OKAY I FINALLY DID IT

prompt #8: “don’t lie”

god the ending is so bad but i’m 100% going to expand upon this in the future, i just rly want to be done with it i’msorry ;dskjfajfs DX

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Their cabin isn’t far from the county jail: just across the river, nestled in the woods on the way to Prosperity. Close enough for Alice to get there within minutes if she was ever needed, yet far enough, and hidden enough, that nobody knew where she went. Well, Tweak knew – not that he would tell anyone, he was usually too high to realize who she was, and if he somehow came by when sober? Well, it’s not like anyone would listen to him.

She liked the cabin. It was her and Faith’s oasis, a place where they could both forget about the world outside, forget that they were supposed to be enemies, forget that both of their allies wanted the other dead.

It was cozy, too: a fire was roaring away in the hearth, thick curtains blocked any drafts from the windows, and Faith was sound asleep in her arms.

Alice knew that she would have to go back soon – she had said she was going hunting, that she would sleep in one of the many abandoned cabins around the Henbane. But for now?

It was nice being with Faith.

–

‘Riley. You there? Over.’

Fuuuck.

Carefully, ever so carefully, she detangled herself from Faith’s arms and reached over to grab her radio. “Hey, Sheriff. What’s up?”

‘Need you back here soon. Got a situation that we could use your help with.’

She felt Faith’s hand brush across her back and she sighed. “How soon you need me?”

‘How far out are ya?’

Faith was awake now. She could feel the bed moving, feel Faith moving closer to her. “Maybe an hour? Dunno how the roads are.”

“Do you have to leave?” Faith whispered, wrapping her arms around Alice’s waist.

‘That works. Erin will fill you in when you get back. Keep me posted.’

“Will do.” Alice set down the radio with a sigh. “Faith.”

The other woman’s grip tightened. “I don’t want this to end.”

“Do you think I do?” She leaned back, relaxing into Faith’s arms. “It’s gonna be cold out. I don’t wanna.”

Faith smiled into Alice’s hair. “You could stay –”

“I can’t. You know that.”

“I was going to say, you could stay for just a while longer…”

Alice looked up at Faith, sighing, a protest on the tip of her tongue, before noticing the twinkle in her eye. “Oh.”

–

Faith had fallen back asleep, not even stirring when she got out of bed, or when she got dressed, or when she dropped her radio while packing her backpack, or when she added another log to the fire while on her way out the door.

She couldn’t look back when she finally left the cabin. She never could.

The trek back down to the road was long, and the drive back to the county jail slow. Halfway there, she heard her radio crackle, and she slowly brought her little car to a stop.

‘Hey Dep, just wanted to let you know that the situation was a false alarm. Over.’ It was Erin. She sounded relieved – the lieutenant must have had plans to go into Fall’s End to see her twins, plans she was probably in the middle of cancelling when word came in that she wouldn’t have to go.

Alice swore.

Part of her wanted to go back, crawl back into bed with Faith – but… She knew she shouldn’t. She was so close to the jail, and they knew she was on her way back…

“I’m almost back, Er.” She fumbled with the radio, her mittens making it difficult to keep hold of the talk button. “Can just about see the walls.”

‘Thank fuck.’

Alice gave her radio a startled look as she shifted the car back into drive.

‘Fuck – no, you don’t need to be worried, it’s just morale… I’ll just talk to you when you get here. Over.’

Great.

This was part of why she loved her time in that cabin so much – with Faith? She was Just Alice.

Just like they had talked about before, when she had almost succumbed, back when Faith was just a Herald, and Alice just the famed Deputy that she was supposed to convert.

She knew what she was doing was important. She knew that people looked up to her, used her as motivation, sometimes used her as a threat.

But.

She like just being Alice.

The parking lot at the jail was full of cars – mostly those of residents of Faith’s area of the county that had lost their homes, or didn’t feel safe staying in them, with modified Jeeps and trucks scattered about, ready to drive off to wherever help was needed.

Inside, the jail was bustling with activity. The yard had children playing, building snow forts and one snowball fight (that she narrowly missed being involved in), and the main cellblock was full of people repairing weapons and trading stories.

Erin spotted her as soon as she entered the room. “Alice!”

“Hey, Er.” The cell block was almost too warm, with all the people jammed in here. “What happened?”

“Christ, it’s a long story. Come on.” She lead Alice through the room, and to a quiet stairwell. Running her hands through her hair, she turned to Alice, leaning against the wall. “We got word that there were a bunch of Angels gathering near the plant. Ended up that the shrine nearby was just a rallying point, they were shipping them out to the convent.”

“Oh.” She looked back in the direction of the cells, then back at Erin. “Uh, no offence, but…”

“That’s not the only reason we needed you back.”

“What’s up?”

Erin sighed, hands moving to fiddle with her badge. “The peggies know too much about our movements. People are starting to think that there’s a mole. Or that someone’s being careless, just being too loud, or something.”

Alice narrowed her eyes. She knew she was never followed to her rendezvous with Faith – she made sure of that, every time. They had a rule of never talking about the war when they were together, either, so… It couldn’t have been her, she couldn’t have been found out. But the fear was still there.

“Look, if you could just – I don’t know, keep your ears open,” Erin looked tired. Too tired. “I really don’t know what to do at this point.”

“Look.” Alice stepped closer to her coworker, resting a hand on her arm. “Go home. Take a fuckin’ nap. This bullshit will still be here tomorrow.”

“I can’t, Alice, we need –”

“We can last a day without you! Weren’t you going to go to town and see the munchkins?” Erin nodded, slowly, and Alice sighed. “Go. Don’t make me tell your dad.”

Erin rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She started to walk away, then paused and looked back. “Uh, not because I’m afraid of my dad.”

“No, no, of course not.”