Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rook was uneasy.

The faces of the people surrounding her were contorted in rage. Their hands on the guns strapped to their backs. Yet, they didn’t move to attack. They stayed back a distance from the group of officers.

Rook’s hand was also on her gun. Not quite pulling it out but still ready to grab it in the ever growing chance that one of the hillbillies moved to attack.

A man Rook assumed was Joseph stood at the front of the room, a rosary wrapped around his right hand and a book in his left. “Something is coming. You can feel it, can’t you?” He stared straight at her as he spoke. It felt like he was looking into her soul. “We are creeping towards the edge…. And there will be a reckoning.”

Rook resisted the urge to scoff. Instead, she steeled herself and squared her shoulders.

Joseph only smiled. “That’s why we started the project. Because we know what happens next. They will come. They will try to take from us. Take our guns. Take our freedom…Take our faith. We will not let them.”

The Marshal looked as uneasy as Rook felt. “Sheriff. C’ mon-”

“Just hold on, Marshal.”

The group kept inching toward the man at the foot of the church. “We will not let their greed, or their immorality, or their depravity hurt us anymore!”

“Sheriff…” Burke placed his hand on his gun.

With a shake of his head, Earl put his hand out. “Do not pull that trigger. Remain calm…”

Rook glanced at Hudson, growing wearier and wearier by the second. Something didn’t feel right. Whether it was the fact Joseph seemed to be sounding more hysterical by the second, or the fact she was in a church surrounded by people who wanted her and her companions dead. Probably a mix of both.

Rook had never been to church before. Her family was never religious and she was never really exposed to religion. It just seemed too typical that her first time in a church was when she was at a very real risk of getting shot and or maimed by a group of cultist freaks with bad hair.

You would think that since they basically controlled the whole valley and all of the police force here that they might be able to control a hairbrush and a razor. Guess not.

“No, fuck this.” Burke shook his head and pulled out a piece of paper before holding it up to the man standing before us. “Joseph Seed! I have a warrant issued for your arrest on the suspicion of kidnapping with the intent to harm! Now, I want you to step forward and keep your hands where I can see ‘em.”

Joseph’s hands raised and he held them out to the group, his face downturned and angry. “Here they are… The locusts in our garden… You see they’ve come for me. They’ve come to take me away from you. They’ve come to destroy all we have built.”

A crowd was starting to form around the man, their backs to him and their scowls and anger facing the officers. Their yells echoed through the church, getting louder as Joseph spoke.

Despite all the chaos and the fact he was the one who riled them up in the first place, Joseph in all his holiness soothed them. The room quieted. “We knew this moment would come. We have prepared for it. Go. Go…” The crowd dispersed.

“God will not let them take me.”

In Rook’s professional opinion, well, more or less just her common sense actually. It wasn’t God at all that didn’t let them take Joseph. In fact if you asked her, it was the dozens of peggies hanging on and attacking the helicopter.

The aircraft didn’t stand a chance. Nor did the officers hanging by their seatbelts as the helicopter lay upside down.

Rook was one of them.

Nancy’s voice echoed through the headset hanging from wherever it was attached to. “Please, are you there? Are you there? Are you there Sheriff?”

Rook fought through her dancing vision and reached out, desperately trying to grasp at the headset. Another hand roughly grabbed her wrist, stopping her from reaching it.

Joseph pulled her arm towards himself, holding it in place. Blood covered his face but his hideous yellow sunglasses laid intact somehow. Rook silently wondered to herself if they were made of the same material Captain America’s shield was made from. He smiled at her, “I told you God wouldn’t let you take me.”

Again, it had nothing to do with God. It had everything to do with the whack job followers that wanted to play “Let’s take down a helicopter.”

“Please. I need to know what's going on.” Nancy was starting to sound more frantic.

Joseph, while maintaining a grip on Rook’s arm, pulled the headset towards him. “Dispatch.”

“Ohhh… My god.”

Joseph’s eyes never left Rook’s. “Everything is just fine here. No need to send anyone.”

There was a lapse in silence and hope flooded through Rook’s body. Surely Nancy wouldn’t hesitate to send someone down now that she knew that everything went wrong.

“Yes Father. Praise be to you.”

________________

Sharky Boshaw was an anomaly to Rook. Anyone who wasn’t currently in a constant state of “What the actual fuck is going on” didn’t make much sense to her. Especially considering the cult currently running the whole valley, hunting them down like cattle.

It had been a week since the encounter at the church and Rook could feel her eye start to get a permanent twitch out of irritation. Not exactly due to any individual isolated event either. Just a general annoyance aimed at everyone and everything. Most of it was aimed at Joseph and his followers but the other twenty five percent was aimed at the fire currently spreading across the trailer park that she was standing in.

The culprit? A flame thrower wielding man wearing a blue and gray baseball cap named Charlemagne Victor Boshaw IV, Aka Sharky.

“So are you a mute or do you jus’ choose not to talk?”

Another twitch.

“Right, well I can jus’ talk enough for the both of us.” Sharky looked down at the fire spreading around his trailer park and laughed. “Guess I made a bit of a mess. Oops. At least we know it works. I mean just imagine what would happen if we got out there in the field and a bunch of dipshit peggy bastards came crawlin about and it jus’ fizzled instead?”

Rook just stared at him blankly.

He just put both of them in danger with a weapon he had no clue would work or not. Lovely.

Sharky suddenly looked serious. “Faith’s been really giving us all a run for our money. We need all the help we can get. Have you run into her bliss yet?”

Rook luckily hadn’t had a run in with any of the Seeds yet. She had been running all around the valley trying to stop as much as she could and she had somehow not heard a peep from any of them. It made her anxious.

She shook her head to his question.

“Well don’t. Avoid it at all costs. It really messes with you bad. I was down for the count for a whole day. Made me feel like crap.” He walked over to her, ruffling her hair in the process. “Not that I think you need any tips or nothin. The way you took down those angels…”

Angels, drugged up zombified freaks with nothing better to do than to try to rip your throat out with their teeth.

Not that it’s their fault.

“Well, I’ll let you be on your way. I can see you are a busy lil’ lady.” He jumped down from the roof he was standing on and she followed suit. “Just… Be careful out there, yeah? Don’t get caught up in somethin you can’t get out of.”

Sharky was steadily growing on her, despite knowing him for only a few hours it just seemed like he had that kind of effect on people. She stayed silent though.

He seemed unaffected and just smiled wide. “I’ll crack you yet.”

She still somehow found that unlikely but found herself fighting off a smile anyways. She had yet to find a car so she had to resort to walking everywhere. A huge inconvenience but she would live. Probably.

Besides, the woods were pretty and the air was warm. No real harm could come to some good old exercise. Well, except heart attacks, nausea, loss of consciousness, dehydration, cougar attacks, snake bites, etc.

And the occasional run in with cult members.

A scream reverberated through the wood, jarring Rook and making her jump slightly. It stirred her into action and she ran the direction the yell came from.

A woman, covered in blood, laid curled up clutching her leg. “Please, Please.” Her breaths were heavy and laborious. “Please help, I was attacked.”

It certainly looked that way, Rook didn’t have time to question why this woman was out so far in the woods anyways. She walked towards the woman and kneeled down next to her, placing her hand on her shoulder.

The second her hand came into contact with her, the woman burst into a cloud of green smoke. Rook sputtered and coughed, falling backwards and scooting away but it was no use. Sparkles erupted in her vision and her eyes went cloudy. The last thing she heard was a woman’s voice.

“Welcome to the bliss.”

Chapter Text

The first thing Rook registered was something softly running through her hair. The second thing was that she was laying on the ground, her head on something soft. 

Then there was the humming. 

It was a song that somehow felt as familiar as it did unrecognizable. A simple melody that was just enough for her drug-addled mind to grasp. Rook’s eyes opened and everything was immediately too bright and she threw her arm over her eyes to block it.

The humming abruptly stopped.

“Oh you’ve come back to me. How wonderful.” 

Rook’s arm was softly pulled from her eyes. Above her, looking down, was a woman in a white lace dress. “Welcome.” There was a seemingly permanent timid smile on her face that made Rook feel calmed. 

Despite the calm she still rolled off of the woman and sat up before looking around. They were currently in a wide open field surrounded by white flowers. Everything had this bright sparkle to it and the trees were all green. The air had a smell to it that was so sweet it was almost sickly.

Rook’s mind was beginning to clear just the smallest amount and she was able to make the deduction that this was Faith, the fourth and youngest Seed. She wasn’t quite what Rook was expecting. Though, she didn’t truly know exactly what it was she was expecting either.

From the files brushed up on she knew that Faith wasn’t biologically related to the Seeds. That they picked her up as an addict and took her in, rehabilitating her. 

More like manipulating her. 

“How do you feel?” Faith cocked her head like a puppy and waited. Of course she would get no answer. 

But she already knew this.

She sighed and stood from her spot on the ground. “I had heard you don’t speak much. Though I was hoping you’d say something to me. I figured you would sense I mean the best for you.” She held her hand out to Rook. “Come, I have something to show you.” 

Rook ignored her hand and stood up without help. Faith’s serene smile dropped slightly for a moment but she quickly brought it back up and took Rook’s hand. “The Father has something to show you.”

Faith led her to a tree where Joseph stood giving a sermon to a small group of people. Upon seeing them, he stops and walks over. “Faith.” He puts his hands on Rook’s shoulders “And…?” It was obvious he was prompting her to answer but he wouldn’t get one from her.

Faith had no problem answering for her though. “I’ve heard some call her ‘Rook’, Though I do think it's just a nickname.”

Rook was just a nickname. Given to her by the other Officers, it had somehow evolved to what she just called herself in general. It was easier than letting people know your real name. Her mother always said that names give people power over you and she was determined to always have that semblance of control. 

She certainly would not give any of these people any sort of power over her. 

“You know my family only wants the best for everyone…Don’t you, Rook?” He took his hands off of her shoulders and grabbed one of her elbows, leading her away from the group of followers. “We just want to save everyone, including you.” 

Rook, of course, didn’t answer. 

Joseph didn’t look insulted. “Look, Look up.” He pointed to the sky and Rook followed his finger to where he was pointing to.

There, in the sky was a cloud of fire. Rook could feel it on her face, warming it slightly. The fire spread quickly and Rook backed up, blocking her face.

Unfortunately Joseph did not allow her to stay in her safe arm cocoon for very long. He roughly pulled her arms away. “You need to look. You have to see the destruction you will cause if you continue along this path.” 

Rook wasn’t quite sure what path he was talking about. The path of sanity? 

“You are the harbinger of death. You will be the cause of the collapse. The first seal has already been opened. But… We can save you. We can even make the process so easy for you. You don’t need to do any of the work. John will cleanse you and then you can walk the path.” 

Rook wasn’t entirely sure what “The Path” he kept going on about was but she was sure that she did not want anything to do with it. Immediately she pulled her elbow back and nailed Joseph right in the nose and took off in one direction, tearing away from the two like the devil was at her heels nipping on her ankles. 

An anguished yell sounded behind her but she didn’t look back once. She didn’t get very far though, soon her vision filled with the same sparkles from before and everything went black.

_____________

Something soft and damp was swiping over Rook’s face. Accompanying the wetness was a warm almost wind feeling washing over her face. Her hand reached up and swiped it away as her eyes opened. Looking down at her was a black and white semi spotted dog. He was panting in her face and licked her again the second her eyes opened. 

She batted him away and sat up. Mindlessly, she started running her hands through his scraggly fur. 

Rook was currently somewhere in the woods, again. Though it wasn’t too surprising considering the valley was surrounded by woods. 

She took a moment to reflect on what just happened. She couldn’t even tell if it was real or not. She still felt woozy and light headed from the drugs she was given. Joseph was there along with Faith. She had met Joseph previously so it was not incredibly impossible that she would dream of him, but she had never met Faith before. Why would she dream of her? And that then raises the question of:

Who drugged her?

The dog barked at her, deep in her thoughts she didn’t realize her hand had stopped petting briefly. She quickly rectified that and continued where she had left off. 

Rook didn’t prefer to speak, at least not to people. Dogs on the other hand? They were an exception. “Hey puppy.” While the dog was arguably not technically a puppy, every dog was a puppy in her eyes. “Where’s your mama?” 

The “puppy” of course did not answer. 

“Do you have a name?” 

Silence, not even a pant. 

“I can give you one, if you’d like.” Rook scooted her body over to a nearby tree and used the trunk to pull herself up. Her body still felt weak and as she stood her stomach flipped. She fought it off though and looked back at the dog. “Well, you look old… Maybe… Boomer?” 

A head tilt.

“Boomer?”

His tail started to wag. 

“Boomer it is. I think we are going to get along great.”

______________________

Joseph was angry.

Not that he let it show. Rook, like any other sinner he has encountered, was misguided and temperamental. He knew he had to stay patient. She would be handled like the others, it was just a coincidence that she was more special. 

His nose was bleeding, a bruise was forming. Joseph knew he wasn’t god, he was just a messenger. Things like this though reminded him just how god-like he wasn’t. 

Joseph knew that visit wouldn’t truly end in her joining them. He always knew that she would get away, they were going to let her go after to roam free for a little while more. 

Like a sheep.

But her hurting him was unexpected. 

He just had to control his wrath. His children needed a gentle hand, even the disagreeable ones like Rook. And that name she was giving everyone… Actually, “giving” was a stretch, she had yet to actually say anything to anyone. Yet another thing he had yet to know about the most recent addition to the valley, and it was something as simple as her name. She was controlling, prideful. But it was okay, he would find out one way or another. He just had to be patient.  

His other siblings had already gotten the memo to keep an eye out, she truly didn’t stand a chance. No matter how hard she fought, she would be brought to atonement. 

Even if it’s the last thing he or his siblings do

Chapter Text

“We are all sinners. Every one of us. You, Me, Even The Father knows deeply of sin. It’s a poison that clouds our minds. What if I told you, you could be free from sin? What if I told you that everything you ever dreamed could come true? What if I told you that everything could be overcome if you embrace an idea. That freedom from sin can come from the power of just one word…..-”

Rook abruptly shut the broadcast off, not wanting to listen to it anymore. John Seed came across as a man who spoke just to hear himself speak, nothing of true value or worth. Just empty words.

At least he kept his shirt on. 

The religious propaganda really ramped up in the days since the encounter with Faith and Joseph. Every car Rook got into blasted holy and vomit inducing crap from the radio, and it was on all the stations. Every single one. Rook checked. So she drove in silence, which if you have ever driven in complete silence you know it’s agonizing. This proved too much for her so she started bringing Sharky along just so she could listen to something other than her own thoughts. 

Speaking of Sharky, he was currently talking her ear off, which was the reason she turned on the radio in the first place. She might have taken him with her so he would talk to her but sometimes she just needed a moment and she had hoped that maybe the resistance had fixed the stations by now. No such luck. There was a part of her that considered going back to the all encompassing silence of the open road. 

“You should meet my cousin, Hurk. He has this giant grenade launcher, you could take out anything with that thing. People, buildings, statues, signs. You name it.” Sharky had his feet up on the dashboard and was crunching loudly on a pack of chips. “And his dad is running for Senate. How cool is that? He’s basically royalty.”

Rook wasn’t so sure she would go that far but she nodded to humor him anyways. 

Crunch crunch “Though-” Crunch crunch “He likes to talk. A lot. You’re quiet. You might not like that.”

Rook’s mind started to focus on the crunching of the chips. The chewing was driving her crazy. In fact it started to morph in every sentence he was speaking, it wasn’t words anymore. Just chewing sounds. She wanted to scream.

Instead she reached out, grabbed the bag of chips and threw it out of the open window. 

You would have thought Rook killed Sharky’s dog, he looked devastated. “Hey! I wasn’t finished with that…” He crossed his arms and pursed his lips. “Plus that’s littering.  You are a litterbug. A Litterbug.”  

