A/N:

Hi all, welcome to my first story! Thank you for taking the time to read what I've tried my best to create! I recently played TLOU again, and especially with that half-leak of a possible sequel that's been floating around I figured I'd finally try my hand at writing something of my own. So, just to set the stage and make everything easy to follow I'm picking up, initially, 2 years after the first game ended. Don't worry though, I'll be making sure to fill you in on what happened between the game's end and when my story starts. Beyond that I'm writing with the intent that it will stay true to all the character development the DLC had, but I'm going to pretend the "one night live" performance was never created since I honestly don't think that's how it would play out at all. Anyways, this is the first creative thing I've written since well…years I think, so please let me know what you think!

Of course the necessary disclaimer: The characters and such along with the last of us are property of naughty dog/Sony.

2036 – Jackson, Wyoming

The sun burned towards its zenith in the sky, shafts of brilliant light slicing through the forest's thick canopy like knives. Hidden birds flirted from tree to tree, their chirps echoing across the branches. Two figures were surrounded by a flurry of life. One - a man - stalked amongst the brush, and though his shoulders were beginning to bend from age and toil his steps were silent and driven. The other turned her gaze in a panorama, a faintly mirthful smile splayed upon her lips. The light bounced off her auburn hair, and out of pure reflex she batted a stubborn strand out of her eyes. Routine, even an annoying one such as that, brought a small bit of comfort in a ruined world.

"Hurry up and keep low. You're going to scare away anything worth eating." The first figure's voice was gruff from years of hardship, the words drawling out from his mouth like a mudslide. It was not a voice to easily disagree with.

"Animals – they can smell better than we do, right?" The question was unexpected, the girl's words coated in the twinge of someone constantly in on a private joke, and caused the man to stop his careful advance. Not seeing the verbal trap laid for him he looked back to the young girl with one eyebrow raised in question, and gave a silent nod. She clicked her teeth together and bobbed her head up and down before speaking, mouthing a silent ah.

"I thought so. Well, see I figured if anything they'd smell you before they saw me." To illustrate the point the girl waved a hand in front of her face, curling her nose up in a mockery of disgust. Her smile widened, though she did crouch down to his level. She could never actually do what he said without giving him hell for it. If he was forced to admit it he wouldn't want it any other way.

A deep sigh escaped his lips, and he pointed to the ground next to him.

"Ellie, get over here. I found tracks."

She crawled over to him, nestling into the shade of a huge oak. It stretched into the sky; the trunk was massive enough that the beginnings of roots looked like overturned trees themselves, burrowing deep into the ground. With a shallow yawn she set her rifle against the bark, shaking out her muscles to rearrange the weathered pack perched high on her shoulders.

"Whad'ya got?"

It was the man's turn to grin, which on a good day was a dagger thin compression of his lips, and pointed down to her shoes. She dropped her gaze and her nose curled up again, this time in genuine disgust.

"Oh fuck, Joel! That's shit, not prints." She shuffled away, scrapping the edges of her shoes against a root. "Not cool." Foul language escaped her mouth with every breath.

"Yeah it is. Fresh too. Something's close. Now how about you keep it down, darlin'?" Though there was habitually urgency in his voice, there wasn't a drop of annoyance.

Something between a gurgle and a growl sounded in his young companion's throat and she gave a quick nod, cleaning the last of the droppings off her shoes before returning to his side, giving the 'prints' a wide berth.

"All right, all right. What's the plan?"

In response he pointed slightly off to his right, letting her gaze follow to where the underbrush thickened and tangled amongst the trees.

"You head that way. Keep your eyes open and your head down. I'll head off to the left. Reckon between us we'll catch a decent dinner." He paused to give the forest another sweep of his gaze. "Now don't go any further than you could hear a gunshot; these woods are safer, not safe. A few people have gone missing in these parts lately. Got it?"

Ellie rocked back on her heels, hefting the rifle in her hands and checking the action. Giving it a satisfied pat she cradled it on her shoulder, holding it like she was a colonial soldier.

