BAM
The rickety old door slammed against the wall as two figures stumbled through the threshold of the cold forgotten cabin. The corners of the room were dusted in cobwebs and grime layered the windows marring the view of the catastrophic world outside.
In the corner there was an old fireplace that hadn’t seen a flicker of a flame in decades. Across from there was a small kitchen area with a gas stove and a sink with hopefully running water. In the middle of the cabin was a large bed, its blankets holding a musty scent that permeated the area around them and beside that, a large oak dresser that sported enough coats of dust to dull its darker tones of color.
Chloe was doing her best to carry Red’s weight as the redhead had lost her ability to stay upright on her own. She was breathing heavily through pained grunts and whimpers that pierced the bluenette’s heart like shards of glass penetrating through soft skin. She had the woman’s left arm pulled around her shoulders, her own left hand clutching tightly at her wrist as she tried to let her shoulders take most of the burden while her right arm was firmly wrapped around the Wonder’s waist.
The curly haired woman was also breathing heavily from the exertion, but she simply gritted her teeth as she forced herself to push through it.
Red had been badly wounded after an enemy soldier had found an opening when she had been distracted in saving another wonder from getting a sword plunged into their chest. She had managed to fight off their attacker, but completely missed the gun that had been aimed in her direction. Chloe had just spotted the weapon being raised and acted quickly, slashing at the gunman with her own sword just as he had pulled the trigger.
Fortunately, the action had resulted in messing up their aim, but unfortunately it wasn’t by enough. So instead of being shot in the head, the bullet embedded itself in the Wonder’s side.
The thick of the war had still raged on around them, with Wonders and Auradonian soldiers fighting with everything they had, and Chloe had only just barely managed to get to the girl before another soldier could decide to finish her off.
It had been tricky getting them out of their, but once Red’s people had seen that she was hurt, they had formed a baricade around them to allow them to flee from the chaos.
At first Chloe had been panicking not knowing where they could go or what they should do, but then Red was able to tell her about this safehouse that hadn’t been in use since the first war, long before either of them had been born.
Now the bluenette had just managed to deposit the girl onto the bed as she cried out from the sudden movement
Chloe quickly brought her attention to the girl’s waist where she had wrapped a torn cloth tightly over her bulletwound in an attempt to staunch the bleeding and she felt sick to her stomach to see just how drenched it was in the other woman’s blood.
“Hold on, I’m going to check and see if there’s anything here we can use that would be better to stop the bleeding.” Red didn’t seem to register her words, but Chloe couldn’t waste any precious seconds as she ran from the bed over to the far side where she started flinging open all the cabinets and drawers she could find.
As luck would have it there was a rather decently sized first aid kit stashed under the sink and Chloe almost cried in pure relief as she sprinted back to the redhead’s side.
“Okay! Okay, I found something! We’re gonna get you fixed up, alright love?” Her voice wavered with the panic she had been trying so hard to push past and Red’s watery eyes opened to look at her, allowing the bluenette to see her familiar unfocused gaze.
“Oh sweetheart” Tears leaked from Chloe’s eyes and she had to bite back a sob that threatened to rip from her throat in horror as she realized the Wonder had dropped.
It had been years since the last time Red had gone into Littlespace. The last time had been back before King Beast had reclaimed the throne from his son and enacted a second war on Wonderland. Before their world had descended into madness as Red was forced to take her mother’s throne earlier than anticipated after the Queen’s untimely demise.
Back before, when they had lived very safe unassuming lives and Red could just be Little without it posing a risk to her and Chloe’s safety.
“Bluey.” The girl whimpered softly and Chloe’s heart truly ached at hearing her old caregiver title once again. She had fantasized on so many cold and dark nights that she would hear it again, only she had thought it would be after they were free. After they had managed to save their people and bring peace back to their home.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
“Shhh.” Chloe gently brushed frazzled red strands from the girl’s tear soaked face before moving to start undoing her temporary makeshift dressing. “It’s gonna be okay baby girl. You’re going to be alright. Bluey’s gonna fix you, and you’re gonna be just fine.” She did her best to ignore the fact that her voice had cracked as she spoke and instead focused her energy on remembering her medical training she had learned at the beginning of the war.
