Tredd knew exactly what to do and how to do it and do it in the nick of time. Another moment later and I would have been toast, literally. The car caught fire for crying out loud. For as much as Tredd is a pyromaniac, being a firefighter is strangely a perfect fit and he’s a natural.” Selena murmured tiredly, but fondly all the same.

“He told my mom that he wants to become a paramedic too after what happened today.” Ravus informed her.

“He’d be good at that too. Nyx isn’t the only one with a hero complex apparently.” Selena nodded as Ravus nodded his agreement to that too.

“There was something more to my “run in” with your dad though.” Selena said as Ravus sat on the bed next to hers.

“Oh?” Ravus asked.

“When he gave me my own canvas and invited me to paint with him, I looked at the scene of you and Luna and your mom on the beach to the canvas and began filling in where the sea met the sand and when I looked back up, I saw you with not one, or two, but three children, our children while I was pregnant with number four.” Selena revealed as Ravus’ tears came flooding back to his eyes as his smile was heartbreakingly beautiful.

“Really?” Ravus asked.

“Yup, two little girls, the oldest was five or six, the younger girl was only one and a half, maybe two, the middle, was a boy, he must have been only four or so. The girls were just as fair and blonde as you are and so precious and beautiful, the boy took after me and was quite handsome himself. You were all under a big umbrella so none of you would burn, you were all building a sandcastle, the oldest was doing most of the work, gathering all the sand into the various buckets, getting them wet then draining them before turning them over in the right spot, the boy was organizing seashells and the youngest was just squishing the sand between her chubby little hands. Your dad told me that he was grateful and thankful for me becoming a part of your family’s lives and that it wasn’t my time to leave yet and that he was proud, and happy and that- that moment, with you and our kids on the beach- that was going to be my ‘want to last forever’ moment. And that I could get there as long as I held onto life as hard as I could and warned me that the pain was coming, but that I could endure it. I just had to hold on and keep tapping three times, I love you, over and over and he held my hand and we did it back and forth as long as we could before things faded to black and his voice morphed into your mom’s in the surgery room.” Selena revealed as she held Ravus’ hand and squeezed it three times as he returned it over and over again as Ravus knelt down next to the bed with Selena’s left hand in both of his as he pressed his forehead to her hand and continued to cry and mentally offer thanks for the miracle as his faith in God began to flicker back to life.

“Then that’s what will happen. It’s worth waiting for.” Ravus insisted as he lifted his head and kissed her hand as firm as he dared.

“It will be.” Selena repeated as she was fighting sleep.

“Get some sleep, you need it Darling.” Ravus encouraged before Ravus to get into bed himself, reaching out and still grasping her left hand and giving it three little squeezes as she gave three little squeezes back before the two finally fell asleep.

7 notes · View notes

hailbop1701 · 4 years

Text

PlatonicKirkxReader

Please don't do that again...

Request from @thottiewithashotgun!

"A platonic kirk/reader, based off your Reaper/reader story, where she experiences his allergic reaction for the first time"

I really hope you like it! ❤

The planet was hot and sticky with humidity, you wrinkled your nose at it but kept silent as you and the Captain explored. You eyed your surroundings carefully as Kirk examined the native flora; you smiled at his childlike curiosity. “Careful, they might bite.” you teased and Jim looked up with a huge smile. “Nah, I’m too amazing to eat,” he said getting back to his feet brushing off the knees of his uniform pants. You rolled your eyes and looked up towards the sky; you used your hand as a sun shield. A type of alien bird chirped and squawked above you circling almost like vultures. This made you frown, looking back over to the Captain you saw that he was wandering further into the thick brush, “Jim!” you chided crossing your arms. The man in question froze and looked back at you with wide eyes, “I saw something!” he said pointing and you shook your head. “We can’t go any further unless we move the entire landing party. Spock wouldn’t be pleased,” you said in your no-nonsense tone.

Kirk huffed grumpily but moved back to where you were standing. He stared at you for a moment longer than usual, furrowing his brow in concern, “Aren’t you hot?” he asked, gesturing at her black uniform. You gave a humorless laugh, “Of course I am but I wasn’t going to traipse through an alien jungle wearing my dress.” you said looking down at your black pants and shirt. The silver Starfleet insignia glinted in the sun. After your explanation, Kirk nodded, “Yeah I can see where the dress would be a hindrance.” he said with a light chuckle. You scowled, “Sometimes they can be ridiculous,” you muttered turning toward your bag.

Kirk laughed as you rummaged through the little bag on your hip, “I can’t believe you still use that old thing.” he said eyeing the bag with fascination. “I can carry more with it,” you mumbled only paying half attention. The bag wasn’t that big but you still tended to lose things in its depths, you pulled out a few specimen jars and held them out to the waiting captain. “You’re like a mother with a purse,” he snickered taking the jars from your hands; that earned him gloves to the face. “Get the samples on that side. I’ll get some from the stream,” you said turning in the other direction. “Don’t get eaten and stay where I can see you!” you called at Kirks back. He waved an unconcerned hand, “Yes mom,” called back.

Shaking your head you kept a peripheral eye on your charge while you filled specimen jars with the water from the stream. You labeled the jars before putting them away back in the little case they came in. Pulling out your tricorder you fiddled with the controls and scanned your surrounding area; it pulled data and stored it for the science nerds to play with later. Looking over your shoulder you spot the Captain squatting by a mass of purple and orange flowers; he waved his hand over them and they seemed to follow the movement intently. The sound of footsteps made you turn away from Kirk; Commander Spock by you now. Back straight and hands clasped behind him.

