AN: Hey, how's it going guys…and girls. Don't want to forget LOL! So I'm sorry I haven't been updating lately, I've been really busy for the last couple of weeks (totally not admitting that I'm a slacker as well). For a while now, I wanted to make a couple of stories between two fucking awesome characters-Joel and Ellie (not in a romantic way, people, that shit is fucking gross! OH GOD!) I'm just gonna stop yelling and being bipolar on you bros, I get carried away with it. (I want a cute relationship like that, awww da feels 3) BTW, sorry I couldn't think of a better title, but whatever floats my boat. I had the perfect name for it but I lost it . Ugh…damn brain and my forgetful-ness!
~For any copyright issues or anything like that, I don't anything that belongs to Naughty Dog~
His worst nightmare comes true. Ellie's missing, and no one knows where she could be. Ever since this morning, seeing he nowhere in sight, he'd been running around through the settlement, calling out her name repeatedly.
"Ellie!" Joel screams, "Ellie, where are you?!"
Sweat was starting to drip off of his brow as his heart keeps beating faster and faster. The last place he didn't check was the mess hall. Since Ellie made a couple of friends, she always hangs out with them at the round, in the corner. He ran into the mess hall, thinking Ellie would be there, and wildly open the doors. The people who were at the mess hall turned to face the man, all startled and shocked. He quickly scans the room and saw her friends at the table. All five of them froze from what they were doing and stares at him. Joel quickly walks toward them.
"Have any of you seen Ellie today?" He immediately spat out, with slight hesitation in his voice.
They all looked at each and back at him, either saying no or nodding in response. He sighs in disappointment, leaving him even more worried than before. He quickly turned around and ran out.
"Wait!" A male teen's voice calls out.
As he ran out, he heard Dallace, one of Ellie's guy-friends, calling out for him. He turned around and sees the teen running towards him. The boy's shaggy blond hair hangs over his hazel eyes, hiding the fear in his eyes as he spoke.
"Cody and I saw her this morning", he spoke. "We were both on guard duty and Ellie decides to open the gate and ran off. I asked her where she was going and she said, and I quote, it's none of your goddamn business and if you tell anyone, I'll fucking kick your ass!"
"And you didn't do anything to stop her?" Joel said angrily. He grinds his teeth and his fists tighten until his knuckles turned white.
"She was about to kick my ass!" Dallace exclaimed, pointing a finger at himself. "She may be a girl but she surely can fight like a guy!"
Joel rolls his eyes and rubs them with his thumb and forefinger. "Jesus Crist", was all he mutters and then quickly walked away to find Ellie.
Dallace eyes never left the man until he was out of sight. He sighs and turns around, staring at Cody. Cody just stares, at his shaken-up friend, shaking his head and chuckling. "Dude", Cody chuckles lightly. His ice blue eyes made contact with his hazel ones. "That was pathetic."
"Shut up, you fucking ginger!" Dallace growls. "I don't need to deal with your shit! It's already bad enough to deal with…HIM!" He pointed into the direction where Joel disappeared. "I don't know how Ellie puts up with him all the time." Cody just shrugs at his delirious friend. "Oh, so you really think it's easy to talk to him?"
"Yeah", Cody simply said. "I'm not a pussy like you and I have the balls to talk to him."
"Listen here, you fucking ass-"
"Boys!" Dallace and Cody looked over at the door. They both see their friend Kylee, popping her head around the corner. "Do I need to be involved in your little conversation?" She raised her eyebrow and stares sharply through her dark brown eyes. The two teens stared at her for a moment and then back at each other. They both sighed and returned to the mess hall. "That's what I thought", Kylee smirks. All three of them walked back over to Marcus and Cassie and continued on with their conversation.
Joel was in the middle of the woods, not far from the settlement. He didn't take very much with him; he only brought his trusty revolver and a couple of shivs. He didn't take Comatose this time because he feels it wasn't necessary. But as he got deeper and deeper into the forest, the sky got more dark and grey. The wind was starting to pick up as he now felt rain drops met with his skin.
"Dammit, I should've taken the horse with me! But that doesn't matter. I gotta find her…I gotta find her."
"Ellie!" He screams out. His eyes scan the trees once more, to see if he can find anything that was moving, but there was no luck. He starts to run, his heart beating faster than ever before. He calls her name once more. "Ellie, where are you?!"
He looks all around, now noticing that he's completely lost. He was now starting to run out of breath; he leans against an old, rooting tree, to recollect himself. He was starting to get worried, and scared. What happens if I can't find her? What if she was taken? What if she's d-" He stops thinking about the horrible thoughts. "Now's not the time", he mutters to himself. Once he caught his breath, he continues to look for her.
"Ellie!" He exclaims. He hears a girl's scream for help, far up ahead of him.