"Got it."

She made to leave, cinching her pack tight once more, but was tugged back as she stood. Joel's hand had caught her, wrapping itself around her bitten wrist.

"Ellie." His voice was quieter than usual, taking on a timber that signaled there was more flickering through his mind than he would have time or the ability to say.

Their gazes met and his face seemed to pinch together, with thoughts echoing in his mind like distant thunder. She knew him well enough, and an entire conversation played out in an instant. A slight dilation of his pupils spoke volumes, the way his teeth bit down on just the slightest part of his lip articulating things better than his words probably ever could. Her smile stretched wider and she beamed down at him, slowly pulling away, letting his hand slide down her wrist till his fingers wrapped around hers.

"I'll be fine, Joel. I've never let you down, have I?"

She gave a gentle flex of her hand; the larger man's paw easily enveloping her slim fingers. He squeezed back and she pulled away, sliding around the ancient tree trunk and jogging deeper into the forest. He watched Ellie until the dense green hid her from view, before slipping out of the shade and setting off on his own path. His mind wandered back to all the times he had almost lost her, one in particular slipping to the forefront. Without thought his fingers brushed against his worn and tattered watch, and he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as he fell deep into the past.

"Never have, baby-girl. Never will."

Fall 2034 – Jackson, Wyoming

"I want you to have this."

Without another word from Joel the door to her room closed, and she drowned in her thoughts. Ellie dropped her gaze down to the guitar now cradled in her arms. It was scuffed and worn, with bits of wood chipped off its face. Without thought her fingers curled and stretched, mimicking the positions Joel's fingers had occupied. When he had held it the guitar seemed ready to spring into music at any moment. It felt leaden and dead to her, a stiff corpse far beyond hope. Every edge seemed razor sharp, and a great weariness seized her limbs. Moonlight streamed in through an open window, bathing the room in pale, slivered light. It crawled up her limbs, bumping across the raw scar on her forearm like water flooding a dry streambed. Where the light failed to reach shadows seemed to dance and whisper.

It would be worse this time, and with a sickening realization Ellie knew she would not be strong enough to hold it back anymore. It had been only two weeks since they arrived in Jackson, and already she was being reduced to a nervous wreck. A person could only pretend for so long, and like a cup a guilty conscious could only hold so much before it flooded over. In the darkness she saw the dead. So many faces. Too many faces. Tess, Sam, Henry, and so many others all frozen in their last moments of existence. She shuddered as the specters leered at her, closing her eyes in a vain attempt to block out the sights, her arms and legs twitching in sympathy to the fear and stress coursing through her.

"I'm sorry." It was part plea, part appeasement. It was all she could muster the courage to say. It fell on deaf ears. The silence was damning.

The faces only grinned, yellowed teeth blending with each other, eyes coalescing, nightmares locking and molding into one vague shimmer of grief. It turned and walked through the door, and she was compelled to follow. Numbness took her limbs as she trailed the mirage down the hallway, each of its footprints seeming to be a quiet scream of pain in her ears, swirling around like water in a drain. The hall writhed in time with her heartbeat, and she was only faintly aware that she still dragged the guitar in one hand. Without pause the dead marched through a closed door, and she reached out a trembling hand to turn the cold knob.

Tunnel vision consumed her as the door swung open, her breath coming in short hiccups. The world seemed to both slow down and speed up as Joel turned to look at her.

"Ellie?" His voice betrayed his confusion. She could barely hear it over the blood rushing in her ears. His gaze was paralyzing, lingering first on the guitar clutched in one trembling hand, then on her emerald eyes. They were staring at him - through him, piercing his body like a lance. A single word slipped from her lips, deafening despite how quiet it was spoken.

"Liar."

Joel's blood turned to ice, and it took every bit of his strength to remain standing. Despite the inevitability of the situation there wasn't a damn thing that could have prepared him for this. He was a man caught in a riptide, being dragged deep out to sea. Still she stared through him. He struggled to find his voice. The only words he could find seemed far too insignificant.