You gave him a smile, “Hey Spock,” you greeted squinting against the light that glowed behind him. He inclined his head in his greeting, “I see you put the Captain to work, “ he said voice cool. Your lips twitched, you looked back over to the blonde for a moment. “Yeah I figured if I kept him busy he wouldn’t wander off,” you said with a chuckle. With a sigh, you stood up putting your tricorder away. The Vulcan in front of you held no emotion in his face but slight amusement danced in his eyes, “A logical tactic, “ he said and took the little case of vials when you offered them. “Hey, Spock did you see the flowers! I think they like me,” Kirk said jogging over to you and the Vulcan. He handed you his samples but Spock plucked them from his hand hands instead, “Captain flora hold no emotion,” the Vulcan said patiently. Jim pouted ever so slightly; he seemed to get over it rather quickly because he was smiling again, a real genuine smile. He held up a lovely teal flower, it twirled between his fingers before he put it in your hair gently, “for the best thing and only thing to come out of section 31,” he said with a wink. You gave him a small smile and ruffled his hair, “Jim, you’re the best brother I never wanted,” you said and the man clutched his heart with a grin. “(Y/N) that just warms me up inside,”

You raised an eyebrow mirroring Spock at that moment, Kirk looked between the two of you amused. “Do they teach a class on that?” he asked lightly. He let out a cough and tried to brush it off; it almost worked too if you didn’t notice the redness creeping from his hands up past his neck. “Jim?” You asked voice filled with concern, he tried to wave you off but couldn’t pull any air. He gasped and doubled over, your hands immediately steadied him and lowered him to the lilac grass. You made sure he was on his back before checking him for bites, or punctures. You picked up his hand and examined it quickly, ‘that’s the source,’ you thought with a grimace. Blisters began to form at a rapid pace. ‘Rash, blisters, asphyxia. Allergic reaction.’ you concluded. Spock knelt on Jim’s other side tense, “Jim, I need you to relax for me. You know what’s going on. Relax sweetie,” you whispered to him gently placing a hand on his forehead. “Do we have a medical kit?” you asked the Commander seriously, “It’s with Nurse Davin, she was beamed back aboard the ship with Ensign Clark. He sustained a broken ankle,” he said and you growled in frustration.

“Okay, call for beam up. I’m going to do something to help him breathe,” you said pulling out supplies. You pulled out the pen you were using earlier along with a flint; Kirk reached up a hand and gripped your forearm in a vice. You whispered encouragement to him as you pulled a knife from your boot. “Jim, I’m going to perform an old medic trick. It’s called a tracheotomy. It means I’m going to be cutting into your throat,” you said sparking the flint so it caught fire. The captain’s eyes widened making you frown guiltily. “I know it sounds horrible, but it will help you breathe,” you said running your knife over the fire. You looked him in his panicked blue eyes, “I need you to trust me,” you said evenly.

“Beaming in three minutes,” Spock said calmly from the side, you paid him little attention. Kirk choked gripping your wrist, his eyes searched yours before letting you go and doing his best to relax. You took a deep breath and moved your fingers an inch below Kirk’s Adam’s apple, you took your knife and made a small incision. You pulled your pen apart until it was just tubing and gently eased the incision open before sliding the tube in. You felt Spock at your shoulder tensed and waiting; you breathed a sigh of relief when Kirk took a shuddering breath through the tube. He opened his eyes and looked up at you, he brought a shaky hand up to grip yours. He went to speak but his voice came out as a pained squeak.

"You'll be okay, I promise." You whispered to him and felt the distinct feeling of the transporter pulling you upward. Looking around you saw Scotty looking at you and the Captain worriedly from behind the glass partition. Medical burst into the transporter room with McCoy at the forefront. "What in the hell happened?" He asked voice raised. You told him what you had done and pulled the flower from your hair, "I think this may have been the cause," you explained. Spock took the sprig from your fingers and you watched as the medical team loaded Kirk onto a stretcher and took him away. You followed with Leonard walking briskly beside you, "You did good," he mumbled and you gave him a shaky smile. "Does that happen often?" You asked looking up at him and McCoy sighed running a hand through his hair. "More than you think," he grumbled. You both entered medbay and went your separate ways. He went to take care of Kirk while you washed your bloody hands in the nearest sink.

For a solid two hours, you sat and watched as nurses and Dr. McCoy fuss around the Captain. He was breathing regularly again; the tube is gone. You were propped up against the far wall watching people come and go, "He'll be alright," a voice gruffed from next to you. You smirked and looked up to your right; John, no Leonard leaned against the wall arms crossed. "I know,"

"Spock already put a commendation in your file." He chuckled and you rolled your eyes. "Just doing my job," you sighed and he bumped your shoulder gently. You smiled gently and pushed off the wall gliding over to Kirk's bedside. "Can I borrow a Padd?" You asked McCoy with a single glance over your shoulder. His eyes hinted green in the dimmed lights of medbay; he gave you a sweet smile before disappearing into his office. You sat down on an abandoned stool next to the biobed and settled in to watch over Kirk. Nurse Chapel strode over to your side, Padd in hand, "Doctor McCoy said that he was called to the lab and that you requested this." She said kindly. You smiled taking the device, "thanks Chris,"

The woman nodded, "oh and he also told me to tell you that he expects you to meet him for breakfast in the morning. No excuses!" She said with a laugh. You chuckled and shook your head; she took another quick glance at Jim's vitals before moving on. Crossing your legs you set the Padd on your knees, logging in you resolved in working on your mission report.

Later when you felt a gentle tap on your leg. You looked up blinking the fogginess out of your eyes; Kirk gazed at you with his pretty blues. "Hey, kiddo" you murmured reaching out a hand to ruffle his hair. Jim groaned in protest but did move to stop you, "Hey lifesaver," he croaked. You set your borrowed Padd down on the bed to reach over to grab the cup of water Christine brought earlier. You held if for Kirk and guided the straw to his mouth; after a minute you took the water away.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" He asked looking around with a frown. You followed his gaze and saw that medbay was now a skeleton crew. "Guess it's later than I thought," you sighed and rubbed your tired eyes. You looked back at your friend again, "You should get back to sleep," you advised picking up your Padd again. "Thank you for, you know," Jim whispered shifting, his voice rough. You took his hand giving it a soft squeeze, "no thanks are needed. Just do me a favor," you said eying him seriously. "Don't you ever do that to me again," you said with a half-hearted glare. Jim smiled lightly, "no promises but I will try." He chuckled.

"I guess that's all I can ask for." You mumbled letting him go and fixing his blanket. Jim grinned, "I'd hate to scare the big sister I've never wanted," he said cheekily. A low laugh made you both look up to the end of the biobed. McCoy stood there, arms crossed and a smile playing on his lips. "Good to see you awake Jim," he said walking around so he stood beside you. "Bones looks like you only pulled my ass halfway out of the fire this time," Jim said with a grin. Leonard hummed in agreement, he placed a hand on your shoulder, "do you mind if I steal this one for a bit?" He asked and if Jim's smiled could grow bigger it would have.