Rook didn’t have the time to consider the repercussions of being a “Litterbug” right this moment. She had something she wanted to do. Actually it was something she needed to do. John Seed, the man behind the most current broadcast, was the only Seed sibling she had been hearing from and she was ready to tear out her hair. He hadn’t even spoken to her directly yet but his propaganda riddled teachings also filled the radio. 

John Seed was obsessed with this philosophy of always saying yes. It became extremely apparent the more she had to listen to him go on and on. It was enough to make anyone want to stab themselves repeatedly to put themselves out of their misery. 

So she was going to blow up his stupid “yes” sign. 

It was bulky, big, and a huge eyesore. She was truly doing everyone a favor. Sharky’s comment made her think though. His cousin had a grenade launcher, she could really use something like that to destroy the Hollywood sign wannabe plaguing the eyes of anyone with a conscience or half a brain cell.

She turned to Sharky and made a decision that she knew she would regret later. “Where does your cousin live?” 

His face glowed instantly and she immediately wanted to take it back. “You- You said words! In my direction!” 

“Yes Sharky, I did. In fact I talk all the time, I just choose who and when to talk to people. It’s not really revolutionary.” Rook couldn’t help but sigh.

Sharky was not deterred. “And you chose to talk to me.” 

He had a point, though she couldn’t very well communicate any other way, not while she was driving. “Are you going to answer my question?” 

“I could drive us there. You really want to meet him?” 

She couldn’t really say she wanted to meet the man himself but she did want to meet that weapon of his. But she couldn’t just outright say that to the man, Sharky was like a puppy and he wanted her to like all the things he liked or he’d get all sad. And Sharky liked his family so she had to like his family too. So she decided to humor him, again. “Yeah, he seems fun.” 

As much as Rook was hesitant to let the man get behind the wheel, she obliged and switched seats with him. She had no clue where to go and she doubted Sharky would be very good at telling her out loud instructions. She was 50% sure he would get distracted and they would miss a turn somewhere. 

Despite her hesitation about letting him drive, he was actually okay at it. Sure a couple bushes were sacrificed in the line of fire but what’s one or two bushes in the grand scheme of things?

Hurk’s home, or more accurately Hurk’s father’s house wasn’t too much to look at. The man in question was kneeling in front of a table fiddling with something in front of him. Upon seeing them he smiled and stood up. “Aw hey man and lady bro. Or lady lady. Sorry I don’t wanna go assuming nobody's gender or nothin. I don't mean no disrespect. I just call all my homies dude and bro and man regardless of vagitailia or… penilenessness.” 

Rook waved him off, not saying anything, ready to keep her vow of silence against strangers but realized a real dilemma. She had not told Sharky what she wanted from Hurk so he couldn’t do the talking. She had to break her rule of silence to effectively get this man to blow up the sign with her. 

Hurk turned to Sharky and slapped him on the back and brought him in for a man hug. “What brings you here to my lil ol’ neck of the woods?”

Sharky opened his mouth to talk but Rook cut him off before he could say anything. “You have a grenade launcher, right?” 

He reached around the table and pulled out a large weapon before setting it on his shoulder. “Sure I do, It’s my baby. Like how my Daddy’s truck is his baby. His truck is more his baby than I am his baby.” 

Rook didn’t bother commenting on how sad it was, or how sad it was that he said all that so nonchalantly with a smile on his face. “How would you like to join us in a super secret mission that could help save the valley?” 

Apparently that was the right thing to say because he started to jog to the truck we took coming in. Rook couldn’t help but chuckle “Don’t you want to hear the details?” 

He was already climbing in though, “No need! I’m ready and roarin for anything! Now let’s make dust before the old man starts shootin’. He’s hotter than a ghost pepper these days.” Both Rook and Sharky follow, Sharky getting into the drivers side again and Rook forced to be stuck in the middle of the two with Hurk in the passenger side. “Senate run’s been real stressful on him, man. He ain't cut out for that shit. You know how busy he is? Doesn’t even have time to cut out for a shit.” 

She really didn’t need to know that but she doubted he would care much. He seemed like an oversharer. Sharky turned to her and smiled. “Where to?” She just handed him a map in response, the area circled on it. Then they were off. 

Hurk was a talker and didn’t seem to be able to sit in silence for long. “Shit man. I have been prayin’ on this all day, man. I’ve been askin’ the monkey king, all the baby Jesus’s, even the little valentines one, just to send me a sign man and they sent me you. I’m gonna finally be a hero and maybe my daddy will be proud of me. Maybe he’ll let me sleep in my bed again. Cause I gotta tell you man. It’s gettin’ real cold outside. Nevermind them woodticks crawlin’ all up in my junk, threatnin’ me with lyme disease and whatnot.” 

Sharky had no problem keeping up though. “If you coat yourself in the vaselines, they slide right off.” 

“Vaseline?” 

“Vaseline. That’s all.” 

Rook didn’t know if she could make it. 

But she did. They arrived at the hilltop, right in front of the sign. The two gentlemen didn’t quite get it. 

“What are we here for?” Hurk, like always, was the first to talk.

“We are taking it down. Blowing that annoying sign to bits. With that gone, we will be one step closer to driving the Seeds out of the valley. It’ll be one less thing to influence people.” She pointed at the launcher. “You can even do the honors.” 

Hurk definitely seemed on board with that, he even seemed giddy as he loaded a grenade into the chamber and aimed it at the sign. After successfully lining it up he pulled the trigger and it made a loud “Pop!” sound as it launched the explosive at it. Upon impact the thing exploded taking bits of the sign with it. Several others launched proved the same results and soon all that was left of it was some wooden planks on the ground. 

They truly were heroes. At least for that moment. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

Rook was halfway through Holland Valley when her radio turned on, on its own. John Seed’s voice echoed from the receiver. “Sin is pervasive. It drives us to do unspeakable acts. I know the feelings that drive you. I know them…Intimately. But I can help you, Deputy. I can wash away these sins. Cleanse your soul. It will be difficult and it will be painful but it will be worth it. My people will come for you. They will bring you to me.” Rook frantically tried turning it off to no avail. “Don’t fight it. Because the harder you resist, well… The harder we will have to scrub your soul.” 

Rook really was wishing she had just rode back with Hurk and Sharky. She stubbornly chose to walk back because Hurk was so sweaty after their little excursion and she didn’t want to sit shoulder to shoulder with him. Her regret increased tenfold as something sharp and painful hit her in the shoulder. Instantly a warm stream of blood ran down the length of her arm and her vision turned sparkly and blurry. She grabbed her arm hoping to stem the pain and started stumbling forward, hopelessly trying to get away. She was unsuccessful of course and went down hard. 

                              __________________

As she awoke all she could feel was water. Then as more things registered she could feel hands on her, holding her under. The second thing she noticed was she could hear muffled speaking. 

“We must wash away our past. We must expose our sins.” Rook made the assumption that it was John but couldn’t be completely sure considering it was getting really hard to breathe. “We must Atone…!” And just as she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, the man holding her down yanked her up and out of the water. The air rushed back into her lungs as she gasped and sputtered, taking in huge gulps of air. 

The man holding her down was in fact not John, but the man speaking was him. In all his narcissistic glory. The man who had his hands on her started walking her over to John, she could barely see because there was a truck with its headlights shining right in her eyes. “For only then may we stand in the light of God and walk through his gates unto Eden.” They reach him right as he closes the book in his hand. He holds his hand out to the man holding her and hands him the white book he was holding, “Not this one. This one’s not clean.”

John grabbed her shoulders roughly and forced her back into the water. She didn’t even have time to prepare herself. He held her down until her vision turned black at the edges before bringing her back up. Coughing violently, she tried to calm herself. His face turned sympathetic. 

It was glaringly fake. 

“Ahhhhh! Shhhh.” He lowered her again, preparing to put her under when someone clears their throat.

“Do you mock the cleansing, John?”

John pulled her back up and looked behind him. Joseph stood a few feet away, standing in the light of the car. “No Joseph.” 

Joseph sighed and took a step towards them, Shushing John. “You have to love them, John. Do not let your sin prevent that. Bring that one to me.”

Rook supposed “that one” was her.

And she supposed right as John brings her over to him. Joseph put his hands on her shoulders as she stepped closer to him and he smiled softly at her. “Despite all that you have done, you are not beyond salvation. You are not here by accident or by chance. You are here by the grace of God. You’ve been given a gift. Now it remains to be seen whether you choose to embrace it… or to cast it aside.” He lets go of her and turns to John once again. “This one shall reach the Atonement. Or the gates of Eden shall be shut to you John.” 

John almost looked like he was going to cry as he lowered his head and closed his eyes. The older Seed touched his forehead to John’s before walking away. Once he was no longer visible, John turned to Rook. A sudden scowl on his face. “You will confess. Every sin you’ve ever committed, no matter how petty, no matter how small… I will pull from you.” He scoffs. “Then and only then will we see if you’re truly worthy of atonement.” 

That sounded like a challenge. 

Chapter Text

Rook wanted the Seeds dead. That much was certain. 

As she laid there in the back of a van, being thrown around like a rag doll she thought up of all the ways she could make them suffer. 

Rook was never an inherently violent person. In fact in another life she was a pacifist who truly did want to do good and spread good. Now though? She wanted to hogtie John Seed to a rock and toss him in the deep end of his own stupid bliss filled lake. 

It would be only fair considering his people tossed her into the back of a nearby van just waiting for a greasy Peggy to take its wheel and drive her off to who knows where. 

Really, it was who knows where because she had zero idea where it was taking her. The van had no windows where she lay and she was still too jelly legged to try to see if she could kick the back door open. Not that she thought she could do it any other day. She wasn’t exactly a heavy lifter. 

The van screeched to a stop and she was thrown into the front of the van. She was seventy five percent sure the dipshits did it on purpose. The doors opened and two Peggys grabbed ahold of her upper arms and under her armpits, roughly pulling her out. 

Rook’s legs kicked out, aiming for the legs of the two that had their hold on her. Unfortunately, the way they held her prevented her from landing any hits on them. 

A large concrete structure loomed over them and two more unkempt cultists stood manning the door. The two holding Rook took her down the stairs leading underground. Hallway after hallway passed as they dragged her through the structure, eventually leading to a room with two chairs in the middle and a workbench off to the side. 

Rook fought back hard as they pushed her down into the chair, locking her hands into the cuffs attached to the arm rests. Her breathing was heavy and she panted hard from the exhertion it took.

The sound of another chair being shaken and rattled echoed from the other side of the room along with the sounds of someone trying to yell through a cloth. 

It was Deputy Hudson, tied in the exact same way as Rook was. Upon seeing her, Hudson stilled and a look of relief briefly crossed her features before the sound of a door opening drew her attention away. Whistling filled the room, Rook recognized it as “We’ll meet again” immediately. The owner of the whistle was none other than John Seed, she wasn’t surprised in the slightest. 

He walked over to the workbench to the right of her and placed a tool box onto it. Turning around to face Rook, he sniffs and smiles. “My parents were the first to teach me about the power of yes.” Opening up the box, he started stapling something to the board attached to the bench. “One night, they took me into the kitchen, and they threw me on the ground, and I experienced pain after pain after pain after pain-“ He slammed the stapler in his hands onto the table and turned around to look at Rook again. “And when I didn’t think I could take anymore… I did. Something broke free inside. I wasn’t scared. I was…clear.”

Rook watched as he walked over to her and turned the lamp on that was sitting next to her. He reached next to her and pulled out something, putting it together as she looked on. “I looked up at them and I started to laugh. All I could say was… yes.” 

He clicked the thing on and it started to emit a buzzing sound. It didn’t take a genius to deduce that he was holding a tattoo gun. “I spent my entire life looking for more things to say ‘yes’ to.” Putting the thing back down he grabbed hold of her chair and shook it. “I opened up every hole in my body, and when those were filled… I created more. But, it was Joseph who showed me just how selfish I was being. Always taking, always receiving. The best gift isn’t the one you get, it’s the one you give. And giving takes courage. The courage… to own your sin. To etch it onto your flesh and carry its burden and when you have endured-  when you have truly begun to atone- to cut it out like a cancer and display it for all to see.” 

Rook recoiled, it sunk in then that he was stapling bits of flesh to the wall. Like a sick trophy. She needed to get out of here, she needed to get Hudson out of here too. They both needed to go. Now. Before he cut things away from them and kept them for his horrific collection.

She silently hoped he would stay away from her boobs. 

“I’m going to teach you courage. Teach you how to say ‘yes’ so you can confront your weaknesses. Confront your sins!” He was pacing now, getting himself all worked up even though neither Hudson nor Rook had said anything. “You will swim across an ocean of pain and emerge…! Free. For only then can you truly begin to atone.” His pacing abruptly stops and he looks between them.

“So. Who wants to go first? Hm?”

This man was truly out of his mind.  

“Which one? Hmm? This is lesson number one. Someone’s got to choose!” His face morphs with rage as he turns around and shoves the workbench over, panting heavily. “For fucks sake! We’ll start with you.” He storms over to Rook and grabs hold of her armrests again. “You won’t regret this. I promise. Now, before we begin I think it’s only proper that Deputy Hudson goes back to her room. Confessions are supposed to be private after all.” 

 John seemed to turn giddy all of a sudden as he almost skipped to the back of the room and grabbed ahold of Hudson’s chair, wheeling her over to Rook. “I’m going to open you and pour your worst fears inside and as you choke, your sins will reveal themselves. Only then will you truly understand the Power of Yes.” He smiles at her and starts wheeling Hudson out of the room. “I’ll be right back.”

And then it was just her. 

The chair she was on had wheels, it was like a roller chair. Hypothetically, if she managed to scoot she could throw herself down the stairs to her left and if movies ever proved true, which they always do, maybe the chair would break. 

Kicking her legs out proved to be the right strategy. Everytime her legs jolted out the chair would shift backwards. She repeated this motion until she was teetering on the top step. Her stomach dropped as she did and she hit the ground hard, her breaths were coming out in pants now and her vision swam for a moment. The second it cleared she was back up. She was free from her binds. Free to roam the bunker. Free to kill anyone in her way.

No one stood a chance. 

 —————————————             

Sharky was relieved. Rook could see it painted all over his face. 

Her face however, was a mess of blood and bruises. She had to give the Peggys props, they sure put up a good fight. 

Not good enough to save them though. 

Rook currently sat next to Sharky at a bar in a small town called Falls End. Small was actually an overstatement. The place was minuscule. Two shops max and a church. Truly a tiny place. 

The bar Rook currently resided in was named the Spread Eagle and when Sharky first told her about it she assumed it was a strip club run by some sleazy man. But no, it was run by a woman named Mary May, the most opposite of a man in every aspect. Rook felt for the woman, ever since the Cult banned alcohol, business for her had tanked. There wasn’t much use for a bar that couldn’t sell alcohol. Not that Mary truly stopped selling it. 

Mary brought over a wet cloth and set it in front of Rook. “Here, use this for your face.” 

The cloth was warm and it was so effective at soothing her sore face that she set it back on the counter and just rested her face on top while placing her arms over her head. She was tired and ready to just pass out. Sharky, unfortunately, had other plans. He had no problem pushing them on to the next thing.

“Rook is roarin’ ready to help in any way the Resistance needs. She wants to know how she can help.” 

Rook would not say she was ready in any way to move from her spot anytime soon,  but what else could she do? John had Hudson in his sweaty, bloody grasp and she was not about to let her become just another name in the long list of victims the Seeds were wracking up.

“Well I’d talk to Jerome about that. Him or Grace.” Mary May leans against the counter and tilts her head at Rook “You sure y’all are ready to jump right into something like this. The Deputy doesn’t look too hot.” 

She was definitely not a deputy yet but Rook didn’t have the energy to correct her. 

Rook knew she had to do this right here and now, if she stopped she didn’t think she would be able to get back up again. 

Sharky somehow luckily read her mind though. “When else would we do it? Certainly not this Friday. I’ve got things to set fire to. Friday is my fire day. Get it? Friday Fireday. It rhymes.”

