TLoU: A New Beginning
AN: Hey, so I've never really written a story like this before, so I thought I might give it a go and see how it turns out.. I've changed the ages of the characters a bit to suit the direction this story is going to take, Joel is 26, Ellie 15, Tommy is 36 and Maria is 28. The events of the game remain mostly unchanged except for when the outbreak occured which I will delve into in later chapters.. I don't have anyone to proof read at the moment so please be patient, any advice or criticism is greatly appreciated! Being an interstate truck driver, I won't have much time to write and release chapters, I will try my hardest to get at least one out each fortnight. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the read! :)
"Swear to me! Swear to me that everything you said about the fireflies is true!" Ellie asks, half pleadingly, God I must sound like a brat she thinks as she looks Joel in the eyes, she can read him better than anyone ever could, she can see the pain, fear and anguish in his eyes but she can see so much more, things she's only just started to notice in him, like affection, loyalty, protectiveness and.. is that.. love? No, it can't be.. Love doesn't exist in this fucked up world.. at least not that Ellie has seen anyway, sure there was the brotherly love between Sam and Henry, and she was certain she could see it in Tommy's eyes when he looked at Maria and vice versa, but she was no expert in it.. Did Joel love Tess? was she his partner as well as his smuggling buddy? Ellie mentally shook her head, this is not the time to be thinking of this. Ellie continues to search his face for an answer, his expression doesn't change but the hesitation before he answered.
"I swear" is enough to make Ellie believe that he's lying to her, but why? She suddenly feels like she has been betrayed by the one person in this world she could trust, her protector, her anchor, her pillar of strength in a world hell bent on destroying it's self,
"Okay" she answers as she drops her eyes to the ground.
Joel stood there for a few moments trying to survey Ellie's reaction to his answer, did she know he was lying to her? Of course she did, Ellie was a smart girl and Joel knew that she could read him like a book, he had tried his hardest to keep himself closed off to her from the get go, but he knew it wasn't working, every day they spent together, when she clung to him when something didn't feel right or when she intertwined her fingers with his when they were walking and looked up at him with the biggest smile on her face and those bright green eyes twinkling in the sun light, he slowly come to realise that this girl was fast becoming his entire world, the only thing he lived for. She'd saved his ass more times than he can count, even nursed him back from the brink of death after he impaled himself on the rebar in the university, she endured so much pain and put herself in the face of danger just so she didn't loose him.. And he's gone and lied straight to her face.. You're a fucking top bloke, Joel.. You asshole..
"C'mon, Ellie, not much further now" he said as he turned around and started making his way down the trail to the main gates of Jackson, he didn't get a reply from her but the sound of her footsteps almost in time with his own let him know that she was following him, although nowhere near as closely as he'd have liked.. Joel knew that Tommy would be pleased to see him again but how would he react to Ellie coming back? Did Tommy know that she would have died for the cure? Did he know and not tell Joel when he was here last? The last part made Joel's anger boil up to the surface, he set his jaw and ducked his head and tried his best to push it back into the pits of which it came, no, Tommy would not do that.. Would he?
"Joel, I.. I umm." Joel turned his head to face Ellie who was now walking right beside him with her head down and her left arm holding her right, just bellow her scar,
"What's up, baby girl?" he asks, quiet affection in his voice, he can see that she is holding back from what she really wants to say, she's chewing on her bottom lip and rubbing her arm almost like it's on fire. Joel stops and puts a hand on her shoulder, Ellie jumps at the contact but also stops and turns so that she is facing him,
"Ellie, you've been very quiet since we left the car, mind telling me what's goin on in that head of yours?" he asks, Ellie looks up at him and the look that's on his face scares her somewhat, she can see the worry etched into the lines of his face and can hear the pleading tone in his voice but his eyes, the concern that's swimming in them, the same look from when he saved her from the burning steak house that winter, she chokes up but holds back on her sobs, only just, she looks around quickly and catches a glimps of the front gates.
"Look!" she pipes up "We're almost there!" Joel turns in the direction that she is pointing and lets out sigh,
"That we are baby girl, C'mon" he grabs her hand in his and gives it a quick squeeze before they move out onto the main track just in front of the gate.
