Chapter Text
Stelle sought out more details from Welt, wanting to get the full picture no matter how much it hurt her. Dan Heng was only missing for about five hours, as it turned out. They had found his express pass lying in an alley with a note that hinted at the culprit, and that’s when they let her and March know of his disappearance. While Aventurine’s subordinates had done most of the groundwork, it was Welt and Sunday that had found Dan Heng in the end. It had been on the second floor of an empty building where he had been tied to a pillar, gagged and face dripping with blood. He was barely conscious, and had collapsed into Welt the second they cut him loose. The thought of him being restrained in that cold, dark space made Stelle’s heart twist. She knew bits of his past, and had been traveling with him long enough to know that pain didn’t mean much to him. But when they had descended to the Shackling Prison, she could never forget how his hands trembled and his voice quivered even as he tried to pass it off. That had to be the worst part of this all, the fact that those painful memories were doubtless stirred up by his captor in that time. Stelle hadn’t been able to put it out of her mind in the hours since, and doubted she would until justice had been served.
To no one’s surprise but everyone’s worry, Dan Heng wanted to go over everything that same night. His reasoning was that he wanted them to be fully informed in case of another attempt at their safety, which was all too like him. Aventurine was also present, as Himeko and Welt deemed that he would be a good representative to pass information on the IPC. He agreed but lingered near the edge of the room and waved off the idea of sitting down. Stelle followed his pacing back and forth with her eyes, his head down as he fiddled with the gold coin he always seemed to have on him.
Instinctively, March and Stelle had gravitated towards Dan Heng the second he was ready to be around others and he had responded with a worrying amount of reciprocity. March had leaned against him on the couch and he had gently guided her head onto his lap when sleep had started to take her. Stelle stared at March’s new position in a muted shock, looking up to meet Himeko’s eyes across the room. An unspoken message went between them, one of deep, aching concern for their fellow trailblazer. Stelle shifted over a few inches to let her shoulder brush Dan Heng’s, hoping it could show any part of her unwavering support for him. He took a deep breath, then began to recount his experience.
It didn’t sound much different than him telling any other story, really, and that’s what pained Stelle the most. He left out no detail that could be helpful, but skimmed over any part where he had been hurt like it was irrelevant, like it didn’t matter. March had fallen asleep from exhaustion, Himeko had a look of quiet rage, and Aventurine continued to pace. Stelle’s wrist ached. March had been sleeping so often lately, and was more often quiet than lively. How much have they taken from us already? Why did we let them?
A pause in Dan Heng’s voice drew Stelle’s attention, something infinitesimal in him shifting that immediately pulled her back to him. She felt his arm tense, his fingers curling into a tight fist.
“And then…” he took in a breath, his exhale coming out shaky. His eyes were distant, like he was gazing out into the void of space itself. “Then they said that- that they knew about March and Stelle’s injuries.” Stelle straightened, like a rod had been stuck up her spine. “They told me that if the Express kept pursuing this, they would-” his voice gave out, unable to hold back the quivers. Each sharp breath he took was a knife stabbing Stelle’s chest, her hand reaching out before she knew it to wrap around his clenched one.
“Take your time, Dan Heng, it’s alright,” Welt said softly, his voice holding a protective edge.
Dan Heng managed to speak after an impossibly long silence, his voice quiet and choked. “They’d take them too, and that it would- they would do-” Stelle felt Dan Heng finally grab her hand in return like he would never let go. Somewhere he found the strength to continue, and the words began to tumble out like he couldn’t bear to keep them in any longer. “They told me everything, took time to lay out every minute detail of what they would do, and it’s worse-” he physically shuddered, squeezing Stelle’s hand tighter and laying his other arm over March’s sleeping form. He finally managed to finish his sentence, a shaky, quiet exhale. “It’s worse than torture.” Aventurine let out a venomous curse under his breath, anger glowing from his eyes. Everyone else must have reacted in a similar way, but Stelle could only stare at the floor as the edges of her vision faded into a blur. A shiver of fear ran up her spine, but she swallowed the lump in her throat. I could take it. I could take it. Better me than March. “But I swear, I will never let that happen,” she heard Dan Heng say, his voice shaky with determined anger. “I will protect both of you with my life.”
