#the old guard fanfiction

[annie-creates]

Never felt like dying

Pairing: Andromache of Scythia x reader

Genre: fluff

Words: 1200

Note: I'm back with another Andromache fic. I don't condone abuse so that fic won't have another part but here's a better one for you. Thank you all for the support and love I'm getting.

“Get your ass back in the game Y/n,” you’ve heard for what felt like the hundredth time.

Andromache was never too soft with you, that could anyone confess. It was hard to tell if it was because she tried really hard to make you one of the best warriors in the field, or if she just genuinely didn’t like you. Your money would be on the second option. Your coming onto the team was much less than ideal, but they couldn’t exactly kick you out even if they wanted to. Or maybe they could and that’s why you put up with the harsh orders rather than test her patience.

“Look alive!” Andy commanded with another set of punches into your stomach you could hardly defend against. “You don’t want to be a burden to our mission, do you?!”

“No…” you answered, insecure face to face with the greatest warrior in human history.

“You don’t want to jeopardize anyone in a fight, do you?!” She asked again.

“No,” you had trouble keeping eye contact when she got so worked up.

“Then pick up your slack, we can’t keep babying you,” Andy seemed she’d happily continue scolding you if she wasn’t interrupted.

“Hey you two, dinner’s ready. Wrap it up for today,” called Joe from the door, your savior for today. “How’s it goin’?” he asked Andy as she passed him.

“I wish I could say it’s going anywhere…” she wasn’t venomous, but her words still hurt you.

It wasn’t like you weren’t trying to get better, every day you got up early to train with the punching bag or run a few laps before most of them even woke up. You never opposed in training that took hours on end, leaving with bruises and broken bones almost daily. But whatever you did you didn’t seem to be able to cross the difference in performance between yourself and the rest of the team. Even Nile, who said wasn’t immortal for more than a few decades, was very obviously miles ahead of you.

As you washed your hands and looked over your bruised face with a black eye in the mirror, you didn’t even feel worthy eating with them. Here they were saving the world day after day and you were more of a burden than help to them. Maybe you should stop trying to play the hero, it was painfully obvious you didn’t have what they had and after months, it didn’t seem like you could ever get on their level, even if you kept taking Andromache’s punches for centuries.

“Hey Y/n, you okay?” Joe asked seeing you deep in thought.

“Yea, I’m fine,” you tried to hide the bruises you felt embarrassed about. “I’m not really hungry anymore guys, thank you. Good night.”

You abruptly left the plate you hardly took anything from and almost ran out of the dinning room not leaving any space for argument. You knew everyone was trying to make you feel welcomed, but it was hard fitting into a group who was together for centuries and only just met you. It wasn’t fair expecting them to just accept you in like that either, but you didn’t really have anywhere else to go. Knock on your door snaps you out of your thoughts but you don’t answer, pretending to be asleep. Yet the door opens anyway.

“Can I come in?” Andy asks, there was no way she could be fooled.

“Sure,” you let her in not turning around to look at her.

“You know, when we met Nile, she was a marine cop,” Andromache sits on the edge of your bed nudging your form wrapped in the duvet a little. “And Joe and Nicky literally fought against each other in a war.”

“So?” you say after a heavy sign while she’s lightly smiling after amusing herself.

“So, you shouldn’t feel down just because you’re not as good as they are. They’ve been at this for centuries and even before that, you only just died for the first time…” she wondered off no doubt remembering the time they first met you.

“I bet you wish you didn’t find me back then,” you admit before you can stop and think about what you’re saying.

“That’s not true,” Andy argues with a bit of hurt in her eyes by your words.

“You said it yourself, I’m not getting any better. I’m useless,” you counter, not having a problem being eye to eye with her now.

“Well that was a little over the top…” she admits. “I have to be strict with you in training, that’s how we get better. But it doesn’t mean I hate you… You are part of this team Y/n. And that means we protect you. I always protect you.”

“You’d probably be better off without me,” you say.

“That’s not true. Everyone has a reason why they were chosen for this life, even if you’re not the greatest fighter of all. And I see how hard you work every day, and you have no idea how much I appreciate it,” she seemed very genuine so you decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and believe what she was saying.

The briefing for your next mission came sooner than you’d expect it, and you felt much better about taking the job with everybody else. You still didn’t want for anyone to have to risk for you, so you worked to hold your own as best as possible. In the building however, you quickly counted you were outnumbered and you soon lost the view of who fired which bullet, who threw all the punches and how many wounds you all got. Screams and shouts of order were falling from both sides, soldiers hitting the floor left and right.

“Watch out!” you screamed at Nile pulling her from the trajectory of another bullet.

You saw her shouting something back, but you couldn’t really make out what she was saying. It took a few seconds to register in your brain that something is wrong, and that wrong was a bullet in your chest leaving a wound that was quicky seeping out all your blood. You thought how disappointed they’re gonna be in you before your vision faded into darkness and you hardly heard your own body hit the floor.

You came to yourself in a moving car, unsure of your surroundings for a moment before you realized your head was prompted on somebody’s lap. It was still throbbing but the ringing in your ears was quicky fading. You never felt like dying for someone but now it was inevitable, and something told you that just like it wasn’t the first time, it wasn’t your last either.

“We’ve got her back,” Andromache announced from above you with a relief heavy on her tone. “How you feelin’?”

“Like I was hit by a wall of bricks,” you admit groggily, looking into her happy face as she stroked your hair.

“We’ll work on your self-awareness,“ she promises with a little smile.

“Good, I don’t feel like dying anymore,” you laugh with the team as they take you back to safety.

Andromache was right in one thing, they’ll always have your back.

[goldheartedsky]

Link to Ao3

I know I said I was done with the Cherry Wine!verse, but this fic idea was haunting my brain and I needed to get it out. Thank you so much to @sal-si-puedes for beta-ing this!

MIND THE TAGS!!

[astrabear]

Got a little excerpt of the fic I'm working on, just a little taste, because it makes me happy. (This is the "Nicky kills the sultan" fic I have mentioned before. This bit will be near the end of the first of three chapters. Alternating POV, very relationship-focused although they will be spending half the story apart. Still a rough draft, so very much subject to change.)

Nicolo wondered sometimes how a flock of birds knew it was time to fly, or a school of fish knew where to go.

To be fair - and oh how he resented that, the compulsion to be fair even in the privacy of his own thoughts, where a man should have the freedom to be petulant and self-indulgent if he wished - to be fair, he had never once thought to question it in his mortal life. Birds did as birds would do, and fish the same, according to God's plan. It was Yusuf who brought it to his attention, as he had brought to Nicolo’s attention so many other unexplored assumptions, and by then Nicolo had given over the idea that he knew anything about God's plans.

Since then, he had wondered. Did the beasts have their own way of communicating, which men could not perceive? Was there something in the feel of the air, or the water, that they all sensed at once? Whatever it was, he and Yusuf had developed something similar. They could act in accord without any discussion; they would find themselves in agreement before they even knew there was a decision to be made.

So it was with this. Nicolo left early in the morning, to make the long ride to the nearest village where he could trade for supplies and perhaps pick up a few scraps of news. He thought, as he rode, of the warmth of the bed he had left behind (and of the man in it); the meager crops he carried to barter with; the vast fallow fields he passed with no one to tend them. And in the afternoon there was the long ride back, during which he weighed the new supplies against the upcoming winter, and against the rumors, exaggerations, and fourth-hand reports he’d heard.

Yusuf met him as he guided the horse to the stable, smiling like a sunrise to have him back home. Before he even dismounted Nicolo found himself saying, "I am going to Constantinople. Or whatever they are calling it now. Soon, before the season turns."