The guards in the watch towers both point their rifles at the two weary travellers, "Put your hands above your heads and do not move or we won't hesitate to open fire!" says the guard in the left hand tower, Joel and Ellie both raise their hands, Ellie's still enveloped in Joels massive hand, the guard in the right hand tower radio's in, Ellie can't quite catch what he's saying but she does hear him say 'brother' and 'little girl' christ she was sick of being called a little girl, she was 15 for fucks sake! The guard nods but they both continue to hold their rifles on the two, Ellie feels like she's been standing there for what feels like hours with her hands in the air, before the front gate finally opens and out pops Tommy, a weary look on his face before he notices his brother, he immediately breaks out into a smile and when he notices Ellie, his smile falters but then widens even more, Ellie thinks to herself how is that even possible without tearing the skin around his mouth open, but she is pulled out of her thoughts as she feels Joel's hand leave hers and watches him walk the few steps to be face to face with his brother, they stare at one another for a few seconds before Tommy envelopes his brother in a bone crushing hug,
"I'm glad you made it back, baby brother" he says as he pulls back to look at Joel again, "Christ, you look like shit" he mentions with a small chuckle at the end,
Joel grunts and replies,"feelin' it too, brother" as he comes back to me and takes my hand in his again.
Tommy turns to me,"Ellie, good to see you made it back too, thanks for keeping my dumb ass brother alive." he says as the smile returns to his face,
"it was a fuckin' challenge, Joel loves to dive head first into shit before thinking it through" she replies as she nudges Joel's shoulder with hers, he just scoffs and rubs his free hand through her hair and messing it up, Ellie lets out a little yelp before swatting his hand away and trying to tame the mess he created.
"C'mon in, you two, we'll get you fed, showered and into some clean clothes and you can tell Maria and I all about your little adventures over dinner, if you want" Tommy says as he turns to head back to the gate, gesturing for the two of them to follow him.
One of the guards pipes up, "Sir, shouldn't we screen them for infection before we let them in?"
Tommy dismisses him and replies, "I'll get Doc to come over and check them out at my place, just relax, Joel wouldn't come back and endanger the town if he or his girl were infected."
The guard looks from Tommy to Joel and Ellie before nodding and stepping down, still looking concerned, Ellie suddenly feels very uncomfortable with the whole situation and Joel must sense it because he gives her hand a reassuring squeeze before motioning her to walk with him and Tommy through the gate and back to Tommy's.
It doesn't take long for them to reach the front door to Tommy and Maria's house, Tommy opens it and beckons for them to come inside before shutting the door behind them and leading them into the kitchen where Maria is leaning over the stove cooking something that Ellie has never smelt before, whatever it was smelt delicious and was starting to make her mouth water, the notion of real food, a shower, be it hot or cold and a real bed to sleep in makes her feel giddy until she realizes that Tommy and Maria will most likely put them in separate rooms, Ellie's gut drops and the fear returns as the thought of sleeping alone runs through her mind, she quickly dismisses it knowing that they are safe here in Jackson, but the feeling still lingers in the back of her mind.
Joel releases his grip from her hand and takes his pack and weapons off and sits them against the wall in the living area, Ellie noticing that he still keeps the revolver tucked into the waist of his Jeans, Ellie quickly follows suit and drops her pack and bow right next to Joel's but leaves her pistol in it's place in the back of her jeans.
Maria turns around giving her husband a quick peck on the lips before turning to greet them, "Joel, Ellie! I'm so glad the two of you made it back in one piece!" she exclaims, excitement evident in her voice "please, take a seat, dinner is almost ready! I'm sure the two of you must be starving!"
Joel is the first to speak "Thank you ma'am, Ellie and I appreciate this greatly!" Ellie just nods with a sheepish smile plastered on her face as Joel pulls a chair out from the table and beckons for her to sit before doing so himself.
"I'd offer you a beer, brother but I ugh.. Kind of finished them off last night" came Tommy's voice from what Ellie assumed was a walk in pantry "but I've got some of this so I'm sure you won't mind" he walks into view with a bottle of spirits in his hand, Jack Daniels to be exact.
"Tommy, is.. is that the real deal?" Joel asks dumbfounded, a disbelieving expression on his face, Ellie can't help but laugh at the way he looks, Maria just shakes her head with a smirk on her lips,
"You betcha it is! Found it a few years back, been savin it for a special occasion." Tommy replies as he pulls out four glasses from the cupboard, four? Is he going to let me drink? Ellie thinks, suddenly sitting up straighter in her chair, happy that she's being treated as an equal and not a little kid.
