Re: AFTERMATH-Lydia/Mitchell
Mitchell was beyond exhausted. It was by far the longest and hardest battle he had ever fought, far worse than the trenches of France, and he was not even close to his strongest. Blood could have gotten him there, drinking his fill, letting it bring strength to his body. But he would have lost himself in the process, become intoxicated by the high that blood could invoke in him until all that mattered was getting the next hit, and not caring who he killed in the process.
A few years ago he wouldn't have cared. But then there had been George, and Annie and Nina. And now there was Lydia. His beautiful Lydia, who believed in him, who made him want to be worthy of her love. It was for her sake that he made himself get on through without blood, for her that he fought Lucifer with everything he had. He had felt the pull on his soul, the feeling that something was trying to drag him away, and his mind had flashed back to the taunting warnings of Lucifer, that defeating him would send them all away, send him back to his death.
Well, fuck it. It was worth it.
When the battle was over, he sagged with relief that he had not only survived the fight, but was still there in Lawrence. Even so, his gaze moved over the crowd until he caught that glimpse of red hair, and what he wanted to do was race straight over there. And yet, when he saw she was talking to Lauren, he made himself pause. Lauren would always be an uncomfortable reminder of the mistakes he had made in his past, but that wasn't Lydia's fault, or Lauren's. It was his. And so he stayed back, let Lydia be amazing and comfort the vampire who had just lost her mentor. Mitchell himself still wasn't sure how he felt about Lord Harry's fall into the Pit. The Old One had been taunting him mere moments before. And yet, Hal was still in that head somewhere. And that man had been Mitchell's friend. So the emotions were complex at best.
The second Lydia lifted her gaze and looked at him, Mitchell's face broke into a relieved smile, his arms were open by the time she reached him, and he held her to him so tightly. For all the pain and death around them, having the woman he loved there in his arms was just perfect. "You're okay, we're okay, it's alright, I love you." Murmured words, barely audible, muffled as they were against her hair, but the meaning was clear. No matter what else had happened, the two of them were together. Everything else could, eventually, be dealt with.