Someone is humming.
It's incredibly soothing, so much so that her first instinct upon regaining consciousness is to sink into the grass despite her hayfever - despite how badly everything hurts - Joey wakes to the first moment of serenity she's felt in five years.
Of course, this is Hope County on the verge of 'Collapse', so that one fleeting moment is ripped away from her just as soon as she's in it. Distant sounds of peppering gunfire and shouts, honking horns and snarling animals drag Joey painfully back into the present, where everything is shit.
She cracks an eye open, hoping the itchy grass she's been slumped in provides enough cover for her to get an idea of her surroundings before she has to act. The first thing she sees is Joseph, stood not too far away but with his back to her (shirtless as always), seemingly admiring the land around them - they're quite high up, she surmises - admiring God's work, she imagines he would probably say. Outwardly, he looks serene, face turned upwards towards the sun so that it may kiss his skin with God's radiant blessing; but every now and again he'll angle his head off to the side and watch something. Joey has to risk opening her eyes a tiny bit further, but she manages to strain herself to take in what it is he keeps looking at over to the right - it's the source of the humming, of course - Joey feels she should have recognised the tone because it's so familiar now that she's able to match it to a face. Cassidy and Faith are sat together, the latter sprawling in the grass so that she can lay her head in the former's lap. They're humming together, she realises, which must be why she couldn't pick out Cassidy's distinct melody. It's eerily familiar, one of the cringey cult songs they crank out over the radio.
Upon focusing harder, Joey realises that Cassidy is either playing with Faith's hair or plaiting it, which must be the reason for Joseph's irregular staring - soulbonds often provoke irrational feelings of jealousy and possessiveness in their hosts - and from what she's heard, Joseph Seed is no exception to this rule. From her own experience, as new as it is, it almost seems compulsory.
Now that she looks at him - really looks at him - something ever so slight about his posture will tense up whenever he glances in his wife's direction. It has Joey pondering how long it would take for the otherworldly cult leader persona to take a back seat to his innate desire to have his wife pay such loving, close personal attention to his hair - she strongly considers laying dormant and feigning unconsciousness until Joseph gives in to this temptation and comes away with braids and flowers.
Suddenly a shadow looms over her prone form, blocking out the sun that splays across her skin like a warm blanket.
"I know you're awake, pup." Shit. Jacob. "As valiant as your effort to play dead is, and as content as I would be to let you lie your tired ass down in a field all day and catch up on some sleep; there just ain't no rest for the wicked. So, come on - up and at 'em, Hudson - we got shit to do." He nudges her back with his steel-toed boots and it's a testament to how many injuries she must have accrued these past few months because her spine protests like a motherfucker.
Of course, he feels the pain too, which admittedly helps a little.
"Fucking masochist," she mutters, pointedly ignoring the hand he offers to help her up. It takes her long enough to be embarrassing and it's difficult but Joey eventually manages to get up of her own volition, standing before her mountain of a soulmate with her pride still intact. Jacob stares her down with steely exasperation.
He looks like he has a lot he wants to say, but instead, he brings two fingers to his mouth and whistles, waiting for his family to turn in their direction before announcing: "She's awake."
Joey glowers at him, trying to murder him with her eyes alone.
"Joey!" Cassidy exclaims with all the warmth in the world as she approaches her, grasping one of Joey's hands in both of her own. Her soft thumbs pass gently over the bruises and callouses that have been accrued over Deputy Hudson's knuckles over time. "I took the liberty of throwing out that pack of cigarettes you had in your pack." Joey's head snaps up to stare accusingly at the other woman, mind moving a mile a minute to assemble a fitting telling off, but Cassidy beats her to it. "I seem to recall you agreeing with me, not so long ago, that the smoking was a crux and that you were gonna make a real effort to quit?"
"Yeah, maybe so, but that was before you went insane and joined a fucking doomsday cult so any sage wisdom you imparted upon me suddenly didn't seem so sage anymore, in retrospect. You can't pull the shit you've pulled and expect your life lessons to still hold the same weight that they did before."
The silence is as brief as it is measured and somehow Cassidy actually has the audacity to look slightly hurt - even Joseph's brow furrows slightly, a significant exhale leaving his body - it's a good thing John isn't here, she recognises, because there's no way an outburst like that would have not been pounced upon in his presence. She's well aware of the horrors the youngest Seed is capable of, by now; the hours spent in that fucking bunker had left a lasting impression after all.
"Watch your mouth, Deputy." It's Jacob who's first to object to her behaviour, arms crossed over his chest and lips drawn in a thin line of disapproval. The pathetic soulmate bond between them tugs at her beseechingly, manipulating her to make her feel a little guilty.
"Or what? You'll give us both a concussion?"
"Enough." Joseph has evidently seen fit to take over the spotlight, having no doubt spent too long in the background for his liking. "We have work to do today. The Lord has seen fit to bless us with clear skies and boundless opportunities... are we going to disappoint Him?"
"Never." Cassidy breathes, tone coloured warm and uniquely sweet as she gazes at Joseph. He looks back to her and the two are frozen like this for a moment before Jacob clears his throat to bring them back to the present. Without meaning to Joey exchanges a look of her own with Jacob and wonders if that would ever be the two of them - she knows the answer already - not in this timeline, not at this rate.
Faith - who has been eerily quiet this whole time - steps forward to clasp at Joey's hands, taking over the space that Cassidy had been occupying. Her fingers are cold, palms clammy for just a second before a potent dose of Bliss hits Joey and makes it all go away - now everything about Faith is wonderful and joyous - borderline ethereal with her Holy Family stood around her to complete the picture. Jacob looks... off, though, like something has personally offended him; his head bowed and eyes on the ground.
