Lay Me Down

A/N: So this is in honour of Remembrance Day, which was yesterday. The title comes from the song "If You're Reading This" by Tim McGraw, which is a tribute song that was sung by some girls at my school for the Remembrance Day assembly. And I'll be honest, I don't know why some soldiers fight, but these are the reasons for the Charlie Bone characters fight the endowed war… At least, this is my take on it. It's also for Project PULL. And there's some swearing, which is why it's rated T. Oh, and there is no book 8, yet.

Summary: Asa, Billy, Dorcas, Emma, Dagbert, Fidelio, Idith, Gabriel, Inez, Lysander, Joshua, Olivia, Zelda, Tancred, Manfred, Charlie; they fight for a reason.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Charlie Boneseries.

I. (Asa)

He fights because he's a freak. He's a beast and it's not fair that people look at him like some kind of monster because of what he is. He's never done anything to anyone, not even that girl in the Ruin Game that people thought he killed. And screw anyone who thinks he's a liar, he knows what he is. He's a person, albeit a person who turns into a crossbreed of a hyena, a wolf, a cheetah, and other wild animals at night, but a person nonetheless. And you can tell him he's a freak, but it won't get you anything, because he already knows it, and hey, maybe sticks and stones will break his bones, but names will never hurt him, right? Wrong, and he's going to prove that sure, he's a freak, but it doesn't freaking matter because he can fight for what's right, and the bad side isn't all that bad, because it's really all perception and he's fighting for his beliefs in the ends and that's what counts. He's a freak, but oh well.

Asa fights because he's a freak.

II. (Billy)

He fights because he's the youngest. He's young and he wants to be free of that terrible title because if you're young, you're naïve, gullible, just plain stupid and you get pushed around. Well, he'll be damned if he gets bullied because of his age anymore. Great things come in small packages, right? So he'll be that great thing and prove to everyone that being young doesn't mean you can't do amazing things, because if that's true, then what is he doing here? Well, he's fighting right now, and he won't stop, because if he gives up, if he stops, if he won't keep going, then who will? Who will going to stay optimistic, who will keep going, who will show the world that it's not fair to be judged by his age and size? Because with or without them, he's the same person with the same heart and the same attitude and he's still the optimist when no one else is. He may be a kid, but he knows it won't matter in the end.

Billy fights because he's the youngest.

III. (Dorcas)

She fights because she's alone. She's always the one left out and it's not right because those stupid people she calls her friends aren't there for her, but she never expects any less, because really, in the end, they're not really her friends. They fight on the same side as her and that's all, but you know what? She can feel whatever the hell she wants, but that doesn't change the fact that if she wasn't lonely, she wouldn't be as good at what she was and therefore, she wouldn't be a good pawn. Ha, well what happens when the pawn know exactly what they are and still do it because it's her freaking choice and no one will change that, not you, or you, or you. She wants to show everyone else who's alone that it's okay, because look how far she's gotten, and look how hard she's worked, and how much she's done for everyone because she's alone. Even though she's not on the right side doesn't mean she's not a success.

Dorcas fights because she's alone.

IV. (Emma)

She fights because she's still haunted. She's scared because they hurt her, took her from her family, hypnotized her, hid her from her life and that they would have kept doing it if she wasn't saved by her friends and that they could do it again in a heartbeat. She was forced into a house with an unloving couple who were together for money and just wanted her gone and of course, you would think she grew up thinking she was a worthless, disgusting, dirty piece of filth. She still has freaking nightmares about the nights where she hid from them in her room in the attic, and the bruises and scars are still on her skin, whether they show or not, and they won't stop. Well, that's not going to fly with her, and yes, the pun is intended. She wants to be free of their damn stain, all those marks they left on her, and she wants to make sure she can get rid of them, so then other people can too. It's not noble, but it's enough.

Emma fights because she's still haunted.

V. (Dagbert)

He fights because he's the perfect one. Everyone fears him because he's the most pet-like of all of them and they don't mess with him because he could kill them in a second, and he's probably the most powerful one and that's why they wanted him in the first place, and it goes around and around, because it's a vicious cycle, to say the least. He has to kill his father by the time he's thirteen, but that doesn't mean he wants to and fine, he's on the side that not everyone supports and could kill anyone in a second if he wanted to, but if you really think about it, that doesn't mean he's a killer and that he's ever killed anyone, but every freaking person assumes it anyway, and nobody bothers to think he's still a human being and he needs to get rid of the belief that because he's the favoured one, he can't get his hands dirty, for him and everyone else who can't. Sure, you think it's dumb, but be in his place for once.

