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Beca was never really a fan of action movies.
Granted, she’s never really been a big fan of movies in general. Even now, after going through roughly five (six?) years of living with girls who forced her to sit through countless rom-coms and an entire relationship with Jesse Swanson, she still finds herself unable to muster up any kind of genuine excitement when someone suggests watching a movie. Which, she knows makes her seem like kind of a pretentious asshole at times, but hey, Beca has been called much worse things in her lifetime.
Off topic. Anyways.
Beca wasn’t a fan of movies in general, but she especially didn’t like sitting through action movies. She found them the most cliché of all. Some bad guy wants to either destroy the world or gain even more money than he (because it’s always a dude) already has, heroes rise up against the bad guy to stop him, the guy gets the (one) girl, and then New York gets destroyed during the fight. Roll credits.
Really hard-hitting stuff, honestly.
So action movies didn’t exactly do it for Beca. Weren’t her slice of cake, or however that saying goes. Except, looking at her current situation made Beca wish she’d paid a little more attention to all those James Bond movies Jesse made her watch.
“We’re going to die,” Beca tells Amy. Her arms are burning from her rowing as they close in on the Fat Dingo Bitch, and suddenly Beca regrets never using her Planet Fitness membership back home.
“Not on my watch we won’t,” Amy replies firmly from where she has positioned herself near the front of their rowboat, one leg propped up on the ledge like some kind of scrunchie-wearing pirate. “I’ve been training for this moment my whole life.”
Beca tries to find reassurance in her friend’s confidence, but given the fact that she is still severely confused as to how exactly they got themselves into this mess, she can only swallow her fears and continue her rowing, silently praying that the rest of the girls are alright.
They could already be dead, her mind whispers to her. You could be too late to save them. You may never get the chance to tell Chloe you lo-
Shut up, Beca tells herself, and rows harder.
They reach the boat and Amy briefs her on the plan one more time: Beca is to cause a distraction above deck while Amy sets charges inside, after which she will somehow signal to Beca to get everyone off the ship.
“Are you sure about this?” Beca asks Amy, standing hidden on the ledge of the boat before they part ways.
“Have I ever let you down?” Amy replies.
“All the time,” Beca answers with no hesitation. Amy makes a noise of protest, and Beca simply closes her eyes and shakes her head. “You’re very unreliable. It’s like, one of the Hallmarks of your personality.”
Amy doesn’t seem to mind the call-out, and they part ways with a firm clasp of their hands. Beca creeps silently up the ladder onto the main deck, suddenly very grateful for her small stature. She can feel her heart beating in her ears as she peeks over the top at the scene before her, relief flooding through her at the sight of all the Bellas gathered together, looking unharmed if not a little shaken.
And right there in the middle of them is Chloe, doing her best to comfort the others and assure them that they would be alright. Beca can see her blue eyes flash as they glare defiantly at Fergus, looking every bit like she would lay down her life in order to save her family.
Beca’s heart squeezes at the thought. There was no way Chloe would be dying to save anyone tonight. That was what Beca was here to do.
She moves silently onto the deck to join the rest of the girls, grateful that Fergus seems to be distracted enough to not notice anything. Beca sits down right behind Chloe, shoulders hunched in an effort to remain hidden as she scrambles to come up with a distraction. It only takes a moment before a (terrible) plan forms in her mind, and soon enough Beca is making her presence known, much to the surprise of the Bellas around her, as she insists that they sing one last song together.
The girls immediately begin protesting, and Beca spares a thought as to how ironic it is that now of all times is the time they don’t want to sing together. Frustration begins to build within her at the shouting going on around her, but then she notices Chloe looking up at her completely silent.
Waiting.
Beca locks eyes with her and tries to somehow convey her plan through the contact, and somehow Chloe nods in understanding. Together they are able to calm down and organize the girls into a haphazard performance, their singing a little louder than it would normally be.
