Rook awoke with a start, the off and on off his consciousness was beginning to mess with him, he was never sure if he was dreaming or awake, but he got his answer when his head lurched forward with a startled snort as consciousness it him like a truck, and then with the same for so did vomitus unease, he felt hungover in a way, is body wailed in anguish, he brought a slightly shaking hand up to his slightly sweaty head with a silent groan, his eyes rolled in his head as his mouth tasted like sand, his eyes moved slowly around the room, thankfully he determined he was still in the crappy little camper thing, he was also able to figure out a few feet away, Faith sat cross-legged on the floor, staring intently at a pin up calendar that resided in her hands, quietly muttering to herself.
"Rachael? What are you doing down there?" he slurred, readjusting his posture in his seat.
Upon hearing his voice, Faith jumped slightly in fear, not expecting his monotone voice to break the comfortable silence.
"My apologies! Did I wake you?" Faith squeaked, tightening her grip on the calendar as her shoulders tightened.
"No, no, I think I woke up by myself, what the hell happened, why did I doze off? Rook asked, rubbing his eyes.
"I'm not particularly sure to what made you so tired but when you fell asleep, you looked comfy enough, so I left you be, while you slept, I rummaged around a bit more, eventually I stumbled upon this calendar here on the wall, I've been struggling to discern today's date" Faith explained as she stood up and placed the calendar on the table in front of him before examining him and saw that he looked ragged.
"Are you alright? You seem a little under the weather" Faith asked as she clasped her hands together and tilted her head to the side slightly.
"Yeah, I just… feel like shit I guess, my head hurts a lot" Rook groaned, rubbing his temples vigorously.
"I-I believe you are merely dehydrated, you should try to not exert yourself" Faith replied quickly as she moved towards Rook.
"Perhaps we should use this to our advantage and spend the day cuddling the illness away" she giggled as she sat down next to Rook, pushing up next to him and wrapping a tight arm around him.
"Uh I don't know about all day, but I guess it's alright for now" Rook shrugged as best he could while the woman clung to him.
"Good" she giggled with a smile as she then squeezed between the table and Rook before sitting on his lap, relaxing comfortably into the Deputy.
Rook wasn't expecting her willingness, or even eagerness to sit on his lap, he didn't have a problem with it, it was just she was unexpectedly friendly with him, more open and warm, he had never know a woman enthusiastically sit on his lap, it made him think what else she would do.
"So uh, what were you doing with that calendar before you woke up?" Rook asked.
"While since you asked" Faith said coyly as her smile grew.
"I'm not knowledgeable at reading the stars for discernible information or have any date or time pieces on my person, but I had to very strictly pay attention to the date so I could properly coordinate with the rest of my er, family, so I can somewhat gauge the passage of time since I was usurped and if my math does add up correctly, I can conclude today is indeed my birthday" She beamed.
"Congratulations, so how old are you now?" Rook asked, taking interest in what was happening.
"I do believe I am now twenty-five" Faith beamed with a big smile, leaning her head back and resting on his shoulder.
"That's quite the achievement to be a quarter century old, especially what we're living through now" Rook supposed.
"Indeed" Faith hummed, nestling deeper into the mass that was Rook.
"Every year, the Father would take me out dancing for my birthday, his is so wonderful at waltzing, but now I don't think that tradition will carry forward" Faith sigh in nostalgia.
"Yeah I really don't see hm showing up to whisk you off your feet any time soon" Rook sighed, a part of him actually wished for it, it would be the opportune chance to murder the cult leader.
"Hm, me neither unfortunately" Faith sighed in disappointment.
"I have an idea!" she suddenly gasped enthusiastically, making Rook flinch ever so slightly.
"What if we we're to dance, here and now?!" She beamed, brimming with excitement.
"Well, uh, I'm not really sure how to dance in general, but uh, if this is what you want the sure" Rook shrugged, it wasn't like he had anything better to do at this very moment.
"Marvelous!" cried as she quickly stood up and spun around, holding out a hand to Rook, hoping he would take it.
