Rekindle the Darkness

0.4

[A/N] ~Spoiler Alert~

±--Suicide Squad movie spoilers--±

I stir as I come to terms with where I currently am. Taking a moment to recollect my thoughts, I sheepishly open one eye, followed by the other and the first things I set eyes upon is the rays of the sun being weakly filtered through the gaps between remaining leaves. The weak sunlight provides no warmth as I huff, my breath a cloud of precipitation before me.

The days are getting shorter, and colder too.

Winter is arriving and quickly.

The back of my head hits the bark of the tree in exhaustion and I lean backwards as a stray leaf lands on my forehead, a possible indication as to where the bullet was supposed to hit earlier, instead of splintering the bark.

I felt much worse than when I'd escaped, several hours earlier. Fatigue had started to catch up with me and my muscles ached for a proper rest. To add to all of this, I had a headache starting to bloom.

After sunset was the worst part of it all. My energy was all but drained yet I continued to stumble on until I could no more. Having tripped over a root of another tree, I went down. A headache had blossomed into a migraine and I clutched my hair, my eyes clamped shut as I lay in the foetal position in the mud and debris of the woodland, trying not to let the tears and whimpers escape my lips.

Kit was positioned on the sofa, his legs spreading out so he took up the whole space. I walked in from the kitchen, clutching a bowl of popcorn to my chest, refusing to pass any over unless he moved his heavy legs.

We were currently sat watching Suicide Squad and we had to pause it halfway as Kit had scoffed down half of the popcorn and the other half lay on the floor, from various attempts of me trying to get him to shut up, by, you guessed it, throwing popcorn at him.

And since Kit burned everything he tried to cook, it was my duty to microwave the popcorn.

"Hurryy up!" He whined, finally moving his feet for me to sit and I rolled my eyes at his excitement.

Picking up a kernel of popcorn from the bowl, I flicked it at him and his arms shot up in triumph as it landed in his mouth.

"-odd relationship." He poked me once in the arm as he spoke and my head turned to look at him, whilst my eyes stayed glued to the screen. "Hey, Princess?"

My eyes break away for a split second to make contact with his. "What was that?"

"The Joker and Quinn. They have a very odd relationship."

I frowned, the movie a now faint hum in the background. "I don't know," I started, speaking slowly as to collect my thoughts in a way to present them so that the idea did not seem absurd. "I mean, it seems beautifully tragic, a kind of doomed love."

Kit's features lost their immaturity and for a moment I could see his perfect features, from the seriousness in his eyes and the corner of his mouth turning ever so slightly up as if actually considering my silly analogy.

"Interesting." There was a brief pause and only then did I notice he had paused the movie sometime between my rambling. "..And do you find The Joker to be insane?"

I shook my head slowly. "No. I find him quite appealing, actually."

I hold my tongue, expecting him to burst into laughter, but he doesn't. Instead, he just watches me, as if to tell me to continue.

"They're both broken. But together, they start to heal."

Kit nods as if pondering over it. Then, he reaches over to take the popcorn from me and pops one into his mouth, before placing one into mine.

Then, I snuggled into him and we continued to watch the movie in a comfortable silence.

--

He was full on crying by the time the helicopter had crashed. It had started with the occasional sniffles, with reassurances that he had a cold and that was it, but by the time Quinn had been thrown from the helicopter, he was brawling.

I sat up, glancing over at him, unable to believe what was going on.

"I thought you didn't like him?" I mused over his sobbing.

"I-I didn't. But now he's dead!"

I chuckled, reaching over to ruffle his hair. He pulled away, pouting, trying to reach over to his phone which had just announced he'd had a text.

And just like that, his playful features dropped as he read the message.

I leant over, trying to get a glimpse of what he was worrying over, but he locked the phone and got to his feet. I followed immediately after.

"Everything okay?"

He shook his head, his hand shooting up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "It's fine."

"Are you sure?" I pressed a little more, hoping to get an answer to his sudden change in reaction.

"God- Yes, I'm fine. Stop being so clingy." He snapped and I froze, taking a step back.

His eyes widened in realisation as he holds out a hand to comfort me, but I step away further from him. "Princess, I-"

Tears stung at my eyes and I smiled a sad little smile. "It's okay. I'll be on my way." I mumbled meekly, my eyes averted to the floor as I started to make my way to the door.

He was there instantly, blocking my way. "Princess, I'm sorry, I- I didn't mean it."

"Kit, move," I mumble, my voice quiet.

"Princess, please." His voice is pleading.

I look up to face him. "Kit. Move."

He seemed hesitant but then did so, with great reluctance. "Princess," he begs.

I shake my head, stepping out from the warmth of the kitchen into the cold outdoors.

An audible groan escapes my lips as my muscles ache. I shiver, cold, tears returning, hitting me with a fresh wave of misery and dread. It has been months. Everyone must've presumed I was dead and lost hope by now. The cold starts to close in on me and I take in a shaky breath which collapses and I gasp out. Frustration starts to replace my pain and anger. My arms ache, my ankles swollen. There was nowhere to go, nobody to go to.

Sensing movement, I scramble to my feet, using the tree for balance.

"Marlow?" A low voice calls out in surprise and I almost gasp in relief, my breath threatening to leave me.

"Eli!" I breathe, my voice hoarse as the tears continue to fall at an increasing pace. Tears of relief and joy.

"Marlow!" Eli repeats, his voice louder this time and in two strides he was by my side, sweeping me up into a tight hug.

I rejoiced, crying out in pain and relief. He puts me down, apologising, tears dotted in his eyes too.

"Let's get you somewhere safe." He mumbles, alert as he glances around.

I could only manage a nod, licking my dry, cracked lips. He takes my hand, giving it a squeeze as if to reassure me and leads me out of the forest.