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“I don’t want to live forever. ”
That’s what Andy had told her once, when Nile had questioned her about how she was feeling about her mortality. They had come back from a mission where Andy got hurt. She got stabbed and they all became very worried, scared of losing her. But thankfully it hadn’t been that severe nor deep, and she was okay.
“Why?” Nile asked her, because that was not what she had been expecting.
“I have been alive for almost 7000 years Nile, I have made peace with death long ago. It doesn’t scare me”, Andy answered her and took a moment to think. “No one should live that long. Is too much pain, too much loneliness and sorrow. You just keep losing the people you love and sometimes you don’t even remember them. And you keep experiencing how humanity destroys itself. Is too much, too emotionally damaging, too exhausting”, she explained, too calm for Nile’s taste.
Her words hurted, because Nile knew they were true. She knew Andy was being honest about how she felt. But Nile couldn’t focus on that, no when she knew she got a long life ahead for herself. That’s why she focused on her own pain, in how much she didn’t want to lose Andy.
“We are not ready to lose you Andy”, she reproached her, trying to free her own frustrations.
“That’s the only thing that worries me, I hope you all can be better at mourning that I have been”, Andy told her. “The way I mourned Lykon and even Quynh from the time she was not with us, that was not healthy”, she says honestly.
“That’s not helpful at all, you know?” She complained.
“I know, but it is what it is. When is my time, is my time”, Andy stated. “I don’t know what will come next. I just hope you and Nicky are right, so I can meet again with Lykon and so when your time comes we get to be together again”, She said hopefully.
Nile felt like crying at that. But she didn’t, she just comforted herself by hugging Andy and enjoyed that she was still alive. She knew it was not fair to ask the older woman to keep living, no after everything she had been through in her long years of life and the way she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. Like it was her responsibility to make things right. No one should carry that kind of responsibility. Is not like they could control their immortality anyway, but in moments like this one she wished they could. Andy should be eternal. Nile was not ready to lose her and she was pretty sure no one on the team was ready either.
She doesn’t know why she is thinking about that moment, when she should be focusing on the actual mess going around them, but she is.
It's been six months since Nile told the truth to her family about her immortality and that she paid the debt to The Outfit so they would let them in peace. Today is her birthday, so she came home with the immortal team, so they could all celebrate it together.
They were having a quiet dinner, talking and just having fun in each other's company. When suddenly, they were ambushed. Lots and lots of bullets started making way through the windows and hitting all the walls around them. They all acted quickly, shielding her brother, her mother and Andy.
“What the hell is going on?” Joe asks, as he spits some bullets from inside himself, very pissed off.
“The mafia group”, Andy answers, looking through one of the windows with caution.
“What? Why?” Nile questions angrily, she had paid them so now they were supposed to be safe.
“Right now it doesn’t matter why”, Quynh says, a little anxious.
“We need to move”, Andy agrees with her wife. “Joe, Nicky, Booker take the front, try to make sure they don’t come inside. Quynh, Nile, cover the sides. I’ll take Theresa and Amur to the back, I will take the car if it’s necessary”, she orders, thinking fast, like she always does in dangerous situations.
They do as she says without complaining, because Andy leading them is the most natural thing for them. Amur is the only one who doesn’t and goes with Nile making the excuse he can use guns. Nile accepts it, so Andy approves his choice and just goes with Theresa to the back garden. Nile doesn't worry about separating with her mom, because she knows she is safe with Andy. The oldest woman is the person who Nile trusts most in the world to keep someone she loves safe.
The next moments happen very quickly. There are lots of shots from everywhere. They go through the house, trying to end every stranger that appears in their way.
“Is this what you do in your daily life?” Amur asks her, with a smile.
“Kinda”, she answers, smiling too.
They shouldn’t be smiling in a moment like this one, but their banter is so good that they do. They are always gonna be connected, that is what Nile believes as they share that smile.
They keep going through the house, until they get to the back. They reunite with the others there. The shots have stopped, so they should move fast. Andy and her mom must be waiting for them by the car. They start going out to the back garden, when all hell breaks.
Nile sees it all in slow motion, or at least that is the sensation she has of the moment.
It all goes like this: Nile goes out to the garden, she shouts as she sees a man shooting her mom, Andy takes the bullet that was meant for her mom; and before anyone can do or say anything else, her house explodes and everything turns dark.