And sure enough, Rook tentatively took Faith's hand and she pulled him up, not letting go of his hand and grabbing the other.
"Now just mimic what I do" Faith instructed as she placed one of his hands on her hip and clasping the other in her hand.
Then they began swaying back and forth to the sounds of the wilderness outside, just beyond the thin metal walls.
"See, this isn't so hard, is it?" Faith smiled, looking up at Rook.
"Feels weird I'm doing something that doesn't relate to fighting" Rook replied gruffly as he swayed back and forth on stiff legs.
He felt awkward, he had never done this before, was he moving to fast? To slow? He didn't hear any complaints from the lady, so he assumed he was satisfactory, so he just her take the lead and have full control over their movements, after a few minutes of swaying, Faith began humming for a bit before her soft, pouting lips gently parted and she began to sing an unfamiliar song.
"Alone at the edge of a universe humming a tune, for merely dreaming we were snow, a siren sounds like the goddess who promises endless apologies of paradise, and only she can make it right, so things are different tonight, we'll go together in flight, it's Now and Never, our reverie endeavor awaits somnambulant directives to take the helm, believe me, darling the stars were made for falling like melting obelisks as tall as another realm" she sang in such a candor that seemed almost irreproducible by anyone else.
Rook marveled at the woman who loosely clung to him, she looked like the picture of happiness, Rook was almost envious of it, he wished he could forget about everything for a few minutes and be lost in the moment, and then she dipped her head forward, her forehead gingerly resting against his, her eyes slowly closing, enjoying the moment to its fullest, and then she began singing the rest of the song, every now and again, a few lines were in a language he believed was French, he didn't know what she was saying but he was enraptured all the same, she had a natural voice and sung with seasoned practice, her words were beauty and her swaying was timed, she could alure any man she wanted with her skills, and it was working, and when she fell silent, finishing the song, Rook wanted to compliment her for her beautiful rendition, but before he could, she leaned in further, closing even more space between their heads, this time her lips lightly brushing against his, he almost questioned if it really did happen, but he knew what happened.
"It's not often I preform for an audience of one, you I hope you liked it" Faith whispered shyly.
"Thanks, you have a beautiful voice" Rook whispered back.
"So, what else would you do on your birthday?" Rook asked gently.
"I'd always get a big chocolate cake, but I doubt we'd find hide or hair or even a few ingredients" she sighed lightly.
"Yeah, I think so too, but I mean hey, we don't need a cake to celebrate your birth, we got each other" Rook offered with a smile.
Faith replied with a girlish giggle, she clearly enjoyed the attention and flattery, but there was also a shyness to it, she wasn't used to this sort of thing, his face was much to close to hers to tell if she was blushing or not, but regardless this was a lot for her, it wouldn't be long before her giddiness got the best of her so, he changed the subject.
"So, anything else interesting happen while I was out?" Rook asked, rubbing his sore neck, and taking a step back.
"Actually now that you mention it, there was some noises in the distance, it was most certainly Eden's Gate members, but it wasn't close enough for me to wake you, it passed a little while ago, I don't think it's over though, they are up to something somewhere" Faith answered, also stepping back and recomposing herself.
"Huh, you don't say" Rook muttered, breaking away from the woman and wandering over to one of the dust covered window.
He wiped a big enough streak to look out of and peered out into the wide expanse of nature.
"So which way did the noise come from?" Rook asked.
"The direction your looking at actually, I'm not sure how far away, but close enough for me to hear in her" Faith supposed.
This time without responding, Rook sauntered over to the door to the outside and flung it open, taking a step outside before looking back at Faith who watched him perplexity.
"Well what are you waiting for, let's go investigate" Rook replied with a mischievous smile.
It was a smile Faith just couldn't say no too.
"Very well, lead the way" Faith smiled back, feeling hopeful.