Mary smiled and put down the cup and rag she was holding. “Let me go get you some ice too. Might help with any potential swelling.” She leaves the room.

Rook lifted her head from the rag and looked at Sharky. “He has Hudson.”

“Hudson? I have no clue who that is.”

Rook sniffed, “She worked- works with me at the precinct. And now John has her.”

“She your girlfriend?”

“…No.” She shakes her head and swallows thickly. “No.”

A grin took over his face. “You hesitated!”

“God dammit Sharky no! We weren’t dating. We just were very very close.” She sighs. “Apparently not close enough. She was right there. Four feet away from me and I could do nothing about it. What kind friend am I? What kind of friend just sits there as their other friend is tied up and hurt?”

Rook flinches as Mary May pops up beside her with a pack of ice. The woman hands her the bag and takes a stool next to her. “The way that I see it is, who got out of that bunker virtually unscathed except for a few bruises? You did. I know for a fact that anyone close enough to you to get you to talk to them is close enough that they would be thrilled to know that you made it out. John isn’t going to kill her. You can count on that. So fight back harder to get her back. Next time you’ll be ready.” 

Rook wasn’t so sure if she would ever be completely ready but she had no choice. She would get Hudson back. If that took freeing the whole goddamn valley in the process then so be it. 

            _______________________________________________

John didn’t want to inform Joseph of what happened in his bunker. In fact if he keep it a secret forever he would. Unfortunately, Joseph would find out either way. 

Joseph, upon seeing him, offered his hands as he always did. John accepted, like always. They separated, and it was time to deliver the news. “Father, the deputy has escaped, taking out dozens of our people in the process.” 

“And of our other guest?” 

“Still where I left her.”

Joseph did not sound worried in the slightest. “Then she will not stay far for long. And if that doesn’t work, well… then maybe we will have to get Jacob to make her see the errors of her ways.”

“Yes father.”

Chapter Text

Is it possible to mourn something that never was? A life you’ve never lived? A person you never were? Rook never wanted this. The violence, the fighting. Maybe if she had taken Joseph’s warning to leave things as they are and to not intervene she’d be fine. 

She wasn’t so sure though. She didn’t truly think she’d ever forgive herself if she stayed home while her teammates were captured. Then she’d truly be guilty. Can you be guilty if you aren’t involved? Rook thought so. Not trying at all is just as bad as failing, in her opinion. 

It had been a week since her encounter with John and she was beating herself up more and more as time went on about her inability to track Hudson down and rescue her. 

She was getting a lot done though. The Resistance now was in control of dozens of the cult's outposts. Still no sign of Hudson at any of them. Radio silence for days. 

Until finally there was word of a potential location. 

John had his own private ranch on its own mini peninsula at the bottom of Holland Valley. If she was anywhere it was either at his ranch or his main bunker at the top of the valley. This was her first stop. 

Rook had to give credit where credit is due, the ranch was beautiful. Orange logs made up the building and a mini airstrip connected to one side. It was truly magnificent.

She would live here, in another life. 

There were Peggy’s everywhere, something had to be here. Something important. Or someone. 

Rook’s tactic of choice was usually stealth. This time was no exception. No point going in full guns blazing when you can pick them off one by one without alerting them to your presence. 

Luckily John seemed to not be on the premises so the task of clearing the building was semi easy. 

Unfortunately, no sign of Hudson.

Rook felt ready to cry. The win felt bittersweet, the whole reason she targeted here was for Hudson. How can this possibly actually be a win without Hudson?

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a loud banging sound coming from somewhere in the building. She immediately searched for the source and came across a door she had not seen before when clearing the place out. Upon turning the handle she discovered it was locked tight. There was no time to search for the key so she took a few steps back before launching herself at the door. It shot open and she fell in, hitting the ground. 

“Rook?!” The voice sounded relieved and slightly teary, but it was comforting nonetheless.

“Joey!” Rook launched herself at the woman, throwing herself onto her. The two tripped backwards and fell over each other, laughing wildly. Hudson’s arms wrapped tightly around her, Rook supposed she must have grown more touchy-feely during her time in John’s custody. 

Rook didn’t blame her.

 What felt like all too soon they pulled apart and Rook held Hudson at arms length in order to get a good look at her. She fortunately looked virtually unharmed considering the circumstances and Rook was glad that she didn’t hurt her when throwing her body weight at her. 

“You’re okay.” The relief that flooded Rook’s body was enough to make her feel lightheaded.

Hudson just smiled at her “As are you, you look incredible. Though you are a bit dirty.”

Rook swiped a hand across her face, attempting to get rid of some of the dirt. She hasn’t even paid attention to her looks in weeks. “Is it bad?”

“Of course not.” Hudson‘s fingers wiped away some of the grime Rook missed. “It suits you.”

Rook stands, helping Hudson up with her. “We should go. It was almost too easy getting you and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a trap.” 

It wasn’t. Somehow. They had no problem hopping on the nearest ATV and speeding away. The two little gays rode off into the sunset. 

                       __________________________________

Things were finally looking up for Rook. She was having win after win after win. 

One of the win’s was undoubtedly Joey.

No offense to Sharky but sometimes a girl needs a member of her own gender. Hudson has never once tried to crop dust her. Sharky cannot say the same. 

She had also heard nothing from the Seeds for a bit. It was concerning, don’t get her wrong, but she was go go go for so long that it was a relief when things finally went her way. Not to mention more and more people were jumping to their cause which left her more time to herself. 

One of those helpful people was a pilot named Nick Rye. His family owned Rye and Sons airstrip so he was the perfect man for any necessary potential overhead work they needed done. He was more than eager too considering John stole his plane. Rook stole it back so easily since she had already taken the ranch John was keeping it at. 

Rook also  was able to discover that not all of the religious people in Hope County were fanatical psychopaths. Jerome Jeffries was actually very pleasant, so pleasant in fact that he volunteered to help the fight against New Eden. 

It felt like things were going amazingly. It was only fitting that it all had to end.

Rook got the call around lunchtime. Her radio crackled to life as a new voice came through, alerting her that something was wrong. 

“There’s someone out there…pretending to be a soldier. They are killing our brothers and sisters, and putting this Project in jeopardy. I want this coward to know that they have my attention… My hunters are coming for you. There’s nowhere you can run.”

Until now the eldest Seed brother had stayed silent and out of sight and Rook really  wished he had stayed that way. There was something about him, the way he had this silent calm fury that put Rook in so much unease, her hands started shaking immediately. 

The sound of engines surrounded Rook as she slipped her gun out, aiming it wildly. Three ATVs pulled up around her, two Peggies on each. She was outnumbered and incredibly outgunned.

One of them raised their shotgun and fired one shot at her, aiming for the ground before her. It hit the dirt and sprayed dirt all over her calves. She jumped back, looking for a way out. 

“Remember, Jacob wants her back alive. Use the Bliss bullets.” 

Rook truly had no clue what “Bliss bullets” were but she definitely didn’t want them used on her. She shoots at the man in front of her and takes two running steps before getting hit with something that sends a huge shock of pain through her shoulder. Blood sprays from the wound and Rook trips over her feet and hits the ground hard. 

Her vision immediately swarmed with the familiar glittery, nauseating sensation of the Bliss and she was out soon after that.

When she came to the first thing that registered was the pain from her shoulder. It was a sharp throbbing sensation that sent a jolt to her head every time it pulsed.

The second thing she registered was Pratt's face, directly in hers, messing with something she was sitting on. His face was a sight to see, bloody and cut up. He looked scared. “You shouldn’t have come for me. You should have run.”

Rook didn’t have the energy to correct him. She certainly was not there for him in any capacity. 

As Staci moves from her another voice sounds from behind her, the same voice from the radio right before she was attacked and a slide show showing gruesome still images of dead animals and bloody wolves.

“This world is weak. Soft. We have forgotten what it is to be strong.” He walks into Rook’s view and up to the slideshow. “You know our heroes used to be gods. And now our heroes are godless. Weak, feeble, diseased. We let the weak dictate to the powerful and then we are shocked to find ourselves adrift. But history knows the value of sacrifice. Of culling the herd so that it stays strong. Over and over the lives of the many have outweighed the lives of the few. This is how we survived. And we’ve forgotten… and now the bill has come due.” 

Jacob starts walking his unkempt ginger ass over to Rook and stands in front of her. He grabs the arm rests of her chair and lowers himself to her level. “Now, the Collapse is upon us, and this time the lives of the few outweigh the lives of the many. And when a nation that’s never known hunger or desperation descends into madness, we’ll be ready.” He rights himself and reaches for something on a table she didn’t notice before. He picks up what looks to be a music box and starts winding it up. “We will cull the herd. We will do what needs to be done.”

The winding stops and he opens the top. Cranking mechanical noises noisily and unpleasantly come from the box and her vision swims and shakes instantly before going dark.

Again.

It’s starting to get old, quickly.

___________________________________________________________

When she awoke for the five millionth time it didn’t quite feel like she was awake at all. Everything around her was exactly the same as it was before she was knocked out, she was in the same chair in front of the same slideshow in the same room, but it felt wrong somehow. 

Only after she took a look around, did she notice that there was a table now in front of her with a gun placed on top of it as well as two other people and identical chairs in front of her. She was also no longer tied down.

Rook picked the gun up off of the table, flipping it and turning it in her hands. It was heavy. It also had heavy implications. A click came from the two chairs and the two people sitting in them stood, pulling out their own guns.

Rook knew what she was supposed to do but she wasn’t sure she wanted to. She set the gun down with some hope for a compromise and raised her hands in a surrender position. 

The two don’t even hesitate, Rook is riddled with bullets in seconds.

She is dead. Wasted.

But not for long. She hears Jacob’s voice from above her speak. He might not be physically there with her but that certainly doesn’t stop him from talking to her anyways.

“ Again .”

She’s pulled back to where she was before grabbing the gun and the realization that she has to fight these people. They didn’t even look like Peggies.

The gun is back in her hands in seconds and she doesn’t even wait for the two to stand first. Bullet holes make homes in their heads within moments.

“ Excellent”

Moving on through the doors she moves into a room where three more are waiting. They instantly start shooting. Fortunately Rook is faster.

“ Well done. ”

The place is like a maze. Just a more deadly one. But she manages fine and makes good time too. Didn’t take too long to make it through and passed the last section. 

A blinding white light surrounds Rook instantly and she is forced to close her eyes. Upon opening them she’s back in the slideshow room, on her side. Blinking blearily she sees three men enter the room, armed to the teeth.

“What a mess. Wheaty, check those chairs.” 

“Jesus the smell.”  Wheaty walks out of sight. 

“Been stewin’ in their own filth for days. Walker get some windows open. And someone shut that music off.”

Wheaty walks right back into view and feels the pulse of the man directly next to Rook. “Christ… it’s Sully. When did they get him?” He sets Sully’s head back down gently and stands. “Why are we even bothering with this? They’re all dead.”

“Check them anyways.” The bearded one™ left no room for argument.

Wheaty huffs but complies anyways. “Why am I always stuck on corpse duty?” Rook could feel his hands on her, lifting her up and turning her around to look at her face. “ Holy shit!” She’s dropped as he skitters back a bit. 

“Oh fuck. A live one.” What was she? A fish? “Walker! Go get the truck!” Beard man squats next to Rook, starting to lift her.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” Wheaty was in a panic.

“Give me a hand, kid.” 

They right the chair she’s sitting in and a look of realization crosses their faces. Wheaty turns to the beard guy slightly. “Eli… is this…?”

“Yep.”

“What the fuck is the deputy doing here?”

‘Eli’ starts cutting Rook free with a knife from his pocket. “Jacob took a shine to ‘em, same as us. You’re gonna be okay, Hero. Whitetail’s gotcha now.” 

She is lifted, still in the chair, and they start to make their way out.

“We’re bringing her back to the Wolf’s Den?”

“Where else?”

“Tammy is not going to like this…”

Her vision slowly starts to blur around the edges.

“Don’t worry about Tammy. She’ll be fine.”

And that was the last she heard before fading away.

___________________________________________________________

Rook has come to one simple conclusion: Tammy is a raging bitch.

The others in the Whitetail militia? Nice as can be. Stitched her up and nursed her back to health. It was nice. 

Surrounded by these nice people and yet all she could think about was Hudson. Her radio was gone so no contact had been made since she saw her last. 

And Staci… He looked rough. Really rough. Another of her team, taken by these cultist maniacs. It was enough to make her feel sick. Not that she didn’t get sick a few times in front of these people. Embarrassing

She was getting restless just resting for so long. Which made her think about how ironic the word restless was. Here she was getting the most rest she had ever gotten and yet the word “restless” implied that she wasn’t getting any.

If that made sense. 

Soon after the longest three days of her life, she was limping out of the Wolf’s Den and on her way to where everyone else was hopefully waiting for her. She just hoped everyone was safe and okay while she was gone. 

It took her a lot longer to get to the other side of the County than she thought it would. Night came and went before she pulled up outside of the designated meeting spot of all loyal Resistance members. The Spread Eagle.

Hobbling inside, she plunked down hard onto a bar stool. Immediately she’s swarmed by people wondering what happened and if she was okay. She could tell Sharky was tired of her showing up like this.

Well he definitely wasn’t the only one. 

Once the crowd dispersed and it was just Rook and Sharky, she turned to him. “Where’s Joey?”

“Who?”

“Hudson.”

A look of realization washed over his face. “Ohhh, She’s actually out looking for you. She’s gonna be so surprised when she realizes you’ve been here all along.”

“I haven’t been here all along.”

“Oh yeah.”

Rook rolls her eyes as the door opens. In walks the exact person she was looking for.

“Rook, You’re back!” She comes over and gives Rook a hug, squeezing tightly. “I was out looking for you all night.”

A slight smile twitches on Rook’s lips and she pulls away from the hug. “I am.” 

“You saved me and I really wanted to do the same for you. I suppose you don’t need saving though, huh?” She sighs and sits down at the bar stool next to crook. “Tell me everything.”

And just like that, everything was somehow okay again.

Chapter Text

Rook always loved board games. Every type.

Now she’s too antsy to sit still and enjoy them. Especially since she knows that Mary May only brought it out to encourage her to get some rest. Like she was a child. 

Her foot was bouncing rapidly as she counted all of Mary May’s properties. She immediately understood why the woman chose this game specifically. She was good at it. Insanely good, to the point that it was genuinely stressing her out.

A hand rests on her leg and Rook looks up at Hudson. She was smiling at her, attempting to calm her down.

She was getting restless, she wanted out. It rang like a mantra in her head.

 Out out out

She couldn’t sit anymore. Brushing Hudson’s hand off her leg, she stands and starts pacing. 

 Out out out out-

“ Rook, it's your turn.” 

She stopped pacing and looked at the group before her. Sharky held out the die to her, tossing them a bit. 

“You want?”

She slightly nodded and grabbed it from him, playing her turn quickly.

Sharky laughed at her as she landed on the ‘straight to jail’ spot. “Dang! You’ve got no luck Dep.” 

Didn’t she know it.

Her little thimble piece now knew what she was going through. Trapped, forced to rest. Rest. It was torture. She might even die.

In fact she knew she was. So she knew she had to voice her concerns out loud. “I’m going to die guys.”

Hudson jolted and looked more alert immediately. “Why do you say that?”

“My muscles are going to atrophy and I’m going to die…From resting.”

Hudson’s muscles in her face twitched as she tried to hold in her laughter. Mary didn’t try as hard. “You are so dramatic. Has anyone told you that before?”

“I’m not being dramatic…!” Her cheeks immediately reddened. 

A hand is placed back on her knee, Hudson laughs a bit. “I think you are . Nothing is wrong with a little bit of bed rest. It’s good for you.” 

Rook’s head shook adamantly. “Not for me! I’m going to lose my jazz!”

“Your… Jazz?” Mary’s eyes narrowed.