Nile wakes up with a full violent gasp. She spits blood until she feels okay. Her left arm and her left leg take a moment to heal, and then they are not broken anymore. Once she feels okay and starts releasing what just had happened, she moves to her side to look for her brother.
“Amur!” Nile calls for her brother desperately.
He is some steps far from her and looks unconscious. She gets to him and checks for vital signs. When she finds his pulse and his breathing doing okay, she calms down. Amur is bleeding through from the back of his head and from one of his hands. Actually, the hand looks like it’s gonna fall down from his arm. It’s gross and looks extremely painful. She breaks part of his shirt and uses it to stop the blood from there. Nile is scared of it, she doesn’t want him to lose his hand.
“Nile”, Nicky calls, as he comes to her with the rest of the team. “You okay?” He asks.
“Yes”, Nile nods. “But he needs a doctor”, she says, pointing to his brother.
“Where is Andy?” Quynh asks, with fear present in her voice.
“They took her with my mom, didn’t they?” She concludes, following her intuition.
“Yes, that is what it looks like”, Booker agrees with her.
“Why would they come for us?” Nile asks angrily. “We paid the debt”, she complains.
“Because they are bad people”, Joe says, like that should be enough explanation.
“We should have ended them”, Nile says, kinda reapproaching herself because she was the one who didn't want to go against The Outfit when they found out about all their illegal activities. She just wanted to keep her family safe, and thought the best way was to let them be.
“At least they don’t know we are immortal yet”, Joe tries to reassure themselves about something.
“We need to move. We need to go out of here before they come back for us again”, Quynh alerts them.
“Let’s go to the safe house”, Booker proposes and they all agree.
“And let’s call for Copley, we need him to bring us a doctor for Amur”, Nicky adds.
They go to the safehouse they have in Chicago since Nile had been in contact with her family again. One hour later Copley and two doctors are with them. The doctor takes care of Amur, as they planned with Copley what to do next.
Amur’s surgery goes well, the concucious is controlled and he gets to keep his hand. He would only have one big scar. But the search for Andy and her mom doesn’t go well. They all try to help Copley, especially Booker and Nile, because they are the most technological of the team. And even Amur helps once he is conscious, using his qualities as a computer engineer.
But they just can’t find them. And they are all anxious, nervous and worried about them. Because Andy and Theresa are mortal, so the danger is worse. They can’t waste time, they need to find them.
“It is not your fault”, Amur tells her.
“What?” Nile asks, not sure about what of all the mess he is referring to.
“That Mom and Andy are missing, it is not your fault”, Amur explains what he had meant.
“How can you say that?” She snaps at him. “We should have ended The Outfit instead of paying the debt. Now you almost got killed, and mom, she could…”, she rumbles, feeling defeated about the whole situation.
“Don’t say that. I’m okay and mom is gonna be okay too”, he interrupts her.
“You sound like Lykon”, she says remembering her dreams about the immortal she didn’t have the chance to met in person.
“Who’s Lykon?” he asks, curious about hearing an unknown name for him.
“That’s a story for another moment”, she simply says, because she oesn’t have the energy to go deep into that story and the supernatural connection she feels they have.
“Fine”, Amur let’s her be. “Then, going back to our topic, didn’t you say that Andy is the person who you trust the most in this world to keep someone safe?” He asks, remembering some of their conversations about the immortal team.
“I did and I do”, she nods sincerely.
“Then trust her, she is gonna keep mom safe”, he tries to reassure her.
And she does, Nile trusts Andy. But she worries too, because Andy is mortal. She doesn’t voice that concern out loud though, she keeps it to herself and prays that both women would be okay when they find them. Prays that Amur and Lykon are right.
Three days later they have a new lead. Copley and Amur had found the location of the central base The Outfit have and use for kidnappings. The immortal team go to smooth the place, as Copley and Amur stay as technological backup. They stay connected by microphones, so they can exchange information.
The place is an abandoned factory, big and old. The team divides themselves in the way in, so they can cover more ground. Nile enters from the back. She kills some men as she makes her way through the factory.
Nile finds the offices she thinks they use to keep the people kidnapped locked. She goes to one of them and fires the lock to open the door. When the door is open she sees her mom there, and finally she can breathe again. Nile hugs her mom and takes a moment to examine her.
Theresa is chained to a wall and has her mouth covered with adhesive tape. Her mom looks dirty and has some bruises in her arms. But removing that, she looks okay.
