A/N: Ugghh, these last few days have sucked! I'm swamped with things I need to write, and I broke my Bella headphones D}': Whyyy meee.
Just a sidenote to anyone that has this story on their story alerts, I'm going back and making some minor changes to the previous chapters in terms of consistent capitalization and such; I'll be doing that the same time I post this, so if you got a few email notifications for it, that's why:{3 Dunno if you'd get a bunch of notifications for that or not, but thought I'd tell you guys anyway.
DISCLAIMER: Why no, I don't own Pitch Perfect. How dare you ask me such a thing, how rude:{O
A ten year old Beca giggled as Stacie playfully shoved her, light smiles grazing both young girls' faces. The two sisters were sitting atop a grassy hill that overlooked the town of Barden - the hill being their own secret area they had stumbled across one day when fooling around in the forest, - and the sun was setting off to their right, painting the sky into a beautiful canvas of oranges and reds.
"Okay hotshot, if you think you've mastered the art," Stacie said teasingly, nodding her head toward the sunset, "tell me what time it is, right now."
"Okay, I will," Beca responded confidently, puffing out her chest. She moved her gaze to peer over at the sun, shielding her eyes with her hand lazily - rule number one of 'sun position time-telling,' do not look at the sun directly; Beca had learned that the hard way. "Umm... it's..."
"Keep in mind what season it is," Stacie reminded quietly. Beca nodded.
"It's, uh..." The younger girl squinted, trying to gauge the sun's position as she had been shown. "Hmmm... Eight thirtyish?"
"Not too bad, Bec," Stacie praised with a proud smile, tackling her sister in an affectionate hug as she began ruffling up Beca's brunette hair. "I told you you'd get it."
"Ah, stop it!" Beca laughed incredulously, attempting to wiggle free from the older girl's hold as she batted at Stacie's hands. "Taze, cut it out!" But Stacie didn't relent, laughing play-maniacally as Beca squirmed.
However, the young brunette was suddenly ripped from her memory as consciousness took over, her sister's warm and protecting arms fading around her as the soft cool grass melted away into cold hard concrete. Pain erupted throughout her body, the worst being the pulsating sharpness through her shoulder, and Beca let out a broken gasp at the sudden excruciating pain. It took her muddled brain a moment to register the figure looming over her, their hair no longer the familiar brunette locks of her sister, but a bright and fiery red. As she felt the cold biting metal around her wrists, awareness came rushing back to the brunette like a tidal wave, washing out the last of the warmth the grassy hill had brought her. The remnants of her dream disintegrated away into harsh reality, and a pained groan rumbled through Beca's chest.
"Oh good," the princess breathed in relief, leaning back from her curious hover position over the bandit. "I thought you were dead or something."
"What difference would it make to you if I was?" Beca questioned weakly, coughing. Chloe's brows furrowed in concern at this, picking up on the agony lacing the bandit's strained voice.
"What happened to you anyway?" the princess asked, eyes going to the half-dried blood streaks on the brunette's face. "You look like a bloody mess."
"Your royal bozos happened," the brunette informed her.
"The guards?" Chloe asked, mouth going dry as the bandit confirmed her suspicions. "But... they aren't supposed to hurt you! They aren't even supposed to come into the cell, they're just supposed to... verbally question you."
Beca chuckled darkly at this. "Welcome to the real world, princess."
The redhead bit her lip, silently wondering what other secrets the kingdom was running right under her nose. As much as she hated to think about it, she knew these kind of things would have to be her father's doing; the castle wouldn't move a finger unless one of the royals commanded it first, and it was likely the queen was just as clueless to what was really going on in the castle as Chloe was. Mrs. Beale would no doubt be just as appalled as her daughter had been to discover such things were happening - neglecting to feed the prisoner, the violent qustionings - and Chloe knew her mother would not stand for it if she caught word of it.
