#tear-jerker

an | okay!! this fic was really a doozy for me and i'm not sure how well i actually executed it but it was one of the first fics i knew i wanted to write for this writing challenge so here we are lol :'-) if you know me you KNOW i cannot handle gifted it hits me everywhere that hurts and so i have always found the idea of writing a fic like this interesting. while reader here is obviously very impacted by the movie, some might not be and that's okay!! i really wrote this one for myself lol <33 for reference, here are the four scenes mentioned in the fic. beware, if you decide to watch, you WILL cry.

the hospital scene | frank leaves mary at the foster home | frank comes to bring mary home | deleted scenes: mary and the psychologist and frank and mary in the car

Watching as the happy family rose to their feet and cheered on the screen before you, you could already feel your chest tightening as your eyes began to water. With the addition of occasional pans to the little blonde girl's face as she watched the scene play out before her, a precious smile forming between her rosy cheeks as a joyous string chorus sang through the speakers, you knew you were in trouble.

"That's exactly how it was when you were born," Frank told the child, and you had to use every ounce of strength within you to keep it together at the line. With his arm wrapped around you, Chris could sense your rising emotions, bringing his hand down to rub over your back gently.

"This happy?" Mary asked as you held your breath.

"This happy." Frank's confirmation nearly did you in, but as sweet Roberta gazed lovingly down at the niece and her uncle, the next line that came only managed to be worse.

"Who came out and told everybody?"

As Frank reached to brush a stray strand of the child's hair out of the child's face, the first few tears managed to escape the corners of your eyes as you were already sure of the answer to come. "I did."

"Jesus," you breathed, grabbing for the remote on the coffee table in front of you and hitting pause in a matter of seconds. Wiping both of your eyes, you huffed out a hot load of air, rolling your eyes playfully as Chris chuckled from beside you.

"Baby," he hummed, "what's the matter?"

"You didn't tell me it was this sad, Chris!" you nearly whined, curling into the large man's embrace as he held you close to him, shaking his head.

"This isn't nearly the worst of it," he told you. "This is a happy scene, y/n. Look, they're all smiling," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but like..." voice trailing off, it was now your turn to shake your own head. "You know what I meant. Meanie," you huffed, crossing your arms.

"Oh bubba," Chris sighed through a smile, rubbing your cheek with his hand gently. "You're in for a rough night."

"No." As the little girl broke down in tears, reaching out to hit lightly at Frank who stood kneeled down before her, once again you found yourself battling tears of your own as the tragic lone violin played its bitter tune.

"See what I meant?" Chris hummed softly into your hair, now holding you gently on his lap as the poor girl on the screen kept pleading with the actor.

"No, no, no," she kept repeating, "you promised me." Gulping, your bottom lip trembled as you bit it, the little actress's performance pulling you under with impressive ease.

"You better not..." you mumbled, "he better not-"

"Frank! Frank- don't leave me! Please!" Letting out an embarrassingly loud sob, you squeezed your eyes shut as the music grew louder, the screaming child's poor voice getting swallowed up by the sound. This time, it was Chris who reached for the remote, once again hitting pause as he brushed back your hair from your warm face.

"Oh sweetheart," he laughed a bit again, this time with a few tears of his own shining in his eyes. "C'mere baby, it's okay."

"Why would you leave her there," you cried as you turned to hide in the safety of his sweatshirt, his large arms tightening around you to hold you close.

"Honey," he chuckled, "it was part of the script. Frank's a bit of an asshole here, I'm sorry."

"Meanie," you said again, more than anything directing your words at the grumpy character on the screen who you were at this point convinced could never redeem himself.

"You said you wouldn't leave me," Mary sobbed as Frank held her up in the air, close to his chest. You had started crying as soon as he had shown up at the house, a mess of tissues now collecting on the coffee table in front of you.

"I made a mistake," Frank admitted through heavy breaths, the character's guilt radiating through his expression as the heaviness of the moment, even with the separation of the screen, was palpable in the room. "I'm sorry." Hearing a sniffle come from beside you, you turned to see that Chris's eyes had reddened; in his hand, he held a crumpled-up tissue of his own.

"This part always gets me," he told you, his hand rubbing soothingly over your back as he tried to pull himself together.

Wrapping her arms around Frank's neck, Mary whimpered, "I was so sad." Cursing under your breath, you couldn't believe how powerful and tragic this film truly was. You had seen most of Chris's work, but this now took the cake over anything and everything else. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." Leaning the side of your head against the man beneath you's chest, you sniffled weakly as the two continued on speaking softly about the little girl's cat.

