#IF U LIKE THIS FEEL FREE TO ASK ME MORE ABT DEADWOOD/UPP/PD IN GENERAL I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS

[obitv]

beginnings of a william wisp backstory fic thats actually an elaborate ruse for me to explore the un-witness protection program and the goings on of deadwood. because seriously i think we all need to think about them more

It takes William 3 days to stumble out of the woods.

Or so he guesses – time is hard to track when you can barely keep yourself upright and just blearily crash into every tree and bush there is and hope you go the right way.

They told him it’d been a week. They told him the funeral was tomorrow. They told him a lot more, probably, but at that point he’d been running on empty for so long the world had started to blink in and out with every breath.

He got a break, after that. Your parents were worried, he heard, along with some ‘should’ve looked harder’s and ‘shouldn’t have looked at all’s. They let him go home, where he collapsed into his cold, pristine bed and promptly passed out.

(He woke up less than an hour later, when his mother came to check on him and thought he’d died in his sleep. He didn’t know how to tell her he’s apparently been dead for a week already.)

Two days later, when the town doctor had come in, eager-eyed to finally get a look at someone returning from the woods human, and left looking deeply disturbed, he was allowed out of the house again. Not to school, obviously, since he was still shaky and too-pale and covered in bruises and scratches and hiding bandages under his hoodie, but just a short walk.

He cried when he realised the Un-witness Protection crew were waiting for him in their usual spot. And then cried more, because he wasn’t sure if he was able to cry, and also because fuck, he’d never let them see him upset like this before. But he could tell they were all shaken too. He’d been trying his best not to think since he came to, but… He knew he’d disappeared into the woods. He knew they would’ve assumed the worst – and he wasn’t even sure they were wrong.

He went intangible for the first time that day, standing shellshocked with tears streaming down his face, as Mary ran up to try to hug him. He felt it the moment her arms passed straight through him, saw the looks on his friends’ faces turn from relief to a mix of fear and pure shock. Heard Mary say “Wait, Will–?” as he stepped back, seeing her confusion suddenly drop into understanding.

And watching, horrified, as he reached out to her, and… grabbed her. As if nothing was wrong. As if he hadn’t died in the cursed fucking woods and as if her arms hadn’t gone through him and as if he hadn’t fucking glowed when it happened.

“…William?” Her voice shook, fear and hope laced together in a horrible cocktail that made his throat close up around even more tears. He took a breath.

“Hey, Mary.”

A dam broke. She pulled him back in and this time his body didn’t betray him. He felt her arms wrap around him and felt how warm, how alive she was, how that feeling multiplied as the entire group came over to join the hug. This was their first group hug in months, not since the night they found Dara with only a broken leg on the edge of the woods after losing him in a chase.

It felt nice. It felt like home. For the first time since he’d woken up at the base off a cliff, William felt safe.

It was somewhat of a blur after that. Like one of their interrogations, everyone took turns asking questions and taking notes. It felt weird, being on the other side of it for once. No, I don’t remember what happened. Yes, I know who I am. No, I haven’t had any other moments of intangibility. Yes, I still have a heartbeat.

He probably should’ve felt bad for lying. But he couldn’t – He really didn’t remember. He knows there was a wisp. A few, probably. But nobody asked do you still see wisps all over town or have you really slept since you got back or hey, how come you aren’t a fucking decomposing sack of bones right now anyway? He’d have to remind them to be more accurate with their questions, next time they found a spirit.

Next time. Next time they saw him, more like.