#hope there aren't too many mistakes/typos lol

[i-love-you-all]

Aftershocks pt.2

Hey, this is a continuation of the first part of this story which can be found here. The bad ending shows up before the good one so if you want to skip one or another, feel free! Also should mention that I kinda got this idea off the lovely anons who send Sova/breach hc’s to @ninadrawsstuff. I normally don’t write angst when it comes to this ship but...

Rated M, ~2k words, Breach/Sova, implied death.

It went wrong when Skye pulled him away as soon as the debrief ended.

Breach was so bored just moments before with thoughts of Sova’s smile and warm hugs muddling his brain. Not that he was obsessed with Sova, but it had been weeks since he had seen him, or even exchanged words. It didn’t worry him at the time because Sova was on his own mission, and probably couldn’t find the time, and as cliché as it was, he didn’t want a poorly timed text message to ruin Sova’s plans. And either way, it was Sova. The man was a soldier in every sense of the word. He could beat Breach in close quarters combat, had the stamina of a workhorse, and possessed the conviction of one of those superheroes Breach liked to compare him to. Sova was a superhero. Breach didn’t need to worry about him.

He should’ve been worried though.

“Breach…”

He should’ve known in advance too just from that tone of voice. She never approached him with such regret What she said next made him take a step back, chest tightening, and fists clenched. Because…

Because there was no way that Sova, the man with that radiant smile and bright eyes, the man with the soothing voice and stubborn confidence in his team – in Breach – was gone.

“…I told him he wasn’t the hunter of anything but…” He left Skye without finishing his poorly constructed sarcasm.

No way.

Adjusting would’ve been hard for anyone in his situation. It was worse when no one else even knew how deeply they were connected. Skye… She tried, but even the nature girl wouldn’t be around to keep Breach safe from the comments about his behaviour forever. People judged him for a lot of things in his past. Here, they judged him because of his rough words and arrogance. They judged him for his insults on all their characters, but mostly Sova. Apparently, he wasn’t allowed to mourn the loss like the rest of them. They didn’t even bother updating him on any plans or news about Sova. And the worst part of all was that he had to go along with it.

Skye would tell him otherwise Sova probably would’ve told him otherwise, but a small part of him wondered if he was the reason why the mission had failed. From the moment he confessed to Sova that he had indeed felt the same way about him to now, Breach had grown softer. He could feel it. Sova’s patience and kindness was rotting Breach’s abrasiveness and contempt. A lot of things had changed. He didn’t call Killjoy “nerd” anymore unless he was genuinely teasing her. He hadn’t called Omen a freak since the day Sova called him out on it. And he was listening to Brimstone more often while talking back less. Or as much as he could stand. And if Sova’s genuine goodness was soaking into his everyday life…

Please for the love of… anything – everything… Sova wouldn’t take risks that he didn’t think would work in his favour, right? There was no way Breach had infected his core morals because Sova had to have been too strong for that. Sova wasn’t reckless, he wasn’t cocky. But it still nagged at the back of Breach’s mind when he wondered if Sova had made a move that only Breach could’ve lived form.

And if he did, why couldn’t Sova have just… thought? Why would Sova just throw himself at death? People loved him – people other than just Breach. Was he so willing to throw away their feelings so he could play a hero? Or why couldn’t Sova have gone with backup? One person missions were rare for a reason these days and for a good reason. Why would he agree to something so risky – especially when he knew that Breach needed him more than he needed to breathe.

Breach cried for the first time in years. And it happened regularly to the point where others assumed he was drinking himself under every night. In the mornings, he would get up and realize there was no one to hold, no one to kiss and whisper good morning to, and it would make him plop back onto his bed. Even while sprawled on his back, it hurt because he knew that if things were normal, he wouldn’t have the room to starfish like this. He would just lay there until Skye came by and physically dragged him out of bed. Eventually, Brim must’ve caught on and thought that Breach was bored. The next day, he got ready for another mission.

He didn’t think about how the last time he did this, Sova was here to finish the braid. Nor did he think about how warm Sova’s body was when he leaned back into his boyfriend. He definitely didn’t think about how the smell… it just wasn’t there. There was nothing to smell but the oil from last nights tuning.

