Chapter Text
Alden stayed with Biana, silently sobbing for the sake of his son, he knew deep down that it was somehow wrong to hide this from Fitz but if Fitz’s brain broke naturally then it-it must have been for the best.
“Della? Sweetheart, I need to show you something.” The sound of his wife’s heels clicking on the stairs went in tune with the thumping of his heart. First his daughter, then his son…Della was all that’s left.
“Where are you?” Della called out.
“In Biana’s lavatory,” Alden’s voice shook out of fear.
“What in the world do you need to show me tha-oh, oh my goodness!! What are you doing? HELP HER!” Della dropped to her knees, pulled Biana into her lap that was blinking in and out of focus and stroked her silky hair. It dripped watery blood onto Della’s dress and smeared both of the girl’s makeup when Della rested her face on her daughters.
Violent shaking overcame her body as she became invisible to the eye, the only indicator she was there was the sound of feminine sobs.
Alden could do nothing. He stood, tears staining the silk of his tunic. He watched, unmoving, as his invisible sobbing wife cradled his child. He shuddered as his son, once bright and joyful, stared at the family portrait and asked coldly why there was a girl in it.
Alden starred in mute horror as his son, his precious son, became cold and bossy. He saw Fitz become a horrible person, that he knew his boy would hate, and could do nothing about it.
“Oh that’s just a family friend, no reason to worry. Let’s go have some dinner, shall we?”
'Oh', Alden realized as he sat and ate the lavish dinner in front of him that he could not taste. 'The other children don't even know yet.'
The food was tasteless in Aldens grieving mind, it was like swallowing sand, it sucked the soul out of me to do the simple things. Eat dinner, wash up, go to sleep.
In bed he spoke solemnly to his wife, “We must send a message to the public tomorrow, I will handle writing it and finding a messenger.” Della nodded, not even meeting his eyes before falling into a restless night.
*
Dex had been awake for far too long. And he knew this. But he just HAD to finish this gadget. It was going to be a device to locate warehouses the Neverseen could use as storage, but only if he could just get this damn piece in place-
“Dex! Your mother is here with a message for you. She looks distraught.” Lovise called from where she was stationed at his door.
Dex threw the device at the wall in frustration, then called out, “Please tell me that they found another warehouse and Sophie just burned it down again,” before swiveling around in his chair and staring at his door, just in time for his Mom and Lovise to come in.
The moment his mom entered, Dex sat up straighter, sensing that maybe his incredible wit and humor weren’t wanted. His mother had a tense set to her shoulders, and her eyes were red, as if she’d just cried.
“What’s up mo-” Dex left out a heavy whoof as his mother slammed into him, knocking the air out of his chest and enfolding him in a bear hug.
“Mo-Mom, Mom, you’re stealing all the air.” Dex wheezed.
His mother let go and backed away, eyes now brimming with tears. “I’m sorry, little genius, I just- I can’t lose you.”
Dex frowned. “Mom, what happened?”
His mother began to cry, tears streaming down her face and freezing before they hit the floor. “We-we just got the news. I- You should sit down.”
“Mom. What happened.” Dex demanded.
His mom froze-not literally-, then took a deep breath, and around her, the air dropped in temperature.
“You remember that mission that Biana went on? With Keefe, Sophie and Tam?” She began, nervously wringing her hands and the streaks down her face frosted over.
Dex did remember this. He had to stay behind and work on the device (always left behind, never wanted, never needed, always the spare, the ninth wheel).
“Yeah, what about it? Mom, what happened?” He insisted, ignoring the plunge his gut took.
“Well, Biana was injured. And-and she didn’t tell anyone. And she was-um-she was discovered-I can’t say it.”
“MOM. TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED.” Dex forced through his dry throat and off from his clumsy tongue.
“She’s-I’m so sorry, little genius. She was found dead yesterday morning.”
And Dex couldn’t breathe.
No, his mind insisted. No, Biana doesn’t die. She never stayed down. Even after she was cut and bleeding out, she got back up and kept going. She never-no, she couldn’t-
“Dex, breathe. Come on, you’ve got this.”
Dex dimly registered a hand on his back, and an arm in front of him, enfolding him in almost a hug, but not quite holding him.
“Okay, deep breath in, deep breath out, there you go. You’re doing amazing.” The voice said, and only then did Dex realize the tightness in his chest and dull throbbing in his heart.
I’m dying, He thought. This is it. Biana is dead, and soon I will be too.
But the voice kept telling him to breathe, and he kept trying, and eventually he could speak, so he rasped out, “How-how can I help?”
The voice, which he now realized was attached to the gray arms holding him, spoke gently. “Nothing, my charge. You must do nothing, first. Elves are fragile, and you must hold yourself together before you can try to fix everything else that’s broken.”
