Work Text:
'your going to kill Alder'
'is that the whole plan?'
'No you idiot! You're going to kill her when she steps close to Batan. When she is talking about Batan's sentencing. You are going to kill her when she least expects it' both men laughed.
Tally gasped as she was pulled out of a vision that looked like it was from the past. She watched in horror as Alder came to a stop a few feet away from Nicte. She looked around the big plane hanger for any sign of the person she heard in her vision. She saw the smug smile on Vice president Slivers face. She saw him look towards another man and that man pulling something out of his jacket.
Tally watched in slow motion as the man raised his hand, aiming a gun at Alder.
"NO!" Tally shouted as she asked forward. So many things happened at once.
Alder turned towards her.
Tally ran forward, coming to a stop in front of her.
A shot rang out through the hanger.
A few witches snatched the gun away from him and threw him to the ground and surrounded him.
A wall closed around the perimeter. Keeping all the witches out and Alder, Tally, and Nicte and Vice president Sliver.
And a body fell to the floor.
"Tally!" Multiple people shorted at once.
Abigail and Raelle shorted and tried to make their way to their sister but smaked into the clear wall.
Anacosta shouted for the cadet to get her to stop. She worried what her mother would do to being yelled at.
Alder shouted for she had turned around on time to catch Tally as she fell to the floor.
"Sliver? What are you doing? What is this wall? I need to get this cadet looked at" Alder said as she pulled Tally into her lap. The painfully whimpers she was releasing sent strange feelings through Alder's body. Strange feelings that she didn't want to acknowledge.
"Well my friends had a different plan but I am not a very patient person. I wanted your people to be eradicated and I wanted to start with you. I wanted you to be the first witch to dye by my hand but that little bitch got in the way!" Silver was yelling by the end of his speech.
Alder looked down at Tally. Her face was contorted in pain. The bullet wound was bleeding heavily. Putting pressure on hurt Alder for Tally screamed in even more pain.
"Tally!" The concerned shouts of her sisters filled the hanger.
"Tally?" Alder asked in a gentle voice that was rarely heard from the General. "Tally, are you alright?"
"H-hurts," Tally mumbled. Alder looked at the wound, it was bleeding but she just now noticed that around the area was black. Her veins were turning black and expanding from the wound.
"Collar! Collar get over here!" Alder shouted not taking her eyes off of Tally. After a few seconds and Collar was not by her side she slowly pulled her eyes away and looked for her.
"Collar? Get over her and heal your sister"
"I can't General. There is a barrier keeping us out" Raelle said as she pushed her hand against the invisible wall to prove her statement.
"Don't you just love it. You would not believe how long it took to build something like this that could trap one of you and withstand the beating it would take on the outside. Oh! And my favorite part, any witch trapped inside can't use her voice or work or whatever that hell you bitches like to call it" Silver said as he walked forward. He walked around Alder as she was focused on Tally.
What Sliver didn't know was that while Alder had her eyes on Tally the rest of her senses on him.
"See the wall keeps witches out or in but us humans can come and go as we please. This is what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna release Nicta and then I'm gonna leave. When I do, the two of you are gonna duke it out. If you don't, the cadet died" Silver said.
When he released Nicte he shoved her towards Alder, he started to walk towards the hanger doors with a smug look on his face. Nicte would try to escape and thanks to the hundreds of live cameras, Alder would have to stop her. The two of them would beat each other to a pulp. He did feel kind of sad that he would have to give up being vice president but he knew his mission was more important than a position.
Suddenly he was pulled back by his shirt. Thrown to the ground and rolled, coming to a stop a few feet away from the head of the hanger. Where all of the high ranking officers stand along with the president and Alder's biddy's.
"Why?" President Wade asked when Sliver made it back to his feet.
"Because! Because witches are vile and disgusting! Witches should not be the ones in charge of our safety! Wade you have to see that I am right" he rattled off.
"Bring down this wall" was the only thing Wade said.
"No!"
"Bring down this wall!"
"No!"
The two of them shouted back and forth at each other. Alder kept a close eye on them but turned back to the cadet in her arms.
"Craven, why did you do that?" Alder asked as she brushed the now soaked from sweat hair out of Tallys face. In the few short minutes since she had been shot the pain had increased tenfold. Alder expected it had something to do with the blackness that was spreading through her veins.
"B-because I couldn't watch you get hurt and I could have done something about" Tally breathed out as another wave of pain washed over her.
"What do you mean?"
"I saw a vision of Silver talking to the man who shot at you about doing it. I saw Silver tell him to shoot you when you stepped closer to Nicte. I saw a vision of the past and I would not let them hurt you in the present" Tally explained.
"Damn you are one powerful witch if you saw a vision of the past. I mean you were able to see through my birds no wonder Sarah keeps you close" Nicte snickered as she came over to them placing herself between the still yelling Sliver and the injured cadet. She may be the leader of the spree but she knew that there was no way out for her, so why not put down the idiot who thought it was a good idea to try and shoot the General of the United States army.
"Would you shut up?" Alder growled.
"At least she makes me feel important. Since the moment I arrived at Fort Salem I have been nothing but a nuisance" Tally's were cut off and became coughs.
