[reverse darkest timeline AU: cellthread #3]

[stilljustandrew]

It's been about two days.

Nobody's come for him.



Andrew's lying down, staring at the far wall.

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[gothamsheiress]

Well, Brix isn't about to prompt him. She's too busy trying to rein in her horror enough to hear anything besides her blood rushing in her ears.

[stilljustandrew]

"This was early," he says finally, very soft. "When I was still fighting Him. And, and first they told me He could do that, and then later He showed me."

He swallows.

"So I wouldn't try to die."

[gothamsheiress]

"He killed you?"

[stilljustandrew]

"To bring me back. So I'd understand."

He shifts, tucking his arms around himself as though cold.

[gothamsheiress]

"Andrew--"

She breaks off, runs a hand over her face, trying to collect her thoughts.

"How -- do you feel about that, now?"

[stilljustandrew]

He blinks at her.

"... that he brought me back?"

[gothamsheiress]

"That he killed you in the first place," flatly.

[stilljustandrew]

"It wasn't ... He didn't want me dead. It was just to show me. Because I didn't believe it until then, not really. And He --"

He pushes himself up on one arm, halfway to sitting.

Barely above a whisper: "He held me while I was dying. And He told me not to be afraid."

[gothamsheiress]

"While he killed you."

[stilljustandrew]

He opens his mouth, and closes it.

Nods.

[gothamsheiress]

Welp.

Brix's just gonna let that one sit like a lead weight in the middle of the room for a minute.

[stilljustandrew]

His gaze drops away from hers again; his cheeks and the tips of his ears flush red, with something that might be shame.



"I wasn't His yet," he says, very low, pleading for understanding. "I, I was still His enemy back then."

[gothamsheiress]

"And after he killed you, were you no longer his enemy?"

[stilljustandrew]

"Not -- not right after." He looks at her, uncertain, shading towards wary.

[gothamsheiress]

"Why not?"

[stilljustandrew]

"I was still being stubborn," he says doggedly. "I had to learn better."

[gothamsheiress]

"You had to learn better than to dislike the being that killed you. That killed you to prove to you that he would be able to control you even in death."

[stilljustandrew]

He shuts his eyes.

"Stop saying that."

[gothamsheiress]

"Shall I say instead 'you had to learn better than to be the enemy of the angel that killed you so you wouldn't try to die'?"

[stilljustandrew]

"You don't --"

His voice is shaking. "You don't understand. It was, it could have been so much worse."

[gothamsheiress]

Brix takes a deep breath.

"All right," softly. "I'll try to understand. How could it have been worse?"

[stilljustandrew]

"It was --"

A look of trapped panic comes into his face, as clearly as if spoken out loud: I shouldn't have said that.

"It was a long time ago."

[gothamsheiress]

Brix raises her eyebrows.

(If he claims he can't remember, she might punch a wall.)

[stilljustandrew]

He flinches, and looks away.






"Are there ..."

Very slow, and with a reluctance that feels like dread.

"Are there demons, in your world?"

[gothamsheiress]

She shakes her head.

"I don't know."