Credits: slashingdisneypasta
Plot: Reader has a serious talk with Barron. Love and fear collide, and you win.
Warnings: Angst, referencing the killing of peculiar children
"And what about me?" I ask, courage rising to the top as i turn round to see him walking to the door, having thought our conversation was over. Having thought I was feeling more timid, then I am. And almost any other day he would've been right. He could have told me his plans and I would have quietly let him walk away- I would have packed up myself and the kids quietly that night and left the country without looking him in the eye.
And I'd count the days until he found us, knowing I'd kill him the same way.
But it seems my oats were laced with adrenaline this morning, and I'm rooted to the spot but my tongue is sharp.
He stops, turns around carefully, and tilts his head; A look of deep confusion on his face. Its almost funny. "Wh- I'm sorry, what?" He asks, rather bluntly.
My brows quirk up my forehead, prompting him to buck up. I need to know. Now. Please, he must love me enough to give me a head start, at least. Surely... "Will you kill me too, eventually?"
Immediately he comes forward, and his hands come for me, and I'm too weak- to back up. My words may be ready to fight but my body isn't, not when he cups my face and those familiar eyes are so earnest, so sincere, so surprised.
Why he would be surprised by my words, I have no clue.
"No," He pleads, trying to make me believe him. Pressing his forehead to mine, he traces the pads of his thumbs across my temples. "No, never. Not you... Godamnit, Y/N, you're special, you're important... I love you... I could never hurt you... " I almost do, because I desperately want to. I want to believe he truly loves me enough to keep me safe from all this, his greed and his curiosity. Because I deeply love him...
But I cant believe him. I cant believe that he could possibly have a separate part of him... for me. That he could separate me and my all this in his brain... I must believe that eventually, he would get desperate and they would merge, and I would get destroyed. Even if it was true and by some miracle his intentions towards me were entirely pure, I cant afford to. I have my kids to focus on, and their survival depends on me believing that he's totally, and irreversibly evil... from every, crevice.
"And my kids?" As I was thinking, hardening my heart towards him, I had removed my gaze from his; Looked down. But now I flick my eyes back up to his, and watch the inevitable wobble.
And inevitable, it is. He hesitates, holding eye contact for a good moment but looking more as if he were on the defensive... rather then if he were about to assure me.
"Uh- Uh... U-U-Um, well-" He looks away and I take in a deep breath, pulling away from him. "We- Well Y/N, come on, Spitfire, I- I, I have to do this. Hey, I promise if I don't have to, I wont come near your kids. But I... well, I... "
"You cant promise me that if have to, you wont." I finish for him, stepping back entirely. Entering new air, air that isn't suffocated by him. Theirs venom in my voice clear as day and it makes him look at me different, a trace of poison entering his eyes as well.
"Look, Y/N... " He comes forward again, and I back up but he follows me all the way to the wall. I take a deep breath, shoulders rising, as he comes in close again but I don't look away- or back down. This is about my kids! I cant afford to be weak right now, despite my heart beating frantically in my chance. "I've worked too hard for this. The plan is in motion... I cant just go oops! Nevermind!" His voice is gentle, but deadly and mocking, and I narrow your eyes at him for it. Which he shrugs at, careless. "Sorry."
I peer up into his eyes now, searching for even a trace of good. Something other then apathy and greed... But I know its not there. "You really want this that much? You want to live forever no matter the cost?"
A forced grin is pasted to his lips, then. "Well, almost." And his hands land on my waist.
My eyes flash, looking from those to his eyes. "Oh, no." He doesn't love me enough to save my kids- my life- but he loves me enough to want to keep me? How dare he-
"Come on... "He tilts his head, apparently all-too-comfortable in his evil. "Where'd my timid little Spitfire go?"
I'm still here, my love whispers. I'm scared to death, my fear screams, as well. Even my anger growls out a gravelly I don't have the luxury right now. But my heartbreak is what gets to my tongue first.
"Where did my husband, go?"
At that, he seems to sober up a little bit; Straightening his shoulders from the dangerous hunched way they sat leaning over me before, and flashing me a cautious look. As if telling me to watch myself.
I touched a nerve.
"He's right goddamn here, cant you see 'em?"
I'm reaching up to his hair before I even realise it, threading my fingers through the crazy white strands. "I see him... " I say softly, seeing his eyes soften as well in my peripheral vision. His shoulders relaxing as my hands land carefully on them, the material of his coat rough under my touch. "... But I you have to understand... " I plead this time, exchanging that crucial eye contact with him for what could be, hopefully is, the last time. Because if it happens again, one of us will have to kill the other and I don't want that. "I cant be with him."
Then I transform, before his grip can clamp down on me and keep me there- growing out my wings and shrinking down in stature, and hearing him shout a curse before I fly right out the window.
