The hubbub of the bar surrounded the Junior Deputy as she surveyed the room. It was a happy day at Fall's End, and Barbara had just managed to find some peace away from the people constantly coming over to offer a toast, pat her on the back, and congratulate her for killing one of the biggest menaces around.

John Seed was dead and gone, never to bother anyone ever again. Everyone was ecstatic and Barbara herself would have been exceedingly happy as well if it were under normal circumstances.

The soreness sprawled over her chest as well as the darkness that came with it was almost enough to dull any sense of joy she could have. Barbara looked around the room, quickly spotting Grace amiably conversing with Joey and Jerome. Jess was not too far from Barbara, leaning against the bar and trying to avoid any contact with anyone as she stared at her drink.

She swiftly came to the conclusion that no one would really notice if she slipped away, especially with the amount of noise and activity everywhere. Barbara pushed off of the bar, striding quietly toward the bathroom. Unfortunately, she was not quite sure where it was, so she had to search around for a moment.

She finally discovered it, however, and just as she began to open it, a familiar voice piped up behind her.

"What're you doing?"

Barbara stopped and turned to gaze at who had approached her. It was none other than Jess Black, staring down the deputy with a strange glint in her eyes and her arms crossed. Barbara cleared her throat and replied carefully.

"Going to take a look at the damage… What're you doing?" Barbara echoed, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head slightly as she looked at the younger girl. Jess blinked, looking with those pretty blue eyes filled with uncertainty and hesitance before suddenly hardening her gaze by an act of force.

"Well, I figured I'd come in here with you and make sure you're not about to commit suicide or something," Jess told her plainly, not sugarcoating the words whatsoever. Barbara just softly chuckled under her breath, shaking her head. She appreciated what Jess was trying to do. She knew the girl was obviously trying to be there for her in the best way that she knew how, and it was a gruff process by which she explained herself.

Barbara wandered over and stood before the mirror. Jess shut the door carefully behind them, and Barbara took a slight breath, mentally attempting to prepare herself for what she was about to look at.

She slowly hooked her fingers under the bottom of her shirt and pulled up on the red, white, and blue tank top, the layer peeling off as she removed it. She immediately choked as her eyes locked onto the word etched into her skin, angry red welts all around where the blade had offended her skin.

WRATH.

It broke her heart, and she hesitantly reached a hand up to touch the injured skin. She ran her fingers over the letters, her skin stinging like fire as her fingertips brushed along.

"It hurts," Jess spoke up, a knowing tone in her voice as she acknowledged the pain that was on the surface of Barbara's chest. Jess was very knowledgeable about injuries of the sort that Barbara was handling. Jess's experience was quite literally etched into her face.

"Keep it clean and medicated. It should stop hurting quite so bad in a week or two," Jess supplied helpfully, and Barbara nodded absently, her mind in a completely different place as she just gaped at the word.

It was just so ugly. It was just barely scabbed up, and there was dried blood all around it. Barbara had not had the chance to even look at it. She had been so busy with taking down John and releasing all of the innocents from the bunker that Barbara was not thinking of anything else. Even the now festering and stabbing pain of her skin. She clenched her teeth as she accidentally pressed a little too hard on the H.

She slowly let her hand drop and she stepped back, letting herself sit down on the closed toilet seat lid. She was quiet for a long moment, and Jess moved the slightest bit closer, not uttering a word.

"I knew something was coming, Jess. I had a bad feeling about all of it, but there was absolutely nothing I could do. I had to save those people in Fall's End," Barbara muttered finally, shamelessly sitting there on the lid of the toilet with only a sports bra covering her torso. She could still easily see the welts and the word left behind in her chest, despite the fact that they were squiggly lines on the W and the H from where she had so desperately fought her fate.

Jess just looked down at the word, not uttering a single word as she took in the sight of it with those strange and unreadable eyes that somehow always came across as sad when she was not blazingly angry.

"You did what you had to and got out without being skinned. You're doing better than most people, Barb," the younger girl told her, and Barbara chuckled humorlessly, her gaze stuck on the word etched into her chest.

"It's so ugly," Barbara muttered under her breath, but Jess was easily able to pick up the words. After all, she was the one that was always listening quietly and could quickly detect someone coming in a stealth situation.

"Tell me about it," Jess wryly spoke, gesturing at her own face with a relatively good-natured roll of her eyes. Barbara shook her head, looking up at the girl that she had befriended as she negated the girl's statement.

"No. Yours could be gotten from anything and looks like some kind of tough warrior thing. And it doesn't make you look weak or ugly and makes you unique. Mine… Mine is definite evidence that I was captured by the cult, and it's a mark of shame," Barbara informed her, feeling a strange emotion that was somewhere between red hot anger and the deep pang of sadness.

The letters left a mark deeper than just upon her skin. She was now marred, and it was something that she truly did not think about in her life. Sure, she thought that Eden's Gate would capture her, but she never really thought that she would wake up to John Seed with a blade and carving a word into her skin.