“My jazz! My chutzpah! My… thing ! What makes me… me .” She sighs, “What am I good for if I’m not out there helping?”

“Playing your turn.” Sharky had his hand in her face, holding the die. “You do have to roll a double though. Or you can pay 500$”

“I just went though.”

He smiled at her. “Kinda how games work. You go, then others go, then goes right back to you.”

Mary snatched the paper with the instructions from where it was sitting next to Sharky. “And it’s not 500$. It’s 50.”

“Told you not to make me the banker. I love me a good scam.”

The paper is tossed at Sharky and Mary throws her hands up into the air. “Have you been doing that the whole time?!”

“You’ll never know.” He shrugs. “I’m… Shneaky.”

Joey stands. “Well, there goes that game. How about Uno next?”

“No more games, I’m done. I want to do something that doesn’t include sitting.” Rook stands as well.

“Sleeping?” Mary tosses a pillow at her. “That’s a laying down activity.”

“No sitting, laying, lounging, resting. I want to shoot something.”

Joey rests a hand on Rook’s arm. “Aren’t you tired? You’ve been running around constantly for weeks. It can’t be easy, hurting people constantly.”

Rook reeled back. “Excuse me?”

“That came out wrong, I just mean that the people out there… The people you are killing. Those are humans too… I’d just assume it’s hard. Killing people you know has family.”

Rook crosses her arms. “You’d assume wrong.”

“I just think that we have to remember who the real enemy is. John, Jacob, Faith, and Joseph are the ones you are after. The followers are just unnecessary casualties.”

Rook thought for a moment, considering her words. Sure yeah she probably didn’t need to kill the followers. And yeah she supposed they had family. But she only considered it for half a second before waving it away. They started it. It was just self defense on her part.

Unless it wasn’t. 

She could name multiple times where she just… attacked first. When they were just sitting there.

But they were kidnapping people, torturing them, and killing them. No she wasn’t in the wrong and they needed to be stopped, by any means necessary.

“You’re wrong, Joey. Don’t you remember what John did to you?”

“That was John.” She huffed a bit. “I think you are losing sight of my point.”

“I think you are losing sight of the point. The point of why we are here. Our Job. Can’t believe you are defending them. After what they did to you… After what they did to me…!”

Joey’s gaze softened immediately and her arms wrapped around Rook. “You’re completely right. I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

Rook hugged back. “It’s okay… I shouldn’t have snapped.”

“Couple goals.” Sharky had his head resting on his hands, smiling all dopey at them.

Rook sputtered a bit and guffawed. “We aren’t…-” She coughs, “We aren’t a couple.”

“If you say so …~” His little smirk didn’t leave his face.

He wondered how long that would last.

Chapter Text

Rook was hungry, so hungry she felt ill and she could feel dirt under her and everything hurt. A deep ache that she could feel in her bones. She was cold. Freezing.  And as she opened her eyes she spotted someone knelt in front of her. Someone she didn’t recognize. 

Where was she? 

Last she could remember was stepping outside for fresh air. She was only outside for five minutes tops.

With help from the stranger sitting next to her, she sat up. Now that her vision wasn’t blocked she could see there were bars trapping the two of them.

A cage?

“They want you to be strong. One of you will be strong…” Staci Pratt now stood gripping the bars like they were a lifeline. He didn’t look good in the slightest. Blood dripping down his face and bruises surrounding his eyes, he looked as if he would collapse any moment. At least he was the one outside the cage.

The man next to her suddenly started trembling, the water in the bowl he was holding splashing over the sides, unable to stay in. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on what he was afraid of. Jacob, walking up behind Pratt. 

“Get outta here, Peaches.” He pushes Staci out of the way and the bruised man obediently obeyed without any protest.

There apparently was a two for one deal today because Joseph came up behind him as well. He must have wanted to come and gawk at the newest addition to what looked like the “Sinners” zoo. 

Kneeling down in front of her, he gripped the bars, getting really close to her face. He smelled like incense.

“I know you are in pain. The lord giveth, and the lord taketh hm?”

Did these people only know how to talk in monologues? She truly wondered if they went to some sort of class in their free time so they could nag and shame to the most effective degree.

“But you’re not the only one to be tested… Did you know that I had a wife?”

Him? A wife? That woman’s options must have been slim if she settled with Mr “Apocalypse” over here. 

“Beautiful, isn’t she?” He had his arm exposed and pointed to her. A woman’s face was tattooed there. She was beautiful. She’d give him that. “We were pregnant with our first child. And we were just babies ourselves really. And I was terrified. Becoming a father. Mostly about money. She wasn’t worried. She had faith that things were going to work out. She always had faith…” He took a breath. “ And then one day, she was going to go visit a friend… There was an accident…

and the lord taketh…

 And the doctors, they rushed me to a hospital and put me in a room with this little pink bundle stuffed with tubes and they said I had to be strong because my little girl was going to live. God was looking out for our daughter… They left me in a-… alone in a room with her. I just… stared… at my daughter. So helpless. So innocent… and all she had in the world was me. A nobody from nowhere. And in that moment I knew that God was testing me. He was laying out a path before me and all I had to do was choose.”

Was that it? Was that the moment he turned? No one was born evil. Evil people are created, made. There’s not a single baby in existence that comes out of the womb wielding hate in their hearts. She’s met some nasty children in her lifetime, but not a single baby.

“So I put my hand on my little girl’s head and I leaned in… and I could smell.”

Ew

“We prayed together. Prayed for wisdom. Prayed for strength…and I knew. I heard God's plan for me. And I took my fingers and I put them on that little plastic tube that was taped to her angelic face and I pinched it shut… And after a little while, her legs began to kick and kick… and then nothing. Stillness. Release. The lord giveth and the lord… taketh.“ She was pulled closer to him by her collar. “Pain. Sacrifice. These are all part of his test. Only have to prove that we can serve God… No matter what he asks.”

God. There were so many things done in the name of God. If there was a God up there somewhere, he’ll have hundreds of people to apologize to. Starting with Joseph’s baby girl. In what universe does a “merciful and loving” God allow someone to kill one the most innocent and undeserving of groups. 

He didn’t deserve to go to jail, to live on after what he’s done. She was going to kill him. For his baby and all the others who have suffered as a result of Joseph Seed living and breathing on this earth. She was going to send him to the creator he was so enamored with and he will be judged harshly. 

If there even was a creator.

Maybe it all fades to black and there’s just nothing. Humans can’t comprehend nothing because we have never experienced it. It’s completely possible though.

“You’ve done well.” He was facing Jacob now with his hand on the man’s shoulder. He seemed to hesitate before walking away, leaving Rook with Jacob.

Wordlessly, he walked closer to Rook. The music box from before lay in his hand, still silent, he wound it. 

Only You… 

There was music now, the song easily identifiable now that she was more coherent. “Only You” clunked softly from the box. It was loud enough for her to shake immediately though. Her vision reddened as she felt everything fade.

                                ___________________________

The second “trial” was exactly the same as the first. Same men, same maze, Same outcome. 

She did wonderfully.

For the second time Rook awoke to the smell of blood. She was in a puddle of it, seeping into her clothes. It was warm. 

Fresh.

She was the only one alive out of the five or so people laying around her. Towering over her was a cliff, a sword painted to the rock face. 

Did she jump? Or was she pushed? 

It took some difficulty to get up, her arms shaking beneath her, threatening to give out from under her. Her head throbbed, vision blurring at the edges, and she was seventy five percent ready to just lay there and not get back up again. 

But she pulled herself up, hunched and barely holding herself up, but up nonetheless. 

The walk to the Wolf’s den was the worst of her life. Each step was heavily accentuated by a limp and a half yelp. Breaks were her best friend, every few twenty feet she had to sit and catch her breath and every  time she stopped the fear of not getting back up grew greater and greater. 

With the bunker doors in sight, her legs give out for the last time. She was so close. 

Finally the universe seemed with her in that moment because the doors opened and out walked Eli with Tammy in tow. He immediately froze upon seeing her. 

“E-Eli-” Her voice was weak. She didn’t even mean to say anything, especially not in front of Tammy.

The man wasted no time in rushing over to her and hoisting her up. Eli quickly realized Rook wouldn’t be able to stand even when supported so he grabbed hold of her arm, pulling it over his shoulder, and lifted her all the way up. 

Rook was carried down to the Den as fast as Eli could carry her, the slight jolts from the stairs aggravating her injuries. The couch in the Den was the best thing she had ever felt once she was laid upon it and she was immediately ready to fall asleep.

Wheaty was suddenly leaning over the back of the couch to look at her, concern plastered on his face. “What happened?”

Eli bustled about trying to find medical supplies. He knew what happened and he knew he just had to say one word for Wheaty to understand.  “Jacob”

No one knew what Jacob did up there to those he brought in, they just knew no one had ever come back. Until now. Rook seemed to be an exception, Eli couldn’t tell if they spared her for a reason or if she was just able to get away. 

“D’ya think we should contact someone back in the Henbane?”

Eli thought for a moment. Getting someone from down the valley might compromise them. But this was Rook. Somehow she managed to weasel into the hearts of anyone she came across. 

Even with her sometimes abrasive personality. 

So he permitted it. “Contact the Spread Eagle.” 

                                   ___________________________

Mary May kept her radio on at all times, even before Rook went missing… again. So she was the first to get the message that the Deputy had been found. 

She has never felt more grateful to have inherited The Widowmaker, a truck she had been given by her late father. It was rough, tough, and big. A true war machine that encapsulated who her father was. Mounted machine guns and tough exterior that were able to bust through any road block or obstacle.

So she got to the coordinates the man over the radio had relayed to her in no time at all. 

Mary was alone getting there. Joey was nowhere to be found as well, having disappeared the night after Rook did. Sharky was… well… Sharky. He was working on a new flame thrower, the last one exploded on him almost taking his hand with it.

Rook was a mess. Even more of a mess than she was the week prior. But the woman was happy to see her regardless. Rook was sat up, halfway leaning over herself against the arm rest. She smiled at Mary as she came in but it was pained. 

It was sad to see.

Mary pulled Rook into a hug, a gentle one as to not to hurt her, patted the woman’s head and went over to who she assumed was Eli to go over what happened.

Eli was going over maps in the room next door. “It was Jacob. That is the only thing that could have possibly happened.” 

“Have you asked Rook about it?”

He nods. “She won’t say anything about it. Just outright refused. I think she doesn’t want us to freak out.”

“Well, if there’s anyone that can get her to spill, it’s Joey. I just don’t know where she wandered off to.” She sighed. “I really hope she didn’t get taken too…”

She decided to keep that little fact from Rook. At least for now. 

Chapter Text

The news of Joey’s disappearance got to Rook eventually. Especially since they went back to Falls End and she kept asking for the woman. They had lasted four days before she strong armed Sharky into telling her. And the exact thing Mary was trying to prevent happened.

“Rook, you can’t just storm out there. You’re hurt and can barely stand.”

Rook was throwing things into a bag, mainly weapons of different sizes and variations, and some molotovs. “Joey could be hurt too. That matters more than me. I need to go find her!”

“Well you won’t be much help to her if you die. She’ll be the one finding your grave if you rush out there without a plan. Especially while you are still injured.” 

Mary knew the Deputy only had four days of rest since she got back from Jacob’s grasp and the woman had somehow convinced herself that with only a few days of rest, she was completely fine.

“I’m completely fine!” Exasperated, she threw her arms up and angrily zipped up the bag before throwing it over her shoulder.

Mary was quick to pull it off her shoulders so she could place it somewhere Rook couldn’t reach. “I’m not letting you go out there!”

Their bickering was interrupted by the door opening. Sure enough the woman Rook was fretting about so much strolled in, unharmed and smiling softly with her arms opened and ready to receive Rook into.

“I heard you were looking for me?” 

Rook hesitated and took a step back. “Where were you?” She crosses her arms, the worry melting and turning to irritation. “You never just disappear like that. What happened?”

“I…Don’t know if I should tell you.” She looked nervous suddenly.

“Why? What is it?”

“I…I went after John. Or at least I thought I was.” A sigh “When you disappeared I knew I had to do something. I assumed it was John who had you and I had to go out and help. I had to. I’m sorry I worried you.” She grabs Rook’s hands “But I can make it up to you.” 

Rook let Joey lead her out of the building and up to the side of another one a few houses down. A ladder was attached to the side, definitely meant for maintenance, not gay little escapades. It was perfect for just that though. 

Joey assisted Rook in clambering up the steep rungs and they made it to the roof with little trouble. The two sat down and watched as the sun set below Falls End.

Despite all the pain and headache the valley was filled with, it sure was beautiful. It was stunning… Yet all Rook could look at was Joey. Her pain and injuries seemingly melted away, nonexistent and insignificant as she beheld the woman before her.

Despite all the grime and dirt covering each other, none of it seemed to matter. Joey was the most beautiful thing she had ever laid her eyes upon. Just took her five years to acknowledge it.

Joey took her hands again, looking at her. “Rook, Since we met, for four years… There’s been something I’ve wanted.”

“Four? It’s been five. Twenty thirteen.”

“Has it really been five?” Her hands dropped, still holding onto Rook’s. 

She nods her head in response. “It has.”

 Rook and Joey met in college. They hit it off instantly, as most gays do, and they stuck together through college into Police Academy. They knew everything about each other and they told each other everything. 

Which is why Rook was slightly confused about why Joey wouldn’t use her name while they were alone. Joey still was calling her “Rook”. 

Joey leaned in and Rook’s face immediately reddened, deepening into a dark red color. “Rook… I think I love you. And maybe it took you being taken a few times to fully realize that, which I do apologize for, but I think I’ve finally come to terms with it.”

“Why do you keep calling me Rook?” 

“Hm?” Joey was visibly confused.

“You keep calling me ‘Rook’. You know my name…Why won’t you use it?” 

Joey’s confusion slipped to a soft smile. “Because I can tell you prefer it.” She squeezes Rook’s hands. “I respect you too much to ever disrespect you in any way. You know that… Right?”

Rook nods.

“And if you want me at any time to ever call you anything different then I would do it in a heartbeat. Just say the word.”

Rook nodded again. “I think… I want you to use my real name… Just when we are alone though!” She sighs. “I want you to call me Bela.”

“Bela…” Joey tested it on her tongue. “Destruction. You are a devourer.”

“Excuse me?”

“Your name. It means destruction.” She chuckled a bit. “It is typically a male name though. At least in the Hebrew bible.”

Bela smiled “Guess I’m destructive then.”

Joey smiles as well. “Especially to yourself.” She laughs. 

“I suppose I could possibly worry about my own wellbeing more.”

“A lot more you mean.”

“Sure.” Bela stared at Joey. “…So you love me… Huh?”

Joey’s face stretched even wider, if that was possible. “More than anything.”

Her face reddened immediately upon hearing the answer. “Only took you five years.” 

“I got there eventually didn’t I?” 

Rook looked down at her hands sheepishly. “I…

I love you too.”

_________________________________________________________

Sharky was suspicious. 

He liked to think he had good perception skills. And he was perceiving something right now concerning the two Deputy’s. 

Something fishy was going on and it didn’t smell like fish, it smelled like gay. 

He spotted them holding hands yesterday. Holding hands. He knew that yes, technically friends could hold hands but he had sensing something between them for weeks. 

So when they finally announced that they were together, together he literally jumped up and started doing a little dance. “That was so fast!”

“Fast? We have known each other for years.” Rook was standing next to Joey, holding her hand.

“It’s only chapter eight. Guess this isn’t a slow burn, Huh?” He leaned back in his chair.

“…What?”

He only shrugged. ‘’So when are you two getting married?”

A laugh burst free from Joey. “Now you are moving fast.”

Before Sharky could get a response out, the chair he was leaning in kicked out from under him and he hit the ground with an “Oomph!”

And they laughed. Laughed because something simple could bring them amusement again. They just hoped it would last. 

Chapter Text

Cheeseburger, a not so healthy food consisting of lettuce, tomato, cheese, meat, and your choice of condiments. Cheeseburger, also the name of a not so healthy bear that looked like he ate a large family of four. 