"It's not your fault." He didn't know what she would do, but the last thing he expected was for her to laugh. It was a quick bark, half tearing paper, half wounded animal. She swayed violently as the noise faded, with only her empty gaze preventing Joel from rushing to her side. She gestured around her, the guitar bumping against her leg.

"Nothing. It was all for nothing. Every death I caused, every bit of pain that was my fault. This act I've kept up." Thin arms lifted, crucifying her in the dead air. "All that sacrifice. For nothing." Ellie's voice was distant and her arms dropped, the instrument scrapping across the wooden floor. Joel swallowed hard, the floorboards creaking in protest as he took a tentative step towards her.

"It wasn't for nothing. It got us here - got you here, away from everything. It got you safe."

"It broke me. You broke me." The murmured accusation cut deep, and a knot tight enough to make him wince formed in his stomach. He had hoped, hell he had even prayed, that this day would never come.

"Ellie I will fix you. I will fix you baby-girl, I swear." His words bubbled out like a geyser, uncharacteristic desperation slipping between each syllable. As he took a few more faltering steps towards her his voice deserted him, coming back as nothing more than a whisper. "You have to believe me." The guitar slipped from her fingers, toppling to the floor. The girl followed an instant later, her knees giving out as she slid down a wall. A glimmering tear began to crest down a freckled cheek. Her hands opened and closed, grasping at nothing. Still her words sounded like nothing more than a faint echo.

"Believe…you? How can I believe you? After what you said, what you promised. How you lied. It was my turn to lose my mind. And I think I did. You just…just forced me to stick around and watch it." Her gaze had fallen down, focusing squarely on the floor.

"And what would you have wanted then?" He braced himself for the answer, dropping down in front of her and taking her by the shoulders. He could feel her chest heaving and bucking, her heart racing faster than he had ever felt it. Her eyes flickered back and forth between floorboards before snapping up to lock on his.

"To…die? To die. For it to at least mean something - to at least help. To do what I was meant to do. To be the cure." The words were weak. The lack of conviction in her voice surprised some tiny part of her. In that hour of absolutes she had expected more. Her mind stuttered. If it could be undone, if time could be wound back, she would do it. She should have been the cure. If that meant dying, then she should have died. She deserved to die. Right? It terrified her that some corner of her mind was desperately searching to find reasons to live now, and her certainty began to waver. His reply was broken, the words falling out halted and jumbled. Terror was quickly consuming him.

"All that would have meant was this world got one more body. Marlene thought she knew the meaning of sacrifice. Thought breaking a promise to keep you safe made her a martyr. It only made her a monster. This world's got enough corpses. I couldn't let you become one. You would have done the same for me. I know you would have."

The selfishness was suffocating. His last sentence, however, felt like a hot coal forcing its way down her throat. He wasn't wrong.

"Ellie I had to do bad things - awful things. I won't hide that anymore. Not from you. But I remember back when a girl shot me a look that could kill - not from anger, but from disappointment." He dropped his eyes to the ground while his grip on her shoulders tightened. The ghost of a smile crossed his lips, there and gone in an instant. "And she told me that she was," he searched for the right word, his mouth refusing to fully shut, "she was…safe. She was safe with me, and would be scared without me. And I reckon that despite everything, even though it took me too damn long to admit it, I felt the same way. Still do. You can hate me if you need to. You can never speak to me again if that's what it takes. But I will always be there for you. I will never let the world hurt you."

His words stirred something in her, and though still nothing more than whispers, when she spoke again her words were tinged with the stubbornness that was patently Ellie. If he was going to get a shred of forgiveness, if she was going to get a shred of forgiveness, he was going to have to earn them every damn bit of it.

"Right now the only thing hurting me is you. With your lie…and with your fucking fingernails digging into me."

He let go immediately, taking her head in his hands like he had in a burnt out alpine restaurant so far away. She looked so frail in the waning moonlight. She was a half broken porcelain doll, and a good bit of that damage was his doing.