"figured this would be the perfect occasion to crack her open and have a few, am I right?"
Joel lets out a genuine chuckle "damn, brother, you certainly are full of surprises!"
Tommy just grins and places a two glasses down where him and Maria will no doubt be sitting, he places another one in front of Joel and hesitates before putting the last down in front of Ellie, he looks to Joel obviously asking the silent question, that annoys Ellie a bit but she knows he's doing it for his own protection, from Joel, not because he thinks she's a little kid.
Joel looks to Ellie "Do ya want to have some?" he asks,
"Hell yes I do!" she replies enthusiastically, smile spread across her face, Joel smiles at her reply before giving her shoulder a light squeeze, Tommy puts the last glass down and goes for the bottle, he cracks the seal taking off the lid and giving the opening a quick sniff, before closing his eyes and sighing in satisfaction,
"Aged to perfection" he comments with a sly smile on his face, Joel chuckles whilst shaking his head.
"Dinner is served!" Maria calls out as she brings out two plates filled to the point of over flowing with what looks to be pot roast with mashed potato and corn and setting them down in front of Joel and Ellie before returning to get the other two from the kitchen for her and Tommy, Tommy fills each glass to about three quarters full of the brown liquid before capping the bottle and placing it down in the middle of the table,
Joel picks his glass up and gives it a little swirl before taking a big whiff, the smile that's on his face becomes even wider and he takes a small sip sighing with satisfaction before turning to Ellie,
"Take it slow, Ellie or that will put you on your ass quicker than a crash tackle from a bloater" he teases,
"What, don't you think I've ever been drunk before?" she chides back picking up her glass and taking a sniff, she scrunches her nose up and pulls her head away, Joel just laughs and ruffles her hair again, Ellie brings the glass to her lips and takes a small sip scrunching her face up as she swallows, feeling the unfamiliar burn as it runs down her throat and into her gut.
"erugh, how the fuck can you drink this shit?" she asks putting the glass down and pushing it away from her,
"It grows on ya" Tommy says as he takes a seat and has a large sip of from his glass, sighing in satisfaction "just as I remembered it" he says,
"I'm hearin ya" Joel says as he takes a larger sip from his before tucking into his dinner, Ellie was way ahead of him on that one, this was by far the best thing she's ever eaten!
"Now you boys behave" Maria scolded playfully. The rest of the meal went by with small talk about the town and how everything was coming together so well, How Ellie and Joel would make valuable assets once they were settled in.
Once the meal was finished and Ellie had gone back for seconds and even a third helping, the dishes were cleared and they all sat at the table laughing and talking, Ellie had started to feel the effects of the alcohol and once she had finished her first glass had declined a refill as she was quite happy to just sit and listen to the stories that the two texan brothers were telling and how Tommy had met Maria and she had practically handed his ass to him.
Ellie let a yawn escape her and suddenly she was feeling the weight of their travels coming down on her full force, Maria noticed and offered to take her up and show her where the shower was and her room, much to Ellie's dismay, they had put her and Joel in separate rooms but she was too tired to argue, so she just thanked Maria and went for her shower.
Joel and Tommy had retreated to the front deck for a chat whilst the girls did their thing,
"so, how'd it all go?" Tommy asked curiously, Joel sighed and let his head fall to his hands,
"The university was abandoned, they'd left a while ago, that winter was... Was one of the worst I.. We've ever been through, I was wounded pretty badly and Ellie went to the ends of the earth to bring be back from the brink of death.." Joel was speaking so quietly and carefully it was almost out of character for him,
"She was kidnapped by a pack of... Monsters, when I found her she was.. She was distraught, she'd killed the leader and I had to drag her off of him and got her out of there..." Joel stopped, taking a few shaky breathes and wiping his eyes with his sleeve before continuing.
"She was pretty beat up, Tommy, I was so scared for her, I was hurtin too but I never left her side, she clung to me for dear life for days before she was ready to move on.." Tommy put his hand on Joel's shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze,
Joel continued, "we found em at St Mary's hospital in Salt Lake City.. She'd almost drowned trying to save my stupid ass again, I was trying to revive her when one of them assholes knocked me out, next thing I know I'm wakin up in a hospital bed with a gun in my face and Marlene by my side explainin bout how Ellie was goin to die... Die for the right cause..." Joel paused again, sobs tearing through his frame and he didn't try to control them.