Maybe he did.

Joey was the first to speak up and to voice what everyone was thinking. “Should we be worried?”

Cheeseburger was currently attempting to scratch his back on a tree but was struggling to stand on his hind legs due to the sheer size of him. His legs were chunky and short too so that contributed as well.

Sharky bounced up, throwing his arms around the animal and scratching the thing’s back for him. “Its Cheeseburger! Hurk’s gonna be pants pissing excited when he hears about this!”

“His name is Cheeseburger ?” Joey looked at the beast. “Who names a bear?”

Sharky reached for the radio strapped to his waist. “Hurk you’ll never believe this! We found Cheeseburger!”

It only took a couple milliseconds for Hurk to respond. “Dude no way! You found him!” He was laughing from excitement “Man, I love Cheeseburger.”

Joey took the radio from Sharky. “Why did you name him Cheeseburger?”

Another laugh, “ I didn’t name him nothing. But his name fits don’t it? I mean… just look at him! Tell me he’s not a ‘Cheeseburger’. Though definitely don’t feed him any actual Cheeseburgers, he’s got the diabeetus.”

“It’s a wild animal. It’s dangerous. It shouldn’t have a name at all. The name ‘Cheeseburger’ suggests he’s harmless.” She grabs Bela’s hand. “We should be careful.”

Bela pulled away from Joey and walked over to Cheeseburger. She ran her hands through his coarse fur. Joey immediately tried to pull her away, showing some panic, but she just shook her off. “Joey, look, he’s harmless.” Cheeseburger immediately rolled over and showed her his belly. “How can something this cute be dangerous?”

“I could ask the same thing of you. Besides, what about Boomer? You can’t have a bear and a dog.”

Bela just shrugged. “Boomer is a free spirit. He barely sticks around for anything but missions anyways. Cheeseburger seems like he won’t go far.”

“Just look at him!” Sharky waved his arms in the direction of the bear. “He can’t go far.”

Joey’s head shook in response. “Still.”

“So if everyone is in agreement. We can bring him with us.” 

Sharky nodded. “I think we are.”

“We are not!”

But Joey went unheard over the excitement of a new possible team member.

                              __________________________

Cheeseburger proved to be a useful ally. Sure he was physically unable to sneak but his sheer size was helpful when wanting to take out many Peggies at once. It was amazing.

He was also good at pissing people off. John was one of them. 

Bela was currently sitting next to Joey in a pickup truck. Cheeseburger sat in the bed of the truck. Things were great so she didn’t understand why she was feeling such dread and anxiety 

She got her answer seconds later when her radio sounded and John’s voice came from it. 

She wasn’t surprised. Things had been going too good this past few weeks and she had been giving enough grief in John’s region for too long for him not to retaliate. 

“Your actions have consequences, Deputy. I’ve gathered all your friends here in Fall’s End to Atone for your sins. You’re welcome to join us. After all, if it weren’t for you they wouldn’t be in this predicament. This is your last chance to say Yes, Deputy. Don’t be late.”

Her heart dropped to her stomach and she felt like she was going to vomit. How had she not noticed that her team was just picked up and thrown to the wolves? She should have been worried when she didn’t hear from anyone. Her carelessness might cost her everyone she had come to hold dear.

She immediately jumped to action, putting the car into drive. Joey’s hand came to rest on her hand. “Maybe we should  think this through a bit before making any rash decisions?”

“I have thought it through. I’m going to kill him and he can’t do anything about it.” The car peeled forward as Rook stepped fully on the gas. 

“I understand you are angry-“

“Do you? I mean do you really Joey? John has taken all of our friends hostage in a way to get to me. Me. This is my fault and now I need to fix it. And all you want to do is fuck off to somewhere we can hide.” 

“I am not saying that and you know it. I just mean that we shouldn’t just rush into something we don’t even know is true. I mean what if it’s a trap?”

Rook scoffs immediately in response. “Of course it’s a trap. A trap I’m willing to brave if it means getting them out safely.”

“…Are you going to kill him?” 

“Who?”

“John.”

Rook felt an eye twitch. “ I said I was, didn’t I?” She huffs. “Why does it sound like you aren’t on my side for this?”

“I just think we should explore other options.”

“Like what? Placing him in timeout and going ‘Make sure to stop being a psychopathic asshole who likes to torture people.’?” She shakes her head. “No. I’m not going to risk him getting away. He’s dead, Joey. He’s dying today. ”

“He’s misunderstood-“

“Oh yeah? He’s misunderstood ? What’s not to understand? The man filets people, Joey. He’s not just some random crazed bad boy. He’s sick and when an animal is sick… You put it down.”

“…Then what should we do with you?”

It felt like Rook had been slapped. “… Excuse me… ?” 

“Look at yourself. You still have blood in your hair from the last person you hurt. Do you even remember any of them? Or do you just blindly murder and maim and forget the details like you are in some sort of endless fog?”

Rook couldn’t remember her missions. It was like she had disassociated and blocked it all out. 

But a good rule to live by is to never ever admit to any potential shortcomings or mistakes. Especially if you are in an argument.

“Fuck you.” She slams on the brakes. “Get out.”

“What-?” 

“I said get out. If you are going to be like that and demean me then get the fuck out!”

Joey grabbed her arm. “Wait-“

“No! Let go. I don’t want to hear it.”

“Please Bela. Please. Listen.”

A sigh escaped Bela’s mouth. “What?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t want us to fight like this. Not if there’s a chance we might not see each other again.” She leaned in. “I love you, Bela. I love you and I’m sorry that I said those things to you. I didn’t mean it. I swear.”

Bela pressed her forehead to Joey’s. “No… I get it. I understand. You are stressed and worried and I should respect that you care about me.” 

“I care about you so so so much. And I always will.” She leaned in and pressed a kiss to Bela’s cheek. “Now go kick some Peggy butt.”

                              _________________________

The Church in Fall’s End was usually beautiful. Now though it was covered in a macabre show of dead crows stapled to the doorway. 

Rook marched up to the door by herself.  Joey stayed behind and Rook respected the choice. 

The second Rook threw open the door a gun was thrust into her face and she blacked out. 

She awoke to the sound of a tattoo gun buzzing. She was on the floor and a man holding a gun stood over her. John Seed was crouched above her as well, holding the pen to a tattoo gun. Her arm blindly reached out to grab his arm and he pulled away slightly. 

“Hold still… it’s supposed to say ‘wrath’ not… ‘rat’.” John continued, pressing the pen into her skin. Now that she could see the wound, the pain burst through the adrenaline coursing through her. It cut through the surface causing her to hiss and groan, trying to push him away. 

“Sin must be exposed so it may be absolved. If we hide our sin, we hide ourselves… You will not hide any longer. Your true self will spill out on this floor for all to see.” He stood and stepped back to admire his handiwork and her sight focused more on her surroundings. Peggies now lined the pews of the once beautiful church. It now was rocking the New Eden’s tell tale cross on the wall. She could feel John and the Peggy’s eyes on her and it made her want to cry. “Ahhhh… Perfect.” 

She sat up with some difficulty and could spot her friends in the front of the church all looking at her with desperation in their eyes. It brought some relief that John didn’t truly have all her friends. Just Mary May, Nick, and Jerome. The relief didn’t last long when the realization that they had guns trained to their heads hit her. 

“If Mohammed won’t come to the mountain, then bring the mountain to Mohammed.” He claps, turns around, and walks to the front of the church. “Let’s begin!”

She was dragged up by her arms and brought to the front and she could see that Jerome was clutching a bible in his hands. His eyes searched hers for a moment but his gaze was pulled away as John walked up to him, holding a bible of his own. The crazed man promptly slapped the book from Jerome’s hands and handed him the New Eden bible, his hand seeking the back of Jerome’s neck as he forced the man forward. 

“I thought a friendly face might make your Atonement easier.” He pushed Jerome in front of Nick, Making him face him. “Our Devoted…We are gathered here to bear witness…” 

Jerome was cooperating the entire way, yet something seemed to make the men surrounding them angry as the Peggy holding him drew back the gun in his hands and hit him upside the head. Jerome hit the ground as Mary fought the man holding her, tossing obscenities at John. She was promptly hit as well. 

John laughed and held out his hands. “Let’s try that again.” 

Jerome was helped up and stood before Nick once again. “Our Devoted. We are gathered here to bear witness…” He shook Jerome a bit. “Repeat it.”

Jerome did as he was told. “Our Devoted. We are gathered here to bear witness…”

“To those willing to atone for their sins.”

“To those willing to atone for their sins.”

“Will you Nick Rye place your hand upon The Word of Joseph.”

“Will you Nick Rye place y-.”

Nick shook his head immediately. “Oh fuck that. Nah, I ain’t ever giving in to that psychopath.”

Jerome was pushed out of the way as John stepped closer to Nick. “Will you Nick Rye place y-“

“Fuck. You!”

“And there it is. Greed. Always thinking of yourself…” 

He was interrupted once again by a lob of spit hitting him in the face. His hand came up to wipe it away and Rook could see his patience wearing thinner and thinner. “Ahhh..” He pulled Nick in as he whispered something to him and the man stopped struggling immediately, his arms slackening and his posture going limp. “Nick?”

Nick looked defeated as he muttered his response. “Yes. Yes I will atone.” He is pushed to the ground as John flicks a razor open and sits on his chest, holding him down. “No…! No!”

Mary and Rook both surged forward in an attempt to help but they were held back by the Peggies holding them. A few long seconds passed as John jumped up, holding a thick piece of skin with the word “Greed” tattooed onto it. 

“That is the power of Yes!” His breathing was labored. “The power to take away your sins!” He lunged over to a beam holding the church up and stapled the skin to it and he collapsed next to Nick, patting the man’s back. “The power to set you free.” He was up the next second so he could lean against the podium in the front of the room to catch his breath before coming to a stand next to Jerome again.

“Will you, Deputy… Or should I say Bela ? Place your hand upon The Word of Joseph.”

Alarm bells rang off in her head at the sound of her name and confusion took hold. It was quickly replaced with anger. 

How dare he use her name against her. And how did he even find it out?

Jerome was luckily respectful enough to avoid using her name in his repeating of John’s words.

“ Will you, Deputy, place your hand upon The Word of Joseph.”

“And renounce your sins and admit your transgressions.”

“And renounce your sins and admit your transgressions. ” Jerome’s face turned pleadingly. “Say…Yes.” 

“It’s just one word, Deputy.”

Jerome searched her face again and gave her a look. His hand came up to the top of the Bible as he threw it open and In the book, in a cut out section, was a pistol. Rook didn’t even have any time to wonder how he managed to get a gun into a New Eden bible as she grabbed it and fired it at John. 

Unfortunately her aim was thrown as hands forced the gun up towards the ceiling. John was quickly escorted out of the church as bullets started flying.

Rook was still in the hands of two Peggy goons as she tried to struggle away. Her gun was forced out of her hands and they pulled her along the way they pulled John. 

Bullets were still being exchanged outside as more resistance members showed up. Rook was still unable to escape the hands gripping her tightly and she was forced into an armored Jeep waiting in the street. 

The second the doors shut Rook was throwing her shoulder against the door in an attempt to get out. The door was reinforced and withstood the bullets being thrown at it so it stood against Rook’s hits and kicks. 

A laugh sounded behind her and she spun around. “You aren’t getting out that way… Dep- u- tee.” John just laughed at her attempts to lunge at him again. “You are behind that wall. I’m safe, you are not. I could do anything to you. Anything. And you are powerless to stop it.” 

 He leans back into his seat. “I think you need a break. A little nap to calm you down.” The door next to her opens and a Peggy slides in. “You basically have foam coming out of your mouth, you look feral.” 

The Peggy next to her sends the gun in his hand into her face once again. She reels as she is sent back into dreamland. 

“Sleep well.”

                             ___________________________

The floor beneath her was cold and she was pretty sure she had a concussion. This position was starting to become too familiar and she struggled to sit back up once again. 

This time though, soft hands helped her sit up and lean against a wall behind her and the same hands came up to cup her face. 

A groan escapes Rook’s mouth as she forced open her eyes. Upon peeling her eyes open she had to do a double take. 

There sat in front of her, all bruised and bleeding, was Joey. She was no longer in the outfit she was in when Rook left her that morning. Instead she wore the police uniform she was in when they came to the Valley. 

“Bela.” Joey’s voice was dripping with relief and tears ran down her face in what felt like waves. “You’re here. Like really really here.”

“Joey…? How…?”

“I was starting…I was starting to worry you were never going to find me…!” She laughed in relief. “It’s been so.. so long.”

“How did you get here?”

“I’ve been here. After John pulled me from the room he took me right here. I’ve been here since.”

Rook shook her head. “No, I saved you weeks ago. Remember? From the ranch?” 

“No… Bela I have not left this room in weeks. I haven’t been out of the bunker at all.”

“No… No… Joey. I saw you this morning. We got into a fight.. You have to remember. I’ve been with you for.. Since I saved you.”

“I-…” Joey put her hand on Bela’s shoulder and gave her a look that looked like pity. “I don’t know what you have been with… But that wasn’t me.”

Chapter Text

Disbelief melted into grief which turned into anger. 

For weeks Rook was parading around with someone she believed was Joey. Four weeks she had laughed and cried and smiled with someone she saw as someone she loved. It was all a scam, a lie, a hoax. 

And Rook was angry .

Her hands shook with all of it trapped inside her. She wanted to kill someone. She wanted to kill Joey. 

Joey’s face sobered her fairly quickly. It wasn’t really Joey, and she knew that. Her brain just suddenly started incorporating Joey’s face with betrayal. She didn’t know how to fix it, and she didn’t know how to make it go away. She didn’t want to be angry with Joey. She didn’t want any of it. Her anger was misplaced. Her anger was directed at someone completely innocent in all this . 

And it made her even more angry. How dare they ruin something so good? How could they just wreck something that was so sacred? How dare they make it so she can’t even look Joey in the eyes without getting that flash of anger. 

“…Bela?”

Rook didn’t look up, just made a noncommittal sound to let the other woman know she was listening.

“Are you… Okay?”

“Mmhmm”

And that was that. 

The door swung open soundlessly, banging against the wall. It startled both the inhabitants of the cell, causing them to look up. 

John stood there flanked by two others, both of which were holding strong guns in their hands. “You.” He smiles, his surprisingly straight teeth glinting in the harsh LED lights above them. His finger stretched towards Rook. “There’s someone here to see you.” 

The two guarding John surged forward and grabbed both of Rook’s arms, pulling her up. Her legs were useless beneath her as they struggled to gain any footing and they ended up dragging behind her like a pair of pool noodles. 

John walked ahead of them, the stupid grin not once wiping from his face. “You are going to love this Dep-u-tee. Well… maybe not so much you. I mean I know I am.” His head swiveled to look at her. “You know… I haven’t heard something very important from you yet.” 

She didn’t respond, just raised an eyebrow at him. 

As if sensing she wasn’t going to respond, he trucked on, unperturbed by her silence. “A thank you .” 

“I helped you really see your sins. I helped you say yes.“ He looked back ahead. “Plus I got you a new shirt.”

They stopped in front of another door and John threw the door open, allowing the rank animals holding her to drag her inside.

The room was unremarkable, a desk, a wheelie chair and a second chair bolted to the floor was all that adorned the simple room. The most interesting thing in it was the person currently sitting in the wheelie chair.

John pushed Rook’s shoulders down and forced her to sit in the chair. She felt relief at the realization that only her ankles were strapped down to the chair. “All tied up for you Faith. All we need is the bow” He patted her head and took out a roll of bandages before tying it on her head in a bow. “There. Now we have the bow.”

The thing was ripped off the second he left the room.

Faith and Rook sat in a silent stand off for several minutes before the herald finally broke first. Though “broke” doesn’t seem like the right choice of words. The woman seemed as if the act of breaking wasn’t something she was capable of doing. 