"Convince me, Joel." For the second time tonight her actions blindsided him. "Convince me that what you did was worth it. Convince me that despite what I have," her eyes fell to her arm, "what I could give, the people I know you killed to get me here, that this is for the best. And don't you fucking dare just tell me it's because you need me."

Silence reigned for several minutes, with her eyes gazing deep into him. It was now or never.

"Why did you want to die? To be the cure? To help people?" She nodded in his hands and he brushed a thumb up her cheek, wiping away the streak of moisture her tear had created. She winced at the movement. "Alright. Ellie, I've seen the Fireflies blow up buildings full'a bystanders just to get one person. I've seen the woman who considered herself a second mother to you order your death without even asking you. Without even apologizing to you. Now even if they ripped out your brain and found the answers to every single little problem this world's ever had, even if they find a damn cure from it all, want to know what something like that would be in the hands of people like them? It would be a weapon."

The shattered youth blinked and seemed to recoil at his words.

"People like them – the Fireflies. They ain't honest. They'll run around acting like champions of the people, like heroes, but it's all a lie. There ain't any heroes anymore. They'd just as soon see themselves in control. You were a hell of a pocket ace to them baby-girl. And they'd have tried to kill and kill with the secrets locked inside that head of yours. You say Tess, Sam - all them faces - all those deaths, are on you? Then hell Ellie, think what would happen if they got a cure…"

His voice trailed off, and his fingers uncurled from around her face. Slowly her hands snaked up, pawing at her eyes and scratching their way up into her hair as her frayed mind sifted through what he had said like grains of sand.

"How do I know you're telling the truth? That you believe what you're saying? Your promises - they're not worth much right now, you know." Inside that statement was a desperate plea. Make it worth something, Joel. Make me believe you. He took a deep breath and held it for as long as he could. With a sharp exhale he reached for his wrist, unclasped the watch he hadn't removed in years, and forced it into her hands. Without looking at her he curled her fingers over the warm leather and ruined watch face, before standing up and striding to the window, gazing out on the sleeping town. His head spun and the skin around his wrist itched. At first he spoke to no one in particular.

"Tess said her and I were shitty people. Maybe she was right. Hell, I know she was right." His voice dropped lower, on the verge of inaudible. "I'll change that, for you. I'll be what you deserve." He pressed his head against the cool windowpane, letting the chill stab into his forehead. "If I ever lie to you, if you ever even think I've lied to you from now on, you destroy that watch. And if you ever trust me again, you give it back."

Heavy eyes screwed shut, and he felt older than he ever had before. Every bone in his body, every muscle and joint seemed to ache, the toll of years of survival suddenly forcing themselves down upon him. He had been so damn tired of that lie. Now that it was out he didn't know how to react. Seconds ticked by into minutes, and he half expected to hear the sounds of crushed metal behind him. Instead he felt a finger tap his shoulder. He turned to see Ellie standing in front of him, legs still weak, swaying as if in a breeze. The watch was clasped in one hand, the other balling and un-balling into a fist. Her eyes, however, seemed to gleam in the light. She opened her mouth, then closed it, shaking her head, ponytail bobbing across her shoulders in response. He never saw the fist coming. It slammed into his collar bone and bounced up, catching him across the nose. Tears welled in his eyes and he could feel blood drip down his beard. He shot an arm out to steady himself and felt Ellie latch onto it, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt.

"Oh fuck," she breathed, "I was aiming for your shoulder."

Despite everything that had happened his stomach convulsed, his lungs seized up, and he began to laugh. It got louder and louder, all the tension bleeding out with each heave of his shoulders, and he allowed himself to slide down the wall into a sitting position. She towered over him, eyes misty, still holding his arm up, her face half exhaustion and half concern. His tongue slid across his lips, tasting copper.

"Now I deserved that. I forgot how hard you can hit, kid."

He pulled his arm in, dragging her down next to him. From out of the corner of his eye he could see her staring down at the watch in her hand. Her lips moved, silently mouthing words. "Fuck it." With exaggerated slowness she placed the watch on his leg, smoothing the leather bands out against his worn jeans. Her hand trembled as she pulled it back, resting it palm up in her lap, her other hand tracing its fingers across the grooves and calluses.