His smile dimmed, but Yusuf looked neither sad nor surprised. If anything, he looked as though Nicolo had grandly announced the sky was blue. “I know,” he said. “But I am not going with you.”

There was nothing for Nicolo to do but to echo him. “I know.” And it was true – he had known. They had not discussed it, and Nicolo had spent little time considering it. But this was Yusuf. Of course he had already known.

[negotiumcrucis]

a heart like mine

Joe/Nicky, Omegaverse, Mature (wip)

When Joe’s bag gave way, spilling all its contents on the corridor floor, it took every ounce of willpower not to fall on his knees and weep like a child. Of course, Hana had finally settled down in her carrier, and she continued to sleep despite the crash of a half dozen cans of baby formula hitting the carpet, so Joe merely blinked back unshed tears and took a deep breath, finding his key and unlocking his flat. He left the door ajar as he carefully put Hana’s carrier on the sofa and quickly went back to retrieve the scattered cans.

After the tragic passing of his omega sibling, alpha Joe got custody of his newborn niece. Unfortunately, things weren’t progressing as well as they should and now Joe has found himself in dire need of a wet nurse.

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read @ ao3

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I have a new omegaverse wip... please mind the tags and the author notes!

[lisea18]

Title : Ball and Chain

Author : Lisea18 (me) 

Rating : E 

Pairing : Yusuf / Nicolò; Joe / Nicky 

Summary:

Today, Yusuf is getting married. Today, Yusuf is going to be mated for life. It’s what he always dreamed of… well… almost.

Art by the lovely Grimm18 ( @stop-all-the-clocks​ ) (go give them some love 💖)

Tags : Graphic Depictions Of Violence; Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova; Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani ; Nicky | Nicolò di Genova ; Alternate Universe ; Alternate Universe - No Powers ; Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics ; Omega Verse ; slowish burn ; Top Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani ; Bottom Nicky | Nicolò di Genova ; Arranged Marriage ; Alpha Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani ; Omega Nicky | Nicolò di Genova ; Virgin Nicky | Nicolò di Genova ; Threats of Rape/Non-Con ; but no actual rape ; Attempted Rape/Non-Con ; (not by Yusuf) ; Penetrative Sex ; Anal Sex ; Scenting ; Nesting ; Knotting ; Mating Cycles/In Heat ; Rutting ; Verbal Abuse ; Breeding ; (but not to make children lol) ; Light Bondage ; (arms tied that’s all lol) ; Other Additional Tags to Be Added; if necessary I think I put everything planned that “needs” a tag; slowish burn, slight dubious consent, forced heat

If you enjoy the story, do let me know with a comment 😘

***

New chapter is up :)

[lilolilyr]

can what they feel be called love at first sight, when they learned to love each other before they ever met?

a drabble for @flufftober 2023 day 9: '... at first sight'.

100 words, rated G, no warnings, pre-canon

Read on Ao3

Still taking flufftober prompts, and hopefully I’ll manage a couple longer ficlets again soon! I’m also just 2 fics short of having 100 TOG fics on Ao3 - so prompt me some Andromaquynh or Andronilynh, and maybe I can reach that 100 before the end of the month? :D

[cas-readsandwrites]

Nile: Chapter 2, What We Do Now.

Nile takes a step in her first decision alone in her new life, while the team gears up for a new job with new worries about their captain. A slice-of-life dive into the characters’ lives, following Nile’s 3rd-person POV. Set immediately after the end of the movie and will stretch a few decades into the future as Nile settles into her new life and we see a glimpse of how the guard adjusts to gains, losses, and life between harrowing conflicts. There will be a few nods to the graphic novels throughout but this is mostly my “what happens next” after immediately finishing the movie. Rating: We’ll stick with the movie’s R for language, canon-typical action/violence. Word count: 6.8k AO3 link

One week later

"Hit me again," Andi commanded, standing up and flexing her hands.

Joe looked across at Nicky and hesitated. "Boss-" he started.

"No. Remember. Whatever it takes. We walk in and out together. Every time. Again!" she barked. Nicky next to her shrugged and nodded across at Joe and Nile.

They were practicing hand-to-hand in two against two, trying to match Nile's newness to Andi's experience, but also gradually rethink some of their strategy in a way to cover Andi when needed. Joe and Nicky usually paired together in a fight, having been similarly matched on battlefields in the valleys and mountains surrounding Jerusalem, and knowing the other's body, movements, and reactions as well as their own. But they agreed it was best to practice all settings and groupings, to relearn how their small unit worked best with the addition of Nile. She was surprised to see that she was most like Joe, and their pairing had been effective against Nicky and Andi alone and together as well as the various moving targets they practiced with, clay doves and rubber bullets and other projectiles to hone their reflexes and practice moving forward against a barrage of bullets despite injuries and healing. 

"Hah!" Andi growled and launched herself forward, grappling Joe around the neck, spinning to take him down while launching off his weight to kick backwards at Nile. Nile ducked and knelt to a knee, reaching above her and trying to throw Andi down. Nicky followed a millisecond later, kneeing Nile in the face and earning a "fucker!" as she felt her nose and cheekbone break. Nicky pummeled Joe to fight his way between Andi and the other two, trying to continue an offensive while also being a human shield for Andi to allow her to continue forward with minimal exposure to a lethal blow. Nicky finally got Joe with an elbow to the neck and a jab upwards to his sternum, and Nile thought she heard some ribs break. Together Andi and Nicky turned on Nile. She attempted to move up from her kneeling stance with momentum to take them out with a shoulder, but Nicky caught her around the neck and Andi wrapped her own legs around Nile's and brought her to the ground. Both Andi and Nicky mercifully stopped from breaking Nile's legs in half and cracking her neck. If this was a mere mortal fight, she probably could have gotten her legs free and aimed a kick up from the ground at the opponent holding her neck and shoulders. But this exercise was to show that the team could continue to move through multiple foes without exposing Andi to a fatal blow, so to them, this was a victory today. 

Nicky and Andi stood up, Andi as brusque and statuesque as ever. Nicky smiled down at Nile and helped her up, briefly resting his fingertips on her healed cheekbone in a comforting way, before turning to Joe. Joe grunted softly as he straightened and the last fractures in his sternum knitted together. "You are lucky I adore you so much," he said to Nicky with a teasing note. Nicky responded in Italian. "You know I hate to see you hurt." Nile was pretty sure she still caught most of it, thanks to her language lessons, and thanks to the eye roll from Andi that she usually delivered when Joe and Nicky were getting too cute for her taste. 

"We're due to meet Copley soon, let's get moving," she called behind her as she walked into the house. The others followed, Joe draping an arm around Nicky and Nile.

Shortly later they piled in the armored and tinted SUV, which Andi had recently gotten in place of the sedan they used at Merrick's building. Nile didn't quite yet know how the team managed things like finances and resources, though Copley had given her a fake Canadian ID for Nicole Finchley and a credit card under the same name, and assured her this would allow her to move freely through the world until the passport needed to be updated or her cover was jeopardized by a job. Nile tucked those questions in her mind to bring up someday with Copley and the team, and focused on what Andi was saying.

"Copley has been following news of some disappearances, possible abductions. There's also been movement of international figures around London from Eastern Europe." 

"Human trafficking?" Nicky asked, his mind likely already delving into memories of previous similar jobs.

"Most likely. No bodies, local police always losing the trail at about the same place. If we can find where they are keeping the captives, we'll likely have to go as far up the chain as we can to cover our tracks." Andi finished.