“Say something?”

Rook’s face burned from how hard she was clenching her teeth as she gritted out. “…Was it you…?”

“Hm…? Was what me, dear?”

If she could slam her hands against the desk, she would. Instead she opted for flinging the bandages at the herald in front of her. It was extremely ineffective much to her chagrin and the woman just softly smiled at her, a smile that made her blood boil even more, if that was even possible. “I’m done with the fucking games Faith. Just tell me the truth!”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

A scoff, rueful and mean, erupted from Rook. “You are really going to make me say it? Wow you really are a spiteful, manipulative, bitch.” She shifted in her seat forwards a bit. “Was it or was it not you who somehow someway fucked with my head?  Was it your drugs?  What was it?! ”

Faith’s face stayed irritatingly serene despite the cussing and yelling Rook was throwing her way. Not a twitch crossed her seemingly unaffected face. 

“Hello? Are you even hearing me? How did you do it? Huh? You messed with me for weeks! How-how can you just do that to a person? You made me think you were Joey for-for…-” Rook trailed off upon seeing Faith’s face. She was looking at her as if she was listening to a child throw a tantrum. As if Rook’s anger was simply the result of being overtired and hungry. That with a good nap and a pizza bagel, Rook would get over whatever it was she was upset about. 

And the look almost worked. Rook could feel her body start to sag as she began to feel dejected.  

“I’m- we are only trying to save you, Bela.”

“ Don’t call me that! You don’t get that privilege. I told Joey that, not you.”

Faith’s face turned sympathetic. “But you did tell me. Bela, you told me . I only looked like Joey. I was still me. At the end of the day there was something about me that made you open up to me. And I think it was you subconsciously knowing that you needed help.” She leaned forward. “The collapse is coming. Could be here any day now. Where will you be when the end comes, hm? Will you be up there with all the people who only seek to use you for their own selfish gains? Or will you be down here with us and the Father, people who love you and want you to be a part of our family?” 

She stood then, smoothing out the lace on her dress. “I’ll give you time to think.” 

And think Rook did.

Chapter Text

“The collapse is coming. Could be here any day now. Where will you be when the end comes, hm? Will you be up there with all the people who only seek to use you for their own selfish gains? Or will you be down here with us and the Father, people who love you and want you to be a part of our family?” 

She stood then, smoothing out the lace on her dress. “I’ll give you time to think.” 

And think Rook did. 

Chapter eleven

Rook was not put back in the room with Joey. She was kept in that stupid room in that stupid chair until Faith returned with two Peggies in tow. 

Faith was always smiling that idiotic soft smile. It was condescending, and almost scolding in its inherent nature. Rook wanted to wipe it right off. No shoes either, she just kinda let the beasts run free. She couldn’t even wear sandals? Rook had almost contracted tetanus several times in her stints around the valley and she couldn’t imagine choosing to go barefoot.

A hand touched her head and she physically recoiled, her face scrunching in disgust as she looked up at the perpetrator. She wasn’t surprised even a little bit at seeing Faith.

Faith giggled, “I’m not poisonous Bela. I promise.”

Rook’s scowl didn’t leave her face. 

“I’m going to show you something. I’m going to show you the path. I’m going to show you how beautiful it is.” Her hands grasped each side of Rook’s face as Faith brings her forehead to hers. 

Rook’s head felt instantly fuzzy and shut her eyes against the onslaught of dizziness hitting her at once. A few seconds passed as her dizziness did and a soft breeze whispered across her face. 

Her eyes fell open and met Faith’s. They were now sitting in a field of white flowers. Instead of her usual smile, Faith had a troubled expression on her face. 

“Don’t you see what we are trying to build here? Or do you just not care?” She circled Rook like a predator. “I’ve watched you run this way and that, inflicting violence upon those who wish no harm upon you.” She grew soft again “They are at peace here. They want to be here.”

Faith’s hands grasped Rook’s hands and guided her along. “I know you have your doubts, but this is the only way the story ends. Nothing you can do can change that. Your friends on the outside…They’re controlled by fear. They don’t understand. But he does. He’ll show you.”

The sounds of  water got louder as they neared a river. A white boat pulled up beside them, piloted by Cameron Burke. He smiled at her and pulled the boat right up. 

“Hey, Rook. C’mon. C’mon it’s ok.” His voice was soft and soothing. Almost like she was an animal who would startle if he spoke too loudly. His hand outstretched, reaching for her hand. She allowed him to, her exhaustion not allowing her to protest anything anymore. Plus Cameron was a familiar welcome face. 

The boat continued on with him paddling. “I know you’re here to take me back.”

She wasn’t. At least not yet.

“It’s ok. She knows. Everybody knows. You think you’re doing the right thing. You think I need to be rescued. But… I don’t. I don’t want to go back…. Ever…” A sigh escapes him and he looks up. “Have you… Have you ever stopped and looked at how your life’s turned out? I mean what you’ve actually done with it. You know? We’re told we can be anything, right? A famous singer, a hall of famer,a movie star… We’re all gonna be a success, Rook. But no, that’s not…that’s not true. We live mundane lives doing what someone else tells us to do. Day after day. When was the last time you did something that wasn’t required? Demanded? No Rook. We don’t live our lives , we live theirs. Oh man… I’m free here, Rook… You could be too. You know?”

The boat stopped and he stood up. “In the end isn’t the only thing that matters happiness? You don’t have to decide now. Just know we are here for you when it happens.”

___________

Rook was disoriented. Again. 

It felt like a constant for her at this point. Hands held her shoulders down as she tried to sit up and she could feel hysteria creep in. She couldn’t see right yet and her head felt heavy. Voices were aimed at her but none of them broke through the fog so she was unable to calm herself in the slightest.

Finally one voice cut through it all and reached her. “You got to calm down Rook. Coming out of that stuff too fast could scramble you badly.”

Her eyesight focused and immediately a feeling of relief ran through her. The sheriff, Earl Whitehorse stood in front of her in all his mustached glory. Yet another of her squad mates. It felt like Christmas. Joey, Cameron, and now Earl all in one day. It was almost too much.

“All good now? You’ve come to your senses?” He didn’t change one bit. It still felt like she was reuniting with a long lost father. Though of course it hasn’t been much longer than a month or two since she had seen the man. It was still a quinine sight.

She nodded in agreement with him and slipped her legs off the bed. 

So much had happened in that short amount of time. How much had happened just this week. All she wanted to do was speak to this man. So she did.

She had come so far, and at this point, it seemed silly to keep up the “no talking” rule she had. At least with anyone but the Seeds.

“Earl.” She wanted to sob. 

He just smiled at her. “I owe you an apology, Rook.”

“What for?”

He took her hands and just held them. “ I failed you. I failed our entire team. It was my responsibility to keep you all safe. Instead, I didn’t recognize the danger we were in and I pressured you into an unsafe situation. And I sincerely apologize…”

Rook shook her head “But if you hadn’t, we wouldn’t have been able to help so many people. We signed up for this, we chose this to help people. I’ve helped so many people. We’ve gotten into some sticky situations but in the end I think we can really help these people.”

“That is exactly why you’re perfect for this job, you're selfless. The world needs more people like you.” 

“God how I wish that were true.” 

________

“The what?”

Rook was currently back in the Spread Eagle talking to Casey Fixman, the Waiter, Chef, and cleaner for the bar. 

“The Testy Festy!” Casey was ecstatic.

After a couple days of recuperation, in old Rook fashion (and to no one’s surprise), Rook was once again antsy, and decided to head back from the jail that Earl Whitehorse was currently holding up to check on the people of Fall’s End. She was immediately stopped by Casey Fixman, who had a request for her. One that would raise a few eyebrows, including hers.

“We usually have it every year but we haven’t been able to host one considering what’s been going on around here.” He stops his chopping. “What is the most important thing in a war? It’s not weapons, it’s not guns, it’s not even the fight. It’s morale! Morale has been so low, no one has Hope anymore! Which is why we need to bring back an age-old tradition.”

Rook was still hung up on the word “Testy”.

“Okay… but what is it?”

“Exactly as the name suggests. everyone young and old feasting on animal testicals.”

Rook could not understand how he didn’t see how weird that is. “What the fuck Casey? That’s weird!”

“You know how many cultures use and eat testicles? It’s a perfectly valid part of the animal to consume. It probably has so many health benefits. And if I had a computer, I’d look them up right now. I just need my festy cart. The one I can serve my Testys from. That’s what I need you to grab. Get that for me and I swear to you the people of this good town will be happy for weeks.”

Rook wasn’t so sure. But she got the cart anyways.

Turns out that cart was packed full of all the booze you could imagine. Not actually but it felt that way to Rook. New Eden might have banned alcohol, but the people sure did find creative ways to hide some for future use. Which was how she ended up stumbling over herself with a plate of what looked like meatballs.

Technically they were meat balls.

Rook was never a drinker, but the drinking was contagious once everyone got going. Turns out Casey was right about the morale. Especially her morale. There was a couple times she stopped and felt guilty about enjoying herself. Her teammates were still trapped in the hands of the Seeds. Everything was stressful, and it turned out that the “Joey” she was dating for weeks wasn’t Joey at all. 

The drink took that all away. It melted all that into a mixing pot and dumped it down the River. Nothing mattered for that moment. And for a few hours she just let herself be happy. Just for a little bit.

Time warped and passed in a frenzy, nothing existed outside of the party and as Rook opened her eyes the next morning, she felt liberated.

At least until she realized she was upside down in a ditch getting licked in the face by what looked and smelled like a goat. 

But she couldn’t bring herself to care much. She felt better than she did the day before, and that’s all that mattered.

Maybe though, from now on she just would slow down on the drinking.

Chapter Text

“You’re lost... I was lost too.” 

Rook was confused. 

“I know you’ve heard stories about me. That I’m a liar.”

Where was she? 

“A manipulator.”

Everything was foggy, a lone blue butterfly danced in her vision as a voice filled her ears. 

Faith’s voice.

Her hand was grabbed as she was pulled to the side to look at Faith. She didn’t look as angry as she did when she last saw her. She looked serene.

“That I poison people’s minds…Well let me tell you a different story.”

The only story Rook wanted to hear was a story full of dead Seeds with an ending that resulted in her victory. She wouldn’t have to listen to a single monologue again in that story.

“A True story.” The woman sat Rook down in the field of long plants and flowers before plastering a look of pure pity on her face. “You’re angry. But… maybe you’ll see once you hear.”

There was a sigh, and Faith almost looked human for a moment. “There once was a woman who was lost…a lot like you are now. She took to a needle for help, believing that it would show her a path…She was all alone. She wanted to die.” All semblance of any human emotion is wiped away immediately. 

“And then she met The Father.” Rook was pulled up and then they were running. Faith was surprisingly fast for someone wearing no shoes. They came to a stop in front of a huge statue of Joseph. She couldn’t help but start to plan to destroy it the second it came into view.

“He gave her hope, and confidence. The Father showed her how special she was, that she was full of love and life. He gave her a new family. One that accepted her just as she was. The young woman no longer wished to die. She had been given purpose.” 

In the next moment, wind started whipping around them in circles. Rook brought her arms up to cover her face from the onslaught. Moments passed and the winds slowly dispersed as warm hands softly pulled her arms from her face.

Vertigo instantly filled her as she now found herself on the statue of Joseph. The statue was holding a stone book. It was the only thing preventing her from falling to her death. 

“One day The Father brought her here. He asked if she had Faith in him. He asked if she was willing to die for him. The woman, who very much wished to live, was scared. The Father told her that this was her test. He would have faith in her if she had faith in him. So she closed her eyes… and leapt. The Father kept his word. The path to Eden is clear to those who have faith.”

Another voice joined Faith’s, drawing Rook’s sight to who it belonged to. “Walk the path.” 

Cameron Burke neared the edge and turned his back to the edge. Rook found herself frozen as he tipped, falling off the edge of the book. 

Leaping forward, she looks off the side down to where Cameron disappeared to. A hand touches her shoulder forcing her to look up. Faith is looking down at her softly. 

“Walk the path. Have faith.”

She glanced off the side again, nausea consuming her. They were really high up. Maybe a couple miles. She would die.

Yet, there was something calling her. She found herself tilting more and more forward.

She slipped. Her stomach dropped and a scream tears from her throat. She had nothing. No parachute, no wingsuit, no plane. She was going to hit the ground hard. She was going to die. 

The ground was coming up fast. Closing her eyes, she prepared herself for the impact.

It never came. 

Sitting straight up from the bed she was laying on, she frantically looked around. 

Oh yeah, that’s right. She was at the jailhouse. She fell asleep in one of the cots. 

Whitehorse looked at her with concern. “You okay kid?”

She only nodded before joining him at the round table he was at. Virgil Minkler also sat at the table next to The sheriff. They seemed to be discussing something. 

Virgil immediately gave her a disapproving look. “Where’s your pin?” His hand dug through his pockets and passed her a pin with a Cougar on it. It reads ‘Hope County Cougars’ and Rook now had a million of these in every pocket of all her clothes because every time he saw her without one he’d pass her another one. 

“How is everyone supposed to know we’re the cougars if you don’t wear my identifiers?” He genuinely looked sad that she was without one. 

The problem was they fell off really easily, especially when she’s taking out outposts. They snag on foliage or break when hit and she doesn't have the heart to tell him it just gets in the way. He should make patches instead.

“We need solidarity! We are a team, how are people supposed to know we are a team if we don’t have a team symbol? Back when I was mayor, we had community. Where is that community now?”

“I’ll wear it, don’t worry. I promise.” Rook pinned the thing to the breast of her shirt. “And you’re still mayor, Virgil. We just have to get those fanatics out of our valley.”

He smiled back at her, wiping the sweat off his face with a napkin. “Thank you, Rook.”

Whitehorse cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the two. “Now back to what we were discussing. We need your opinion on something, Rook. We are at a disagreement. Virgil here wants to go after Cameron. But I think it’s not a good idea. Faith is too strong at the moment and I think it would be unwise to go after them now.”

“But to leave him will be to doom him! Who knows how long he’s been under. He could turn Angel. We need to fetch him now, before it’s too late!”

Earl cut him off, attempting to reason with the man. “I’m not saying we should leave him behind. I want Cameron back just as much as the next guy. But we need to prepare. We aren’t ready!”

“Earl is right. We need to hit her where it hurts first.” Rook came to the decision easily. 

Virgil sighed in defeat. “What do you have in mind?” 

“Well…Flowers are pretty flammable. Aren’t they?”

                                                  _____________

“ Whoooooohooo! This is the best day of my life!”

“Sharky! You need to calm down.” Rook was starting to regret taking the pyromaniac with her.

“But…Fire!”

She sighs and rubs her temple. “We can’t be calling that much attention to ourselves. We need to be quiet. At least, until we get more of these crops destroyed.”

“But fire isn’t quiet. People will come either way.”

“Yes, but I’d rather them come later, when we have most of it gone, then for them to come now, and have us deal with them while also trying to burn these.” 

He almost seemed to stomp his foot like a petulant child, but he obeyed. Resigning to use his flame thrower quietly. 

She chose to stay at a safe distance away, chucking molotovs at the fields. She was worried most about the fumes coming from the crops as they burned. She really didn’t want to be incapacitated yet. 

Sharky resumed the burning of the crops, albeit at a safe volume, though now significantly less enthusiastic. It was sad to see.

Rook sighed and paused throwing the molotovs. “Sharky.”

“Huh?” He stopped, looking at her.

“You can whoop-.” He immediately perked and went to celebrate. “ Quietly!”

He gave her a salute before giving a small whoop noise.

The two continued at a solid pace. Soon only one field remained. Rook was feeling a bit loopy from the fumes but trucked on. Sharky didn’t seem affected in the slightest, it irritated her a good amount. He was still bouncing with all the energy of a golden retriever. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning.

The hair on the back of her neck suddenly stood on end. There was a noise. Something that she usually wouldn’t raise an eyebrow at otherwise, but she was already on edge so it called her attention. 

