Work Text:
Ollie wasn’t surprised that a single afternoon could turn her entire world upside down. On the contrary, she had been expecting something like this since her first night in custody. She hadn’t expected to be here this long, let alone find people she cared about. People she desperately wanted to protect but didn’t know how. She hadn’t expected for the death and destruction of her life to spill into someone like Sages.
Sage, who was probably unconscious and tied up in a sorting camp. If she was still alive that is. If by some miracle, the Resistance recognized that she was a powerful flame worth keeping around.
Ollie sped up her pacing at the mere thought. She didn’t have time to huff at North and his insistence she stay under house arrest after the attack. She couldn’t even be bothered that they had locked her in here, as if she would choose now to go underground. The thought snagged at the back of her throat, because she did want to run she realized, her gut urged her to lead the dangers of the world as far away from Oregon as she could. Having faces and names to her bonds–hell her friends – had only confirmed she was right to have run from there.
It always came back to a couple simple facts. She couldn't bond with them. So really, there was no way she could be what they wanted her to be. And she could never fight the Resistance, not on her own. Not even with the cantankerous bitchy bond she had locked inside of her.
With each step, a new thought came. Murderer.
She turned a corner. Defective.
Why couldn’t she breathe all of a sudden? Poison.
North had probably been right to lock her doors then. Not that she would ever admit it.
It was dark when Atlas wordlessly slipped into her bed and slid an arm around her middle. She didn’t move in his hold, but allowed herself the warmth of his arms as she stared out the window. He wasn’t sleeping, but he didn’t break the silence between them either.
“I’m surprised North let you in here.”
Atlas snorted, “As if the councilmen could keep me from my bond.”
Ollie didn’t have anything to say to that. Instead she watched the stars as they twinkled in the night sky. She waited till Atlas was close to sleep before she dared to speak again.
“I hate that you didn’t let me go after her,” Ollie whispered into the darkness of the room, her voice cracking around the words. He had held her like this just this afternoon, even as she fought to get out of his hold and go after her best friend. There were no tears left to accompany that fact. Atlas tightened his grip around her in response and waited for her to continue. Waited for something she didn’t know how to say or how to give.
“I hate that I can’t do anything to help her.”
“I’m sorry,” Atlas whispered. The words were soft and brushed the shell of her ear, a tender embrace in their own right. She couldn’t handle the earnestness of it, nor the sheer care for her that seemed to coat his actions and his every word. He carefully turned her so she was facing him, their legs tangled under the sheets as he brushed her silver hair from her face. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough to make out his face and the softness of his eyes as he looked down on her.
“I want to run you as far away from these people as possible,” Atlas said, his voice soft yet firm, “Not just North and Nox and their terrible treatment of you. But the Resistance too. I want you to wake up and feel like the world is a safe place to live and thrive. Even if…” His voice trailed off.
She cursed herself for asking. Truly, she should do something bitchy and keep her distance like she had always planned. But the words–the question–spilled out before she could stop herself.
Atlas tucked his face into the crook of her shoulder. She could feel his breath against her skin, a reassurance and a temptation. He whispered into her skin, voice a dark promise all on its own, “Even if we can never bond. It doesn’t matter to me Ollie. I just want you to be exactly who you always wanted to be, before all of the bad stuff.”
The words bad stuff struck her to her core. They were vague enough to be innocent. But he couldn’t possibly be referring to…
A memory came to her then. One vivid enough to knock the wind out of her and have her scrambling from bed. Her head was suddenly pounding. But she didn’t care, there was no room for anything else but the illusion of a woman sitting where Atlas once was, a woman with his eyes standing before her. A woman she recognized from the camps. A woman whose last name she could have sworn started with a B.
The thought alone stirred the bond within her chest. She had to close her eyes to reign it in and prevent it from killing everyone in a 50 mile radius. It wasn’t till her body was still that Ollie looked at her bond, maybe for the first time, and saw the remorse she didn’t know how to interpret staring back at her. “You know what I am.” She said, a fact so glaringly obvious to her now she felt childish for not seeing it before.