"Course Bones! She didn't sleep at all by the way," he tattled. You shot him a glare as you were pulled from your stool, "traitor," you hissed. Jim's laughter echoed behind you as you were being guided out of medbay to the officer's mess. On the way, you passed by Spock whose eyes were glued to a Padd, “Lieutenant Commander (Y/L/N), Doctor.” he greeted formally. “Hey Spock, Jim’s awake if you wanted to see him,” you greeted. The Vulcan gave a nod and moved to continue on, “Oh, and give him a nice long lecture on how he needs to wear gloves when coming in contact with foreign flora.” You called after him. Spock hesitated before nodding again; he pulled up your report and disappeared into medbay. “Rat me out again Kirk,” you dared. Leonard snickered and gave a snort, “He’s going to be hearing about this for the next couple of hours, you know that right?” he asked as you both got moving again. “Yup. Don’t hate the player and all that,” you grinned skipping ahead of him a little bit.

#star trek aos #james t kirk #leonard mccoy #leonard mccoy x reader #unedited #so many typos

31 notes · View notes

itskaysno · 5 years

Note

ok! so my idea was jack and ryan talking about being immortal or something like that? sorry this is my first time prompting somebody

Hey anon! I know you didn’t say cowboy au but I heard it. Don’t worry I got you.

Words: 2.5k

There aren’t many things that can surprise Jack anymore. He was born and raised in the wildest thickets of the West and he’d become Sheriff over a lawless land to bring it to order.

He’s damn near seen everything that one could think of.

He’d never thought that he’d see the Vagabond crying over him but there he is. James Ryan Haywood himself crying quietly above him while little droplets of his tears hit Jack’s face. Jack stares at him in wonder.

“Am I dead or somethin’?” he wonders out loud and then lets out a hoarse curse as his head impacts with the hard ground, his eyes closing again as colors burst between his eyelids. “What the fuck did you do that for?”

The silence is what really tips him off that something ain’t right. Ryan isn’t really the type of man to let any kind of question go unanswered and he never let the opportunity to talk Jack’s ear off go unused. He opens his eyes again and Ryan is staring at him.

His face is pale and drawn with a furrow in between his wide blue eyes. The expensive clothes that Ryan wears are now torn and dirty almost beyond recognition and there’s blood slowly trickling down from a cut above his eyebrow. Jack drags himself up to a sitting position even though it nearly makes him throw up.

Ryan kneels down next to him, quick as a flash. “Here, you’re gonna need something to drink,” he says, bringing his cateen up to Jack’s lips with a shaking hand.

Jack takes a sip to try to assuage him but then realizes just how thirsty he actually is. He takes over for Ryan and has to make a conscious effort to not drink every last bit of it. When he slowly brings down the significantly lighter canteen he finds Ryan staring at him intently.

He doesn’t look surprised or scared anymore. Instead there’s a look that Jack has only seen once or twice before when the two of them had accidently been trying to outsmart a group of bandits who’ve been terrorizing nearby towns. It’s a look of calculation or something close to it.

“What happened?” Jack asks, slowly looking around them.

In front of them there’s a roaring campfire with smoke drifting off into the quickly dimming afternoon sky. There are several logs placed around the fire as if whoever is looking after it is getting ready to make it last for as long as possible. Ryan’s horse Flash is laying down with a red blanket layed over it. His eyes are closed but his ears flicker around.

“What’s the last thing that you remember?” Ryan asks.

Jack takes a deep breath, “I was on the way to try and find that horse thief that I told you about a few weeks back. I saw him draw a gun on me and I went to duck. Now I’m here.”

Ryan stares at him for a long moment before he starts cursing low under his breath, walking away from Jack shaking his head. Jack watches him go - he’s more than used to Ryan’s small outbursts. It’s more than worth it for the brilliance and the help that he’s brought to Jackston

He really does need to get up though. His legs are stiff and aching and his back is damn near killing him from laying on the hard dirt for a spell. He makes his way up and over to the campfire and collapses onto one of the logs

The heat of the campfire hits him like a furnace and his entire body quakes as the warmth spreads through him like a wildfire. Huh, he hadn’t even realized he’d been that cold. He glances back over towards Ryan.

Ryan has stopped his pacing and his shoulders heave in a sigh before squaring up and heading towards him. If he’s about to tell Jack that he’s killed that man in some sort of weird atoning way then it’ll be the weirdest day that he’s ever had.

Instead Ryan walks up to him and then drops down to his knees. His face is solemn and serious, his hat placed over his heart, and the joke that Jack had been about to make gets caught in his throat.

“You didn’t duck.”

Jack stares at him for a long moment before reaching up to try to clean out his left ear with his finger. “Excuse me?”

Ryan clears his throat. “When that man shot you…it went straight through your head Jack. I’m so sorry.”

If it was any other man Jack would’ve called them an asshole and moved on with a laugh. This is Ryan though who had snapped at one of Jack’s deputies when they had made poked at him for saying a small prayer over a dead bandit. Ryan who treated death as if it would strike him like a rattlesnake from the underbrush if he didn’t respect it.

He wouldn’t joke about this but Jack can’t help but crack a half-smile, “Well, this sure as hell don’t feel much like the heaven I imagined.”

Ryan doesn’t smile back - in fact he just looks miserable. The redness around his eyes haven’t faded yet which gives his whole face the awful impression that he’d just come back from a funeral.

“It doesn’t feel like the one I’d imagined either,” Ryan says, his hand hesitantly settling on Jack’s knee. “I’m sorry but this is about the only one that you’ve got for now.”

Ryan steadily meets his gaze and anger suddenly flares up in his gut. It was just like Ryan to suddenly come out of nowhere with this kind of upsetting joke.

“Don’t you start joking about those kinds of things,” Jack says and Ryan stares steadily back at him. His lips don't’ curl up into a half-smirk like they usually do on his meaner jokes. “I’m serious. This isn’t funny.”