Faith was right, it was quite a ways away, but not far enough to warrant a break, s they got closer and closer, the noise Faith once heard slowly became audible, whatever was going on was quite close, even as they dodged guarded peggie road blocks and other cultist blockades, they made it to their destination, as they reached the edge of the ever-present brush, they could see just what was going on, the constant noise emitted from what looked like some kind of peggie outpost of sorts, it almost looked like a playground, the sign out front read F.A.N.G. whatever that meant, and among the many barb wire line fences and wall many peggies moved back in forth at such speeds, like organized worker ants, they worked fervently, grabbing just about everything that wasn't bolted down, clothes, books, preservable food, even their own equipment and tools and loading them into large metal crates and other such containers and then loading it into the large canvas military trucks, they were packing up everything they possibly could, stripping the place down to it's bare bones.
"What the fuck…" Rook muttered to himself.
He wasn't sure why they were doing it, why were they clearing out their own fortifications and moving out, the place seemed like the ideal holdout locale, something was up.
"This is quite odd, something like this has never been discussed before" Faith pondered, also examining the situation.
"Then I gotta get down there and start killing dudes, I'll interrogate a couple and see what's up" Rook seethed, the anger he felt for Eden's Gate leaking out.
"Why don't we retreat for now, we are grossly underprepared for this" Faith offered, trying to place her hands upon Rook's firm shoulders from behind, she didn't wish to see more Eden's Gate blood be spilled, nor Rook unnecessarily risk life and limb, but the Deputy had other ideas.
"Shush, shush, shush, shush, let me think" Rook hushed as he swatted at Faith's hands as he walked away from her, slightly towards the peggie encampment, trying to create a game plan.
The F.A.N.G. place looked pretty complex despite peggie so small, and there was ample amounts of fencing, barb wire and eyes, there was no way he could kill the majority of them and get what he wanted, that was the bloodlust talking, if anything he'd trot along the perimeter and hear what he could hear, he wasn't going to tell Faith that, he said what he said, he wasn't one to go back on his word.
"Alright, stay here, I'll be back eventually" Rook said before dropping down into a low crouch and moved in, like a wolf going for a flock of grazing sheep.
"Benjamin, wait!" Faith cried as quietly yet loudly as she could, but Rook refused to listen, the devil on his shoulder told him to kill, and he had to obey.
Rook quickly made his way over to the place, his repeated practice allowed him to get by without being noticed, he got so close that he was able to peer through the chain link fences, thankfully the peggies were much to preoccupied with their tasks, still taking everything that wasn't bolted down and loading it on the trucks, like a seasoned moving company, he could even see a single man, standing in the center on a raised platform, shouting orders to everyone who worked around him, telling them what to take and how to take it, if anyone was going to reveal what was going on it would be him, so Rook got comfy and sat down in a safe place where he could silently watch and listen to the man yell things he didn't understand, and after a few minutes, he finally got what he wanted with the sound of a large bear roaring in defiance.
As the bear thundered, the man in charge turned to its origin and began yelling some more.
"What the hell is going on over there!?" The man in charge yelled.
"We're trying to figure out how to get the bears on board!" the woman yelled back.
"Why are you trying to do that, we have more important product to move" the man yelled.
"We can butcher them for their meat and furs!" the woman loudly retorted.
"Fuck that, the transporting itself will take much to long, we have more important things to worry about, the Deputy is out here somewhere with the treasonous heretic!" the commander yelled back.
"But we need these things!" the woman tried to change her superior mind.
"I don't care, Commander Seed wants us back at HQ at twenty-two hundred at the latest, operation Baptism by Fire will commence tomorrow at noon hour regardless who's in HQ or not!" the man shouted back.
"What?!" Rook gasped to himself before covering his mouth with his hands.
What he heard made no sense, why would the bombing happen tomorrow? didn't say the fire bombing would take place two days from now? But then again why would Jacob tell the truth, it wasn't like he was talking about cooking recipes.