"I don't feel like much of a kid anymore."

"Hell maybe you're not. You sure as shit like to act like one sometimes."

She gave him a sideways look, rolling her eyes as she refocused in front of her, a fatigued chuckle rocking her shoulders.

"Oh shut up." Several moments of peaceful silence followed before she spoke again. "You know, I'd still be scared without you. If that wasn't true I'd have just disappeared."

The blood had already begun to clot and congeal in his beard and Joel dabbed at his nose, tilting his head back to study the ceiling, wishing the future was contained within its imperfections.

"I'd have just come looking for you."

By the time he dropped his gaze down to the crumpled figure next to him she was already fast asleep. It took the noon sun of the following day to wake the girl, light slipping through the partially drawn curtains above, pulling her from hazy dreams back into foggy consciousness. As Ellie groggily shifted her weight some part of her brain wondered where the pillow and blankets that enveloped her had come from. The question was soon answered. A slight cough echoed out beside her bundled form and she twisted to see Joel, eyes closed, chest heaving up and down from a deep sleep right next to her. Gingerly she sat up and moved his arm, snaking it around her shoulders, and rested her head on his chest. A quick buck of her legs lifted the blanket up and away, settling over the two of them as she closed her eyes again. A few more hours wouldn't hurt anyone.

Summer 2036 – Jackson, Wyoming

The rumbling of her stomach had increased from a nagging sensation to a borderline frenzy after parting from Joel. All this walking about could really run a girl down, not to mention she forgot to eat breakfast, again. As far as habits went, she concluded, that was a bad one to get into. Ellie paused her hunt, easing down into the tall grass and shucking her battered pack off her person. She was honestly surprised it was still in one piece after everything, the irony of that thought being entirely lost on her, and began to rummage through it for any hint of something to snack on. She pushed aside bullets, bandages, a few worn and tattered books, and a dented canteen before her hand clasped around an envelope she didn't remember packing. With a grunt and a tug it pulled free of the clutter, and she flipped the lumpy packet over to study its front. There was a message on it, the words written in broad strokes of a pen. Parts of the letters were blotted out, stains of grease welling up from whatever was inside.

'You forgot breakfast. – Joel.'

The scent of jerky wafted out of the sealed paper, and she pulled it open, laughing to herself. It was stuffed with several thick strips of dried meat and a hard chunk of bread, and her mouth began to water in anticipation. The old man knew her way too well. Probably treated her too well, if there was such a thing. But no one – not Tommy, not Maria, not the God she didn't really believe in and especially not even her, could ever hope to convince him of that. She was just someone, an odd, transitory creature, trapped in that weird grey area of being closer to an adult than a kid, and with crippling abandonment issues to boot. Anywhere else she'd be alone and hungry, assuming she wasn't just dead, but not here. Here – there – wherever, as long as it was with him she was something. He would die for her. And though there were other reasons as well, because nothing was just that fucking simple, she would live for him. She had promised him that, the day after she went off the deep end and he, metaphorically speaking, dragged her out. If she recalled correctly she gave him a hell of a bloody nose as a thank you present.

Muscles and ligaments strained as she stood. Breadcrumbs pattered to the forest floor from the motion, and with the last of the jerky viced between her teeth she wiped her hands on her pants. Insects seemed to swarm the final morsel of food and she gave and angry snort, swatting away the horde of buzzing legs and wings. Her rifle battered against her hip as she wound deeper into the woods, keen eyes scanning every bush for a rustle of life, ears straining to hear any out of place noises. There was nothing – no undue snapping of twigs, no flutter of feathers, and certainly no sign of anything like a proper kill.

Then, off in the distance, she heard it. A sharp crack of a gunshot echoed out. She silently pumped her fist in the air. The old man beat her to it, but dinner was dinner. She began to jog towards the sound when she froze. There was another crack. Then another one, the sounds suddenly much more ominous, rolling between the trees with an urgency that sent stabs of frightful adrenaline through her body. She took off at a sprint, hurdling logs and roots that dared to get in her way, for once missing the comforting feel of a switchblade in her back pocket.