Ryan stares at him for a second longer before he laughs his head bowing down to hide his grin. “I almost had you though didn’t I huh?”

The relief that bubbles up in Jack’s stomach makes him slap Ryan’s shoulder. “That was so fucking mean! Don’t do that shit Ryan!”

“I won’t do it again, I promise. It’s just how many opportunities like this does one have?”

Jack rolls his eyes but nevertheless helps Ryan up when he holds out a hand. “I’ll forgive it if you give me a ride back to town but if you ever do that again my boot will be in your ass you hear me?”

“I hear you,” Ryan laughs walking towards Flash to wake him up, the next sentence barely hits Jack’s ears but sends a shiver down his spine from the morose tone. “I hear you.”

“Creepy bastard,” Jack mumbles to himself.

The few hours it takes to get back to get to the town is far quieter than it usually is between the two of them. Ryan deep in thought and hopefully a bit of remorse as he walks next to Flash and Jack.

Jack wants to say a couple of things more than once but he resolves to leave it between them. It was a harmless joke in poor taste which he’d seen and heard more than a few times. It would be unfair to hold this one against the man.

When they make it Jack heads his way towards his jail to check up on things and Ryan disappears into the (what the fuck where inns called? Hotels yet?? check) like he usually does.

The rest of the night it’s like there’s a burr in Jack’s boot though. His mind racing as he gets more and more time to slowly go through the scene that had happened earlier instead of the knee jerk reaction. Ryan had been in traveling shows before - Jack knows - hell he’d met him while Ryan was in the traveling circus throwing knives. He’d seen the tattered copies of plays that Ryan kept in his luggage.

Ryan could put on a show but him crying? That had seemed so real.

Finally when his watch tells him that he’d been thinking about this for more than three hours he makes his way towards Ryan’s room. The sun has fully set and the saloon is full of people and the noise makes him peek his head in. It’s the average sort of chaos that occurs when a bunch of men get drunk together. Nothing that required him to step in and put off talking to Ryan.

The disappointment and anxiety in his gut at not having to stop makes him cringe at himself. He wasn’t really the type to get nervous bout talking to people but he had no idea how to talk about this topic.

He gives Maria a friendly wave as he walks through her lobby and she gives him a smile before she moves into the backroom. Jack slowly climbs the stairs to the second floor and makes his way towards Ryan’s room.

The deep breath that he takes does nothing to settle his nerves but he knocks anyway.

There’s the quiet sound of muffled cursing and a long bang before the door opens. Ryan stares at him for a long second. “Is there something you need Sheriff?”

“I was wondering if I could talk to you for a few minutes?”

Ryan grimances looking back towards his room. “I - Can this wait or does this need to happen right now?”

“You got a lady in here?” Jack asks faux seriously and Ryan laughs.

“Nah, nothing like that. I’m just packing and it’s a mess. I’m sure that I could make a place for us to sit down.” He gestures for Jack to go ahead and come inside before darting back into the room.

Jack follows him automatically and then suddenly what Ryan had said hits him over the head. “Wait, did you say that you’re packing?”

He glances around the room and there’s a few piles of folded laundry on the bed and on the chairs next to the stand alone table. The sorting system is beyond Jack.

Ryan hums, moving things from the chairs. “I got a telegraph from a friend. He said that he needed me to head back to San Francisco as soon as I can.”

Jack’s gut clenches. “Do you - Do you think that you’ll come back?”

There’s a long moment where Ryan puts down one of his beloved plays and looks at him. The low light of the candle isn’t enough so that Jack can make out his expression but the quiet moment of silence tells him more than enough.

He strides across the room and kisses Ryan. The same way that he’s kissed him more than thirty times in the few months that Ryan has been here. The panic is slowly settling in his stomach.

Ryan responds as easily as he ever does. The guilt that threatens to choke Jack not even seeming to touch him. Then just as quickly as the kiss had come Ryan gently pulls away. His forehead finding Jack’s and resting there.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone but I’ll come back so none of that,” Ryan says, gently mocking him. “I’ll be sure to write letters though so don’t change your address.”

Jack laughs a little. He’ll never leave (insert town here) and they both know it.

For a second though he thinks about it. Going with Ryan to see this friend of his with him. To go more than a week away without worry gnawing away at his gut.

Ryan pulls away. “What was it that you were going to talk to me about?”

“Oh,” Jack says, moving back in for another kiss, “Nothing important.”

That morning he sees Ryan off on the 8am carriage towards San Francisco and then he gets himself back to work. He gets a letter two weeks later that’s four pages long and makes him smile wider than he has in a long while.

A week after that he finds himself in a shootout.

He aims at the man who had just killed one of the finest locksmiths that resided in the South and fires. The loud bang of the gun goes off and -

Jack doesn’t actually remember much about it after it happens.

He does know this though. Screams bounce around in coffins, his nails become bloodied and bruised only to be magically fine the next time he wakes up.

Dying from asphyxiation is it’s own kind of hell that he never wants to repeat but dying from a mouthful of dirt is even worse.

He doesn’t know how long he stays stuck in that limbo. His body is six feet below and too weak to make any progress up until something hard hits him square in the stomach. Then dirt slowly starts to disappear off of him and then hands start traveling up his body.

He has just enough sense of mind to think about how fucked up it would be if these were grave robbers who happened to stumble onto his animated corpse when suddenly he’s faced with the overwhelming light of a lantern.

“He’s alive! See I told you!”

It doesn’t matter that it sounds like it’s through several layers of cotton. Jack would recognize that voice anywhere. His eyes catch on Ryan’s baby blues ones and suddenly his eyes are burning in emotion. If he had the energy he’d be crying.

“Jack? Jack, you go ahead and rest now. We’ll get you out of here.”

Despite the ever creeping weakness Jack manages to nod his head. A hand smooths back his hair.

He closes his eyes and lets the soft embrace of nothingness take him away.

The next few weeks go by as if he’s in a daze. They make their way to San Francisco and Jack idly wonders at the huge amount of people coming and going from place to place. A fight breaks out in front of them on the way towards Geoff’s house. His hand reaches for his badge and closes around empty space.

He ignores Ryan’s concerned look and puts his hand back in his lap. Blood and teeth splatter onto the ground before they turn the corner.