“Blueyyy, huwts.” The Little whimpered and cried as Chloe worked. While there had been a myriad of disinfectants in the kit, she hadn’t found any numbing agents that could help with the pain, so Chloe just had to brace herself as she prepared to do what needed to be done.
“I’m so sorry Little One, this is going to hurt. A lot, okay?” She didn’t wait to see if the girl had understood before plunging her fingers into the redhead's wound as she searched for the bullet she knew to still be lodged inside her.
Red’s scream in complete agony would haunt her for years to come.
There was a steady stream of tears falling down the bluenette’s own face as she forced herself to carry on with her task knowing that time was of the essence here. The second she managed to pull the bullet out she threw it to the ground and started disinfecting what she could before pulling from the kit a needle and thread.
By the time she finished the last stitch, the girl had fallen unconscious on the bed, and it was only then that Chloe allowed her own choked sobs to fall out as she finished cleaning up and dressing the wound with fresh bandages.
She had been continuously checking on the girls vitals as she had worked and she knew that Red had simply passed out from the pain, but it didn’t stop her from crawling onto the bed and curling up beside her as she waited for the girl to wake up.
“I’m so sorry, my baby. I’m so sorry, but you’re going to be okay now.” She whispered to her form before pressing a kiss to the top of her head and tucking her in under her chin to hold her close.
When Red woke again, Chloe had managed to compose herself a bit better. The bluenette had done a little scavenging and had managed to find enough ingredients to make a stew. She had done her best to keep busy as the Red had rested by dusting and setting a fire in the fireplace, letting the cabin warm up with an orangish glow.
She had tucked Red under the covers in an attempt to keep her warm, but she hadn't felt better about it until she had the fire going and had managed to stave the cold stale air away. It was only once she knew the girl would be fine for a spell that she had slipped out to forage for food, being mindful not to go so far that the cabin would be out of sight as she did.
They still weren’t as far from the fight as she would have liked. Even within the cabin walls you could still hear the faint echoes of canons and gunshots paired with pained cries and angry screaming.
Which was something the Little immediately noticed after regaining consciousness. She had instantly started whimpering, her fearful eyes shooting across her surroundings as she tried to make sense of where she was and what was going on.
Chloe had been immediately back by her side, soothing her hair and whispering calm words to the girl that she deduced was still in Littlespace.
The caregiver in her had missed soothing her toddler’s tears, but Gods did it ever hurt for it to be like this.
“Bluey, m scawed” The Little whimpered to the taller girl and Chloe stroked her hair comfortingly as she sat on the bed beside her.
“I know Little One. It still sounds really scary doesn’t it?” She asked softly and Red nodded. “But it’s going to be okay, you wanna know why?” Red’s sole focus zeroed in on her favorite person, practically blocking out all those sounds that had her so frightened.
“Hm?” She hummed, her eyes filled with curiosity even as silent tears continued streaming down her face.
“Because Bluey has you now. I’m going to protect you. I’ve got you, mon petit, and I’ll never let you go.” She leaned down and pressed a reassuring kiss to her head and Red closed her eyes briefly at the contact, immediately feeling far more settled than she had before. Chloe dried her tears with her hand’s and gave her a soft smile that encouraged the Little to offer her a small one in return.
Once the stew had finished and Chloe had managed to spoon feed a good deal of it to the girl in between her own bites, Red’s eyes were starting to droop as her exhaustion weighed heavily over her.
“Get some sleep my dear girl. You need your rest if you’re going to get any better.” Chloe collected their bowls and stood with the intention of taking them to the sink but Red grabbed her head before she could move away.
