If there was one thing Veronica knew in this world, it was fear.
She knew it when Calvin killed for the first time when she was 12.
She had known it once more when she had been forced at knife point to remain face down on a sandy beach, while only a few feet away her first husband was beaten to death.
She had known more than her fair share of it over the past two years.
And she knew it right then and there in the streets of Louisiana when she ran into a strange man who told her that Severus was in mortal danger.
But, until today, she had never reacted to fear with violence.
She didn't understand why this younger man knew her name, or why he insisted he came with her, but as soon as he mentioned Severus and Calvin, she followed him.
"I'm so sorry" The young man, who she now knew to be named Lin, nearly sobbed as he crumbled a wad of cash in his fist. "God, this is all my fault! I need to get you to my uncle Monty's right now so you'll be safe!"
Veronica was overwhelmed and on the verge of tears, but the name Monty grabbed her attention. "Monty? Monty Whitefeather is your uncle? Severus knows him, is he there?!"
Lin couldn't answer, only repeated that she would be safe there as the cab rumbled along busted dirt roads until they reached a secluded cabin on the edge of the swamp. Outside stood a tan man with a strange mustache and an orange Hawaiian shirt, lighting citronella candles.
"Uncle Monty!" Lin called, running up to the man. "Uncle Monty, there's trouble."
"Trouble, what trouble?" Monty looked up and glanced at Veronica, "Who's this young lady?"
"This is Veronica Largo, Severus's Veronica." Lin explained before looking away in shame. "Uncle Monty, I did something awful and I need your help."
"Well let's all just sit down." Monty breathed calmly. "Everyone just breathe, alright?"
Monty motioned for them all to sit in the hard-plastic lawn chairs around a glad card table and sighed. "Now, very slowly, explain to me what's going on."
Lin took a breath and threw his wad of money down on the card table. "I'm sorry uncle Monty. I sold out Severus."
"What do you mean?" Monty leaned forward as Veronica's blood ran cold, "sold out to whom?"
"Calvin Largo" Lin breathe and Veronica let out a breathy whine. "He came to me and told me he'd give any amount of money I wanted if I bumped into Severus on the street and administered a slow acting poison. He didn't tell me what to do after that, he said he would take care of it. But after I did it, I followed him for a bit and saw a man take him away into an alley and I lost them."
Monty had gone pale and wiped his face with his hands. "My God, Lin."
"I'm Sorry!"
"This is a man's LIFE, boy! His LIFE!" Monty barked harshly, "You knew what kind of man Calvin Largo is, and you took his blood money all the same!"
Lin shrunk into his chair and Veronica sat still as a statue as Monty stood up and began to pace. "We need to go to the police."
"How much was it?" Veronica asked suddenly, he voice barely above a whisper. The two men looked at her in surprise, but her face never changed from a dead stare.
"The amount doesn't matter now" Monty began to change the subject, but Veronica wouldn't have it.
"I want to know" She pressed, "How. Much. Was it?"
Lin swallowed hard and didn't look at her. "50,000 Dragots." He muttered.
"50,000" Veronica sniffed. "So little? For a man's life?"
"Ms. Largo" Monty stepped in and Veronica turned a steely gaze on Lin.
"I hope if it had been your own life, you would have asked for half as much!" Veronica shouted, shooting up from her chair and lunging at the young man.
The woman was so consumed with rage that she almost could not feel Monty's hands prying her off the cowering Lin, who took blow after blow to his face and head all while not even bothering to raise his arms to block them.
Monty managed to pulled Veronica off of Lin and pinned her arms to her sides as it seemed that her legs collapsed under her and he held her up. The dark-haired woman let out a mournful wail before sobbing violently, her hair curtaining her face. Monty felt his stomach drop as he turned her around and pulled her close to his chest, allowing her to sob into his shoulder.
"Lin" He glared at his nephew, "You will return to your mother's in the morning, but right now you are going to contact the authorities and tell them what you know."
Lin nodded and retreated into the cabin, leaving his uncle to sit Veronica in one of the chairs and sooth her as best he could.
"There may still be a chance." Monty whispered. "He may still be alive, we can't assume anything yet."
Veronica shook her head and spoke through he sobs. "No, I know Calvin. He's gone! I shouldn't have let him leave the room alone, I should have gone with him but I was too much of a coward to leave the hotel!"
"Don't talk like that!" Monty scolded her gently. "You think Severus would have wanted to hear you say such things?"
But Veronica didn't care about that now, all she felt was grief and anger. It washed over her like a tsunami over an unsuspecting dingy on the ocean and consumed her fully, leaving no room of reason. Her tears flowed freely until it hurt to breathe, and even then, they did not stop.
It was all her fault. She never should have told him about job with Jim, about the wedding, and never should have let him come all this way when she knew what could happen.
