freedom —
freedom?
a kainess 'breakup' oneshot, aka alexis ness finally decides kaiser can kick rocks
rated G: no warnings, just kaiser slander !!
Alexis Ness wasn't so much a man — he occupied the same niche as shadows, reflections, glancing sights from your peripheral. He'd made his home in the silhouette of Michael Kaiser; or perhaps, it had been crafted for him, a cramped little box that never grew any bigger. It was the same size as it was when they were children, meant to keep him perfectly bent and contorted into what Michael wanted. Some birds love their cages, don't they? ... some of them, certainly.
Fortunately, Kaiser had forgotten one key aspect to caging his little sparrow — he'd never clipped his wings. The air was cold. The updrift was strong. He could do it — he could fly away.
Ness turned his head to look at Kaiser, the lamplight's warm golden glow highlighting the stray blue streak of hair that had been pulled out of his hood by the icy wind. His heartbeat sped at the sight of him, just a little, as it always did. He hated it, how conditioned his body was to favour Kaiser like the monarch he so desperately wanted to be. Maybe it would always be like that. A whistle pulled the players' attention to the train lazily making its way to a stop before them, countless people disembarking with bags, coats, souveniers, umbrellas, canes; for what it was worth, Ness' eye for detail made people watching into an artistic experience.
All of these people, living such different lives, each with a story hundreds of pages long to tell. Someday, I'll have my own story too. He stood on the platform while the attendants picked up Kaiser's bags and loaded them into the sleeper car. Rocking back and forth on his heels was just one way of keeping himself calm; he'd need any help he could get.
"What are you smiling at?" Kaiser's affect was flat; not quite yet annoyed, but getting close. For once, Ness' smile didn't immediately fall back into a blank slate.
"... freedom."
"Wha — Ness, I know you're tired but you shouldn't be delusional —"
"I'm not going with you."
"What?" the blond's teeth clenched, lacing the word with an authoritarian disgust.
"I'm staying in Belgium. I refunded my ticket, and they're sold out, so I'm not going with you."
"... if you're trying to make a joke, you've never been funny, Ness."
"It's not a joke, I'm staying here. Don't make this harder than it has to be, Michael —" his sentence was harshly clipped off by the blond's fingers knotting into the collar of Ness' jacket.
"Ness, if you try me one more time —"
The conductor blew a whistle, sending a tired glare Kaiser's way. It was apparent some people didn't know or care about his highness and his temper tantrums. In that moment, he still had an audience, but they weren't there to applaud his outburst; all they saw was an angry man, one to be treated with disdain and vague worry. Something about the way Kaiser let go of his collar, with just enough of a shove to push Ness back a bit, it was — cathartic. You won't be able to push me away if I never come back.
"If you're not in Berlin by this Sunday, I will make sure you never play in Europe again."
"Goodnight, Michael."
The last caustic stare Kaiser gave him was feeble, pitiful.
As the train left Ness on the platform alone, he shuddered out a cloudy breath. Cold air cycled through his lungs, deep inhales and exhales working over time to keep his mind from spinning. Only the soft sound of someone calling for his attention made him turn his head. A woman with mousy features was giving him a shyly concerned look. Ness managed to smile free of any manipulated joy, a massive feat he'd later reflect on.
"I'm okay, ma'am, he's — he's always been like that."
"... you know, dear, men like that never change. They'll eat up space in your life until you've got nothing left. You look like a sweet boy, you don't need people like him."
For a moment, Ness' lips opened, but no sound escaped. He knew exactly what he'd intended to say — some sort of groveling attempt at covering up for Kaiser's manipulation, his arrogance, his violence — but he refrained. He didn't have the words to voice how much her words meant, how sagely that advice was to him, specifically him, in that moment. Ness put a hand to his heart, realising his pulse had calmed, no longer responsible for beating to the whims of another man.
"You're right — I don't need him."
While he waved goodbye, the woman gave him a little smile and a polite nod before going on her way. Ness' hand slipped into his breast pocket, taking the plane ticket out to hold inbetween his thumb and index finger as if to examine its authenticity. It was real; Alexis Ness could finally fly away.
