Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You're sure about this?” I asked Sadie, as I pulled on my mask.

“He has to die.” Reaver had killed her brother, the only family she'd ever known. I was the only one left she could truly trust, though we employed the help of two others we knew, as extra protection.

“It's too late to back out now,” one of our companions, Jeremy stated. He was very fond of Sadie, but she never showed even the slightest interest in him, or anyone else. His twin, Leo, looked exactly like him, except for a tattoo on the left side of his face. He did not, however, act anything like him. Jeremy was more restrained and kept his feelings, for the most part, to himself. Leo was almost the exact opposite.

“Come on,” he said and, if I didn't know better, I would say he was excited to break into Reaver's mansion and more than likely get some of us killed. “Let's go!”

Getting inside was easy, until we ran into Reaver's servant, Barry Hatch.

“You're a bit late,” he said. “Evewything is almost over and all of the dwinking is over.” He went on a bit about other things, but I paid no attention. Sadie did all the talking.

We were led to a door and before opening it, I finally listened to what Barry was saying.

“Would you ladies care to join me in a pwivate party instead of joining your... fwiends and the others,” he proposed, speaking to Sadie, yet looking me over.

“Not even in your dreams!” she said to him, making it very clear that she found him repulsive. “You disgusting little-”

“OK, OK,” he said, “what about you?” It took me a moment to realize he was speaking to me. I didn't have a chance to even say anything because Leo stepped in front of me.

“You are going to keep your filthy, disgusting hands off of my girl, you sick, demented freak with a speech problem.” I couldn't help but feel that Leo's words were far too harsh. The look hurt look on Barry's face didn't help either.

No one said anything and we all headed into a circular room. We didn't expect to find the room empty.

“Something's not right,” I said, saying what was on all of our minds. Seconds later, we heard Reaver's voice.

“It seems we have a few intruders,” we heard him say. “Since you're already down there, how about you entertain my guests with a little game?”

“No way!” Leo was always the one to speak first in these situations, and right now, despite being a non-violent person, I wanted to hit him.

“That wasn't really a question.” Reaver motioned towards the wheel in front of us. “It's very simple. I spin the wheel, you die, we watch.”

“Looks like this is the only chance we've got,” Jeremy said, ready to get it over with.

Things went on and ended up surviving hoards of hobbies, mercenaries, and hollow men. Soon a new creature called the sand fury was introduced to us. During this wave of monsters, Jeremy was killed. Leo made it out, but not without suffering injuries.

“This is taking too long,” Reaver said, though it wasn't clear who he was speaking to. He spun the wheel one more time. “I'm afraid this is where your story ends.”

Balverines.

We battled on, this time losing Leo. The fight seemed to go on for hours before they were all dead. Sadie had little more than a few bruises and scratches, I wasn't so lucky. I had a large gash on my upper arm. During a calm moment, a I cut my sleeve off of my dress and used it to slow the bleeding.

“Enough Reaver! It's time for you to die!” Sadie aimed and fired, though nothing happened except a click that meant that the gun was no longer loaded. Mine, I soon realized, was the same.

So here we were, unarmed except for Sadie's sword and my knife. Neither of these were of any use to us now.

“Apparently not,” Reaver taunted, seeing our situation. “But I do believe this ends here for you.”

Reaver aimed at me first, but before he pulled the trigger Barry got his attention. “Mister Reaver,” he said before the two started whispering among themselves. I took the opportunity to speak to Sadie for what I thought may be the last time.

“You can get out of here,” I said to her. “I can distract them long enough for you to get away.”

“What about you?” she whispered back. “You're the faster one.”

“You're the one who has to get away,” I countered. “You're the smart one. I couldn't survive too long without you around anyway. I'd get killed the second I got out of here. I may be able to survive this.”

“How do you know you even have a chance? Reaver doesn't miss.”

“His servant,” I said, and proceeded to explain briefly after seeing her confusion. “When he made his vulgar comments earlier, who was he looking at? And who did Reaver aim at? He stepped in when Reaver was going to shoot me and Barry said something. Watch their eyes now,” I said, nodding towards the debating men.

“They both keep looking back and forth between you and the other,” she observed.

