#;finnoconnor

Nessa did not often actively watch the news. She often had it on in the background purely for the noise. The voices were better than a white noise machine. And it cycled around so much that by the end of the day, she had a pretty good idea of the main news stories without actually watching a news program in any consecutive order. 

As she typed away today, though, Nessa’s attention was caught by her own name. Or at least part of it. Footage flashed across the screen of the building Nessa now knew as The Dive. 

Finn works there. And she had heard O’Connor.

With suddenly unsteady fingers, Nessa grabbed for the remote. She nearly dropped it as she fumbled for the volume button. 

Shooting. 

Hospital.

Critical condition.

Nessa felt the blood rushing through her ears. She sat back down, not even realizing she had stood up. Her knees felt weak, her chest tight. As her breathing came in shallow pants, Nessa put her head down between her legs so she wouldn’t pass out.

Once she was sure she was not about to faint away, she sat up again, curls flying. She reached for her phone, already knowing that it hadn’t rung or dinged with new texts. 

The news said this happened yesterday. YESTERDAY. And she was only hearing about this now?!

Grabbing her leather jacket, Nessa didn’t even bother changing. She knew she looked like a disaster, but all she could think about was getting to the hospital. Her sweats would have to do. She wondered if she would even be allowed in. She wasn’t his emergency contact or anything--clearly--and no one had called to tell her. 

Her anger bubbled, though logically she knew if Finn had been shot he probably couldn’t call her. But the fact that no one had meant that he hadn’t accounted for this. For her to be alerted if something went wrong. 

They were doing so well and then shit like this happened. Things that made her question where they were going and whether he wanted her here at all. Logically, logically, Nessa knew that he was the victim here, he had been shot. It had nothing to do with her. But fear was not logical, and that’s all Nessa was feeling.

She barely remembered the drive to the hospital, only that she was suddenly there. Probably not good, but she had made it in one piece. 

She swallowed as she made her way down the halls, fighting the urge to run again. Away. But Finn was in here and she needed to make sure he was all right. She knew she couldn’t actually do anything for him, but she also couldn’t just sit around and wait to hear from him. And god help anyone who tried to stop her.

..........

“I don’t care if he’s sleeping! He’s my brother and I’m going to see him. I don’t care if I’m not on a list! Finn!!!”

There were sounds of a scuffle outside the hospital room. The door slammed open and Nessa ran inside, halting as she saw him lying on the bed. “You fucking moron!”

@finnoconnor​

Nessa knew that one of her first stops in Olympus would have to be at Finn’s. His address was already memorized, the path from her apartment to his place clear in her head. She had dumped off her belongings and her car, got on her bike, and went to find supplies. She had a funny feeling that Finn might not be totally happy to see her. But he’d get over it. 

Her stomach rumbled as she pedalled. The smell of the pizza she had put into her basket like a savage was almost too much. She hadn’t eaten all day. She wasn’t eating much these days anyway, so it was a relief to feel hungry now. Seeing her brother again and all the exertion of the move had clearly brought her appetite back. 

The case of beer also in her basket rattled, the bottles bouncing against each other as Nessa went over a dip in the road. She was glad it didn’t take long to get to Finn’s; the beer didn’t have time to warm. 

Unloading her bounty, Nessa hurried to Finn’s door, just managing to balance it all. With her fist, she sounded the special knock they had come up with years ago. 

Nessa knew the exact moment her brother found out her ‘contribution’ to the Valentine’s Day Auction. Her phone blew up with texts and emails which, after the first few she tried to reply to, she ignored. She also managed to avoid Finn until she actually got to the event. 

If he wasn’t regretting her being in town before, he definitely was now. 

Nessa enjoyed his annoyance in a perverse little sister sort of way. Wasn’t it her job to make things difficult for her big brothers? And Finn had missed out on years of it. 

She smiled upon seeing him, playing the innocent as she walked up the stairs. The heels of her thigh high black boots clicked on the concrete, almost long enough to meet the hem of her skirt.  He, of course, was looming, seemingly waiting to pounce on her somewhere he knew she’d be. “Hey bro! Don’t you clean up nice?”