“I chose you!” she cried, desperately trying to get the woman in front of her to stop, to understand...to stay. “I chose you, instead of them,” Raelle didn’t turn around, she stood frozen in front of her as if still undecided, Scylla couldn’t tell because her back was turned but she put every emotion, every promise into her last withering plea, hoping beyond all hope that on some level the woman she loved would turn, wouldn’t leave her as everyone else had. “Raelle, I chose you, please!”
She watched in utter defeat as Raelle’s back stiffened, her shoulders squared, her decision made as her steps echoed forward. She banged hard on the metal door, desperate to get away from this place, to get away from her. Her grief tore up and out of her as her cries echoed throughout her cell, leaving her throat aching much like her heart was the instant the doors slid shut, closing her off from her everything forever. Those three bangs against it haunting Scylla’s every waking thought for the rest of her life, however long (or short) it would be.
It was those three bangs that rang in her mind now as she stared out the window of the army transport. Taking her back to where it all began where it all ended she thought with a huff.
Fort Salem came within view and her heart quickened with anxiety. She shouldn’t be here. She should have told them all to screw off and bolted the minute they voiced this terrible plan.
A cease-fire? Yeah right, this alliance is about as sturdy as a Jenga tower. Sarah Alder could not be trusted, Scylla thought, why was she the only one who could see this?
She sighed, knowing full well that even if she had wanted to, even if she had listened to her every instinct telling her to run, to put as much distance between her and this place as she could, she wouldn’t have. She couldn’t pass up the chance to see her again, to see for herself that the claims of her death were indeed false and that the army and the world had not snuffed out her light.
The truck rumbled to a halt in front of one of the more regal looking buildings on the grounds, and the waiting MPs yanked the doors open, ushering them out.
Guess we’re just diving into the deep end then she sighed as they were led through the large double doors. The anxiety among her fellow Spree operatives was palpable, and rightly so. They had willingly walked into a building that could easily swallow them whole and never let them out again. Scylla rubbed at her wrists as the memory of the shackled crawled its way back into her mind.
BANG, BANG, BANG
She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head to dispel the memory, there were more pressing issues at hand. A few more turns and they were ushered into a room, a quick look around told her that this must have been Alder’s war room. As they entered she could see several military personnel of all different rankings and accolades (if the medals on their chests were any indication) standing haphazardly throughout the room, glancing wearily at the new arrivals, giving them as much space as could be managed.
Yeah the feeling’s mutual assholes
She was just about to turn her attention on Alder herself when a flash of gold caught her eyes.
No, not gold, blonde
Scylla’s breath caught in her chest when she saw her, Raelle. For all her nightmares and broken thoughts, the sight of the blonde fixer still had an effect on the brunette’s heart. Whatever else was between them, Raelle was alive and well...sort of. The closer Scylla looked the more she could see the cracks in Raelle’s facade of military excellence. Her shoulders sagged slightly, her hair didn’t shine as bright gold as it used to, and when her gaze finally drifted over to Scylla, her eyes seemed...dull, almost muted, no trace of the fire and passion that set Scylla’s heart ablaze and made her ready to give everything she had to the blonde fixer, letting the fire in those eyes burn her walls to the ground and lay herself bare before her.
As quickly as she had glanced up though, Raelle looked away, pointedly ignoring Scylla and the rest of the Spree agents, her body taking on a stiffer countenance as she tried to calm the emotions raging inside her.
Well, at least some things haven’t changed. She watched Raelle for a moment longer before tearing her gaze away and focusing on the group in the center of the room, Alder and her Biddies, as the general herself began to address them.
“Welcome, I realize I called this meeting a bit abruptly but I assure you it is of the utmost importance” she began, authority dripping from her every word as she leveled each and every one of them with a serious look, ensuring she had their attention. And she did, say what you will about Alder but even Scylla had to admit, the woman could command a room. When she spoke, people listened, hung on her every word, even if those words are all lies, she thought to herself, withholding a scoff.
“As many of you know, the Camarilla are back,” quiet murmurs erupted throughout the rooms, mostly from the more lowly ranking officers if the stripes on their shoulders were any indication.
“They have returned with greater force than I have ever seen and have generated new weapons to be used for one deadly purpose,” she paused and Scylla rolled her eyes.
Really?Pause for dramatic effect?
“They are here to snuff us out. To make sure our songs and are names are lost to the history that they will write.” A silence fell over the room as her words sunk in, “However, I promise you this, they will not win. We will use every resource at our disposal and make them wish they had remained the stain on our early history they already were” boots all around the room stomped at that, cheering her on. Scylla smirked, relishing in the thought that she knew something the rest of them didn’t.
