tratie one shots, vol. i

[ loved him / tw ]

tw: angst warning. violence/gore. blood mention. character death. 

y'all talk to some of your fellow readers who requested i write this from katie's pov, because heaven knows i didn't want to write this and make you suffer more. (okay, maybe i did. oops.) 

words: 797

. . .

Katie loved him.

She loved him with every molecule of her being, and she'd pretended to hate him. Why? She didn't know. All she knew was, hate was a lot more easier than love. 

When she heard his voice on the other side of the phone, however, she'd never thought hating someone was harder. 

"Katie-kat." 

He sounded drained, vacant. Like every breath was a struggle. She couldn't think of anything except how hard it was to hate him. 

How easy it was to love him. 

"Trav...?" 

"Heya, Kates." A cracked cough interrupted his sentence, and he gasped as he fumbled, "What's up?" 

She loved him.

"Travis, are you okay?" She cursed herself. Obviously not. Obviously. 

She motioned for the nearest Apollo camper to be with her as she put the landline on speaker. He was so far from okay that she feared she'd need to send some campers to get him. 

"Just making sure you're okay." 

He'd taught her the courage of a thousand soldiers, he'd taught her to calm down in situations of high stress levels. Their relationship had been offset from the very beginning, but she'd always admired his bravery and chill. 

Not now, though.

Any time but now. 

"I'm safe, but..." Katie drew an uneven breath and tried to focus. "You don't sound okay." 

He needed to tell her where he was. The Apollo camper and Katie awaited more details to present themselves, but he just choked out stumbling words. 

"I need- I need you to know something."

She didn't know why, but tears pricked at her eyes already. Even if she wasn't aware of his situation, it wasn't good. She couldn't have guessed in a million years why he was calling her in this time of difficulty for him, but she had to save him. 

"Travis, where are you?" She waved at the Apollo kid to be prepared to take leave the second he breathed out the location. "I'm sending someone to get you." 

Silence.

The other line only made static noises and distant war cries, and Katie realized he was in much worse of shape than she'd have hoped. He was still on the battle field by the sound of it, and he had to get out of there. 

But he wasn't responding.

"Travis?" 

She couldn't lose him.

She loved him. 

A gasp on the other end made her sigh with relief, but she knew that didn't mean he'd last long. He couldn't die, not yet. She hadn't told him. 

He had to know. 

But he spoke before she could open her mouth. "You gotta know. I didn't..."

He faded away again, and now silent tears streamed down Katie's face. The Apollo girl took Katie's hand and squeezed it, but the touch felt far away and unreal. Nothing was processing, and she had to get Travis out of there. 

"I don't hate you. A-at all."

A rush of new emotions clouded her vision, and she leaned against the counter of the Empire's front desk. She didn't trust her legs to hold up. "What?"

Another gurgled cough escaped his mouth, and she let out a sudden sob. She couldn't take this, she had to save him. 

"Where are you?" 

He either ignored her question or didn't hear her at all. "I love you, Katie-kat."

"Travis?" Her wail attracted more attention from the campers in the temporary sickbay, where she wished Travis was. She begged to the gods he could be there. 

"I loved you."

No.

Her cheeks wet, she couldn't manage to even form his name with her lips as the line went dead. He'd ended the call. 

He'd ended more than that.

Oh, to be able to tell him she loved him, too. Oh, to have been unafraid of the emotion when she had the chance to share it with him. Oh, to reciprocate the feeling face-to-face, when his life wasn't at risk. Oh, to be able to save him. 

Oh, to love Travis.

"Travis?" She finally broke out, but the phone had long since fallen from her grasp. She held her hand up as if he could still hear her, as if he was still there. 

She was alone.

As the Apollo camper wrapped an arm around her to hug her briefly before returning to her station, Katie stood. Alone. Helpless. 

Loveless.

She'd have to find him, when the war was over. She would find him, and tell him. It didn't matter if he wasn't really there, he had to know. 

He had to know she loved him. 

She prayed the war would end, so no one had to endure further loss. So no one would have to regret keeping their words from the ones who needed them most. 

She loved him. 

And now, she could only love him from afar.