But that was something he had to worry about later, he had to focus, he shook of the shock and went back to eavesdropping, but by then the commander was barking out orders at someone else, it was something stupid and therefore irrelevant, and stupid and irrelevant greatly upset Rook these days. Losing patience quickly, Rook opted it was not worth his precious time and decided it was time to pull out and return to Faith, surely, she was growing more and more anxious by the second, even as he carefully worked his way back to her, he could she her watching him approach with wide eyes from her hiding spot, she looked relieved that Rook did not murder many like he said he would, but she was quite worried over why he did not commit such sins.
"What happened? What's going on?" She asked quickly, fearing the worst as he came near her.
"They ain't retuning to the bunker until the middle of the night, so that means we have to wait till night… Fuck!" Rook barked in frustration.
"What!? what's wrong" Faith shook in confusion and shock.
"These fuckers are returning to Jacob's bunker until night, so if I want in that bunker I got to wait out several hours then go all the way back here and sneak onto one of their trucks so I can taken there!" Rook huffed in frustration.
"That's quite the tall order, do you really think you can pull that off and free your friend and successfully get out?" Faith offered, eyeing him nervously.
"I don't got any other fucking ideas" Rook huffed in anger.
"Well then let's calm down and think of something, brashness brings foolishness as the Father would say" Faith offered, hoping he'd rise to her challenge, but she was sorely mistaken.
"I don't give a flyin' fuck what the fuckin' dickwad thinks!" Rook spat, his face twisting with anger and disgust, he didn't want to even think about the holier than thou fucker right about now.
"Fine then" Faith replied with a contemplative sigh.
"Like you said, we have literal hours, so why don't we return to our camper and figure something out and then come back?" she said quickly, hoping to placate him so he'd calm down, if he went off the deep end, she'd didn't know what else to do.
This made Rook stop, anger still brimming as he mulled over the suggest, it was clear his anger prevented him from going any further then what she supposed, and it bothered him even more, he didn't like his anger clouding his judgment.
"Fuck, fine!" Rook huffed as he stomped back in the direction of the camper, dramatically throwing his arms in the air like a scorned teenager.
Rook infuriated departure left Faith silently watching Rook stomp away angry for what felt like the hundredth time now, his behavior was becoming an increasingly growing pattern, it was going to get him killed, if not his Jess friend will, she had to do something about him before it was to late, thankfully the walk back gave her ample to plan out a way to rescue him, with a light, tired sigh she took a deep breath and followed Rook back to their relative homestead.
The crawl home was long and awkward, Rook was dragging his feet the entire way while he mumbled, always mumbling under his breath, his mood wasn't going to improve anytime soon, he wasn't helping himself, Faith merely followed behind and watched him slowly wind himself up, she tried her damnedest to invoke some combination of words that would soothe his enflamed temper, but nothing came to her, years of just taking Jacob and John's grief left her complacent and docile to such attitudes, it was something she was sure to change once this whole ordeal was over with. And speaking of complacent and docile, for some reason Faith believed once they made it back to their camper, Rook would calm down since he had a safe place to scheme something less hazardous but he only seemed to get worse, now that he was out of the wild and in somewhere secluded, he seemed to get even more vocal about his angers, he even eyed up some random objects that littered the place like he wanted to pick it up and throw it across the room. Despite the hells he had marched through, he still didn't know how to manage his anger. As Rook began his third tirade on how much he depside anyone and everyone who flew under the Seed banner, Faith couldn't stand by and watch anymore, he was trapping himself in an endless loop of brooding and hate, it was time to break the cycle.
"Well why don't we go do something until the time comes, your far to anger to actually plan anything at the moment" Faith offered, cutting off Rook's self indulgent rant and taking a step closer, entering his personal space.
He appeared startled for a second, he wasn't expecting her to passively butt heads with him again, but the anger quickly pooled over again and taking over.
"And what would we do, like really what is there to do in the state of the county?!" Rook barked, his anger not subsiding.
"We could go for another swim, just to cool off as it is getting hotter outside, or even just a simple clothing wash, we need to keep clean after all" Faith tried to be the voice of reason.
"I ain't getting naked with all these peggies hanging around
"What if we did a quick look around to make sure it is safe?" Faith offered again.
