I post a majority of my tlou things on tumblr, and this is the current one I'm working on. I thought it'd be nice to have it documented here too. :F
Joel and Ellie find out Tess is alive. Bonding tiems happen and angst and all hell breaks loose I think.
They find out about Tess a few months into living with Tommy. Joel says he needs to head back to Boston to gather up some of his things; necessities and all that. Ellie of course, nominates herself to go with him - for shits and giggles and also because she doesn't really trust him to wander around alone. Joel also suspects that she's curious about his old life before their little adventure together, so he shrugs and tells her to get in the damn car and to quit messin' with his radio channels.
Tommy seems dubious, frowning as he watches his older brother toss a pack into the backseat. "You sure you wanna head back there, Joel?" he asks, and the undertone of it is clear to the grizzled man. The way Tommy's eyes go from the car to Ellie to him doesn't surprise Joel, but the man gives his brother a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"I'll be fine, lil' brother," he murmurs lowly, mustering something like a half of a smile. There's a sadness in his eyes that makes Tommy wonder, but Joel's already pulling open the driver's door. "Ellie, what'd I tell you 'bout messin' with the radio -!"
"Aw, I don't wanna listen to that country bullshit all the way!"
"Well you're gonna, so deal with it."
Sneaking into the zone is a lot easier than it is sneaking out; especially if you're Joel because you know all the gaps and spots to hide and creep through without getting caught by the guards. It surprises him to see how lax the security's become - he'd thought for some reason, security would've doubled.
Not that he's complaining though.
Glancing behind him for the fifth time, Joel sighs as he chides the teenaged girl. "Hurry up now, quit draggin' your feet. You wanted to come."
"I didn't realize how much walking you'd make me do," Ellie grumbles, clambering over a piece of concrete.
Joel shakes his head at her, smirking in mock-disappointment. "Maria's been spoilin' you too much. You're gettin' lazy on me, baby girl." He chuckles under his breath when Ellie clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes at him, bending at the knee to hoist her over the ledge. "C'mon now; we're almost there. When we get to the buildin' you can sit around and moan 'bout your legs while I pack up."
Ellie scowls at him, stepping maybe a little harder than necessary onto his thigh as she reaches up to the edge. "I wasn't moaning," she mumbles petulantly, and Joel shakes his head indulgently as he pushes her up.
"Just get on up there and pull me up, would ya? Faster we do this, faster we can get back."
Seeing his apartment building again brings back all kinds of memories for Joel. Some good, some bad; some he never wants to think about again, but he can't help it as he walks down the hallway he's walked so many times before and faces the paint-chipped door he's opened too many times to count. It takes him a moment to gather himself at the sight, and Joel exhales heavily as he reaches out, palming the familiar wood under his hand as he swallows the well of emotions caught in his throat.
Ellie peers up at his face from beside him, biting her lip uncertainly as she watches the man stand silently there for the longest time. She wants to reach out and ask him if he's okay, but something inside her holds back until Joel straightens, the wall is built back up behind his eyes, but she doubts the sturdiness of it.
"Here we go," she hears him murmur, and she's not sure if he's saying it to himself or to her as he pushes the key into the lock and turns it. Like an obedient though sometimes rebellious puppy, Ellie follows him into the apartment.
"You make another goddamn move and I'll blow your fucking brains out where you stand."
There's a chill that runs up his spine as Joel freezes in place; his eyes widen slowly as he registers the voice, registers the presence of another person in his apartment - registers the fact that the person speaking should be dead. His chest clenches at the sight of the woman standing not three feet from him, holding a gun aimed to his head, steady as always.
His jaw drops, his heart clots in his throat at the sight of the pale skin, the dark hair - the healing bite mark on her shoulder. "T-Tess…?"