But the mission did offer him clarity. Clarity in the form of revenge.

“What did you do to him?”

Breach stared down at his double. He had managed to disable the other’s arms rendering him near useless, and, if they were the same, likely panicked.

“Make me ask that again, and I’ll shoot right here,” he growled, pointing his gun down at the point between other Breach’s legs.

The other clenched his teeth. “Protective, aren’t you? This show you’re trying to put on is just pathetic.”

“Talk.”

Other Breach tensed when Breach fired a couple rounds just below the intended target.

“He walked through a rift. I sent him back through it as a puddle to god knows where.”

And just the thought of it… Breach knew the kinds of messes he could do with his arms… If this Breach really did that to Sova—

“Worried over that weakling?”

Breach took aim and shot, ignoring the howl of pain and whimpers. “Learn your lesson. That Sova’s mine.”

Other Breach was panting, hand covering the wound and glaring back up at Breach. “Was. That Sova was yours.”

He just needed one bullet to shut him up. He had his answers. Brim was not impressed with how he got them, but they were a place to start.

One day and three hours. That’s how long it took for KJ to track down the recent record of rifts and located the one nearest to where Sova had been deployed. From there, Breach could do nothing but pace in his room while waiting for news. Others apparently cared more about Sova than him, and while that was laughable, it was what they had decided. By minimizing his feelings though, it forced him to consider the possibility of… he didn’t want to say.

Bad ending:

The news was almost worse than not knowing. When the returned, Skye wouldn’t even let Breach into the same room where Sage was working. Radiants had a limit to their powers. The more powerful it was, the more rules it generally had, and Sage’s resurrection abilities required a mostly intact body.

Sova’s did not qualify for that.

That was all Skye told him.

There was never a point in his life where his body felt like it belonged to someone else. Right now, his body was fine. It went through the same routine as he did every day, and as far as others could tell, it was normal. Breach was fine. Except he wasn’t. He was trapped, unable to do anything but think about how lonely he was now while his body just kept moving without intent.

And in that low moment of darkness, despair, and anguish, he made a vow to both himself and the now empty room three doors down from him. That other Breach was going to taste the absolute emptiness that Breach was feeling now. His missions were going to be impossible, and… It’d be hard, but Breach was going to punish the other Sova like how his was treated. Maybe with enough rounds and missions, he would properly return the favour that other Breach had done.

Because no one should’ve been able to touch the Sova now being prepared to be sent back to his motherland. Only he was allowed to…

That Sova was his, and he’d make the other Earth agents wish that his Sova was still here.

Good ending:

It’d be close. That’s all he was told

Skye kept him away from the med bay and surprisingly also off of missions. It forced Breach to agonize over the possibility of it not going the way he wanted it to. And while he felt sorry for Skye and Sage, the fact that they were still working meant something. He wouldn’t deny the fact that he was much nicer to the two women over that week.

Finally, one night, he was woken up by a knock on the door. To his surprise, it was Sage who had come to bring him to the room where Sova was being kept for now.

“Yours was the first name he said,” she told him, holding the door open. “I will not ask why but go see him.”

He nodded, and walked in, hearing the door click close behind him.

Sova was so bandaged up that he almost didn’t recognize him.

“Sova,” he gently called, reaching out for his hand.

He froze when he saw Sova flinch away from him. Right. It was his clone after all that did this. “It’s me.”

He sat at the edge of the bed, hands resting on the mattress but not touching Sova. Breach sat there for minutes, not saying a word, just taking in the view of his lover… alive and in front of him. Eventually, he saw Sova reach for his hands, and he finally leaned in closer, taking in the smells of chemicals, rubbing alcohol, and dried blood. He pecked Sova’s cheek and smiled at how the other man tried to chase him as he pulled back.

“You had me worried there for a moment,” Breach murmured.

“Perhaps I should die more often. You’re very quiet for once.”

It was a joke. He knew that. But it didn’t stop him from taking a deep inhale and clenching his fists. Going forward, this was a topic neither could joke about. That’s what his reaction meant. Sova reached out for his torso, right where the ribs were and pressed it softly against him.

