Chapter Text
In the heart of the Henbane River region, Faith sat on the bed in Sharky’s bunker.
He had rushed in to the trailer, where she had been napping on the couch, panicking, telling her to grab whatever she could and to get to shelter, that bombs, big ones, were going off in the distance. She didn’t have much - what she did have was already in the bunker, left from when she had been healing from her injuries weeks before, so she grabbed Alice’s cats and ran.
She didn’t know why Alice had trusted Sharky with them - he said it was so Faith would have something comforting, have a companion, but she wasn’t sure.
Faith was glad, though. Both that the cats were with her and that Alice had brought copious amounts of cat food to Sharky’s for storage - neither her or Sharky knew why she did that, but… It was good that the deputy had.
Now… They were waiting.
Sharky was double (triple, quadruple - ) checking that the bunker had sealed properly, that the air and water filtration systems were functioning, that he had remembered to bring in all of the supplies that he had been meaning to, enough to last them however many years it would take before they could fully live above-ground again.
Faith didn’t know what to do.
Worry, she supposed - but now? She felt numb.
Crookshanks sat on her lap, watching her brother pace the bunker, examine the small space for new hiding places, new toys, new… Everything. The cat was purring softly, still alert, upset about being shoved in the tote bag Faith had grabbed, but happily accepting the nervous pets from her human’s favorite human.
“Sharky -” Faith sighed, grabbing the man’s sleeve as he rushed past again, off to check the storage area again. “Sharky.”
“Faith, I need -”
“Nothing’s changed.”
He scratched his neck nervously, shifting his weight from side to side. “I need to keep moving.”
With a frown, she let go, watching him disappear into the back of the bunker again.
“Do you think she made it? Any of them?”
Sharky poked his head back into the main room. “Faith, you know Alice - she’s… She’s gotta be okay. She’s like a cockroach, she’s impossible to kill.”
Faith reached her arm down to pet Data, who finally came to a pause next to her. “Everyone. They - the bombs were so close. Did anyone have time to get to shelter?”
“We…” He - oh god, he was crying, Faith thought. “We’ll find out.”
///
Crookshanks and Data hated the bunker, to no surprise of Faith. The two climbed on everything, constantly meowing, trying to find a way out.
Sharky trying to ration their food (there was plenty, but both of them were worried about after , and if it would be possible to find kibble of any sort), and then moved on to worrying about his and Faith’s food.
Faith tried to get him to call her Rachel - on a whim, just to see how she would feel going by her birth name again, and… Nope. He did it once, decided it felt weird, and honestly - she agreed.
She wasn’t Rachel Jessop anymore.
She wasn’t Faith, either, but… It felt better.
Maybe someday - in the bunker, maybe after - she’d decide on a new name.
Alice was supposed to help with that.
But she wasn’t here.
Who knew if they would ever see her again?
///
They agreed to stay in for six weeks.
He said a month was fine, but they had enough supplies for longer, she said that they needed to stay as long as their supplies allowed (a concession from the seven years Joseph had preached, a point Sharky was glad Faith had given up on quickly).
Board games were their lifesaver - Sharky loved Monopoly and Sorry, Faith preferred Chutes and Ladders or chess, particularly when Sharky’s eyes drifted to the pack of Uno cards.
Usually, though, they were watching movies - she became very well acquainted with the entire Fast and the Furious series, as well as Men in Black, both with and without Sharky’s detailed commentary. They weren’t her favorites, but… They filled the silence and made the days go by quicker.
Sharky’s the one who kept track of the days - he created a sleep schedule for the two, one that would be the most similar to what they had before, and meticulously tracked the days on his little calendar.
Finally, the day they agreed upon came - they day they could finally leave.
Faith stood at the bottom of the ladder, looking up, out the hatch - fearful of the little bit she could see, and…
“Fuck.”
“Shark?”
“It…. It’s bad.”
She looked behind her, at the cats sleeping on the bed, oblivious to the changed routine. With a steadying sigh, she climbed up the ladder, trying to prepare herself for the worst.
And, well…
It was.
Sharky’s trailer was still standing, she could see that - in horrible condition, but standing. The trees all around the property were singed - many dead, with a few just barely clinging to life.
Mentally, Faith cursed the location of Sharky’s home - her former region was so sparsely inhabited in the first place, and “Boshaw Manor” was so secluded that neither of them could see if any other structures survived.
