Ginger's Spy School Oneshots

requiescat in pace

Author's Note: This one's a little different from the other stuff, since it's a single scene out of context from AU I didn't create, but it's one of my favorite bits on angst I've written, and I hope you enjoy it too!

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For once, it felt wrong to see Erica in black.

It was probably the fact that it wasn't her standard uniform, it was a dress. A plain black dress, black tights, and black flats that looked like they would be miserable to run in. Normally, Erica wouldn't be caught be caught dead in that kind of outfit, wouldn't be caught dead without her utility belt, wouldn't be caught dead in anything that wouldn't immediately allow her to spring into action.

But today was anything but normal, and the difference in the air was palpable.

The service itself was over, but very few people had actually left, instead choosing to mill around the graveyard, speaking in hushed tones, as though if they spoke any louder, they might trigger the zombie apocalypse.

Erica was still standing there, though, staring at Alexander's gravestone. It was unclear whether no one had noticed or if people had just decided to give her some space.

Ben walked over to Erica and, after checking as quickly and discretely as he could to make sure no one was looking, slipped his hand into hers and laced their fingers together. Erica didn't make a move to let go.

They stood there is silence for a little while, trying to make sense of the whole situation. Ben had never been particularly good at words, but the silence seemed so cavernous that he felt he had to say something. "It wasn't your fault."

"I know," Erica said quietly. "It's just so unfair."

Ben just stood there, not saying anything. But Erica kept talking, as if she needed to get everything off her chest, "It's like recently he's been trying. Like he'd suddenly realized just how much things sucked and he wanted to fix them. It's like," her voice caught in her throat and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"It's like he knew he was going to die," she whispered. A single tear slipped down her cheek. "And for once it didn't seem like he deserved it."

And Ben didn't know what to say. What was there to say? Nothing he could do could make it stop hurting, and he wanted to badly to make it stop hurting.

"I guess that's just the reality of this business," he said after a while, "I mean, we're all going to have to die at some point, but sometimes death comes sooner than we expect." They stood there for a moment longer before he added, "Guess it's lucky he realized that before he actually did."

"Sick, twisted luck," said Erica, and then she sighed. "But luck nonetheless."

The silence seems to take on a life all its own as they stood there. Horrible, awful silence. But it was better than any words either of them could come up with.

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Author's Note: I am unable to figure out how to add hyperlinks to the story, but if you have any questions about context, come find me on tumblr or ask me in the comments, and I hope you have a lovely day!