Nile understood. It wasn't enough to simply find the captives and free them by incapacitating whoever was guarding them. The real brains behind the operation would be several steps up in the command chain. So they had to keep going, both to cover their tracks and to forever stop whoever was at the root of the heinous deception and pain of plans like this. It wasn't unlike tracking a foot soldier back to his commanding officer and the ruling families he reported to in the Afghanistan desert, but Nile was never before tasked with the intelligence of where to go next or how the pieces connected. She quickly saw that just getting through the battles wasn't her only job anymore, but to keep her finger on the heartbeat of every operation, trace it back to anyone who might see or know or have an inkling of suspicion about her new family. Anyone who saw them fight would immediately know something was different about this team, and they could quickly become the biggest target of underworld assassination, unless they always covered their tracks.

Andi pulled up in front of Copley's house and parked. She went around to the trunk as the others got out. Nile already had a knife holstered in each of her boots, and knew that Joe and Nicky were likely already packing something too. Regardless, they each accepted a firearm from Andi, tucking pistols into waistbands and pockets. Nile put the safety on her favorite small Glock, stowing it in the inside pocket of her jacket. Copley knew they were always armed, but if there was any company, Nile could go from a stance with her arms crossed over her chest to fully operational before any opponent would be able to lift their own weapon.

Andi knocked briefly as she was already opening the door, and the others filed in behind her. They walked up the stairs to Copley's office in the back of the house. Nile looked out the large windows at the three trees Copley had planted in memorial to his wife in the garden. He told Nile that the trees helped remind him of why he wanted to help. Even when his plan had gone wrong with Merrick, he still had the greater good in his vision. "The trees start small, and it can take several years before you realize they've grown. But the roots are always taking and the leaves always come and go with each season." Copley knew he would be limited by his mortal life, and that even the team fell victim to shortsightedness sometimes, but as he had traced Andi and then Quynh, Lykon, Joe, Nicky, and Book through history, he wanted them to be reminded that the effects of their work would be felt generations later.

For now, though, Copley was standing in front of a large whiteboard, next to his wall of what he referred to as "immortal history." He had begun interviewing the others to fact check his attempts of tracing them through history, and the wall was looking a bit more organized. Andi chafed at any of this information being recorded or held digitally, despite Copley's high level of skill and protection against hacking, so the summation of their immortal history lived only in their own minds and on this wall in a refurbished country house outside of London. The board, however, was mostly empty except for head shots of four men, six young women, and a map of England and continental Europe and Russia. A large computer monitor had a map of London pulled up, with a few bright blue dots moving through the streets, like a GPS navigation from a bird's eye view.

Nile watched as Copley laid out the intel he had, and Andi naturally took over to lead the plan and Copley stepped back, blending into a shadow on the wall from the misty light from the rain outside. Nile’s first step in accepting her immortality may have been the day she went back into this house to find Andi, and then leaving Copley to go alone into Merrick’s tower, but this was the next step down a very long path, branching away from her family, the limits of mortal time and capabilities she knew before. She had taken down Merrick’s guards because the only other option was to leave her new family to suffer. 

Now, she watched and listened as the plan came together, framed by the timeline of modern humanity behind them. She would do what she could here, because the alternative was leaving innocent people to suffer. Immortality did not come with foresight and she could only guess at how their individual and collective futures might be affected by the guard stepping in at this moment.

Over the next few days, Nile joined in the planning and the recon, and watching how everyone interacted together now that they had an opportunity to plan, not just go with the wind like when they had stormed their way out of Merrick’s lab. On the last day, Joe and Andi had left for more recon to make sure nothing had changed with the patrol’s rotation or the delivery schedule, and Nicky was outside somewhere. Nile had only left on her own a few times before, but the others never questioned. She thought about calling out to Nicky, but decided to do what she had done last time she had a mortal craving for ice cream while reminiscing on a trip she and her mother had taken shortly before Nile reported to basic training. Nile left a note on the counter for Nicky. Went for a drive, wanted to listen to some music and see the city before we have to leave. This wasn't actually a lie, Nile did like to go drive while listening to music so as to not disturb the others. But this time her drive had a goal.

She took the keys of the smaller hatchback that had been parked at the house. She eased it into gear, grumbling that driving a manual was something she would still need to work on as part of her immortal skill set. She lurched down the road before finally settling into fourth then fifth gear as she took the scenic route to Copley's house.

Forty-five minutes later, she knocked on his door. She wasn't Andi and wasn't expected, so she didn't barge in, though she knew Copley had been trying to make it clear to all of them that he had nothing to hide from them anymore.

Copley opened the door, dressed in workout gear with a small towel over his shoulder. "Miss Freeman," he said, his tone lightly surprised but not displeased. He looked over her shoulder. She had never shown up on her own before.

"Nile, please, Mr. Copley. Or Corporal Freeman. Even posthumously I still hold my rank," she responded. "May I come in?"

"Of course, Nile. You know you can call me Martin," he said, stepping aside and gesturing to her to follow him into the kitchen.

"I know," she acknowledged, following him into the bright room. It was an unusually bright English day. Copley already had a tea kettle warming, domesticity balanced with a pair of wrist braces and a mouth guard next to the sink. Nile guessed that he had just finished a workout. He poured two cups of tea, preparing both mugs, and took a seat. She mirrored him and perched on a stool.

Nile liked Copley, initial misgivings about his betrayal aside. It felt strange to address him by his first name, because he was still technically older than her and further in his career. At this point thanks to his efforts he actually knew more about her team than she did. He had originally hired the team a few years ago for a true job, and really did seem motivated to want to prevent hurt and suffering. Since Nile was only just on this side of immortality, she thought she understood Copley better than the others, still being able to recognize his mortal perspective. He was also someone she felt simultaneously protective of but also admired. He had started not unlike her, but in basic training for the US Army and plucked partway through to be screened for Special Ops and then CIA. He was born in Boston and moved back and forth to the US with his diplomat parents. He never quite lost his accent, and set his home base with the CIA in partnership with MI6.

"What brings you out for this visit, Nile?" Copley asked, lifting his mug to her. She took a sip from hers as well, still acquiring the taste of an English-brewed cup of tea, rolling the full, fragrant, heavy taste across her tongue and tickling the back of her nose. 

Copley watched as Nile took another sip and swallowed. This was her first choice on her own, that would be just hers - should she have talked to Andi after all? Did she make a decision alone, owning responsibility, being accountable if this brought any unwanted attention to her team? She knew Book had tried this, but had been unable to explain his presence or his unchanging appearance to his family despite trying to continue to care for them during their lifetimes. But what she was trying to do was different. She realized that even if she talked to Andi, it would not change anything. Andi would caution her but would not forbid her. Andi had given Nile her phone back and only checked on her once since then, on a quiet afternoon when Nile was scrolling through pictures of her family. She had stayed off social media, had not even looked at her own obituary or memorial service details. She had told Andi as much. Andi had nodded and had simply told her, "don't let them eat you up, Nile. Let them live. Your life is different now, and you chose to come back to us." Nile reflected that Andi had even been willing to risk her blowing everything and letting Nile go when she tried to leave. She realized for the first time, in a small way, that perhaps Andi respected her because of that now. Nile made her choice, but decided to tread lightly and see how much Copley would bring to the table himself.

"I have been thinking about my family," she started, cautiously.

Copley nodded and crossed his arms. "I can assure you that everything was done very much in order for your death. I followed the files myself. Your family was properly notified of Corporal Nile Freeman being killed in action. Officially, you were injured in near-combat duty in the Pashtun region, and passed away from complications while being transferred to Germany.  You were posthumously awarded the silver cross." He hesitated. "There was a service. There is nothing amiss."