Oh just wait for what comes next
Sarah raised a hand, silencing them. “We must come together if we are to win this fight,” the others nodded their agreement “this is why I have agreed to a ceasefire with the Spree” sounds of shock erupted all around but no-one voiced their opinions, not that they would dare while Alder was around anyways. “We cannot keep fighting a war on two fronts. The Camarilla’s numbers are unknown and their power deadly. We need to put our differences aside and come together as one because make no mistake, this is no longer a war of wills and ideologies, it is a battle for survival”
She tuned the rest of the speech out after that, choosing instead to occupy herself with watching the faces around her, trying to gauge where everyone stood on this whole “alliance” of theirs.
Petra was the easiest to decipher, clearly reeling, probably disgusted by the thought of having to associate with us lowly Spree scum Scylla scoffed. Anacostia was next, stoic as ever, though clearly not as enamored with Alder as she used to be. Scylla wondered if the general had noticed the change. Her eyes continued to drift from face to face until a hand grasping her bicep drew her attention. She froze, not turning to see who had invaded her space, she didn’t have to, she’d know that touch anywhere harsh as it was in the moment.
“We need to talk” Raelle whispered, not waiting for a response before she made her way out of the room, Scylla a few paces behind her. She followed silently as Raelle led her to another building, up some stairs, and into another room. She followed Raelle inside, barely closing the door behind them before the blonde turned on her with a fire in her eyes Scylla recognized well. A fire she had seen before though those instances seemed like mere embers compared to what was before her now. Scylla clenched her jaw, her muscled tightening, preparing for the onslaught.
“What are you doing here?” Raelle asked, her gritted teeth betraying the calm mask she was trying to present.
Scylla’s eyebrow quirked, “Uhm, I’m here for the Army-Spree slumber party? Didn’t you hear? We’re all gonna go sing kum-ba-yah around the campfire later, should be fun” Raelle’s jaw ticked, her eyes a blazing inferno now.
“You know that’s not what I meant. I thought you were dead” her voice dropped a little at the end.
“Mmm,” Scylla hummed, “well, sorry to disappoint but, I don’t go down that easy”
Raelle scoffed, “Fine, whatever, don’t tell me. Don’t know why I expected the truth from you...for once”
Scylla’s gaze dropped to the floor, the blow landing where it would hurt most.
BANG
The hurt look on her former lover’s face pulled at something deep in Raelle, urged her to go to her, to comfort her, but the flimsy control she had adapted was slipping fast and she couldn’t help but let all her anger and hurt spill out before her.
“So what is it Scyl?" she spat, "ya didn’t have enough fun with the poor Cession idiot last time so you’ve come back for round two?”
“Raelle-”
“Cuz I think you’d be happy to know I’m still plenty broken from the last time,” she continued, “no need for an encore performance” Scylla squeezed her eyes shut under the torrent of Raelle’s anger, trying to keep her own swirling emotions under control in the face of all her sins.
BANG, BANG-
Raelle was stalking toward her now, never truly breaching her space but getting just close enough that Scylla could almost feel the anger rolling off her in waves, her own rising to meet it.
BANG, BANG, BANG
The banging kept getting louder and louder as Raelle continued. Pushing against Scylla’s consciousness like a wild animal ready to break out of its cage.
“I mean seriously, what do you want from me Scylla? What, you thought you could just come back here? Play the good little soldier and we’d all just trust you again? Forget everything you did to us? To me ”
BANG, BANG, BANG
“Of course Raelle” Scylla snapped, taking a step toward the blonde. “It’s always about you, yeah? The Spree want you, The army wants you, and I-” she stopped herself, biting her tongue against the words that threatened to spill out of her taking the last pieces of her soul with them.
That’s when she snapped, “Do you think this is easy for me? Do you think I want to be here?! You left me Raelle! I gave up EVERYTHING for you, and you left me there to die,” her voice cracked, months and months of bottled up emotions spilling out at once. “You promised me that we were in this together, no matter who I was, or what anyone else said, that you were with me, and then you, you just left! You broke your promise, you lied to me”
“Yeah, well you’d know all about that wouldn’t you?” Raelle fired back “How many times you must have sat back with your Spree buddies laughing at me. At the stupid fixer who was too blind to see that she was being played? Who made the stupid mistake of falling for someone who didn’t even exist huh?”
Scylla gritted her teeth at that “You know that’s not true.”
Raelle gave her an incredulous look “Do I?”
“Yes, you d-”
“Because all I know is that my girlfriend only met me because she was under orders” she spat, taking a step closer. “What I know is that you work for an organization that takes pride in killing civilians. People like my pop,” her voice cracked as she spoke about her father. Her anger seemed to melt out of her as she spoke leaving only sadness and grief in its wake. It broke Scylla’s heart all over again.
“How could you do this to me Scyl?”
“Raelle,” Scylla closed the distance between them, tentatively reaching for Raelle’s hand, grasping it when she didn’t pull away. “I am so sorry. I-” Raelle tried to tug her arm away at the familiar apology. She was pulling away, not this time, she used her hold on Raelle’s hand to pull her closer, her hands going to either side of the blonde’s face, forcing her eyes to meet Scylla’s.