Surprisingly, the plan goes off without a hitch, the song ending right as Amy crashes through the glass ceiling above their heads. The Bellas scatter and Beca, assuming that is the signal she has been waiting for, starts herding the girls off the sides of the boat, watching each of them safely dive into the water and start swimming away.
A yell behind her makes Beca turn around and with horror she sees that Chloe is trapped, one of Fergus’s bodyguards holding onto her wrists as she fights to get away. Her vision turns red, and before she can think about the possible consequences of her actions Beca is charging at the man holding Chloe, using all the adrenaline in her small body to tackle him, pushing him away from Chloe.
“Amy, get Chloe out of here!” Beca shouts, now trying to fend off her opponent. Amy complies, ignoring Chloe’s cries of protest as she grabs her arm and tugs her to the side of the boat. Beca breaks free of the man behind her and turns just in time to watch them jump to the water below.
Relieved, Beca starts running to join them, feeling her hopes beginning to rise that they would all make it out okay.
Those hopes fall in the next moment as she feels a rush of heat behind her accompanied by the sound of glass and wood breaking. Her body is launched away from the boat, and the last thing Beca registers as she hits the water is the sound of Chloe calling out her name.
* * *
When Beca comes to, her entire world is rocking.
She registers the distinct feeling of being on a boat, her stomach rolling with the sensation. The next thing she recognizes is the pain all throughout her body, most prominently in her head. Her eyes are still closed, but she can already tell that the light waiting beyond her closed lids will be too bright.
Another sensation comes to her then, a familiar one. The feeling of a soft hand in hers, grip tight yet gentle, as if desperate to keep contact yet terrified of hurting her.
Beca forces her eyes open, squinting when she discovers that the dim lighting of the room she is in is, in fact, too bright for her aching head. She discovers that she’s on some sort of bed, and the tiny porthole above her confirming her suspicions about being on a boat. Her vision is a little warped, her head a little fuzzy, but Beca manages to turn her it to the side and sees the person responsible for the hand in hers.
Chloe sits at Beca’s bedside, towel wrapped around her shoulders and still-damp hair falling loosely around her bowed head. Beca realizes her own hair is still the slightest bit wet, and surmises that she couldn’t have been out for that long if they weren’t even completely dry yet. With her eyes closed, Chloe almost looks as if she’s praying beside Beca. Beca would assume she was sleeping, but based on the tight grip of her hand Chloe is still awake.
Beca takes a moment to study Chloe’s features, feeling a bit surreal that they were both here and okay. Gratitude and love swells in her chest, and Beca gives Chloe’s hand a weak squeeze.
Chloe’s head whips up as her eyes open and she focuses on Beca’s now awake face. “Hey,” she breathes, thumb stroking over Beca’s hand. “How do you feel?”
“Like I got blown up,” Beca says, smiling weakly at the laugh the joke pulls from Chloe.
“I guess that’s a pretty fair analysis,” Chloe replies before sobering up. “The medic on board here gave you a brief check out after we got picked up. Surprisingly, it doesn’t look like you broke anything, but you still got beaten up pretty good.”
Beca tries to nod at the information, but the movement sends another pulse of pain through her head and she winces instead. “Head hurts,” she grunts, shutting her eyes against the aching sensation. She feels a gentle hand rest against her forehead in the next moment, and she leans into the action. Her eyes open again to take in Chloe’s worried expression.
“Hopefully we can get you some proper medical attention when we get back to shore,” Chloe murmurs, fingers brushing stray strands of hair away from Beca’s face.
They sit in silence for a while after that, Chloe’s hand continuing its soft movements, deft fingers stroking through Beca’s hair and tracing over what she assumes are various cuts and bruises along her face. Beca nearly starts to doze off again at the feeling, her eyes slipping closed as the temptation of sleep draws her in, but Chloe’s quiet voice speaking up makes her alert once more.
“Why did you do it?”