Dagbert fights because he's the perfect one.

VI. (Fidelio)

He fights because he's the outsider. He's not endowed like the rest of his friends, and he doesn't feel the rush of knowing that he has the power of doing something else a very select amount can do and that he can change the world and end a war with that power. And he knows that in his school, he's not alone, and if he had normal friends, he wouldn't care. But he doesn't have normal friends and he's apart of this just as much as they are and he'll be damned if anyone lets him think otherwise, because he can make a difference just as much as they can, so freaking let him if he so damn pleases too. And you have no say in what he does because he will help end something bigger than him because he needs to show people that just because they're the minority doesn't mean they can't do anything and he freaking will. And he will show them, show the whole world. Or maybe he won't be able to do it, but at least he'll die trying.

Fidelio fights because he's the outsider.

VII. (Idith)

She fights because she's crazy. She's a twisted little psycho and you all believe it because it's hard not to when she's always with her sister and they stare at you like freaking china dolls and it scares you to the point where you'll have nightmares about her and her and her and her and you don't even know which is which anymore, but you never did anyway. And she likes it that way, knowing that she has the advantage of duplicity that no one will ever know about because she can be on either side she wishes and no one could ever figure out it's her and that's good, because if she pulls that move, she can eat the enemy from the inside out. And she's sick and tired of all her so-called friends acting like they're just misguided because it's just an excuse when the real truth is that they are freaking evil. Why can't they be? She's accepted it, and she uses it to help her. And so what if maybe her screws aren't on too tight?

Idith fights because she's crazy.

VIII. (Gabriel)

He fights because he's family-orientated. He's got two parents that love him more than anything because he's their only son and three sisters who he hates more than anything and he'd be freaking screwed without them and his family keeps him going because they'll always be there. And his gerbils, but that's different, they don't have a choice. He keeps a picture of the six of them with him at all times because mom and dad stay at home and wait for him to come back, because they understand the danger and want him to come home. His older sister's so strong and she's watched out for him forever, and his little sister's crazy and he's steals her diary because she steals his baseball bat and he don't know what he'd do without them. But his littlest sister, she can never, ever, ever be subjected to this, no matter what. And damn it all to hell what anyone else thinks, he knows that he'll make sure she doesn't.

Gabriel fights because he's family-orientated.

IX. (Inez)

She fights because she's a shadow. She's sick of being treated as one with another, and she's sick of everyone thinking that she can't do anything on her own and that she constantly needs to be aided by someone or everyone, especially her sister. She's an individual person with her own hands and feet and thoughts and feelings and it's not fair that she has to be considered anything otherwise because she has a good relationship with her sister and they're extremely close in both senses of the word. You probably think that she can only follow, not lead and you wouldn't know that at night she dreams of being a leader and laughing at anyone who thinks she can't do anything by herself because what's she doing now? But it's only a dream and she works to make it reality, because it's not for her, but every single person who's always shoved into the background. She can be and is a leader, and she'll freaking prove it.

Inez fights because she's a shadow.

X. (Lysander)

He fights because he's the calm one. He's the one everyone depends on the stay level-headed in any situation and they turn to him for guidance because he can give them the best and he's not sure if it's because they actually think he can give good advice or because his dad's a judge but they do, and he's sure that they would be God damned screwed without him because they don't think, they just act. And he's there to make sure they don't kill themselves in the process because everyone knows that at least one of them, if not all of them, will end up murdering themselves with the pace they go at. And for them, he's the unafraid one who plans out everything and that's good because they know he's got their back and you would think it frustrates him, but it doesn't because he feels important knowing they wouldn't be safe without him watching them. And maybe it's shallow, but they're all alive, aren't they?

Lysander fights because he's the calm one.

XI. (Joshua)

He fights because he's the one who has it easy. Everyone thinks that he doesn't have to work for his place and he just gets all the respect he wants because his mother's a piano teacher and because they're on the bad side and so he must be feared so he won't hurt them. But really, what can he do to you, attract feathers and eraser shavings to your hair? Hell no, he can barely do that to himself when he wants to, how could he be able to do it to someone else? He wants to earn his respect the right way, even though, according to society, everything else he does isn't right. You'd probably think he was stuck up but really, he just wants to be an equal to everyone else and it doesn't mean the same thing if they fear him and he gives his all to be accepted on the same level because if he can't do it, who can? Well, he does for the others who feel like they can't be respected because they've got connections to people.