"Well what if they com-" Rook began to argue before cutting himself off.
"No, no, no, wait, wait, wait" he said quickly in irritation, taking a few steps back while holding up his hands to keep Faith from entering his personal space again.
"Fuck! I'm getting distracted!" he boomed in shocked frustration as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Let's just take a deep breath ok, there's no need to throw a fit" Faith hushed as she placed her hands on his heaving chest, hoping to placate him to calm him down.
"Yeah! Easy for you to say!" Rook barked as he began franticly pace up and down the camper, leaving Faith to anxiously watch, it was evident he wasn't going to calm down any time soon.
"You need to calm down" Faith offered, holding her hands together.
"I can't! I don't know how the fuck you just expect me to just chill out and calmly wait out the clock!" Rook exclaimed.
"Getting angry won't help you either!" Faith replied, exasperated.
Rook wanted to say something that wasn't nice, but an idea came to him before he did.
"OH, I know what to do!" Rook barked in annoyance.
Faith aside, he had to inform Clark and everyone back home of this startling development. He pulled the walkie talkie from his hip and called Clark, but he didn't pick up so instead he called Pratt, who picked almost immediately.
"Uh, uh, hey Rook, h-how's it going out there?" Pratt asked, he sounded like he was out of breath, or afraid, or perhaps both, but Rook didn't care, he had more important things on his mind.
"Hey how's the whole army thing going, we're going to need all they guys we can get" Rook ordered.
"O-oh that right yeah, word spread like wildfire, everyone in the Holland Valley is ready to move out and assist us stop the attack, but still no word on the Henbane resistance though" Pratt prattled on, sounding as uneasy as ever.
"That's great to hear actually, get everyone moving now, Jacob's going to firebombing tomorrow!" Rook cried.
"Wait, wasn't supposed to be two days?" Pratt asked.
"Yeah well fuck that, it's happening tomorrow, get everyone ready, now" Rook ordered again.
"Ok, ok, ok, I'll get on it… just uh, stay safe or whatever" Pratt offered.
"Good, expect me and Jess to come to assist, I'll find out their take off point and then radio ahead to let you all know"
"Your close to getting her?!" Pratt squeaked in surprisal.
"Yeah I'm making my move tonight, I might be coming in hot so prepare for the worst if I show up at the bunker" Rook ordered.
"What really!?... um, um ok, I'll get something together for you" Pratt babbled suddenly getting very nervous again.
"Good, see you then, Rook out" Rook said gruffy before clicking off the walkie and returning it to his hip, then he cast his gaze back to Faith.
"You're really going through with your reckless plan, huh" Faith gulped nervously.
"Still don't know what else to do?" Rook shrugged angrily.
"We could always take a more subtle, nonlethal approach?" Faith offered gently, hoping he wouldn't get even more wound up.
"Why do you keep say we?" Rook spat.
"I really doubt your going to help me kill dudes, no way in fuck can you just walk right up to his bunker, knock on the door and be let in, no probs, everything will be done one hundred percent by me" Rook spat as he jabbed his chest with his own thumb.
"You are right, I will not kill, but I wish to help you in any other way I can, if you die, so do I" Faith reminded him.
"OK, so then we should agree then, there is nothing more you can do outside of murder, so the best thing you can do I just wait here for me to return with Jess" Rook ordered sternly, taking a deep, frustrated breath.
"Ok Ben, how about this, you succeed in your mission and bring your Jessica back here, regardless of Jacob's death or not, then what? why wouldn't your friend try to kill me where I stand, if she is anything like the rest of your faction I will be cut down immediately and she would see you a traitor as well, why would you be in collusion with me? She won't trust you even if you saved her" Faith tried to reason with him.
"She won't hurt you because I'll tell her not too" Rook quickly responded.
"But you don't know that she'll most likely be in some crazed state just like every other poor soul that Jacob gets his talons on!" Faith retorted.
"It's not going to be like that! Trust me I have it all worked out, nothing bad will happen I promise!" Rook desperately rattled off, he was quickly running out of patience.