Dex kept breathing, and he kept living, and soon, he would fix everything that he could.
* *
Sophie was having a very normal morning, and her hair looked like an angry pineapple, as per the unfortunate usual and she was headed down the steps to hopefully avoid eating breakfast. But she didn’t argue about eating breakfast and she didn’t get to go hang out with Biana for a girls day. She didn’t get to practice covering her scars with Biana. She didn’t get to check on Biana and make sure she’s okay. She didn’t get to have a normal day, or week, or month, or year;never again would anything be normal for her because of what she was about to learn.
“What’s happened?” Sophie deadpans after taking in the looks of pain on her bodyguard's face.
Sandor took a deep breath, he couldn’t even keep it steady. That was the first warning sign, Sandor always kept his shit together.
“As you were a part of last night’s hit team you’re aware of the dangers and potential injuries. Unannounced to all of us, Biana had been severely injured and for reasons unknown to us kept this to herself, her attempts to treat herself were unsuccessful and she was found yesterday morning…” Sandor paused, swallowing harshly before continuing, “…dead.”
Sophie’s knees locked, her hands turned to fists, her eyes became purely black. There was no pushing things down this time, everything was coming out, whether or not Sophie wanted them to. Sorrow, Rage, Fear, Frustration, Pain raised from the bundled knot in her chest, ripping at the tightly wound seams of the knot;breaking free in an final explosion.
Sandor's eyes widened as realization of what was happening hit but there was no time. Red lightning hit him, burning a hole into his heart with the intense emotion unbearable for anyone.
The feelings were hot and electric, they broke his heart a thousand times over again. Then came the pain, it was different. Worse. Worse than being burned alive or even suffocation because it wasn’t an overwhelming emotional burst that caused an agonizing physical sensation incomprehensible. Like his heart couldn’t take it and the pain had to be felt in his body. It broke him down, nerve by nerve, he crumpled to the ground and squeezed himself into the fetal position. His pain conditioning was useless in comparison.
“SHIT, SHIT, holy mother of cow crap. SANDOR! I am so sorry, are you okay?” Sophie wailed with tears streaming down her face.
Sandor coughed repeatedly, the same tears pouring out of his eyes as when he responded, “Yes Miss, I-I am alright. Don’t blame yourself, I should have prepared for a reaction such as this.” Reality came slamming down on her shoulders with that line. Reaction, a reaction to the news that her friend…her very best girly friend was gone.
There was nothing else to it. Only the numb truth that she would never have a normal again, because Biana was gone and that was not okay. So Sophie wasn’t okay either.
* * *
Sophie came up the steps in a slow rhythm, thunk, thunk, thunk, it repeated like the dull beating of her heart whereas Biana’s was quiet. Before she could arrive at Keefe’s room, a big heavy thing came tumbling down onto Sophie causing both of them to collapse into a pile at the bottom of the stairs.
“What the-,” Sophie yelped.
“Sorry, sorry-I just-I felt your emotions and they are crazy so I was kinda freaking out a bit so I knew I needed to get to you so I ran but then I slipped and well you know the rest.”
“What happened? Don’t even try to fucking lie, I can feel every bit of your despair,” Keefe begged the moment Sophie got to his house.
“I can’t- Keefe, I'm sorry but I can’t say it so I’m gonna show you the memories.” Keefe shook throughout the scene, occasionally waving a hand to fan Sophie’s emotions.
They nearly choked him multiple times, and he couldn’t stop the tears that welled up and spilled over.
Once the scene played out completely, Keefe had tear tracks drying on his cheeks and bloodshot eyes. He began to shake harder and it only got worse when Sophie tried to comfort him, although a good intention the touch only intensified the grief he was feeling.
Keefe’s feet carried him away before his brain could even process why he was moving or where he was going. All that he knew was he needed space. He had to get away from the blues and grays that were threatening to swallow him whole.
And so, he ran, he ran fast and far. Not thinking about what Sophie needed or what Sophie wanted, or what Sophie was doing. He put himself first, just this once. Wood turned to carpet to stone to grass to dirt under his feet until he nearly ran straight off a cliff where he stopped and screamed. Over and over again until his voice broke.
Anger was not something Keefe usually felt, it was usually loneliness or frustration, not this purest of reds. Obviously this led to Keefe not knowing how to cope with this and therefore he ended up punching and kicking the trees around him till blood was smeared on his knuckles and there were rips in the toes of his boots.
Time passed like breathing while he was in that state, you don't realize it's happening. Everything turned into a white blur of emotions as he regained control, nothing felt better but he had control again which is what mattered. Immediately after he could function clearly he remembered Sophie and ran back without a second thought. How much time had passed? Would Sophie still be there? Did he make everything worse by running off, just like he always did? He was no good to anybody by running off, his only purpose was helping people.