“Something tells me I've got a chance,” I said. I looked around, mentally preparing for what I needed to do. “It may be a very slim chance, but I've got to take it.”

“You'll give a signal?”

“I'll say Reaver.”

The two finally came to an agreement, though what it was we had no idea. Reaver aimed again, this time at Sadie. If I was going to pull this off, it was now or never.

“Reaver!” I shouted at him, drawing his attention to me. I threw the nearest thing I could reach at him. The thing just happened to be a severed balverine hand. Well, more like half of a balverine hand.

He held up both his hands to block it, allowing Sadie enough time to slip out the door to safety.

“You're going to pay for that,” Reaver warned, though I paid no attention to his words. I'd done what I needed to. Reaver could do whatever he wanted to me.

 Eight days went by. I'd spent every one of them locked in a secret room in Reaver's bedroom. I'd tried to escape many times, but every attempt was either met by a waiting Reaver or a locked door.

Today was day nine of my imprisonment. I slipped over to Reaver's sleeping body and carefully began searching for a key. After awhile of finding nothing, I made my way to the door, and found that he had forgot to lock it. I quickly ran out, staying quiet so I wouldn't get caught.

I made it as far a the main hallway before I realized that I had no idea how to get out of here. I didn't have any idea on where to go once I did get out either.

I sat myself down, leaning against a door while made my plan. After a few minutes someone came into the hallway where I was sitting. I heard him mumble to himself, “It was a little too easy getting in here.”

I recognized his uniform as a soldier's and decided to take a chance with trusting him.

“Can you help me get out of her?” I asked, only loud enough for him to hear. The sudden sound, however, startled him.

“Who are you?”

“All you need to know is that I've been trapped here and if you could help me to get out of the mansion, I'd be very grateful,” I said, not bothering to say much more.

He just shrugged and grabbed my hand leading me down the hall the way he came. “My name's Ben Finn by the way.”

When we reached the end of the hall, I ran into a familiar face. Barry Hatch. He just looked at me, confused. “Where are you-” he started to say, but stopped when Ben raised his gun.

“No,” I said to Ben, making it clear I didn't want him to hurt him. I couldn't let him kill him. Ben just let it go and we continued on, leaving Barry standing there behind us.

We didn't stop until we were outside.

“Can you at least tell me your name now?” Ben asked. He'd helped me like I'd asked, so the least I could do was tell him my name.

“My name is Sara,” I said, looking around. “I've been here about nine, ten days.”

I walked towards a little dock near the front of Reaver's mansion and sat on the end of it. Ben soon joined me there.

“You wouldn't happen to know a woman named Sadie, would you?” he asked, thinking about what I'd said. When I nodded, he continued to speak. “Nice girl. Came all the way over to the fort in Mourningwood begging Swiftie to send some soldiers to rescue her kidnapped friend. We couldn't afford to spare any men and when she kept insisting that it was important, I volunteered to go alone. And, well, you know the rest.”

“It wasn't really kidnapping,” I said, recalling what happened that day. “I gave myself up so she could get away. Reaver spared me because of Barry.”

“Who?”

“Reaver's servant,” I explained. “The man I told you not to shoot.”

“Oh, the little man who talks funny,” he said, and I couldn't tell if he meant that as an insult or not. “So, you felt like you owed him. Looks like you paid that debt pretty well.”

“He saved my life, it was the least I could do.”

“Well, I kind of saved your life,” Ben started, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know where this was going. “So, in a way, you owe me. Not like you owed him, but by your logic you'd owe me a little something.”

“I could have gotten away without you,” I whispered leaning close to him. I was doing it for the sole purpose of taunting him. “Sadie asked you to save me, she's the one you should go after.”

“You forget you asked me to get you out before I knew who you were,” he responded.

“You'll get nothing from me,” I said firmly.

I must have gotten my point across, because at that point he got up and left saying only one last thing. “Sadie wants you to meet her at the Bowerstone Clock Tower.”

I said nothing and let him walk away. It seemed like hours passed by before anyone realized I was there. It was almost dawn and I shivered, finally realizing how cold it was. I soon felt someone place something around my shoulders. At first I thought it was Ben Finn, back to make another attempt at a reward, but one look at what had been placed on my shoulders told me that it most definitely was someone else.