Severus was dead, and she was to blame.
The sun was beginning to hid itself behind the trees and Veronica soon ran out of tears to shed, leaving her a dazed shell.
"Should we call someone? Maybe the family?" Lin whispered from inside the house and Monty shook his head.
"I don't know. I hate the idea of anyone from that family coming to get her." Monty sighed, "You've really done it this time, Lin. Honestly you have. What were you thinking?"
Lin couldn't reply and his uncle shook his head. "I'm going to go harvest some swamp tea to get her to rest, you stay here and do not move until I get back. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, Uncle Monty." Lin whispered as the man grabbed his flashlight and a plastic Tupper wear bowl before storming outside.
Monty walked the length of the swamp, shining his light on the clay edge to spot any of the herb.
"Hello?"
Monty froze.
The voice.
"Hello?" it came again and Monty whipped around, spotting an approaching light down the swamp bed in the distance.
"Severus?" He whispered before running ahead. "Severus?!"
Severus blinked at the call of his name before smiling a little. "Monty?"
They met in the middle of the trail and eyed each other with relief.
"Thank God It's you. I've been wandering around for hours." Severus chuckled awkwardly.
"I can't believe you're alive" Monty laughed. "You've got to come with me, Veronica- "
"Veronica is with you?"
"She's at my house. Lin brought her there and told us everything. We thought Calvin had done you in!"
"Lin." Severus frowned. "That little son of a- "
"Come one, Come on!" Monty pulled him along. "It's just a few minutes this way!"
Severus ran after him, the two of them reaching the house as the sun set fully.
Veronica sat in the same spot as before, dully watching the citronella candle burn down.
Severus was shocked by house ghostly she looked, from the dead behind her eyes to her haggard appearance. It was clear she had only recently stopped crying, but could go for much longer.
"Veronica?"
The woman looked up and for a moment froze.
Severus stepped forward and knelt by her chair. "Darling, what happened to you? You look awful."
Veronica didn't respond, only opening her mouth slightly as a shaking breath can out and she reached out to touch his cheek and shoulder, softly at first and then more firmly to make sure he was real.
When if became clear that he was, Veronica did not hesitate to throw herself onto him, knocking them both onto the ground as she began to cry once more, only with tears of joy this time.
"You were dead, you were dead!" She cried as Severus laughed and sat up.
"Was I? I don't remember that." He smirked and Veronica embraced him once more, so tight she wanted to meld into him.
Oh god, oh god." She began to cry again, only able to repeat the phrase over and over as Severus pulled her in tightly and wrapped his arms around her.
Lin peered through the doorway and nearly went limp with relief when he saw Severus alive and well.
Severus, however, was not so please.
As soon as he spotted the young man in the door way, his eyes narrowed.
"Judas" He acknowledged Lin curtly.
Lin retreated back into the house and Veronica looked up at Severus.
"I was so afraid. I was so afraid that he had killed you."
"For a second I thought he was going to" Severus nodded. "But something made him decide against it."
"Good God" Veronica sniffed. "Severus, I think we need to go home."
"I agree completely." The dark man nodded. "And we will, our portkey is set to leave at 4 am. And conveniently, it's very near here."
Veronica leaned against him, suddenly overcome with exhaustion from the day. "My Cousin tried to kill me today."
"Pardon?"
"Lora Lee." Veronica sighed. "She hated me, and she tried to kill me today at the hotel."
"Jesus" Severus breathed. "Veronica, you know I love you. But your family is an absolute madhouse."
Veronica froze and pulled away from him. "What did you just say?"
Severus's blood ran cold when he realized his slip up. "Fuck"
"No, no, no" Veronica grabbed his sleeve when he tried to move away from her. "Say it again. Please."
Severus bit his lip and looked down. "I-I can't."
Veronica's face fell and he looked away. "I mean what I said. I really did, but…I just can't say it out loud. It doesn't feel right. Do you understand?"
Veronica thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I don't understand"
Severus sighed, waiting for her to stand up and walk away from him. But instead, she crawled into his lap and leaned against his chest, kissing his hands and neck gently.
"But I love you. And I can say it out loud. Is that okay?"
Severus nodded slowly. "Yes, that would be just fine."
"Good" Veronica smiled and looked over at Monty, who had been watching silently with the biggest goofball grin she had ever seen.
"Mr. Whitefeather, I can't thank you enough for this."
"Well I didn't do anything." Monty shrugged. "But what I can do is offer you two a safe place to stay for the rest of the night, and the ill-gotten money my idiot nephew brought here."
"Oh, we couldn't do th- "
"Now hold on." Severus stopped her from declining. "How much money?"
"Severus!"
"I almost died Veronica!"