"Hey (Y/N)!"
Turning towards the voice that called him, he was approached by Jesse.
"Fucking dick..." He muttered to himself.
"Enjoying the place so far?" Jesse asks him.
"I was enjoying some me time until someone called out my name."
Jesse raised his eyebrows, looking at him, confused. Maria warned him about being reasonable.
"So what? I'm supposed to just tackle you and say 'what's up shithead'?"
"One warning. Call my name again and this town will go down by one civilian."
"Okay. Batman." Jesse raised his hands upwards, giving up the verbal contest.
"What should I call you then?"
(Y/N) thought for a moment, he didn't trust the guy in front. Hell, he didn't trust anybody. So he always tell Ana and Jason, and whoever he crossed path with, to call him Ace.
"Call me Ace."
And he walked away after that.
"Enjoy your tour!"
Ellie was spending some time at a friend's house.
Apparently, she's getting more colors on her arm to cover up the bite mark.
"Done for now. Take it easy with the shower."
"Thanks Cat." Both Ellie and Cat shared several interests such as music and arts. Ellie didn't even realize that she's been visiting her more and more ever since she found out about what Joel did.
With him gone, she's more freer and loosened. Finding comfort with Cat is definitely a bonus.
"So, I have patrol tomorrow, and...I was wondering whether you wanna hang out tonight?" She asks the Asian chick Cat.
"Sure. I'll meet you at your place at 7 then."
"Perfect." Ellie was glad that the girl agreed to her invitation. She exits the house, thinking of what to do and not do that night, until her eyes come across the familiar face walking across the streets.
She has so many things to ask him after not seeing him for so long. Rushing to his front, stopping him at his track.
(Y/N) sighed.
"What now Ellie?"
"Um...hi. I uh..."
"You don't even think about what to say did you? Just rushing up, blocking my path, wasting my time."
"Yeah well, you know me the most here. Maybe there's still some old you left in you." (Y/N) walked past her, but Ellie follows him.
"Old, new. Doesn't matter. The scars still remained. Emotionally and physically." That somewhat angered Ellie. Just a little bit.
"Are you still mad because I rejected your confession? Grow up."
"Look at what happened after that. Growing up means growing apart right? I should've kill myself back then."
"That was four fucking years ago (Y/N)!"
"Don't call my name here Williams. If you so much as care about this place, then you start calling me Ace, just like everybody else."
Now Ellie's confused.
"What? Calling your name can turn the world upside down now?"
"That's the thing. I crashed a lot of camps outside for years. Killed even more than I can remember. I gave them my names, and whoever survived, could possibly be on my ass."
"Oh..."
She followed him in awkward silence after that.
"I really like you Ellie. I want us to stay like this."
What (Y/N) told her years ago is ringing inside her head. Two best childhood friends ended up being separated from one another after the girl felt disgusted by her best friend's approach.
"Where are you going anyway?" Picking up the courage, she asks him.
"Scouting."
"Scouting? For what?"
"Finding any possible loopholes in the place. I need to make sure it's safe for Ana and Jason to stay here. The walls aren't rusty, but it's not impenetrable either."
(Y/N) went closer to the walls, examines the sturdiness of them.
"Since when did you became an expert in this?"
"Since I left Boston. You can't trust anybody."
"What happened there? You said Boston's no more. Did the infected got in? Or was it Fedra ran out of supplies and the residents begin to riot?"
(Y/N) stopped for a moment. He don't want to lie to her. But after what Joel told him, he thinks Ellie would actually be fine with it.
"It was the Fireflies."
Just the name alone, was more than enough to push Ellie over the edge. She's been trying to forget about them, about Riley and Marlene after Joel confessed about his actions back then.
"Oh..." Was all she can say. (Y/N) understand what's going on her mind at the moment.
"What happened to Riley anyway?" (Y/N) purposely asks her.
"She died... Got bit by an infected." (Y/N) could hear sadness in her tone.
"Yet here you are, like you and her weren't a thing."
"Shut up." Ellie told him.
"I thought you would at least shoot yourself and died beside her." He's pushing it deeper.
"Shut up!" She shouts, prompting (Y/N) to turn at her.
"She's nothing but the younger version of Marlene. A fucking liar and a Fireflies."
"What does Marlene have to do with any of that!? She saved our lives and you think of her that way!?" Ellie always thought Marlene is someone who both she and (Y/N) respected.
"She's the reason I ended up in that orphanage. She killed my mother who I don't even know what her name was. And yours too."
Ellie was stunned hearing that. Marlene. That Marlene, killed their mothers? What the actual fuck!?
"How do you know that?"
"Jerry Anderson."
"Who?" Ellie's confused.
"Doesn't matter. I killed him. Both Riley and Marlene, and the whole fucking Fireflies got what they deserved. End of discussion."
"What do mean they deserv-"
"Fireflies gone. I assumed you know that because of what happened at the hospital."
Ellie never told anyone about that particular matter. And Joel isn't the kind of person to go and brag about it to some kid, who she actually knew and familiar with.
"What hospital?" She's playing dumb.
"Salt Lake City. Duh. Where else did the Fireflies used as base?"
"You knew? You knew I was going to be there!?"
"Why of course. The immune kid that's gonna change the future. But in the end, I killed him, him, her, and them. Eventually put the bullet through Marlene's head. No news about them since."
"You were there!?" She's shocked by his revelations.
"Yes. I was going to kill them, but ended up working with Joel for a brief moment. Weird how things turned out now."
"But Joel said... He..." She's speechless.
"Yeah. He's like a man possessed that time. Clearing the whole floor before reaching the operation room. Almost killed me too. But I'm the one that killed those that were gonna change the world. Marlene and Jerry. They're trying to develop this stupid cure or vaccines."
The word vaccines. It's another taboo in Ellie's mind.
"I found Jerry's journal a few days before you arrived. After I found out what happened, I changed my views on them. They would use any means necessary to achieve their goal."
Ellie stood there, not knowing what to say anymore. Sure she wanted to make her life meaningful by doing something. But with her death, she won't know what the future is going to be. Did Joel did the right thing of saving her? Or was it him being selfish?
"I lost my mother and the girl I love to the Fireflies. So be it. They took something from me, so I paid them back."
She didn't thought about this. All Ellie wanted to do is to catch up with her childhood friend who she ghosted after the confession. Now he revealed a whole lot of crazy details to her.
"Ace!!"
A voice called (Y/N) out from the middle of the street catching both their attention. It was Ana. Alongside her is Joel holding the little Jason within him.
Joel and Ellie looked at each other for a moment before the girl quickly turned away from his gaze and walked off.
(Y/N) walked towards them.
"Hey Ana. Enjoying Jackson so far?" He patted her on the head.
"Yeah. It's better than I expected." She proudly said to him, with a wide smile appeared on her face.
"Good to know."
He took Ana's hand with his, and they walked back to their house together.
After dinner and everything, Joel helped put Jason to bed. It's something he enjoys doing.
Then curiosity hit him. He approaches (Y/N) who's reading a book in the living room.
"What did you and Ellie talk about this afternoon?"
"Nothing really. We're just catching up." He gave Joel a side glance, noticing confusion in his eyes.
"I have known her since we were six."
"The hell?"
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Hey guys. So first of all, I apologize for not updating anything. I usually post one chapter per day or two. But my recent new job got my focus cause it's hard making new adjustments. Forgive me. 😅 Now here. Ellie and Ace(Y/N).
Also, for the next chapter, do you guys want me to write full flashbacks or just (Y/N) reminiscing about the past to Joel? Let me know.