We Won't Drown
three months later— 1,581 days since the first floods
The lake was still, no waves, no shimmers, just a perfect reflection of the sunset. He couldn't remember the last time he saw the sun rise over the horizon like this, but the heat warmed his bones and soothed his soul. How long had it been since he'd just felt complacent? The lazy, calm kind of complacent?
It had been three months.
Seth was still hobbling.
His knee hadn't fully healed yet and their local doctor had told him that it would be another three months before he could properly train on it. There was this sense of guilt that flittered through Dean's veins when he remembered that it was his fault Seth had been injured in the first place.
There were a lot of loose threads, loose ends, things that needed to be healed, dust that needed to be settled.
But Dean wasn't ready to go down that path just yet. His heart still tugged uncomfortably when he thought about not being able to fight. Some part of him knew that, some day, Paul Heyman would let him back in the cage. After all— he was of that breed, those bare-knuckled, brawling, kicking-and-screaming kind of people who didn't care how many times they got hit as long as they could hit back. Someday Heyman would realise just like the Authority did that Dean was worth a lot of money. Time would pass. He'd find himself fighting again, somehow. One way or another.
The advocate and his beast were in full control of what was left of Vegas. While a lot of people stayed, a lot of them didn't. They were free from the Authority's reign and instead were seeking life outside of the scarred ruins.
Triple H was exiled from Vegas. The Wyatt Family had followed him. He supposed, once they were all ready, that revenge would be next on the list. For him, at least. With the man and Bray's family still alive, their fight would never be over, and that still haunted Dean— especially in his dreams.
Roman never talked about what happened in that tunnel between him and Lesnar, just that Orton and Kane were dead. There was a mutual respect between the Samoan and the Beast now. Whatever that meant.
His heart dropped when he thought of Meredith.
No.
That scar was still too raw.
Sister Abigail had done everything she could to save the mechanic, but there'd been a lack of medical equipment and what little she had hadn't really helped.
Dean let go of a long breath and stared out into the sunrise. Nothing was as calming as seeing the sun again after such a long time of being shrouded in the darkness. Roman had been onto something when he'd asked for them to drive to the East coast. He'd never really liked being close to California but it had worked for him at the time.
"Can't sleep?"
A small grin spread across his face, head dropping onto the wall behind him. "Didn't want to."
"It's beautiful out here."
"Dunno how long it's been since I've woken up to catch the sunrise," he mused, "was always a late riser."
"You were the kind of person to get up at twelve and not sleep 'til four, weren't you?"
He smiled again at the accusation. "Somethin' like that." There was a shuffle of clothes and a scuff of a boot, the sensation of a body sliding to the ground next to him, arm pressed against his, leg shifting underneath his propped-up knee. "How's the physical therapy going?"
"Brie's treating me well. Should be good to start training in a couple of days, I guess. As long as she's okay with that."
For the first time since hearing the honey tones of her voice, Dean turned to regard Meredith. Her hair was a bit longer, the caramel of her eyes smiling at him mischievously. Same grin on her full lips. God, Abigail had done everything she could— but it was Meredith that pulled through against all odds. It was her fight for survival that had her pressed up against him again.
"You're gonna have me on my back in weeks, aren't you?"
She grinned at him a little. "Only if you go easy on me. You have too much pride to do that, though," Meredith giggled a little, turning to stare across the glimmering lake.
"Me? Pride?" he smirked, shook his head, then said, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
It was an agreement the six had made when Meredith had been compass enough to suggest it. She knew that Paige and Brie could defend themselves in a fist fight, even a gun fight— the Shield boys could definitely handle themselves. So, she wanted to be taught. Brie would teach her the mechanics behind a gun and the general rules of fighting, Roman and Dean would help with experience. And in the mean time, the Bella twin was helping Meredith get her lungs back into shape.
There were times that Dean would catch her wheezing and wincing and trying to pull air into her body. But there was nothing he could do. So he would just sit with her and make sure she didn't stop breathing.
The bullet that had torn through her chest miraculously missed her heart and every main artery, but her left lung had been nicked and it had completely collapsed. It explained her wheezing, her coughing, her loss of consciousness— but most importantly, it explained her survival. Her heart had been fine, but the life had almost been sucked out of her lungs.
"You're thinking about it again."
His blue eyes found hers. She was looking at him with a slight curve to her lips, a kind of gentle fondness. He didn't have to reply to her, because yes— he was thinking about it.
He was always thinking about it.
Meredith raised a shoulder and turned her face back to the sunrise. The side he could see was illuminated by rays of pink and blue, and slowly her eyes shut, mouth soft. "It was just cold. Cold and dark, for me. At first, the pain was horrible, of course. But then it was just… cold. I felt numb. And when I lost consciousness, I could really only focus on one thing… and you know what that was? It was you. Your voice. The only thing that made any sense to me was your voice."
A frown tugged his eyebrows together. She wasn't saying 'don't worry about it,' she was saying 'let's think about it together'.
"No flashbacks, no light at the end of the tunnel, nothing. Just you. And I think that's what it was. It was you; you helped me survive. Part of me thinks that you won't leave my side because you're afraid of the possibility of losing me again, and I can see that flash of fear in your eyes every time I wheeze," she was looking at him now, but her face was still soft. "I keep asking myself why you haven't gone after Triple H yet."
His fists tightened on their own accord, nostrils flaring just at the mention of the exiled man. "I should. I should strangle him. Drown him. See how he likes it without oxygen in his system."