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Dream SMP Fic Masterlist
DSMP as Bohemian Rhapsody
Not in Kansas Anymore; Aimsey gets isekai'd to origins smp
Star's a Witch!; hcs about Aimsey practicing witchcraft
You're My Wonderwall; CG!Awesamdude, Little!Foolish, Little!Reader + beach day [GN]
Dirty Laundry; Puffy finds out Schlatt cheated on her
I’m Just Like You; Michael’s feeling self conscious about his eye socket so Tubbo enlists the help of Captain Puffy to show him he’s not the only one without an eye
Insomniac Vulpe; How I think Fundy would act after the March 30th dream
Zoom Call; Teacher au, students realize Dream & George don't hate each other when teaching goes to online
Wasting My Youth; Dream helps Sapnap sneak back into the house after his date w/ y/n [GN]
You're such a Backstabber; the villain (SBI) shoots the person (Dream) next to the hero (George) instead
Older Brother Vibes; Headcanons about Dream being Reader's older brother [GN]
Steampunk Duo; Tina commissions Foolish to create a pair of wings for Hannah some time after she loses her elytra
Soulmates; Soulmate au + Foolish [GN]
Kids In Love; Foolish takes Tina as his date to a Ball
Windsor’s Knot; Schlatt teaches Fundy how to tie a tie
Kip; 'Don’t call me that, you lost that privilege a long time ago.'
Reckless Nights; Yogurt finds a box of Fundy's old stuff from L'Manberg days
Wanna Know My Name?; Reader reveals their govt. name to Fundy [GN]
Astérix; Fundy visits Mumza’s temple after his stint of astral projecting to Australia
Better Wash my Mouth out with Soap; Reader panics after a bit of miscommunication with some online friends and Fundy comforts them [GN]
Caregiver Fundy Hcs [GN]
You Know Dutch?; Fundy compliments the reader in Dutch not realizing the Reader can understand him
Negative Rizz; Fundy teleports to QSMP and ends up crushing on Cellbit
Monikers; Fundy wants a nickname from Felps that isn't fox boy. Or Felps learns more about Fundy over a night of drinking.
Or my fist will put you out; Fundy not able to lull Yogurt to sleep, goes to his dad (Revivedbur) for help
You’re So Fucking Pretty; Fundy's meets reader at a house party and later is the one that got away [GN]
Meeting Mumza; SBI meets Mumza in her in-between realm
Meeting Mumza Pt. 2; Fundy meets Mumza after a near death experience as a kit
Where the Wild Things are
Only in the Photographs
Yee Yee Kidnaps the Yip Yip; Sapnap kidnaps Fundy for a family reunion
Cathartic; Fundy catches Dream cheating on him w/ George
Foxtrap; Fundy gets caught in reader's hunting trap and eventually decides to let him go [GN]
Shifter; Headcanons/stuff George has in his shifting to Hogwarts script
Go White Boy Go
As Sly as a Fox; Niki but as the female victor from district 5 in The Hunger Games
Carmen; An imagine based around the song Carmen by Lana Del Rey. Starts off w/ Niki being a famous singer and regular at a bar that Minx bartends for
Can I Please Have a Waffle?; Reader take SBI to Waffle House [GN]
Lollipop; Philza stops Reader from eating a lollipop stick [GN]
Play Date with the Babysitter; Phil is asked to babysit Tommy, Techno and Wilbur. Tommy ends up making a microwave cake in a mug, bickering ensues.