Atlas opened his mouth, but she cut him off, “You know what I am. Which means somehow, you are connected to them.”
“It’s not what you think-” Atlas backed off the bed.
It occurred to her that all of her bonds were in this house. They probably expected her to be a normal little bond who would have screamed for them to protect her. But Ollie had never been normal after the horrors of the camps. Especially not after the pain those very bonds had inflicted on her, misguided as they were. “Your kindness was always a trap.” The words tumbled out of her now, a sick and twisted joke. To think someone she had sacrificed so much for was one of them all along– she could vomit just from the thought.
She did vomit actually. All over her her bare feet and the front of her sleep shirt that once belonged to Gryphon. Fuck, when had she become so pathetic?
Atlas approached her hunched over form as if she were a rabid animal. She was in a way, seeing how the people who were supposed to love and cherish her had locked her in a cage and didn’t seem to care that she bursted at the seams with violence.
You did this to yourself, remember. Ollie told herself. They hate you because you deserve it.
“Ollie, please believe me when I say I would never let them hurt you like that. Never again.”
The words were cheap. She could taste blood in her mouth and it brought her right back to the heat of the tent while she waited for someone to come back. A man she couldn’t even name in her head without breaking apart.
“Then tell me that you weren’t involved–” Ollie said, “Tell me that's why you never came to help. Tell me you weren’t sitting there and watching that man happen to me and doing nothing to stop it.”
“I swear I didn’t know till after you had escaped,” Atlas breathed, “I found out and it crushed me what happened Ollie. I couldn’t believe people could do that to anyone, let alone my bond. ” He said the words like they physically hurt him. Ollie couldn’t tell if that was a good or a bad thing. She was sweating now. “So I searched for you. I searched and searched and vowed I would find you and never let it happen again.”
He slowly encased her hands in his and pulled them, clasped together and still covered in the remenits of her vomit, to his chest. She could feel his heart beating. It was strong and sure. Her bond purred at the contact. Atlas pulled her from her thoughts when he gasped for air, tears streaming down his face.
“I couldn’t believe you went through something like that for me, an idiot with too much money and no good idea on how to spend it. You showed more resolve, integrity, and loyalty to me at fifteen than I had ever shown anybody.”
Atlas continued to cry, but there was nothing else to say.
Ollie didn’t remove her hands from his, nor did she attempt to wipe his tears. There were questions she would have to ask later about who he was and how he had come to be the person he was. But she knew he wasn’t a threat, and for now that was enough.
Integrity. He has said. Resolve. Loyalty.
The inkling of an idea wormed its way into her mind's eyes.
“Okay,” she whispered. “I believe you.”
“Okay.” Atlas echoed.
The words were as much a promise as they were a revelation.
Walking down one of the many opulent hallways felt like Ollie was walking to her death. It was a silly thought, born from an anxiety she couldn't bear to name, but nonetheless it racked through her body as Sawyer led the way through the endless maze of the estate towards the dining room.
Sawyer's parents hadn’t stopped petitioning the council since their daughter's disappearance. She was glad for it, since it meant they had called relentless meetings that consumed North’s attention. The family was having dinner with her bonds in hopes of negotiating some kind of political pressure that would get their daughter back. It was laughable to think North would be more agreeable behind closed doors. But everyone had to learn at some point, and besides, grief had a way of making people lose sense.
The pair stopped just outside the door. Sawyer turned to Ollie with his hand resting against the door knob. “Are you ready?” he asked. There was so much sadness written across his frame. His shoulders were already slumped in defeat, as if he knew as well as she did that her parents wouldn’t be getting what they wanted from North or his various yes men.
Ollie exhaled sharply before she nodded at him. Her mouth broke into a smirk she didn’t quite feel, but above all else she hoped her sheer confidence, even if it was forced, gave him some inkling of hope.