Nile nodded. It had taken strength she only had from her ability to follow a direct order to not Google her own name or check on her family's social media. She had disabled all of those apps and her phone was basically a glorified photo album and mp3 collection at this point. She pulled it out of her pocket and set it on the counter between them. "This is all I have of them anymore. I was wondering if you could take the files and save them somewhere more permanently." It was her turn to hesitate. This was it. "And...someday… I would like to know they are taken care of. I know I need to keep my distance. I'm not going to intrude. But I don't want to...lose track of how I was connected to the world or go crazy with grief over the idea that my family stops existing because I'm not there. I have cousins, a brother. Someday there will be new generations." She stopped and looked up, seeing if Copley would take the next step on his own. 

He nodded but pursed his lips. "I understand. Does Andi know?"

Nile shook her head. "This is my choice and I accept responsibility for it, for you, if anything happens." 

"Alright." Copley picked up her phone and headed back through the hall and up the stairs. Nile followed.

In his office Copley pulled an external hard drive off a shelf of supplies and went to one set of monitors on the side of the room. Nile watched as he plugged her phone and the drive into the monitor. He quickly copied all of her files, printed something, then pulled up a screen that looked like it could be the html code of her phone. This was past her level of technology, even as a twenty-first century American teen. She watched as he deleted some lines of code and added another, before unplugging her phone. He flipped open the back cover and with a small screwdriver opened a compartment near the battery, removing a tiny piece and clipping another wire. He deftly clicked the top back in place and powered it on. He scrolled through the menu and settings, nodded in satisfaction, and handed it back to her. She took it with a questioning expression.

He smiled and gestured to the phone and the workstation. "Looks like your family had terminated the service to your phone and reported it as lost. I removed a piece that interfaces with GPS tracking and internet capability, and changed part of the serial number that any other device would read if you attach it to, say another computer or try to Bluetooth to a speaker. You can't connect to data or internet anymore, but that means the signal cannot be tracked in any way, and you can plug it in to download music or keep it on to see your pictures. It's a very secure, very efficient tablet device now."

He pointed to the drive still plugged into the computer. "This is my personal closed circuit system. It's wired to nothing else, so this data is not traceable anywhere. I will put this," he briefly waved the hard drive, "in here," crossing the room to the small safe he kept his most important documents in. He had a larger safe almost like a bank vault in the basement of his house where he kept the circuits for his computers, stashes of blank passports, and large amounts of other sensitive materials. "When the technology advances, I will update it."

Finally he held up the sheet from the printer. It was the picture of Nile in her dress blues on her graduation from basic training, posing with her mother and brother on the field in front of their company flags. "This...goes on the wall. It's your first step in immortality, Nile. It's where your thread starts." He pinned the picture to the wall of immortal history, just above a news brief of a Punjabi warlord being targeted and killed by American Marine Unit Forward Seven, dated four weeks ago.

Nile nodded, her eyes briefly misting. Copley had understood. She needed to see where she came from to know where to watch for her threads in history. She fingered the edge of the picture, glancing as always in amazement at the amassed information Copley had so far gathered of the development of civilization, and her team's frequent cameos. She sighed and stepped back. "Thank you." Perhaps this was all she needed, an acknowledgment that she existed, a way to see that her family was important to this new history of the world.

"As for the rest of your question," Copley continued, his tone more cautious now, "I can start a few things." He sat down at his main desk. "What was your home address, Nile?" She noted the use of past tense, his purposeful choice in language to remind her of her separation from that life. He knew she was treading a slippery slope and a hard choice. Nile recited the address of her mother's home, the small house they moved to in a slightly better Chicago neighborhood after her father died. Nile wondered if her mother and brother would do the same and move after her death. Copley keyed something in and a rendered image of the globe showed up on the large monitor they had been using in prep for their current job over the past few days. "Are you ready?"

Nile nodded.

"This is my access to a secure MI6 satellite. It has a mixed tracer. To put it simply, six times every second it scrambles the IPN accessing it. Only a very strong and very fast system like mine and those used by MI6 contractors can keep up and stay connected.” Copley typed in more commands and the screen changed to a satellite image of the Midwest. Unlike a GPS map, it was in real time, and clouds drifted across the plains approaching Illinois, building up across the lake into Michigan and Canada. After a few more entries, the image zoomed and clarified. Suddenly they were looking at the roof of her home. It was nearly noon where they were in London, so the image of early-morning Chicago was dark, faintly lit by the oncoming sunrise on this late spring morning. 

Nile couldn't believe the quality of the image. Her mother's sedan and her seventeen-year-old brother’s beater project car were both in the driveway. A light was on in a room in the back of the house, illuminating part of the back of the small yard. Nile knew this was the kitchen light, and that her mother was there right now making coffee and setting out her breakfast and lunch for the day before getting ready to leave for her job at the bank and rousing her brother from bed before she left. Nile had a sudden yearning, like an attempt to throw a line across an unreachable gap, no matter how hard she tried knowing it would be futile and she would forever be across the chasm. She understood now how Booker could have been so bogged by grief over the last two hundred years. How beautiful and tempting a thought that someday with one final mortal injury, she could be reunited with family in death, a different neverending life.

Nile took a step back. But she was not that person. She would let her family live. She would not tarnish their sacrifice, her fathers gift, or the place they now held in an immortal history by going mad with sadness or losing control. "That's enough," she said firmly, surprised to hear an almost Andi-level of authority in her voice. Copley exited the program and the screen went black. He looked up at her expectantly, Nile recognizing that despite their tenuous friendship across the line of mortality, he knew she was in charge here. "That's enough," she said again but more quietly, before turning back to him.

"Is there a way to keep track of them without making anything traceable? A way to see if anything changes, if they move, anything like that?" she asked Copley.

He nodded. "There are plenty of ways the American government and private companies track accounts, banks, utilities, things like that. I can essentially piggyback off of those efforts and set a matrix of alerts for any significant changes. Are there any important dates or events coming up, or traditions that your family keeps?" Nile thought briefly and named her brother's upcoming high school graduation, her mother and brother's birthdays, and the anniversary of her father’s death. She added the wedding anniversaries of both sets of grandparents, dates that often coincided with trips and family reunions. Copley was nodding as she spoke, making notes in shorthand on a piece of paper. When she finished, he capped his pen and held up the paper. "See? No technology, nothing traceable, and the only people who can read my shorthand are a few at MI6 who would have no reason to question why I needed basic information for a client."

Nile nodded in understanding. Copley's main goal now was as a steward or access point for the team, but he also kept up security consulting jobs through his old professional networks, both to keep a reputable face but also to better be able to see opportunities and information for jobs for them. He stood up and walked around the desk to her. He gently put a hand on her arm. "If anything changes, or if I think anything needs to be done, I will let you know. Don't let it distract you, Nile. They will live on. We always do." 

Nile nodded. He saw himself in her family's shoes, needing to go on through life despite a loss. He really did understand, from both perspectives, and had unknowingly given her the same advice Andi had. Nile suddenly felt tired, realizing the emotional strain that trying to straddle both worlds cost. Poor Book.

After a few more parting words and wishes of good luck on their job, she left Copley's. Nile drove down the road and sat in the car for a moment, listening to one of her mothers favorite bands, that Nile had always teased her for. To you they are oldies now, Ni, but in my day they were stars in our eyes, she heard her mother say from a memory of this record playing in the house. She watched the field wave in front of her, a living ocean of green and brown and wildflowers. She breathed in with the rhythm of the wind, feeling on the edge of that transcendental spell she first felt when practicing fighting with Nicky and Joe. She was starting to recognize these meditative moments that she seemed to be able to slip into when at a point of needing to see something from her immortal point of view, and step over that line to leave her mortality behind. She let it carry her thoughts across the field, to Book, back to Nicky, Joe, and Andi, her new family and foundations. She let it peter out with a breath like sudden restful stillness of tree leaves after a gust of wind, and put the car back in gear and continued to their home.