Nile takes the tape from her mom’s mouth and then checks the office until she finds the keys from the chains. She frees her mom and they hug each other again.
“Come on, we need to help her”, Theresa suddenly says, making her move to leave the office.
“Andy?” Nile asks, sensing who her mother is talking about.
“She saved me”, Theresa answers, nodding with her head. “She took a bullet for me and since we are here she took all the torture herself. I don't know how she does it, but she keeps all the attention on herself. I’m not sure how she is, yesterday they separated us”, she explains, expressing all her worries.
They go to the next office but it is empty, so they go to the last one. Like it was evident, Andy is there. She is cuffed to a chair and is covered in blood. Nile runs to her and checks her vital signs. Andy is still alive.
“Andy, wake up! Andy!” Nile calls to the older woman, as she shakes her to get her to react.
Nile can see the gun wound on her shoulder, it seems like they burn it to stop the bleeding. But it is like it didn't work well, because her t-shirt is still covered in blood. She checks her stomach and her back, and finds lots of knife wounds.
“Nile?” Andy asks, sounding a little weak. “I knew you would come for us”, she says with a proud smile.
“Yes, of course we did”, Nile says, feeling like smiling too for the other’s confidence. “Where are the keys of your handcuffs?” She asks her.
She needs to free her. Nile can hear that Andy is breathing in a very strange way, she probably has a collapsed lung and all the stab wounds aren't helping her. Nile needs to stop the blood before Andy loses too much, but she doesn’t know how to.
“I don’t know”, Andy answers her.
That worries Nile, because Andy always notices everything that happens around her.
“Think Andy, please”, Nile begs her. “I need the keys so I can free you. We need to get you to a hospital”, she insists, making her point known.
“No hospitals”, Andy denies.
“Andy, now is not the time to be stubborn”, she protests.
“Where is Theresa? Is she okay?” Andy questions, as she suddenly remembers how important that is.
“I’m here, I’m okay”, Theresa reassures Andy, standing next to Nile so the older woman can see her. “I couldn’t find the keys”, She let her daughter know the result of her room checking.
“Is okay”, Andy says calmly, as she coughts some blood from her mouth.
“No, it is not! Andy!” She complains.
“I need you to do something for me, Nile”, Andy requests, interrupting her.
“What?” She asks, don’t liking how final that sounds.
“I need you to promise me that you won’t blame yourself for this”, Andy tells her.
“Andy, I can’t…”, she starts dennaying.
“Yes, you can, because this was my choice. And if you don’t, I will come as a ghost and haunt you for the rest of your long life”, Andy tries to joke, but is caught with another cough of blood. “Promise me, please”, she demands.
“I promise I will try”, Nile promises as she starts crying. “But I don’t want to lose you, the team is not ready to lose you”, she insists, trying to make the older woman stay conscious.
“I know and I’m sorry for that, but we are never really ready”, Andy says, kind of sadly. “I love all of you so much”, she adds, sounding weaker than before.
Andy coughs again and then closes her eyes. Nile shakes her, but she can’t make her react.
Suddenly Joe is by her side, looking more worried than she ever saw him be. He uses his scimitar to break the lock of Andy’s cuffs and lays her on the floor. Between the two of them they give her mouth to mouth breathing and try to stop the blood. But it is pointless, they can’t bring her back. She is gone.
Some minutes later, all the team is surrounding Andy. They are all crying intensely, because they haven’t been expecting this… to lose her this soon…
Quynh cries and curses destiny in multiple languages, without being able to calm down. Nile hurts for her, because it feels she is right. How is it fair that after spending 500 years apart, when Qunh is finally back from the ocean, Andy becomes mortal and dies? Is not fair. And Nile can almost hear Andy’s voice in her ears saying “Life hurts kid and is never fair” . She was right.
They stay like that for a long time, just crying their hearts out. Or maybe it is not that long, but Nile loses all notion of time because she can’t process Andy’s loss. It hurts too much in every part of herself.
“We need to get out of here”, Quynh is finally the first to talk, bringing them back to the present. “Let’s go to the safehouse”, she decides.
They all stand up and get ready to leave the place. Is gonna be one that hunts them for a long time, but is better to leave before they draw attention from others.
“What about Andy?” Nile asks, her voice shaking with fear because they can’t leave her body just there.
“We are taking her body with us and we will give her the scythian farewell she deserves”, Quynh answers.