The woman falters, her own dark eyes widening in disbelief and uncertainty as the gun lowers from her grip. "Joel?" Her eyes dart to Ellie, where the girl stands a little behind the man, staring up at her in shock too. Her mind whirls at the sight of them; months of wondering if they'd made it, if they were still alive - if it hadn't been for nothing…
They're alive. They're alive and safe.
Joel -.
"You're alive!" Suddenly there's a fourteen year old wrapped around her middle, hugging her tight and pressing her face into Tess' shirt. Ellie babbles off about missing her, about how she could possibly be alive and how they'd traveled across the states to Tommy's compound and that they're living there now and HOW COULD SHE BE ALIVE?
At a loss for words, Tess simply hugs her back, staring over Ellie's head at the man still staring at her like he's seen a ghost.
As far as he's concerned, he's still looking at one.
Finally Ellie gets a hold on herself and releases Tess, stepping back to watch as Joel seems to mouth the words that won't come from his throat. She watches anxiously, eagerly for a reaction; she's not sure if it'll be angry or sad or happy, but Ellie's never felt happier for Joel.
He hasn't lost them all.
Her eyes search his face, her shoulders sag with such relief it hurts him, and she drops the gun like it's on fire as she steps to the man uncertainly. She stops but a hair's breadth away from him, feeling the heat of his body, feeling the gust of his breath as she stares up at his face. She lets him reach out to her, nervously, uncertainly - lets him touch her face and cup her cheek with his weathered hands and twirl the tendrils of her dark hair around his fingers like he used to.
"Tess…" Her eyes fall shut despite herself at the sound of her name on his lips again, and she finds herself leaning into his touch when his hand cups her cheek again. His thumb brushes over the healed scar on her cheek, and she can't help but let her mouth quiver into a smile as she reaches up, wrapping her thin fingers around his wrist.
"Tex…" she whispers, and it comes almost lovingly from her lips. Something snaps in him; all pretense of decorum gone as he pulls her to him in a frenzied kiss. Joel grips at her arms, crushing her to his body as if he's terrified of her disappearing if he lets her go, and the man nearly collapses with relief when he feels her hands burrow into his hair and tug - like she always used to.
Something wet touches their lips - they can't tell if it's her tears or his, but there are tears and there's nothing that they can do to stop it. Months, almost a goddamn year of him coming to terms with her death, of her coming to terms with being alone all over again - months and months of nightmares and thoughts and thoughts of nothing but darkness, it bleeds away with the salty trail of their tears.
When he pulls away from her, it's mostly because he needs to breathe, and together they stand there; wordlessly breathing, passing air back and forth to each other as he holds her head in his hands still, as he stares into her face to memorize the contours of her cheeks, her jaw, her nose.
Ellie clears her throat quietly, unobtrusively, and finally Tess pulls away, cupping his cheek, brushing her thumb through the bristly growth before she steps away. She licks her lips, tastes him on her tongue. The moment is gone, back in her eyes is the shield, though it's soft. "Took you long enough, Tex. Thought you'd died out there on the other side." She spares him a careful once over, her eyes narrowing in fond surprise. "You put on some pounds there, Joel. Gettin' soft on me?"
"Just makin' up for the ones you lost," he breathes, and he sees the changes in her body, in her demeanor. She's lost weight she couldn't afford to, it makes her look that much taller; that much more lankier, and he doesn't like it. It makes her cheekbones stick out that much more, and he's worried it'll make her look more like a skeleton than a human being in the wrong kind of light.
He still can't process how she's standing in front of them here; night after night, he's been seeing her body as the last he saw it - battered and broken and bleeding out into a pool on the floor, next to Sarah. That's another woman he cared about dead, and it's hard to believe she's really here.
"How - how are you here?" The words catch in his throat, he moves forward towards her as she shifts nervously by the counter. His eyes blaze for an answer, not upset or displeased, but more curious in a way that makes her realize that he needs this. He needs to know. "How are you alive?"