Time-Sick; Philza discovers Reader is also immortal after a drunken slip-up during a night of trivia pursuit [GN]
Braids; Philza braids a young Techno’s hair
Birds & the Bees; Reader receives the bird & the bees talk from Philza, Techno, & Schlatt (separately) [GN]
SBI Movie Night
Tiktoker! Punz
Red means I Love You; The bit from Suicide Squad (2021) where Harley spends the day with the president and then ends up killing him due to a red flag [GN]
Bad Hair Day; Sapnap helps trans! y/n detangle his hair after seeing how tangled it's gotten [Male]
Rodeo! Sapnap Headcanons [GN]
Rabbit’s Foot; Origins Tommy dies trying to kill Techno in attempts to claim a rabbit’s foot for an unknown contractor
Interview [GN]
You’re a Mean One Mr. Soot; The song from The Grinch but written as if it were about Wilbur
London Boy; Basically I love London Boy as a Wilbur song so here’s y/n singing it as a little dedication to him during karaoke night w/ friends. [GN]
If I was…; Reader convinces Wilbur to do the one If I was... TikTok trend [GN]
You Promised! [GN]
Oh, the Less I know the Better; Reader has a booth at the Green Festival and gives Vikk a tarot reading as to possibly warn him and Lazar about their upcoming deaths [Fem]
When The Grimm Reaper Knocks; Vikk & Lazar's deaths expanded upon
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Of All The Stars in The Sky | 1 | Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw
Summary | War looks different from high above in the sky. But when Bradley finds himself on the ground, far behind enemy lines, it becomes a race against the clock to get out. And try not to look back at what he’s leaving behind.
Pairing | Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw x fem!reader / Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw x fem!oc (no use of y/n)
Warnings | Mature content | 18+ only [WWII AU] swearing, war, violence, death, explicit smut
Words | 3.8k
Index | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17
Library
Note | There will be some darker, heavier themes in this story as it’s set in occupied territory during WWII, so please, keep that in mind before reading. It also takes some artistic liberties with some historical facts, so again, please: proceed at your own discretion.
Chapter 1 - A Land Possessed By Darkness
The rumble overhead wakes you up. As it rapidly closes in, it shakes the cabin on its wooden foundation. You press your hands over your ears as you curl up in your bed, hiding under the thick feather comforter and closing your eyes, praying that it’s not the sky falling down on you.
The sound becomes deafening—it’s like a freight train running through the bedroom. You’re not sure if the tremors moving through the wooden structure are coming from the sky or if your body is uncontrollably shaking.
As rapidly as the sound comes, it moves away. It’s going east. You open your eyes just in time to see a short, intense flicker of flames, on what must be the mountain face across the valley. Whatever it was, it is gone. And you’re still here. You press your lips together, clenching your jaw, trying to steady your panicked breaths.
Terrified to move from your spot in bed, you watch the distant flames through the small bedroom window, the only light source in the pitch-black night.
It’s a moonless night during mandatory blackout—prime time for Allied night raids. Nazi night fighters patrol the sky for Allied sorties of bombers and fighters that rain fire and devastation on factories and infrastructure in the Reich and the lands it occupies. Sometimes you hear the guns and screaming plane engines echo through the valley. Dog fights, they call it.
In the capital, you rarely hear the planes. The air raid sirens and anti-aircraft artillery fire drown everything out. Someone once told you that bombs whistle as they fall. A warning before impact. A warning before almost certain death.
You’ve never heard it, and in your heart of hearts, you hope you never will.
But here out in the mountains, far to the north of the capital, Allied sorties run the gauntlet at low altitude through the valley to reach the weapon factories and mines nestled in the foothills.
It must have been a plane crashing. You idly wonder if it was Luftwaffe or Allied.
Whichever it is, thank god it didn’t crash near you. The last thing you need is the police or gendarmes coming to poke around here. Let alone the Gestapo.
All you need to do is sit tight for a few days until the others arrive, take the package, and go. You don’t need any trouble. You have enough of that already.
So you turn in your bed, wrapping the thick comforter around you tightly. It’s bitingly cold in the cabin, but you can’t light a fire for fear of attracting unwanted attention.
Just a few more days.
Curling up, you fall back into a fitful sleep. It’s mere hours later when the break of dawn wakes you. As you sit up in the bed, something in the air feels different. Like things have suddenly shifted out of order. It makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.
Something has changed.
And you don’t like it.