It would have been easy to disappear back in the bunker. To not come out again, to just… Fall asleep and hope that everything was a dream.
She couldn’t. They couldn’t.
There was work to do.
///
Of course the county jail was still standing. Of course it was. The old brick building had once again become the meeting place, this time for survivors for both sides.
Tracey was there, of course.
She was - amazingly - happy to see her old friend-turned-enemy.
When Faith walked through the gates of the jail, just a few steps behind Sharky, close enough to grab onto his shirt if she was nervous, she wasn’t sure what to expect.
Her old friend ignored her at first, greeting Sharky with a warm smile, before turning to her.
“Tracey. Hey.” Oh, God, this was awkward. Faith looked to Sharky for help, but he had his back to her, talking to - was that… The Sheriff’s daughter. What was her name?
Tracey hugged her - not…. Not the reaction she was expecting.
“...Tracey?”
“Fucking hell, Faith. Rachel?” She stepped back, looking at Faith. “...Do you still go by Rachel?”
Faith shook her head. “Uh, I’m figuring that out.”
“Oh.”
“You’re alive.”
“So are you.”
“You… Hugged me.”
Tracey frowned.
“I mean, not that - not that I’m upset about that, I just --” Faith paused, taking a deep breath. “Last I heard, you asked Alice to kill me.”
“Look -” Tracey sighed. “It…. Things are different now. We can’t be - it’s not smart to be fighting like that.”
Faith looked at the jail, dilapidated as always, then wrapped her arm around her old friend. “I missed you.”
Tracey smiled - a small one, but a smile.
Together, they walked into the jail - Sharky was off, hugging a (very) small woman (the one with the horses, Faith thought - Elizabeth?), and Tracey….
Faith froze.
Everyone here - they were bound to hate her.
She needed Sharky back.
Her old friend didn’t let her stop though, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the main cell block, where reunions were happening all around her.
“We sent out messages to people to come here.” Tracey shrugged. “Just to check in. We’re missing a lot of people still, the Sheriff - he’s worried about his daughter, and we just sent someone out to check on the Dennos. Laura, Josh’s wife…”
Faith followed Tracey’s gaze to the wall above the vending machines, and her face dropped.
The wall - it was people who died when her Angels and Chosen had attacked the jail.
Knowing the name of someone who had died here… It… Was rough.
///
Tracey had sat Faith down at a table, off in the corner, before wandering off to continue… Whatever she had been doing.
Nobody was talking to her, but that was better than the alternative - after that last month and a half? Faith didn’t know if she could take people yelling at her. The cold shoulder she could stand. That’s easy.
She had almost fallen asleep there when she saw Tracey come back in -
Carrying… A baby?
Well, that woke her up.
“Are you still good with kids?”
“You’ll trust me with a kid?”
“Faith.”
“I- I’m serious, what - what’s happening?”
Tracey sighed, carefully sitting down with the baby. “They found the Dennos. Josh… They don’t think he’s going to make it. Carolina, his older daughter, said he’s been feeling sick for a few days. Nobody’s sure why. She won’t leave his side and everyone else - everyone’s doing shit. Can you just… Please? Her name is Claire. I need to go check on ”
Silently, Faith nodded, taking the child from Tracey. She was sound asleep - impressive, considering how noisy the cell block was, and how much activity she must have travelled through on the way to the jail.
Later, a little girl, maybe seven or eight years old, wandered into the room, looking lost. Her eyes brightened when she saw her sister, safe and drinking from a bottle someone had brought Faith, and she darted over.
The three sat in silence for a minute, Carolina watching her sister, before Tracey appeared in the door. Carefully, she handed Claire over to her sister, and followed Tracey into the hall.
“He’s gone.” Tracey pinched her nose, sighing deeply. “ Fuck. ”
Carefully, Faith placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “What do you need me to do?”
“Nothing. I mean - keep watching the kids. Just till we find someone else.”
“I can -”
“Faith.” She sounded exhausted. “You know why you can’t. Just for a few more hours. Please. Someone said they saw Erin when the Dennos were coming back. She might be willing to help.”
Faith went back to the table, where the sisters were exactly as she had left them - Carolina carefully holding Claire, expression empty, staring down at her sister.