“You're cold,” the stranger's voice said, and I noticed him sit down next to me.

“Barry...” I said, recognizing his voice. He'd placed his coat around me to keep me warm.

“You pwotected me,” he said in that cute voice of his as I turned to him. “Why?”

“Why did you tell Reaver to let me live?” I asked, thinking back to that day. “I know you did it. I saw how he aimed at me first and then at Sadie after you spoke to him.”

“I-” he started, but was cut off when I slipped of the edge of the dock into to water. I struggled to get to the surface, but I couldn't reach it. I couldn't swim.

So, this is how I die. I guess it could be worse.

However, I did not drown. Before I sank too deep in the water, I felt arms grab me and pull me to the surface.

“Are you alwight?” my savior's voice asked. Twice. Twice now he'd saved my life.

I looked at him. I saw his soaked hair and realized we were still in the water. We just floated there quietly, looking at each other. He held onto me, keeping just inches from him. I did the one thing I could to show him what I was feeling.

I kissed him. It surprised him, making him tense up, but soon he eased into it.

When I pulled away, the freezing water finally got to me. I started to shiver uncontrollably. Barry did as well and began to swim over to the dock, still keeping a hold of me.

He lifted me up onto the dock and I then helped him to climb up. As he got up, he lost his balance and fell forward onto me, knocking me down.

“Are you ok?” I asked him, helping him to sit up.

“I'm alwight,” he said, looking me over. “Are you huwt?” When I shook my head, he looked over to Reaver's mansion and then back to me. “We better get inside before you fweeze.”

“You'll freeze too,” I pointed out.

“You were out here more and in the water before I was,” he argued, pulling me to him. “You'd freeze before I would.”

I said nothing after that as we stood up. He was right and we both knew it. Suddenly, a scary thought occurred to me. I pulled away and turned so I wasn't facing him anymore. I was afraid of what I was feeling, and even more afraid of what could happen because of it.

“Sawa?” Barry asked, trying to turn me back to him, but I resisted. He then moved around to the other side of me, so I was once again facing him. “What's the matter?”

“I- I don't know what to do....” I couldn't stop myself, I burst into tears and held onto him.

“Evewything will be alwight,” he said soothingly as he turned my face upwards. “Just tell me what's wrong.”

“If I stay, I'm abandoning the only friend I have,” I started. “If I leave, you might get killed.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because it's true,” I said, startling him a little. “I promised Sadie a long time ago that I would help her to kill Reaver.”

He said nothing, allowing me to explain further. “Reaver murdered her brother, the only family Sadie had and a man I once loved.”

He turned his head from me and I wondered what thoughts were going through his head. There were a few minutes of silence before he said anything. “Was there anything between you and him?”

 The question surprised me. Of all the things he could have said or asked, he asked about what had happened between me and a man who was long since dead.

“He had asked me to marry him,” I said. Before he could say anything, I stopped him. “I never got to answer him. He was shot before I could do anything. I was there when he died. That's how Sadie knows it was Reaver who killed him.”

“Would you have done it?”

“I don't know,” was all I could say. I was silent a moment before saying anything else. “But, I do know one thing.”

“What?” he asked turning back to me.

“I was never as happy around him as I was with you just a few moments ago.”

That was all I needed to say. His next action showed that. He kissed me as if it may be the last chance he would ever have. I couldn't help but feel that it may very well have been his last chance.

“Stay,” he begged. “Stay with me.”

“I-”

“Stay,” he asked again

“I promised,” I said trying to sound like I was sure I had to go through with it, but my voice betrayed me.

“Give me one night,” he asked. “Just one night to change your mind.”

“If I do, I'll never leave,” I protested. The thought of leaving made my heart ache, but could I really stay?

“If you leave, I'll never see you again.”

I knew I should leave, but I kept searching for a reason to stay. Betray a friend and take a chance with a man I hardly knew? Or give up the first man I'd fallen in love with since my almost-fiance just to help avenge his murder?

“Give me a reason to stay,” I said.

