Never Forgotten

“Jo? Was Leanne your sister? What happened to her?”

Ellie’s at a friend’s for the night and Jo’s very much been looking forward to curling up on the couch with some cocoa and bad tv, so when she hears the knock at the door, she’s somewhat surprised. When she sees who’s there and the state she’s in though, Jo instantly opens the door and ushers Rebecca inside. “Hey, you don’t have to apologize, you never have to apologize. What happened?”

Debra rushes into the hospital room and makes a beeline for Becca’s side. Leaning down, she instantly presses kisses to the other woman’s face, being as gentle but as thorough as possible. “My god,” she breathed, “don’t you ever do that to me again, understand?”

Ellie’s at a friend’s for the night and Jo’s very much been looking forward to curling up on the couch with some cocoa and bad tv, so when she hears the knock at the door, she’s somewhat surprised. When she sees who’s there and the state she’s in though, Jo instantly opens the door and ushers Rebecca inside. “Hey, you don’t have to apologize, you never have to apologize. What happened?”

Jo was quiet as she listened to Rebecca speak. When she was finished, she reached over and took her sister’s hand. ❝ Can I just say… I think what you did was incredibly brave. God knows working for either of those agencies wouldn’t be easy. I spent enough time around CIA agents to know. But you did your job, Rebecca, you provided Arianna with an opportunity to reach an age where she could defend herself. I’m not saying just…let her do every stupid thing that crosses her path, but she’s an adult now, and she reached this age because her mother loved her and protected her. You should be proud of that. ❞

Becca was very surprised by Jo’s reaction but it only fuelled her decision to finish the summary of her past. “There’s more,” she murmured quietly without acknowledging Jo’s comment of her bravery or letting Arianna make her own mistakes. “They were mostly asking me to do small things. Observations. The occasional file. That I could do. But then they started stepping up their expectations. They wanted me to kill someone and I said no. That’s when they took Debra and Jason in Russia and tortured them for several months. Wanted to show me what they could do. They let them go and I still said no. This is where my pretend death comes in. They took me and made it look like they’d killed me. Everyone here grieved me and moved on while I was stuck where no one would ever find me. They tortured me and kept me prisoner for committing treason. I was there for thirty years. After the KGB dissolved I was freed and sent back here. I spent thirty years enduring levels of pain I never thought existed, spending most of my time in isolation and being told I got everyone I loved killed. I can’t let her do what she’s doing. I can’t.”

Debra rushes into the hospital room and makes a beeline for Becca’s side. Leaning down, she instantly presses kisses to the other woman’s face, being as gentle but as thorough as possible. “My god,” she breathed, “don’t you ever do that to me again, understand?”

Debra snapped back into reality when she heard the tears in Rebecca’s voice. “Oh Becs,” she breathed, pulling her into her arms and gently rubbing circles on her back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. I just…there are things I have to tell you…things that made…you just scared me is all. I thought…I thought I’d lost you again and that…I wouldn’t be able to live with myself, understand? I’m not mad at you. I was just…terrified.”

Leaning into Debra’s embrace, Becca tried desperately to slow her breathing and stop her sobbing so to keep the pressure off of her bruised ribs. She stayed clinging to the other until she’d calmed down a little. “I got scared too. I really tried to keep the car on the road. I don’t think I’m going to be driving again for a while.”

rebeccaxmerlyn:

If there is any tension or physical reaction from Debra, Becca doesn’t notice. Nodding shakily, she can barely make words out through her tears. “Y … Yes. I … I don’t … what do I do?”

Debra lets out a shaky breath and holds her best friend that much tighter. “Whatever you want, Becs. I’m here for you, no matter what. You’re not in this alone.”

Finding someone who isn’t about to judge or denigrate her for the position she is now in is a relief for Becca. Even though Debra had been her best bet for a friend for this situation, she still had niggling doubts about how Debra would take it. The relief caused her to go almost limp in her best friend’s arms as she cried some more.

“Jo? Was Leanne your sister? What happened to her?”

“I… there’s a reason your accident scared me so much, Rebecca. She…it was a drunk driver…I was in Virginia… she passed before I even left my driveway.”

She’s instantly moving over to hug her sister. “Oh, Jo. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry if it’s brought it all up again. I’m okay, I promise.” Gives her a squeeze as she thinks about Jo having a sister that wasn’t her. “What .. What was she like?”