"But you're not gonna."
"How d'you figure that?"
She gazed at him again. "I don't, not really, but I have a feeling that you just— you're not ready for that yet. You know it, too."
"Maybe I just wanna stay with you."
"Maybe you do."
When Dean turned to look at her again, she was still smiling. The same smile she'd always had from the moment he met her, like she knew something no one else did. Like she knew the best kept secret in town. Like she knew him.
"It's weird you didn't get the flashbacks," Dean slowly started. "I did. I got every single moment we spent together. And— and I, uh. I kind of realised that there was no way you were going to die. You just… you couldn't die. 'cause I realised I loved you, y'know? We've known each other for two months and I'm fuckin' in love with you and I realised it while you were dyin'. That's my luck, huh?"
A sweet kind of silence flooded the space between them and Dean turned his face back to the sun. He wanted to drive under that sun. He wanted to drive with Meredith. Leave all this heartache and pain behind and start fresh somewhere knew.
"Run away with me."
Meredith frowned at him, but there was a childlike grin to his lips and his eyes were glinting with hope. "Run away with me, Mer. We'll drive and explore and it'll be just us and the open road."
"What about—"
"Everything else can just wait."
"The boys?"
"They'll understand." His whole body had turned to hers now, hands grasping on her smaller ones, and his voice was lilt with excitement. "C'mon, Mer. Let's get away from this country, yeah?"
There was a shattering moment where he thought she was going to say no. Then, her eyes crinkled in a toothless grin and she was nodding at him, nodding at his words. "Yeah. Let's drive."
—
days since the first flood— 1,590
There was never an easy goodbye— so this wasn't going to be a goodbye. This was going to be a see you soon. Meredith had never liked them, because they were final, because they meant the end of something. And maybe, in a sense, this was the end of their beginning, and maybe, now, they were starting the rest of their lives together.
Dean was at the wheel of a car, sitting next to her, and their fingers were entwined over the shift stick. Behind them were Roman and Brie, Seth and Paige. She knew they were coming back for them, but for now? It was just them.
Being on the other side of death was a strange feeling. Everything was brighter, nice to look at. When Meredith had taken that bullet, she hadn't expected to live— but when she saw Dean's tears, his face, the distraught crying, when she'd heard him against all odds on her deathbed… she fought with everything she had to stay alive.
She remembered peeling her eyelids open and gazing around the pristine room, then letting them fall to the man slumped against her make-shift hospital bed. His mouth had been hanging open, drool slowly trickling out the side, and she felt safer then she had in days.
After that, it was like the skies had known Triple H was in exile and that his wife was dead— they'd opened. Rain had poured down on Vegas close to four days non-stop, like even the earth was trying to cleanse itself, and when it did end, the clouds had parted and they'd seen blue sky. The sun. Meredith had felt that sun heat her bones before the floods and she was feeling it again, and in a way, she began to look at it as a blessing. Dean warmed her heart, and now their fight was over? The sun warmed her soul.
She didn't know where they were going. The day was on flip-side, sun now setting in front of them instead of rising.
The road was empty. Not a car in front of them, none behind. Part of her wanted to think it was the road less travelled. That this was their road. Their path.
She knew that Dean's escape was driving, that he never stayed in one place too long to get comfortable. She knew that driving was his way of searching. For something better, for a reason to stay. Meredith hoped they would find that together, somewhere. There was no way she could anticipate their future or see what was around the next corner, but she knew that whatever it was— they could get past it. Together, they could do anything.
Dean ran the pad of his thumb across her skin. There was a small smile set at his lips, like he had everything he wanted in the world. Her. The road. The car. Freedom. His brothers, safe.
Dean Ambrose, the hurricane, her hurricane, her storm; he deserved that smile.
Dean Ambrose deserved to be happy.
And when Meredith turned back to face the glowing sunset, she found a similar smile curving her own lips.
THE END.
OKAY NOW IM CRYING! i could never do a horrible ending, nor could i hurt Dean that much, so she lives and they're all happy.
i kind of knew this day was gonna be emotional when i did finish it, but the happy kind of emotional. this story has literally been my test tube baby because i've never been so invested nor comfortable with a storyline. this had been the most gritty, hard hitting, gut wrenching story i've ever written, but it's still my baby, so thank you all for helping me get here to the end.
i know that most of my reviewers don't want this to end, but unfortunately for now, i'm happy with leaving this story where it's at. however i did leave it open ended, should i feel like i do want to continue Meredith and Dean's story.
to my beautiful, beautiful reviewers NoN (ahhhhhh nonzy, thank you so much! you know that kinda shit makes me blush, dont you ;) what do you think?!), Nangel4 (AHHH you're crying! trust me, that's what I was going for (that makes me sound horrible, doesn't it?) at least it's not sad anymore! :D), the Guest (your wish is my command! SHE LIVES!), and quinzel harley (oh jeez, please tell me your heart's back together now? we're riding this out into the sunset, bby, all the way home), let me know how happy/shocked you are with the outcome of this chapter!
also, should you guys be that in love with my writing that you want more, i'm contemplating doing a modern AU with our Shield boys, a new villain, new good guys, new bad guys, and a new side of Dean that's gonna be fun to write :) it will be another Dean/OC, but this time have some Seth/OC and some Roman/Galina featuring tiny princess JoJo.
stay rad and my love always, xx
