Chapter 9 (Post 'Smoke and Mirrors')
Part 1
Sitting in the wreckage of a DUP company or three, the lights of The Crocodile looking down, Delsin held his head in his hands. Dead. Dead. Eugene. Dead. Reggie. Dead. Fetch. Dead. Dead. Wrapped in rock and left to fall into the freezing ocean, all of them. And for what? Turning, he vomited into the helmet of one of the soldiers lying cold around him. "Disgusting." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and laughed. "At least Hank got to live." Delsin spat and put his head back down. Augustine could wait, and he knew that she would. Could afford to, now, and he was just too tired to follow up. He didn't even look up when he heard more approaching sirens, or when he heard the sirens end in explosions, he just kept staring at the vomit-filled helmet in his lap.
Fetch couldn't believe what she was seeing— the blood, the bodies, the wrecks of dozens of vehicles and fires and in the center of it all, Delsin, her Delsin, soaked by the rain and blood vomit. Not even looking up. Not when more DUPs showed up or when she destroyed them. Nothing. What had happened? She approached, tears in her eyes. "Delsin… are you all right?"
Delsin threw up into the helmet again and shook his head, not as an answer, though. Just confirming to himself that he she wasn't there. "Dead." It was the only word in his head, had been most of the night, since he'd washed up on the pier, but at least then he still had the adrenaline, the drive to do something. Augustine was waiting, but it felt far away, meaningless. "They're all dead." He blinked slowly.
"Oh, Delsin…" Picking up the helmet, she vaguely noticed that, in addition to the vomit, part of its owner still occupied it. Reminiscent of the trail of bodies she'd follow to find him. Since the island had collapsed, he'd evidently spared no one, and she was beginning to realize why, he thought that she was dead, that they were all dead. She set it down, barely keeping from retching, and pulled him into a hug from the side. "It's okay, it's okay, Delsin."
"Fetch…?" He turned to stare at her. "Please don't be dead."
Fetch pulled him tighter to her. "I'm alive, D, I promise."
"She killed you. She killed you and Eugene and you, and oh, God, Reggie, and…"
"Sh, I'm here, D. We've gotta get out of here, though, okay? How about just into The Crocodile?"
Delsin nodded and stood, refusing to let her leave his arms.
Part 2
"Hey, sit down." Fetch told him. He did, beside a neon sign.
"I watched you fall into the water. She encased Reggie in rock. He fell in after. Let go so the rock wouldn't get me, too." Delsin didn't move as he spoke, just stared ahead. "I tried to kill her. She ran."
"She let the rock we were in dissolve just after it hit the water. She won't kill Conduits." Rubbing circles on his back, she tried to soothe him.
"I just… I couldn't save him. And I couldn't save you."
"You won't always be able to, D. But you did save me. And you saved Eugene. And all those people you've healed or freed, D. You'll get Augustine, too, and save who knows how many people. Reggie was proud of you, D. He couldn't have been more proud." She said.
"Reggie was all I had for so long, you know? I mean, there was Betty, but my parents, they've been dead for years. I basically grew up in Reggie's care, you know, high school and all that. And now, he's gone…" He sniffled and shook his head.
Fetch kissed his head and rocked him back and forth, slowly. It wasn't something she had expected to, not since the drugs, not since Curdun Cay. The gesture was one of love, and except for Brent, she hadn't felt it in years. Not until now, and she hadn't realized just how much she missed it.
Delsin let his head rest on her shoulder. "I couldn't handle the thought of all of you being dead. I couldn't handle the thought of you being dead, Fetch. I was going to go after Augustine, and then help the Akomish, but after that… there was nothing."
"I'm not going anywhere, D. I'm here for every step of the way. And every one after that." She kissed his forehead.
"I love you, Fetch, so much." He exhaled it more than he said it, surprising himself at least as much as he surprised her.
Fetch froze for a moment, swallowing hard, and blinked a few— or many— times more than might have been necessary. "I love you, too, D. More than I thought I could."
"Way more." He leaned up and kissed her softly for a second, then pulled away and steeled himself... "Augustine's waiting for me. Up there in her medieval tower." Delsin spat, and shook his head. "I'm gonna show the world what she's done, what she's doing. The people she's hurt. But this, right now, is between me and her. This fight, I mean. I've gotta do this one alone, Fetch. Ya know?"
"Just promise to come back from this one. We've got stuff to do, Smokes." Glancing up at him, she could only hold his gaze a moment.
"I promise, Laser-show." Standing up and straightening his beanie, he drained the neon sign next to him and took off.
Sitting there by herself after he left, Fetch suddenly realized that he had never said she couldn't watch him and took off after him.