“How about this?” he asked and without giving me a chance to even take one breath, pressed his lips to mine once again. In those moments, my tortured mind was put at ease. I had finally made my decision. Someone was going to be hurt, but either choice would have ended the same, I would lose someone I cared very much about.

No words were needed. I took his hand and led him up to his room where we spent what little time was left of the night and all the next day.

Sadie,

Sorry I didn't meet with you. I just couldn't leave. I know you hate Reaver, but I can't help you kill him. Without him, Barry might not even last a day. He needs him, and I need Barry. That night you sent Ben Finn after me I realized what I felt about him. I got out of the Manor, but I just couldn't bring myself to leave it completely. I love Barry. He saved my life twice when it would have been much easier to just let me die.

I'm sorry things had to end up like this. I wish I could have helped.

-Sara

Chapter Text

How many years has it been? You've changed so much, but in a way, not at all. Is the man I once loved still in there somewhere? Or have you killed him with all the others?

I watched him as he slept. For so many years, I'd hated him for what had happened to my village. I thought I'd never want to see him again, but here I was.

As much as I hated him, a part of me still loved him, even after being dead for a hundred years. When Oakvale had been destroyed, I had been among the people that died with it.

He'd been calm when I first came, now he was tossing and turning. A nightmare. I wasn't sure what it could be about, but I was sure that I may be able to help. I sat down at the edge of his bed, careful not to sit too close. I gently touched his shoulder, and somewhat achieved what I'd been trying to do. The only problem was, being a ghost and cold, he woke up.

He didn't quite react how I expected. Reaver was calm, almost like he thought he was still dreaming.

“It's good to see you again,” I said. “I didn't mean to wake you. You were having a nightmare.”

He seemed confused for a moment, but soon understood. “Do you remember me?” I asked. “It's been so long.” He nodded and started to sit up.

“Am I dreaming?”

“No, I'm really here. As much as I really can be.”

“Why are you here?” He looked away and I couldn't tell what he was feeling. “You haunt me enough in my dreams.”

“To be honest, I don't really know why,” I said calmly, glancing around his room. He'd apparently been doing well, based on the state of it. I couldn't help but wonder if he was really happy, despite all the things he'd done to get here.

“You're still angry with me.” He wasn't fully awake, so I doubted he knew exactly what he was saying.

“You were the reason I died,” I said, confirming his statement. “I gave you my heart... and... and everything else... yet you... you killed me. You killed everyone!” My anger was starting to take over. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.

“So what will you do?” He sounded more awake now, but I doubted he knew this was real and not just a dream. I'd kept an eye on him over the years, and acting like he was right now was not the way he normally was. Which one was the real Reaver?

To be honest, I hadn't fully thought it out. What do I do now? The options were almost endless. I could let my hatred take over and kill him, but what would that really do for anyone? Then again, I could just walk away, but that would mean I'd accomplished nothing.

“I... I really don't know.”

“Then get out...” he mumbled, starting to lay back in his bed. That sounded more like the Reaver that this world knew. I'd never been the violent type, but I didn't let that stop me from slapping him.

That definitely told him that he wasn't in some dream. Angry, he grabbed at my wrist, but it merely passed through me. Guess that meant I couldn't stick around too much longer.

It was time for me to end my suffering. “You used to be a good man, Reaver,” I said, choosing every word very carefully. “At least, that is what I used to think. Somewhere inside you, that man is still in there. Let him show himself sometime, you'll surprise people.”

He said nothing, still irritated that he couldn't touch me. I turned away and started to leave. For just a moment, I stopped and looked back at him. “As much as I hate what you did, I still love you.”

As I turned again and walked away, I thought I heard him say just one last thing before I faded away.

“I've always loved you.”

Chapter Text

“Get her!” I heard the guards shouting behind me.

I ducked behind a building and stopped a moment to catch my breath. I was no stranger to these situations. In fact, I faced them nearly every day. This time, they'd gotten my two companions, Maurice and Ben.

Ben Finn wasn't really a criminal like I was, he'd just happened to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Since then, he and I'd been stuck together, as everyone assumed he was assisting me with all of my crimes. He was a criminal by association.

