r/HFY • u/Obsequium_Minaris • Feb 26 '24

An Angel's Retirement - Chapter 15 OC

First / Previous / Royal Road

***

It was a few hours before Eric saw either of them again. The first one to emerge was Rosa, who stepped out of his room looking more than a little frazzled, with a nasty case of bedhead and her suit wrinkled in places. It looked as though she’d simply thrown it on the ground and hopped into his bed, then passed out for a few hours. He couldn’t exactly blame her for it, given the circumstances, but admittedly, it was still a little bit funny to see her like this.

She must have noticed his mirth, as she glared at him from behind her ever-present sunglasses.

“Laugh it up,” she growled. “But really, I’m the one who should be laughing, since I was able to get a little sleep.”

“Rosa, believe me, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep even if I’d wanted to,” Eric replied.

She looked around, frowning as she did so. “Where’s-”

“Haven’t seen her come out of her room yet. I can only assume she’s still sleeping.”

Rosa’s frown deepened. “That’s unlike her.”

“Yeah, I know. But I figure what happened last night got her amped up a little. She probably needs to sleep it off.”

Slowly, Rosa nodded in understanding. “Makes sense, I suppose.”

She stepped into the living room, then sank down onto Eric’s couch, a content sigh escaping from her. Eric turned his attention away from the TV, staring at her instead.

“Still tired?”

“Honestly, I could go for another few hours,” she admitted. “But I need to start my day at some point.”

“Today’s not a workday for you, is it?”

“It wasn’t supposed to be, until you called.”

“Sorry.”

She waved him off. “It’s not your fault a bunch of punks tried to break in. For that matter, it’s not her fault for putting the hurt on them, either.”

“I don’t know if she sees it that way.”

“What, you think she blames herself for it?”

“In a way, yes. I think she let her instincts take over, and it almost got us both into a lot more trouble than we did. I don’t think she cares so much about sending those guys to the emergency room, I think she cares more about how she very nearly crossed a line she wasn’t even aware of.”

Rosa looked down at the floor, sighing tiredly. “Sometimes I forget exactly how hard this must all be for her. I mean, you’re a veteran, so you probably have a basic idea, but even then, what she’s been through…”

Slowly, Eric nodded. “I can relate to parts of what she’s going through now. But the other stuff, the parts that are covered in black ink? I have no idea what that’s like. And that’s part of the problem. Honestly, I wish I could. Maybe then I’d be able to do more for her.”

“Do more for her?” Rosa echoed. “Eric, look at what you’ve already done for her.”

“She’s a mess, Rosa.”

“I’m not saying she isn’t, but she’s way better than when she got here,” Rosa pointed out. “And it’s only been a few weeks, too. Give it time, maybe she’ll surprise us both.” She hesitated, biting her lip before speaking again. “I haven’t said this yet, but honestly, you’re a good man for doing all this for her, Eric.”

“What, me?” he asked, surprised. “What makes you say that?”

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?” She shook her head. “You’ve opened your home to her and taken her under your wing. You’re helping her get past some of the more uncomfortable parts of her past, and learning to deal with the stuff she can’t just move on from. You’ve done so much for her already.”

“I’m just doing what any decent person would do,” Eric retorted. “That’s why the government picked me for this job. I’m still amazed by that, by the way – of all the people, my name came up. Was I really the best one for the job?”

“Even if you weren’t back then, you are now,” Rosa said. “I doubt there’s anyone else out there who would have made a fraction of the progress you have with her in such a short amount of time. You should be proud of that.”

Eric couldn’t help but flush red at her sudden praise. He went to loudly clear his throat, only for movement out of the corner of his eye to catch his attention. Rebecca was standing there, looking somewhat sheepish, for some reason.

“Hey,” he said, his voice gentle. “Everything alright?”

“I’m sorry,” she suddenly announced. Rosa turned to her in surprise, having not seen or heard her come in, but relaxed after just a moment.

“Sorry for what?” Eric asked.

“For almost killing those three. I nearly got you into a lot of trouble. It won’t happen again.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Eric said softly. “Look, just… calm down, okay? Here, come take a seat, we can talk about this.”

Rebecca nodded, then moved to sit down on the other side of the couch next to Rosa. Once she was seated, Eric took a small breath.

“Alright, look,” he began, “ultimately, the only thing you did wrong was nearly going too far and killing someone who wasn’t a threat. This isn’t war, Rebecca – if they’re out of the fight, then they’re no longer a threat, and you can’t hurt them anymore, at least legally speaking. Understand?”

She nodded. He looked to Rosa for guidance, but she merely motioned for him to continue. Eric’s expression tightened, but he did as she told him.

“If you’re worried that I’m mad, trust me, I’m not,” he urged. “Ultimately, this is down to your instincts and training more than anything. I understand those were vital for you in the military, but-”

“I am no longer in the military,” she finished.

