SPOILERS!!

THIS IS A SERIES!!! 

Song: ThxSoMch - spit in my face.

Imagine: you come back to Jackson after a few days because of the storm, a lot has happened, on both sides as it turns out.

Series Warnings: character death(s), angst, little fluff. Typical blood and gore.

•••

'I'm so sorry Y/n... it happened a few days ago...' Maria sighs as she watches you read the tag on the black body bag in front of you.

You reach for the zipper to open it, needing to see if it's truly him but you're stopped by Maria. 'Y/n.. it's.. bad...'

'I don't care I need to-' you zip it open halfway, only to see his face.

As soon as your eyes catch the image in front of you, you immediately step back. It's him, and Maria was right. It's looking bad. Maria zips the bag back up, pity fills her eyes when she sees the state you're in.

'No... I... he was fine.. how.. how?' You stutter as tears fill your eyes, you lean against the wall while you try to regulate your breathing.

You came back believing everything was still fine. You weren't gone for weeks. You were gone for four days, your patrol partner got lost and you tried to find her, the storm both caught you off guard and a group came to your rescue. You never figured you would have lost him.

'He and Tommy rescued this group from getting overrun while on patrol.. they didn't make it to the rescue point... Ellie found him first...'

'When?' You ask, trying to swallow down your grief. 'Y/n-' 'WHEN?'

'The day you left for your own patrol...' you feel the tears finally run over your tears while a sob leaves your throat. 'Fuck...' You wipe them away but fresh ones keep coming.

'This group... they were outside of Jackson?'

'Ellie said the girl was out for revenge...they were waiting for him to come out... Ellie said the leaders name was Abby-'

Your eyes go wide while you shake your head. No, no way that it's the same group that... no, there is no way that... you trusted her and she... she seemed so nice... meanwhile she..

'Y/n, take a breath for me-'

'I need to go outside...' you push past her and out of the small morgue and into the cold winter air.

As soon as your boots crunch the snow, your knees are quick to follow. You feel bile rise in your throat before your previous meal heaves up and up.

You gulp for air when you feel Maria's hand on your back. 'It's okay...'

'I'm gonna fucking kill her...' you wheeze out. 'Y/n what are you talking about?'

You wipe your face as you sit back slightly. 'The group.. that rescued me and Jill... her name was Abby too, the leader one...' You hiccup. 'I let her get away with this...'

'You couldn't have known...'

'I let her walk...'

She wraps her arms around you and pulls you in for a hug. 'It's not your fault...'

'She told me... about the man that killed her father..' you take a deep breath. 'I never figured it would have been my own...and I sat there...god what am I gonna tell Ellie...'

'The truth... she will understand...'

'I swear I will kill her Maria... even if the last thing I do...'

She doesn't reply, knowing full well how much you're like Joel. You're hardheaded, once you've set your mind to something, you won't budge.

•••

'Hey Ells...' you tap against the door.

She looks up from her little notebook, she gets up immediately when she sees it's you. You open your arms, already expecting her to wrap hers around you too.

She does. So you lay your hand on the side of her head and pull her into your famous hugs. Own Ellie desperately needs right now.

'I'm sorry.. I should've got to him sooner but me and Dina-'

'Hey.. no... you shouldn't blame yourself for this...hey...' you make her look at you. I already blame myself.

'It wasn't your fault..' it was mine. 'And she will pay for this...trust me..'.

'Maria told you? About the group?'

'Yeah, but Ellie... I uh.. I gotta tell you something...' you gesture for her to sit down on her chair again while you sit down on her bed.

You wring your hands together while you figure out a way to tell her that you let the killer of your father go without a single finger being laid on her.

'What is it?'

'I uh... I got through the storm because of a group... and when Maria told me the names I... I was saved by Abby... and I let her go... fuck if I had known what she had done previous them I would've killed her... I'm sorry if...'

'If what?'

'If that makes you hate me now...'

'Don't... do you think I could hate you for that? You didn't know... but since she saved you, she must've said where she was coming from and where she was going next...'

You don't remember exactly, you figured those details wouldn't be important. You weren't supposed to meet again. So you think about it, trying to jog your memory.

'Seattle... she said they were from Seattle... something about Wolf... or some shit... she told me Joel killed her dad... with the fireflies.. and I fucking say there and agreed that I would've done the same... I didn't even think it could be my own...'

'That's exactly why I can't be mad at you and neither can you be at yourself... you didn't know...' she speaks up.

'She seemed so nice... to me and Jill, that entire group was...'

'Then we have one advantage... they have no idea Joel was your dad... we could get close to them...'

'I didn't even think of that...' You wipe away some stray tears. 'If we're gonna do this, we need more people...'

'Well...I think I can find more than enough people...' Ellie says as she stands up and grabs her coat.

'We will make her pay...'