She grabbed a book that was on the table - probably a little too old for the girls, but… It would help. She hoped.
The rest of the day passed slowly: Sharky checked in with her, apologizing for disappearing, and then left with Elizabeth to check on things around the farm. Grace and Hudson made an appearance, even coming over to talk to her for a few minutes - the former promised to bring a new set of clothes for her, so she wouldn’t have to keep wearing Sharky’s sweats, before they said they were off to check on Fall’s End, to see if Jess had made it to Mary May like she had said she would.
People were streaming in and out all day - someone who brought food for the trio said it was common, ever since people started coming back out - meeting up during the times that they could.
Sharky brought the cats by as it was getting dark, sticking them in the old control room. The two were happy to be out of the bunker, happy to have new things to explore, and when Faith brought the Denno girls in, happy to sit next to them and purr.
That’s when Carolina finally started crying.
Faith didn’t know what to do - she hugged her close, but it didn’t feel like enough.
Not when it was her fault that Carolina and Claire were orphans.
///
Things slowly picked up around the jail: more and more people came to the building with their bunkers supplies, particularly those with families, to weather out the nuclear winter.
Not many stayed there all the time - mostly just families and the elderly, those who needed more help or wanted the room to socialize and move , particularly during the worst of the nuke-influenced weather.
It was like she was walking on eggshells for the first year they were there - she was on edge, constantly waiting - for Alice to show up, for someone to snap at her, for someone to kick her out… The realization that John and Jacob had survived, not just their confrontations with Alice, but the bombs as well, was as much of a shock to her as it was to the remainders of the resistance.
There was hope then, she thought - if Alice hadn’t killed her brothers… If she got to a bunker, she could be alive.
///
During the first of the new “summers,” Faith tired of waiting around, watching the children of those who trusted her enough to keep the kids out of trouble, and confronted Erin Whitehorse.
“What can I do to prove myself?” Faith asked, staring at the sheriff’s daughter.
Erin looked out the door to the crew preparing to go out to continue clearing the roads, and sighed. “Are you willing to sweat?” When Faith nodded, Erin handed her the shovel she was holding. “Get some work clothes. I’ll meet you out there in ten.”
Faith nodded, trying to hide her smile. She loved watching Carolina and her little sister - both of whom had latched onto her - but… She knew she had to prove herself somehow. Helping to restore the county?
It was the perfect opportunity.
She changed into the jeans and a long-sleeved shirt someone had given her, and went out to meet the de facto of Hope County.
This became a regular thing: despite Erin (or whoever she was sent to) keeping a close eye on her, Faith was allowed to clean up the county’s roads and buildings, and as the years went on, help coordinate the clearing of roads.
Her duties with the children didn’t end, but… She was okay with that.
The kids didn’t fear her like their parents did. If they did - they didn’t stay afraid, finding that one of the boogeymen of Hope County was just as scared as they were, just as unsure of what was happening as they and their parents were.
Claire and Carolina stuck with her as well - there was lots of opposition, but the girls… They just wanted to be with Faith. The one who didn’t fawn over them when their dad died, the one who rocked Claire to sleep almost every night those first few months, the one who dried Carolina’s tears when she finally broke down.
One day, without her realising - people were calling her by Alice’s last name.
It sounded nice.
At the same time - she thought she was over Alice. It had been so long since the bombs, and they were sure that every bunker in the county had been accounted for, that every single one had been searched, and… She had to be gone.
That night, after the girls fell asleep, she snuck into the area Crookshanks and Data were, and cried.
///
In year five, when they were finally able to grow crops again, the fear of Faith, the Herald, returned. Nobody had forgotten what she had done with the bliss, after all, but at the same time, nobody had forgotten her family’s history - Jessop Conservatory had been (regionally) famous for their flowers and vegetables.
She wasn’t allowed to tend the plants. Faith didn’t mind that - Carolina, now a teenager, helped, and Claire, never more than a few feet from her sister when they were beyond the safety of the jail’s walls, helped water the plants. Faith was, however, allowed to plan. What plants went where, when things should be planted (everyone hoped the weather had settled - the last two years had similar weather, almost like it was before everything), who should be taking care of things... It gave her purpose. Something to do beyond being a babysitter - even if some of those babysitting duties had turned more into motherly duties, ones that she really didn’t mind having.