"I understand you wish to save your friend, but is it really worth, think about how valuable you are and how much people believe in you, is this truly worth it?!" Faith argued.
"Why are you always so negative? Why can't you just believe I can do this? I killed John and hundreds if not thousands of these fucking losers that joined Joseph's cult, I can handle a few more dickheads, and when I free Jess me and her will have no problem killing Jacob and getting back here in one piece, just you wait, once you meet her you'll see she's just as tough as me, you'll have nothing to fear once we're back!" Rook ranted on, he fully believed in what he was saying.
"You have a lot of faith for this woman, I'm sure you have a lot of trust among other things built up between each other, and I get it, you have feelings for her, but does she have feelings for you?" Faith asked.
"I don't want to hear this!" rook countered, pointing an accusing finger at her.
"Jess-" Faith started up but was quickly stopped.
"Don't" Rook barked, he knew what she was going to pull.
"Jess is a delinquent turnabout who clings to you because she can manipulate you into kill whoever with her, she's using you Ben, and once she has no more need of you, she'll cast you aside like a broken toy, moving on to the next poor, unfortunate soul to pray upon!" Faith dared to preach.
"Stop! Just stop!" Rook shouted vehemently.
"If you die on this fool's errand, everything you've done thus far will be in vain, no one will know what happened to you, not even I!" Faith continued.
"I won't fail!" Rook challenged.
"But you don't know that!" Faith cried back, taking a step closer to him.
"If I can make it this far by myself then I believe I can kill everyone in my way" Rook said confidently.
"Your not going up against John's or my men, they are so unbelievably untrained anyone with a gun could end a few lives, Jacob is a trained military veteran who has trained countless in perfecting the art in systematic slaughter, preparing for the end of the world and to kill you, and you want to walk right into their nest and kill them all?!" Faith argued.
"Not all of them, just Jacob and any who get in between him, Jess, and me" Rook barked, pointing a thumb at himself.
"Listen to yourself, is this who you want to be? casually voicing your desires to murder many, this is not the man I met last month" Faith argued.
"I don't give a fuck who you met last month, we're talking about here and now, and I will kill Jacob!" Rook bellowed.
"Benjamin! Listen to yourself, this isn't right, you're not thinking clearly due to your fervent wrath!" Faith cried.
"I don't care, if being fucking pissed all day everyday is what gets me through this Goddamned hellhole with Joseph's head on a stick, then so fucking be it!" Rook shouted.
Faith didn't respond immediately, she merely looked greatly hesitant, something danced on the tip of her tongue, she looked almost afraid to say it, but whatever hurdles she had struggles with, she overcame them and spoke her mind.
"Your so blinded by false love and anger you can't see what's been going on in front of you, if you did then maybe you'd have more love in your life!" Faith cried emotionally.
"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Rook barked, placing his hands on his hips.
This time Faith only answered by leaning in again, closing the distance between the two with a deep kiss.
The suddenness of it all made Rook lock up, he was caught totally off guard by it, he didn't think Faith would do such a thing, at first he though it all an act, but her warm lips felt so genuine, so real, she truly meant it, he couldn't remember the last time he felt something so loving, it made all the hate and anger melt away like ice during a heatwave, it made him feel normal, maybe she was right, maybe he was to far up his own ass and making it a bigger deal then it was, maybe he needed something, maybe he needed her.
Faith had always been on his side even long before she was banished from her position of power, she never stopped caring for his wellbeing, perhaps it was due to Joseph always wanting her to act a certain way for his followers, maybe it truly was her nature to be so caring, regardless, maybe in the weeks she communicated with Rook, a sort of love for his blossomed, Joseph undoubtedly kept a very tight leash on her to keep her from doing anything that would tarnish the Seed or Eden Gate name, especially talking to boys, and Rook couldn't blame Joseph, she was very pretty and did no wrong. Any desires to fight back and stop the kiss, just like his anger, it all faded away, in fact, he brought his hand up and gently touched her face as they kissed, and Faith wrapped her arms around his torso pulling him close. As quick as the make out came, the kiss grew more wanting, more hunger, both started fighting for the others mouth and eventually tongues, they wanted each other.