An hour later, she parked in the same spot next to the house and was surprised to see the SUV back already. She hadn't expected Andi and Joe back until later, and hoped she hadn't messed everything up for her first real job with the team by being late. She cautiously walked into the house. Joe and and Nicky were standing over the maps at the large dining room table. Through the windows to the screened in porch behind them, Nile could see Andi going through the weapons bags and a new crate that hadn't been there this morning. 

Nicky didn't stop his conversation with Joe, but raised a hand and beckoned Nile over. She stepped next to him and without looking away from Joe, Nicky gave her a one-armed hug. She leaned against him, listening as he and Joe drew routes on the maps and blueprints on the table in front of them. Nicky set down a pen with finality before looking down at Nile. "Nile. Did you have a good morning? Don't worry, the city will be here when we come back someday." 

Nile nodded. "It looks like the plan changed while I was gone. Are these our new routes in?" She gestured with her chin, starting to follow the path with her eyes, orienting herself from the front of the building, imagining her path on foot on the way in, similar to how she memorized maps when planning a breach entry into a compound in Afghanistan.

Joe tapped the map, pointing at the front of the building and a large open area at the back, likely a loading dock with a turnaround area for trucks. "We did not think they were leaving so quickly, but we saw today they are planning to leave tonight. Probably just after dark." He looked over at her, where she was still tucked in against Nicky's side. After being dragged from her forward operating base to Goussainville to the mine to London, she had accepted that this group was often on the move without warning. Joe and Nicky seemed to want to be able to prep her this time to set her up well for a future of similar quick turnarounds. She nodded in understanding. "I'm ready to go. Just tell me what to do."

Andi walked back inside at that moment, wiping her hands on her pants. "Leave whatever we don't need. Take only what we need for three days. We're hitting it tonight, then we need to be on the move before the brains know, so we can catch them off guard and finish the whole chain at once." She gestured behind. "Grenades, smoke bombs, whatever we can carry." She looked at them, and Nile consciously straightened and stepped away from Nicky, not wanting to appear weak in this moment. Andi nodded, then gestured with her chin up the stairs, indicating it was time to get packed and moving. 

Nicky and Joe went next door to their half of the house and Nile went up to her room. She was used to living in barracks as a soldier, so she hadn't felt the need to add any comfort items to her room. She changed into the tactical gear Andi had procured for her, not that she needed it for protection, but for the practicality of the black clothing and extra pockets. She added some changes of street clothes and Nicole Finchley's passport to her black duffel. She tucked the earrings from Joe and her iPhone into a side pocket, the favorite Glock and extra knives in the other side. Her cross necklace was long enough to tuck under the collar of her vest. The rest of her twenty-first century London clothes would stay in the wardrobe. Nile wondered if they would still be in fashion when, or if, they returned. She appreciated that the others guided her towards staple clothing choices that could mostly pass through eras and trends and different cultures.

Nile took a brief look behind her at her first home as an immortal, wondering if there would ever be a place she could ever truly count as home again. She turned off the light and shut the door behind her.

When she reached the back of the house again, she saw Nicky and Joe there again, similarly dressed. She hadn't seen them yet fully geared up for a job and felt an unexpected fear wash over her. Their preferred gear echoed to their origins as soldiers, their vests slightly longer and shoulder guards almost looking like armor. They both had cowls around their necks that could be pulled up as hoods. Completing the picture were identical belts with sheathed swords at their sides. Nicky gave her a soft glance and Joe let out a signature grin. She had seen what they could do at Merrick's office, of course, but nonetheless reassured herself that she was glad they were on her side. She told them so and they both laughed, crossing their arms to look appraisingly at her. "Nile, maybe the Marines don't tell you, but you look badass in full combat as well." Nile looked down at her gear, heavy boots, long black pants and shirt. She had also wrapped a basic black headband around her hair. It was very different from her desert camo, closer fitting and easier to move in, mostly due to only needing a vest instead of full padding and helmet.

Andi walked in holding several grenades and smoke bombs in each hand. Nile breathed a sigh of relief to see that Andi was wearing a full vest with a collar and stomacheplate, as well as light padding on her arms and legs. Nile didn't know what it cost Andi to choose to don all of this and acquiesce to her new limitations. 

"Don't blow yourselves up in the car," Andi told them as they each clipped two grenades to their belts and pocketed smoke bombs and extra cartridges in their vests. "And no grenades in the room with the hostages."

Andi then turned to Nile. "We walk in and out together. You saw how things can play out like at Merrick's office. You ready for this?" 

Nile nodded. "You know I am." It was true, too. She knew Andi wasn't just asking her if she was ready for this job, but if she was ready to start this life. Nile still had queasy feelings when she thought of all the people Andi had single-handedly killed at the church, but was coming to terms that immortality had given her a gift of death at her hands. They were like the Afghan soldiers, people who chose to engage in these things. She might not like it, but she could do it. She knew if she didn't face it now, it would torture her until she did, and she didn't want to start her immortal life like that.

"Then let's get it done," Andi said, turning back to the table. After a few minutes reviewing the layout and their planned movements in, Joe and Nicky added the maps and other documents to the bin in the back and lit another match. As they left Nicky locked the door and put the key under the flowerpot on the front step. "Really?" Nile asked. "Planning on a neighbor dropping in to get your mail while you're gone?"

"Copley will get someone to watch the building, sell it if we want," Andi said over her shoulder. As they settled into the SUV Nile recognized the contemplative quiet that comes before combat. She felt prepared for this job but also appreciated seeing her team’s preparations as well. She was glad to see that each mission still came with a serious tone, a dedication to whatever oath each of them felt they were fulfilling, perhaps meditation on forgiveness for the human lives they were about to take.

Nile reviewed the battle plan in her mind. They would leave the car across the highway and trek in. Nicky carried the sniper gear and could take out any sentries or cameras. They would approach the building two by two to alternate cover. Andi was still insistent on always going in first, and only the deep seated respect the others had for her stopped Joe from nearly coming to blows with her over it.

Nile's main worry was about Andi. She was an exceptionally skilled warrior, could likely lead any battalion, but now only one bullet or a stray blade separated her from her body's last link to mortality and her neverending cause.

What Nile did not know, and what Joe and Nicky had lain awake last night discussing, was their conversation with Andi about exactly this. They would be the new captains of the guard if Andi went down, so they had dragged her out of the house when Nile was asleep. Andi resisted getting caught up in a heart to heart, but did acquiesce to answering a few questions. She said she would leave the choice to them to go to Book before his sentence was up if she died. She surprised herself when she said she wanted her body dumped as close as possible to where they thought Quynh was. She told them to protect Nile, to continue working with Copley. Joe was a realist but Nicky had much higher ideals than the rest and she told them, somewhat begrudgingly because it was not how she had always done things over the last four hundred years since losing Quynh, to not make decisions alone. They were so few and always would be that she didn't want to be alone, her heart breaking again to think of Quynh and now Booker. 

Andi gave them one last thought, something she had been mulling over since Nile joined them. "I think it happens about once a millenia," she told them. "First me, then Quynh, then Lykon, then you. I think you two are so inseparable on the battlefield that the fates or the powers that be were unable to grab one without the other and so we got a two-for-one deal" she added dryly. "And I think somehow, it often happens when a change is coming. We lost Lykon and gained you. We lost Quynh and gained Booker. We...well, this is happening to me and we got Nile. It doesn't always line up, but I can't help but see that pattern. Unless something changes or...well, if I'm gone… I don't think you'll get a new one for a while." 

