I Missed You (Just By A Second)

by MariDraws

Summary:

Emma staggered towards them, her blood as heavy as lead, her vision hazy. But she could see the one thing that mattered.

The sun was setting over the valley.

Notes:

• For 0MissE0.

aren't I so nice, Miss E?

Emma-May saw it first. Perhaps that's how it had always been and always would be. Some part of her would always, unfailingly, look for something to hold on to. Stan followed her a beat later.

 

Emma saw her friend's shoulder go slack, like a marionette with its strings abruptly cut. “Wh…?” 

 

A helicopter was hovering over them, overseeing the situation, waiting for the perfect time. At the sight of Stan's running form, it came closer.

 

And before she could even think, she ran.

One move. That's all it would take.

 

Northwest’s hand curled around the trident. With all the remaining energy he had, the man aimed for the running man. 

 

And struck.

Fiddleford. Fiddleford and his ally were there, flying in the helicopter among the fields, and the years fell away like smoke, and she was back at home again. There was no explosion, no war. Just people.

 

Emma-May felt a manic relief bubble in her as she ran along Stan. There was everything. There was confusion, there was grief, there was disbelief, there was relief, there was joy—

 

“Stanley!” Ford shouted, reaching for his brother. So close, just a bit more.

 

—and then there was pain, as the point of the trident found its mark on Stan’s back.

Emma-May watched Stan stagger and fall, impossibly slow. It took a moment for reality to sink in, and by then, Stanford was screaming, screaming so loud it drowned out everything else.

 

“Stanley!” Fiddleford shouted, running towards Stan’s unmoving body, but Ford was already there, cradling his brother to his chest. Emma could only watch, utterly numb, utterly cold, utterly lost inside her own head.

 

No, no, no, no, no—This couldn’t be happening. This could not be happening. It was over. The fight was over. They'd done everything they could to protect them. Why was this still how it ended?

 

By the time Emma turned towards the man, ready to rip him limb from fucking limb, he was running. Fuck you, she thought furiously, fuck you fuck you fuck you—

 

“Emma!” Fiddleford called, Ford’s scream brought her violently back into her body, with the force of a comet crashing into earth. “Help me!”

 

Emma staggered towards them, her blood as heavy as lead, her vision hazy. But she could see the one thing that mattered. Stanley, lying so still in his brother’s arms. Stanley, who flirted with no real heat and made things lighter and easier to bear. Stanley, who was quick to anger but quicker to laugh. Stanley.

 

The sun was setting over the valley.

There was a terrible, terrible silence—the kind of silence that came before something devastating, the calm before the storm. Stanley had always hated silence. It gave his mind too many spaces to fill with darkness. So he brought light, instead. Noises and laughter and jokes, anything to keep the quiet at bay.

 

Stanford helped with the weight, like he promised, but now it was back, stinging the gash on his back, crushing him under its burden. There was pain. There was so much pain. He thought he had already known pain, but what did he know? He was only seventeen.

 

Stanley felt himself lifted into someone's arms. The arms of the man who came down from that helicopter with only one goal in mind. Stan wanted to push him away, to run away and keep up, but he was too tired to do either. He could only lie there, staring up at his brother's face, twisted with anguish. His mouth was moving, speaking words Stan could barely hear.

 

Let me go, Stan wanted to say.

 

But then Ford started humming. It was a song. The song. The song Stan had been humming before this. Lifetimes ago.

 

“What…?” Stan breathed, the rest of the question dying on his lips. He couldn't keep his eyes open. He should, otherwise he’d be—

 

“It’s a piece,” Ford sobbed, his tears hitting Stan’s cheek. “It’s a classical piece I used to practice on the piano when we were younger.” And just like that, everything that came before had been forgiven and forgotten and

 

—gone. But was that such a bad thing? Rest would be nice if it meant his lungs would stop hurting. If it meant his back would stop aching. Sleep. Sleep was good. Sleep was—

 

“I miss you, Sixer.” 

 

He could feel someone stroking back his hair. “Keep your eyes open, Stan.” Emma. “Keep your goddamn eyes open.”

 

—bad. He needed to keep awake. Emma-May was telling him to, and she had consistently taken them both to a better scenario. “This is…” Stanley paused, slowly taking in a painted breath. “Such a terrible way for you two to meet.”

 

Ford’s hold on him tightened. Somewhere far away, someone was screaming for a medic, and Stan knew. Stan knew it was—

 

“I’ll play for you again,” Ford vowed. “When we get home, I’ll play for you as much as you want. I’ll let you cheat off my homework. I’ll work on the boat with you, I'll even sail away with you like we planned. Just keep your eyes open.”

 

Stan hissed at the sharp pain. He still wanted to do so much. He still wanted to scream at Ford and then embrace him. He still wanted to find treasure and money to prove to his pa. He still wanted to go home. He still wanted to live.

 

But darkness was quickly gathering.

 

“Stanley?” Stan had no idea who had called his name. It all sounded so far away.

 

“Don't leave me,” Stan pleaded. “Please.”

 

“We're here, Stanley.” Someone was holding his hand. Arms around him. Ford, humming a familiar tune. Warmth, even in the dark. “We’ll always be here.”

 

—too late.

 

“Thanks,” Stan breathed. “I’m sorry, I…” He had so much left to say, so much left to offer. Love. Forgiveness. Respite. But he would leave it there until he woke up again.

 

Stanley’s eyes drifted shut. 

 

The sound of a younger girl chastising him had never sounded clearer.

Notes:

I initially posted this on Tumblr but was gonna post it here a lot sooner, but I had no access to my laptop and college is a bitch and my mental state is as this fic so