“No, Raelle, you don’t get to walk away from me. Not this time. This time you will listen ” Raelle’s eyes were guarded still but she did not move so Scylla continued. “I have made so many mistakes in my life Raelle, but I have never regretted anything more than I regret hurting you.” She thought she saw a flicker of something in Raelle’s eyes, but maybe it was just wishful thinking on her part.
“I was stupid, and angry and so alone in my pain and I didn’t see another way out. I was drowning in it...until I met you,” a sad smile adorned her lips as the memory hit her “you were my life raft Rae. You called me beautiful and offered to walk me back to my dorm, and ever since that day I-” Scylla’s lips trembled, unsure if she wanted to continue, if she should continue, because if she did, if she bore herself whole for the world to see and Raelle walked away from her again, that might just be too much for the older girl to bare. An iron grip on her wrist broke her out of her spiral. Scylla squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for Raelle to push her away, to tell her she never wanted to see her again and to march right out of her life for good.
She was surprised when the grip loosened and she felt a thumb soothingly rubbing across the pulse point at her wrist. She opened her eyes to find Raelle’s gaze already locked on hers, indecision warring in their depths
“Since that day you what Scyl?” She pleaded, her voice much softer than her earlier tirade.
Scylla steadily met her unsure gaze “Since that day, I have been, and will always be yours, Raelle. I will always choose you,” she stepped closer, pressing their foreheads together, relishing in their closeness before continuing, “even if you don’t want me” She looked away at the end as she could see the fissures forming in her heart at the mere thought of Raelle not being in her life.
“And what if I do?”
Scylla’s eyes snapped back to the blonde, “W-What?” she asked, unsure of what she heard.
Raelle stood taller, squaring her shoulders and holding Scylla’s gaze as she spoke “What if I do want you?”
Scylla tried to swallow the boulder-sized lump that had formed in her throat, Raelle wanted her. Before she could properly consider what exactly that meant, warm lips captured hers. She tentatively returned the gesture, hesitant at first, but the longer it went on, the quieter that cautioning voice in her head got.
As their lips slid against each other in a dance as intoxicating as their first, both girls began to lose themselves in each other. They leaned into the embrace, Raelle’s hands grasping the back of Scylla’s neck, instinctually caressing the mark there that always seemed to bring the older girl comfort as she walked her back toward the wall. Scylla gasped lightly as her back hit the concrete, breaking the kiss for only a moment before leaning back in and capturing Raelle's lips once more. Her hands dug into the blonde’s hips, pulling her impossibly closer as a familiar heat that had been pooling in her belly erupted into an inferno as Raelle’s searching tongue slid over hers, tasting, calling to something deep inside Scylla that was itching to be set free; whatever it was both frightened and elated the brunette.
She had been trying to get her lust addled brain to contemplate what exactly that thing was when-
“Hey, Raelle are you in here, OH!” Tally exclaimed, stepping back outside and slamming the door shut as quickly as she had opened it.
Scylla buried her head in Raelle’s shoulder as the blonde leaned her head against the wall, the cool of the concrete and Tally’s appearance acting as a bucket of ice water for them both.
Raelle took one more look at Scylla as their breathing returned to normal before leaning away from her and calling out to her unit mate “Tal, it’s fine, you can come in.”
The redhead cracked the door just enough to lean around its frame, her hand firmly clasped over her eyes “Are you sure?”
Scylla held back a snort at the antics, Was this what she was missing without a unit?
Raelle walked toward her, chuckling as she pulled her hands from her eyes “Yes Tally, you’re fine, I promise.”
Tally gave Raelle a sheepish look and she stepped through the door. Scylla thought she could see the taller girl mouth an ‘I’m sorry’ to which Raelle just shrugged and avoided eye contact with them both for a while.
Scylla cleared her throat then as she made her way to the door, “I should uh, I should probably go”
Raelle looked like she wanted to say something else but conceded instead “Yeah, okay I’ll uh, I’ll walk ya’ out”
“No,” Scylla said, stopping her in her tracks, “no, I’ll be fine, honest.” She needed some space to think about what exactly just went down, about that energy she had felt building inside her, she had so many questions, and having Raelle with her wouldn’t help her clear her mind enough to find the answers.
Raelle’s face had fallen at her apparent rejection, Scylla could see her rebuilding her broken mask piece by piece, probably under the impression that she was keeping secrets again. She grabbed the fixer's hand and brought it to her lips, waiting for Raelle to meet her eyes and when she spoke again her voice rang with absolute conviction “If you want me, I’m here Raelle, always, and I’m not going anywhere.” The blonde nodded at that, seeming to believe her words and halting the reconstruction of her mask. Scylla sighed in relief, giving her hand one final squeeze before stepping over the threshold and disappearing down the hall.