Beca looks over at Chloe and sees some kind of emotion she can’t place on the other girl’s face; a kind of mix between worry, fear, and anger.
“What do you mean?” Beca asks, just as quietly as Chloe’s original question.
The fingers running through her hair retract, and Beca has a brief moment of mourning for the loss of contact before Chloe is balling her hand into a fist. “You could have died, Beca,” Chloe says desperately. “I would have been fine, but you- you put yourself in danger to save me. I-” a sob interrupts Chloe’s words and it’s only then that Beca realizes she’s crying. “We couldn’t find you for a so long. We thought- I thought…”
Beca’s brow draws together as she listens to Chloe, her heart aching for the obvious worry she’s caused her best friend. She slowly brings up a hand to cup Chloe’s cheek, thumb swiping away the tears she finds there. Chloe sniffs and turns her face into the gesture, her own hand coming to rest against the one holding her as her lips press a kiss against Beca’s palm. Beca feels her heart stutter at the action.
“I told myself that I would do whatever it took to get you out alive,” Beca murmurs. Chloe’s eyes peer at her vulnerably while Beca flicks her own eyes over Chloe’s face. She rubs her thumb soothingly across Chloe’s cheekbone again, doing her best to comfort Chloe. “I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost you.”
Chloe’s breath hitches. “And I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost you.”
Their eyes lock and Beca feels her emotions swell in her chest. It hits her how just how close she came to dying today, and how she would have died with so many regrets if she had.
Beca’s feelings for Chloe have been on the forefront of her mind for a while now. If she was being honest, they’ve always kind of been there, more on the back burner while she had been with Jesse and made more apparent upon their breakup. Scared of them and how strongly she felt them, Beca had done her best to push them down, shut them out. Chloe was one of, if not the most important person in Beca’s life, and she didn’t want to fuck that up. If she told Chloe how she felt, she might ruin things between them forever.
Suddenly that fear of hers seems so small. Maybe it’s the leftover adrenaline from earlier, maybe it’s the fact that she literally got blown up, but suddenly Beca isn’t so afraid anymore.
Life is fleeting, she realizes. Better to not have to live it full of regrets.
“Chloe, I-”
“The captain says we’re- oh, you’re awake!”
Emily’s voice is so not what Beca wants to be hearing right now. She closes her eyes and breathes deeply, feeling her surge of confidence rush out of her in a single moment.
She lets her hand drop from Chloe’s cheek.
“Did I… interrupt something?” Emily asks timidly, still standing in the doorway.
Beca opens her eyes and looks at Chloe once again, finding an unreadable expression on her face. They seem to have some sort of silent conversation between them, yet Beca is unsure of exactly what that conversation consists of.
“No, it’s fine, Emily,” Chloe eventually says, eyes still focused on Beca. “Are we close to shore?”
“Yeah, should only be a couple minutes now. I’ll go let everyone know that Beca is up.”
With that, Emily leaves them alone again, but the moment is already broken. “C’mon,” Chloe says, blinking away from Beca’s eyes as she puts her hands on her shoulders. “Let’s get you moving.”
Together they get Beca up off the bed and above deck with minimal amounts of discomfort. The rest of the girls are relieved to see Beca alive and well, Amy almost crushing her weakened body in a tight hug while the rest of the girls give her pats on the back and kind words. Soon they’re docking and finally returning to stable land.
Beca gets handed off to a medic as soon as she gets off the boat, immediately having to answer questions about how she’s feeling and what kind of pain she’s in. Over the doctor’s shoulder she sees Chloe, still bundled up in her towel, rush into Chicago’s arms. His arms come around her shoulders comfortingly while she buries her face in his chest, a small smile forming on her lips.
“Any problem breathing?” the medic asks. “Pain in your chest?”
Beca’s eyes remain locked on Chloe and Chicago. “No, I’m fine,” she says, feeling like a liar as she feels her heart ache in her chest.
Because apparently not all pain is physical.