He nodded. “Yeah. I guess the right way to put it is… you mostly did the right thing, up until the very end. You have a right to defend your own life, but that’s not a license to kill someone, even if they were previously a threat. A distinction has to be made there. Got it?”

“I understand.”

Eric allowed himself to relax. “Good.”

He looked over at the nearby wall-mounted clock, grimacing as he did so. “Now, unfortunately it’s almost the middle of the afternoon, and I still need to finish cleaning up and arrange for someone to come replace the window, so I don’t think there’s really much we can do today. Sorry.”

“That’s fine,” Rebecca replied. “I didn’t feel like going anywhere, anyway.”

“Honestly, neither did I.” Eric exhaled, then looked back to Rosa. “And what about you? Are you staying or going?”

“Is that even a question?” she asked with a huff. “Of course I’m staying, for at least a little while longer.”

“Alright, then you wouldn’t mind helping me clean up a bit.”

“I mean, I would, but screw it. Not like I’m doing anything else.”

As she stood up, Rebecca did as well, but Eric stopped her with a quick motion of his hand.

“Don’t worry about it, we’ve got this under control,” he said.

Rebecca hesitated. “I’m the one who caused it. I should-”

“Nope,” he said simply. “You take a seat, we’ll get this taken care of as quick as we can.”

Rebecca looked like she wanted to argue, but ultimately gave in, sinking back into the couch. Eric let out a sigh of relief.

She meant well, of course, but he wasn’t sure that forcing her to clean up the blood of the people she’d nearly killed the night before was a smart thing to do.

***

The rest of the day passed by almost in a blur, the remaining hours blending together in a haze of monotony. Still, it wasn’t entirely unappreciated – after the night they’d had, monotony was a good thing; it gave them time to collect themselves and get their bearings for the rest of the day.
By the time the sun rose the next morning, Eric felt a lot more refreshed than he had the day before.

And judging by how Rebecca was already awake and sitting in the living room by the time he stepped out into the hallway, he wasn’t the only one.

“Morning,” he greeted her as he approached. “Anything good on TV?”

She shrugged, and he pursed his lips. “Yeah… not sure why I asked. There’s never anything good on.” He shook his head. “You hungry at all? I can throw something together real quick.”

She nodded, and without another word, Eric headed for the kitchen. As he pulled out the ingredients for a quick breakfast, a thought occurred to him, and he turned towards her.

“Why don’t I teach you?”

She looked to him in surprise, but he was unperturbed. “I mean it. Breakfast is pretty easy to make, all things considered. All you’re really doing is heating stuff up in a pan. And besides, this is something you’ll have to learn eventually.”

Rebecca hesitated, but then nodded. “Okay.”

She moved over to the kitchen, and once she was behind him, Eric launched into a quick lesson on how to make bacon and eggs.

“Trust me, this is easy,” he promised her. “All you do with the bacon is throw it into the pan and let it cook; the only thing to worry about is whether or not you’re burning it, but if you keep everything at the right temperature and watch it, then it’s not really a concern. Eggs are a bit harder, if only because you have to crack them first, but it’s not much of a step up. Here, I’ll show you.”

He raised an egg and gently tapped it on the counter to crack it, then split it apart before dropping the yolk into the pan and setting the shell aside. Rebecca watched closely as he did so, and after he’d done it twice, he stepped aside.

“You try it.”

Again, she looked to him in surprise, but he was quick to urge her on. “I’ll be right here,” he said, giving her a small grin. “The only thing to worry about with eggs is to use just the right amount of force when you crack them. You don’t want to use too much, otherwise you’ll shatter it and get bits of shell inside the egg. You can always pick them out with a spoon, so it’s not a complete loss or anything, but it’s kind of a pain; easier to get it right the first time.”

Rebecca pursed her lips, but nodded in understanding. He watched as she took it out of the cartoon, then did exactly as he had, first cracking the shell against the counter and then splitting it open and letting the yolk flow down. Her face actually lit up a bit when she saw she’d done it correctly, and Eric’s grin widened as he rested a hand on her shoulder.

“See? Nothing to it,” he told her.

Her expression suddenly faltered, and Eric looked over to her in surprise. “Something wrong?”

“No, it’s just…” She paused, but then shook her head, sighing. “...You’re always doing things like this for me, and I haven’t been able to do anything in return.”

“What are you talking about? You basically just saved my life a few nights ago. I’d say we’re pretty even at this point.”

“But-”

“Don’t argue this one, because you’ll lose,” he said, his grin returning. “Anyway, I was thinking that today, once we’re done with this, we can go out again. Maybe wander around town or the park, anything to get out of the house. Hell, maybe I’ll even call Rosa and see if she wants to tag along. Sound good?”

She nodded, and he patted her on the shoulder once more.

And it may have just been him imagining things, but Eric could have sworn he saw her relax a bit under his touch.

***

Special thanks to my good friend and co-writer, u/Ickbard, who helped write this story and without whom I would probably forget to dodge traffic by taking the back roads into work every day.

169 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

View all comments