Rubynye

Getting Used To Mortality
A Bonding Experience
Meeting Of The Minds

Summary: Nile helps Andy with an injury and the two bond a little more
Warning(s): Minor spoilers for the movie; some descriptions of a wound; references to violence

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“Need some help there?”

Andy glanced up at Nile, as the other woman stood with her feet slightly apart, bracing herself for balance on the vibrating floor of the helicopter. It was a far cry to the first helicopter ride they’d taken together.

For one thing, if they crashed this time, Andy wouldn’t just walk away from the wreckage. At least not unscathed. But she hadn’t escaped unscathed from this last mission either. The others tried to protect her, but she was beginning to wonder if they might consider her a liability. If they needed to look at protecting her on every mission they went on….

Well. She’d thought about retiring before the last mission. Perhaps now it was time to think about making that a reality.

“Andy?” Nile took a step forward, eyes narrowing in concern as her eyes moved over the gash in Andy’s shoulder.

It was still bleeding sluggishly, but the cut felt hot and inflamed. Andy couldn’t see it properly, but what she could see of it, the skin around the wound looked red. And it was weeping. She recognised the signs of infection, having seen it long before the advances of medicine meant that infected wounds could be easily treated.

Andy looked up at Nile, catching the other woman’s eye, and nodded. “It needs to be cleaned out.” She took a small flask from her belt and held it out to Nile. “This one’s pure alcohol. It’ll do the job.”

Nile stepped forward slowly and took the flask. She looked down at it and then up into Andy’s eyes. “You need a hospital.”

Andy snorted softly and looked away, not wanting to see it when Nile poured the alcohol onto her wound. “No hospitals. They’re not a good idea for our kind.”

“But you’re not immortal anymore.” Nile knelt on the floor and pulled the shirt’s strap entirely free of the gash. “Whatever makes us this way, it’s not going to show up in any tests a hospital might run. Right?”

Andy didn’t watch the alcohol being poured onto the wound, but she certainly felt it. She gritted her teeth at the pain that sizzled through her, then reached for the other flask she carried. Opening it, she drank down the contents that burned her throat. But she didn’t finish it all. She needed her wits about her. “I can’t be certain my blood won’t still show some kind of anomaly. If cleaning and stitching the wound doesn’t work, I’ll consider my next move then.”

“You don’t have to do this anymore, you know.”

Andy allowed herself a soft hiss as Nile began stitching the wound, but that was the only outward sign she gave that it hurt. She still wasn’t used to the wounds that lingered, but she was used to pain. And she’d gone through a lot worse than just having an infected wound cleaned out and then stitched up.

Of course, in the past, she hadn’t had to worry about any of those injuries killing her.

Andy looked at Nile, noticing that the other woman was frowning in concentration as she stitched the wound. “You’re suggesting I retire?”

“Haven’t you ever thought about it?” Nile looked into her eyes. “What you’d do if you could live a normal life?” She looked away. “I wish I could change places with you. If I could go back to my life the way it was….”

“You can’t think like that,” Andy replied. “Wishing that your path is different won’t change anything. You need to accept that your life is different now.”

“I know. And I have.” Nile straightened up. “There. It’s done.” She paused and then asked, “Did you ever wish things could have been different? Did you ever wish that you could have lived a normal life?”

It was tempting to refuse to answer. Or to lie. Say that she’d never hoped or wished for anything different. That the path she’d taken was the one she’d accepted. Letting her head drop back against the helicopter wall, Andy took a few moments before she decided to answer the question honestly. “When Quynh was taken from me.” She shrugged. “I tried everything I possibly could to find her. Before I found the others, I thought…what would it be like if I died? If I died, for real, I couldn’t search for her anymore. It wouldn’t be my fault if death finally took me. I wouldn’t have to face her and explain why I’d never been able to save her.”

“But you never gave up.”

“The ocean’s a big place. And I didn’t search nearly as much of it as I could have done.” Andy looked away. “If it was the other way around, Quynh would have found me.”

“You loved her,” Nile said quietly.

“I don’t think there’s a word that exists in any language for what we were to each other,” Andy admitted. “For so long, it was just us. That creates a bond far more intense than family. Than romance.” She stood up. “Perhaps my mortality is punishment for failing her. But I won’t fail anyone else again,” she added. “I might not be immortal anymore, but I haven’t lost centuries of experience and training.”

Nile moved to Andy’s side and looked into her eyes. “You never failed anyone and you won’t fail anyone.” She frowned. “I just hope that I did enough for that injury.”

“It doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

“Liar.”