In this haze, the Seeds escort her to a nearby car where she sits with Faith in the backseat, Cassidy and Joseph up front and Jacob situates himself in the cargo bed at the back, ever the soldier. Joey's losing time now, ordinary blinks turn into mini blackouts and after what feels like forever sat so close to Faith, and therefore an unfiltered amount of Bliss, Joey has to fight to keep her head up and her eyes open. She has to hope that wherever they're taking her is close because soon she's going to pass out.
She changes her mind very quickly when she sees just where they've taken her.
Fuck. This is a whole new level of bad.
It's what looks like a picturesque outdoor wedding space, rows of white benches spaced out facing an arch - everything's covered in familiar flowers - there's even a little pulpit off to the side where Joseph will presumably be giving one of his infamous speeches. Most terrifying, though, are the cameras. There's three of them laid out strategically to get the best angles for the event - the implications of everything start to fly through Joey's Bliss addled mind and before her mouth can catch up with the half-formed words and sentences trying to transmit from her brain - Cassidy once again positions herself directly into Joey's space, cupping her cheeks like a mother would her favourite child.
"Shh, Joey. It's alright, this is how it's supposed to go - take comfort in that - in the fate that God has woven for all of us. Right here, right now... we're just completing another section of your tapestry. It's alright, it's what He intended for you all along."
Fuck, she's just as insane as the rest of them. She's beyond saving. I have to run.
Joey makes a weak attempt at turning to run but the Bliss has sunken into her skin so heavily by now that her coordination is poor at best and Jacob's eagle-like attention to her every move ensures that he's already there to stop her before she can trip over her own feet and make a run for it. A hand wraps around her bicep, keeping her anchored in place and it feels a little like it burns because it's his hand and it takes every ounce of self-respect Joey has not to sink into the touch.
"Bad idea, pup." He admonishes, eyes avoiding her entirely. Why does that hurt?
"You can't run from fate, Joey. Why fight the cosmic inevitable?" Slender hands return to her cheeks and gently turn her face away from Jacob and back towards Cassidy, who now has Joseph looming at her shoulder. The band of metal that comprises Cassidy's wedding ring feels cool against Joey's cheek, and the reminder that it's there kind of makes her want to cry. "This is a good thing, Joey... a beautiful thing! You'll see that, eventually, further down the line - that we were never your enemy - God has always intended for you to join us, be a part of our family."
No, no, no, no, no.
"Glad to see you haven't started without me." A new voice sounds out across the space, one that is horrifically familiar. John's here.
Now Joey really starts to struggle, tears pricking at her eyes as John's approaching figure gets closer and closer to their small cluster. Joey's been trying to block out the bunker for a week now, expending all of the effort she should have put into sleeping on burying everything that she went through instead. The only mercy this so-called God saw fit to grant her was that by that point she and Jacob had not triggered their bond by saying their words to each other yet, so he wouldn't have felt any of the trauma and the pain that she went through at the hands of his younger brother.
A deeper, darker, uglier part of her almost wishes that he had, just so she had someone who understood.
"How could we ever start without you, John?" Cassidy releases Joey entirely as she turns to greet her brother in law at the same time that her husband does. John's face practically lights up, and it becomes clear to Joey now that all of the affection, attention and approval he so desperately craves from his family he almost exclusively gets from Cassidy. Joey doesn't know how, but she can tell just from looking at Joseph's back that he doesn't like this - the expression on John's face least of all - and the Father steps ahead of his wife to meet John halfway, a hand clasping his brother's shoulder while the other grasps his hand in a lingering handshake.
"Did you bring the documentation with you, John?"
"Yes, Joseph." John bows his head slightly in reverence to his brother, which seems to appease the Father a little. "Everything is ready."
Cassidy returns her attentions to Joey, hands clasping her former partner by the shoulders and gifting her a smile that could part the clouds on a rainy day. Jacob remains stoic at Joey's side, eyes scanning their surroundings for any outliers. As far as Joey can tell - there are none - which means that she's really going to have to go through with this, the leaders of Eden Gate are going to force her to marry into their family and bind her to them forever.
She risks a glance at John, just to find him grinning back at her with unfiltered sadism dancing behind his eyes. Truly, there are no allies here - not even her soulmate - definitely not the woman she had once considered her closest friend.
The ceremony is awful.
It goes on for what feels like forever. Joey glances about desperately as she's forced to stand in place, across from Jacob under that fucking archway and listen to John drone on about vows and duties and true love. The only thing that keeps her going is the hope that someone - anyone - will come thundering into the clearing at any given moment and bring it all to a violent halt. Sharky, Jess, the entire population of Fall's End - even Hurk Drubman Sr. would do. But nothing happens, nobody comes to her rescue, and Joey Hudson becomes Joey Seed with no one in attendance to object to the union when the time comes.
A ring is forced on her finger and John announces, very loudly, that you may now kiss the bride.
Jacob's lips meet hers softly, as if he understands that her entire world has just come crashing down around her.
The attendees cheer and throw petals and rice up in the air, Faith and Cassidy dance around in joy while Joseph stands from his seat and claps like he's just seen a really good play. None of it seems real, but the ring on her finger and the documents John gets her to sign beg to differ.
At the end, Cassidy comes to meet her with a hug and doesn't let go for a really long time.
"I'm sorry," her friend whispers when nobody else can hear them.