In fact, as arrogant as it might have sounded, she sort of naively thought that she was invincible to all that. She truly believed that she could defeat any of the siblings and if they did catch her, she would just escape. After all, she had managed to escape from John every time that he caught her.

Except for this time. And that absolutely and utterly destroyed her sense of pride and respect for herself. With every line in her, she steadily lost a sense of victory in killing him. He would be with her forever.

Her thoughts must have reflected on her face.

"You can cry or… whatever. I'm not gonna judge," Jess told her shortly, obviously quite uncomfortable with the situation as she shifted a bit in her stance, allowing her shoulder to press against the wall as she leaned and attempted to relax at least a little.

Barbara could easily see that Jess felt terribly out of place. Jess was better when constantly moving. It almost seemed as if her movement was a coping mechanism. Perhaps it was how she kept from settling her mind on all the demons and the horrid memories.

Barbara laughed humorlessly, the pain and the sorrow causing it to seem more like a sob. Perhaps it was.

"A piece of me will always be his," Barbara stated, the cold fact slipping from between her lips like poison and leaving a revolting taste in its wake.

"Nah. That's just proof that you won, Barb," Jess expressed, and Barbara glanced up at her before looking down at the floor, swallowing hard as she tried to pull herself together. She should not cry. There was no time for tears. She had to keep moving and take these people down.

But should not and would not were two completely different concepts.

Despite her better judgement, the woman felt her heart constricting in her chest and her sensible reasoning shutting down as she completely immersed herself in the hurt inside of her heart. Barbara sniffed hard, placing a hand over her mouth as she tried to keep herself together.

And so the tears began to fall. Helplessly and endlessly, the waterfall streamed its unleashed grief.

She hiccupped, stopping abruptly as she suddenly felt Jess's hand take her own free one carefully. Just barely among the sea floating in her eyes, Barbara could see that Jess had slid down the wall and was now sitting next to Barbara in the floor, holding her hand and looking around the room as she tried to avoid making any sort of eye contact.

Barbara wasted no time in squeezing Jess's hand as if it were her lifeline. Jess hesitantly returned the squeeze, obviously not sure what to do but trying her best to comfort Barbara nevertheless.

"Y'know the good thing about this?" Jess asked, and Barbara immediately looked at her as she wiped her eyes with the heel of her palm. It was a truly incredible day when Jess came up with a bright side, so Barbara could not help but immediately listen when Jess uttered the words.

"That scar on you is not just proof that you won, but proof that John will never hurt anyone else. Your wrath overcame his insanity," Jess pointed out, and Barbara slowed her tears, realizing that Jess was completely right. Barbara swallowed hard before blinking away whatever was let of her tears and wiping at her face carefully. She clenched her teeth, attempting to regain the control that she so desperately needed.

However, she never released Jess's hand as she attempted to pull herself back into some semblance of where she was pre-injury.

"You're right," Barbara murmured, and Jess scoffed.

"Of course. I'm always right," Jess gruffly replied, and the response was just so typical of the girl that Barbara could not help but allow true and pure laughter to escape her. Jess chuckled slightly, and Barbara simply laughed even more, sniffing hard as she found her heart healing just the smallest bit.

"C'mon, Deputy. Do something constructive, 'kay?" Jess told her, getting up from her seated position and tugging a little on Barbara's hand. Barbara moved up with the motion, and as soon as she stood up, she gently hugged Jess. Jess froze, but Barbara did not really care. She wanted to give the girl the affection she deserved for being there for her in such a time of need.

"Thank you, Jess," the deputy murmured, and Jess hesitantly brought her arms up and hugged Barbara in return. Barbara was about to let go, but she suddenly realized that Jess was actually leaning into the hug ever so slightly. Barbara smiled in spite of herself and embraced the younger girl a little more tightly.

"Yeah, yeah… Can't have you falling into some pit of despair. You gotta help more people," Jess told her, letting go after a few moments as she almost seemed to wake up from some spell. Barbara forced a little bit of a smile as she started to follow Jess out the door.

However, Jess suddenly paused, turning to look at her.

"Might wanna clean up, though, before you go helping more folks," Jess noted, and Barbara nodded, realizing that she was nowhere near ready to leave the bathroom. Jess nodded and started out again. But she stopped after only a moment, the door almost shut. Barbara could see the slight smirk on her face as she uttered her next statement.

"And put on some clothes, would you?"

A/N: Okay…. So this was my first Far Cry 5 fic! Please take it easy on me, lol. I'm still learning the characters as I go :)

I pretty much wrote this because I absolutely love Jess, and I love that sweet tiny soft side she has. It's so cute and she obviously only unlocks it with folks she really cares about. I just absolutely adore seeing it when it comes to light! I also kind of started thinking about how John Seed literally carves on the main character's chest and she's stuck with it for life…

Please let me know what y'all thought of this one! I'd really appreciate some feedback! And please do stick around! I should have another oneshot released soon! :)