A/N: In the middle of writing and researching for my update to 'Scared to Death' I was re-reading The Faceless Onces and noticed this scene in Chapter 35 where Ghastly brings Tanith in from the battlefield. I just embellished on elements already there. So this is a missing scene from the chapter with a slightly Ghanith slant. :) Hope you enjoy.
It was a desperate fight, fought in this nondescript field in the middle of Aranmore. They were all too aware of the stakes here; it felt all too familiar. The scene of the battlefield now echoed the countless, battles of the war. They had all lost too much then.
Ghastly pulled the air to him feeling the force of it build in his hand; letting the force of it build. Using it to strengthen the punch he threw into the belly of a hollow man, following it with a viscous left hook. He worked a small group of the papery enemy holding them back, weaving in and out, dodging attacks with a speed and precision that only could have come from his mother's training.
All around him the battle raged on as they struggled to hold ground against the enemy. The fight was desperate against the Diablerie. Near to him he could see China struggling to hold her own against Krav. And he knew she'd need help soon. Ghastly switched to fire magic, holding back his physical assault in order to toss fire at the hollow men. He took a brief second to relish a small victory as their internal gases caught alight in a blaze of paper.
The sound of metal clashing his attention away from the fight at hand as Tanith and Murder Rose renewed a battle they had been fighting since London.
Ghastly could see it happening before him, caught in the moment, he was unable to reach her. He could only watch as in a flash of blonde hair Tanith tried to flip backwards. However her movement was blocked by the onslaught of Murder Rose's attack, a flurry of silver and red as her knives worked their own magic in battle. Rose's wicked long knife sliced through the air leaving a crimson trail as it went through Tanith's shoulder.
Her scream rang out in the yard of the farm mixing with an equally guttural scream that escaped the usually debonair China Sorrows. Her fight against Krav was becoming one-sided all too quickly as he blocked her from activating her magic. Both women needed his help. His attention snapped up everyone else was too busy, caught in their own clashes. Ghastly could hear Valkyrie scream for Tanith, the choice here could be huge. There was no time to debate or even consider he was moving towards the blonde woman. But every movement felt too slow; he wasn't getting there fast enough. All he could do was watch as a knife plunged into Tanith's right leg. The scream that escaped was unbearable to hear. He needed to be there to help her.
For some reason the memory of her smile for him when he had first woken up from his earthen state played out. She had shown genuine interest and inquisition into his strange and conflicting home lives. She'd been distracting him from the numerous examinations and tests Kenspeckle felt the need to run on him and from the annoying force of Fletcher. And now he felt the need to protect her.
There was another fountain of crimson blood as Rose forced a blade through Tanith's hand with what looked like sickening ease. A blur of white reached the scene a few steps ahead of him. The unnatural speed of The White Cleaver swinging its scythe as it forced Murder Rose away from her torture of Tanith Low. Not believing that he would actually be glad to see the Cleaver again Ghastly was able to reach her. Gingerly he scooped her up away from the flailing scythe as Rose was beaten into submission with a crack to the jaw.
At the same time the force and rage and Mr Bliss could be both heard and felt as he stepped in to protect his sister.
"Ghastly…" Tanith voice was quiet, fighting the tide of the pain that wracked her body. She groaned with the motions of being carried as Ghastly navigated the rough ground back to the house. He hushed her, "You've done enough." He reassured her, his own voice quiet; full of concern.
"I can still fight." She objected, her grip on her sword tightening as if to reinforce the point. Though she seemed to take a moment to reflect on her injuries, the blood she noticed was staining his otherwise immaculate white shirt. "Ghastly, I'm sorry." She began; he stared down at her, his face with a look of worry.
"I've ruined your shirt." She confessed.
His attention was entirely on her now; he almost was laughing. That she'd be concerned for the well-being of his shirt at a time like this seemed almost ridiculous and all at once endearing. "Don't worry." He smiled down at her.
An explosion caught them; magic forced them apart as it impacted the ground and pushed outwards with a release of energy. Ghastly was just able to push out at the air, feeling the impact of his hastily cast magic as he slowed his descent to avoid falling on the already injured Tanith.
A second explosion could he heard, it was close to them and the ripples of its magical fallout ruffled their clothes. They could hear Valkyrie cry out. It took Ghastly a second to locate the damage and then he noticed the wall of the house had been caught in the blast and that those bricks were about to come back down.
Lunging forward he moved to protect Tanith as the bricks from wall rained down over them. The strength of his own tailoring protected him from serious injury but the impact of the bricks still hurt like all hell.
Tanith was crumpled in a heap, she had lost her sword in the first explosion, and she was lying defenceless in the yard feeling less than useless. Then she could only watch as Ghastly had shielded her from the bricks, his face only inches from her own she could see the pain the action caused him. She was not used to being protected like this; she could barely form words to thank him. "Ghastly..." She began but he stopped her, he smiled despite the pain in his back.
"You're welcome," he told her. Taking a second he appraised her, analysing her injuries, making sure she hadn't been hit by a brick. "Can you stand up?" He asked her, bending to retrieve both her and her sword. He pressed it back into her hand. "You're not beaten yet." Ghastly pulled her to him and she wrapped her arm around his neck. She was just about able to stand with his help. Tanith was bleeding badly, but still gripping her sword. The look on her face was that of dogged determination, she wasn't beaten yet.
They were finally back at what was left of the house. They entered through the hole in the wall the earlier explosion must have made. Both were glad to see Valkyrie unharmed.
Carefully Ghastly lowered Tanith into a chair, he was conscious of the pained look on the woman's face as he did so.
"I can still fight." Tanith muttered.
In that moment Ghastly wanted nothing more than to be able to stay and protect her, to be able to tell her she didn't need to fight anymore today. He wasn't even sure where the strength of these feelings had come from. It hadn't even been a choice that he had come to her aid and not China's. As much as he wanted to stay however Ghastly knew he was needed back out there.
"Look after her." He barked in command, sterner than he meant to be. And with only a quick look back he ran back out into the chaos of the battle of Aranmore. All too aware of how much he had already lost in a war like this. He hoped he had something to come back to.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed, think of this as a preview of sorts for my update to 'Scared to Death.' I actually adore these two as a pairing.