"Help!" A young, female voice calls out. "Somebody, help me!"
He recognizes that voice, and he knows who that voice belongs to: Ellie. "Ellie!" He screams out. "Ellie, I'm comin'!"
He runs as fast as he can towards her. He didn't want to lose her; he didn't want to lose another child. He lost someone deeply to him once, and he wasn't going to lose anyone like that that ever again. As he ran, the girl's cries got louder and louder; he was getting closer.
"Ellie!" He screams out once more.
"Joel!" Ellie screams.
He cocks his head to his left, now seeing her struggling to push herself up some kind of ledge or cliff of some sort. "Ellie!" He runs towards her and fell onto his knees in front of her. "I'm here baby! I gotcha!"
"It's about time you showed up!" She screams out. "Now help me up before I fall into the water!" She looks back down at the water. The drop was about a hundred feet, maybe at least two hundred. The waves were violent down below as it was surrounding the jagged rocks down below.
He immediately grabs her left hand tightly and pulls her up with all of his might. He was struggling to pull her up, but that won't stop him. He wasn't to let anyone or anything stop him now, but he heard someone voice screaming out for help as well.
"Help!" A small, innocent voice screams out. "Please, help me!"
Joel's actions froze as he recognizes that voice. A voice that he haven't heard for twenty years. A voice that he doesn't want to hear. It brings so much pain, and even now, it breaks his damaged heart even more to mention her in any way. He closed his eyes tightly, never letting go of Ellie's hand. Not her. Please. Not her. He repeated those words over and over again in his head until the voice called out once more.
"Dad!" The innocent voice screams out. "Daddy, please, help me!"
His eyes immediately shot open. He looks over to his right, staring at the figuring struggling to push herself off of the cliff. His brown eyes met the girl's baby blue eyes. It was his baby girl; it was Sarah.
"Sarah!" Joel gasps. "Baby!" His throat starts to close up, calling out to her. "Baby, give me your hand!" He extended his right arm, towards her, and she immediately took it with her right.
He got both of his baby girls, holding on to dear life. He tries his hardest to pull them both up, but to no avail. They were both too heavy, he can't pull them up. Which only means to do the unthinkable, no person should ever go through: he has to let go of one of them. "No, no, no, don't do this to me! No! Not like this!" He stares down at Ellie and Sarah, who were now looking both up at him through their innocent, colorful eyes. He was starting to see tears flowing through his weary eyes.
He first looks at Sarah. Sarah. His daughter. His flesh and blood. The one person that made him became a father only at sixteen. A single father who loves her with all of his heart and would do anything to see his little girl happy. He remembers her giving him his watch on his 28th birthday. The watch was nothing but a simple present from his baby girl, and he loves it. But when the outbreak began a couple hours later, all hell broke loose. At that moment when she died in his arms by that soldier, something changed inside of him forever. The old Joel was gone, and he was never coming back. Her death made him become a violent, cruel monster for the next twenty years. The watch became something more to him after that night; it was the last thing that belonged to Sarah. He was never going to take it off. He was never going to lose it. Never.
Then his eyes fell onto Ellie. Oh, Ellie. He never thought though this hot-headed teenage girl, who has quite a potty mouth, would become so important to him. At first, he wants nothing to deal with the teen; he just sees her as cargo. It was a simple job that he and Tess have to do: take her to the capital building to get their guns back. But since Tess got bit on their journey, her last request was for him to take Ellie to Tommy, who has a connection to the Fireflies. He only did this for her, and ONLY her. He blames her for Tess's death. All he wants to do now is to get rid of the kid. They had a journey together; after all they've been through, they bonded. No matter how hard Joel tried to not to get attached to her, Ellie seems to get closer and closer to him. She was his second chance, not just surviving, but living too. She became more than just cargo, more than just a friend. She wasn't a replacement; she was his second daughter. His baby girl. They bond may not be biological, but their bond with each other overpowered it. That made him smile. He found a spot for her in his heart just like Sarah, and nothing will ever change that between them.
He was starting to lose his grip on the both of them. The girls screamed in terror. He grabs them both and tries one last time to pull them up, but once again no avail. They both looked at him. His face was scrunched up, trying his best not his hot tears stream down his face. He buries his face into the ground, crying and pleading for help but no one came. No was no other option; he has to let go of one of them.
"I'm sorry", he whispers. "I'm so sorry". He lets go of Ellie. He hears her screams until she hits the water. Everything went silent after that and turned black.
Joel screams out loud and quickly jolts out of his bed. His breathes heavily as sweat was pouring down from his brow, and from head to toe. His brown eyes adjust to the worn out grey covers and dark, navy blue blanket and then adjust eyes to his bedroom. The room was brown, just like the rest of them in their house, and bland. His eyes lay upon the window. It was still night out; the full moon was bright as ever as the stars twinkled around in the midnight sky.
