Resurrect The Sun (A BVB Wretched and Divine fanfiction)

Chapter 9

There was a horrible silence in which all eleven of us turned to stare at Jake, who had gone ghostly pale, seemingly unable to tear his eyes away from Ella being dragged up steps to the gallows. He appeared to be having difficulty breathing.

Several things happen at once.

She looked up. I wasn't sure, but it looked like she saw us. Her eyes seemed to lock with Jake's.

He took a deep breath, as if to yell.

Andy tackled him to the ground, covering Jake's mouth, muffling the shout of, 'Ella!

Everyone jumped back, making room as they wrestled on the ground for a few moments.

Andy hissed at him lividly, "Are you crazy?!"

Jake jerked his head away from Andy's hand and glared murderously while struggling furiously in his grip, "Let me go!"

"Jake, listen to m—” Jake abruptly cut off Andy's sentence by kicking him in the stomach and jumping up while Andy keeled over, but Andy quickly scrambled back to his feet and grabbed Jake again, this time with the aid of Ashley.

"They've got her! They've got Ella!" He protested frantically, the exertion showing on his face as he tried to free himself from their grasp. He was livid and desperate, eyes glowing fiercely.

"I know, Jake, and I understand, but you need to try and focus so we can figure out what to do." Andy's deep voice was fairly calm, but his face too showed the effort of containing Jake.

"No!" Jake shoved the arm Andy had across his torso away, and stabbed an accusing finger in his direction. Even though their voices were hushed, his hiss still managed to stab like a yell, "You don't understand a fucking thing, Andy; you don't have anyone you need or love or care about! You don't know what it's like, you’ve never had anything as real in your life!”

I watched Andy. Something flickered in his eyes for the briefest second, something like hurt and shock, but he quickly recovered and his expression became one of anger, eyes turning icy as he narrowed them. He stepped forwards into Jake's personal space and squared his shoulders.

"Listen, Jake,” his voice had turned deadly soft, “I know who I am, and what I 'understand'. I also know that I'm the leader. It's alright for you," He practically spat the last word, jabbing Jake in the chest with his index finger, "You just want to protect the girl you love. But me? I gotta protect every single person in the fucking Legion. Everyone back in that camp, and here in this room, they all depend on me," His voice held a ferocity to match Jake's own anger.

Everyone remained silent, watching the two men with wide eyes.

His expression softened a little, but his look was still steely, "I know how much you love Ella, and I respect that. I really do. But you're putting your personal life first, and you can't do that: we really can't afford that. And believe it or not, as harsh as this sounds, she is not my priority at this moment in time. My fucking priority is getting everyone out of here alive. And that isn't gonna happen if you go yelling so the minions can come and capture us, too!"

The fury on Jake's face had faded a little, leaving guilt and despair in its place. It was clear he knew himself that everything Andy had just said was true. His gaze dropped to the floor, and he remained silent.

Andy sighed heavily, and placed a hand on Jake's shoulder, "I'm not heartless, Jake. I'm just doing what I have to. There's absolutely nothing that can be done about this. It's too late for her. I'm so sorry, brother."

Jake swallowed thickly, and looked back up at him, "It's fine," His voice wavered, "I mean, she was always dead, right? Should never have gotten my hopes up. Sorry."