Disclaimer; Do people still use this? Anyway, I don't own Charmed or any of the characters from the show. Only Noah. Also the lullaby Melinda's singing is Pete Seeger's 'Water is Wide'.
A/N; Hey, everybody! This is my first story on this site for this fandom and it's kind of AU, but not really. Just to make some things clear; this story is Melinda centred with an OMC, but the rest of the family will of course make an appearance. Some chapters will be based on episodes from the show, some won't and I won't use the cannon names for the kids (or the cannon genders). There will be many flashbacks and I think quite a lot of jumping around in different time lines/realities, but it won't get too complicated. I don't know how regular the updates will be, but I don't plan on abandoning this story.
Okay, so now that all that is out of the way, you may read the prologue!
The buzzing in her ears was all Melinda could hear; after half an hour of absolute havoc the silence, which had fallen upon the room, was deafening. She ran a hand through her hair, her long fingers getting mingled in the terrible blond knots caused by all the blood. Her skin broke in goosebumps as she fleetingly thought how much of it belonged to her and how much didn't.
"I'm dying."
His voice floated up to her, breathy and barely above a whisper. The way his chest was heaving, the whizzing sound that came with every intake, were all indicators that he'd pierced his lung. A thin layer of sweat was covering his face and his lips were bloodied. Melinda cradled his head closer to her lap, running her palm soothingly across his forehead.
"It doesn't matter," she said softly, bending her head forward so to be closer to him. "I'm the only one who can make it permanent," she reminded him.
Something close to a smile played on his lips and Melinda felt a kick in her stomach; she hadn't seen a real smile from him in so long. Her eyes flickered from his face to the blue, swirling lights on the wall opposite her. When they returned to him, he was staring intently up at her. His black rimmed glasses made his pupils look twice as big and Melinda found herself drowning in a sea of molten caramel.
"Maybe you should." It was spoken so quietly that she could pretend she hadn't heard him, but her hard swallow gave her up. "You know it's the only way," he went on and Melinda tore her gaze away, focusing on the ceiling instead. "You know I won't stop coming after you, it's the only way you can go back home."
Melinda bit on her lip, as his words played in a loop in her head. He was right and she was very aware of that. She'd spent a year trying to reason with him, jumping from time line to time line, from parallel universes to alternate realities, running, running, running; so to keep him occupied and everyone else safe. And she failed, again and again, leaving a growing number of bodies behind her. And with each new trip she could feel him slipping farther and farther away from her, no matter how hard she tried to reach him.
Killing him seemed like the only sound solution.
"I don't even know where that is anymore," she mumbled, the pads of her fingers faltering before running over his lips.
"You'll figure it out."
This was the first time he'd asked her to kill him. They'd thrown the word back and forth so many times, but this was the first time he said 'kill me' instead of 'I'll kill you'. And it was unnerving, it threw her out of balance the way he gave away all his power like that, the way he gave her an out. But this was not the out she'd been looking for.
"We could just... stop," she suggested. He immediately shook his head, opening his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it; "Go back and find a way to co-exist without being us."
"You know the rules," he said and despite the fatigue, which was obvious in his voice, there was also an edge. "You're either with me, in every sense of those words, or I'll keep killing people until you're the only one left."
The truthiness of his statement made the breath catch in her throat. He was not bluffing, he was not trying to scare her, he was just giving her the facts. Melinda's hand was cupping the left side of his face and for a second she marvelled at her inability to hate him, despite all he'd done. She marvelled at how little she was afraid of him and how much she was scared for him.
But if there was one fault to be attributed to the Halliwell witches it was that they loved with every bit of their heart and soul. And they didn't know how to stop.
"You should kill me," he said, this time more seriously although his sentence was cut in fragments due to his intense coughing. His lips shinned with fresh blood and spit, but he still managed to look at her with the intensity of a thousand burning suns.
"If I asked you the same, would you do it?"
"If it was what you wanted, then yes," he said resolutely and Melinda's eyes fell shut. "Anything for you, even that." Melinda let a trembling breath, her eyes burning behind their closed eyelids.
"Noah," she whispered, her head rolling on the side against the wall. This conversation was getting too much for her, reminding her how weak she really was. His fingers wrapped lightly around the hand resting on his chest, his skin clammy against her own.
"It's getting harder to breathe," he admitted. His face contorted in pain as he tried to climb higher on her lap and Melinda was quick to assist him.
They ended up in a jumbled mess of limbs and clothes and heartbeats. Noah was practically laying on top of her now, his head nestled between her chin and collarbone. His crisp white button-down was the complete antithesis of her black t-shirt, both articles of clothing stained with copious amounts of blood. His long legs were stretched before him, his left knee bend in an awkward angle.
"You close your eyes," she coaxed, pressing a kiss against his dark curls. Noah let a small gasp.
"S-such a lo-long time," he mumbled, it was getting harder for him to speak, "Since y-y-you kissed me last." The end of his sentence was hissed through his teeth. Melinda buried her face in his hair, swallowing down a sob. One of his eyes cracked open, the rich amber of his iris dulled into a muddy brown. "I'll find you," he vowed and it was both a promise and a threat.
Melinda only sniffed, nodding. When he closed his eyes this time, she knew he wasn't going to open them again. Every breath sounded more laboured and his hold around her right hand was getting slacker. She allowed a couple of tears to trickle down her cheeks and started humming under her breath, reciting from memory the lullaby her father used to calm her on restless nights.
"The water is wide, I cannot cross over
And neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I..."
His chest had stopped moving, but his skin was still warm where she touched him. Unconsciously Melinda wrapped her arms tighter around him, holding him impossibly close. His scent filled her lungs; that mix of peppermint and lavender that seemed to follow him around, ever since she'd met him all those years ago. And then just like that, her arms fell by her sides, empty.
He was gone.
Melinda took a second to recall herself. And then another one. He is not dead, he is not dead, she reminded herself, nodding her head along in confirmation. She drew in a deep breath and pushed against the floor to get up. Her muscles loudly protested, especially the ones on her back, but she settled her jaw, swallowing down the pain. Both emotional and physical.
She didn't have much time, it usually took him less than half a day to regain his bearings and start after her again. She needed to act fast. A quick spell took care of the mess in the living room, where the finishing act of the battle had taken place. Melinda's stomach lurched when she knelt next to Luke's lifeless body.
"I'm so sorry," she said, her fingers brushing his glazed eyes shut. No matter how much she tried, she never seemed able to save him.
Standing up Melinda bit the inside of her cheek; feeling guilty was not going to help with anything. At least this time, Lucas had been the only casualty. It was the one she'd come to expect, heartless as that may sound. Melinda peered at the portal, wondering where it would take her this time. Hesitating for only a second, she jumped in. She was starting to get so tired of running.
