[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.

Comments

[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."

[stilljustandrew]

He pulls himself the rest of the way up, to sit in what's become his habitual position, back resting against the wall and knees tucked up to his chest.

"They're like ... inhabiting spirits. They can move into a living body and take it over. Like angels with human vessels, only they don't ... they don't require consent."

A long beat.

"They don't all serve Lucifer, but ... a lot of them do."

[gothamsheiress]

Brix nods; she's listening and following.

[stilljustandrew]

"There's one --"

His voice cuts off as a shiver goes through him; it's a moment before he can continue.



"She's called Meg. She knew me from before. From ... there was one time ..." He shakes his head. "It's not important. But she hated me, after that. And when they first ... when they took me from here, she was in charge of that. And of ... getting me to cooperate, early on. When I was still ..."

Again he trails off, without seeming to realize he's done so.

[gothamsheiress]

Quietly: "Stubbon?"

[stilljustandrew]

His mouth trembles briefly.

"Yeah."

[gothamsheiress]

"What did she do?"