Andy chuckled softly. “I’ve had worse pain.” She glanced at the pilot and then picked up her parachute, putting the pack on her back. “If you’re ready, I think we can go now. Regroup with the others.” She pulled her gun free of its holster and cocked it. “Ready?”

“Ready.” Nile strode towards the exit.

Andy joined her a second later and the two prepared to jump.

The End

Summary: Rey and Rose take a look at Rey’s lightsaber
Warning(s): Mild spoilers for the Star Wars sequel trilogy; AU; references to canon character death

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“Can I see how your lightsaber works?”

Rey glanced up from the workbench and focused on Rose, who stood hovering in the doorway. The other woman was smiling, but she seemed hesitant. Almost like she was uncertain of her welcome.

Hoping to put any worries or fears Rose might have to rest, Rey waved her into the workshop. “Come on in. I was about to start taking it apart anyway. I’m pretty curious to see how it all works myself,” she admitted. After everything that had happened, she’d not had a chance to really satisfy her curiosity about her weapon as a Jedi.

Rose’s smile grew and she stepped into the workshop, the door sliding closed behind her. She looked around the small area and commented, “I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you’d be out with the others. Celebrating the defeat of the First Order.”

That’s what Finn and Poe had expected, too. Even if they hadn’t said as much in so many words. Rey didn’t know how to explain that it didn’t exactly feel like a victory. That they might have won, but it had come at a great cost. Han, Luke, Leia. Even Ben. Ultimately, the victory had only come at the cost of the good men and women who had sacrificed their own lives for the cause.

Rey didn’t say any of that. She didn’t know how to put voice to those thoughts, or if there was anyone else who would truly understand where she was coming from. So, instead, she placed her lightsaber on the workbench, picked up some tools and motioned Rose to her side. “I don’t much feel like celebrating right now,” was all she said.

Rose moved to her side, close enough that Rey could feel her warmth. She was struck with the urge to slip her hand into the other woman’s. To turn towards the warmth and comfort that being so close to another living being offered.

“My sister.” Rose’s soft voice broke the silence.

Rey looked at her, but she didn’t ask. Just kept quiet and waited.

Rose met her eyes for a second and then looked away again. She was smiling again, but it was tinged with sadness. “I feel like, if I join in the celebrating of the end of the war, it would hurt her memory. At least right now. I need to mourn for all that we’ve lost before I can celebrate what we won.”

“I know.” Rey spoke softly. She let the words hang in the air between them for a second before she held out one of the tools to the other woman. “Do you want to be the one to take it apart?”

The shadow that had come over the other woman’s face seemed to melt away and Rose nodded eagerly before taking the tool from her hand. “I never got to see a lightsaber before,” she whispered, a note of awe creeping into her voice. “I never got to see a real Jedi before, either,” she added, looking at Rey’s face.

Rey smiled. She couldn’t help it. “I don’t much look like a Jedi,” she commented. “I’m still learning a lot.” She sighed, thinking once more of those who had taught her. Those teachers who were gone now. She still had so many questions she wished she could have asked. But since that last time, when she’d seen Luke and Leia and realised they’d given her their unspoken blessing to use the name Skywalker, she hadn’t seen any of the Jedi who were now one with the Force.

“You look lost in thought.” Rose’s voice broke into her reflection.

“It’s like you said,” Rey said softly. “The victory feels hollow.” She watched as Rose began to tinker with the lightsaber, exposing the inner workings. She found herself confiding in the other woman; telling her more than she’d admitted to anyone else, even Finn. Even Poe. “I know Kylo Ren was a monster who killed many people, but eventually, Ben Solo came back. I just wish his redemption hadn’t come at the cost of his life,” she added softly.

“We can grieve for him as well.” Rose glanced up, catching Rey’s eyes with a nod. “It matters that he did the right thing in the end.” She began to carefully inspect the components of the lightsaber. “There are a lot of people who could have and probably did change sides.”

“Like Finn.” Rey smiled as she thought of the former stormtrooper. She leaned in to look at the components along with Rose. “Look. I think this is where the colour of the beam comes from.” She pointed to the softly glowing crystal.

“I wonder if it might be possible to make other weapons with the same kind of properties as a lightsaber,” Rose mused. “Do you have any idea where these crystals can be found?”

“No. But maybe we can find them ourselves?” Rey suggested. “It would be a good mission to get away from it all. And maybe we could start up the Jedi academy again.” She added the last a little bit more hesitantly, not sure if she was the right person to take on that responsibility, but knowing that someone had to.

“I’d like that,” Rose said softly. “It would be something good to come out of all of this. But I’m not a Jedi,” she added.