She straightened up and looked over  the horizon. A cluster of white was running towards the two. 

“Uh… Sharky…?!”

He looked up and his face turned alarmed. “Oh crappy stack. That’s not good… that’s not good at all.”

She took a step back. “What…what is that?!” 

“Angels.” 

Chapter Text

Thirteen

“Uh… Sharky…?!”

He looked up and his face turned alarmed. “Oh crappy stack. That’s not good… that’s not good at all.”

She took a step back. “What…what is that?!” 

“Angels.” 

Angels were a nasty sight. Clouded over eyes and drooling, foaming, gaping mouths. At least those without the masks, there were some with bloody and dirty surgical masks over their mouths. They all wore white. White jumpers and white pants. No shoes so their feet were black with dirt and red with blood. It was horrifying. 

Their appearance wasn’t even the worst part. It was the screams. 

Blood curdling screams tore through the throats of the “Angels”, gritty and pained. Any other Angel in the vicinity jumped to attention upon hearing the sound. They turned and Immediately set their attention upon the two as they started to make their way over. 

“At least they don’t have guns…?” The second the words left her mouth a rock hit her in the face, then another and soon the two were being pummeled by rocks from the few angels choosing to sit back and aim from afar. 

Rook pulled out her gun and started picking them off as the hoard reached them. Sharky had his flamethrower and was cutting down big groups of them. It was a good system.

Until it wasn’t.

A shovel hit Rook in the back of the head, hard. Her vision immediately filled with spots as she dropped to the ground, groaning and holding her head. The shovel the Angel was holding came back down again and she heard her ribs crack. She rolled just in time for a third strike, the shovel hit the ground where she lay and stuck in the grass. Thus resulting in the thing above her turning its focus to getting it unstuck. 

A whoosh of air and then a blast of heat surrounded the Angel as flames engulfed it and swallowed it whole. Sharky set his flamethrower down and knelt down by a now panting Rook who looked slightly pale green. “You okay, Rook?”

When she gave no intelligible response he grabbed ahold of her arms and hoisted her up into a sitting position. “Wha-….?” 

Warmth dripped down the back of her head, upon wiping it she discovered bright red. She groaned, nausea flooding through her.

“I think you got that conduction thing.” Sharky looked closer at her. “It got you good”.

She blinked at him. “…Conduction…?”

He nodded. “Yeah, when you got a brain injury.”

She blinked again. “…Do you mean concussion?”

“Yeah, that.” 

He helped her up into a standing position. Her breath came in fast pants and she stood hunched but she was determined to trek on. It seemed like the numbers were dwindling and only a couple stragglers remained.

Sharky looks her over again before handing her his flame thrower. “I’ll take out the last of 'em’. You focus on getting the fields destroyed. No offense rook but you look like you’re about to fall over. Don’t think you can fight much.”  He leaves her to it as he runs towards the last of the angels. 

The flamethrower was heavy and threw her off balance even more than she already was, but she staggered over to the last of the fields and pulled the lever. 

The force of it almost knocked her off her feet but she squared her feet and balanced herself. As the crops burned green smoke rose from the flowers making her feel even more woozy. Blinking, she tried to clear her head of the fuzz that seemed to be a constant. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. 

Just as Rook was about to pass out, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Sharky was back and was motioning for her to hand the Flamethrower back to him. He smiled at her as she handed it to him.

“How…How are you not affected by…” She gestured to the smoke around them.

He laughed and waved her off. “Know how many drugs I’ve done? I’m practically immune.”

“You’re comfortable admitting that to an officer?”

“There’s no such thing as officers anymore, Rook. Not here. Besides, you love me too much to throw me in jail.”

She nodded in agreement and sighed. “Let’s hurry before I keel over” 

                   ____________

Rook felt warm. 

Not sick warm, just warm. Warm feelings at the pride Earl was showing all over his face. 

“Great job, Rook. This is huge!” He clapped her on the back. “This will get us so far. Without her flowers Bliss production will go down exponentially.” His face turned even softer. “You did good. You have earned yourself a break. You need one. Go take one.”

“What about Cameron?”

“You don’t need to worry about that right now. Trust me, we will rescue him. Just not right now. Not when you look like you’re about to hurl on my shoes.” 

Sharky looked up from where he was sitting on the ground with his shoes off. “She already ruined mine. And hey, where’s my credit too?”

“You both did good. I’m proud. This is a huge leap in the right direction.” 

Rook was beaming, even the thought of having to rest soon wasn’t enough to put a damper on her mood. She had been complimented, and not a phony complement either. A genuine one. It made her feel giddy, hopeful. 

Hopeful for the future to come. 

Chapter Text

Cameron Burke was a certified asshole. 

He was a douchebag who often would say the completely wrong thing, at the wrong time and hurt some feelings. Plus his aggression was one to be wary of. 

Yes, Cameron Burke was an asshole and everybody knew it. But he was their asshole. They were willing to do whatever it took in order to get him out from under Faith’s influence. 

That’s why Rook was so incredibly anxious about getting him back. That and the fact that leaving a fellow partner behind was just not in her goal or value set.

She finally got the “OK” a week after the bliss reserves were destroyed. She felt like a tuning fork with how she was vibrating in nervousness and anticipation.

Sherif Whitehorse, Virgil Minkler, and Rook sat at one of the round tables in the jailhouse as they went over what to do next. Virgil, the ever going optimist of the three of them, wasn’t actually giving many ideas. He sat fiddling with an old music box he had found laying around and right next to him laid the velvet bag that he often used to keep his pins in.

Out of the corner of her eye, rook was eyeing the music box. The thing was making her even more anxious than she already was, even though she didn’t really know why. Something tickled at the edges of her memory, but she couldn’t quite put together why this music box was making her so uneasy. 

The sheriff calling her name snapped her out of her death stare with the inanimate object, and she looked up at him with a puzzled look on her face.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       There was a sigh as the sheriff gave her disapproving look. “You didn’t hear anything I just said, did you?”

“No, I’m sorry…” 

“Well, as I was trying to say, in order to get Cameron out from under Faith we need to draw her out and get pulled into wherever she’s keeping him. In order to do that we need someone she will likely want the most. That’s Rook.” He turned to look at her.

“So…What…? I just go find a field somewhere and I wait until she pulls me in?” 

Whitehorse nodded at her and solemnly passed her a box of ammunition. “And uh…Rook. Listen.” His face was twisted into an expression of uncomfort. “Cameron, he might…Um… Just prepare yourself, ok?”

“Prepare myself?”

He sniffs and nods. “Cameron might not be himself. He might never be himself ever again. With how long he’s been under the influence of the bliss… There’s no telling how he might be. You might have to… Put him down.”

“You want me to kill him!?” A panic overcame her at the very thought of killing a fellow team member. Cameron was the reason she had even gotten the job in the first place. He had recommended her to the boss and he had referred her to the position in the first place. The picture, her shooting Cameron in cold blood, made her feel nauseous. 

“Of course I don’t want you to kill him. But you have to understand, Rook. You might need to. And you need to prepare yourself for that possibility.” He put his hand on hers. 

She shakily nodded in response and a shaky deep breathe escaped her as she steeled herself for what was to come. “Okay…I’m-Im ready.” 

“Good. Then lets get you out there.”

The field of flowers truly was beautiful. Her head felt full of cotton and there was a lingering feeling of sickness in her stomach but she could be reassured about the fact that she was surrounded by beautiful scenery. A butterfly flitting across her vision drew her attention to it and she lazily followed its flight path with her gaze as she slowly reached a hand out to gently caress its soft wings. 

A voice cut through the soft haze that enveloped her, it was vaguely familiar but in her state she couldn’t quite put her finger on who it belonged to. “ Don’t trust the bliss, you need to get the Marshall.” 

That was right. She was meant to do something, meant to save someone. But who? She had no way of knowing. 

“Now’s the time, don’t let the Marshall get through those gates.” 

Gates? What gates? She didn’t see any gates. She actually wasn’t even sure if she knew what a gate was in the first place. In fact she didn’t feel like she knew anything at all. She couldn’t even remember her name let alone what a “gate” or a “Marshall” was. 

“ Come on Rook! Get the Marshall now! You have to save him before it’s too late.”

Rook… That’s right. That was her. Her name was Rook. And the Marshall was Cameron Burke, her partner and friend who she was sent to save. 

Her head cleared a small bit as she shook herself out. Now a small bit more coherent, Rook took a better look around. A form bumbled along a little ways before her on what looked like a path. Fog filled the area before her, and sure enough, at the end of the path was a gate. The gate was open like a mothers arms, waiting for its child to step into its warm embrace. The thought was so tempting that she almost wanted to fall headfirst into what seemed like would be a comforting hug. It didn’t help that she felt exhaustion from the tips of her toes, to the root beds of her hair. 

The sight of Cameron Burke getting closer to the exact thing she wanted to get enveloped into shattered her prone form. Immediately, she took off towards the man in an effort to reach him. 

Her body felt heavy and every step felt like a thousand pounds and she knew she was running so very slowly. But luckily Burke seemed to be running as slow as she was. Soon he was within reach. A hand reached out to him and grasped the back of his shirt and the second she came into contact with him, a blinding white light erupted and engulfed the scene around them and there was a feeling of vertigo as the next moment she wasn’t standing anymore.

Her eyes blearily blinked open and she shut them just as fast due to a blinding white light invading her corneas. The light went away and she tried opening them again. Tracey, a fellow member of the Cougars, was standing above her with a small flashlight aimed at her eyes. Everything was moving in and out of focus like a bad camera lens.

“You’re doing great.”

The sounds of a man moaning in pain could be heard from the opposite end of the room and her head moved to look at the source of the sound. Everything seemed like it was spinning around her and she sorta felt like she was going to projectile vomit in any general direction that was hopefully not at Tracey’s hovering face nor at herself. 

Tracey hurriedly moved out of her view and over to where the yelling was coming from and she finally could see what was going on. Though, “see” was an overstatement. Everything was blurry and she could barely hold her eyes open. 

Now that she could kind of process things through the optical nerves in her eyes, she could now see what looked like Sherif Whitehorse rushing over to the other side of the room. Motioned towards Tracey who was also grabbing things in a rush. “Tracey! Quick, get that syringe over here!” 

Rook moved her gaze lower so she was staring straight next to her. She could now see Cameron writhing around on the bed next to her, his shoulders being held down by Earl in an attempt to prevent the man from harming himself. 

“Woah, calm down. Calm down, come on Burke look at me. Look at me! ”

As Earl held Cameron down, Tracey came over with a syringe. This sight agitated the man even more as his struggling and pleading increased tenfold. “No…No drugs…No!” With the hand not currently fighting Earl, Cameron pushed Tracey to the ground and the poor woman hit a metal cart as she went down. 

Grabbing Cameron’s other hand, Earl kept yelling trying desperately to get through to the struggling man. “Burke! For Christ’s sake! Stop it! Easy!”

The next moment was almost hard to process. It all happened so fast that Rook almost thought she was hallucinating. She blinked and suddenly Burke was up, pushing the Sheriff off him and to the ground. He was shaky on his feet but was still as much of a danger than he was on the bed. Earl lumbered to his feet, gun drawn and pointed at Cameron, a pained expression on his face.

Burke held a hand out in a placating gesture. “No… No drugs. Put- Put your guns down.” 

The sheriff was hesitant and kept his gun up as he shook his head. The commotion must have drawn Virgil to the scene and he too tried to help placate Burke. “You just can’t come out of the bliss clean, Burke.”

“I-…I can. Sheriff. Please” The sheriff starts to lower his gun as Cameron continued to plead. “I-I-I’m not…Scrambled. Stay… Stay away from me”

“Alright…Alright…Just lay down….Just-…Just stand down.” 

And Cameron did. He sat back onto the cot and slowly laid back onto it, breathing heavily. 

“You shouldn’t have brought him here.” Tracey walked up to stand next to the sheriff, arms crossed and a dire expression on her face. 

“Tracey.” 

“Fuck you, ‘Tracey’.” Tracey scoffs, mocking his admonishment. “I said this was a bad idea. I said it from the very beginning. You don’t know her. How she digs inside your head. Don't trust him.” She storms away in a huff, brushing past Earl and out the door to the room they were in.

Virgil looked between Tracey’s retreating figure and Earl’s solemn one as he awkwardly started making his way out the room as well. “I’ll uh…Go talk to her.”

Now that he was virtually alone, Whitehorse turned to where she lay on the bed. His face softened immediately as he walked over to squat by her bed so he was face to face with her. “Look at you, awake and coherent.”

She made a vague noise in response that got him chuckling. “Well…Not really coherent. Sorry you had to see that, Rook. That had to have been hard, huh?” 

Another groan was all he got in response. “Well… Rest up, kid. You need it.”

Her head rolled on her shoulders as she finally let her eyes close. 

He didn’t have to tell her twice. 

It took Rook two weeks to recover from her bliss overdose. It took Cameron three until he was normal again and she had never been more grateful. 

Rook found the man sitting on the steps of the prison, staring off into the distance. It was as if he was miles away and she briefly wondered if he was somewhere with Faith mentally at the moment. She moved to sit next to him. Startled from his gaze, he looked at her. 

“I’m glad you’re better, Cam.”

He just stared at her for a moment before turning back to looking out. “I don’t know if I’d call myself ‘better’.”

Her hands could not stop wringing themselves in nervousness. She didn’t want him to be mad at her, but he very much could be. “I’m so sorry it went down the way it did.” 

“You mean where you ripped me from a hallucination and the sheriff pointed a gun at me like I was some sort of criminal?”

She nodded.

“Shit, Rook. That wasn’t your fault. You were just doing as you were told. Couldn’t and wouldn’t ever blame you for that.” 

Relief so powerful coursed through her at a rate she didn’t know was possible and her shoulders sagged from their tense position. He wasn’t mad at her, he understood. His arm wrapped around her back and patted her in the arm. “Yeah… I’m not mad…Feeling guilty about anything that has and will happen is useless. Just… Remember that. Ok?”

“Feeling guilty is a good thing, I think. Helps you take responsibility. During these times we need that more than ever. War… changes you. You find yourself doing things that you never thought you’d do in a million years. I… I’ve done things that I didnt expect I’d ever be capable of. And not in a good way.”

He hums at that, a little contemplative sound that let her know he was considering it. “Yeah…I suppose that is true.”

They dissolved into comfortable silence as they found there somehow wasn’t anything else to talk about. Though sometimes you don’t need anything to talk about. Sometimes, just a person’s presence was enough. And for Rook, this was enough. 

“I win this hand, you have to wear a button. What do you say?” Virgil sat across Burke and the two men were playing some sort of card game that she couldn’t comprehend. Not that she really wanted to either way. 

As Cameron Considered his answer, as well as his next move, Rook began to feel off. That really was the only way to describe it. Odd. 

Before she could dwell on it, the answer as to why she felt that way popped its face in front of her with narrowed eyes and a permanent snarl. 

“Did you think you could continue to do what you wanted with no consequences?” Reeling back, Rook attempted to make space between the woman that seemed like was only visible to her. Though Faith often defied what she thought was reality. 

“I’ve been reasonable, I’ve been fair. But you are just so selfish!” Faith stepped back to look at Cameron, who was still looking at his hand. “You forced someone to leave that didn’t want to go.” She stepped over to the man “All so you can be what. A hero….? Do you know what hubris is? Arrogance before the gods. The Greeks saw it as a dangerous form of pride that invoked the goddess Nemesis that would seek retribution.”

Cameron looked up from his cards, laying them flat in front of him. “Straight Flush.”

A huff escaped from Virgil as he put the pin back into his cloth bag. “Maybe next time, I suppose.” 

