The Last of Us © Naughty Dog.

So I'm writing a multi-chap story for this fandom, and there's going to be a six month gap between the end of the game and the start of the fic. This is where I'm stashing one-shots that take place in those six months that are also referenced in the fic, starting with my take on how Ellie found out the truth about the Fireflies, and what exactly Joel's motivations were when he slaughtered them all.

A Different Kind of Miracle

Almost as soon as Joel and Ellie have made it back to Jackson, Tommy has Joel in a conference room demanding the truth.

Honestly? Joel's too tired to lie. He's still too shaken, too worried about Ellie, too everything to even think about lying to his brother. He's still surprised he managed to lie to Ellie about it. So, he takes a deep breath, leans against the wall, and starts talking.

Never mind that he's pretty positive Ellie is on the other side of that wall, her back pressed to his. If he focuses, he can almost hear her small, shallow breaths. He can't really keep lying to her, either, but – well, this is easier than trying to say it to her face. So, he takes a deep breath and begins.

"We found the Fireflies."

"And?"

Joel shakes his head. "Right before we found them – or they found us – Ellie nearly drowned. I was tryin' ta bring her back when they showed up and knocked my ass out cold. When I came around, Marline was there, tellin' me they'd brought her back and she was safe." He won't look at Tommy. He keeps his eyes to the ground, talking more to himself and to Ellie than to him. Ultimately, his opinion doesn't matter. "I wanted to see her. Marline wouldn't let me. Said she was bein' prepper for surgery and I was good to leave."

He thinks he hears a sound behind him, through that thin wall. God, Ellie, please don't hate me for what I did. "Couldn't figure out what the hell she was talkin' about. Always thought they just needed ta draw blood, you know? That's what Ellie thought. That's all she gave me the impression would happen."

When this is over, we can go wherever you want to.

Well, I'm not leaving without you. So, let's go get it done.

Tommy's eyes narrow. "Surgery isn't blood drawn."

"No." Joel almost chokes on a bitter laugh. "They had ta cut the fungus out of her – out of her brain. Tommy, they were gonna kill her, all on the off-chance they could make a vaccine." His hands are shaking now. He clenches them into fists to steady himself.

Tommy isn't stupid. He knows exactly what happened. "How many of them did you kill?"

"All of them." He even walked back through and made damn sure of that.

"Even Marline?"

That earns Tommy a glare. "What do you think? She would have just come after Elie again. I ain' lettin' that happen."

Tommy seems to consider that for a moment. "You sure you were saving Ellie?"

Joel's head snaps up. For the first time, he looks Tommy dead in the eye. "The hell are you talking about?" His voice is low and cold, and he thinks he might hear movement behind him.

Tommy doesn't seem concerned at all about the tone change. Ellie would be, though, Joel thinks with distant amusement, Ellie would know just how dangerous that tone is. Tommy just takes a step forward, anger glinting in his eyes.

"The way I see it, you just sentenced all of us to death, just to save Sarah one last time."

Joel sees red.

He's not aware of the movement. The next thing he knows, he has Tommy pinned to the wall, arm against his throat, almost strangling the smaller man. He still has enough thought process left to realize he doesn't actually want to kill his brother (no matter how much he wants to right now). There's movement behind him again, but he's only dimly aware of it.

"Ellie is not Sarah."

Tommy manages to free himself just enough to breathe properly again. Joel still has him pretty firmly pinned to the wall. "You sure about that?"

Joel snarls. "Listen ta me, Tommy – Ellie is not Sarah. Sarah's gone, and it hurts every damned day, but I've made my peace with that. But Elie is mine, and there ain' shit in this world that's worth her life. You hear me?" He lets Tommy go and takes a step back. "I don' give a shit if you believe me or not. But I'll burn this whole fucking world down myself if it means keeping her safe."

For a long moment, Tommy and Joel simply look at each other. A small sound behind him breaks the moment.

"Holy shit, Joel."

He spins around. There's Ellie, standing just inside the door, eyes wide and tears tracking down her face. Joel's heart breaks. He kneels down, not willing to scare her, and suddenly Ellie is in his arms and clinging to him for all she's worth, and he wraps his arms around her and buries his face in her neck.

She's still here. That's all that matters.

"Why did you lie to me?"

His voice is muted, but she can understand him. "I didn' want ta hurt ya, baby girl. I know Marline meant somethin' to ya." He takes a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry. They took that choice from ya, an' then I took it again."

Her grip on him tightens. Green eyes look past him, glaring at Tommy, as if he's the reason for the emotional turmoil of her guardian. "I'm still mad at you."

A quiet sigh. "I know."

"But – but you're right. I didn't know, and I don't want to die." That much she's absolutely certain of. Maybe, if she had known from the beginning, her opinion might be different. Maybe then she wouldn't have gotten attached to Joel, wouldn't have decided that he was worth building a life around. She probably would have told him, too, so he would have guarded himself a little better.

And then maybe it all would have burned to the ground anyway, because then winter happened, and after that –

Well, after that, nothing was the same between them. It was better.

Joel stands up, but he doesn't let go of Ellie. He turns to face Tommy, still carrying the girl in his arms. "Ellie is mine."

Tommy nods. It's not approval, but it's understanding, and that's all Joel cares about. "Maria will show you to your home."

/-/

The first two weeks prove rough.

Ellie isn't inclined to talk much – to anyone, but especially to Joel – and Joel isn't inclined to push it. He speaks to her, greets her in the morning, asks her about her day and how she's settling in. She gives him short, basic answers, and he lets her get away with it. He seems to understand what she needs, and is more than willing to give it to her.

She just doesn't understand herself yet.

She's not mad. Not anymore. In fact, she's a little more concerned with how – okay – she is about the entire thing.

She was supposed to be the cure. The key to saving everyone. Now she's not. Joel took that identity from her, but not before giving her a new one.

Ellie is mine.

She thinks she can be his. That's a good thing to be. Joel, despite everything or maybe because of everything is a good man. She can make a life around this new identity if she can come to terms with it.

But coming to terms with it isn't as hard as she thought it would be.

Maybe she should be more concerned about what he did to save her – after all, that's mass murder – but she's not. Honestly, this is the man that tortured a few people and killed about a dozen others to find and save her that winter. It's really not surprising that he would continue with that level of brutality as far as her safety is concerned.

Honestly? She'd do the same for him.

If the roles were reversed, if she had to make the choice to save the world or save Joel –

How did he phrase it?

I'll burn this whole fucking world down myself.

So, on week three, she comes out of their room (she hates sleeping alone and so does he) and finds him preparing breakfast. It's not much, just bread and preserves with some juice, but it's more than they've had in over a year. He smiles at her.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah." She approaches the table and leans over it, fixing him with a hard stare. "Hey, Joel?"

He pauses and sets the butter knife aside. "Yeah?"

"If I'm yours, does that make you mine?"

He smiles then. "Yeah, Ellie. Always has."

She considers him for a moment, then nods and grins. "Good. Gimme some bread – I'm fucking starving."

Joel laughs outright at that, even as he passes her a plate, and Ellie grins up at him. They both know it's forgiveness.

He's not really her dad, and she's not Sarah, and never will be. But honestly, just being his and him being hers is better than anything else. She doesn't want to replace Sarah.

She just wants to be his Ellie.

As long as she's his Ellie, and he's her Joel – well, that's all either of them will ever need in this world.