She paced slowly in the dark garden, looking up at Nile's curtained window. "I still don't know why. I don't know why me, out of all of the military wives or royal advisors or officers or wily street kids," she went on, broaching the barely-raised topic of her origins. "We're all so different. I don't understand it. But once we found each other, it makes sense." She turned back to them, still, finally.

Nicky nodded, not liking to remember the initial rage he felt at this stubborn Muselman soldier who persisted in attacking him, until they both realized that they would never be able to escape each other, escape this. They had dreamed of each other, of Andi and Quynh. They had tried to resist the dreams, but when they next faced each other, something in them had changed and they each knew they were from that moment as equally tied to each other as to immortality. Andi had been in Africa with Quynh and had taken several months to find them. By the time they were all together, Joe and Nicky were already inseparable.

Nicky stood up and gently embraced Andi. She had rested her hands on his arms and leaned her head on his cool, smooth shoulder. Joe stood up and took her hand. She squeezed it with both of hers and stepped away to the house, looking back at them. "Tell her about me, if it happens."

She didn't turn back but smiled as she walked inside when she heard Joe quip back, "tell her yourself."

~~~

<- Chapter 1 // Chapter 3 coming soon!

[downstarr]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova Characters: Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, First Meetings, First Kiss, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani and Nicky | Nicolò di Genova are in Love, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Behavior, Canon Compliant, Historical Inaccuracy, Crusades, Muslim Character, Catholic Character, Action/Adventure, Star-crossed, True Love, Destiny, Soulmates, Immortality Summary:

It's the time of the Crusades. A Catholic and a Muslim, both gifted with immortality, find themselves drawn together despite everything in the world wanting them to be apart.

---

This is my version of how Joe and Nicky first met. Please excuse the no doubt several historical inaccuracies. I did do some research but there was only so much I was going to do for a 3000 word story! Hopefully nothing is too egregious.

This story contains no spoilers for the movie, and nor do you need to have watched it to follow this.

---

The first death was agony. Returning to life after he was cut down by a crusader felt like a blessing. Yusuf Al-Kaysani prayed and gave thanks for the blessing he’d been given as he woke from what he thought would surely be his eternal rest.

When he revived from the second death as his horse crushed him in battle, Yusuf prayed again after he’d wriggled out from under his bloody and broken mount.

By the thirtieth death, Yusuf stopped praying. His resurrections, which at first were treated as miracles, were greeted with increasing suspicion by his fellow soldiers. They began to suspect he was cursed, or perhaps he was a demon instead of a man. So one night when he could take the whispers no longer, he deserted his comrades by the light of the moon, nothing but pack and scimitar and a vast expanse of a world gripped by holy war.

That was when the Italian began to stalk Yusuf. He’d dreamed of this man, in flashes and with vivid detail. He saw an Italian monastery high on a cliffside, where the switch was employed with the same frequency as benediction, and where the young men, discarded by their families, were honed into weapons of righteous fury.

Yusuf drew the man in his notebook on precious reserves of parchment, sketching his aquiline nose and heavy brow, dedicated to capturing his essence. There were pages of charcoal sketches of his clear blue eyes, brimming with righteous fury beyond which lay a poet’s soul damaged and reshaped by shame and guilt into the tool of a distant Pope.

One night, by the light of a small fire in the rubble of a destroyed village mosque, Yusuf was engrossed in the study of the man’s hands on the pages of his book. He saw long, elegant fingers and struggled to capture their form. His palms were calloused from wielding a longsword, the clang of metal as it struck metal over a hundred battles banishing softness from him one strike at a time.

Yusuf didn’t know his next death was upon him until he looked down to see the angry point of a broadsword piercing his heart from behind. He never saw his face, but he knew the man in his sketches had taken his heart.

Keep reading.

[phatburd]

Once Was All There Was: Chapter 2 - "A Remarkable Man"

It's Russia in August of 1812, and Napoleon's Grande Armeé is pushing towards Smolensk. A fateful meeting is held, but who is actually the remarkable man in this situation?

[theoldgvard]

i write about the old guard a lot and one of my wips revolved around booker’s perspective of the gang being forced together again twenty years into his exile. i was really proud of the progress i was making, i’d managed to rework the plot and thought the way i was exploring booker’s mentality and his relationships with the team was really interesting and full of emotion. but somehow the note (i write tog in notes app sue me) has rewritten itself and is now just a clone of a different piece of writing. meaning i have no way to recover this wip and it’s been a while since i last checked in on it so i don’t fully remember where i was at with the plot and things. all of the times i was really proud of my words and the story i was crafting are lost to the void and i just needed to talk about it because it’s genuinely made me really sad

[raissahandeson-blog]

Vulnerable

Well guys, I decided to rewatch The Old Guard and I simply found myself falling in love with all those charming characters.

I always thought that Nile and Andy have such intense chemistry that it would be a sin to have so few stories between the two of them and that was the reason that led me to write this. I confess that most of this story was written via translator, since my knowledge of English is very limited, and this is the first story I've written… So I apologize in advance for the various errors you found here.

Anyway, I think that having said that, I really liked the option of adding color to the sentences and that's why I found it interesting to separate Andy and Nile's lines by color. Nile will have all the dialogues in purple while Andy has red, just because I think they really suit them lol.

This is an art that I simply loved by an incredible artist called Rune, I'll leave the link below so you can check out more of his work. https://www.deviantart.com/rune-arts

The last year has been completely crazy for Nile, ever since his first death on duty in Afghanistan. The discovery of her own immortality, discovering the existence of an army of immortals that she was now a part of, the struggle in the laboratory and Andy's recent mortality, it was all a very radical change.

Her life was turned upside down, having to leave the Marines, her dream of following in her father's footsteps, her family, and gaining a new one made up of dysfunctional but extremely welcoming and loving immortal people.

At first, Nile believed that it would be difficult to fit into that group, after all, everyone there had known each other for centuries and orbited around each other easily. It was surprising when she realized that she didn't need to make an effort to try to be accepted, as she did in the marines, she already had everyone's respect and consideration since the day of the confrontation in Merick's Laboratory when she decided to return to save everyone. .

After the first two crazy weeks they finally had time to settle down and rest, keeping as close to a normal routine as possible. Of course, there were still the physical training and sparring sessions that used to go on until someone ended up with too many broken bones to stand, but it was still pretty close to normal.

Nile realized that each member of his new family played an important role in keeping everyone together.

Nick was the wittiest, always having a funny story or witty joke to make the group laugh.

Joe, in turn, was the one who brought the most empathy and sensitivity to everyone, always being available to be a shoulder to lean on when needed without asking questions or judging.

Nile took on what she believed to be the role of Brooker, obtaining digital information and obtaining false documents. But soon she realized that her importance went beyond that, she was the one who reminded everyone that even the little things were worthy of attention. Small discoveries, gestures, she helped everyone understand that what they did was really worth it.

And Andy in turn was the force that kept everyone standing, no matter how bad things got, no one would dare doubt that it would work if their leader was at the front, paving the way for everyone to continue.

The latter managed to establish herself in a large part of Nile's heart, even though she tried to deny it at first, as time went by and as she lived with her leader, it became increasingly clear that this woman was much more than a lethal warrior. She was a kind, caring woman who, despite carrying enormous emotional baggage, went to great lengths to make them feel loved and protected.

