#fhshipfest2020

Muted diamonds sparkled in the sky. Kendra had long forgotten how hard it had been to see the stars in Rochester—at least compared to the wilderness that was Fablehaven.

“So you grew up here?” Bracken’s feet puttered against the sidewalk.

“More in the suburbs, but yeah, this is Rochester.”

“It’s beautiful.”

Kendra glanced at the askew stop sign, a ditch filled with litter, and the cracked concrete and shrugged. “If we walk fast enough we can get to the beach before we get mugged—”

“Wait, I thought we were safe. This is where you grew up, right?”

“Yeah, and we are.”

“You just said we could get mugged.”

No way. This couldn’t be the Vanessa Kendra had been talking about. It couldn’t be. But it was.

Warren set his jaw. “We’ve got company.”

She looked the same. Long, dark hair and impeccable makeup. This time, however, blood specks decorated her foundation.

“What do we do?”

Warren barely registered Kendra’s question. Vanessa smirked slightly at his reaction. He tore his attention away long enough to remember why he was here and who he was protecting. “Give me the sword.”

“I propose a truce,” Vanessa said.

“A convenient idea, since we have the weapons,” Warren growled. His fingers hurt from clenching the grip of the sword. Seeing an old friend after years was jarring enough, but to hear how she harmed his family was enough to put him over the edge. Her nonchalant attitude as his brother sat in a cell was the last straw.

Unfortunately, his mind had a hard time focusing on that as three words echoed in his head.

“You owe me.”

Summary: AU. Warren and Vanessa discuss Bracken’s revelation about her affection.

Genre: Angst/General

Rating: PG

Pairing: Warrenessa

Spoilers: Keys to the Demon Prison

Note: Another late contribution to Warrenessa Day that was laying unfinished in my drafts so it doesn’t follow the given prompts...but I figure, why the heck not, I finished it so I’m still gonna post it, so....yeah. Enjoy!

Warning: language.

——

“So...”

“So what?”

Warren folded his arms and glared at her. “Don’t play dumb with me. Let’s just get the elephant in the room out of the way before we head to our untimely deaths.”

Vanessa pushed off from the rental car and started to head back to the beach. Part of her wished he’d follow, the other half hoped he stayed back at the parking lot.

As it turned out, she got her wish, and he caught up to her in seconds. She headed for the lighthouse, hoping Seth might need more help summoning the Lady Luck.

And even if he didn’t, she could find something else to do, maybe help Kendra with something...just something...anything to distract her from the current situation.

“Does Vanessa like Warren?”

Seth’s words echoed loudly in her mind like a badly tuned radio. And worse, she couldn’t get that image of Warren after he said it out of her head.

Not only had Bracken put her on the spot but also Warren, and that made her more upset...but he had to have known it would come up, right? After all, he had been the one to finally convince her to let Bracken in her head.

“Think of your past.” He’d said.

No, not her past, their shared past.

“You knew he’d bring it up, didn’t you?” She asked without turning around.

“What?” He asked.

“Warren.”

“Vanessa.”

“For once would you just be straight with me?” She turned around, visibly irritated. “‘Think of your past’?! Are you serious? You knew by asking me to do that what memories I might think of!”

Warren glared at her. “What’s the problem? Do you regret any of those memories? Because I don’t. Those were some of the best times of my life, Nessa. The good...the bad...all of it. And while we’re at it, I’m not going to be your rebound.”

“I never said I regretted them! I was upset because they were my private memories! For me to hold on to and look back on and smile when everything went to shit!” She snapped. “And who said you were my rebound?!”

“‘Her affection is now directed elsewhere’?! So what, the Sphinx rejected you and you just bounce back to me like everything’s fine?”

“Of course not!”

“Then why the hell would Bracken say that?!”

She didn’t answer.`

“Van?” When he spoke again his voice was softer, most of the anger gone. “Talk to me.”

“He found feelings that never died off, alright?” She said finally. “And he must have interpreted it as me redirecting whatever I used to feel for the Sphinx toward you. I didn’t intend for you to be a rebound. I’d never do that to you.”

Warren turned away from her, staring out at the ocean. He didn’t speak for a while.

“I missed you.” He said finally.

“I missed you too.” Vanessa replied.

“Do you…” he hesitated, hands balling into fists at his sides. “Do you think we could...start over? I’m not asking to go back to the way things were obviously...if we live through this battle...maybe we could...just see where things go. Rebuild what we broke.”

Ahh. What ‘we’ broke.

Warren didn’t blame her like she thought he would. He blamed himself too.

He shouldn’t, she was the one who had left…even if he was the one who’d broken things off in the first place.

But then again, she hadn’t fought to stay, hadn’t renounced the Evening Star, and had betrayed his family and nearly gotten them all — including him — killed.

Vanessa would never talk about it, but she still had nightmares of that night in the Inverted Tower.

“Ness?”

She thought about it. Sure she’d tried to find what she’d had with him again with the Sphinx, but there had never been any reciprocation, any indication that his feelings reached anywhere near romantic for her

And Warren was right...they couldn’t just go back to the way things were before. There was too much pain, too much betrayal clouding the happy times.

But she did still love him - enough to give a second chance to their relationship. But that would have to come later. Much later.