Then with no words, Faith's hands snaking down his chest until the rested on his hips, once it was clear he wasn't going to resist, she lowered her hands once more and hooked her thumbs on his belt, tugging lightly, she wasn't going to be subtle anymore. And by the way Rook reacted, he understood what was happening, what was more, he didn't act timid or apprehensive like he used to, he wanted this, knowing that, Faith took it one step further and grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it upwards, revealing the rough carved and scarred muscled body, it made her eyes light up, he was just like what she saw in her romance movies, this was most certainly what she wanted. Rook, also wanting this, gently pushed her back, into the beat-up couch seats, she fell back willingly and silently watched with glee as he then climbed on top off her, their bodies rapidly expanding and contracting with each deep breath they took. Rook silently leaned in to her as she sat up a little to meet him half way, as their lips met and held together over and over again, she smelt unbelievable good to Rook, everything was so perfect, her soft, warm skin, beautiful eyes, round hips, and buxom chest, she was like a God send, to have someone who wouldn't hurt or lash out at him despite his flaws, but to accept him how he was, literally and metaphorically.
"Faith" Faintly escaped Rook's lips, he was lost in her as he broke from her lips and began to kiss his way down her slender neck.
"Call me Rachael" Rachael moaned lightly as her eyes drifted shut, enjoying the ecstasy of the intimate contact.
"Rachael" Rook echoed, tugging off her shirt, she gave no resistance as it came off.
As Rook continued to slowly work his way down her neck, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into her as she softly moaned, she wanted to be one with him, her nails lightly digging into his back. Before any marks could be left upon his back, he pulled back, sitting upright as he straddled her and looked down at the waiting woman who wanted him, and what he saw was perfection, her beautiful hair streaming out like a bride's veil, her pretty blue yes watching him expectantly, the cute light flush streaking across her delicate face, the very shape of her incredible body, his eyes eventually dripped downwards to her chest, the breasts that he almost saw hours ago was now ready for him, hidden behind a simple white lace bra, he considered how to remove the garment, the gentleman in him said just undo it normally, but the animal, the warrior, just told him to rip the damn thing off and take the woman, but as he finally reached out to do the deed, but as his hands extended forward, they paused halfway and trembled, hesitation suddenly gripping him, it was like something was possessing him, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't follow through, and he knew exactly why. A broken and fragile sigh escaped him before he slowly relented, pulling back and climbing off the woman, standing back up on two feet.
Gasping lightly, Racheal looked up at her newfound lover to see that he for some reason appeared defeated.
"Is everything alright?" Racheal asked as she propped herself up on her elbows, concerned to what could have possibly stopped him.
But instead of responding, his eyes stayed on the floor for a while as a pained and shameful look streaked his face
"I'm sorry, I just… fuck" Rook finally sighed, he felt disgusted and ashamed of himself, his arms tightly crossing his chest.
For some reason he felt as if he was betraying Jess, she has been most likely tortured in an attempt to be broken for days now probably hoping Rook would save her, meanwhile, here he was, about to have sex with someone she would have killed on sight, someone who is guilty of so much, Jess could be dead for all he knew.
"Are you alright?" Racheal asked again, more gently then before as she rose from her resting place and approached the wounded Deputy, gently cupping the side of his face in an attempt to comfort him and make him look at her, but he fought it, refused to look at her.
"I'm sorry… I can't do it, I…" Rook said in shame as he backpedaled, eyes downcast as he backed into the camper's wall.
"Was it something I did? Have I upset you?" Racheal asked, leaning in closer to him, hoping a kiss wound remedy the situation.
But Rook pushed her away, freeing his face from her grasp and stepping away from her.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Faith, Racheal, whoever you are, I just can't do this, this isn't right" Rook sighed.
