I Don't Like Leaving You (Sylvie x M!Reader)

I Don't Like Leaving You

"And what time do you call this, hmm?"

"Don't talk to me about time," Sylvie grumbled. She tossed the latest reset charge onto the growing pile with the others and immediately began to strip off her outermost layers. The thick green cloak was the first piece to fall, darkened at the hem by mud from her last assault, followed by the golden crown that lay so heavy on her head.

You tried not to focus on how her face contorted as she reached around to unbuckle the leather across her chest and, instead of pointing out that she needed to be more careful, just rose to your knees to help in silence. Once all that remained was her under shirt and trousers, Sylvie kicked off her boots then you both fell backwards onto the scrap of padding you were currently calling a mattress. She curled into your side and draped an arm across your chest and you held her tightly as you dare, not willing to risk the peace of the moment to ask what was bothering her. It wasn't as if you didn't know, anyway.

This life on the run was beginning to get to you both. It had all seemed so grand, such a noble idea at the start. She had enchanted you from the very first moment she stepped into the TVA, tempted you away from your desk and opened your mind to possibilities beyond the Time Keepers and their damned Sacred Timeline.

For months you had continued going through the motions of your job, cataloguing anomalies and despatching Hunters to prune branches a few minutes too late to 'rectify' Variants that caused them, but in private you two began to plan against the tyrants that cruelly and unfairly dictated the lives of trillions. You gathered all the information you could about the TVA, the Time Keepers and the mechanics of the Sacred Timeline with a view of destroying it all.

You planned to burn the place to the ground, decimate the self proclaimed lords of the universe and free every living creature from their interference. And it was going perfectly to plan. The pile of reset charges increased every day and, by your calculations, you only needed a few more to move onto the next phase.

But it was tiring. The sheer scale and reach of the TVA meant you could never truly rest, always having to keep one eye open when you slept in case they found you. You were but two believers facing down gods and, though you had complete faith in Sylvie and your plan, you knew that the odds were not in your favour. They never had been.

So, no, you didn't need to ask why she curled into your side and held on to you like you were about to slip through her fingers, or why she buried her face in your neck and breathed in the scent of you, stolen aftershave doing the bare minimum to conceal the fact that neither of you had been able to shower for over a week now (the downside of hiding in apocalypses; there was very rarely clean running water). It was like she wanted to commit every detail of you to memory in case the worst should happen.

"I don't like leaving you."

Sylvie's admission caught you both off guard. She was never really one to admit her feelings, preferring to bottle them up and use them as amplifiers. Joy and rage and sadness the shaky cornerstones of her magic, emotions powering the spells and enchantments she had taught herself over many years on the run.

"You know the rules."

She hummed into your neck. "I know. If one of us gets caught, the other has to be able to finish it. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

A smile tugged at the corner of your lips even as the metal shack in which you were hiding creaked and groaned. Tomorrow the planet would be torn apart when a drifting neutron star came too close. Sometimes it felt as though you shared the same strain and stress as the rupturing world below but, unlike the floating lump of rock, you knew you would weather this danger.

"I'd come and save you, you know."

Sylvie rolled onto her side, a frown marring her soft face as she looked up at you. She truly was stunning. It didn't matter that her skin was coated by a thin layer of dust and dirt, or that the skin on her hands was rough, dry and cracked from the terrible conditions that happened to be common around an apocalypse. Her eyes still shone with determination to complete the mission. She still looked at you with nothing but affection and hope that one day you might be able to finally stop looking over your shoulders and settle down for a life together.

"Save me from what?"

"The Hunters. The TVA. There isn't anyone in that forsaken place that could stop me."

She laughed, a slight blow to your pride and confidence but too beautiful a sound to really care. "That's sweet," she said. "Stupid but sweet."

"You don't like the idea of a brave, handsome knight coming to your rescue? I thought all princesses dreamed of that."

"I'm not a princess."

"You are to me."

"And you are my darling prince." Her eyes softened even further, the tension of the day drifting away even as the ground rumbled beneath you and a dust storm raged outside. Sylvie closed her eyes, too tired to keep them open for a moment longer. "If this fails..."

You shook your head, fingers trailing slowly through her blonde, wavy strands. It was a privilege to touch her that way, a show of trust few would dare to dream of receiving, as she settled against your body. "We won't fail. Have faith, my love. The Sacred Timeline will burn and we will all soon be free."

"Freedom isn't worth losing you."

"Rest now," you murmured into her hair, leaving behind a gentle kiss. "You need your strength for tomorrow. I'll keep watch while you rest."

Barely five minutes passed before she fell asleep. You watched the chronometer carefully, well aware of your limited time frame before this planet met with desolation, but allowed her to rest and recover for as long as you could. Things were in motion now that could not be undone and, after who knew how many years, the final stages of your revenge against the Time Keepers were beginning.

You didn't know how this would play out but one thing was for certain: As long as you had Sylvie by your side, you would make it through anything.