Female reader

~~~

The cry came from a little boy who looked like he was lost and trying to find someone or something, but couldn't because he was so small and the people scattering made it harder to find what he wanted.

I sighed and jogged over to him, smiling reassuringly at him as I kneeled down to his level.

"Hey, little guy. What's wrong?"

He sniffled and clutched his arms around him tightly. "I lost my mama in the crowd. She's gonna be so mad at me when I find her!"

I wiped away his tears that started to cascade down his cheeks.

"Now, now, I want you to stay calm, okay?" I told him. He nodded and rubbed his eyes. "We're going to find your mom, okay? This mess will be over soon, and you can be with your mom soon."

I turned away from him for a second, looking back at the chaos behind me. Yeah, nothing but still-scattering people. But as I scanned the scene, Enjolras caught my eye. A group of soldiers had surrounded his front side in a semicircle about 10 feet away from him. From what I could tell, Enjolras was stalling them. For how long he had held out, I have no idea. But I had to get there soon, or else there wouldn't be an Enjolras anymore.

The little boy had begun crying again, and I turned my attention back to him.

"Shhh, it's okay, it's okay. We're going to find your mom. But for us to do that, I need you to hide, okay? Can you hide for me?"

He gave me a small smile and nodded, quickly finding a hiding spot in an overturned barrel and hunkering down. He peeked out when he had settled himself, and I nodded at him with a smile of my own before calling back to him.

"Now stay there until I come back to get you or if you hear your mom calling you, okay? I don't want you to get hurt."

The boy nodded again, and I ran at full speed towards Enjolras.

I stopped just behind him, when a soldier turned his gun from Enjolras and pointed it at me.

"Oh look, Princess decided to join us." the soldier sneered. "The more revolutionaries we kill, the merrier!"

Damn, okay. He's definitely trigger happy.

I barely had any time to retort before I saw metal flash in the corner of my eye and a "BANG."

Enjolras. Enjolras. Enjolras.

That was all that rang through my head.

I have to keep him safe.

Nothing can harm him.

Nothing must touch him.

I can't let that happen.

My arms immediately went around Enjolras's torso, my wings instinctively unfurled from being curled up behind me all this time and wrapped themselves around Enjolras, stopping the bullets from hitting him.

And that's when I felt it.

The sheer pain of bullets puncturing the feathers and lodging themselves in them.

The sheer pain of my feathers being torn apart.

The sheer pain of being stung multiple times, as if a million tiny daggers were being stabbed into me.

The sheer pain of blood being spilled.

I couldn't hold back my cry of pain; it was too much. Tears sprang to my eyes, blurring my vision. I shut them, closing them tightly and wishing the pain would go away, wishing the bulled would stop, wishing for this to be over, wishing the blood would stop, just.....wishing.

The bullets seemed to go on for eternity, a never ending stream of pain engulfing my whole body. Sobs wracked my body, and I felt one of Enjolras's arms slowly wrap around my waist, clutching me tightly and pulling me closer into him. I buried my face in his chest, his other hand coming up and holding my head closer to him.

And in that moment, it was just me and Enjolras.

Me and Enjolras.

Me and Enjolras.

Me and Enjolras.

The words echoed through my head, easing the pain a little. Nothing else mattered in that moment, just me and Enjolras.

It seemed as if the bullets would never end, but they did. I could faintly hear boots running away, and even in my injured state I managed a laugh.

"Cowards." I muttered with a smirk.

Enjolras heard my comment and laughed with me.

It was then that the pain of the bullets seemed to rush at me all at once, and my knees buckled and gave way. Enjolras held me firmly, slowly lowering me as he kneeled down with me.

It was then that I saw the tears in his eyes, and how he tried so hard to fight them and to keep them from falling.

"What were you thinking?" he murmured through his tears.

"Don't you fret, Enjolras. I don't feel any pain." I soothed him as I wiped his tears away with my thumb, much as I had done with the little by earlier. I kept my hands cupped around his face, reassuring him. Of what, I wasn't sure.

The last I saw of him was his face growing more and more panicked as my eyes began to drift shut.

The last I heard of him was his heart-wrenching sobs and cries for me to stay awake and to not give up yet.

~~~

I regained consciousness. I could feel that much. That and the cold cloth on my forehead. But my eyes would not open. As much as I willed them to, they remained glued shut. I heard the shuffling of feet around me, as if someone was pacing back and forth in the room. They were muttering something under their breath, but they were quiet enough to where I couldn't hear and recognize their voice.

More footsteps echoed from outside the room, gradually growing louder. I could hear the door squeaking open, another new, quiet voice whispering something to the pacing one, and then the door shut. The second pair of footsteps retreated back to where they came.