At first Andy seemed convinced of turning Nile into his apprentice, teaching her much of what she knew about weapons and combat, saying that she would need to be prepared in case things got ugly. She never dared to say more than that, but Nile could understand what was behind this urgency to make her fit to fight: Her time was now numbered and when she was no longer here, it would be her apprentice's job to continue maintaining all united and safe. Thinking about this brought sadness to Nile's heart, thinking that at some point she might no longer be with them, the simple idea of losing her in the middle of one of her missions made his stomach tighten. That's why she dove head first into training, trying harder and harder to get better, she wanted to do everything she could to make sure Andy wouldn't fall during the fight, make sure she could shadow her and keep her safe.

It didn't take long for everyone to realize this when the following missions appeared and Nile continued to constantly hover around the warrior Scythian, even in situations where her leader's experience was more than enough to resolve the situation.

Joe and Nick knew it wouldn't take long for Andy to get impatient and confront Nile about all this overprotection. And they were right, after an interception mission in Serbia, when everyone finally reached the safe haven, the Boss then snapped.

-Before anyone leaves for the rooms, we need to talk. We can't continue working with you treating me like a piece of glass that could break at any moment. I said it before and I repeat it, the fact that I'm no longer immortal doesn't change anything, I'm still the boss and I'm still giving the orders. -Andy barks throwing her equipment bag across the room as she heads to the bar next door to get a bottle of gin. Everyone else stops standing around the room in amazement.

-We're not questioning your authority Andy, but it doesn't make sense to put you in the direct line of fire if all 3 of us can do it without major damage. - Nile rationalizes trying to get closer to her.

-To me this seems to go over my authority, I'm the leader here and I've experienced a lot more than you three together. I know what I'm doing, I appreciate your concern, but I was in wars before I was immortal, fighting for my people and my family, and I will continue to do so until my last day. You have no right to try to intervene in this. - Andy plops down on the couch, taking a generous sip of his drink while the rest of the team stares at him in amazement. In a matter of seconds, Nile's expression goes from shock to anger and hurt, making any fear he had about facing the woman in front of him disappear.

-A shit we don't have, we are your family and we care about you. Say what you want but you can't make me watch you kill yourself while I stand by and do nothing. We love you Andy and we're not going to accept this stupid suicidal game you're playing, at least I'm not going to.

This is the boys' cue to lock themselves in their room, they know that dealing with their boss's mortality has not been easy, especially for Nile who seems to have become increasingly close to her. They understand both points of view and know that it is an issue that both women need to resolve between themselves, there is no reason to intervene.

Meanwhile in the room, Andy is surprised by the attitude of the younger woman in front of her, who is now staring at her with eyes blazing with anger and her jaw clenched, demonstrating the strength of her discontent.

-You're just a child Nile, you haven't seen almost anything in life, that's why you keep insisting on that. It's no use, I'm not going to change my position in relation to how we carry out operations and I'm also not going to allow you to continue taking focus away from the mission to ensure my safety. - Andy finally gets up, coming face to face with Nile, who is now breathing heavily.

-You know what, fuck you, I'm not going to change my mind either so if you think you can't handle this, just leave me out. I'd rather be left alone than have to watch you kill yourself. - Nile shouts in front of her before turning around and leaving, slamming the front door with enough force to shake the walls next to it.

Andy throws herself onto the sofa again with a huff while taking another long drink of Gin, she didn't want to be harsh with Nile, but she couldn't bear to see the girl throwing herself in front of all the danger ahead, just to protect her. And if one day, because of one of these distractions, the boys or Nile herself were captured, she would not be able to deal with this guilt anymore, after Quynh she would not be able to lose anyone else, if someone needed to fall, then let it be her.

Yet her heart sank as she remembered the broken expression Nile wore as he left the shelter. It was painful to see the girl like this, even more so because of her, she got used to having the youngest always around, smiling and excited about every little thing, this woke up a side that had been dormant for a long time and it still kept her up constantly at night. Initially she just wanted to be his mentor, teach everything she could in the time she still had and make sure Nile could feel welcome with them.

But somewhere along the way things changed, without realizing it she became closer and the relationship that was supposed to be mentor and mentee became stronger than that. She could remember more than one occasion when she woke up with Nile curled up with her on the couch after a movie or after an intense mission that kept them both up late into the night. It became natural to look for each other to try to calm down and end up sleeping tangled up in some corner of the shelter they were in. The following morning, both separated without further comment on what happened during the night.

She insisted on ignoring this because she knew it wasn't fair to Nile, the young woman still had a lot of time and didn't deserve to have to carry the weight of having already lost someone close to her in such a short period of time. Still, she knew she had been too harsh and shouldn't leave the younger woman tormenting herself with her own thoughts. From what she knew of that girl, she would be imagining at this point that the problem was the fact that Andy thought she was too young to be trusted. Taking the last sip from the bottle she finally stood up and followed her apprentice out the door.

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Nile managed to hold back her tears long enough until she reached the front door, but she collapsed as soon as she crossed the threshold and slammed the door behind her. She couldn't believe how the woman she so admired and cared about could go from being the kindest person she'd ever met to the dumbest person on Earth. Nile imagined the size of the nightmares that accompanied Andy for so many years of wandering around, but still, she refused to accept the indifferent way she treated her own life. Sometimes it seemed like she really wanted to die, thrown into danger without any real need, and how

if the love that others had for her were worthless.

Yes, love, it took Nile a long time to assimilate and accept this new feeling she had for her mentor. But with the growing fear of losing her during a mission, it became clear that there was no reason to continue lying to himself. She remembers clearly when it finally dawned on her that the worry was much more than that.

She always had music as a sunny refuge, a place where she could go and forget about all her problems and sadness. The first time she discovered how comforting this shelter was was when a soldier showed up at her house to deliver the news of her father's death. She cried for hours and every time she tried to sleep, she would start sobbing again. Then she remembered the mp3 that her father had given her as a gift and connected the headphones, from then on, whenever things got difficult, it was in music that she sought solace.

She looked for music when she had to endure being humiliated when joining the navy, she looked for music when she died for the first time and had to see the looks of her fellow soldiers judging her as if she were a freak. She turned to music as she processed the idea that she would truly never see her family again and that the person who would understand her most was in exile for the next 100 years.

Music was always there as a consolation, until Andy came along and changed everything. His refugee became the older woman, even though through conversation or being silent in each other's company, it brought Nile the peace and comfort that music used to provide.

That's when she knew for sure that the group's elder wasn't just someone she wanted to learn to fight with, she was someone she wanted to fight for, to be close to and be able to enjoy every little moment by her side. That's when she realized this was love.

But unfortunately, just as much as Andy managed to calm her down, she also managed to be the one who took him off track. For months, the older woman started to be more careless with herself during missions and adamant about taking extra care like vests and things like that. This was driving the youngest girl crazy, because every day the fear of not being able to be enough to protect her became greater along with the frustration of not being able to change her mind.

Today she simply exploded and I couldn't control my anger when I saw Andy talking like that, it seemed like all the closeness they had had over the last few months didn't exist and the oldest still saw her as just an inexperienced child.

This hurt her more than she would like to admit, so she was tough enough to claim that she would rather not be part of the group than take orders from her and watch her die. In a way she doesn't regret it, but her heart still hurts, imagining what she would do if she really had to move away from the group and especially from her.

