Our Bruised Bodies | Bradley Bradshaw

ACT THREE - PART FOURTEEN

And a final time for Act Three, please let me know what you think. Cheers!

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There was not much personal conversation in the last two years. Nearly no information at all which Jake had, came from Grace personally. She did keep in touch but so sparsely, it was like she didn't tell him anything at all. Most of it were whispers, things he heard through the grapevine. From people who hadn't even met the mighty Icarus. From people, who liked stories, but had no idea who she really was.

But that was always the thing, people liked stories. Stories of good against evil. The ancient story of us against them. They love the righteous hero with the tragic backstory, that would sacrifice their entire world, if it only meant to safe a single soul. They like to watch them bleed, hanging on the edge of their seats, wondering praying for them to make it. To stumble over a miracle and safe the day. Heros always safe the day, they always give all of themselves for the world that doesn't even deserve it, but that's who they are.

Jake had heard the whispers. That they were about to run headfirst into World War III. That Captain Stafford and Admiral Simpson were trying everything they could to prevent it, but the Russians were set on war. Then Simpson went to fetch Kazansky, who was still heavily suffering under the adrenalin crash and was under the influence of almost every painkiller they had on the Baltimore. They wanted their hero to not have to feel any pain after all, as a kind of service for saving all their lives. In that state, she joined Simpson for the negotiations. Grace was just a Lieutenant Commander, such a negotiation wasn't her place, not at all, but she had been there, and the Russian Commander of the Pacific fleet left an hour later. No war followed, all because of Grace.

Jake knew, Grace had liked these kinds of movies too for the longest time, they were entertaining to a degree, he wondered if she still liked them, now that she found herself in such a movie. Now that her life was such a movie. Now that people expected her to always save the day, to always succeed and win, to never fail. To give her life to save others.

She turned out to be a righteous but tragic hero.

Jake felt it was hard to find any fascination or enjoyment for such movies, when the good side was represented by your dear friend and the evil was out for her blood. A story, of good against evil, Jake was glad that these kinds of stories always ever exist in movies, fairy tales and books. Grace life had nothing of good against evil. She didn't even know what it meant to be good nor evil for that matter.

She just ...was. And Jake loved her for it. For not pretending to be the very thing that would safe the world from it's doom. She just was herself. It was so calming. To know how Grace saw the world, because he saw the world the same way.

Her story wasn't one of good against evil. Her story is more real. More tragic. A constant struggle of need against need against need. Everyone in her story has underlying motives, everyone wants something, everyone is competing for a love they won't receive, and everyone is to blame.

They're all sinners, a saint had never walked earth to begin with. It was just a story they told them on Sundays at church to make kids obey their parents.

Life was complicate in a way no one really understood. Not long term. Never really. And should they ever think they figured it out, they're going to realise soon, that no. They have no flying fuck of an idea what actually is going on.

But what the other Lieutenants told each other, the ones who have never met Grace, that was a fairy tale, a legend and a myth. It took Grace the better part of a year to turn into a myth and it was somehow frustrating, because he knew that it had nothing to do with how she really was. Jake knew it was all fake, not even Grace could go through all that and come out on top. Unshattered and ready to climb the ladder further up. Up, up. Always up. One day she will run out of air up there.