Ryan tiptoes around him like he’s worried that Jack will break if he approaches him directly. Geoff - that friend that Ryan was talking about apparently - is much more direct but Jack can’t quite comprend what he’s trying to say.

Then, one day he blinks himself back into existence. He’s in Geoff’s sitting room a book that he can’t remember opening laying down on his lap. Geoff and Ryan are quietly playing chess by the window.

“I’m ready to hear what you have to say,” he says, and Ryan’s head whips around towards him.

Geoff slowly makes a move on the chess board before turning to him with a small smile hiding under a huge beard, “Well, then. It’s nice to finally meet you, Jack Patillo.”

#Anonymous #kay writes a fic #immortal au #ryack #ragehappy

35 notes · View notes

isleofancients · 2 years

Note

an extended moment of silence, looking from Q, to him. "respectable," they mutter at last, slumping slowly, regardless. "okay. it's, a lot. but here goes."

"Kiru is Nouveau's creator," the words sound dull to them, and feel hollow. "I mentioned that she was used to seal the spreading nothing, but I don't blame you if you don't remember. You were kind of shaken at the time. Pink is this multiverse's Fresh- er, not- I mean, he was the main? Original? Probably anyway... Just, know that he was the one Q knew, and still knows. The one who was in her head right before he... jettisoned, as I remember it, and threw her in." A sigh, shifting their wings enough to nearly block them from view. Definitely hiding, whether they recognized it or not. "It was fourth wall stuff, from my end. So my memory's not exactly perfect."

"But. Umbra and Happy..."

"When Umbra finally met Q face to face- I guess he hadn't until then- it sounds like he had a pure fear response. Like a man looking into the face of the devil himself, from the way Q described his reaction. From everything Umbra knew, and everything Q had been told, that multiverse's Error-" the words trail off into a quiet, "you know," before continuing with, "But I guess neither of them knew what to make of the reaction."

"-after i got back, i'd, uh, showered. and... spent some time with Green." Definitely a trace of guilt, here. "I should've gone straight to check on Happy, but- since I still had time before he'd need more candy-"

"after Dŵr. I just wanted to hold onto my emerald for a while. a couple hours. just-"

A hesitation, then a sigh. "And I guess Huitzi took Happy to meet Q at some point while I wasn't around. Happy, he got protective. Saw Q and refused to let Huitzi near him. Glared, got glowery... created way too much light and even left strings of light-stuff over Q's doorway. Pretty much made it clear that that meeting wasn't happening."

"-considering the uh, the likely 'relationship' between Dŵr and Flare? It made sense. But again... no one knew that. I was, honestly surprised that Q didn't know anything," this, a bit distracted, as they reflect on it again. "He keeps an eye on stuff around the center, and him not seeing me get picked up or dropped off, or-" a half hearted shrug.

"I told him that there had been two Errors in that multiverse. And some stuff about Dŵr."

"...probably I shouldn't have. Considering, this."

Quiet follows for all of a moment, before the lich shifts, forcing themself to lower their wings enough to look over them... at the doctor. at their friend.

"I've had reason to believe that Kiru was lying about being Q's creator," they admit, the words... dreading, at the very least. "So I told him that, and asked for his help proving it. Getting answers. It wasn't something I could do alone-"

"He uh, didn't give it much credit. But he and I still went to the most recent world that I was sure she'd created, so he could cross examine its code against his own, for her 'signature.'"

"... I don't remember exactly what order we talked about stuff in. Or even everything that was said. I did tell him that I'd seen Dŵr, and was certain the guy was his alternate. I mentioned too what Kiru had done to Glaze's soul- how she'd fucked with it to force her ship-"

"That was about the time he stood up, and said that the code wasn't a match. He'd already been acting stiff, sort of jerky in his movements, and I hadn't made the connection that something was wrong." Their lips thin briefly, as their gaze turns to the prone Q, then away again, clearly feeling guilty. "He said he was going to talk to Pink, and dropped me back off at the center."

"-but like I said, he was only gone for seconds. Then he came back like this, just falling into his bed. I kinda, panicked. Pleaded with him not to crash. And when it was clear that that wasn't going to work..."

"I, called you."

Rasse nods as you speak, logging the information away. He grabs a scanner and holds it over Q's heaving chest, carefully wiping away the sweat beading on his feverish brow.

"The kind of spell Kiru used on them is quite insidious." He says conversationally. "It digs deep into the soul, lodging with many small arms extended like roots to many areas, but mostly to the section of magic regarding memory, emotional regulation, and inhibition."

The scanner goes off like a siren and Rasse nods, pocketing it.

"It forcibly alters the victims perspective towards the intended target to encourage romantic inclinations as well as stunts their ability to hold themselves back from acting on it. It makes them wish to mold themselves to suit their intended and removes the capacity to refuse them." He says, raising the sides of the cot and leaning down to unlock the rolling brakes. "The change is gradual but dramatic enough for those closest to notice, but if they bring it up or dare to suggest they are being bewitched, it makes them fervently deny it and if insisted upon they will become enraged and push them away, sometime violently. The only way for them to realize they've been cursed is if they do so themselves. This partially breaks the spell but also the soul itself, the roots of the magic woven too intricately through to do anything but shatter it."

"It is survivable," He says. "But will leave them changed. Their memory of the relationship will become twisted, their emotions will dramatically heighten and the inhibition needed to resist those emotions will be significantly weakened. This will improve given time, but whatever is done first will likely be something they regret forever. But, luckily, you found Q unconscious. And even more luckily, the majority of the damage can be repaired with immediate but extensive soul surgery. And that happens to be my specialty."

"I'm prescribing you a large dose of comfort and affection." Rasse says, rolling Q down towards the familiar surgery door. "Please go fill it with your nearest friend or loved one."

"He would've found out eventually." He says softer, sparing you a gentle smile. "But thanks to you, he has a chance to survive intact. You did not cause this, Bells. Without you, this might've been so, so much worse."

The surgery doors start to close.

"I'll keep you updated. Stay safe."

They are gone.

#tw magical manipulation #tw mutilation #worldbuilding #glaze info #q info

1 note · View note

lifeisdabubbles-undersalmondean · 3 years

Text

La Pomme ~ Chapter 13

Pairing: Sam x OC (eventual Dean x OC and Dean x Castiel. And I mean eventual.)