Quietly, you shrug your knee-length, thinning wool winter coat over your cotton nightgown. There is no sound in the cabin, not even the scurrying of mice. The cold from the floor rises through your lumpy knitted socks as you reach for the handgun on the nightstand. The metal is freezing cold against the palm of your hand. Undoing the safety, you tighten your grip on the gun.
Some might call you paranoid. Hell, if someone told you five years ago that one day you’d be creeping through a remote cabin in the dead of winter with a loaded handgun, you would have laughed at them and turned back to your books.
War changes people.
You’ve seen an army goose step through your street, you’ve seen them force the universities to close, you’ve seen your unarmed classmates get shot in the back in broad daylight, your neighbors lifted out of their beds and spirited away in the dead of night by men in black uniforms, all the symbols of your homeland torn down and covered in blood-red Hakenkreuz flags.
So yeah, maybe you’re paranoid. But if anything, you’ve learned to trust your gut. You’re still here. And if you’re about to die, you’re going down fighting. And you’ll take as many Nazis and traitors with you as you can, you think bravely, as you let out a shuddering breath.
Tiptoeing to the bedroom door, you nudge it open, peeking into the main room of the cabin. The windows are frosted over, refracting what little sunlight is coming in.
It’s empty. As it should be.
But it doesn’t calm you. Cautiously you walk around the small room. The large wood stove is cold and unused, the heavy wooden chairs at the table stand exactly as you left them.
Nothing out of the ordinary. But if anything, you are even more convinced now that something is wrong. Your heart is beating in your throat. Crouching down near the window next to the front door, you try to peer out. Fresh snow fell last night, and there is no trace of life.
Less than fifty paces from the cabin is a small barn that once housed chickens and a cow. Like the owners of the cabin, those are long gone.
No. Going outside and leaving tracks in the snow is an awful idea. That’s how you get discovered.
You don’t need any trouble.
Moving closer to the window, you blow against the pane, wiping away the frost with your fingers. It’s a dreary day, the sun fighting to get over the heavy clouds rolling by. The wind is picking up, blowing flurries of snow past the cabin.
If you go now, your tracks will disappear within an hour, tops.
And surely nobody is stupid enough to come up the mountain in this weather?
Hurriedly, you pull your leather boots on, button up your coat, and wrap a thick scarf around your neck and shoulders. You leave the handgun on the table, opting for the bolt action rifle that is leaning against the wall next to the fireplace. If there’s an animal, Nazi or otherwise, prowling around outside, the handgun will do you little good.
Unbolting the front door, the cold wind hits you in the face immediately. You pull your scarf up a little bit higher, clicking the door closed behind you. Trudging through the snow, your feet sinking into the fresh layer with every step, your palms start to sweat despite the biting cold against them.
Maybe you should have barricaded yourself in the bedroom with what little provisions you have and wait. Wait in terror. Like a coward. But you are not a coward, you chide yourself.
The barn door is hanging crooked off its hinges. Hands tightening on the rifle, you crouch down to look through the crack at the bottom. It’s too dark to see in. Shit.
You try to remember what Emil told you. Always go in barrel first. Pushing the heavy barn door open with your shoulder, the wood scrapes against the stone floor obnoxiously. You hold the rifle at the ready, slowly turning to scan the inside, prepared to be attacked from the darkness.
It smells like hay and mold inside. The coops along the wall sit empty. Gingerly you step inside, trying to level your heavy breathing. Sweat is prickling down your neck, your stomach twisting painfully. Whatever is wrong, it’s here. Someone is here.
The only source of light is coming from the door opening behind you, the weak sunlight reflecting off the snow. It bathes the barn in an almost ghostly light. You falter before taking another step, hoping your eyes will adjust to the dimness. Swallowing heavily, you take a step. The sound of the heel of your boot against the stone floor is like a bullet ricocheting.
You stop, turning on your heel slowly, taking in your surroundings, rifle fire-ready.
Nothing.
Not even a whine from the wind outside.
The only sound in the barn is your rapid breathing. You need to calm down. Remember what Emil taught you: breathing like this, the barrel moving wildly with every rise and fall of your chest, you won’t hit a hog in the broadside from two paces.
Steady.