“Noo, Bluey ‘tay. No go.” The Little whimpered out softly as her eyes continued to close.
“Shhh, My darling, I’m not going anywhere. I just gotta set our bowls in the sink, and then I’ll be back for some cuddles, okay?” The Little seemed hesitant but nodded anyway, reluctantly releasing her tight grasp on her Bluey’s sleeve.
With their bowls in the sink, Chloe chanced a quick glance out the window above it and felt her stomach churn with anxiety at the smoke she could see billowing past the trees into the golden sky. She could only hope it was far enough that they wouldn’t be needing to evacuate. Red was in no shape to be transported.
She took a breath and calmed herself before returning back to the Little’s side much to Red’s relief.
As soon as Chloe had crawled into the covers, Red was doing her best to cuddle into her, only whimpering slightly when the movement aggravated her wound.
“Calm down, Sweet girl. I’m right here. I know you’re scared, but everything is going to be alright, okay?”
“Bluey?” The Little whispered out after they had settled into each other.
“Yes, mon petit?”
“Wan ‘ing” The little lisped out as Chloe ran her fingers through vibrant red locks.
“You want me to sing?” She asked to clarify and the Little nodded. Chloe hadn’t sung in ages, but at that moment there was nothing she could deny her.
“What do you want me to sing sweetheart?” She asked and the Little frowned as she tried to come up with something.
“No know” The little admitted with a pout and Chloe chuckled softly before pressing another kiss to the girl’s forehead.
“Alright, Bluey will pick something.” She told her and the Little smiled softly in excitement before bringing her thumb up to her mouth.
Old instincts twitched at Chloe’s fingers as she found herself wanting to replace the girl’s thumb, but the toddler’s pacifier had long been lost, so she just continued playing with her hair as she stretched her memory in search of a soothing song.
And then the perfect one came to her..
“Don’t you dare look out your window,
Darling, everything’s on fire.”
Red’s eyes instantly filled with wonder at hearing the caregiver sing again. Her voice was gentle but strong, and even though it’d been quite some time since she’d last hummed a tune, it was like she’d never stopped singing at all.
“The war outside our door keeps raging on
Hold on
To this
Lullaby
Even when the music’s gone
gone. ”
Red struggled against her heavy eyelids as she did everything she could to stay awake and watch her Bluey as she sang so sweetly, but seeing Chloe’s gentle expression with her warm chocolate brown eyes looking into her own paired with the comfort of sucking on her thumb was lulling her just as much as the lullaby.
It also didn’t help that Chloe was shrouded in a soft golden glow as the last stretches of sunlight spilled in through the window and pooled across the bluenette making her look absolutely ethereal.
For those brief moments she didn’t even feel the stinging pain that had been coursing through her all afternoon from her wound.
“Just close your eyes”
Chloe brought a gentle hand over the girl’s face, blocking out the sunset and making her close her eyes.
“The sun is going down.”
Red raised her free hand as though trying to push the bluenette’s hand away from her face, but her sleepiness was getting the best of her and she ended up just holding onto the caregiver’s arm weakly.
“You’ll be alright
No one can hurt you now.”
Chloe could feel the girl’s muscles relax under her as she slowly began drifting off.
“Come morning light,
You and I’ll be
Safe
And
Sound”
Red’s hand dropped as she fully fell under and Chloe removed her hand to see her peaceful expression. The toddler was still sucking her thumb in her sleep, the pillow beside her propping her arm up enough to do so.
Chloe felt more tears spring to her eyes as she admired her baby.
Her face and arms sported the scars that she’d gained since the start of the war. Dirt and grime were smudged across her skin, and her features had sharpened, both from the toning that had been caused by the constant training and fighting and simply from maturing over the last few years.
They were different than they had been, back when this had been their life, but at that moment as she looked at her wife, she only saw the Little she had cared for a lifetime ago.
Chloe vowed right then and there that she was going to ensure they both made it through the end of this war, and that when they did, they would share so many more moments like this one.