Sloppy. Fucking sloppy. Anger burned deep into his core, both at himself for walking into a trap, and at whatever mysterious assailants were currently bracketing his position. He rolled over an upturned tree, shoving himself into the small cover its dead roots afforded. Another round cracked into the bark, splinters of wood slicing across his cheek like shards of glass. Every time his body twitched another round would scream out, pinning him behind that god-forsaken tree. He could hear the quick calls of the ambushers barking out back and forth in profanity laden updates.

Whoever they were, they knew what they were doing, and had the gear to back it up. In his years of survival Joel had come to learn just about any weapon by its sound. It didn't do too well to stick your head up and try to get a good look at it. The sharp barks of a pistol, the deep bass boom of a shotgun, and so many others were just all too familiar retorts to him. So though he knew what was being fired at him, it only served to worry him even more. There was, by his estimation, about six military-grade rifles spitting government-issued death over his head.

It had all happened so fast. There had been a flash of green-brown to his left, followed by a bellowed command to 'drop your fucking gun.' His only answer had been to twist his body, jerking his bolt-action rifle towards the movement, and firing at it. The figure, now resolved to be someone clad in fatigues, had cursed and ducked, the bullet punching a hole where his head would have been. Then the forest seemed to open up on him, and he had sprinted for the nearest cover he could see.

Majority of his brain was focused on the immediate concern of survival, but some far removed part of his psyche churned away at the situation and could only come up with a single word answer. Why? Why the military, why so close to the town and why him, with his little Ellie somewhere out there.

If there was an answer he couldn't hear it over the chatter of gunfire.

A metal object, slightly cylindrical and glinting in the light, bounced over the tree, landing in the dirt and rolling to a stop at his feet. Adrenaline flooded his body and his heart seemed to scream with each beat. He only had time to kick at it before his world exploded into light.

Spinning violently, the world returned to existence a moment later, and Joel rallied as best he could. Everything was noise, and his vision swam with a million dots. Pain stabbed into his head with every twitch and movement, and he was vaguely aware of his legs feeling singed. Compelled by basic human reflex to not stay where he was he stumbled up and away. The detached part of his mind raged at him, but he pushed on with a primal instinct - to get away, to find Ellie, to keep her safe. Something hard and violent slammed him to the dirt, and he coughed as rich earth clung to the back of his throat. He tried to stand again and it was then that the pain hit him, driving the air out of his lungs with a chilling bellow. One leg thrashed in the dirt, the other twitching as the pants leg began to turn soak red, blood pouring from his ruined knee. A bullet had struck him dead below the back of the knee, tumbling and tearing through bone and muscle, frightful results being left in its wake. He raised his head from the dirt, vision chocked with agony, and spotted a glint of reddish hair bounding towards him. Pushing the damage to his body aside he commanded his lungs to work, and began to yell with everything he had.

"Don't you do it! Don't you fucking do it!" His voice caught in his throat, unconsciousness surging up to take him. He bit it back, begging his body to last just a little bit longer. "I know what you want, I know what you'll do! Go! Just go!"

The last words left his mouth and a moment later the world left him, dropping away with a sickening lurch as his mind screamed into darkness.

The eyes of a soldier bobbed in her gun-sight and hot tears stung her eyes, a stuttering, animalistic rage coursing through her limbs. The words reached her ears, and Ellie felt her heart tear in two. To the soldiers who now surrounded his body he was just a wounded man, screaming at them for mercy. But he had been talking to her, pleading to not do what he knew she ached to. And that was to put a round in the closest one's head and fuck the consequences. He really did know her too well. She knew without a doubt that if she pulled the trigger she would die. Eight men jogged out of the bushes, six armed with rifles, two with what looked to her like smaller versions of the huge guns that she had seen mounted on military trucks burnt out and scattered throughout the country. One of the men bent over Joel's body, tossing his weapon away as he inspected him.