You take another step.
Still nothing.
Carefully, threading lightly, you make your way to the back of the barn. With every step, you can make out new shapes. Nothing out of the ordinary for an abandoned barn. A rusted trough that has buckled on one side, a horseshoe hanging from a nail, a pair of large leather boots, and a pile of old hay.
Blinking slowly, you turn back to the brown leather boots on the floor.
There are legs in those leather boots sticking out from behind the big coop in the corner.
Holding your breath, you approach.
Shit.
There is a whole man attached to those legs that are wearing those boots.
You yelp, almost falling backward as your boots, slippery from the snow stuck to them, slip on the floor in your frenzy. Your back hits the wall with a thud, and you scramble to take aim.
You hold your breath for so long you think your lungs might burst.
The man doesn’t stir.
Lowering the rifle just a fraction, you try to take a better look, adrenaline screaming through your veins.
The man’s face is bloody, covered in cuts. He’s wearing a thick dark brown leather jacket and matching gloves. His back is leaning against the wall, eyes closed and lips slightly parted, head lolled to the side at an awkward angle.
He has dark messy curls and a neatly kept mustache, while his hands are rest on his legs like he just sat down to admire the scenery. But the shine of his boots and the light khaki of his pants scream military. However, you’ve never seen a uniform like this before—the thick leather jacket and helmet and goggles discarded at his side make you think he’s probably a pilot, but there is no visible flag or insignia.
Was he in that crash last night?
Is he… dead?
At this moment, you have a hard time comprehending what could be worse: a uniformed stranger suddenly showing up at your remote cabin, or a fucking corpse in military gear suddenly materializing in your abandoned barn.
Either way, it’s a huge problem.
Like a “you will be executed for treason” kind of problem. If not having a dead Nazi on your hands, then for harboring a fugitive.
You curse under your breath, leaning back again the wall, almost wishing you could vanish through it. What the fuck are you supposed to do now?
Think.
Every problem has a solution you just haven’t found yet.
Okay. You need to check if he’s dead or alive. But how?
Slowly tiptoeing closer, rifle aimed at the stranger’s chest, you try your hardest to discern if he’s breathing. In the dim light and through the thick jacket, you cannot see any movement.
You hold your breath again as you try to nudge the jacket open with the end of the barrel, but the zipper is too sturdy. Exhaling quietly, you let go of the rifle with one hand as you crouch down.
Biting your lip, you reach out. You feel as if might as well be extending your hand into a lion’s den. Swallowing another breath, your fingers brush against the ice-cold metal of the zipper. You lean a little bit more forward, grasping it lightly between your fingertips. You tug lightly, but it won’t budge.
Nervousness is setting in now. You are suddenly all too aware of the passing of time, and the longer you sit here, the more dangerous it gets. What will you even do when you find out the stranger is dead? The ground is frozen solid, so burying is out of the question. What will you do if he’s alive? Kill him? That brings you back to problem A.
Still crouched down, you awkwardly shuffle forward again, your boots scraping against the stone. Precariously balancing your weight on your toes, you extend your palm up. You try not to think about that if you can reach the stranger, he can reach you too.
Your hand hovers mere centimeters from his mouth now. You sit frozen in place, other hand clenching the rifle so tightly, it’s turning your knuckles white. For an unnaturally long time, you sit in surreal silence, unmoving.
Until you feel it: the smallest brush of warm breath ghosting over your clammy palm.
You let out a small sigh, neither in relief nor dejection, because you have no idea how to feel about this. The stranger is alive.
Your feet are starting to hurt, the harsh knitted pattern of your socks pressing tightly against the pad of your toes. Quietly trying to shuffle backwards again, pins and needles surge through the arch of your left foot the moment you take your weight off it. Swaying lightly forward, you press your foot back down forcefully despite the pain, to stop your momentum.
If you can reach him, he can reach you.
Get. Out.
Moving a little bit too quickly in your rising panic, a little bit too uncoordinated in your sudden rush, in a fleeting moment, your fingers brush against the stranger’s cheek. His skin is warm. A day-old stubble tickles against the tops of your digits.
