Fandom: American Horror Story: Coven
Pairing: Cordelia/Misty
Summary: A look at Misty's rescue from the tomb from her point of view, and her thoughts on her growing relationship with one Cordelia Foxx.
Misty couldn't say how long she'd been trapped for. Entombed in the darkness and almost suffocating silence, time became meaningless. It could have been hours or days or weeks that she'd been in this coffin unable to move and listening out intently for any sound other than her own breathing. If she had to put a number on it she would have guessed at a couple of days or so. Even that short time felt like an eternity, slipping in and out of consciousness after waking up the first time and encased in darkness with only her own whispered singing to keep her company.
Many a lesser person would have been driven over the edge before now though. Misty Day was many things but weak she was not. That wasn't to say she hadn't panicked some when she came to the first time and the horrible realisation of what Madison had done came creeping back. Although she eventually found that being trapped wasn't the worst of it. The claustrophobia of the coffin and the dark she could cope with. It was the ever so familiar feeling of having once again been abandoned that really settled itself in the corners of her heart and dredged up old memories of loneliness and rejection.
The rational part of her brain said that she should have expected it from Madison of all people. In the short time she had known the other girl Misty had come to realise she was the worst kind of spoilt brat. Madison was the perfect embodiment of what Misty sought to distance herself from in life. She was catty, entitled and put more stock in the price of your shoes than the contents of your heart or your head. But even despite all that Misty knew about Madison, she still couldn't quite get rid of that little voice in the back of her head. The voice that told her she was stupid for ever trusting the other witch. The voice of every other person who had ever left her, the classmates who pushed her around the playground, the mother who called her an abomination, the father who threw the match that sparked her funeral pyre with his own hand.
The longer she spent in the darkness the more Misty thought about the other witches. How long now had she wished for her tribe to find her? Never had she envisioned that when she finally found it that they would look anything like the small coven of Miss Robichaux's. Of course they weren't all bad, Zoe was nice enough but somewhat blinded by her feelings for Kyle. Zoe only ever came around when she wanted something. Nan seemed perfectly pleasant but she too had her own boy troubles to worry about.
In truth the only witch at the academy that sparked any interest in Misty was Cordelia, the only witch to be constantly overlooked and ignored by every other member of the coven. A woman who, like Misty, was clearly no stranger to abandonment, rejected by her own mother as a worthless excuse for a witch, Cordelia was in Misty's eyes a true hero. Even despite Fiona's constant barrage of verbal abuse and the dismissal by the rest of the coven as nothing special, she was kind and compassionate and cared so much for her fellow witches. Even when they had done nothing to deserve such consideration. No one at the academy seemed to hold Cordelia in particularly high esteem but to Misty, she was the strongest of them all. Were so many would break under the pressure of Fiona's expectations and the dire straits the coven had fallen into Cordelia held together and forged on. She was just about the most selfless person Misty had ever met.
Cordelia was the first person to show Misty real kindness when she went seeking shelter at the academy. Despite having obvious hardships of her own the headmistress took her in and welcomed her into the house without a second thought, offering her more than just a bed but a place to call her home. From then on Misty made a point of trying to draw at least a smile from Cordelia every day. She would seek her out and offer her help in her work or play the diligent student and all but beg the other woman to teach her about each and every flower, plant and shrub in the greenhouse (even the ones she already knew). Every time she was witness to Fiona storming out of a room leaving a miserable Cordelia in her wake Misty made sure to be there to offer a smile or a shoulder.
Lying in her tomb, whispering the lyrics to Landslide for the hundredth time Misty clung to those memories. To the kindness and unconditional affection Cordelia willingly gave without question. She let herself hope that somehow, someway, Cordelia would hear her and find her.
Madison's betrayal hurt there was no denying it, but she knew she was more witch than that. Refusing to bow under the weight of that vicious little voice in her head she pushed it to the back of her mind. Instead she focused on both what she was going to do to Madison when she got her hands on the girl, and more importantly, on her faith in Cordelia. Both as a witch and a friend.
Cordelia was the first person Misty looked to as she sat heaving fresh air back into her lungs and blinking rapidly. Even if it was the middle of the night the moonlight was brighter than the lightless insides of the coffin. She was conscious of another girl stood beside Cordelia but she was only one Misty had eyes for. She didn't know how long she had spent praying she'd be found but knew she'd come close to giving up.
"Misty?" Cordelia delicately sunk down to crouch before her, one hand reaching out and fumbling in mid-air a little before it found Misty and cupped her cheek.
"You're really here" Misty whispered softly in reply, still somewhat dazed and gasping for breath.
"I'm here, I found you" Cordelia replied with a small smile. "Can you stand?" she said sliding her hand from her cheek down to her arm.
Misty carefully rose to her feet on shaking legs and before she could think any better of it engulfed Cordelia in a fierce hug. There was only the barest moment of surprise before Cordelia returned the embrace with just as much force. To her credit Queenie merely raised her eyebrows and muttered something about waiting at the car before leaving the two women to it.
"I thought I'd never find you. I'm so sorry it took so long" Cordelia mumbled into wild blonde curls, her voice wobbling and almost breaking as she spoke.
"Don't you dare be sorry, I knew you would. I have faith in you remember?" Misty murmured back, bristling at the apologetic tone of Cordelia's words, the need to protect this poor downtrodden woman once again rising in her.
After a long moment Misty pulled back to look at the woman, her gaze immediately settling on the angry red scars around her eyes.
"Delia what'd you do to your eyes?" she said, almost managing to keep the crippling worry out of her voice.
Cordelia looked down for a moment and reached up with one hand to absently rub at one of the still healing wounds. "I-I had to get my sight back, I have nothing else to offer this coven without it. And I needed to find you" she stuttered out, the last part coming out as little more than a whisper, almost a confession in the way she avoided Misty's gaze as she said it.
Misty reacted instantly, rushing forward again to envelop Cordelia in her arms and shaking her head emphatically.
"No, no don't you ever say that you hear me? You're not worthless no matter what your good-for-nothing mother says. Just because you don't murder people left right and centre doesn't make you useless. You are the only witch in that house with a truly good, kind heart in your chest" she said, putting as much of the love and affection she felt for Cordelia into her words, desperately trying to make the other woman believe them.
Misty moved one hand to Cordelia's face to gently wipe away the tears sliding down her cheeks. "And you're sure as hell the only one worth a damn to me" Misty added in a softer, almost confessionary tone before lightly pressing her lips to one tear stained cheek. She expected Cordelia to tense up or pull away. The relationship between the two of them may not have been anything close to that of a teacher and student for a while now but Cordelia was still a stickler for propriety. Instead she leaned into the kiss and when Misty pulled away she dropped her forehead to the girl's shoulder and burrowed into the curls at her neck.
"Delia?" Misty began, her tone of voice questioning, unsure of exactly where Cordelia was going with this.
"Not now Misty, not yet. Let's just get back to the academy and we can talk about this later okay?" Cordelia replied pulling back with a heavy sigh and taking a step back from the other girl putting at least a slightly more appropriate amount of distance between them.
Misty nodded and smiled softly, she understood. Cordelia's duty, and her's too now she supposed, was first and foremost to the coven. So first they would go home, make sure neither Fiona nor anyone else had burnt the house to the ground or committed another murder, Misty would deal with Madison and then, and only then would they look to their own problems.
So taking up Cordelia's other hand in her own Misty lead the way out of the cemetery and away from the tomb, content to forget about what awaited them at home for now and focus solely on the woman next to her. The woman she had placed so much trust and affection and faith in and to her delight, been proven right.