"It's okay, bubba. I'm sorry. I probably should've given you a bigger warning; I never remember how sad this shit is until I watch it again," Chris told you as he pat your cheeks gently with a clean tissue.

"S'okay," you told him. "It's a good story, really beautiful. Just hard to watch."

"I know, honey. We can rewatch The Losers next, how about that?" Bringing your head up a little at the suggestion, you nodded, causing Chris to smile as he leaned down to kiss the bridge of your nose. "Know that's your favorite, and I think we both need a good laugh. You wanna make another bag of popcorn?"

[Bonus]

"Am I gonna cry again?" you asked hesitantly as Chris pulled you onto his lap, scanning his thumb on his phone to open up to YouTube. It had been a few weeks since you watched Gifted, and the impact the film left on you had lingered for days. Now, as Chris held one arm around your waist as the video loaded of a "deleted scene" he thought you should see, you weren't entirely sure if you were ready for more heartache.

"I don't know, probably not. It's not really a sad scene, just an important one. Or at least I think it's important," he explained as the clip began to play. "This was Mary's visit to a psychologist," Chris explained over the unfamiliar lady and the child's first few exchanged lines.

"Are you mad at your mother? For going away?" the woman asked. Intrigued, you decided to give in and listen.

"She didn't go away. She killed herself," Mary corrected.

"Okay. Um... and does that make you angry sometimes?"

"No," the little girl answered, seeming confused as to why she was being questioned like this to begin with.

Leaning in a little closer, the psychologist softened her voice. "Mary..." Tapping the child on the hand, she asked, "do you blame yourself... for what happened to your mother?"

"Oh my god," you exclaimed quietly in horror. Chris only nodded against you as you stared in shock at the screen. "What the hell? That's-"

"Hold on," he shushed you, quickly clicking to another link that began to play instantly. Mary and Frank sat in the truck, and the first words that left the girl's mouth had you nearly shaking.

"Did my mom kill herself because of me?"

"What?" Frank blurted, his reaction similar in nature to yours.

As the two continued on talking, you shook your head again, mumbling something under your breath that made Chris chuckle. "I hope he goes and kills that lady. What a sick thing to say to a child. I hate her."

This one was going to haunt him.

The first time Levi saw her she was chasing a butterfly across the compound, laughing like a child, and determined to catch it. And she did. She held it for only a few moments, speaking softly to it, then held her hand up for it to catch the breeze. He’d walked over and asked her what she’s said. She had smiled softly, “I told it a wish.” Later, after their first night together, she confessed that she’d wished for him. 

Damn it all, this can’t be happening. 

Levi held her close, blocking her from seeing that both her legs were completely gone and she was moments away from bleeding out. Tears were streaking the grime on his cheeks, he could barely choke out words, “Hey! Remember our promise?!” You promised not to leave me, he couldn’t say it, but that didn’t stop him from thinking it or stop his heart from feeling like someone was ripping it out of his chest in slow motion.

She gave him a weak smile, reached for the charm snug under her shirt. Fingers slick and sticky with blood pulled free the golden butterfly he’d given her on their first anniversary. She had just enough strength to snap the chain, pressing the charm into his hand, “It’s all right because I got to have you.” A wave of pain made her hiss, but she took a deep breath, focused her eyes on his, “A love like ours will never die.”

Levi was angry, crying, trying so hard to will her to live. “Humanity’s strongest fucking soldier. Tch! I couldn’t even save you!”

She gripped his hand over the charm, “You saved me the day you made my wish come true.” She smiled, and for a moment all the chaos melted away and she was perfect again, “Levi, I love you so much. D – Don’t…ever…forget…”

He kissed her lips, blood and tears mixing. “I will always love you, _____.”

A hard sigh fanned his face as her last breath escaped. Levi pressed his forehead to hers, crying hard. He threw his head back, screaming his anguish to the sky until his throat was raw and no more sound could push past his lips. 

Sometime later, her body was wrapped in her cloak and placed on a funeral pyre along with the others that had fallen that day. Seventeen lives gone in the span of an hour. 

Such a waste. Such a horror. This needs to end. Levi lit the kindling under her body as other remaining members of the squad stepped forward to touch torches along the pile. He stepped back to watch the flames consume them all.

A flutter of motion from the corner of his eye drew his gaze. He turned to see a kaleidoscope of butterflies hovering lazily at the edge of the camp. The ghost of a smile touched his lips as he counted….seventeen…seventeen butterflies floated away on the twilight carrying the wishes and souls of seventeen beloved squad members – and one carried Levi’s heart.