“None of us will let that happen,” Welt seconded, his words like ice. “A threat like that can’t go ignored.”
Stelle pulled her knees up to her chest, the noise around her muffled as if through a wall. She didn’t hear the remainder of what Dan Heng reported, didn’t register what was going on around her, only snapping out of her trance when there was movement at her side. Glancing over she noted with a start that March was no longer around, only moments later registering Aventurine now only a few steps in front of her. He moved to be at her level, dropping to a knee as his concerned eyes seemed to bare her very soul.
“Stelle?”
She swallowed, her throat dry and a pressure building behind her eyes. “I’m okay…” she said quietly, dimly wondering who she thought she was fooling. Dan Heng squeezed her hand, physically reminding her that he was still there. She was exposed, horribly so. Stelle’s eyes ran from making contact with either of the people at her side, instead looking for anything else to focus on. Welt and Himeko were involved in their own quiet conversation on the other side of the room, their gazes radiating concern quickly turned away when Stelle caught them.
“I’m going to go, but I’ll be just a message away. Please text me if you need anything at all, okay?”
Stelle hurriedly got up, ready to be away from all the prying eyes. “I’ll walk with you-”
Aventurine slowly moved to stand next to her, his face not showing any less worry. A flare of anger lit in her chest, prompting her to turn and start walking on her own. I’m not helpless. Stop looking at me like I am. She thrust open the door to the outside, stepping down onto the street and closing her eyes to feel the cold night breeze nip at her skin. Aventurine moved past her, laying a hand on her arm.
“You shouldn’t be in this position,” he said quietly, a biting anger in his words. “It’s not something anyone should have to go through.” Stelle could only bear to glance at him for a moment before turning away. No stars were visible tonight, the clouds choking any light from the sky. “I promise to do everything in my power to make sure they don’t-”
“WHY-!” The words tore themselves from Stelle’s throat, her hands balling into fists. “Because you think I’m weak?!” Aventurine pulled back, eyes wide with surprise. He didn’t say anything, which Stelle took as an opening. Venomous words spewed out as her breath quickened, her face flushed. “You think we can’t look after each other? Maybe we can’t! Maybe if I had been there this never would have happened! And what if I am weak, you think you’re going to help? You think you can?!” The surprise on Aventurine’s face faded to mute understanding, the light in his eyes seeming to dim. “This is our- my problem, and if I get caught and-” she swallowed, hot tears swelling in her eyes as her energy started to wear away. “If I get caught it’s my own. damn. problem. I don’t need you to protect me.” She finished, spitting the last few words out even as her determination began to falter. They stared at each other for a few seconds, the rustling of the wind sounding so quiet in comparison to the roaring of her words. Aventurine seemed to shrink, pulling his arms across his chest and turning away.
“I see,” he finally said, his voice distant and eyes somewhere even further. “I’ll go.” He turned, his gaze on the cobbled stones underfoot, and began to head in the direction of the town. Stelle instantly felt the guilt flood in, pushing her anger off the cliff and dashing it onto the jagged rocks below.
“Aeons-” she whispered, a shaky hand coming up to her mouth. “Riney, wait, I’m sorry-” She took a few weak steps after him and he stopped, not willing to turn and face her. “I’m so sorry,” she repeated, holding back the sobs she could feel welling up in her throat. “I didn’t mean- I just-” Please don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me. The seconds stretched on for an eternity, the thought of him not being in her life anymore the final nail in the coffin. The tears she had tried so desperately to hold back fell free, marking her cheeks with the imprint of the very vulnerability she had been running from. She couldn’t stand anymore, every part of her body betraying her as she felt her knees buckle and-
Warm, steady arms wrapped around her, a hand tucking her head into his shoulder. A gentle, self-deprecating laugh huffed against her ear as Aventurine spoke. “I said I could take it, remember?” His words seemed warm, but they rang hollow now. Sobs racked Stelle’s chest like waves pounding the shore, the guilt of causing hurt to the man who held her only increasing the intensity of the storm.
