A/N: Read and enjoy! . . . Yeah.
Well, anyways, I don't own the 39 Clues. Review PLEASE! (It's my first time writing a story like this - tell me what you think!)
"Amy, listen," Ian said, pulling off his ski hat.
"No! You listen, Ian. I don't care what your game is now, or whatever the hell you think you're doing,"
"Saving you?" he interrupted.
"Shut UP! I don't care, just stay away from me." I turned around and stomped off, carrying my snowboard to the lodge.
"Would you have rather fallen to whoever that guy was?" That stopped me.
"Yes," I spun around. "I would rather do that than be betrayed again by you. There's been enough times already." I didn't even care if it was one of Vesper's cronies.
"Are you ever going to forgive me?" Ian asked after a pause.
"No. No matter how long you try to do whatever good you come up with, I will never forgive you. You're not capable of trying that hard anyway." I snorted.
"Amy, I will never stop trying."
"HA! As if."
"Never. Until I die."
"Exactly, when your life is in the slightest bit of danger, you'll run off like the coward you are."
"I'm never going to run away. Every time you want something, Ill be there to give it to you. Every time you need to be protected, I'll protect you. Every time you're hurt, I'll heal you. I will never stop trying."
I paused, slightly shocked, but then retorted, "Until after I 'forgive' you."
"No. Even after you forgive me, I will never stop trying to make you happy. Thats all I want."
I stared at him. "I don't believe you. It won't be worth anything if you try."
"But I will still do it. I will prove to you that I can change."
"Impossible."
Ian merely smiled, though a little sadly. "Perhaps."
I left, feeling uncomfortable with the weight of his eyes on my back. For a moment, I remembered him running through Alastair's garden, screaming like a girl, and then when his lips brushed ever so slightly on mine. Just for that moment. And then I blinked, memory forgotten in a propeller's blade, in sharks teeth, and in a small golden coin.
3 months later
I turned and ran as fast as I could the other way, though I knew it was useless. Wherever I went that laugh followed me. In the Congo tropics, to the Mongolian desert, Vesper was there. Every time, I could barely escape and mostly because of Ian, no matter how much I tried to keep that fact out of my mind.
I leaned against the wall in the black smoke, tears streaming down my face. I could still feel the cold metal of the ring against my wildly beating heart. "Please, " I croaked out. "Help, anyone."
A fit of coughing hit me, and I fell to the ground, body racking endlessly. Maybe I should just give up, I thought. He would still get the ring, no matter how hard I tried. He was everywhere, his laughing followed me everywhere.
"AMY!" I heard through the roar of the fire. "Where are you?" Dan? I thought. What was he doing here, he should still be in the cafeteria. Then a tall figure appeared in the smoke in front of me, though I couldn't see it through my streaming eyes.
"Come on, love. Let's get out of here." A strong hand pulled me up, and immediately I knew who it was. Ian. He pulled me along throughout the smoke, and I tried to follow without falling.
"Ian, what the he-" Another fit of coughing hit me.
"Shh, don't talk Amy. Wait till we get out of here." Ian handed me a dripping wet cloth, and I gratefully took it, putting it over my mouth. It soothed my cracked lips and the burns on my face.
Ian held onto her hand as tightly as he could without hurting her, grimacing as the black smoke hit his lungs and burned his bare chest. He looked back through the soot to Amy to see how she was holding up though the fire. Her eyes were shut, but still streaming from the sting of the smoke and he felt his heart lurch. How long had she been in there, suffocating? How long had he been unable to protect her?
His other hand reached the wall, and he groped along it to find the door. Grabbing the insanely hot steel, he opened the door and pushed Amy through the rushing smoke. He could see that she was weak, and promised himself that he would take her to the hospital once this was all over.
I stumbled out into the clean air, still completely unable to see where I was going, and heaved a gulp of fresh air. The sudden intake made my trembling lungs start coughing again, and the burns on my hand flared up again as I clenched the cloth tighter.
"Ian," I called out hoarsely, wanting to know where he was. Forgive him yet? My traitorous conscience asked. I ignored it.
A gentle hand came up and wiped my hair out of my eyes. I blinked rapidly and tried to clear out the sting of the smoke.
