Flicker||TLOUII {Joel x Reader}

prologue

Joel picks at his guitar with a cloth and Tommy sits opposite him, leaning back in his chair. (Y/N) sat beside her beloved, her fingertips tapping lightly on the seat.

"I don't know what happened." She whispers and Joel glances at her, his expression tight.

"We were supposed to take her to the Fireflies and Joel was to walk away."

"You go halfway across the country with someone..." Joel mutters, his cloth cutting across the guitar and (Y/N) takes note of his tense stance.

"She needed her immunity to mean somethin'... maybe I was startin' to buy into that whole cure business." He continues.

"Maybe I just wanna do right be her."

(Y/N) lets out a breathy sigh as he carries on: "and then we made it. We found the Fireflies. And because of her, they were actually gonna make a cure."

"The only catch -" he stumbles and she places her hand on his knee.

"It would kill her." She finishes for him and Tommy's eyes flicker between them.

"Jesus Christ." He finally breathes out. "What'd you do?" He asks and Joel's hand stops, his eyes wandering to the woman sitting beside him, who keeps her own gaze on the wall at the other end of the room.

The memory replays in her mind, repeating over and over. "We saved her." (Y/N) answers, nodding her head slightly.

"Goddamn." Tommy breathes. "That's..." he scoffs, his fingers linked. "That's a lot." He concludes. "What does Ellie know?"

(E/C) eyes snap to his and Joel continues wiping down his guitar.

"They just ran some tests. Her immunity meant nothing." She says and Tommy looks to his brother and then back to her, suspicious.

"And she believed you?"

(Y/N) thinks back to those two words and Ellie's expression. Ellie knew that was something was wrong, there was no flicker of reassurance.

"Didn't say otherwise." She says softly and the room falls silent as Tommy tries to take everything in.

(Y/N) leans forward, trying to grab Joel's attention, but he keeps his focus on cleaning the same portion of guitar.

"We should head back." Tommy states, picking up his rifle and bag.

Joel watches him go and (Y/N) stands, grabbing her bow that was leant against the wall and he follows her move.

Passing over her bag, he goes over to his brother and the two lift up the garage door. The glowing sun fills the room with the orange and yellow beams and she winces slightly, clambering onto the horse after Joel.

The trio ride back to the power plant and the gates open, allowing them to slow to a stop once they were inside.

Joel gets off his horse, helping down (Y/N) and taking the rein.

"It's alright, I got 'em." Tommy says, taking it from him. "You two go on."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." He nods and Joel grabs his gear.

"About what we were talkin' about earlier..." Tommy trails off and nods, not making eye contact with either. "I can't say I'd've done different." He states, looking between them and nodding. "I'd take it to the grave, if I have to."

(Y/N) hugs him tightly, the weight being lifted from her as Joel gives a small smile. "We'll see you later, Tommy." He says, his hand going to the small of her back and leading her down the road.