Day one prompt: "It's not too late. Let's go."
Hey all, welcome to Fictober23! All of the prompts that I finish will be collected here and also posted on my tumblr! Individual content warnings for each oneshot will be in the AN at the beginning of each fic but I have been calling this "ouchtober" so death/torture/angst are going to be general themes of this collection.
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Jake/Rose
Content warnings: on-screen character death(s); murder; suicide; swearing
Don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now and that my ao3 account is wearealloflegendnow (even though I haven't posted there yet)!
~TLL~
Sneaking into the Huntsclan was a risky maneuver, no matter who you were and when you were. It was particularly stupid when you were a magical creature. Sneaking in as the American Dragon was practically a suicide mission and that was the best-case scenario. Jake hadn't told anyone he was coming because they would have tried to stop him. Jake wasn't here for a mission or for information. Jake was here for a girl.
Jake was reasonably convinced that Rose was being held captive by the Huntsman. She was one of the Huntsman's strongest and most favored operatives and she hadn't been seen in the city for nearly two weeks – which coincidentally lined up with their last date night. Gramps said he was being dramatic and that Rose had likely been sent on a mission. Jake hadn't pointed out how good he and Rose had gotten about getting coded messages to one another or that in four years they hadn't gone 24 hours without some communication. Jake had reiterated his point again and again and again and no one had listened so here he was, all alone in a suicide mission, all for a girl.
The Huntsclan slept relatively silently. There were security guards every once in a while, and Jake was sure that he was on camera, but no one paid any attention to him. Yet, anyway. Jake made it to the room he remembered being Rose's and he stood in front of the door, hesitating for the first time since he had decided to come.
What if she wasn't in there and he awoke some other Clan member who sounded the alarm and he never got to Rose?
It was a chance that Jake was going to have to take. Jake turned the knob and was surprised that the door actually opened. He pushed it open, not wanting to be in suspense for any longer. Despite the late hour, he was met with the warm glow of a lamp and Rose's room as he remembered it was before him. Including Rose, laying on her bed. The second she saw him, she bolted up and ran to him.
Well, tried to.
There was a manacle around each ankle, keeping her from getting within a foot of the door. Jake ran to her instead, folding her into his arms. He wanted to hold her forever, kiss her for the rest of his life, but first they had to get her out of here.
"Fuck. I thought it might be something like this. I just … shit." Jake dropped to his knees, inspecting the thick metal around her ankles. There weren't even locks to pick; it was like they had been welded to her. It would take him some time to melt them or carve his way through them and he knew he would have to hurt her in the process. It wasn't something that sat right with him but it was the price of freedom. "I'll get you out."
"Jake." He could hear the tears as Rose spoke. "Get out. You shouldn't have come. Get out!"
"Rose!"
Rose was shoving desperately at his shoulders. "Get out! Go away! Save yourself! This is what they wanted!"
"I'm not leaving you here?"
"I don't care. They're going to kill me anyway. I can't let them kill you too."
"No one's dying, Rose."
Rose beat on his chest and Jake couldn't even bring himself to step away from the bruises she was surely creating. Rose was here, still alive, and he had to get her out. It was why he was here.
"They're coming!" she screamed at him. "From the moment you opened that door! Get out! Save yourself!"
"I'm here to save you," Jake said, struggling to match her urgency, struggling to understand.
"This is a trap," Rose said, seizing him by the shoulders, forcing him to look into her eyes and how he loved looking into her eyes. "I am a trap. For you. They're going to pull you apart scale by scale. They'll put a bullet in my brain – don't feel bad about that, okay? It'll be quick and easy and I'll die knowing you loved me and you're going to run now and never feel bad about leaving me behind because I need you to live knowing I loved you, okay!?" She kissed him desperately. "Run. Run! RUN!"
Jake's feet wouldn't move. Leave? Knowing that they were going to kill her?
"Rose, I –"
But whatever he was going to say was lost. There were footsteps in echoing down the hallway.
"It's not too late," Jake said, reading in her expression that Rose was waiting for execution. "Let's go!"
Her chains rattled against the hardwood floor. There was nowhere for her to go. There was nothing for him to do. Except fight her way out. He wasn't going to leave her behind. He could tear the manacles from the wall. He could throw them out the window. Wait – the window was gone. Jake spun desperately, trying to think of a way out, of something he could do. Rose moved toward her bed, looking resigned and sick and heartbroken.
"It's too late," she said. "I know it is."
"It … It …"
It couldn't be. Jake couldn't allow it to be.
Rose crossed back to him. The footsteps were getting louder. There were a lot of them but it didn't sound like anyone was in a rush about it. They knew that he wasn't leaving here and neither was Rose. He was trapped but at least he could go down fighting. He couldn't just lay down and let this happen. Rose reached for him and he couldn't deny her one last embrace.
"I love you," he said and he kissed her.
Rose kissed him back and Jake could taste the salt of her tears. "I love you too. I'm so sorry."
"It's not on purpose. The Huntsman – OH!"
Whatever excuse he'd been about to make for her being used as bait vanished. There was nothing but pain. Jake sunk to his knees, his hand going to his throat. She'd stabbed him. He was bleeding.
Rose had killed him.
Rose hit the floor along with him, cradling him into her arms. Jake stared blankly up at her face. He was dying. Rose had killed him.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "There was no way to keep you safe. The things they were going to do to you … I'm so sorry. Please, my love, please, forgive me."
Jake just stared at her. His vision was going weak. He couldn't move. He was dying.
"My love, my love, my love," Rose whispered, kissing his face. "Forgive me. I'll be with you soon."
Tears leaked from Jake's eyes. He didn't know how to think anymore or say words or even really breathe. He thought he could hear the footsteps getting much closer but his hearing seemed to be going along with his vision. He loved Rose; it was the only thing that he knew for sure.
"Jake, my love." She kissed him again and it was the last thing he felt.
Jake was grateful he was already dead by the time she slit her own throat.