Maurice was just a kid still. He was only nine and had no parents. He'd helped me slip past the guards once and had stuck with me since.

Ben at least had a chance at getting away, being a grown man and a skilled fighter. Maurice on the other hand, would have no chance to escape. They'd likely send him off somewhere where I couldn't get to him.

Please be ok, I thought to myself. I may not be the caring type, but my companions were my family. They were the only ones I'd be willing to do anything for. I took off again, not stopping until I lost them in the forest. I rested awhile and set off for a nearby town where I could find out the fate of my companions.

The town I ended up in just so happened to be Millfields, where the head of Bowerstone Industrial, Reaver, lived in his mansion. If anyone would know about a group of thieves breaking in anywhere, it'd be him, though I would rather not even ask.

I listened close as everyone was busy chattering away about what was going on.

“Did you hear about what happened over in Bowerstone?”

“Some thieves broke into a bunch of shops.”

“They're saying that one got away. Some sort of sharpshooter.”

“What about the others?”

“I heard they got locked up.”

Everywhere I wandered, it all was the same. My companions were caught and locked up somewhere, but no one knew where. To find out, I'd have to talk with someone who always knew just about everything. Someone who may very well kill me.

Reaver.

I was soon inside his mansion. I decided to sneak up on him, lessen my chances of getting shot before even finding him. He may not be fond of the king, but that didn't mean he wouldn't shoot me on sight.

It took only a few minutes to find him sitting at a desk writing something. I pulled out my pistol, and then shut the door loudly, to get his attention. The sudden noise startled him a moment and he turned to see me standing there with my pistol aimed at him and my free hand locking the door behind me.

“I have questions,” I said before he could say anything. “And you have answers.”

Reaver smirked, knowing that as long as I needed to know what he knew, I couldn't kill him. So, instead of answers he had a proposal for me. “If you can shoot me, I will answer your question.” he paused a moment and then added one more thing. “If you miss, I will then shoot you.”

“And if you shoot me?”

“You'll be dead.”

“And if you miss?”

“I never miss.”

Great, I miss and I'm dead.

“Deal.” I pointed straight at him, careful not to aim where it'd kill him.

The bullet never made it to him, Reaver managed to deflect it with his cane. For a moment, my heart stopped. If I wasn't as quick as I was, I would have died right then and there, without him even having to shoot.

“You missed,” he taunted, firing at me. I managed to jump out of the way, causing the bullet to just barely touch my sleeve above my shoulder.

“So did you!” I threw my pistol at his, managing to knock it out of his hand and across the room.

“Well now you've made us both lose.” I took a few steps forward so that I was only a few steps away from him.

“No, just you,” I said, leaping at him, knocking both of us to the ground. I wasn't totally sure what it was that I was trying to do, all I knew was that I was trying to hurt him. However, things weren't exactly working that way I planned.

Whether he was fighting back with all his strength or he was holding back simply because he was enjoying the situation, I wasn't sure. I had a feeling I didn't want to know the answer.

We rolled around, struggling for control of the fight. It went on for awhile before either of us started to show any sign of weakening. It was obvious that keeping this up was pointless.

“This is getting us nowhere,” I said, breathing heavily. At this point I was on top of him.

“Only in getting us less clothed.”

I hadn't realized it until he said something, but he was right. In the struggle, he'd lost his hat and his jacket had come off. My cloak was gone as well and my shirt had shifted upwards a bit. Looking him over, I noticed his belt had also come undone and his shirt had a few buttons that had come open.

He took advantage of the brief distraction and rolled us over, so he was on top of me.

“We both know this will go on until we both collapse,” I stated. “One of us has to give up. We're too evenly matched.”

“I have a better idea,” he said with a devilish smile.

“Wha-” I was cut off by Reaver's lips fiercely pressing against mine. For a second I froze, and he used that second to put his arms around me and press our bodies together.

Instead of pulling away like I should have, I went with it, matching his level of fierceness.

“Have we done this before?” he whispered, pulling away for a second.

“You wish,” I said, realizing one thing about him that I found almost scary.

We continued, our bodies moving as if we were sharing the exact same thoughts. The longer this went on the more I began to realize something: he was just like me.