Then again she found herself with the clean cell phone that Copley gave her, headphones and her comfort playlist. She was sitting in front of the lake to the east of the house that served as her shelter, watching the movement of the trees and the water while trying to control her own crying, she didn't want to think anymore about all the mess she had gotten herself into. What she wanted most now was to sit there and be able to forget about her own mess for a few hours until she worked up enough courage to return home.

And she let herself be so deeply carried away by the sound that floated through her headphones with her eyes closed, that she didn't notice Andy approaching or sitting next to her, until the heat of her body alerted her to her presence. She opened her eyes quickly in fright until she realized who was next to her and then replaced her expression from astonishment to sadness.

-Hey? -Andy said, sitting next to her, looking at her face, probably swollen from crying a few minutes ago, with a weak smile.

-If you just came to tell me that you'd prefer me not to be on the team, you don't need to try to be nice. Just tell me your decision and I'll follow through with it. -Nile responds defensively, imagining that the woman in front of her just came to tell her that she doesn't trust her enough to continue with the work they do. She turns so she can face Andy fully and see her expression when she finally says what she decided.

-Nile, I don't want to fight anymore and much less do I want you to leave far away. Now you are my family too and I care too much to leave you behind, and I care even more about seeing you taking so much effort to protect me and neglecting your own safety.- At that moment Andy also turns around so he can get a better look at the younger woman, sad to meet his desolate gaze.

-My safety? it is serious? I'm immortal Andy, for God's sake, if there's anyone who can and should put themselves in the line of fire, it's me and the boys. This concern is meaningless, the problem is that I'm the newbie, right? Has all the effort I've been making to prove some value been in vain?

It becomes too much for Andy to continue watching Nile fall deeper and deeper into this pit of guilt and demands. She then holds the youngest by the chin so she can look directly into her eyes and understand what she is talking about.

-You are immortal but you are not immune to being captured, tortured and many other things. It pains me to say this out loud Nile, but I am no longer unbeatable and if that happens, I cannot guarantee that you will be rescued. Remember what happened last time? If it weren't for you, the rest of the team would still be there because I'm not strong enough to save everyone, and after Quynh I can't lose anyone else, and I don't want to lose you. I'd rather my death ensure everyone's safety than put you at risk.- Andy says each word without looking away from Nile, trying to convey all her vulnerability and fear, trying to make her understand.

-Not so strong? Andy, you are the most badass woman to have walked this Earth, immortal or not. Your strength is beyond physics, it comes from within, it is what keeps us firm and hopeful for better days, you are the pillar of who we are and we won't make it without you, not if you decide to give up. I can't do this without you and I don't want to, all I ask is that you be more careful, whether it's wearing a vest, or letting us help, we're a team and there's no reason to do everything alone.

These words seem to disarm Andy, who reduces the rest of the distance between their faces and captures Nile's lips with hers in a chaotic and intense kiss. She pours all her feelings into this and Nile realizes how difficult it had been for the older woman to deal with all of this, her appreciation for her was obvious and having to deal with this just when her mortality appears, doesn't seem easy at all.

She is taken out of her reverie when Andy's tongue asks for passage, which she willingly gives in to, the kiss becomes increasingly involved and needy and without realizing it, she is grabbing her waist wanting to bring her closer. She always imagined that Andy would be a good kisser, but between imagining and being able to experience it, there was a scary difference, even more so when her hands start to roam the younger girl's body, squeezing and trying to pull her towards her.

They continue like this for what seems like hours until air is needed and Nile moves away, their foreheads continue to touch but it's enough for both of them to catch their breath as they look at each other. Andy looks at her affectionately while stroking the side of her face tenderly, even with the feeling that the best thing would be to spare Nile from all the pain that may come along with this new feeling, she is convinced that she doesn't need to be so rational and that the woman in front of her, despite her young age, is intelligent enough to decide for herself.

-I still think this could hurt you girl, but I don't have the right to decide that for you, but still, I need to remind you, I will die, it may not be today or tomorrow, but it will happen. And I need you to make sure you can follow through with this?

-I know that, but you're worth the risk. - Nile replied with a smile - All I want is to enjoy this time we still have, be it ten years or half a century. I also need your guarantee that you will take more care, for me… can you promise me that?

-Half a century? I think we're being optimistic here, I'm sure when I start to get all wrinkled you'll change your mind - Andy responds making them both laugh - But ok, I promise to try, for us.

Then Nile kisses her again, this time trying to convey all the feeling present at that moment, a mix of joy and love, which she never dreamed that one day she would finally be able to experience. They spend the rest of the afternoon like this, cuddling and kissing, sitting together by the lake as they watch the sun set and the night come to life, revealing a sky full of stars.

Hours later they finally return to the house, it is quiet and dark, the boys are probably in the bedroom sleeping, and they decide to do the same. Finally, the tiredness of the mission and all that discussion reached them, and they threw themselves onto the sofa and let sleep take them to a peaceful night's sleep, like so many others who shared in the same way. This time when they wake up, there will be no need to pretend to forget what they shared that afternoon, this time they have the hope and power to write their story together.

​

[saiditallbefore]

Fanfic: say you'll remember me

The Old Guard

Rated T, 1k, Andy/Nile

Nile crosses her arms and gives what she probably thinks is a stern look. Maybe it would be effective on someone who hadn’t hasn’t lived for millennia, but as it is, Andy feels a little like she’s being scolded by a puppy. But Nile is probably feeling guilty for Andy getting shot. And besides, Andy likes puppies.

Written for Femslash Ex 2033

[goldheartedsky]

Link to Ao3

Please be warned that this absolutely filthy smut and you should 100% read all the tags. Dirtiest thing I’ve written since the Cocaine Fic™️ so enjoy 😈

[astrabear]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani Characters: Nile Freeman, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Developing Friendships, Road Trips, Museums, Fandom Trumps Hate 2023 Summary:

What do you talk about with a thousand-year-old man when you've just discovered you're immortal yourself (after you've questioned his interior decorating, that is)? If you're Nile Freeman, and the man is Yusuf al-Kaysani, you might start with art history.

@sheafrotherdon Thank you for your Fandom Trumps Hate donation! 

(This fic departs from fanon in a number of areas. I regret nothing.)

[druckkugelschreiber]

Writing the old guard fanficiton is just constantly googling when a certain historical event happened, where everyone might have been at the time and deciding what language they’d use their petnames in

[lisea18]

Ball and Chain | Archive of Our Own

Title : Ball and Chain

Author : Lisea18 (me) 

Rating : E 

Pairing : Yusuf / Nicolò; Joe / Nicky 

Summary:

Today, Yusuf is getting married. Today, Yusuf is going to be mated for life. It’s what he always dreamed of… well… almost.

Art by the lovely Grimm18 ( @stop-all-the-clocks​ ) (go give them some love 💖)

Tags : Graphic Depictions Of Violence; Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova; Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani ; Nicky | Nicolò di Genova ; Alternate Universe ; Alternate Universe - No Powers ; Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics ; Omega Verse ; slowish burn ; Top Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani ; Bottom Nicky | Nicolò di Genova ; Arranged Marriage ; Alpha Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani ; Omega Nicky | Nicolò di Genova ; Virgin Nicky | Nicolò di Genova ; Threats of Rape/Non-Con ; but no actual rape ; Attempted Rape/Non-Con ; (not by Yusuf) ; Penetrative Sex ; Anal Sex ; Scenting ; Nesting ; Knotting ; Mating Cycles/In Heat ; Rutting ; Verbal Abuse ; Breeding ; (but not to make children lol) ; Light Bondage ; (arms tied that’s all lol) ; Other Additional Tags to Be Added; if necessary I think I put everything planned that “needs” a tag; slowish burn, slight dubious consent, forced heat

If you enjoy the story, do let me know with a comment 😘

Reblogs are appreciated  ****** Chapter 33 is posted :) Thank you for the support, it means a lot and helps me keep going to finish this story :)