Fucking hell," Beca ground out, snapping the redhead from her thoughts. "My- ugh." The jangling of Beca's handcuffs echoed through the prison chamber as the brunette reached up to gingerly touch her bloodied shoulder, teeth gritted tightly. The injury looked as if it had been wrapped with a strip of fabric from Beca's tunic - most likely the bandit's own handiwork - but the wound seemed to be bleeding again from being roughed up by the guards, fresh blood seeping through the makeshift bandage and soaking the thief's already-bloodied clothes. Beca let out a shaky wheeze, stubborn tears of pain prickling the corners of her eyes as black spots once again danced in her vision.
"That looks really bad," Chloe noted, grimacing at the suffering girl before her. "Maybe I could bandage it for you." The brunette didn't respond, looking about ready to pass out again from the unbearable pain, and the redhead quickly got to her feet, shuffling out of the cell and locking it hurriedly. "I'll be right back," she threw over her shoulder as she left the prison chamber, leaving the half-conscious bandit lying on the stone cold floor of her cell.
Chloe quickly burst into the empty infirmary, her eyes darting around calculatingly before she strode across the room and opened the big cabinet. As she shuffled through various medical supplies, she tensed as she heard the door open behind her.
"Princess, I thought I saw you come in this door," the familiar masculine voice of Tom rang out, and the redhead sighed quietly, not in the mood to put up with the arrogant prince. Ignoring Tom, Chloe continued to dig in the cabinet, grabbing a few bandages and some disinfectant.
Tom took in his surroundings, cocking his brow, and when he realized he wasn't going to get a response he spoke up again. "What are you doing in the infirmary? Are you feeling alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Chloe answered distractedly, grabbing a few more objects.
"Your father is nice," Tom started casually, taking a few steps forward to stand behind the princess. "He seems to believe we would be good together."
Chloe said nothing at this, the only sign she'd even heard him being the momentary pause of her hand as she reached for a roll of thread. Tom didn't seem to notice Chloe's tense posture, as he slowly reached out to run his hand down her arm before bringing it to rest on her shoulder. Chloe tried to shrug him off, but he ignored her, keeping his hand in place.
"I think we would be good together too," Tom spoke again, lip quirking as his hand slid down the redhead's back. "I mean, you're pretty good looking, and we're both royalty and all. You could be my queen." As the prince's hand journeyed lower, Chloe huffed indignantly, shoving his hand away.
"Stop it. I'm not interested, Tom," she growled, glaring at him.
"What? Why not?" the prince spoke incredulously, unable to fathom why someone wouldn't want to be with him. "I'm the prince, and I'm hot. Most people would be thrilled to have this opportunity." It was obvious he wasn't used to being rejected, and Chloe rolled her eyes at his arrogance as she began quickly shoving all the supplies she'd grabbed into a bag so she could leave; she didn't want to be in his presence any longer than she needed to. However, to her chagrin Chloe's movements were paused when Tom grabbed her wrist, stopping her.
"Tom, let go," she spoke, narrowing her eyes.
"Princess-"
"Don't call me that," she snapped back almost instantly, finding she hated the sound of that title leaving his lips a lot more than it bothered her when it left Beca's.
Tom furrowed his brows. "Fine, Chloe. I just think that we'd be good together, you know? A lot of people would kill to be with me, but I'm choosing you."
Chloe scoffed incredulously, yanking her hand from Tom's grip. "You're so full of yourself, thinking your God's gift to the world or something and that any girl should consider themselves lucky to get a chance with you. Did it ever occur to you that some people just don't want to be with you?"
Tom's jaw clenched as he took a step back, and Chloe took advantage of the prince's stunned silence to quickly grab her bag of first aid supplies, striding past Tom and pushing out the door without looking back.
Chloe entered the prison chamber quietly, glancing around to make sure no guards were around before speaking.
"Beca? Are you awake?"
There was a moment of silence.
"No," a familiar voice answered raspily.
Chloe's lip quirked upward in amusement, moving to approach the bandit's cell. "How are you feeling?" the redhead asked, her hand wrapping around one of the cell's bars as she peered in.
