#we'll always remember you as a traitor drew

[vanesawye]

drew barrymore did all that for NOTHING 💀

[comfort-questing]

23. "you'll have to go through me"

sequel to this bc I wondered what happened wi them...

-

"ah. I wondered what you were up to, sneaking off to the prisons alone these nights."

the man in the doorway was barely visible in the wash of the lantern, but the sneer in his voice was evident, and the guard's uniform insignia flashing bright above his sheathed sword. she gathered herself to her feet, whisper-quick, from where she knelt by the half-conscious body on the floor.

"and what of it?" her voice was level, unflinching, and her hands hidden away within the folds of her cloak. "his death isn't any use to the Prince, now is it? and you folk haven't exactly been doing much to keep him alive."

the guard chuckled, harshly. "well, that's a pity. he's wanted for questioning upstairs, anyway, so he'd better last a little bit longer."

she glanced down to where he lay motionless at her feet, his rough breathing barely audible in the drafty stillness, the blanket askew across him and the water bottle she'd left for him the night before still corked.

somewhere inside her she had always known this would happen, in the end. nothing stayed hidden forever, and even the lowliest lady-in-waiting like her would have eyes on her eventually, given long enough.

"take him now and he'll die by midnight," she said. "if you wait till tomorrow at least he might say something sensible, unless the wound-fever kills him first."

"shall I tell your lady that you're spending your nights tending to a traitor? I don't think she'd be very happy to hear that. what's he to you, anyway?"

another face that she didn't want lost to darkness. another voice that shouldn't be silenced.

she clenched her fists under the cloak hem. "somebody who needed help, whatever their crimes. and anyway, if you're planning to make use of him, don't you need him alive?"

she'd overplayed it, from the way the guard leaned forward then. oh, if only she had the kind of voice and mind that could turn these sorts of tricks and not ever show their intention... she stepped over his body on the floor, placing herself ever so slightly between the two men.

"all I know is what I was told. we've time to see to him in the guardroom now, and the captain if not the Prince'll want to know the reason if we don't get anything from him." the guard had a hand to his sword hilt now, the edge of the lantern's glow lapping at his impassive face.

her heartbeat spoke loud in her ears, but she managed to force her voice steady. "he's not going anywhere tonight."

"or what? or you'll scratch my eyes out, kitten?"

"or you'll have to explain to her ladyship where her senior handmaid went. I'm not stepping aside."

she didn't budge as the guard drew his sword, her fear turning her stiff muscles to ice. a sort of mercy, maybe, that she felt she couldn't move if she'd wanted to. nothing gained if she died here, too - nothing to help him, or any of the other rebels the Prince dragged here to die. but sometimes you got tired of doing nothing. sometimes you had to stand in the lantern-shot dark and do what you needed to do to stay human.

on the ground behind her, the prisoner murmured something into his crooked elbow, restless in his delirium. the light on the sword-blade wavered with the flame's small dance, as it traced closer to her throat. she watched the blade, because there was no use watching anything else.

suddenly the guard snorted. "ah, what's the use? want to stay with him? then you can stay, and we'll have two traitors in one box."

the swordpoint fell, scraping against the floor at the guard's feet, inches from her own.

"stay. stay if you like. hope you sleep well, and we'll send word to her ladyship on the morrow that she's got a turncoat in her court."

this time when the door slammed shut she was on the inside of it, and the bolt shot to with a sharper clang than she remembered. the lantern flared in the draft, then sank before waxing back upward. she sank to her knees, giddy with delayed shivers, her heart racing.

that was that. but - she didn't know what else she could have done.

the prisoner cried out, softly, half muffled by his upflung arm. his eyelids fluttered ever so slightly, and she turned to him as his lips shaped mumbled words.

"shh," she said. "I'm here."

for the moment, that would have to be enough, whatever came with the dawn.