Tess glances off at Ellie, where the girl stares up at her about as anxious as Joel is for an answer. She licks her lips nervously, puffing out a breath. "Fireflies got to me," she tells them, and Joel and Ellie both gape. "Turns out Marlene sent out a group of 'em to come after us at the Capitol; y'know - insurance and whatnot. They thought if they kept me alive, they could use me as a guarantee or something about you gettin' the job done." She doesn't miss the way Joel shifts at the mention of the woman's name, but she keeps it aside for later. She crosses her hands in front of her, leaning her hip against the counter as she reaches out to touch her bite mark almost self-consciously.
"I lost a lot of blood from the gunshots." The words are quiet from the woman; Joel's face morphs into a pained mask at the memory of seeing Tess lying there - helpless and hopeless at helping her. He could've stayed, he could've fought. "Turns out though that the spores bled out when I should've." There's a twitch at Tess' mouth, the smirk he's come to miss so badly in the nights alone. "They bled out the bad blood in me and fixed me up with a transfusion; I'm not immune, but I'm not infected either."
"Holy shit…." This time it's Ellie who's reacting; Joel isn't sure if he wants to kiss her again or pinch himself hard because this must be a dream of some sort. The girl steps forward then, whirling to Joel excitedly. "Joel, we could take her home with us! We could take her back to Tommy's!" It's such a brilliant idea in the girl's head - now Joel can be happy! He can settle down and be happy and maybe he'll stop fussing about her wandering off with Tommy's men to go hunting.
Tess frowns at them, folding her arms defensively as she watches Joel's face for an explanation. "I thought you and Tommy weren't talking anymore." It's almost accusing with the way her eyes focus sharply on him - he wonders if she doesn't think he's joined the Fireflies.
Ellie's almost too eager to divulge the information to her. "They've got a compound in Wyoming! They've got horses and dogs and all kinds of cool stuff!" Maybe if Tess comes with them, she can ride out with her on the horses, hang out together. Being around so many men can be irritating to a girl her age. Although she's not certain if she'll have anything more in common with Tess.
One can hope.
In one last ditch attempt, Ellie turns her wide doe eyes to the woman, staring pleadingly up at her. "Please, Tess, come back with us? Please? It's better than this shithole." She gestures openly to the apartment, and Joel has the sense to grunt defensively that it's been months since he's been around - of course the place looks like a dump.
Tess rolls her eyes at the girl. "Christ, kid, I'm not some stray puppy you found off the streets - you can't just pick me up and bring me home whenever you life." She purses her lips, eyeing Ellie for a long moment before glancing to Joel. "This is my home," she utters flatly, straightening off the counter. Ellie doesn't think it wise to mention that her 'home' is actually Joel's apartment, but the teen casts a suspicious look between the adults. "I came here as soon as they patched me up - settled down and made base here for God knows why." She shakes her head, scoffing quietly at herself. "Guess you could say I was waitin' out on you guys."
Her eyes find Joel's. "Guess I was waitin' for you to bring your ass home, Tex." The weighted words linger between them like a tangible object; things have changed in the months. They've changed.
Finally Joel finds his voice, and it feels like eternity before he manages to croak out the words. "Come back with us, Tess. This place - this place ain't home no more." He looks around; he's surprised to see everything practically untouched. She's left the apartment exactly as he had all those months back. The only difference is the whiskey bottle is gone and there's a substantial amount of weapons lying on his coffee table. For some reason, he can't stand the idea of Tess sitting around his apartment alone, drinking until she can't see; loading and cleaning her guns and her knives before keeping watch for him.
Waiting for him, and he never comes.
His throat constricts, and he asks her one more time, with every fibre of his being. "Come back with me, Tess."
She looks torn for a moment, so secure she is with her routine; she doesn't like change any more than he does, and leaving his apartment is change. She's comfortable now - going with them makes her an outsider, a newbie with no real purpose or position other than 'Joel's partner whom he thought was dead'.
But she can't say no.
And she doesn't.
ENTER THE LAND OF OOC