"Like I've been hit by a boat," Beca groaned.
"A boat?"
"Don't question it."
Chloe didn't hesitate to grab the cell key, quickly letting herself in before kneeling next to the brunette. "I brought some first aid supplies," the princess informed Beca, setting the bag in her hand down on the stone floor. "Thought I could fix you up a bit, if you wanted me to that is."
The thief eyed the bag warily. "And why should I trust you?"
Chloe raised a challenging brow. "Have I given you any reason not to trust me so far?"
Beca hummed in response. She had to admit, so far the princess had been oddly pleasant to her, giving her no real reason to doubt the redhead. Not to mention the fact that, during Beca's 'questioning', one of the many inquiries the guards had made was about her identity; the princess hadn't told them her name, and while it didn't make Chloe 100 percent trustworthy, she at least knew the redhead wasn't going back and blabbing everything to the kingdom.
Beca was broken from her thoughts as the redhead began rummaging through the bag, pulling out bandages, disinfectant, and a few cloths. "I think your shoulder should probably be taken care of first. And then maybe that gash on your head," Chloe explained, uncorking the lid on the disinfectant bottle.
"Heh, uhh wait," the thief spoke quickly, watching with wide eyes as Chloe soaked one of the cloths with strong-smelling liquid. "Doesn't that shit hurt? Like, a lot?"
Chloe hummed, giving the bandit a sheepish look before gently shoving a clean cloth in Beca's mouth. "You might wanna bite down on this," the redhead said, and the brunette didn't have time to react before she felt a white hot pain shoot through her shoulder. Beca's teeth clamped down tightly on the cloth in her mouth, but to the thief's credit she didn't scream, the loudest sound escaping her throat being a strained whimper.
Eventually the searing pain slowly faded off, leaving a dull aching throb in its wake. Dazed, the bandit glanced over at her shoulder with wet eyes to see what other torturous thing Chloe was going to do, only to see her shoulder was already cleaned up and securely bandaged. The redhead was currently pulling Beca's bloody tunic back up over her bandage job, and she offered the brunette a small smile.
"Just covering this back up so no one notices the bandages and wonders where you got them," Chloe explained herself, quickly tying Beca's bloody makeshift bandage back into place. "Does it feel better now?"
Beca pushed the cloth from her mouth with her tongue. "Well it doesn't feel like I'm being stabbed with a hot iron sword anymore."
Chloe offered an apologetic grin as she soaked a fresh cloth in disinfectant, setting it off to the side. Then without warning she carefully lifted Beca's head, scooting closer so she could set the brunette's head onto her lap; she didn't seen to mind at this point if her dress got dirt or blood on it. Ignoring Beca's questioning look, she picked the cloth back up and began to gently clean the streaks of blood from the brunette's face. "I know it hurts to clean it, but I don't want it to get infected. Or for you to get that mysterious illness going around, I doubt that would turn out well."
"Eh, yeah I guess," Beca mumbled, chewing her lip as she stared up at the princess' vibrant concentrating stare. Chloe's eyes were probably the bluest eyes the bandit had ever seen, and she didn't even realize she had stopped breathing until she gasped as Chloe reached the gash on her head. Sharp pain rippled through the wound, bringing more stubborn tears to Beca's eyes because of its location, and though it wasn't anywhere near the pain level of her shoulder, it still hurt like hell - not to mention she had been caught a tad off guard.
"It's okay, almost done," Chloe reassured, absentmindedly beginning to stroke Beca's hair in an attempt to comfort her as she quickly finished wiping off the injury. "Talk to me some more, maybe? Take your mind off it."
"Uh, w-why did you say cleaning it would prevent the mysterious illness?" Beca asked the first thing that came to mind, staring up at Chloe's focused look in attempt to take her mind off the pain.
The redhead quickly dabbed some herbal numbing remedy onto the injury before grabbing the needle and thread from the bag, being sure not to let Beca see it. "Because the mysterious illness is when you bleed black blood, right?"