[kyber-crystal]

a lil hangman backstory drabble

ALRIGHT you got it :) sorry if this seems lowkey stupid. it sounded a lot cuter in my head i promise

everyone says hangman got his callsign because of his independent, overconfident nature

but the truth is that's not how it happened at all

you were actually the one that gave him the little nickname

he came from a broken family, and leaned on you a lot because you were all he had

since either of you could start walking and talking, you were best friends

so he was crying one day because his parents were fighting yet again. he was maybe 6? 7? years old. you heard him through your walls, and climbed through his window to get to him. (luckily, there was a tree between your houses so doing this was pretty easy)

being as young as you were at the time, you didn't know many was to comfort a distressed first grader

"jake? i can go back home and bring some cookies. mom made some new ones last night, 'cause she remembered snickerdoodle was your favorite"

he kept crying, which really worried you because he never turned down a request to your family's baking.

so you did the only other thing you knew. you pulled out a piece of paper and colored pencils

you drew a familiar series of lines. then thought for a bit, before you came up with a word and drew out a long series of dashes

"pick a letter!"

as expected, jake went through all the vowels first

it didn't take long for him to guess the phrase

through his tears he looked at you and started to smile. "jake and y/n forever? really?"

you grinned super wide. "duh! what else?"

"so we'll be together forever."

"yeah, dummy. whether you like it or not, i'm staying"

you two had set sights on the naval aviator dream for the longest time. so you pushed each other to the max, and always supported each other no matter what. through middle school, high school, and the naval academy, you stayed together

when you both received invitations to top gun you were beyond excited. you sprinted across the field, not caring that you were probably disrupting the whole commencement ceremony

and you jumped towards him and he spun you around and around

"we did it! we're going to california"

"we sure are," and he kissed your forehead - but he was so excited that he almost kissed you full on the mouth

but he stopped himself because you're his best friend and best friends aren't supposed to feel this way about each other. right?

right.

jake finally sets you down and you dust yourself off. your heart warmed as you looked at his nametag

"it suits you. hangman."

"now, who do i have to thank for that?"

you're so excited that you keep holding his hand through the entire 5.5 hour flight to san diego

and you keep holding his hand as you get in the taxi to the naval base

and as you get out

and as you introduce yourself to everyone there

"i'm phoenix, and i think we're going to be best friends," said the first person you ran into. "that your boyfriend?"

that's when you finally let go of hangman's hand. "no"

"i don't believe you for a second"

fast forward several years and you're all sitting around at penny's bar, talking late into the night

the subject of everyone's callsigns comes up and right away everyone starts roasting poor hangman

"hangman always leaves people out to dry!" - bob

"you left me hanging in the air, and during wii tennis. traitor. i can't believe you" - coyote

"i gave that loser his callsign, you know," you spoke up

and the gang is like wait wtf

so you gave a brief explanation on how it came to be. you'd been glued together since you were babies, and played the classic word game all the time. hence the name...

fanboy and payback are full on SOBBING by the time you finish and it's so hilarious

"might as well change both your callsigns to husband and wife at this point!" - penny

oh. he totally calls you wife up in the air the next morning

it throws you off track long enough for maverick to get a missile lock on you, dropping you out of the simulation's competition

"don't get distracted, ms. seresin" hangman said over your comms

after years of waiting, he finally kisses you when you touch down later that afternoon

tags, including people who may be interested (under the cut):

@walkonthewiidside @sarcastic-sourwolf @totomoshi @sebastianstangirl01 @dilfsandtherapy @purelyfiction @93joons @yeehawnana @lunamoonbby @hazelgirl355 @multifandom-fangirl4 @paintballkid711 @lyn-lc @azari-anna @thelifeofthelifeofme @spawn0fsatan @milestomaverick @teacactusworld @icemansgirl1999 @cherry-waved @newlibrary @ellabellabus07 @criminalyetminimal @whatlovegattado @lets-be-gay-for-the-angel @vane28282 @thisismypointofview @organabanks @hufflepuffprincesse @ice-mans-world @burnedbrisket @fangirlinc @marveljunkie45 @knowledgefulbutterfly @levis-butterfingers @minivture @teacactusworld @lunamooncole @skylynch03 @coastingline @chaoticassidy @hbstre @fantasias-creativebubble @mercury-mae @light-the-moon @winteryoungie @aie1840