Series summary: George is a casual French-Mistake-universe Supernatural fan living in no-COVID 2020, who's life is upended when she's suddenly launched between realities, two years into the boys' past (S13E22). What begins as an insane, immersive fan experience turns into more when Jack goes missing and George offers up her AU information to help track him down. Soon it's discovered that she and Sam may actually have history. But that's impossible, right?

Word Count: 3,800

Warnings: {smut, fluff, angst, show level violence, swearing, mentions of suicide} ***Detailed warnings will be tagged for specific chapters.

A/N: Following the events of my prequel Paradise and second story From My Eyes Off. Reading those first gives context but isn’t necessary to start this one.

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

Early the next morning, they'd all gotten outta bed a little sluggish but showered and dressed quickly. George was moving extra slow because what little sleep she did get had been plagued by nightmares. Typically she could remember even the smallest details of her incredibly vivid dreams for hours after she awoke, but this time the only thing she could focus on was a lingering sense of panic, like she was being hunted by something dangerous.

The exhaustion ended up being a blessing, though, because Sam and George were both too tired to be awkward around each other while they got ready. As he showered, George dressed in her new clothes; the dark bootcut jeans, maroon v-neck long sleeved tee, and Friends hoodie. She gave a little knock on the bathroom door to let Sam know that the coast was clear, before sitting down to slip on her new black tennis shoes.

He emerged a few moments later dressed in a dark blue and white flannel and dark blue jeans, his wet hair slicked back and out of his face. That damn sexy beard was still there, too; still wet from the shower.

Oh my. Her eyes went wide, feeling the temperature in the room skyrocket. Sam must have caught her reaction because he looked down at himself curiously.

"What?" He wondered.

"Er--nothing! Sorry." She mumbled, quickly turning away to hide her smirk.

That's all the caffeine my libido needed.

While she fanned herself discreetly, she gathered up her things. Once she was sure she had everything--including the teddy--Sam threw on his chocolate brown jacket and they left the room, meeting up with Dean and Cas at the car. Everyone was ready to hit the road by sunrise.

They stopped at the Carrier Bistro, another Carson City gem, for a quick breakfast because Sam and George were starving. Matching their car seating arrangements, Dean and Sam sat on one side of the booth, Cas and George sat across from them. Castiel got water, George got iced tea, a waffle, and a side of eggs, Sam got an egg white omelet, and Dean, who'd already eaten nearly half the pie George bought for him, ordered some toast and a side of bacon (because a little grease is the perfect thing to top off a ton of sugar in the morning). Both brothers also ordered 'the world's largest coffee or the next best thing.'

When the waiter left, George filled them in on her adventures the night before.

"Once I left you guys, I tried taking the cab to my mom's house but no one was there. The house didn't even look the same, but I know it was the right address. Same thing for my dad's house, the house I grew up in across town, and the condo my brother recently bought. They all looked different and no one I recognized was there. So, I decided to try researching my family to see if I could track down where they were and that's when I found that." She gestured at the article she'd found about the house fire that was set on the table between them.

"That's why you went to the college?" Dean confirmed.

George seemed surprised, "Yea… how did yo-"

"It's what we do," He responded coolly, taking a sip of his coffee when the waiter dropped their drinks off.

"We tracked you down through the cab company," Sam reminded her. After a beat she remembered him mentioning it the night before, nodding affirmatively.

"Ran into Stacey," Dean interjected with a smirk, George's eyes went a little wide in surprise. "She was helpful, pointed us in the direction of the diner. But-uh, she asked us to pass on a message." He took a sip of his coffee, shooting eyes at Sam.

A faint blush creeped onto her cheeks and she chuckled nervously, avoiding Sam's gaze, "Oh?"

Sam cleared his throat nervously, "Uh, yea, she just wanted us to tell you to, uh, lose her number?" He tried to seem nonchalant and uninterested. Dean was grinning from ear to ear, staring with open curiosity at her.

Her expression was a cross between indignation and guilt as she asked, "What?! Why? What did you say to her?"

Sam looked pointedly at Dean, who was now trying to look innocent and answered, "Nothing! We said we were trying to find a missing person whose boyfriend wa-"

"You told her I have a boyfriend?! Ugh, Dean!" George laughed and rolled her eyes. The three of them were looking at her expectantly, so she explained, "Without a student ID they weren't going to let me in, so… I had to find another way," She batted her eyelashes exaggeratedly at them.

"So, what, you blinked at her?" Dean chuckled at his own joke as she reached across the table to slap his arm.

"No, I used the only resources I had at my disposal," She clarified pointedly. When they still seemed confused, she sat up straight and pushed her chest out with a clearing of her throat.

"Oohhh, I see! Your resources. Got it," Dean gave her an exaggerated wink and took another drink of his coffee.

"Yea! And now you've told her I have a boyfriend and she thinks I'm an asshole!"

"I got the impression she just thought you were confused," Dean offered helpfully.

"Oh my god! Damn it, Dean!" George laughed in annoyance.

"Why does it matter?" He laughed indignantly right back. "Were you planning on pursuing that? I think I saw a payphone back in Reno if you'd like us to drop you off on our way to Jack."

George 'grr'ed at him and shook her head, "That's not the point! I am not confused about my sexuality and I don't cheat on my partners, which--thanks to you--is now what Stacey thinks! Not exactly the kind of thing I want becoming canon."

"Relax, flirting isn't cheating," Dean waved her off flippantly.

George's nostrils flared and she smiled condescendingly, "Well, thanks for warning me about your standards, but I'm not talking about the flirting." Sam snorted loudly and tried not to laugh, clearing his throat exaggeratedly when Dean gave him a dirty look. Having paused to hold back her own laughter, she explained, "I… sort of flashed her in order to get login credentials to use the computer."

Sam and Dean jumped in surprise as the waiter walked up at that moment, dropped their food, and refilled the coffee swiftly. George, sweet smile plastered on her face, buttered and syruped her waffle in silence. Castiel seemed to be calculating the ramifications of that statement, Sam was blushing, and Dean was stunned to silence. Cutting a piece, she nodded affirmatively and then took a bite, chewing with a big, closed mouthed grin as they all processed.