They entered into a tension that was quite familiar to Ollie's bond dinners. North sat at the head of the table with Gryphon on his immediate left. Nox sat on Gryphon's other side and was already sneering at Sage's parents, who sat closest to the door. Gabe and Atlas sat on the right. They waved and gave the pair an awkward smile. A great many seats lay between the Bensons and her bonds–each marking the great distance which crackled through the room. The smallest break in their otherwise calm exteriors.
North looked to Ollie and beckoned for her to sit on his other side near the head of the table. Gabe and Atlas had left a seat for her near them as well, she imagined Atlas worried she would want space from North.
It didn’t really matter. She beelined to the Benson's and sat with them. It also happened to be at the other end of the table, directly opposing North. He didn’t comment in front of their esteemed company, but the tilt of his frown promised a swift retribution. Ollie was tempted to tell him to shove that retribution up his ass and leave her alone, but she channeled those feelings into a cheeky wave before turning her attention to Sawyer and his parents.
Sage’s father wasted no time in getting to his piece. They didn’t bother looking at the food being served or thanking the waitstaff, instead choosing to speak directly to North with a resolution Ollie couldn’t help but admire. “My family needs reassurance that you are sparing not a single expense when it comes to locating and retrieving our daughter. We will accept nothing less.”
“And as I have said, Councilman Benson,” North popped a forkful of food in his mouth and chewed as if he had all the time in the world. He didn’t answer till he had swallowed and put down his cutlery. “I have deployed my full arsenal in the hopes your daughter can be retrieved quickly and in one piece.”
“And yet she remains missing, so you must see my concern.”
“Bonded, please,” his wife placed a hand on his bicep and squeezed, “We need his help.”
Ollie had her chest squeeze as she watched the couple. They had bonds at home eagerly awaiting the news of their daughter, her mind wandered to her own parents and what they would have done to get her back if they had survived and known to look for her.
Ollie grounded herself for a moment before clearing her throat. She refused to look at her bonds, because what she was about to do had nothing to do with them. This had everything to do with her friend being in danger and her desperately needing to help.
“Councilman,” Ollie tested the word on her tongue and cringed at how it sounded. No wonder North insisted she had a nasty attitude. She could barely address her best friend's father with respect. “Are the Tact Teams having problems?”
He moved to open his mouth but was cut off by Sawyer. “They simply don’t know where to look. There is too much ground to cover between all the sorting camps and we don’t know which one has her.” He gestured outside in a flippant way, as if he couldn’t be bothered to gesture further, “The resistance seems to be everywhere these days and nobody will tell us where to focus resources.”
“Okay.” Ollie looked squarely at her friend's father, “If you give me clearance to speak with some of the prisoners you gathered from the attack, I think I could make someone give up that kind of information.”
She heard more then saw her bonds reactions.
“Apologies, Councilman Benson,” North spat, “My bond speaks out of turn. She will be doing absolutely no such thing.”
Ollie didn’t look at him. She could tell the councilman was considering her and refused to give him a single reason to double her. “So you are the troublesome girl I’ve heard so much about.”
“It would appear so, sir.” Ollie wiggled her eyebrows and let out a little giggle before she could help herself, “Sage keeps me sane and I scare off any of the naysayers that dare look her way. We make a good team that way.”
He leaned back in his seat and titled his head in thought. “And what makes you so effective with data extraction? I heard trained tact team operatives couldn’t get anything useful without a show of force they weren’t cleared for. ”
Ollie closed her eyes for a moment. She pushed aside the familiar flashes of the camps and reached for a part of herself she swore she would never set free. Her touch lingered around its edge and felt the container shaking with excitement. It desperately craved to be let loose, but even more so it demanded chaos and bloodshed. And then it wanted her bonds–oh did it want her bonds– it wanted to tear open their flesh and uncover all that was underneath.
It took a simple breath for her to spring free.
Her bond.
It filled every inch of her body with a buzzing power. If she hadn’t been sitting the rush would have brought her to her knees. Someone in the room let out a gasp and she selfishly hoped it was one of her bonds.
By the way the table reacted, there was no question that her eyes were pitch black when they opened. They skimmed over the shocked faces across from her and stared at Sage's father. His face was blank, but her bond preened at the defensive hand that laid across Sage's mother midsection. They were afraid. Good.