"Yeah, and?"
"Well the illness only happens when someone gets a pretty serious injury or something, right? Like this arrow wound of yours," Chloe began to explain, "and my theory is that the illness is just some kind of serious infection. It only happens with an open wound, and a deep one at that, so it would be pretty easy for an infection to take over, especially considering a lot of people don't care for their injuries like they should."
"So then how are you supposed to get rid of it? With the Mortix Elixir?" Beca asked, her mind going to what had started this whole fiasco.
"Yeah, I think the elixir is some kind of cleanser, and a strong one at that. And I guess it would have to be, with an infection that's so strong it kills after a week or so. But that must be why nothing else can cure it yet, because nothing's strong enough," Chloe elaborated. She stopped for a moment, biting her lip. She knew the elixir was something the Bellas had targeted in their heist, and they apparently had made it out safely with it when they'd escaped, as it was missing from her father's secret compartment when he'd gone to check. However, while she wanted to ask the Bella leader about it, why they'd decided to steal such a pure and beneficial thing for the townspeople, she seemed to be on Beca's good side at the moment, and she figured she could always ask another time.
Quickly finishing the last knot in her stitching and cutting the thread with a pair of scissors, Chloe patted Beca's uninjured shoulder. "There, you're good as new. Well, kinda."
The brunette eased up into a sitting position, hand going up to feel at her forehead curiously, and surprise lined her features when her fingers ghosted over Chloe's stitch-work. "Why didn't I feel that?"
"A natural numbing remedy made from aconite plant," the redhead explained, beginning to shove the bloody supplies back into the bag. "I used a bit on your shoulder too, but not too much. Hopefully no one will notice the stitching; I used a translucent string, and a thin one at that, so I don't think anyone will think anything of it unless they look closely."
Beca studied the princess for a moment as she finished packing up. "How are you so good with health and first aid stuff?" the bandit asked, genuinely curious. It seemed like a lot more medical knowledge than most royals would contain. "Like, the bandaging, the stitches, your theory on the black blood illness..."
"I uh, I wanted to be a doctor," Chloe explained slowly, giving a small smile to the brunette. "Like, getting to help people, save lives, take away pain and suffering, or even just clean up a child's scraped knee. A doctor is all I ever dreamed of being. But my dad," Chloe's smile faltered slightly, her eyes lowering, "he thinks such a 'low status' career is beneath us, and that I should focus on being the princess. But it's... It isn't even a career, you know? I just, wanna do it. Help people, free of charge." The redhead smiled sadly at this. "He definitely wasn't fond of that idea."
Beca hesitantly moved her hand over Chloe's in what she hoped was a comforting way, the bandit slowly realizing that perhaps the two had more in common than they initially thought. The redhead's lip quirked upward at the gesture.
"For what it's worth, I think your dad's a dick. And you should always be able to follow your dreams, no matter how crazy," the bandit assured. A small laugh escaped Chloe's throat at this.
"Thanks," the princess said, turning her hand to gently grip the bandit's. "Though I do wonder one thing..."
"What's that?"
"How the hell do you keep taking your handcuffs off?" Chloe asked in a more playful than serious manner, lifting their conjoined hands to emphasize the bandit's bare wrist. However, now that she had had more time to talk to the brunette, she wasn't afraid of what Beca could do to her, like she had been the first time the bandit had slipped off her handcuffs; she felt rather indifferent actually.
The brunette stuck her tongue out, snatching her hand back. "Trade secret, princess," Beca replied, smirking.
"Stop calling me that," Chloe rolled her eyes, getting to her feet. "And please put your handcuffs back on. If you get caught without them on they're just gonna get angry."
"But the handcuffs are annoying," Beca huffed.
"If you put them back on I'll give you some food," Chloe offered in a singsong voice, her eyes on the paper bag she had left on the floor earlier. "I know you're hungry."