If there was a way to officially adopt them, Faith would have. Sharky teased her about them all the time, even after he moved into the remains of Elizabeth’s ranch - she was welcome there, he and Elizabeth kept telling her, but Erin said the girls had to stay at the jail for now, and Faith was welcome to go anywhere in the county (as long as someone she trusted was there to keep an eye on her), but… She didn’t.
///
The sixth year after the bombs, she moved into the remains of Alice’s old house with the girls.
Carmina was excited - her and Claire had become fast friends, and while Fall’s End was a bit of a hike from the Rye’s, Kim was always willing to make the walk with Carmina, just to get away from Nick tinkering with the remains of one of his planes. The cats? They loved it, quickly rediscovering their old favorite napping and sunning spots, though they were disappointed by the lack of air conditioning or whole-house heat.
Faith found it… Bittersweet?
Strange?
She didn’t have the heart to sleep in Alice’s room - the girls slept in the bedrooms upstairs, both excited to have rooms of their own (for Claire, it was the first time ever she had a space of her own, Faith realised), and Faith turned Alice’s fondly named “random shit” room downstairs into her bedroom.
One rainy day, Carolina went in to Alice’s room, looking for… Faith didn’t know what , actually.
Faith found both girls sitting there an hour later, surrounded by photographs.
“Faith? Whose are these?”
She sighed, preparing herself - she didn’t know what they would ask, what memories would be brought back to the surface.
“That looks like you -” Claire smiled, picking up a picture and pointing at a figure. “Who’s that, though?”
“That,” Faith sighed. “Is Alice.”
The girls looked at each other, and then back to Faith. They knew who Alice was, of course, and Carolina vaguely remembered the famous Junior Deputy, but they learned very quickly that their guardian would quickly change the subject whenever she was brought up.
“You guys know what she did? Before the bombs, I mean.” When the girls nodded, Faith continued. “Alice was… We…” She sighed. “We were together. It was rough, just because… Well, were on opposite sides.”
Carolina picked up another picture and smiled. “You looked happy.”
“We were. Despite everything… We were.” She looked closer at the picture, and smiled. “That was taken at our cabin, up by the Harrison lookout tower - well, the mountain to the west of the Conservatory. It was our little place.”
“Is it still there?”
Faith shrugged. “I haven’t had a chance to see. You - you guys know how people are with me, they still don’t like it when I go poking around in the east.”
Claire crawled over to Faith and climbed into her lap. Faith kissed the top of her head, and smiled.
“Maybe we could go find it? If we’re with you - “ Claire looked at Carolina, who started grinning. “It’d be fun!”
“I don’t think it’d be that easy.” Faith sighed. “I want to, but… We would need someone to go with us. Maybe Mary May could, or Adelaide. Not till the weather clears up, though.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
The three sat like that for a while longer, Faith telling the girls the stories behind each of the pictures, and everything she could remember from before.
A frantic knock on the door interrupted them. With a groan, she nudged Claire off her lap and went to answer the door.
“....Mary May?” She froze, seeing the bartender’s panicked face. “What’s wrong? Uh, come in, the girls are just -”
“We need to go to Rae Rae’s.”
“What?"
“We found her, Faith. We found Alice. Look, Grace is on her way to watch them, just... Come with me. Now.”
Silently, Faith nodded. She shouted upstairs that she was running out, Grace would be there in a few, and she left with Mary May.
The ride to the old pumpkin farm was… Tense.
Neither knew what to expect: all Jess had said was they’d made contact with Alice, she was alive, so was Joseph, and to get there ASAP.
It was just Jess there when she arrived - the archer had a man (Joseph? It had to be) tied to a fencepost, and…
That couldn’t be -
A woman was sitting next to Jess, wrapped in a blanket.
A woman with dark hair, and almost skin and bones - nothing like the Alice that Faith remembered.
But… When the woman looked up?
The eyes that looked at her told the truth.
Mary May beat Faith to Alice - the two friends hugged, before Mary May stepped away, allowing Faith to slowly step forward.
“You’re really going to make me wait?”
God, Faith missed that voice. She ran forward, wrapping her arms around Alice. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too. Fuck, I love you so much.” Alice smiled up at Faith, then pulled her into a kiss.
When she pulled away, Faith rested her forehead against Alice’s. “I have so much to tell you.”