When he leaned in again to fully place his lips on Sova’s, he heard the other man whisper, “I did not mean to make you worry.”

“The next time you meet him,” Breach growled, “Remind him that you’re mine. And what he does to you, I’ll do to him times a hundred.”

“I was not aware I was something that could belong to you.” Sova was whispering so quietly it was hard for Breach to hear. That, and there was hardly a second for him to speak while Breach was so intent on lavishing him with attention, keeping his mouth occupied.

“You belong to me until you say otherwise.” He looked Sova in the eyes and realized that he could not possibly convey the absolute despair that he was almost sent to when Sova didn’t come back. “But I’m so great that you won’t want to leave.”

He returned to give him small pecks and kisses to make Sova smile until he passed out again. Sage found him resting with his head leaned all the way back and hand still linked with Sova’s. His initial panic at being found out was quelled with a soft hand on his shoulder.

“This is not my secret to give away.” Her looked turned more apologetic. “I’m sorry. I thought at first that…”

“It’s fine, Sage.” He kept his voice quiet as to not wake his sleeping beauty. “Skye’s been giving me updates on him. As long as he’s ok… thank you.”

He woke up in his own bed again, but this time with the familiar blue cape draped over Breach like a blanket, and for the first time, he could smell the scent of Sova’s shampoo mixed with his cologne. It wouldn’t be one last memory with Sova until he left for good. And he hadn't left for good. Not yet, and not while Breach was still breathing.

[galvanizedfriend]

15, 23, 26 for The Wolf 2

Was there anything you had to research for this fic? Do you usually do a lot of research? I do a lot of research, yes. There were many little things about the story that I did some research on, but I think with TW the thing I did most research on was the history of New Orleans, the French Quarter and things like that. I spent a lot of time on google maps trying to find the compound just to know exactly what they would see if they looked out the window (and I did find it!). There's a bit on TW 2's first chapter where Elijah (I think it's an Elijah POV) mentions some of the past history of the Quarter, Delphine Lalaurie and stuff, and I spent SO much time reading about that just to add a single line. lol

My researches aren't usually very useful. 🤣

Did you have a beta reader(s) for this fic? How did they help you during the writing process? I did! I think the way beta readers help me most is by being my first audience. Obviously, they also help with the typos and grammar mistakes that escape me and things like that, and they also point out bits they feel is weird, but mostly I ask them to tell whether they think certain things work, or if chapters feel too long, or if the resolution to certain plot points is too bleh.

In short, they give me their thoughts on whether they think it's good or not, and if I have specific doubts, I ask them about those parts in particular. That process helps me a lot. And also just general support, you know. When you're writing a fic that is as long as TW, it's nice to have people supporting you through it, because it can get very discouraging at times. If not for @definedareasofuncertainty, I wouldn't even have posted it to begin with, and I'm pretty sure it only got popular because of the way she would advertise each chapter on her blog. 🤣❤️

Wild Card! I'll tell you a fun fact about this fic! I had no idea what the baby's name was going to be until the very last chapter lol While I was structuring the last chapter, I used 'Hope', but i didn't really want it to be Hope - both because I'm not a fan of the cheesy choice and because I didn't want it to feel like it's the same child. 😂 (Baby Eve would NEVER get her own parents killed 😤). I spent hoooooouuuuurs searching for baby names, I wanted something that had a meaning, and I even wrote down a few with some very flashy lines by Klaus explaining why lol But then I thought about how Eve had been sort of a big character towards the end, and how Caroline had thought a lot about her while she was giving birth, and I actually love that name. So I told Luiza (@definedareasofuncertainty) and she was like 'No'. 🤣🤣🤣 She didn't like the obvious religious reference and was like 'Let's not'. But I used Eve anyway when I was writing the chapter just because I needed something to fill in the space while I was searching for a different name, but then she read the chapter and came to me like 'Baby Eve 🥺❤️' 🤣🤣

If I could convince her to change her mind, then I knew it was a good name choice. She was every adamant she didn't want Eve!

Thanks for your asks, nonnie!!