"You're bleeding," he noted with a frown, touching my lips. I sucked in a breath, it hurt a lot worse than my hands did, but I wasn't going to yelp in front of him. As he stood up, I noticed he was shirtless and I looked down at the sooty, dripping, cloth in my hands. Through all the blood and black smoke, I could make out the shirt he was wearing earlier, fancy buttons and all.
A hand appeared above me, and I took it, wincing as my legs cramped up when I tried to stand. It was a lot warmer than mine, and when I took my hand off his, I noticed bright red burns all along it. It took a lot of remembering plane propellers to not give in right then and there.
Ian's hand came up to my lips again, but this time with a cool gel that made them immediately start to feel better.
"Thanks," I sighed. He grinned and rubbed more of the gel into his hands.
"Come on, love. We're not out of this yet." With his other hand, he pulled out a semi-automatic, and led me to the nearest exit sign.
"Where're Dan and Nellie?"
"Safe,"he answered, peering around a custodian door. "Natalie and Hamilton got them out."
I sighed with relief; they were okay.
We went through a hallway to the next exit sign, which was above a door labeled 'Control Room'. Ian pushed the door open and we hurried through.
Halfway to the final exit, I heard a voice. More specifically, laughter. I froze, hand flying up to the ring on my necklace.
"Amy, so nice to see you again." Damien Vesper laughed from the screen of the room.
"Vesper," Ian said coldly, moving in front of me protectively. I heard the gun click. Blankly, I noticed a huge gash on his right arm, and wondered how he could hold a gun with it.
"Oh, hello. Kabra, is it? Son of Isabel, interesting. She wouldn't be too proud of you now, would she? You know, she murder–" Ian shot the cords in the wall socket, and it flickered, turning black. A new laugh broke out behind us and he whipped around and shot at it. The laughter ceased as ian shoved me under a table. More shots rang out in the room, and another voice spoke.
"Give us the girl, Kabra. We don't need you."
"No," I heard Ian say, more coldly than I thought I would ever hear him sound. His voice was nearly as icy as his mother's. I have no idea what happened next, other than hearing a bullet hitting a coffee cup on the table above me. It fell to the floor in front of me and cracked, spilling all over. Then silence.
"Ian!" I yelled, erupting out of my den.
"Amy, you're okay." he pulled me into a hug. I could hear him take in heavy, labored breaths, and I pulled away.
My hands were sticky, covered in crimson blood.
Ian staggered, and caught himself on the desk. With his back in my sight, I could see the gaping hole in his back, pulsing blood.
Were bullet wounds supposed to look like this?
"Come on, we have to get you to a hospital!" I nearly screamed, pulling him toward the final exit. We got out into the door, and he collapsed. I couldn't hold his weight, so I helped him to the ground.
"AMY!" Dan screamed, running towards me, Natalie following nearly as fast.
"Ian, please get up, Ian – no," I cried. How? He – there was no one left – the gun –
"Amy, try this, it might heal him." I stared blankly at Dan. Then I understood what he was holding out. The serum. It had a chance of healing him. I took it, being careful not to let it slip through my bloody hands. I helped Ian sit up, and he let out a groan. He opened his eyes slowly and smiled at Natalie. Then his eyes focused on my hand, and he grabbed the tube, downing everything in the tiny bottle. I gave a relieved sigh, but it was cut off as Ian pulled me to him, kissing me. I tried to pull back, but held just held me tighter. I gave up resisting and kissed him back. It became passionate, ans I felt my lips crack and bleed again but I didn't care. I was too lost in this feeling. It was everything we never said to each other, every time we backed away from each other, every emotion we couldn't show, though I couldn't understand why he was telling me goodbye.
And then I realized what he was doing. He was making me take the serum! I tried to pull back, but he was too forceful, too demanding. I could feel him pushing the serum into my mouth, making me swallow.
It tasted like blood.
When he finally pulled away, I saw his face, grinning sadly, covered in tears. My tears.
"Protect yourself, love. I can't do it anymore." He sighed and fell back to the concrete.
"Ian, no," I sobbed, burying my face into his chest.
"Goodbye Amy, I love you." I heard, barely a whisper.
"I love you Ian." I whispered into his ear. He smiled, eyes closed, and his hand tightened on mine one final time and fell.
His heart beat it's last, then stopped.
Forever.
A rose, red as blood, fell on the black coffin.