“Councilman.”
Ollie didn’t recognize her own voice. It was sultry and low. The words weren't entirely her own, a mixture of her thoughts and the otherness of her bond. “We have yet to properly meet.”
Oleander’s bond punctuated her words with a pulse of power. The cutlery and fine china clattered against the tabletops.“What are you?” Councilman Benson breathed.
Oleander’s bond shrugged, “A god.”
Atlas cleared his throat and broke both Oleander’s focus. His features were particularly sticking now that they were occupied by the taste of his power on her tongue. Her body desperately wanted to get closer, a roaring call that took everything within her to ignore. When Atlas met her stare, he was not afraid.
That fact alone almost broke her completely.
“You lot may be ignorant, but the Resistance is painfully aware of how strong Oleander is. You put her in a room with one of them and I guarantee that they will give her whatever she asks for.”
Ollie watched helplessly as Gryphon brandished his butterknife like a weapon. It was hard to watch him so upset, but there was nothing she could do. “How the fuck would you know that?” He roared.
Atlas looked at Oleander, her back straight and her face devoid of all emotion, and then peered through those pitch black eyes and right into her soul. He didn’t baulk for a moment, even as his words shook the foundation of everything. “Because the Resistance knows that when they threw everything they had at her and tried to break her, she didn’t give in. She underwent their torture and their mind games and she didn’t break. And when it was time, she killed her way out of the camps and escaped.”
He turned to North, who Ollie noticed for the first time was slack jawed. Atlas apparently wasn’t done twisting the knife. “They also remember that she was only fifteen and unbonded.”
Someone whistled. “Holy shit Ollie.” It sounded like Gabe.
Sawyer scooted away from her a tad. Ollie wished she could reassure him, but in this moment she was losing herself to her bond who wanted him afraid.
“Is this true?”
It was North who asked. His voice was small, more than she had ever heard. Ollie didn’t know how she felt about that. But Oleander's bond knew how it felt, and it felt that it was unacceptable. “I protected your bond from as much of the pain as I could.”
North audibly gulped.
Sage's mother leaned in, shooing away her own bonded’s arm and his hushed insistence that she stay silent. “And you would help us find our daughter?”
Oleander’s bond nodded, and then Ollie fell into nothingness.
She could only watch as her bond got up from the table, helpless to stop the carnage she knew her bond was capable of.
Ollie didn’t come back to herself fully until it was dark outside and she was back in her room at the estate. She immediately took a scalding hot shower and took particular care to wash the blood from under her fingernails. Her bond laughed at her disgust from where it had curled up inside her, present and waiting, but content in a way it hadn’t been in years. There must have been blood spilled then. A terrible and sickening thought.
It wasn’t surprising to find North in her bedroom when she emerged. He seemed tired as he looked over her dripping body. It was barely obscured by the towel she clutched to her chest. The silence was heavy between them.
“Tact Teams are going to get Sage.”
The words hit her like a wave. Ollie took a shaky breath just so she could remember how to. “Is there any word on if she is okay?”
North shook his head. He turned away from her and looked at his watch before speaking again, “I am expecting a report in 30 minutes.”
“Okay.” The words were a whisper at this point.
“Oleander.”
She braced herself for impact. Here it was.
“Oleander,” North repeated. “Look at me.”
Ollie shook her head. “Just yell at me already.”
“Oleander, please.”
The word please didn’t sound right coming from someone like North. The shock of it made her comply with his request. He sat on her bed in a wrinkled suit and a half done tie. She had never seen him so disheveled before. He almost looked… human when he sat like that. Ollie pushed that thought away as fast as possible. It was dangerous to give him that kind of inch.
He lazily looked at her again. “Why did you tense up just now?”
“Huh?”
“You tensed when I said your name. I just want to know why.”
Ollie blinked once. Then twice. Suddenly she couldn’t breathe, so she tried swallowing to clear her throat. “I don’t know.”
“Don’t you?”
