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This work could have adult content. If you continue, you have agreed that you are willing to see such content.
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Even When I'm Not by cristal_clair
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
15 Feb 2026
Tags
Summary
When Tess accepted this mission, she knew the risks. Risks she was willing to take for the weapons Marlene promised. After all, how many trips had she and Joel made outside the QZ walls over the years? Smuggling a girl out couldn’t be that hard, even if it meant going all the way to the Capitol.
Their luck ran out. She got bitten—stupidly so. Just a moment’s distraction was enough for a runner to sink its teeth deep. She could feel the Cordyceps growing beneath her skin as they left. Tendrils spreading from the wound, threatening to overtake her. How long did she have? Just enough time to do one right thing. Enough to leave this world with a shred of dignity.
But nothing ever goes as planned. The corpses scattered across the Capitol floor seemed to mock her despair—a gruesome audience to her demise as she drove away her closest friend and their cargo. She saw the flames licking the insides of the building before she even ignited them. If she was dying, she’d take those monsters with her.
Yet even that didn't go as planned. And after the flames, it was another girl who stood beside her.