The pacing continued, and its constant sound lulled me back into sleep. Perhaps my eyes would finally open when I woke up again.

~~~

When I did regain consciousness again, my eyes did open. I blinked away the bleariness, keeping my eyes squinted slightly from the lack of light I had been taking in for who-knows-how-long. Everyone except me, probably.

When my eyes readjusted to the light, I recognized the familiar surroundings of the small room. I was in my room in the Musain. I turned my head towards the mirror opposite the bed, and I saw how disheveled I looked.

My hair framed my face, messy from sleep. My eyes looked worn and tired, filled with exhaustion. You could see the beginnings of dark bags under my eyes from restless slumber. My face in its entirety looked paler than usual, and I could feel my lips were chapped. I could see a little bit of my wing in the reflection too. It didn't look too good. They were covered in white bandages, now pink from soaking up the blood. I tried moving it, just a little, but they felt like dead weights, dragging me down and rooting me to the ground.

I slowly eased myself up to get a better look at myself, when the door opened and quick footsteps hurried over to my bedside. I looked up to see Enjolras gently help me sit up, propping my pillows up to make a comfortable back rest for me.

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly, as if speaking too loud would hurt me more.

"Like hell." I replied hoarsely, snorting--with some difficulty--at my joke. I ended in a coughing fit, the joints where my wings met my back flaring with pain. Enjolras moved to get me a glass of water from the dresser.

"Oh, fuck me." I muttered, taking a sip of the water as he held it to my mouth.

"At least let me take you to dinner first." he muttered back under his breath with a smirk.

I laughed despite the pain I was feeling, my cheeks growing slightly pink. "I'll hold you to that."

A moment of silence passed between us before Enjolras broke it.

"Why didn't you tell me you had wings?"

I paused before answering. "I didn't know how everyone would have reacted when they found out."

"They were mostly shocked." he interjected. "A few were mad, but they got over it."

"As I would have expected." I replied, nodding.

More silence passed between us. It wasn't awkward though, it was more of a comfortable silence, like the ones that passed between friends as they sat together under a tree staring at the sky.

Enjolras broke it again. Man, that boy really wants to talk, doesn't he? Not that I was complaining, of course. I could listen to his voice all day.

"I couldn't bear it you know." he said quietly. "The pain of seeing you in such agony. It was hard watching you go in and out of consciousness as we ran back to the Musain."

I took another sip of water, not knowing how to respond. I felt oddly....warm, hearing that from him. Enjolras continued speaking, avoiding my gaze.

"I hated not being able to do anything. I hated not knowing if you were going to live or die. It hurt me so much, watching you in such a weakened and pained state." He paused before continuing.

"And yet, you also still managed to look--excuse the pun--angelic still, despite the blood on you." He gestured to my bandaged wings. "I never thought I'd say this, but those wretched soldiers and their damn guns made me realize how beautiful you are, how strong you are, how brave you are, how selfless you are. It made me realize how fast I had fallen in love with you, and Enjolras doesn't just 'fall in love,' no, he's too busy for a love life.

"But they made me realize that I love you." He finished. "And for that, I'm grateful."

All throughout his monologue, heartwarming tears welled up in my eyes. I hurriedly wiped them away as Enjolras talked, wanting to see his face clearly and not through tearful eyes. I wanted to see the face of the man I had fallen in love with.

He looked up at me when he was finished, and leaned towards me with a soft smile, reaching forward to wipe the lingering tears away.

"No one has ever said anything that beautiful to me before." I replied quietly.

Enjolras pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Because they don't see how beautiful you are."

I blushed harder at his words, burying my face in my hands. He gently pried them away from my face, tenderly holding them in his own hands.

"Don't cover such grace, the world must see how amazing you are."

He stood up, not letting go of his grip on my hands. "Now, are you strong enough to stand?"

I swung my legs to the side of the bed like I did every morning, nodding at Enjolras. He helped me get out of my bed, his arm around my waist and supporting my weight.

When I had finally stood up tall, he turned to me with a smile, keeping his arm where it was.

He studied my face, his eyes eventually making their way down to my lips. I looked at his blue eyes, eyes that usually held a storm or simmered with passion, an ever-changing place. Now they held a calm, like they've found the eye in the storm, like they've found their anchor. It was as if they had finally settled down. His other hand cupped my cheek as he leaned his forehead on mine. And a moment later, his lips met mine.

In that moment, in his arms, I have never felt more at peace.

i have a jack wilder one-shot and thor one-shot coming out soon, if ur into that ig idk

i'm kinda super excited for them

this third part didn't turn out the way i wanted it to lmao

then again, when does my writing ever do that XD

hope you enjoyed it ig, despite only getting a total of 75 total reads on parts 1 and 2 combined.