Maybe it's because you threatened to lock me in a basement when we first met. Or because at every chance, you have shot me down and assumed the worst. What about the bomb you put in my neck just to keep me tethered to you —
“What bomb?”
Fuck. Had she said all of that out loud?
“Answer the question, what do you mean there is a bomb in your neck?”
North was standing and advancing towards her. She saw his arms reaching out to her, and her bond perked up in immediate interest. With a split second to decide, Ollie did the only thing she could think of; she stomped on his foot and ran out of the room.
Ollie ran down the hallway and made random turns. At some point she found a fire escape and went down a few flights of stairs, and then kept running. None of it looked familiar to her. Hell, she didn’t even have a destination in mind. But she had to get out, that was all her mind was repeating.
Ollie turned a corner and flew full force into something hard.
From the floor, she saw Nox standing over her. He was haggard, and he was drunk, and weirdly enough he wasn’t looking at her face. She followed his gaze to the towel which laid next to her, no longer covering anything from view.
Nox scoffed. “I am impressed Poison. Not only are you a liar, but a whore as well.” He crouched down so that he was leaning over her, “Is this you trying to seduce me?”
She felt her bond awaken in her chest once again. It wasn’t too long ago that he had forced himself on her in a hallway. Ollie grimaced and tried to get up, but couldn’t shake him off. “Don’t fuck with me right now Nox.”
“Don’t get confused, Poison,” Nox spat, “You are still as pathetic as you were before. You don’t scare me.”
Her body flew into his before he could bite out anything worse. Ollie swept his legs out from under him and pinned his arms over his head. In this position, her body was fully pressed up against his, but she didn’t have room to care as she watched something dark and twisted come across his face. Ollie could tell her bond was hesitant as she leaned in close to his face and smirked. It was an unfamiliar sensation. But maybe her bond should be scared of what Ollie was capable of for a change.
“If you aren’t scared of me, then you clearly haven’t been paying attention.” Ollie purred. She reached down into the pit of her belly and squeezed her bond. It shook with rage. Nox paled as he felt it spill uncontrollably from her.
“Last time, you took what you wanted and didn’t give a fuck about how I felt about it. Try and touch me again Nox, and just see what I can really do.”
Oleander didn’t flinch as Nox’s creatures poured out of him at the threat and surrounded her. She smiled so wide she showed teeth and hoped her words conveyed the pure, honeyed death she felt stirring within her soul, even as they growled at her, “Because I’ve killed enough men in those camps to earn a particular reputation for being…” She allowed herself the pause, “effective.”
“Jesus Christ, Oleander for the love of god STOP!”
Strong arms came up from behind her and pulled her off Nox. She allowed it, lest her bond start hurting her for the threats she was making. “Somebody call North and tell him we found her.” The man cursed before adding, “And tell him that Nox needs him right now.”
Ollie looked up and saw the hard cut of Gryphon’s jaw. “Don’t worry, he still has all his body parts attached.”
Gryphon flared his nostrils in annoyance. “Don’t say another fucking word.”
Ollie peaked over his shoulder and noticed that he was shielding her body from view. A couple Tact Team members were behind him and trying to find any place to look but her. At this point, Ollie was completely done with everything; her bonds, HER bond, the fucked up version of the world she lived in filled with monsters, the fact that her best friend could be dead and yet she was distracted by these men who couldn’t seem to get a grip.
Of course Gabe decided this was the moment to come down the hallway. He was shirtless and a tad out of breath. It looked like he had run to catch up with them. Her bond seemed to think he had run to see her, but Ollie decided that was impossible. At least until he looked up and smiled when he saw her. And then blushed when he got a view of her naked.
Her fists curled in rage. She needed to get out of here.
With a side step and a duck, she detangled herself from Gryphon and walked down the hallway Gabe had just emerged from with her chin up. Let them look at her, for all she cared. A dark and twisted part of herself hoped they noticed the scars littered across her back, or legs, as she walked past. Let them ask where she got them from.
Oleander hoped this was the moment they realized she had gotten each and every one of them for the same reason. For them.