"Ohhhhh! You used your resources," Dean finally said slowly and with great emphasis. Then he nodded slowly in appreciation, "Not bad," he stamped his approval before shoveling a bacon into his mouth. George blushed a bit but smiled again with a small eye roll, before tipping an imaginary hat at him. She glanced at Sam briefly to gauge his reaction, before taking another bite. His expression was indiscernible, but he looked more curious than disgusted, so that was promising.

Castiel waited for them to eat a few bites in awkward, contemplative silence before asking curiously, "You 'flashed her' what? Do you have a fake badge of some kind?"

Sam choked on his omelet and Dean snorted into his coffee. Laughing nervously, George glanced between them, suddenly seeming slightly embarrassed about the situation for the first time. Having done it was one thing, having to describe it was another.

Looking back at Castiel she answered, "Flashing is uh,... it's when you… you just kind of, you just, you lift your shirt up for a minute. Or whatever."

Castiel didn't understand, "You lift your shirt 'up?' Up where? Why is that a form of currency suitable for trade?"

It had been her literal job for the past 10 years to educate and communicate on sex, but being questioned by an angel was like going to confession on steroids. Even though his tone was purely curious, she felt inexplicably judged. And she was agnostic!

She thought about it for a moment, noting the total lack of assist from the still recovering brothers across the table and finally just stated matter of factly, "Oh fuck it, I lifted my shirt over my chest and showed her what was underneath." When he still looked confused, she clarified further, "My breasts, Castiel. I showed her my breasts. That's what flashing is. And in exchange for letting her look at my breasts, she logged me into a computer. There."

Dean took another bite of bacon to stifle his laughter after asking, "Curious, if you wanted that 'becoming canon?'" George flipped him the bird before stealing one bacon as retribution.

Castiel seemed to understand the explanation but asked, "How did you know she was interested in seeing your breasts?"

George snorted, patting his arm patronizingly, and ever-so-humbly saying, "Uh, let's just say I had a hunch," then glanced again at the brothers who both shook their heads in amusement.

Sam cleared his throat and finally found his voice again, "I think what Cas means is, ho-how did you know she was… interested in-in your chest-" Sam stuttered, glancing at Dean who snickered, "Er, I mean, not like that! I meant-"

"You meant, how did I know she was gay?" George clarified kindly, to which Sam nodded in thanks. She shrugged, "Well, I didn't for sure, but queer people can usually sense our friends." She gave Dean a discreet smirk and once over before continuing, "Based on that, and some of her more apparent interests, I took a shot. Not the worst experience, all things considered; certainly lucked out that she was cute and friendly."

No one was quite sure how to respond until Dean commented with a mouth full of toast, "I guess she was cute, if you like girls with heavy theatre makeup."

George furrowed her brow, "What? She wasn't wearing that much makeup."

"I guess that's subjective; all that pink blush everywhere was too much for my taste," He shook his head with a shrug.

George and Sam shared an annoyed eye roll and he corrected quickly, "Dean, that wasn't makeup. She had vitiligo."

"Viti-what-o?"

George swatted at him again, "Vitiligo, loser! It's a condition where you lose skin color in patches because the pigmentation cells die."

"Oh," Dean said, intrigued. He thought about it for a minute and then said, "Then you're right, she was cute. Do you still have that number?"

"Oh wow," George blurted, rubbing a hand over her face and chuckling. "Sorry guy, she was definitely a lesbian."

"Anyway!" Sam interjected to save them all from his perverted brother.

Still chucking, George picked the conversation back up on his cue, "Anyway, after the flashing she logged me into a computer and I was able to find out all about my nonexistence," She made an exaggerated sneer, as though the idea offended her. "So, mom's parents: dead in a house fire supposedly due to faulty wiring. Over on my dad's side, I had to go all the way back three generations where I discovered that my great grandfather succumbed to illness on the battlefield during WWI before he'd had any children. Other than my Aunt Lorna, who by all accounts is alive somewhere, the entire family I grew up with doesn't exist." She paused and took a sip of her drink, trying to swallow down her emotions.

"I'm sorry, George," Sam reached over and placed his hand over hers consolingly, the other two giving her sympathetic looks. She smiled softly at the touch, turning her hand over in his and squeezing in gratitude. When she noticed the raised brow on Dean's face, she cleared her throat and pulled her hand away to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I was just kind of in shock when I found everything." She paused to take a thoughtful bite of her scrambled eggs before continuing, "Not shock actually… more like, happy surprise? I was kinda relieved, if I'm honest." Sam and she shared another knowing glance before she continued, "Like, I can focus on helping you guys now because I know nothing is holding me back. I have no family to worry about. I'm completely, totally… utterly, and… 100 percent alone here," As she said it the internal struggle between relief and spiraling panic boiled up again.

Sam frowned, but Castiel was the one who offered comfort, "You're not alone, George."

"Thanks, Castiel," She sighed in frustration and put her fork down, suddenly losing her appetite. "What I mean is, I just felt this strange sense of acceptance and…" she struggled to find the right words to describe an indescribable feeling. "Purpose? It was like 'OK, my family isn't here, I don't have anyone who might be worrying about me, so now I can focus on what I'm supposed to do'. I mean I've always felt different; I never fit in much. I was always the weird kid and didn't have many friends, and holy shit my family. Ya know, I love 'em but--and this sounds bad, so excuse the obvious lack of humility here--I just always felt like the sane patient in the asylum, ya know? It--Ya know what, not the time to get into it," She had sounded like she was headed off on a tangent but pulled herself back.

"When I found all this information last night, I--I…I don't really know how to explain it," She and Sam shared a quick knowing glance before she continued, "but while I should have felt devastated, I mostly felt relief. Like I finally could breathe in all the way because I'm where I'm supposed to be? It was also confirmation that the only people I knew in this universe were the people I was already with, and already helping! Bonus," She finished with a hesitant, confused chuckle. She knew how crazy she sounded. The look Dean was giving her seemed to indicate he felt the same. "Don't ask me to explain it because I have no idea," giving a defeated shrug, she continued, "anyway, I knew you guys were going to find me soon, so I printed the article and left--not before Stacey gave me her number--and headed over to Brown Cub for your food," Dean tipped his imaginary hat to her. "Then I got the room, stripped off those crusty ass clothes, and took the best shower of my life. Then you showed up."