Faith was touching Cameron now, her hand on his. “If violence is the only language you choose to speak… Fine, Ill speak your language.” Her hand gripped Cameron’s, guiding it to his holster, where his gun was resting and waiting. “And when their blood is on your hands…”

“ And when their blood is on your hands.” Rook’s gaze snapped back to Cameron as he repeated the words Faith was saying. Virgil also looked to him in confusion, unsure of why all of a sudden the man had gone from playing to somber. 

Cameron stood, Faith’s guiding hands showing him where to go. He didn’t even need her guidance to pull out his gun and train it on Virgil.

Faith looked to Rook again, a soft smile gracing her lips. “We will see how heroic you feel.” 

“ We will see how Heroic you feel.” 

Virgil stood in a panic, his hands up as he backed away. “What are you doing?!” Cameron wasted no time pulling the trigger, a bang went off and blood bloomed from beneath Virgil’s vest. He collapsed to the ground in an unmoving heap.

She ran over to him, sobs and her breath stuck in her throat. Faith guided Cameron over to where Rook was standing, his gun now trained on her. 

Faith spoke first. “I’m sorry, I didn't want to have to do this.”

And like a parrot, Cameron repeated. “ I’m sorry, I didn't want to have to do this.”

“I wish there could have been another way.”

“I wish there could have been another way.”

Burke’s gun dropped as Faith pushed him towards the consoles on the other side of the room. The ones that open the doors. 

“But you made your choice.”

“But you made your choice.”

Beeps rang out as Cameron unlocked and opened the gates from the console on the other side of the room. He trained his gun on the equipment and shot them, preventing anyone from using it any further. He then turned towards her with a sad smile. “I told you.” His actions and words weren’t prompted by Faith anymore as he raised the gun to his chin. “I didn't want to leave.”

Her heart jumped in fear as she staggered towards him in a panic “Cam…?! Please no. Please don’t-!”

But her words fell on deaf ears. Cameron’s finger moved towards the trigger and with one pull and a bang he was gone. 

Chapter Text

The gates were open. 

Yells of alarm and fear rang out throughout the entire station as angels came through with their crude weapons and snarling faces. They were surrounded.

And there Faith stood, smiling amongst it all. Her aura of righteousness still shining despite the blood staining the wall and the carnage surrounding them. 

“This? This is all you. You’re the only one to blame.”

Her soft smile never left her face as she burst and dissolved into a hoard of butterflies. The butterflies flew at Rook, crowding her face and catching in her hair. Sputtering, she started swatting in an attempt to get them away. They only swarmed more. 

Dropping to the ground, she curled in on herself, covering her head against the onslaught. The thousands of beating wings drummed inside her head, the sound a constant thrum only adding to her now rapidly aching head. Soon though, she was freed from the hoard as they dispersed and she lifted her head to look around her. 

No longer was she in the gate room, instead, she laid in another field. White flowers grew in scattered groups around her and the butterflies that were once flapping around her now flew peacefully around the tops of the bulbs, landing in and around the petals. Upon looking closer, she could see the flowers laid in a formation. The formation, a path leading right to a gate. The same gate she had saved Cameron from three weeks prior. It was shining more brightly now, as if it was trying to look more appealing than ever. Though, she supposed that probably was the case. 

“I will give you one last chance.” Faith stepped up next to her, her hand resting on Rook’s shoulder. “You know what’s right, don’t you? You know what’s better for you. Don’t you want this war to stop? To be free on our side? You know what’s coming. The Father just wants what’s best for you. For all of us. For me, your friends, you, all of his children. You just need to…Walk.” 

Walking this path killed Cameron. It wasn’t her, it wasn’t this war, it wasn’t even himself. It was Faith and her “path”. It would be stupid to consider it for even a moment. And yet… 

She’s killed so many people. The amount of people that died in this war was in the hundreds. Was it all worth it? And what if Joseph was right? What if there truly is something coming? Is she willing to risk being wrong and get herself and her friends caught in whatever it is with no prep? 

She sat thinking for a few seconds and took a step towards the gate. It was very pretty. And Cameron loved it here, loved it enough to kill himself over it. 

“You’re smart, Bela. I know you will choose the right path.”

The right path. Is any path really right at the end of the day? On one hand she is helping the people of the valley but she’d be continuing to maim and kill people that have been manipulated into thinking that the end of the world was coming and that if they joined Joseph then they could be “saved”. While on the other hand joining Joseph meant that she didn’t have to kill anyone, she just had to lie down and wait for what’s going to or not going to happen. Either way she would be hurting people. 

She didn’t want to hurt anyone anymore. 

Shrinking in on herself she inched up to Faith. She felt deflated, tired, she didn’t want to fight anymore.

Faith grabbed her hand, smiling softly at her. “I knew you’d make the right choice. I’m so proud of you.” 

The pair walked towards the gate. Upon getting closer, Rook could feel warmth. As if the gate was the sun. It was comforting.

It felt like summer days on a picnic blanket with her family. Like sitting in her old treehouse in the backyard sipping water out of teacups next to bowls full of mud and leaves. It felt like home. 

Rook missed home more than anything else in the world. She’d do anything to get back there again.

But this? This was not her home. 

“I just…Don’t want to hurt anyone anymore, Faith” And as she walked hand in hand with Faith towards what would ultimately be her doom, she lifted her hand to her holster that held her knife and pulled it up. In one fluid motion she thrusted it towards the woman next to her. It met its mark, slicing into Faith’s cheek, narrowly avoiding her eye. “And I know the only way to end this is with you and your poisonous “family” dead.”

Faith screams as blood gushed through her fingers from the open wound, her face twisting into something nasty as she jerked. “You idiotic parasite! You think for one moment you’ll be better off without us? Without me!?” 

The butterflies around them started flapping, agitated and startled, in the beginnings of another swarm. “I tried and I tried. I tried Kindness, I tried mercy, Pity, and violence. I’m done.” A laugh bubbled from her. “The Father is convinced we need you. But I think once you're gone he will get over it and we will move on without you. I just have to prove it to him.”

The world underneath Rook shifted as smoke rose up from the ground. Around them, the environment changed. The world dimmed as the gate disappeared and the flowers wilted. Distant wails and groans surrounded her as angels materialized from the fog. 

She pulled out her gun and started firing, the angels exploding into smoke and butterflies immediately upon impact. Almost as if they were never there in the first place. 

Faith was nowhere to be seen, but her voice still called out from the fog. “At first, I thought you were lost. Confused. Misdirected. But now I see you as you are. A snake in our garden of Eden. A Parasite intent on destroying everything you touch.”

The more angels Rook shot, the more appeared. A never ending onslaught of grime and gore.

And Faith just kept on talking. 

“I wanted to help you. But you don’t deserve my help now. You are ruining everything!” 

Turning, Rook looked for where the voice was coming from. She knew that if she got to Faith, then the angels would cease. More angels just blocked her vision, making it virtually impossible to see much of anything past the crowd. 

She needed to get higher.

Making her way through, she searched for higher ground. Anything to help her see over the throng of bodies. And just when she was losing hope, she hit a hill. Or was it a rock? She couldn't tell. Not that it was important to her. She scrambled onto it and stood on her tiptoes, spinning in circles trying to spot the other woman. 

There, through it all, was Faith. Standing off to the side, her body language tense. 

Kicking away the angels at her feet, Rook raised her gun. Her aim, training onto Faith. She steadied, took a breath, and pulled the trigger. 

It made it’s mark. 

The angels surrounding her disappeared. So did the field. She was face to face with Faith standing in front of the river near the jail, blood pouring down her face. 

“You still don't understand. You don’t know what it is you’re doing, do you?” Faith took a step towards Rook. “Joseph believes he’s our savior. But you’ll be the one who decides what happens. You were the start. And you’ll be the end.” 

Reaching out, she took another step towards her. Rook flinched away and Faith took taken aback for a moment before a look of acceptance washed over her face and she nodded solemnly. “It was always going to end this way You’ll rescue the valley. You’ll be the hero. And then You’ll choose. And if you don’t listen to him He’ll be right” 

The water was clear. Until it wasn’t. Until Rook held Faith down in its frigid waters. It took three minutes for Faith to completely stop moving. Four for her heart to stop. Five for Rook to let go. 

She had won. 

But why did she feel so terrible about it?

Chapter Text

“A seal has been opened.”

Joseph breathed deeply, his head downcast from the camera broadcasting him and his eyes closed.

“I put my faith inside her, and she became angelic.”

Another sigh.

”Perfect… And those sinners took her away from us. It is faith that holds us together, and without it we are lost.” Eyes opened slowly and breathing grew deeper as he slowly raised his head. “So we must never lose faith.” His eyes raised to meet the camera, brimming with anger. “And those who try to harm us… Will suffer.”

__________

Rook fiddled with the pin in her hand as she sat in the passenger seat of the Jeep Eli had acquired for them. His dirty camouflaged coat was adorned with the same pin, in solidarity, even if he didn’t know Virgil personally. 

If she had taken Joseph’s advice in the beginning would she be where she was now? If she had walked away like he had urged her to do, would The Marshall and Virgil be alive? Would Faith? 

She supposed they wouldnt still be. Rook was in no way a religious person, and this whole situation definitely has a way of turning you off the whole concept in general, but she knew the world worked in mysterious ways. She knew that if fate wanted someone dead then it had a funny way of making sure that happened. 

Rook straightened and looked at Eli next to her in the driver's seat, his face set in a serious scowl. 

“I am sorry about Virgil. I didn’t know him but he seemed like a good guy. The Marshall too. We will make it out on top though, Dep.” He looked back at her, his scowl gone, replaced by a sympathetic grimace.

She shook her head. “I’m not even a Deputy. I was the Rookie, this was supposed to be my first big assignment.” She scoffs “Some assignment this is turning out to be, huh?”

”It’s certainly a lot bigger than any of us were expecting.”

“I wasn’t made for this, I don’t want to be a killer.” She sighed, “I just want to go home.”

Eli laughed and slapped her knee. “You think any of us chose this? We are all in this now, whether we want it or not. There’s no point in moping about because there is no backing out now. And if we roll over and show our stomachs at these cultist freaks then we are dead. Do you think John, Joseph, or Jacob feel any remorse? Do you think they’d show us the same courtesy?” 

She supposed not.

”Exactly. They’ll fight dirty. And the only way you can beat dirty is by fighting dirty yourself.” He nods and stops the Jeep, “We are here.”

In front of them was a metal structure with red blinking lights, a box laid under it and two alarms were stationed at the top of the metal tower. It almost looked like a radio tower. She opened her mouth to ask what it was when Eli interrupted her.

”This is a beacon. See those speakers?”

She nodded. 

“Well, those play the sound of a wounded deer. Know how many wolves we have here? It’s a lot. And none of them can resist the sound of an injured prey animal so they come flocking to these things. Jacob’s men lie in wait in order to grab these wolves and turn them into his Chosen. They’ll do his bidding and I don’t know if you’ve been surrounded by a pack of vicious wolves but they can kill you in seconds.” He goes back to frowning, “It’s been causing too many issues as of late, we need them gone.”

Rook walked up to the Beacon. It towered over her looming, menacing, and intimidating. “How many of these things are there?” 

“Enough to fuck everything up for us.” He set his pack down and unzipped it. “Keep an eye out, will you?” 

There was a slight chill in the air and the wind was rustling the leaves, giving the illusion of being surrounded. Rook was on edge, her gaze sweeping the area and eyes jumping from every little noise. 

The situation was serious before, but now it was on another level. She hadn’t just killed a low member of the cult, she had killed a sibling. Joseph was angry. Before, he had just been disappointed and wanted her to “do better” but Rook remembered his face from the broadcast. It was pure grief. And though Faith hadn’t been related to him by blood, he still cared for her, that Rook could see. And she knew that this was now something else entirely.

“You know…Joseph knew you’d kill them.” Eli pulled out a grenade and stood back up, shrugging his backpack over and back on his shoulders. 

“What…What do you mean?” 

“His siblings. He knew you’d kill Faith and he knows you’ll kill John and Jacob.” He hands the grenade to her, the weight heavy in her hands. “His seals open when one of them dies. He knows they will all open which means he knows they will all die.” 

“Yet he does nothing about it….He just hides on his little island and makes them do the heavy lifting. It's cowardly.” She shakes her head and pulls the pin, tossing it at the beacon. It goes off, destroying it and sending up a cloud of smoke. 

Eli wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “That’s usually how they work, cult leaders. They love the devotion but hate gettin’ their hands dirty.” He let go and turned back towards the truck. “I have to run back, you good handlin’ the rest?”

She nodded as she turned towards him, watching as he drove away. A sigh escapes from her mouth and she picks up the bag Eli left for her, slinging it over her shoulder. The map he had given her showed the locations of several beacons around her, the closest being a couple miles east of her. 

Her radio crackled to life interrupting her. “Rook.” Jacob. “I think it’s time we talked… All of us.”

All of us…?

A sharp pain erupted from her neck and her hand flew up to meet it. A dart came way and laid in her hand, her vision darkening as her radio crackled again. 

“See you soon.”

___________

Rook was getting sick of this familiar song and dance. The constant drugging and kidnapping couldn’t be healthy and it had to have some sort of negative effect. 

The room she was in was actually nice. She was even laid on a bed, a glass of water and a couple pills that looked like advil. 

The door opens and Jacob storms in, his boots clomping loudly against the floor. He closes it behind him, leaning against the wall. “Dinner is at six.”

“...Dinner?”

“Yes.” He moves to a chair in the corner and takes a seat. “Joseph is very angry, John too, you know. Faith was very important to them.”

Rook sits up. “And she wasn’t to you?”

He shrugs. “I hold no strong feelings either way. Rachel was some stray my younger brother decided he needed to have. She was never anything more than a charity project. A drugged out addict pissing herself on the side of the street, gullible enough to fall for my brother’s cause.” 

“...You seem to be implying you don’t believe what Joseph is spewing.” 

Another shrug was all she got for an answer. “Get ready. We are eating in thirty minutes.” He makes his way to the door.

“What dinner? What is going on?” 

His hand pauses on the door handle. “Joseph thinks you are this tortured misunderstood soul, that if we show you some humility then you will change and turn over your humanity. I don’t buy it for a single second. But he wants dinner, a chance for civility.” He turns towards her. “But you know what I think?” Rook didn’t respond. “ I think you’ll rip us apart from the inside like the feral fucking animal you are. And I think that the only thing you deserve is a bullet through your eye socket and for your body to be hanging up with all the others.” He then yanked open the door and left, slamming it behind him. 

Thirty minutes later she was being guided by a disgruntled woman wearing a white New Eden long sleeve jumper and a pair of ragged jeans. The looks she kept throwing at Rook was enough to melt the wallpaper off the wall. A judgment, Rook supposed, that was valid. She did kill one of their messiah’s along with dozens upon dozens of their people. Didn’t stop Rook from shifting under her gaze uncomfortably. 

Believe it or not, Rook didn’t particularly enjoy killing the misguided civilians working for the cult. More often than not it's being backed into a corner that brings out her guns and she did in fact feel guilt knowing they all had families somewhere. And guessing from the scathing look the woman was giving Rook, the only reason the cultist wasn’t killing her was because she must have gotten orders not to. At least for now. 

They stopped in front of a large wooden door and the woman opened it before stepping aside, a sign for Rook to walk in. Inside was a rectangular table covered in a beautiful white tablecloth and plates of food. And sat at it were the Seed brothers in all their glory. There was one seat open, evidently for her to sit at.

“Go ahead, take a seat.” Joseph looked up at her, a small soft smile on his face. Rook didn’t let it fool her though. The slightest twitch of his eye revealed the anger that was actually simmering below his otherwise cool demeanor. 

“Let's have a chat, shall we?”

Chapter Text

Just some shameless self promotion yall.

Sorry for the non chapter but I would absolutely love it if you guys could check out my other fic!

It's called: Cheer Up and you absolutely don't need to be in the fandom to read cause I try to make my stories able to be read by all. And I hate to say it but I think it's already better than this one.

But don't fret, I won't abandon this one! I just wanna tell you all about what else I have to offer.

I appreciate you all! <3