He looked at the woman before him, taking in her radiant form, she pushed his instincts towards a sexual direction, she still did, but his heart rebelled for another option, one Rook knew all to well, it came in a clarity that he avoided to protect what little vulnerability he had left, his feelings, but they had finally pushed their way to the surface as he stood on the precipice of something he couldn't take back, he had to set the record straight, for the good of both parties within the camper, for the good of his emotions.
"I love Jess" he finally admitted, coming to terms with the feelings associated with those words, they felt right, he wanted to say it again, but the words and openness felt foreign, it was never done before.
"And I just can't keep using you as a coping mechanism for my failures, this isn't right, we barely know each other, I'm here to arrest Joseph and you're his sister, a very culpable sister, and I shouldn't be getting involved with you like this…" Rook tried to say, the words were hard to conjure.
"Regardless of what happens her, come tomorrow, she won't be Jacob's prisoner anymore" he swallowed, looking for some sort of courage that was buried deep within him, but he found none.
It didn't help that Faith wasn't agreeing with him, by the way she looked, she wasn't taking it well, she looked genuinely hurt, she could start sobbing before the days end, and he was right about what he had said, she was a culpable person of interest, the last thing he needed to do was greatly upset her, especially when he gave her a firearm a while ago.
"Your going to get yourself killed!" Racheal barked, trying to keep the feelings down, hurt and rejection rocking her systems, tears pushing their way out her eyes.
"If me dying is what ends all this… then so be it" Rook gulped, finally being able to conjure up so hidden gumption.
"Well, well, I care for you greatly as well, I, I, I love you, and I will not let you just throw your life away for some reprobate who relishes in killing, ok I will admit, everything I have experienced has made me wary of the Father, something does not feel right, but that doesn't mean you need to risk your life for one woman who may not even love you, but there is a woman that loves you right here, standing before, all I ask is for you to let go of this suicidal plan and Jess and I'm yours, nobody else's, I'll give you all that I can, please Benjamin!" Racheal cried, tears streaking her face as her voice grew shrill as she felt what little she had spiral away from her and towards the same end as her old life, and she just couldn't let that happen, only one possible option came to mind, she didn't like it, but if it was the only way to save him, then it was the only way.
"What if, what if… you and me... we, we grab what we can take and we just go, we find a away out of this County and we find some quiet corner of the world and we… live our lives, together" she begged him, inching her way towards him, she felt if she could just touch him, he'd to what she wants and he'd be safe.
"I'm sorry... I can't do that either, I can't just leave everyone for dead, I can't abandon my loved ones" Rook grimaced, shaking his head vehemently.
"But what about me?! Am I not a loved one, you were about to make love to me! Haven't we been through enough, haven't we earned just a little bit of happiness" Faith cried passionately, tears streaming freely down her rosy cheeks.
"Believe me Racheal, all I want to do is throw in the towel and run away from all this, but that won't solve anything, everyone will die without me, and I can't live with that on my conscience" Rook said as he felt his jaw began to quiver, for some reason this was cutting him up more then he expected.
"I'm going to Jacob's bunker, and I'm going to kill Jacob and save Jess whether you like it or not" Rook stated, steeling himself.
"You can't, I won't allow it!" Faith barked, an empty threat.
"Then I guess you better stop me here and now" Rook offered softly as he scooped his discarded shirt off the floor and putting it on.
Even though she heard the challenge, Faith knew she had no sway over him, she was powerless, all she could do was cry and beg him not to get himself killed.
"Please, please, Benjamin, don't go!" she cried and begged.
But Rook ignored her pleas, he scooped up his bow, quiver and marched towards the door, trying not to let her words get to him, seeing as begging wouldn't work, Faith began scrambling for her top, hoping to try something new, but by then, Rook was already outside, leaving the warm camper and the weeping woman inside, and ran off into the cold and unforgiving county, off to do what he felt was right, the peggies he saw earlier should still be there tearing that place apart, all he could do now was sit and watch from a distance, and when they just about finished, he'd make his move.
The credited song used in this chapter is Dream Sweet In Sea Minor by Miracle Musical and sorry for the late upload, he site is not letting me update.
