Nothing But Thieves {Fransykes}

28: Elissa

Elissa quietly opens the door to the broom closet on the first floor that she has been hiding in since Oliver's apartment became something of a warzone. She has heard multiple explosions and several cries and screams of pain and surprise, hopefully all from the people sent to kill their ragtag group and not from Josh and Oliver.

She looks up, dodging a bit of falling cieling plaster just in time to avoid a moderate to severe head injury. Now would be a very inconvenient time to end up with a concussion. Muttering under her breath about stupidly constructed buildings that can't withstand a few itty bitty explosions, Elissa begins climbing up the staircase, avoiding bits of debris as she walks.

She hasn't lost the slightest bit of her composure. Any onlooker would see a woman acting strangely casual in the wake of a series of explosions. No one would ever notice, but Elissa is rattled. After all, she has no idea whether or not Josh and Oliver are even still alive. Elissa isn't one to experience a lot of self-doubt, but this was her plan, and if it has gotten her brother killed then she might just never forgive herself. Strong as she is, she is a human being who has people that she cares about, and she can't stand the thought of losing them. Caring for others is a strength in and of itself, she knows, but it carries a certain vulnerability with it.

Elissa makes it up to the landing outside of the apartment, grimacing at the sight that meets her. The door is simply a couple of wooden splinters attached to loosely hanging hinges, the rest of it scattered in chunks as far as the eye can see. That isn't what makes her grimace, though she despises the waste of a perfectly good door as much as the next person. No, what is truly unsettling to Elissa is the blood blanketing the walls and floor, the chunks of human remains that seem to be everywhere. A more squeamish person would have thrown up, but Elissa is far from your average human being.

The inside of the apartment is an equal if not worse state of disarray than the outside. Elissa picks her way across the floorboards, stepping around dead bodies and her own homemade spike traps. Eventually she makes it to the bathroom, bursting through the doorway and peering into the tub with her heart pounding in her chest.

Curled up together in a tangle of limbs, clothing, and scratched skin from the heavy layer of desbris on them, are Josh and Oliver.

"Joshua you better be alive or I'm going to kick your ass." She blurts out, mostly because she doesn't see any injuries beyond scrapes and bruises, nothing deadly. No reason to panic, she can see their chests rising and falling as they breathe.

Josh sits up quickly, his unruly hair flopping comically to the side as he stares at Elissa with wild eyes. "We survived?" He asks, as though to make sure that he isn't somehow in the afterlife right now.

Before Elissa can answer, Oliver sits up and swats at Josh's arm. "You're sitting on my leg, arsehole." His speech is slurred slightly, which gives Elissa pause. She is trying to figure out what could be causing it when Oli abruptly hands her the forgotten Adderal bottle and it dawns on her what is happening. "Thanks for that, worked a treat." Oliver grins lopsidedly.

Elissa forces herself to smile back as she takes the bottle, her guilt pulling at the depths of her stomach. It is as though a tragedy is unfolding before her, between Oliver's blatant intoxication, Josh's pained and concerned expression, and the fact that it is all Elissa's fault.

She feels like an idiot. She packed the Adderal for herself, just in case, and then she practically gifted it to a man who was trying not to take any drugs. Elissa knows that she is at least partially responsible for Oli's relapse. Regardless, it is time to stop feeling sorry for herself and start figuring out how she can help.

Elissa extends a hand to Oliver, helping him to get to his feet and step out of the tub. "How you feelin', champ?" She asks, jestingly taking on the tone of a suburban dad checking in with his kid after soccer practice.

"Good. Good for the first time in ages."

Elissa sees Josh wince at those words, and she wonders how long Oliver has been pretending to be fine. Did Josh enough know what was going on with Oli? Based on the pain in his expression, Elissa would guess that he didn't.

"Thank you." Oliver says to Elissa, and Elissa could swear that she is feeling her heart break when she realizes that he is thanking her for the drugs.

Elissa looks at Josh, mostly to avoid Oli's gaze, but what she sees on her brother's face isn't any better. Josh is biting his lower lip to keep it from trembling with the tears that he is hiding, but he is failing.

Oliver might be high, but he is no idiot. He looks at Josh, then Elissa, then back at Josh, clearly seeing how they feel. "I'm sorry." He whispers, turning his gaze to the floor. And God, Elissa has no idea how Josh is holding it together with Oli's beautiful brown eyes spilling over with tears and his tattooed hands clasped tightly before him but trembling nonetheless.

Josh seems frozen in place, right up until Elissa strides over and smacks him on the arm. Josh unfreezes, taking slow steps towards his boyfriend while Elissa looks on.

Elissa feels as though she is watcing something private, intruding somehow, but she doesn't know what else to do.

"Oli?" Josh's voice is gentle, careful, like he is trying not to scare Oliver away. "Can you look at me, love? It's okay if not."

"Not right now." Oliver mumbles.

"Okay, that's okay. I need you to listen to me, though. Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah."

"You haven't done anything wrong. You haven't hurt anyone. Relapsing doesn't make you weak, it doesn't make you a bad person, and it sure as shit doesn't mean that you owe anyone an apology. You're so strong, Oliver, so much stronger than you know, and this doesn't change that. You'll get through this just like everything else because you're strong, and because you have people in your life who love you, care about you, and want to support you."

Elissa is fascinated. She has never heard Josh speak like this, so calm and reassuring, full of love. She has a new found respect for her brother, and a certain amount of pride in him for being such a good partner to Oliver.

"You mean it?" Oliver's voice sounds so...small. Terrified. It's an agonizing moment of vulnerability, and a reminder to Elissa that sometimes strength takes the form of allowing oneself to be vulnerable.

"I mean every word of it. You mean everything to me."

Oliver is still looking down at the messy floor, but his tears are slowing down from a flow to a drip. "Can I have a hug?"

"Anytime you want."

Josh and Oliver are embracing, the kind of hug that looks like it must feel like curling up by a warm fire on a cold day. Again, Elissa feels like an intruder in their relationship, but she is also admiring the love and the bond that they so clearly share. She can only hope to find someone that loves her a fraction of as much as they love each other.

Elissa smiles to herself, standing in the wreckage of the bathroom and watching her brother gently stroke Oliver's hair.

It is strange how such a beautiful moment is occuring in the middle of such a mess, but it's really rather sweet. At least, it's sweet to Elissa, which she considers might mean that something is wrong with her.

Lovely as the moment is, the day and Elissa's plan are both far from over. She clears her throat, making the two men break apart. Oliver seems to be trying to conceal an expression of mild annoyance, while Josh is outright glaring at her.

"What the hell is so important?" Josh demands, "I was busy being gay."

"Well, we have places to go and people to kill." Elissa explains in as kind a voice as she can muster.

"Fine, whatever. We can go places and kill people."

~

hello i am back

sorry for the slow updates i been busy with work and school and hobbies and ending a relationship and falling in love with my closest friend

me? overwhelmed? haha...yea...

goodbye and remember to create and destroy as you see fit

-Samira