"Food? What kind of food? Mm, I'll take that deal," the bandit quickly acquiescenced, and Chloe giggled at Beca's eagerness as she almost instantly heard the clicking of he handcuffs. It took the redhead a moment to realize this was the first display of trust Beca had shown her, and though it wasn't a big gesture - the princess was confident Beca could get the handcuffs back off just as easily - the bandit still hadn't questioned her honesty on the deal in any way. Knowing she had gained even a bit of trust from someone as cautious and calculating as Beca was quite satisfying for the bubbly redhead.
With the first aid bag looped on her arm Chloe exited the cell, locking it before reaching over to grab the bag from the floor. She lightly tossed it through the bars, the food bag landing a couple feet in front of Beca, and the bandit grinned as she quickly unrolled the top of the bag, sticking her hand in and digging out a few slices of cheese and fluffy white bread. The redhead watched this with a grin, but after a few seconds her grin took on a sadder turn as she remembered that - while Beca was rather amusing right now, almost purring as she bit into the sandwich she had slapped together - the castle's convenient forgetting to arrange for prisoner's meals was the reason Beca was so hungry in the first place.
"Thanks for the meal, dude. And the medical help," the bandit spoke around a mouth full of food, snapping Chloe from her thoughts. The redhead grinned delightfully.
"No problem. I'm glad I could provide," the princess admitted honestly. "I should probably be leaving now though, I have no idea how long I've been in here. My dad's probably looking for me."
Beca peered up at the small barred window in her cell. "It's only like five twenty, I don't think you've been in here that long," she reassured Chloe casually, taking another bite of her sandwich. The redhead harboured an odd look at this, her hand pausing from hanging the key on the nail.
"Wait, how do you know that?"
"Know what?"
"The time, Beca," Chloe elaborated. "How do you know what time it is, there's no clocks in here."
Beca only shrugged, giving the bewildered redhead a teasing lopsided grin. "Trade secret, princess."
A/N: Some more bechloe interaction for you guys. Hope you liked:{3 Honestly not sure what I think of this chapter; I think I could have done a lot better writing-wise, but eh. I'm tired of struggling with it.
So I got a random question for you; what is your all time favourite candy? As in, you could never get sick of it cuz it's so awesome? I am curious. Mine would probably have to be taffy; I love taffy:{D Like, laffy taffy, and omg juicy drop taffy *swoons*. Such wonderful chewy deliciousness, I want taffy now:{/ What about you? Have a favourite candy?
REVIEW RESPONSES:
blue-wasabi24: Lol, dude I'm asian too, but I still can't play an instrument xD I don't have the dedication! I agree though; drums would totes be cool too. Get to have them drummer arms;{D
Defying-gravy: It's awesome to hear my story is interesting enough to be worth the wait, cuz I'm not the fastest when it comes to updating xP Great instrument picks by the way; piano or violin would definitely be cool to learn.
YouJustGotPitchSlapped: Glad to hear my friend!Chaubrey scene wasn't too horrible or anything:{3 Yes, drums would really be cool to learn too, I agree! All the badassery, plus them drummer arms:{P
cxcxcx386: Haha it actually hadn't occurred to me when I posted it that the last chapter was a cliffhanger; now that I think about it, it totes was, but at the time it hadn't crossed my mind cuz that was just where the chapter ended for me xD I'm glad you enjoyed it either way though. Interesting instrument choices by the way; I'd never thought of learning violin, but I agree, that would be cool to learn too. And no, I don't eat my pancakes with honey; I use maple syrup xD I didn't even know honey and pancakes was a thing; sounds very interesting though:{3
Reda V: Now you know:{3 Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter!
crystalsoda1: Heh, yeah sorry; I'm pretty slow with updates xP It's better than nothing though I guess haha.
Eaglehawk: Thanks! Good instrument choices too; guitar and piano are both hella cool:{D
percabethatw: Oh wow! 12 instruments, that's hella cool! You must have a lot of dedication dude:{D Hmm, harmonica; I actually wasn't aware you could learn that professionally. I totes bet you could do it though, then you'd have 13 instruments to be awesome at:{P