He pulled off his covers and swings his legs over on the right side of the bed. His tired eyes met the brown wall once more for a moment, before sighing and running a hand through his beard.
A door suddenly swung open, startling him just a bit. He cocks his head to his left to see who barge in, it was Ellie. Ellie was startled by his blood, curdling screams and immediately got out of bed and ran to Joel's room. Her reddish-brown hair was still in her signature ponytail. She only wore a long grey thermal and a pair of shorts. Her green eyes met the man, who was shaken up by his horrible nightmare.
"Joel?" She meekly asked. "Are you okay?"
She waited patiently for his response, but only received a deep sigh. She starts to walk towards him; each step she took made a creaking noise beneath her feet. She made it to the bed and climbs up on it. She crawls over to Joel and sits on her knees. She couldn't see his face, just his back. He was taking deep, heavy breaths to control his heart rate.
"Joel?" She asked once more. "Are you okay?" She lays a hand on his right shoulder. He shudders, before taking it and giving it a little squeeze.
"I'm fine, baby girl", he sighs. "It- it's nothin'". He looks at her, over his shoulder, for a moment and let go of her hand. He brought his attention back at wall, all lost in thought.
Ellie noticed his discomfort; she really doesn't know what to do now. She doesn't even know how to comfort him. "What am I supposed to say to him? It's just a nightmare, just a fucked-up nightmare, you get over it. No. That's too harsh. He'll probably think I'm an asshole for saying it." She sighs, brushing her bangs behind her ear. "I don't know what to do. How am I gonna make him feel better? I hate seeing him like this."
She feels the bed adjust; her eyes brought back to Joel. He looks so much in pain and agony. His head was now buried down into his palms, trying his best to balance his breath. Then, without thought, Ellie wraps both of her arms around his neck and lets her head lean against him.
His head snaps up and looks back at Ellie. He looks into her green eyes; they were sparkling, just like the twinkling stars. His lips formed into a small, faint smile; she smiles at him. He grabs her left forearm and gently squeezes it. He starts to rub his thumb, across the fabric repeatedly; his actions seem to keep him out of his thoughts, for now.
"Was it the same dream again?" Ellie quietly asked.
"No", he responded. "No, it was new one. A horrible one."
She feels so bad for him. She just wants to make him feel better. "Oh, poor Joel." Ellie shuts her eyes and held onto Joel a bit tighter. "Do you want to talk about it?" Her head lifted off of his shoulder to look at him.
He didn't say anything for a moment. "No, it's okay, I'm fine", He looks up at her and looks away once more. "It was just a dream. I'll get over."
She raised her right eyebrow at him. "No", she stated. "I wanna know. You would feel a little bit better if you just let it out."
She continued to stare at him, waiting for his response. He didn't say anything for a moment, only just sat there. Thinking. Still in deep thought about the dream, about everything. He sighs out loud. He turned around to look at her and told her his terrifying nightmare.
After he was done telling the dream, Ellie coax him to lie down and relax. She looks down at him. His eyes starts to flutter shut and begin to breathe steadily. He looks so exhausted, and depressed. She knows that he has been through a lot from the last twenty years, after all he been through. It made her wish everything should be the back the way it was: no outbreak, no painful sorrow, no sadness, no everything. She just wishes that everything can be normal again, and to see Joel happy, but she can't. It's the world they live in; there's nothing anyone can do about it.
"Joel?"
"Yeah?"
"If you have another nightmare, don't be afraid to wake me up. I'm always there for you." She smiles down at him, seeing his lips scrunched up into a small smile. She lays down right beside him, staring at him. "And you need to shave. You're starting to look like Bigfoot."
He lightly chuckles. "Is that so?"
She thought about the idea for a moment, turns out she doesn't like the idea what-so-ever. "Do you know what? Nevermind. You would look like a naked bear if you do." She giggles and lets her smile show. He softly laughs; so does she. She turns away from him and get into her comfortable sleeping position. She lets out a relieved sigh and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.
AN: OMFG! The first chapter is over 3,000 words long! I feel so accomplished :3! And yes, this is the FIRST chapter; which means the second, or final, chapter will be made! There's gonna be a good reason why I'm rating this story from RATED T to RATED M. You'll see why when you read. Oh boy, it's gonna get dark. And if some of you bros wondering who Comatose is (if you haven't figure it out yet), he's Ellie's horse. She deserves another horse, not since after Callus, and the cruel winter…OH, and thank you so much for reading my oneshot Alive and Breathing (yes, based on the last of us). That really means so much to me! I love you all and brofist, I guess, LOL XD! *brofist*