“Keefe,” Sophie exhaled quietly. She was curled up in his bed with blankets, Mrs. Stinkbottom and a hot tea.
“Look Soph I am so sorry for leaving you, the emotions were just too much and I nearly went numb as it is but that’s no excuse for abandoning you in such a vulnerable state. Are you okay? And how did you get that tea?”
“No, Keefe. I am not okay. I’m finally broken. I thought I could keep it together, but even duct tape falls apart at a certain point. It’s not your fault. You needed to take care of yourself, I understand that. Lastly, your father gave me the tea. He came up and said that he figured I would be waiting a while.” Keefe simply stared at Sophie, then he came over, kissed her forehead and snuggled on top of the covers next to Sophie. He cradled her in his arms while resting his chin on her head.
“We’re gonna get through this,” he murmured into her hair.
“How long will it take until you stop saying that?” She replied.
* * *
Tam, Linh and Wylie were all sitting at a table playing a game of Rukkersnap when Grizel appeared in a shimmering light. She strutted through and delivered a message that had become harder to say every time. Grizels words turned to mush inside Tam’s head. In the beginning he listened so intently he might have busted an eardrum from the straining but after the first few words he could tell where things were going.
Around him he could hear shadows crawling inwards, trying to reach him, but he felt the slight sting of Wylie’s light chase them back to the corners.
Tam couldn’t quite see. It was like the deepest shadows had covered his eyes. He lifted his hands to his eyes, and felt that they were open, then reached out with his control and forced the shadows away. He still couldn’t see, through the tears that coated his face and pulled from his eyes.
—
Linh didn’t hear most of Grizel’s message. After ‘Biana was hurt, badly’, all sound had faded away to a dull ringing. Like a wave, crashing on the beach. She shook her head, but it didn’t fade away. It only got louder, crescendoing like a tsunami.
Linh registered Wylie move beside her and saw light erupt from his hands. She brought her hands to her ears, trying to dim the noise, and felt her abilities grab hold of the water in a vase nearby, pulling it to her ears and muffling everything. She held it tight, blocking out the noise, only able to think, Biana is gone. Not like the tide, coming back after a day, or like riptides, backing off until it shoots closer. Gone. She was gone, and she was never coming back.
—
Wylie’s thoughts went straight for the productive, what could he do moving forward to stop this from happening to anybody…. really but maybe specifically Linh. “What are we gonna do?”Wylie questioned through clenched teeth, maybe he wasn’t as calm as he told himself he was.
“Nobody has gotten that far yet aside from Dex, he’s thrown himself into a steaming pile of work that apparently just has to get done.” Wylie sighed, grabbed Linh's hand and stomped off. Eyes blazing and teeth grinding his facade of strength blinked away for just a moment, revealing a scared, innocent boy who just wanted safety for the people he loved.
“Linh. Wait for me, I’m not leaving you alone right now,” Tam ordered, his stone cold face not seeming to care but small tears slipping around the corners of his eyes. It wasn’t a surprise to anybody that Tam’s immediate instinct was to take care of Linh, some of his friends definitely thought it was a form of self neglect but it wasn’t. Truly it was a way of coping. Tam has been a guardian figure for Linh ever since they were children therefore it is a natural comfort for him;Tam is comforted by comforting people.
Linh, Tam and Wylie shuffled away and onto a beach, the waves lapped over and over. The rhythm was soothing to Linh and Tam was well aware, despite Tam’s passive aggression against it Wylie huddled next to Linh, kissed her hand and played with her hair. The water started to move roughly with jagged rocks flying out of the ocean onto the shore, spraying salt and blowing wind with an eerie dampness.
“Linh, you okay?” Wylie asked quietly.
Linh didn’t respond, she continued to stare ahead into the wide ocean, occasionally mumbling something unintelligible in a soft, wispy whisper. Almost like an anthem for the water.
A light rain began, turning heavier and heavier and heavier till they were all drenched in rain, their tears turned invisible and their faces paler than ever before. They were all in pain but everything seemed to affect elemental abilities stronger than others meaning that Linh was under even more pressure to control herself.
“Linh just stop, let yourself go okay? It’s too much for you to grieve and control your powers. Go to the water, just float, let the tide take you where it wants;just trust me?” Tam said, calm decisiveness pouring through his voice.
“REALLY? You’re okay with me doing that?” Linh checked excitedly. Tam nodded, no emotion crossing his face but he didn’t take his eyes off Linh.
“Okay,” Linh replied, no smile graced her face, no giggle escaped her lips and there was no twinkle in her eye but her tears had dried. “I’ll see you…later I guess.” And with that Linh disappeared into the water, it engulfed her almost like it was seeing a friend that they had been missing for a long, long time.