“You hurt bad?”

Garnet lay in a heap on the floor. She wanted to scream and didn’t have the breath. Her ankle blared, fading just a little to spike the pain, over and over again. She levered herself up on her hands. She couldn’t see anything, night blinded by the flashlight, bright spots smeared across her eyes. Th...

They grappled. Garnet reset her feet, screaming through the pain. Willow forced her arms back, the buzzing arc splitting the darkness, once, twice. Garnet leaned her face away desperately as it sparked, closer and closer. Breathe. Garnet backstepped and wrenched Willow around with all her bodyweight...

Fucking—Garnet ripped her arm clear of Willow’s jagged mouth. Had she pierced through the sleeve?—cackling electricity tore her thoughts away from the biting. Garnet stepped, forgetting her ankle, buckled against Willow, clinging and wrestling to stay standing.

In the eye. She recoiled, almost toppled. Garnet was stumbling so she pulled, dragged Willow in, met her jaw with her forearm. Crack.

Solid connection. More venom. Garnet ignored it. Couldn’t dodge with her foot. Grabbed the wrist.

The sparks crackled inches from Garnet’s arm. She cocked back her free hand and punched Willow in the face.

“Oh fuck off.”

She swung.

Willow's voice spat from that space behind the light. The rasping cough did not nothing to detract from the venom. Electricity split the air, reflecting off Willow's eyes, gleams of nothingness. She was slow and methodical. Garnet's frantic scrabbling gained distance. Stand up. it hurt, it hurt, it ...

Hard fall, harder landing. Her face hit the bottom step and she bounced. The shotgun clattered away. The light rolled. Garnet blinked. Blinked. She couldn't see. Her glasses, where... Her foot twitched. She shrieked. ShitfuckmotherfuckingfuckingSHITsonofabitchfuck Above Garnet's screaming, Willow's ...

One step after another. Each jangled her nerves, heart buzzing like a hummingbird. Creak. Deafening. She stopped. Watched. Had Willow heard? Garnet remained still. A rivulet run down her back. Trickling. Trickling. Nothing. She released her held breath. Took a step. Her ankle exploded in screaming a...

Thud. Garnet rolled, a quiet crunch, a far louder shout. She clasped her hip. No time for that, no time, no time. Willow wasn't there. The broken section of balcony rail stared Garnet in the face. Shit, was she...? Gritting her teeth, Garnet crawled forward, up to the edge. Nothing was distinct in t...

Sharpness shifted beneath her skin, Willow's fingers scrabbled and scratched, ripping at the wound. Garnet's fist connected and she stumbled into the follow through, another unlearned lesson. Her breath seethed through clenched teeth, attempting to force out the agony at her side. It hurt even to st...

Garnet reeled, seeing nothing but dark spots. A push, and the unbroken part of the rail creaked, she teetered, over—she caught herself, or maybe Willow did, maybe both. She was so stunned that her survival instinct forgot to kick in. By the time panic sparked off within, Willow was holding her, hand...

Rose— Willow spoke. Garnet stilled. The gun was not levelled. It— She shouldn't just let this happen. She should—she had to at least have a hand in how this ended. or or, or, or, or, or, or ... it shouldn't be about what Garnet wanted. she couldn't steal that from Willow. Even if she hated to stand ...

Garnet leaned back, retreated. The jolt was a cord she hadn't known was attached. She twisted and spun at its end, kicking and flailing. That was it? Somebody had to be bad and somebody had to be good? It cut all the way back to the black and white? Garnet's hands clenched, shook. She'd stumbled her...