“That’s okay. I think we can still work really well together.” Rey smiled and held a hand out to Rose. “There’re are still bad people and places in the galaxy, but I believe we can be a force for good.”

“As long as we all work together.” Rose gripped Rey’s hand and returned the smile. “I’ll be at your side for as long as you need and want me there,” she promised.

The End

Summary: When Sharon visits her aunt, she finds something that will change things forever
Warning(s): Spoilers for Captain America; minor spoilers for Agent Carter; some injury

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The house was quiet when Sharon let herself into the building. It was too quiet and she froze with her key still inside the lock, head cocked to one side as she listened intently. All of the training she’d had with her Aunt Peggy sprang to the forefront of her mind and she moved her hand towards the gun holstered in her belt, tucked under her shirt where it wouldn’t be seen by any random people passing by.

Stepping into the house, Sharon pushed the door behind her, leaving it open just a crack without closing it properly behind her. Just in case she needed to make a quick getaway. She didn’t call out to her aunt. After all, if someone had broken into her Aunt Peggy’s house? Well, heaven help whoever put their life on the line like that.

As she stepped softly through the hallway, Sharon caught the sound of someone muttering coming from the kitchen. She slowed her steps even more and drew her gun from its holster, cocking it before she quickly stepped into the clean, white room.

Well. Clean except for the bright red blood that stained the white tiles.

There was only one person in the room and she was stood by the sink, eyes wild and staring, one hand clasping her arm. Through her fingers, Sharon could make out crimson liquid trickling down her pale skin.

“Aunt Peggy!” Sharon looked around quickly, making sure there was no one else in the room, and then hurried to the older woman’s side. She holstered her gun and quickly moved to the older woman’s side. “What happened? Who did this to you?”

“Sharon?” The older woman blinked, focusing on her. The wild look was gone from her eyes, but her next words made Sharon’s skin crawl with fear. “Where’s Underwood? She was just here…. I need my gun.” Peggy pulled away and began to pace the kitchen, muttering under her breath.

Staring at her aunt, Sharon took half a step closer and swallowed. “Aunt Peggy?” Her eyes landed on the black-handled kitchen knife that was on the side, stained with blood along its edge. “Did you do this to yourself?” she whispered.

Peggy whipped round on Sharon, grabbing the knife, holding it on Sharon with the blade slanted upwards. “Who are you?” she demanded. “What are you doing in my house?”

Sharon’s stomach sank. She took a step back, eyeing the knife in her aunt’s hand and then allowing her eyes to shift towards Peggy’s face. For perhaps the first time, she was seeing just how aged the other woman was. Her Aunt Peggy had always been such a vital person, full of life. If her mind was starting to slip, that was scary. Especially if she started to see Sharon as an enemy….

“Aunt Peggy, it’s me. Sharon.” She kept her hands in visible view; her voice as soft and non-threatening as she could make it.

Peggy’s whole body shook and she frowned, slowly placing the knife on the counter. “Sharon? I…I don’t know what’s happening…” she admitted quietly.

“It sounds like you had a flashback.” Sharon backed around her aunt and opened the cupboard next to the cooker. She took out the first aid box and opened it, then took out some bandages and antiseptic wipes. She turned back to her aunt and asked, quietly, “Can I take a look at that cut?”

Peggy held her arm out without a word and just watched as Sharon wiped and cleaned the cut. She didn’t think it looked deep enough to require stitches and wrapped the bandage carefully and tightly around the cut.

Once the bandage was in place, Peggy finally said, “I think we both know that this wasn’t a mere flashback. I’ve had those before. And I’ve never forgotten who you are before.”

Sharon took a deep breath; and then another, because her throat still hurt. “Aunt Peggy…” she whispered.

“I need help,” the older woman stated firmly. “If this happens again, and I have no doubts that it will, I could seriously hurt someone before I come back to myself. I could have seriously hurt you.”

“I think I could have held my own.” Sharon smiled, though it quickly faded. Trying to find humour in the situation didn’t really work. She put the first aid box away and sighed. “You’re right, Aunt Peggy. Why don’t I drive you to the doctors’ office and we can see what they say?”

“I think that would be a good idea,” Peggy agreed. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“That didn’t scare me.” But the thought of her aunt losing her personality, what made her Peggy Carter, did scare Sharon. She stepped forward and hugged the older woman tight and then took a step back, forcing a smile to her face. “We can go now.” She turned away, quickly, so that the tears in her eyes wouldn’t be seen.

But she had the feeling they could be heard in her voice.

The End