“S-sorry,” she managed to get out again.
Aventurine let out a soft sigh. “I hope you don’t really think I see you as weak.” Stelle couldn’t bring herself to answer, but maybe it was because she didn’t know what she would say. Aventurine nudged her, pulling his head back to try and look at her properly. “Gone silent now?” He teased, a small smile gracing his lips. Stelle didn’t rise to the prodding, instead letting her head slip into the space between his neck and chest. Her breathing started to even, the cold air seeping through her thin clothes and making her curl closer to Aventurine’s warmth.
“Thank you,” she mumbled into his coat. “For helping us. I owe you big time, and…sorry, for yelling at you.”
“Well…” he started, pausing long enough that it prompted Stelle to finally meet his eyes. “I’ll certainly remember that, Miss Stellaron.” She blinked, the distant feeling that she was being flirted with kicking away any remaining notes of sadness. Aventurine tipped her chin up with one finger, coming close enough that Stelle could feel his breath on her face as he spoke. “And is that a favour I can redeem any time?” His eyes were breathtaking at this distance, a beautiful contrast of colors that made every thought instantly disappear from Stelle’s mind. He was close, tantalizingly so, and though Stelle had never kissed anyone she felt the urge to push forward and-
He let go, taking a step back with the most self-satisfied grin on his face that one could imagine. “I’ll take that as a yes, then.” Stelle could have hit him, and she probably would have if Dan Heng’s voice hadn’t cut through the air behind them.
“Uh…Mr. Aventurine, could I talk to you?”
Stelle could have hit him, too.
She pushed down the mixture of burning embarrassment and adrenaline to give a final look to Aventurine. Two can play at this game, gambler. “Bye Riney-” she smiled, winking as she blew him a quick kiss she prayed Dan Heng couldn’t see. She scrambled past a confused Dan Heng and glanced over her shoulder to see pink tinging Aventurine’s ears just before she ducked inside. She paused when she was just out of sight, slumping against the wall.
I almost just kissed Aventurine? What the hell am I doing?
Her heart felt odd, as if she had been just running for her life the moment before. She put her hand up to her chest, waiting for her pulse to even out again. Dan Heng’s voice reached her ears, present but not clearly enough to make out. She inched closer to the door, holding her breath in hopes she could overhear what they were saying.
“-were here on the Express, right?” Dan Heng said. Several seconds of silence passed, and Stelle assumed Aventurine must have nodded. “...I can’t thank you enough,” he said quietly, voice holding back a wave of regret.
“It’s the least I could do.”
There was another note of silence, and Stelle strained to hear any noise at all. “Not just for that,” Dan Heng said, “...she tried to come after me, didn’t she?”
“She did,” Aventurine replied, his quick exhale almost like the beginnings of a laugh. He sighed, then added on more quietly, “You all certainly know each other well.”
“That’s what I feared. Stelle’s extremely stubborn when she sets her mind to something, and- it’s not always that one of us can stop her. But you did.” Another several second pause. “As her traveling companion, and her friend…I ask you to use that ability well.”
Aventurine responded immediately, his voice resolute. “I will, always. Her trust isn’t something I take lightly, and I know I certainly had to earn it.”
“And with her trust comes all of ours as well. I hope you know that you’re welcome here.”
“...thank you,” Aventurine said after a moment, hesitant, like he was still trying to wrap his head around the idea. “I’ll keep looking after her, as much as she’ll let me.”
It took a moment for his words to sink in and then Stelle felt a warmth spread through her, a soft light that radiated from her core until it seemed to brighten the room itself. “You too,” she whispered. “I’ll look after you too.” Footsteps coming her direction startled her out of her thoughts, and she scrambled down the hallway toward her room in an effort not to be seen by Dan Heng.