"What do you mean you *knew* we'd find you soon?" Castiel questioned.

"What?" She'd stolen another piece of Dean's bacon and had to dodge his swatting. "What do you mean?"

"How did you know we would find you?"

"Oh, I didn't know-know, I just...figured? I mean, like Dean said, it's what you do--the Winchesters and Castiel, ya know? You've got a certain set of skills," She cracked, winking at Sam and then shrugged, "I knew it wouldn't be long before you'd be able to track me down."

Castiel pressed, "How could we track you down? We don't even know your last name and you don't have a cell phone. How did you know we were coming?" George gave Sam and Dean a raised eyebrow, not understanding why Cas was semi-interrogating her.

Dean felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and pulled it out to see Garth calling. He excused himself from the table to answer it.

"I...I mean, I didn't know you were coming. I just-"

"Tell me more about your instincts feeling heightened? And your sense of purpose? Do you know what this 'purpose' might be?" He questioned her.

Thinking he was just being a concerned friend, George shook her head helplessly, "No, not really. Honestly, I--"

He cut her off to ask matter-of-factly, "Do you have any Enochian protection symbols on your person?"

She was confused by the question, "What, like a tattoo? No, I told you I wasn't that big of a fan--"

"Could be a tattoo, could be something burned into your skeletal structure, maybe?"

"Not that I'm aware of?" George smirked in confusion, glancing at Sam for any explanation. His feeble shrug in response offered no clarity.

"Because, when I try to read you, you're fuzzy--"

"Sorry--I'm fuzzy when you try and read me?" George looked indignant.

"Hey, we got problems." Dean had returned from his phone call and seemed agitated. "That was Garth. He joined Carol and Suzie on the recon like we asked and they saw the demon pack grab a 12 year old boy for lunch. They stormed in and nearly got themselves killed saving him."

"Jesus," George commented with a frown.

"Are they--" Sam began with concern.

Anticipating his question, Dean cut him off, "They're safe for right now but they're hurt and pretty sure the pack tailed them. They need help. I tried mom and Bobby but they're tracking something near Fresno, closer to us than them and..." Dean paused heavily, giving George an indiscernible expression.

"And?!" Sam asked impatiently.

Dean sighed, "Carol thinks she saw Jack with the demons while they were trying to escape."

"What?!" George and Sam exclaimed simultaneously. George's was far more indignant than Sam's.

"Carol says that when they went in to rescue the boy, they passed other rooms. Most were empty but she swears she saw someone who looked an awful lot like Jack in one. By the time she saw him, they were running with the kid, so she can't be a hundred percent sure b--"

"Well, I'm a hundred percent sure Carol needs her eyes checked!" George blurted out, before retracting her neck and looking apologetic, "Sorry, that was unnecessary. Carol is lovely and I'm sure it was a terrifying situation." She paused and then looked at Dean with a pleading expression, "That being said: she's WRONG! I just finished spilling my guts out to you about an identity crisis over the fact that my entire family doesn't exist! And the one good thing that came out of it is that now I know I'm meant to be here! The only answer I'm missing is why I'm here and helping you both--finding jack--that's the only answer that makes any sense. It's why I feel so strongly about going to Oregon with you. Think about it, what other reason could there possibly be for this weird ass situation if not to help you locate Jack?" Sam gulped a bit, a few suggestions running through his mind quickly. Dean was contemplating her words, weighing his options carefully. George sighed and continued, "Listen, I don't know who Carol saw, but I. Promise. You. It wasn't Jack! We need to keep going; we are headed the right way, I know it! Jack--"

"Is in danger and if we don't find him soon he could die, George," Dean sounded stern. He was irritated, but trying not to raise his voice. "We can't risk it!"

George took his new, huffy tone as a personal challenge, matching it with some added neck twists for emphasis, "Which is exactly why we need to keep going toward Oregon, because that's where he is!"

"Both of you, to your corners!" Castiel scolded suddenly, both of them looking about ready to punch the other. "Our primary goal is to find Jack and get him home safe. We have two leads and enough people to follow both. I'll go back to the motel and see if I can find a car to borrow, and head to Butte. The three of you keep following George's lead."

"Cas--"

"No arguments. Enough time has been wasted and, you're right, Dean, he's in danger. That being said," Cas cut Dean off when he tried to interrupt, "George is right, too."

"I am?" George was surprised by the support.

"She is?!" Dean was suspect.

"Yes. It's clear she feels very strongly about Jack being in Oregon and I trust her."

"I do, too," Sam agreed.

George's eyes went wide at the both of them, "You do?" 'Surprised' didn't even begin to cover it.

"Yes, I do," Castiel answered definitively. "Now, you should settle the bill and get going. If you find Jack--"

"We'll call you right away," Sam finished understandingly as he stood up from the booth to handle the check. He stepped away, leaving George to sit in a state of semi-shock, silently mulling over the concept of trust.

Dean's brow was furrowed, staring at the table intently. After a minute he nodded, addressing Cas, "I'll walk you out."

The two men began to head for the exit, and George leapt up, "Wait!" She stepped in front of Cas and looked him over, "OK, um, OK, look, I-I'm nervous about you leaving but I get it, I guess," She shot Dean a dirty look over Cas' shoulder. "Just… please be careful. Don't do anything stupid, OK? If you think to yourself 'Dean would do that!' do the opposite, yes?"

As Dean rolled his eyes, Castiel smiled kindly in response to her concern. With a gentle nod he assured, "I'll be careful. I think it goes without saying that I want you all," he looked at Dean over his shoulder pointedly, "to do the same."

George nodded in agreement and hesitated before throwing her arms around him and hugging tightly. Cas stood in place, receiving her hug awkwardly. Not until George suggested he hug back did he carefully lift his arms and pat her on the back quickly. When she let go, she gave him a nervous grimace and the two men left.

#sam winchester fanfiction #sam winchester #sam winchester fanfic #sam winchester x original character #sam winchester x original female character #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural fanfic #spn fanfic series #spn fanfiction

0 notes