Joshua fights because he's the one who has it easy.

XII. (Olivia)

She fights because she's been on both the outside and the in. She knows that feeling of not being important because she's been unendowed, and now she's endowed and she understands everyone in the world, or at least she feels like it. She can sympathize with all her friends, and now, by default, her enemies too. She knows what they're seeing when they look at themselves in the mirror and what they're thinking at that time too. She entered this war as normal as she could ever be and is going to leave it not normal at all, and that's okay, because at least she fully understands what the hell she's fighting for. Ignorance is bliss, but you can also end up dead, so she's glad she has the experience of both sides of the stories. So what does it matter if she's different and she doesn't fit in now? It's not like she even wanted to anyway. She's the girl who gets inside the heads of endowed and unendowed alike.

Olivia fights because she's been on both the outside and the in.

XIII. (Zelda)

She fights because she's scared. She's freaking terrified of everything and if anyone gets hurt, she has no idea what she's going to do. But she's going to stay strong because everyone else is and if they can suck it up, she can too. But the truth is she has nightmares more than occasionally about what could or couldn't happen to them any day now, maybe tomorrow, next week, in ten, twenty, fifty years from now. She doesn't know how long she can keep this up, but it's okay because they're not scared, and they have their own reasons for everything but those reasons are different from hers. She fights for them, to keep them safe, and to make sure that they're alright in the end, not some mentally and emotionally scarred outcast for the rest of their lives when this whole thing is over. Maybe she's an optimist for thinking it will be over, but that's okay, because as long as it's there, she'll keep them safe.

Zelda fights because she's scared.

XIV. (Tancred)

He fights because he's a man. He's powerful and strong and free and he's fighting out of his own free will. He's protecting them, his friends, and tries to make sure they keep out of trouble, even though he's terrible at that. But it's alright, because he's wild too, and it helps if he is, because they need it in the strangest of situations. It's good for them in the end. And he looks after them and he's faced terrible situations time and time again, and he's freaking died, but he keeps coming back because they need him and his power and he can't say no to them ever because they remind him of himself at their age, even if he is only two years older, and because they're his friends and friends look out for each other, right? He's strong, which is also why they need him and them needing him makes him feel like he's wanted, like he's needed. And so what if he's just deluding himself into thinking he needs to be there? It works.

Tancred fights because he's a man.

XV. (Manfred)

He fights because he's his great-grandfather's great-grandson. He has a responsibility to watch over everything that his friends do, even though they're more like his minions. It's in the family's name and his blood to fight against the other side and he has to keep the war going because that's just who he was born to be, no matter how much he freaking hates it. He'd change something, anything if he could, but he can't, and that's the problem, or he'd give himself a new name and a new identity and he wouldn't have to keep fighting and leading when he doesn't want to because this whole stupid thing has been going on for centuries, so shouldn't they just put a stop to it and give it a damn rest yet? Of course, he can't say that, because he can't be weak and disgrace the family name, but does he really give a damn? But it's his heritage and he can't fight it, so he doesn't and he wishes his minions didn't look up to him.

Manfred fights because he's his great-grandfather's great-grandson.

XVI. (Charlie)

He fights because it's the God damned right thing to do. He never wanted it, but he's going to suck it up and take it, because this is his fight as much as it is anyone else's, maybe more. And he knows he's doing a good thing and that he's not alone. People are depending on him, because if he loses, they all lose and if they all lose, every freaking body in the world loses because they have to suffer for his mistakes and because he wasn't good enough. Well let them think whatever the hell they want, he won't let them think that because he won't let them suffer just because they're depending on him. And he's got his mom waiting for him to come home and his grandmother making his food and his great-uncle in his room, waiting for him to knock on the door and his dad, waiting to actually get to know his son and his friends depending on him to come through so they can come through for him. He won't fail them at all.

Charlie fights because it's the right thing to do.

Word count: 2, 954

Posted: November 12, 2010, at approximately 9:20 PM

A/N: Writing Olivia's was hard. I really liked Idith's, though. :) Hope you enjoyed. Review, please!

- May :)