"Sarah, look that black stuff is crawling its way up to her lungs and heart," Nicte said, not showing any form of emotion on her face. "We need to get her to a healer like now"
"We need to get Silver to take this wall before we can even think about helping her" Sarah said she sounded indifferent. Like she didn't care what happened to Tally but on the inside she was trying to listen to her biddy's as they told her to calm down and focus. They provided the needed calmness she needed in order to save Tally and deal with Silver.
"Well I could just kill him and see if that brings down the wall"
"No, you can't just kill him. He is the only person that knows how to bring down the wall. Kill him and we are stuck in here"
"It's so blue in here,'' Tally whispered as she stared up at the ceiling. She reached her hand out as if to touch the blue lights only she could see. Alder looked at her with concern. She may have been a cold hearted bitch but in the time that Tally has known her, she has started to thaw out her heart. Alder was solely focused on the wounded woman that had claimed her heart.
"Blue?" Before either Nicte or Alder could inquire further about the supposedly blue light Tally could see a shout rang in their ears.
"General! Look out!" Anacostia warned.
Silver had abandoned his argument with president Wade, pulled out a gun and pointed it at Alder.
"My man missed. I won't"
"It's so blue!"
"Would you shut her open!" Sliver shouted.
"Wait, blue. Blue! She can see it, the work the wall is using to block our work! She can see, it" Nicte concluded.
"Nicte, deal with him but don't kill him. Tally I need your help, I need you to tell me what you see" Alder asked gently.
Instead of answering Tally started to use a high sounding work. It was very weak and wasn't doing anything. Alder smiled down at the cadet.
"Thank you! Thank you so much Tally. You're doing so well" Alder said as she held her face in her hands. With one last look to Tally she gently deposited her on the ground and stood up. She looked to Anacosta and General bellwether. "Match this tone" again the work was very weak and wasn't doing anything but on the outside every single witch followed the general's direction. Every single witch aimed their work at the wall. Every single witch gave it everything they had.
Slowly the wall started to dissolve, to crumble.
"NO!" Silver yelled.
"Oh would you just shut the hell up" Nicte said right before she punched him in the face. Knocking him out cold. "Finally some peace and quiet" Nicte laughed as she made her way back over to Alder and Tally.
"Nicte Batan '' the voice of President Wade sounded as the wall came down. Some witches rushed forward to surround her. "From what I've seen today I don't think a death sentence is worth it anymore. From what I've seen today I think we can come to an understanding. Don't you think so?" The two followed by a few soldiers walked off to discuss things.
Abigail and Raelle rushed forward to the sisters' side. Tally's head lay in Alder's lap.
"General?"
"Collar, what are you waiting for? come heal your sister" Alder demanded. Raelle immediately jumped into action. Grabbing one Tally's hand in one of her own and placing her other hand over the bullet wound. After a few seconds of Raelle singing her song, she pulled her hands away.
"Why are you stopping!?" Abigail demanded.
"It won't heal"
"The bullet will have to be removed in order for you to heal her," Isadora said as she joined the gathered group of people surrounding Tally.
"Okay how do we do that?" Abigail asked not liking seeing her sister in pain. As an answer Isadora turned to the gathered group.
"Witches sing the seed 67"
The hanger fills with the sound of work being performed. Seconds later Tally started to scream and thrash In pain. The seed they were using was used for pulling shrapnel out of witches body's. It was very painful for the person with the shrapnel in them but the seed was the studious and safest way to do it.
"Tally! Tally you have to try and stay still!... Tally I know it hurts, just a little bit longer" Alder spoke as she cradled Tally In her arms.
"Sarah, you have to do it. The bullet is being difficult" Isadora said.
"Do what?" Raelle and Abigail asked together.
"As you both know Tally was a biddy. When she got her age back there was still a piece of our connection unbroken that ties us together. At first Tally was able to see my memory's but I asked Isadora to make a concoction to dampen the effects. Well I can reach out to her through the connection and spread her pain through myself and the biddy's"
"Well then what are you waiting for?" Abigail cried urgently.
"If I were to do this then the connection would strengthen. We would be able to see each other's memories, hear each other's thoughts. I don't if she would want that, would what to be connected to me like that"
"Permission to speak General?" Raelle asked.
"Collar we don't have time for formalities. Say what's on your mind"
"She wouldn't mind being connected to you. I've seen it, Abigail too. The first night after her debiddying you visited her and she was glowing. She would do anything for you but you have to be truthful with her. She is someone who fights full-heartedly when she believes in something and she believes in you… We know that it's dangerous for her to be able to see your memories and hear your thoughts but we also know that Tally Craven is the most trustworthy person we have ever met" Raelle explained softly. Alder looked from Tally to her sisters.
A scream from Tally made Alder's mind up for her. She immediately grabbed a hold of her face and brought them close together. She concentrated on the bond she could always feel within herself. A bond she tried to ignore because of her own fear. Fear of being totally vulnerable to Tally, fear that someone would know all of her secrets. Fear that once Tally learned all of the bad things she'd done then she would look at her differently, act differently around her. She had asked Isadora to make a concoction to lessen the bond on Tally's side because she didn't want Tally to look at her any differently than with the stars that were in her eyes.