"He'll live." She let out a deep breath as he continued speaking. "Leg's fucked up, but that's a problem for the docs. Get him up, get him bandaged, and let's get fucking going." The man who had spoke stuck a thumb behind him, jerking it towards a clearing a few hundred meters away, before he stood aside, pressing a finger into his ear to blot out unneeded noise as he began to speak into a radio.

The other soldiers bobbed over Joel's limp form like ants, one cutting away the ruined fabric and applying a tourniquet to his shattered leg as two others unfurled a collapsible stretcher. With a heave they rolled his mass onto the rough cloth, and with a grunt and curse hefted him up.

"He's fucking heavy for one of them. What do they even want with one of these wastelanders?"

"Don't know, don't care. I'd say it's a need to know basis with all this bullshit, and we clearly don't need to know."

One of the soldiers let out a quick laugh before speaking, his voice quivering as the adrenaline slowly worked out of his system. "I heard that. I just want to get back home. My girl misses me."

A few looks were shared between the other men, before they burst into laughter.

"Man, if she's your girl, then she's everyone's girl. That woman's hungrier for meat than a friggin' clicker."

Ellie watcher one man shoot a venomous look at the other and she inched behind a bush, trying to get as close as possible, hoping against hope to see a chance to save the unconscious man.

"Fuck off Lahey. You're just pissed that your ex decided she had a better chance in the wild than put up with you."

The banter continued back and forth as the soldiers moved out in a line, with Joel being carried in the center. The group moved towards the tree-line and Ellie pressed against the ground, willing herself to appear as small as possible. Their steps took them down and away, walking past her hidden form just scant meters away as they headed towards the clearing, stopping after several minutes when a curious thumping sound could be heard. She twisted her head to listen better, the sound rising to a crescendo, when something big and metal swooped over, the sun momentarily being blotted from her view by its hard lines. It powered over the trees, seeming to dare gravity to wrestle it to the earth, and circled the landing site before settling down amongst the grass. The men ran towards it, hunched and bent against the powerful gusts emanating from wickedly large blades slicing the air above them. A door on the side of the thing opened up and Ellie could just make out another figure, beckoning them in. She saw the stretcher pushed into the dark compartment, then one by one the soldiers hop in, before the door was shut. The pitch of the engine increased and the machine lurched back off the ground, waiting until it rose above the madly flailing tree tops before nosing down and disappearing into the distance.

Ellie lay unmoving for some minutes, listening for any sign that the machine would return. Stillness seemed to envelope her and she pushed herself away from the ground, stumbling towards where her protector had fallen. Blood caked the dry grass and she sank to her knees, the reality of what had happened becoming too much for her. She was alone. In a burst of hopeless rage she punched the earth once, then twice, letting her fist fly up and down as it pleased. Something stabbed into her knuckle and she paused in the assault, forcing open eyes chocked with angry tears. Fingers quickly raked through the blood-stained grass, and she held her prize up. It was his watch, one leather band torn and destroyed.

When her tears came back there was no anger in them, only a bottomless sorrow. She cried and cried until her sobs were empty, aching hiccups. For the first time in a long time there were no comforting hands wrapped around her, no soft coo'ings from a hardened man about how everything would be alright, no gentle, tentative kisses planted on the top of her head. There was only silence, and the slight flutter of wind against her drying tears. Thoughts bubbled up like a wellspring and an epiphany sliced into her mind like a blade, cutting away the fear and doubt like discarded fat. He wanted her to live, even if it took him dying for that to happen. The absolute last thing he would want her to do is come looking for him. He might never forgive her if she did something so stubborn and foolish.

Well, he could hate her if he needed to, hell he could never speak to her again if that's what it took. But she would not let the world hurt him anymore.

With fire in her eyes she slipped the watch into her back pocket, setting off back to Jackson.

A/N:

Well there we go, my first chapter! I sincerely hope you all enjoyed it, and if you have any question/comments/concerns please don't hesitate to let me know.