Retracting your hand like you’ve been burned, your heart is beating so loudly it makes your breath shake. Terrified, you look up, only to see a pair of brown eyes looking back at you.
A high-pitched, strangled sound escapes you as you nearly fall on your ass in the mad scramble to get back. You don’t think you’ve ever moved so quickly in your life back to a safe distance, ignoring the screaming pain in your foot as blood rushes back to it, getting into firing position.
Taking a deep breath to steady yourself, an eerie calm besets you.
Focus.
The stranger seems dazed, blinking rapidly as he tries to get his bearings. Finally, his eyes land on you. You grip the rifle a little tighter and adjust your aim. It takes him a good ten seconds to process what is happening, before he lets out a surprised yell, eyes wide, struggling to get up on his feet, back flush against the wall.
You keep yourself from flinching, merely jerking the barrel up shortly.
The stranger raises his hands in surrender, eyes dancing around the room cautiously before resting on you.
Bradley has vague memories at best of how he ended up on a freezing floor in a barn, face stinging from fresh wounds and rifle aimed at his head.
The night hunter he had been pursuing gave him the turn-around, hailing incendiary bullets down on his aircraft from the pitch black darkness. Ejecting was the only possible escape. The howling westerly wind carried his parachute in disorientating patterns on the moonless night.
After that, he remembers only bits and pieces. A thick pine forest. Deep snow. Biting cold. Pain. Blood.
It was pure luck he found shelter. He didn’t even want to consider the irony of finding a coop in whichever middle of nowhere he landed.
Unfortunately, it’s not as abandoned as he hoped.
There’s nothing in his vicinity that could be of any help. If he tries to reach of his side arm—does even still have that? — you are bound to outgun him. His vision is going in and out of focus, head pounding. No, the odds are definitely against him right now.
Blinking a few more times, he focuses on your face. You have an air of youthfulness around you—from the slight blush on the apples of your cheeks, to the wisps of hair freely flying around your face. It’s all in stark contrast to the hardened look in your eye.
“Luftwaffe?” Your tone is clipped, mouth set in a hard line. Bradley swallows. He has no idea where he is. Flying between the borderlands, there is two out of three chance he’s not in Germany. However, from your cold tone and demeanor, he can’t tell if being Luftwaffe would be a bad thing or not. It’s not like he speaks German, so he can’t exactly talk himself out of this predicament.
“No, American.” He utters carefully, aware that those might be his last words on this godforsaken earth. Your eyebrows rise, but you don’t shoot him. Good. His luck might actually be turning a little bit. He waits for another reaction from you.
But you’re staring at him with narrowed eyes, rifle not moving an inch. Bradley weighs his options. Maybe you don’t speak English.
It hasn’t escaped his notice you haven’t called for help, either. Are you alone here? You must be. A scrap of a girl like you surely wouldn’t hold a man like him at gun point by yourself if you had back up. However, you still have not shot him either.
“I’m lieutenant -,” He stops himself. He shouldn’t tell you his whole name, just on the off chance you are going to hand him over to authorities. Because even on the off chance that he didn’t crash in Germany itself, the surrounding countries are under Nazi occupation. There are few friends to be had in these regions.
“Rooster.” He points at himself with one hand, keeping the other up, conjuring a charming smile on his face to the best of his ability while staring down the barrel of a loaded rifle.
“What a stupid name.” You bite out incredulously, unable to help yourself.
Is he concussed, or actually American?
Or is he a Nazi pretending to be American to throw you off? What kind of name is Rooster?
You take a step forward, pointing the rifle at the man’s chest. You cannot afford to miss if he’s lying.
Bradley would laugh if you weren’t holding him at gunpoint. But you speak English. That’s a point to his advantage. His grin grows a bit.
“Good, so you speak English?” He nods at you.
“I’m not stupid.”
Bradley takes another moment to study you. Clearly, you know your way around a rifle. Your stance is steady. Confident event. But the minute tremor in your hand, ever so lightly shaking the barrel, gives you away. If it wasn’t mere inches from his face, Bradley probably wouldn’t have noticed, but it’s your tell.