She refocused on the task at hand, she closed her eyes as she focused on taking Tally's pain and spreading it out between herself and the other seven women she was connected to. As she tapped into the connection she heard a gasp come from below her. She also gasped as she watched Tally's entire life play out in her mind.
A 5 year old running around, not a care in the world.
An 8 year old sitting in front of a TV, watching one of Alder's big speeches and smiling a big smile as she stared up at Alder.
A 10 year old sitting in a tree talking to the sky as if she were talking to an old friend about enlisting.
A 12 year old scraping her knees.
A 17 year old telling her mother that she wanted to help people in any way she could. Which meant enlisting.
An 18 year old Tally saying the words.
"Tally Craven, you didn't have to enlist but you did anyway. You really are a brave woman, Tally Craven" Alder said with wonder and amazement in her voice.
A few seconds later Tally opened her eyes and stared into Alders. For a few seconds they were the only two people in the hanger. They were lost in each other's eyes until Tally’s eyes widened and her body bowed off the floor. A final scream was released before everything became calm. Everyone in the hangar was quiet as they watched their General fuss over a cadet.
Alder was worried when Tally let out that scream. She held her as her body fell back to the ground after bending so far off the floor Alder feared that she might have broken her back. She held Tally as her body became still.
“Isadore?” Alder asked with a nervous voice that no one had ever heard coming from her before.
“She will be alright, you should be able to heal her now” Isadore said once she was done checking Tally over. Alder turned to Realle.
The entire hanger watched in confusion as Alder stood with Tally in her arms. Raelle had healed her and now Alder walked away with her biddy’s following her and Tally’s sisters.
— — — — — —-
A full fortnight passed before Tally opened her eyes again. When she did she awoke in an unknown place to everyone but Alder and her biddy’s. Tally couldn't stop herself from looking around the small room. The room was no bigger than a unites quarters. Unlike a unites quarters however there were pictures on the walls. Tally slowly made her way over to the oldest looking one first.
There were photos of two young women, one was very clearly a young Sarah Alder. The other one was a little older, her face looked a lot like Sarah. Her eyes were closer together and she was taller but the details in her face were similar to Sarahs. Tally knew who this woman was but not from her own memories but from Alders. The woman standing next to her was her older sister.
The next picture Tally saw was one she knew all too well but this one was unspell. Standing in the middle of the shot was Nicte Batan with Alder. Tally was quick to move on from that one, wanting to move on from the bad memories.
A few pictures later and Tally noticed that they hardly ever had Sarah in them. Most if not all of the photos were of young women, Tally was quick to understand that each of these women used to be a biddy.
“You're awake I see” Sarah’s voice filtered through Tally’s mind as she gazed at the pictures.
“I um I” Tally stuttered, she was at a loss for words. She could remember everything that happened in the hanger. She could remember the pain, the pain of the bullet as it pierced her shin, the pain of the black stuff as it spread throughout her body, the pain as the witches around her sang to try and remove the bullet. She could remember Sarah being concerned for her. She could remember all of that but she was still very confused. The last time she checked Sarah was angry with her, so why was it Sarah would held her as she screamed in pain. Why was it Sarah that strengthened her bond with her to help ease the pain.
“I did it because I didn't want to see you in any more pain,” Sarah answered.
“Can..”
“No I can not read your mind but I know that look. I know we have a lot to talk about and a lot to figure out but I know that the two of us can do anything we put our minds to. I understand that you think I hate you or at the very least angry with you and I was or I thought I was angry at you. What I was really angry with was myself. I feared what you were doing to me, I thought that there was no one I could care about after I lost my sister. I thought I had done a good job of locking my heart away. Turns out I was wrong” Sarah smiled as she made her way further into the room. Closer to Tally.
“But I…”
“Yes you are just a cadet but you hold more power than very many witches. You are a force to be reckoned with. You may be just a cadet to most but you are much, much more to me” Sarah said as she gently grasped Tally’s face. They were mere inches from each other.
“I don't understand?” Tally said with a tilt of her head. A look that Sarah found adorable.
“I am saying that” Sarah took a deep breath as she continued to stare at her. “That you are the first person in a long time that has pulled down my walls” Sarah smiled as Tally’s face was taken over by an adorable smile. “You are the first person that has had the gull to stand up to me, the first person that has made me look back at all my mistakes and feel remorse for them. At first everything I had ever done was for the protection of Witches… I know this might sound weird or out of place so if you're going to understand one thing or believe one thing let it be this. Tally Craven I love you”
Silence filled the room as Tally stared at Sarah with her mouth hanging open. She never thought she would hear those words, not even in her wildest dreams coming from Sarah.
“Tally?” Sarah asked, concern clear in her blue eyes.
“Oh! I'm sorry I just got lost in my head. Sarah I have loved you since I first saw you on my TV, I have loved you since I heard you calling your fellow Witches to arms. I have loved you for as long as I can remember”
Their lips met in a kiss that made them both dizzy. A kiss that made fireworks explode behind their eyes. A hurried kiss that they tried to put everything they felt for each other into.