Tommy had moved back to the bench and sat down with a disbelieving look on his face, "those.. Fucking.. Then what, Joel? What happened next?" he asked urgency in his voice.
"I killed them, I.. I fucking wiped them off the face of this planet! They were goin to cut her brain out, they didn't even bother to wake her up before the procedure, they were.. I.. "
Joel sighed as he ran his hand down his face "I shot Marlene in the car park after I put Ellie in the car.." Tommy stood up anger prominent on his face until Joel turned around to face him, a man that this world had tried to break on so many occasions, who had stood tall through it all now suddenly looked so small and broken that it broke Tommy's heart to see him like that.
"You.. You love that girl, don't you?" he asked, not breaking his eye contact with him,
"If she had died that day, on that operating table, I would have eaten a bullet before I even left the building" Joel spoke so quietly that Tommy thought he was hearing things, "you have no idea what that girl means to me!" he finished finally breaking eye contact with Tommy.
"No, brother, I don't. But I can understand why you did it" Tommy says,
"She deserves a happy life, brother, and I'm going to give her that to the best of my abilities, so help me god!" Joel says with conviction so strong that it makes Tommy flinch,
"Have you told her yet?"
Joel looks down "No.. When the time is right.. Soon I will."
Tommy nods before embracing his younger brother, "C'mon, lets go in and get you cleaned up and off to bed, Lord knows you need your beauty sleep" he says with a cheeky grin on his face, Joel just scoffs before nodding and making his way up to the bathroom for a well earned shower.
Ellie was laying in bed when she heard the water turn off and the sounds of Joel drying himself and getting dressed, she was uncomfortable on her own to say the least but at least they were under the same roof, that thought does little to ease her fear though. She was startled by a soft knock at the door.
"c..come in" she calls out meekly, Joel enters the room and in the dim light she can see that he is only wearing boxers, as he comes closer she can see all the scars on his torso from his years of being a survivor and the ugly scar at the bottom of his abdomen from last winter, she shudders.
"I was just comin to say goodnight" he says as he sits lightly on the end of her bed, Ellie looks up to meet his eyes before smiling and sitting up to give him a hug,
"Goodnight, Joel" she says quietly,
Joel smiles and gets up to make his way to the door, he stops about halfway and turns to face Ellie who's still sitting up in bed in one of his old shirts, he cocks an eyebrow and smiles.
"If ya need anything, anything at all I'm just down the hall, baby girl" he turns and heads for the door,
"Okay" Ellie says quietly as he shuts the door behind him, bathing her in darkness again, she lets herself fall back on the bed letting loose a sigh of frustration, she rolls onto her side facing away from the door, clutching her pillow like it's her last life line.
Joel shuts his door and lets himself drop onto his bed, he was so exhausted and was glad to be able to sleep in a proper bed for once rather than on the hard ground, but something didn't feel right, he missed the warmth that Ellie provided by his side all those nights they were on the road, he rolled onto his side facing away from the door hoping that sleep would consume him but it never came and when it did.
He was only brought back into the land of the living by the creak of his bedroom door and the sound of it latching shut and the soft padding of little feet on the floor, he felt her crawl into bed and he rolled over so that he was face to face with her,
"Couldn't sleep huh?" he asks quietly as he tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"Mm mm" she replies before rolling over and cuddling into his chest,
"Me neither" he replies wrapping his arm around her and intertwining his fingers with hers, the warmth and the feel of her steady breathing brought some comfort to him, knowing that she was safely in his embrace.
The sound of Ellie's light snoring was like music to Joel's ears, he'd laid awake for quite some time just listening to her sleep, he struggled to keep his eye's open and rather than fight it, he let it finally take hold of him, falling into a dreamless deep sleep that he'd been wanting for for too long.
A/N: So that's the first chapter down, umm yeah.. Ellie's struggling with the fact that Joel had lied to her, yet she can't stand being away from him, even in a separate room, Joel struggled with the short recap of their adventures knowing that he nearly lost her.. Anyway the next chapter is going to be interesting, how will Ellie react to Joel telling her the truth? What will Joel do when he's confronted by Tommy to take Ellie to the local Doc for a check up? Stay tuned to find out.
Peace! :)