Joe is the one who carries Andy’s body to the van. They all get in the vehicle, Quynh stays in the back with Andy’s body. She cries all the way to the safehouse and Nile thinks she has never seen something so heartbreaking.
Thay are all crying, they just don’t seem to be able to stop.
When they get to the safehouse, Joe and Quynh take Andy’s body to the room the two old women share. Copley seems just as destroyed by the new, another person whose loss hits him hard.
When Joe and Quynh come back, Copley opens a bottle of vodka and they all toast in Andy's honor. It feels fiting to drink her favorite alcoholic drink for it. They all just stay like that, crying and drinking for a long while, in silence.
Nile can feel that her mom and brother are worried for her, that they want to help her but they don’t know how. She wishes she could tell them what to do to help her, but she doesn’t even know. She will never be okay with losing Andy. As Nile tastes the third glass of vodka she thinks she will never be able to deal with this pain, that no one on the team will either. It is really scary to think like that, but she can’t help it.
“What is a scythian farewell?” Copley asks them, bringing her attention back to the present.
That is a question Nile wanted to ask too. She doesn’t know what a scythian farewell consists of, so she wants to know.
“When I first started dreaming of Andromache she was with the scythians, she was a warrior, the best of them. She always looked so strong, brave and beautiful, that I thought she was a goddess”, Quynh starts her tale and suddenly stops. She shakes her head, trying to not get lost in her memories. “When a scythian warrior dies, there is a special farewell for them. The body is put in a wooden boat with their favorite weapon and armour, then the boat is thrown to the water and it’s set on fire with arrows from afar”, she explains what they wanted to know.
“We need a boat”, Nicky informs Copley.
“And soon, we should do it before dawn”, Joe adds.
“I’m on it”, Copley assures them and gets up from the table to start doing some calls.
“How? Where are we doing this?” Nile questions, because she can’t imagine doing this kind of ancient funeral in the actual times without bringing attention to them.
“We have Lake Michigan near, we should look for a desert zone in some part of its shores”, Booker suggests and they all nod.
“I’m gonna clean Andy’s body”, Quynh decides, standing up from her chair.
Nile doesn’t like how that sounds. No one should have to take care of their lover’s body once the person is gone. They shouldn’t remember the person they love like that. Andy was a very active person; even when she was feeling old, hopelessness and tired she would still be moving. That was how Andy was, always doing something, full of life. And to have to see her in the opposite way is not fair to Quynh, or any of them. But they couldn’t let her body part in the state it was, covered in blood. So Nile feels that the least she can do is help Quynh to clean it.
“I’ll help you”, Nile says, ready to follow her.
“Okay”, Quynh accepts.
They go to the room Andy and Quynh share and start working. The first thing they do is take Andy’s boots.
Nile gets emotional about it. Because Andy was wearing combat boots and that makes her remember how she always would wear her father’s boots around her house when she was little. She can remember perfectly how they were too big for her, how they smelled of leather, and how her dad would always compliment her proudly when he saw her wearing them.
Those memories are a treasure to her, but Nile doesn’t want to get lost in them. She needs to focus on helping Quynh to clean Andy’s body.
They take Andy’s dark jeans and clean her legs. Then they take Andy’s t-shirt. Nile starts cleaning the blood from her stomach, when suddenly something gets her attention. When she cleans the blood of where it should be one of the stabbed wounds, she finds nothing. There is no wound, just healed skin. The same happens where it is supposed to be the scar she got for Booker’s gun before all the Merrick mess.
Is Nile becoming crazy somehow and seeing things that are not real?
She goes directly to check Andy’s shoulder. The bullet wound should be very easy to spot. Nile cleans the blood, but again she can’t find any wound. How is this possible?
“Quynh”, she calls for the other woman.
“Yeah?” Quynh asks softly, still very concentrated on cleaning Andy’s stomach.
“I think something is happening here, with Andy”, Nile says, getting the older woman's attention back to her. “Look, there are no wounds, she is healed”, she shows her the places where the wounds were supposed to be.
“What? How?” Quynh asks, just as shocked as her.
All of sudden the answer comes to them, because both women find themselves having a vision of Andy’s death. They see flashes of how Andy took the bullet for Theresa and how The Outfit tortured her.
When the vision stops, Nile looks at Quynh to see if the other woman had the vision as well. Quynh nods at her, letting her know that she had the vision too. Before they can say anything at all, there is a loud gasp that makes them jump.
