Against the Odds (A Crossmare Fanfiction)

Brother

❤️💜31k oof💜❤️

"Dream, you don't have to do this..."

"Don't have to do this? Are you mad?"

"Dream, you're clearly not feeling yourself right now... Just, calm down, and let Cross go." He swallowed harshly, his damaged crossbow pointing at his brother.

"Not feeling myself? Oh y-you don't say, whatever gave you that impression?" He spat, his golden eyes staring at him with a malice he'd never seen before. His whole body was trembling and twitching, his hands barely able to hold the sharp knife to Cross' neck.

"You're clearly unstable." He took a small step closer. "Let Cross go, and I won't shoot you."

"Bullshit!" He hissed, gritting his teeth together. "I'm the last opponent I need to kill to get your happy ending, brother. You'll shoot me at the first damn chance you get, don't bother lying to me."

"But, if you do try to shoot me right now, I'll drag down your pathetic little partner with me and we'll both be ripped to shreds by whatever those demons are. And I know you don't want that."

"And besides," His eyes narrowed, posture straightening slightly. "You didn't spare Killer, why should I spare Cross?"

Nightmare winced, glancing from his brother to Cross as inside his skull, he was having a mental breakdown. God, what was he supposed to do? "Dream, Cross and I are close, you and Killer were jus--"

"Just what? You don't know what we were!" He yelled, shaking even more and gulping. "Y-You have no idea! Don't, for a second think you know how I'm feeling brother. Not for a second."

Cross struggled in Dream's grip, his one free hand gripping onto the wrist that held the sharp knife to his neck. He locked eyes with Nightmare and shuddered, trying to push the knife away to no avail.

"Brother, shoot me." Dream growled, staring at him. "Get it over with, kill me and I'll take him down with me. You'll win, brother. Make District One win, instead of those filthy scum down in Twelve."

"This isn't about Districts, Dream." He said. "It's so much more than that and you know it."

"I-I don't care anymore, Brother. You've ripped everything from me, my pride, my chances, Killer, and now my win. We both know that I'd have easily won if you didn't come here and ruin everything!"

"I--"

"I didn't want it to come down to this, Nightmare. The two of us at each o-other's throats. This whole time I'd been desperately hoping we wouldn't have to collide. I-I'd prayed that you'd be killed off by someone else, dead before I'd have to face you. But every night, wh-when your face never came up in the sky for the fallen Tributes, I came to realise. But you were probably thinking the same thing too, weren't you? Hoping I'd died a long time ago."

"In fact, those gamekeepers probably planned this. DIDN'T YOU?!" He stared up at the sky accusingly, panting and twitching.

Nightmare and Cross locked eyes, the taller of the two staring as his partner lightly tapped his finger down onto Dream's hand. He mouthed something silently, looking like the word "shoot".

The teen nodded slowly, a pit forming in his non-existent stomach as he aimed the crossbow at his own brother. For a moment, he hesitated, all the memories of what him and Dream had done over the years flooding into his mind. When they'd been kids, and fought over the same toys or stupid things like who got stuck sitting in the uncomfortable middle seat in the car when Dream's friends came round. Or when they were both twelve and got in that big fight over something he couldn't even remember and ended up with similar deep scars on their arms from when they threw each other off their bedroom balcony and into their mothers blackberry bush below. God she'd been so mad.