What Could Have Been (HangexFemReader)

Chapter 18: Jean's Truth

Everyone had paused, staring at each other with wide eyes. It was Levi who spoke first.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Levi said grimly. "And you better start now."

Jean relented, stepping to the side so that Levi and (Y/N) could walk into his home. "I didn't expect that I'd ever see you again...especially not on the topside. Come inside. We can talk there."

(Y/N) stepped foot into his house first while Levi hesitated behind her. The inside of the house was kept nice and tidy, everything arranged meticulously. The only thing out of place was the kitchen table. There was a half-eaten bowl of cereal and random papers scattered about. The first thing she wanted to do was demand Jean explain why he had been seen dealing shimmer. But then she remembered that he hadn't seen her at the palace. He didn't know that she knew.

"How have you been, Jean?" (Y/N) turned to the man she once called her brother. His hair had grown out since the last time she'd seen him. "Why did you leave?"

Jean sighed, leaning against the kitchen counter. Levi was still standing near the doorway, his lack of trust when it came to Jean was obvious. "Look, I've been fine. And to explain why I left is a long story. Why don't we start with how you both found me. What are you doing on the topside?"

"To find you," (Y/N) responded. That wasn't entirely a lie. "Levi and I are here on a mission, and we saw you. We decided to track you since we haven't seen you in ages."

"Where'd you find me?" Jean raised an eyebrow.

"Somewhere. Now it's your turn to answer our questions," Levi demanded. "What are you doing here? You have a house here? How'd you make it this far?"

Jean studied Levi closely. "Both of you asked what I was doing here. Was I supposed to stay in the undercity? I saw the dead bodies of those who I considered my siblings. I thought that we'd get through it together, like a family, but both you and (Y/N) had completely isolated yourselves. I was alone. In one night, I had lost my entire family."

"Jean, I'm sorry," (Y/N) whispered. "I know I should have been there for you. I should have stopped you when you left."

"It's too late for apologies now, isn't it?" The look on Jean's face was full of contempt and regret.

"What do you do up here?" (Y/N) walked closer to Jean, showing him that she still trusted him. "How'd you get all this money?"

"That's confidential," Jean's jaw had tensed. "Now, if our little reunion is over, I have to get going."

"But, Jean—"

"What do you know shimmer?" Levi interrupted, cutting straight to the chase. "And don't say nothing because we know you have a connection to it."

"Oh. So, that's what this is about," realization dawned on Jean's face. He turned to (Y/N). "You were the traitor guard, weren't you? The one who impersonated Guard Chance? The palace had warrants out for your arrest and everything. I was wondering who it could have been. No wonder why Augustus was in such a rut."

"You...you worked with Augustus?" (Y/N) breathed. "You deal shimmer?"

Jean had the decency to look somewhat embarrassed. "It's not like that. I did what I had to in order to get money. I'd have done anything to get out of the undercity."

"But Augustus had been the one who had killed Sasha and Connie," (Y/N) exclaimed, staring at Jean with astonishment. "The two of them had died because we saw a drug dealing, because we saw the exchange of shimmer. How are you participating in the very thing that got your siblings killed?"

"Relax," Jean said, annoyed. "Don't you think I'm upset about Sasha and Connie? To this day, I feel blame and guilt. We shouldn't have gone to the topside that day. We shouldn't have tried to steal from those guards. I should have insisted we gone home. I miss the two of them every single day of my life. The pain will never fade, (Y/N), and I think you know how that feels."