Andy is breathing. And just like that, like is not a big deal, Andy opens her eyes and sits down.
“What the hell?” Andy asks, not understanding why she is waking up in a place where the other two women are.
Yes, that’s right. What the hell?
Quynh avalanche herself in her wife's arms, saying her name over and over again. Andy hugs her back, and Nile feels so happy to be a witness of such a beautiful, pure and strong love like theirs. She is so happy that she joins them in the hug, not even caring when Quynh starts kissing Andy senseless.
Some seconds later, the door of the room is being opened and the guys come crushing to the bed and join the hug. It seems like they had the vision too.
“How is this possible?” Andy asks, once they feel satisfied enough about the hugs.
“I don’t know”, Quynh answers her. “But I don’t care, you are alive”, She says happily.
“We all have the dream of your death, about how you took the bullet for Theresa and were tortured”, Nicky explains to Andy.
“But that wasn’t my first death”, Andy says, confused. “My first death was in a battle, my people betrayed me and killed me because of my mother’s order”, she remembers out loud.
“Maybe this is a new beginning”, Nile suggests.
“Maybe”, Andy nods, considering her way of thinking.
“So, are you immortal again?” Joe asks, voicing everyone’s fear.
“I guess we should find out”, Andy says, with a strange enthusiasm. “Who has a knife?” She asks.
“Here”, Booker is the first one to take a knife from the belt of his jeans.
All at once everyone is offering knives to Andy, that they took out from their boots or some part of their clothes. Nile laughs at that. Of course her immortal family would be the kind of family where each member would carry a knife in themselves, like it is something normal to do.
Andy takes Booker’s knife and makes a cut in the palm of her hand. They sit down, surrounding her, and they just wait. The wound closes slowly, until it doesn't let any brand of its existence.
Andy’s immortality is back. They all cheer at that and hug her once again.
After that, Nile likes to think that maybe Andy does want to live forever after all, or at least some part of her does.
+BONUS
It's been a couple of years since Andy’s immortality is back and the immortal family is still happy as ever.
Nile’s mom and brother have moved to England. Amur has joined the team, as Copley’s coworker. He manages all the technological stuff, computer and communication equipment.
Her mother has become a very good friend with Andy and Quynh, and Nile doesn’t find that surprising at all. It has something to do with strong women supporting and empowering each other. They can all relate to that. Nile likes watching them interact, it is always a wonder.
They are in Malta at the moment, taking some vacation time. Nile is sitting on a cliff, watching how her immortal family is above, swimming in the sea.
“Hey”, Andy says, sitting at her side.
Nile gets a little shake about the interruption, but recovers quickly. She is not sure how Andy does that, but she has the ability to appear when you are less expecting it and without you noticing it. Nile thinks she should probably be used to it at this point.
“Nice view”, Andy appreciates, looking at their family.
“Yes”, Nile nods.
Suddenly a strange thought appears in her mind. Andy had told her once that she didn’t want to live forever. Nile has forgotten about it, because since Andy came back to life she has been very distracted with her happiness. But now, in this quiet little moment, she wonders if Andy still feels the same. Not that Nile would blame her, Andy must be tired of living for so long...
“Can I ask you something?” Nile requests to know.
“Whatever you want”, Andy assures her.
“How do you feel about having your immortality back? Do you still not want to live forever?” She voices her questions.
“Well, I’m still old and sometimes I get really tired”, Andy kinda jokes, to get her to relax. “But immortality is not that bad, you know?” She says, crashing their shoulders softly.
“I know”, she agrees, laughing a little.
“I don’t want to live forever, or maybe I do if it is by your side”, Andy says, being totally honest.
Nile smiles at that. She knows it's not just by her side, that all of their family is included in that statement. But it feels nice the way Andy expresses it just for her. It makes her feel appreciated and loved.
Suddenly, Andy stands up and jumps to the sea from the cliff. Nile hears the cheerful celebrations her family dedicates for it, as they swim to meet her.
“Come on Nile!” Joe calls her from below.
“Jump principesa, jump!” Nicky joins his husband's request.
Nile smiles again.
Maybe Andy is right. Maybe the idea of living forever is terrifying and no one really wants it, because at the end of the day it would mean endless pain. But maybe, the idea of living forever with her immortal family is not that bad. With them by her side Nile feels like she could get through anything.
Nile doesn’t want to live forever, or maybe she does if it is by her family side.
And just like that, Nile jumps.