"Faith?" He tapped at the door, announcing his arrival. "May I come in?"
"Sure."
He pushed open the door and saw her on the bed. She was sitting on the edge and had a photo of them both in her hands. She was staring at it intently, the one of the both of them smiling and laughing together. Her fingertips were touching the pane of glass. He came and sat beside her, careful not to touch her unless invited. She didn't like to be touched as much anymore. She barely seemed to enjoy anything that she used to and was prone to lashing out more than she used to, like the old Faith.
"That's one of my favorites."
"I remember this day. We were with everyone on that picnic. It started to rain after we'd been there an hour. We had to rush and gather everything up. We were soaked by the time we got to the car."
"That's right. We were a sodden mess, the lot of us."
"But I see this photo and I don't feel it. G, it's like she's some person I don't know. I remember everything that happened, but I don't feel any of it."
"We'll get back there, dearest. Given time, you'll start to feel like your old self again."
She said nothing and though she felt the urge to cry she hadn't any more tears for what she'd gone through. Her entire insides felt hollow, like she was missing some big puzzle piece that was keeping her from being a whole person. In the last few days she'd come to realize she wasn't the only one suffering. For one thing, she knew he came in to watch her sleep at night. She'd caught him at it a few times. She also knew he was prone to being lost in his own thoughts more than he used to be. The faraway look in his eyes wasn't his usual educated musings. The black under his eyes told the truth.
"But what about you?"
"Me?"
"Don't pretend you're not just as fucked up as I am," she whispered. "I know better."
"Let's not worry about me right now."
"Then when? When is it ok to worry about you, too?"
"When you're feeling better."
She scoffed, setting the picture on the bed beside her. "God knows when that will be."
"I hardly think adding worrying about me to your list of concerns will be useful."
"And worrying about me is helping you?" She bristled, shaking her head. "I'm tired of you being so willing to sacrifice yourself on every bullet that comes our way."
"Faith, please, let's not fight." He reached for her hand and she pulled it away. "I don't jump on every bullet."
"You do. Jesus, Rupert, you do. You act like what you need doesn't matter. You act like everyone else around you is more important. It's all well and good sometimes, but I just can't…" She sighed, looking away. "You don't even look me in the eye anymore. I'm just a wounded bird for you to take care of."
"I love you. I would do anything to take away your pain."
She nodded, turning the words over in her mind and leaving him there with them dangling in the air. The urge to pick the photograph up and hurl it across the room was strong but she resisted. She wasn't angry at it, or even really at him. She was angry with herself for being weak, for knowing that everyone saw her as an injured creature that they needed to tiptoe around. She was everything she always feared she'd be - her worst fear.
"G, I can't be those bricks you have to carry around. I won't. I'll walk out before I let you ignore yourself to take care of me."
"May I take you somewhere?"
"What?" She blinked in confusion, turning to look at him.
"I want to take you somewhere, if you don't mind."
"Only if you do one thing for me."
"Name it."
"Look me in the eyes."
An eyebrow raised until he realized she was serious. He hadn't intentionally refused to look her in the eye but she would know better than he did about it. He raised his eyes to meet hers, searching the brown depths of them. He reached up and took both cheeks in his hands, she let him this time, and just held her tenderly. The intimacy of it washed over him and a peace descended that he hadn't felt in what felt like years. That wasn't true, but it was as welcome as a drink of water to a man in the desert.
"How do you still love me?" Her voice broke with emotion. She searched his eyes for the answer before he gave it voice.
"I could no sooner stop loving you than I could count all of the stars in the night sky."
"But I hurt so many people."
"You tried saving them. You warned them, plenty of them. You were planning on sacrificing what was most important to you to save the world. You have not been stained by his evil; I promise you."
She leaned in and kissed him, her mouth rising to his so quickly he was still in shock as she pulled away. It hadn't been the most passionate kiss, nor even a deep kiss, but it was meaningful to the both of them. She said nothing about it and stood up, putting the photo back where it belonged.
"I love you, too. Always will."
"Would you come with me?"
"Ok."
She followed him to the car and got in, sitting beside him for the drive. When he turned down a familiar road he saw her tighten, a quick indrawn breath drawing his attention.
"It's alright, dearest. I promise."
"Why the fuck did you bring me here, Rupert? Take me home. Take me back! I can't."
"I want you to help me destroy it."
"What?" She immediately turned to face him, unbuckling her seatbelt to do it properly. "What did you say?"
"I bought it this morning from the bank. It's been abandoned for years; I got it for a song. I realized you weren't given your closure so I brought you here to destroy it with me."
"You, you what?" She looked toward the warehouse and then back to him. "You're serious."
"Yes, of course. You're a physical person, Faith. I know that all too well. You were denied your chance to end things in a way you need. I aim to redress that."
"We can't just destroy it. There's beams. Steel. Even I'm not strong enough to-"
"I have sledgehammers in the back. We may not be able to raze it to the ground, but we can make a hell of a dent."
They both got out of the car. He handed her a pair of goggles and a sledgehammer and gestured toward the building. It looked so unassuming from the outside but as soon as he opened the door memories came flooding back unbidden. They filled her senses and she let them, feeling her body tighten with anger and fear. If she couldn't take her revenge out on the demon she could destroy the place where she'd been so abused by him. She walked over to the stage and brought her hammer up, bringing it down with shattering force splintering the wood. Her hammer hit the concrete with a high ringing tone and cracked the cement, sending splits in all directions around her sledgehammer.
It felt...good.
She took another swing and the entire structure groaned and tilted to the side, the supports giving out under her onslaught. She screamed as she swung again, venting all of her rage and pain as she took revenge on him by proxy. When it was nothing more than a pile of splintered wood she turned around, noticing that he was standing behind her, his hammer resting on the ground.
"Don't you want to help?"
"I have somewhere else I'd like to destroy."
He began walking toward the back of the building and she knew immediately where he meant. Hesitant to follow, she took a step and faltered, her knees almost buckling. She wanted to see it destroyed more than she wanted to avoid the fear. The anger helped and she pushed down all else. She found him standing in front of the table where she'd been raped, exactly where she'd been pinned to it by magic.
"Bastard." He spat out, real venom in his tone.
He brought his hammer down and sent the table crashing to the ground. For the first time she saw that they shared their rage and not just the pain. She watched as he brought all of it to ruin, swinging his sledgehammer over and over again until there was nothing left but a mangled bit of metal and a pile of wood that couldn't have resembled the shape it started as any further if it tried.
He brought his hammer up again and she moved by his side, touching him lightly.
"It's done." The cage was still standing and there was the bathroom beyond. "I want to watch it burn."
His eyes sparkled and he let fire leak from his fingertips onto the pile of kindling. It soon caught and was a grand bonfire in a matter of minutes. She let her hammer fall and clung to him, watching it burn. He watched it, too, until it was nothing more than smoldering rubble and ash. He'd have it demolished soon, but for now this was enough.
