Losing you ; Joel Miller

v. Bloody fucking revenge

Warning: quite graphic violence
[2009]
JOEL

" Jesus fucking Christ, Joel." Tommy huffed, pacing around his apartment. Joel sat by the sofa, eyes never leaving Eden's sleeping face. They had managed to get a doctor, who informed them that she had a minor concussion and at least one broken rib. " They were looking for the stuff." Tommy hissed out, hand raking through his hair so aggressively he might accidentally pull some out. " Yeah no shit." Joel grunted, gaze staying fixed on the blonde's black eye. Anger swirled in his gut, he felt like he could murder someone.

" She can stay with me-" Joel cut him off, quickly saying " no." Before Tommy could finish his sentence. " They almost fucking killed her, Joel!" The younger brother yelled out, frustrated. " I fucking know!" Joel snapped back, standing up and moving towards him. " And if they even try lay a finger on her again, I'll fucking kill them."

Tommy pressed his lips together, deciding that this wasn't a time to fight. " Fine, you win. But we need to move the fucking product." Joel couldn't disagree on that, giving the younger man a curt nod before moving back to his place by Eden.

The door swung open, Tess walking in with a worried expression. " I heard what happened, is she ok?" Tommy sighed, hands resting on his hips " she'll survive, she's tough."

" I'd be more worried for the man who did this." The younger man mumbled quietly to Tess, nodding towards Joel. " I think he might try to kill someone..."

Tess' eyebrows furrowed as she looked up at him " how long has this been going on?" Her question was almost silent, not wanting Joel to hear. " No idea, I hadn't noticed anything earlier." Tommy answered in the same hushed tone. Joel's fingers moved slowly over the small crescent shaped wounds on his arms. All he could see was red, his hands shook with fury. The more he stared at Eden's bruised face, the angrier he got.

His fingers softly moved, tucking some loose strands behind Eden's ear. Whoever did this is going to pay.

" What do you want?" The soldier muttered, hand glued to his gun as he double checked the area to see that they're alone. " There was a raid on my apartment. I want to know who was involved." Joel grunted out, watching his eyes widen. " Look man, I didn't know anything about it-"

" I don't give a shit if you know anything or not, just give me a name." The soldier's jaw tightened, a frustrated huff left his lips. " Like hell I'm gonna do that. I'm no snitch-"

Joel towered over him, eyes dark and dangerous. The younger man visibly gulped as he unconsciously took a step back. " There was a girl, do you know anything bout that?" He said, voice low. " I- I heard Samson talking about Anderson going overboard with some whore- but I don't know anything else I swear-" Joel's rage simmering when he dared call Eden a whore.

" That wasn't so hard, huh? Now tell me, who's Anderson."

Tracking down Anderson hadn't been as hard as he thought it would be. Joel stood in an alleyway, head lowered as he watched the men loudly speak together in a group. The sun was setting, curfew began in five minutes. Joel waited for Anderson to break away from the group and head home, his shift ending.

Following the guard, Joel silently walked behind him until they were alone. He knew Anderson was aware of his presence, the man looking back over his shoulder every few seconds. " What the fuck do you want-" Joel slammed the guard's head into the brick building next to him. Hand gripping over his throat as the FEDRA soldier tried to escape. " Did you enjoy it? Huh? Hurting her?"

Anderson gasped, hands clawing at Joel's wrist. " I don't know what you're talking about!-"

" You left her with a concussion and a broken rib this morning. Thinking there wouldn't be any fuckin' consequences." Joel gritted out, " I'll show you how much it hurt for her."

A punch landed on Anderson's face, another one following close thereafter. Anderson spat out blood, giving Joel a sneer " you mean the slut at your apartment? She was basically begging me to fuck her-" Joel heard bone crack as he swung his fist for the third time. Not faltering though, he repeated, again and again until Anderson was nothing but a bloody heap on the floor.

Kicking his side for extra measure, Joel left the scene and quickly made his way back home. Eden stirred in her sleep when he entered the apartment, her bruised face calm as soft sounds left her lips.

Joel watched her for a second, debating on whether or not he should carry her to bed. " Eden..." her nose scrunched up, blinking away the sleep from her eyes. Her gaze fell on Joel and went down to his busted up hand. Immediately her face contorted into worry, sitting up with a wince as she took his bloody hand in hers.

" I'm fine. Lie back down." Joel grunted, trying to gently nudge the blonde back on the sofa. Eden slapped his hand away and shot him a look that said don't try me. He huffed, trying not to smirk. " You've got a concussion and a broken rib... yet you're still adamant about patching me up?" Joel raised his eyebrows, amused by her stubbornness.

Eden nodded, clicking her tongue as she pointed at the med kit. Joel stood up, grabbing it before sitting down and giving his hand back to her. She worked caution, as if she was worried she'd hurt him. The irony in that, huh?

" Now that you've taken care of me, let me take care of you." He mumbled out when she was done. Everything felt so foreign to him, he hadn't cared for six years and now he was caring for a woman he only met three weeks ago. She allowed him to pick her up, only hissing slightly. He did his best to not hurt her further, gently laying her on his bed before moving her hair from her face.

As he was about to go to the couch, she gripped his arm. Silently pleading with her eyes for him to stay. Setting off an internal turmoil in his mind, Joel fought his instinct to lie down in bed with her. He shook his head softly, freeing himself from her grip before moving to the sofa.

Just a week later, Eden had gotten her own apartment. Joel thought he would be grateful to have his own space back but instead, he found himself staring at tubs of peanut butter and waiting to hear soft footsteps that never came.