You’ve never shot a man.
Your clipped tone, careful pronunciation, and the little crease between your eyebrows as you stare him down are suddenly more endearing than intimidating. Sure, you still have a loaded rifle in your hands aimed at his chest, but Bradley likes his odds more by the second.
Slowly, he starts lowering his arms, keeping his eyes trained on you for any movement. His chest and shoulders are killing him.
“What are you doing?” You bite out angrily. What the fuck? Does he have a death wish? You shift on your feet.
Bradley shrugs, not stopping his motion.
“Don’t do anything rash now, doll face.” He starts, voice warm and friendly, easy smile on his face. There’s a whiff of arrogance around him. “I’m just getting a cigarette.”
God, Bradley does certainly hope you don’t suddenly panic and squeeze the trigger. He needs to get you to put that rifle down.
“What did you just call me?” Your voice is harsh. Bradley just holds up his hand in apology before dipping inside his jacket, not taking his eyes off you. Your nostrils flare, whether from anger or panic, Bradley doesn’t know. But he probably needs to dial it back a little bit.
He pulls out a somewhat crushed pack of Lucky Strike’s out. He shows them to you, smiling. Your expression remains unchanged.
Pulling off the thick leather glove from his right hand, Bradley flexes his fingers before also pulling off the silk under glove too. With a firm tap against the bottom of the carton, he pulls the cigarette sticking out with his lips. He taps it again, before extending his arm to you.
“Do you want one, doll face?” He grins. “They’re real American.”
“Don’t call me that.” Your eyes narrow, quickly flashing toward the cigarettes before settling back on the stranger that calls himself lieutenant Rooster. Ridiculous.
You don’t know how, but the situation is slipping away from you. Short of shooting the man, you have no idea how to regain the upper hand. How is it that you’re the one with the rifle, and he’s running circles around you? Are you that transparent?
“So what do I call you then?” Bradley fishes out a box of matches. “I just want to talk.” He adds lightly, like he’s just sat down at your table at a café rather than having a one-sided standoff.
You hesitate for a moment too long. His eyes flash up to yours. You’re starting to feel cornered.
“Anna.”
“Your English is very good, Anna.” He says not unkindly, as he lights the cigarette with practiced ease. “Where did you learn that?”
“What are you doing here?” You cut him off, not liking how there is panic creeping into your voice. You readjust your stance. Calm.
“Well, Anna, I don’t actually know where here is.” Bradley exhales deeply, a billow of smoke filling the air between you. You don’t like how he keeps repeating your name, it’s raising the hairs on the back of your neck. It’s such a small thing, but it’s unsettling.
You’ve heard that’s what they do in interrogations. To build trust. To make you weak.
Your mouth twists.
“Are you really American?” You ask rather than answering his question. You’re not going to let him interrogate you.
“As apple pie.” He replies easily, demeanor relaxed.
“Air force?”
“Navy.”
“You are a long way away from the sea, lieutenant Rooster.” You retort sarcastically. Nothing about what he says makes sense. It’s so strange that it’s either a bizarre truth, the worst lie ever told, or he’s trying to purposefully to lead you astray. Or he’s completely lost the plot. “Are you concussed?”
“Probably.” He shrugs, cigarette precariously hanging from his lips. “So are you going to let me in on how far away from the sea I am, Anna?”
You falter a little bit under his sharp gaze. “You’re in Bohemia.”
“Fuck.” Bradley shuts his eyes in defeat, leaning his head back against the cold wall.
You don’t begrudge him for his reaction. The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia is possibly the worst place for an Allied pilot to get stranded besides Germany itself. Being completely annexed into the Reich means everyone is a subject of the Nazi regime in Berlin.
It also means this situation is about as dangerous for you, if not more. Being considered a citizen of the Reich—very much against your will—means that you will be tried for treason in Berlin if you get caught aiding and abetting an enemy combatant.
Treason trials against resistance members from Bohemia and Moravia end in one way: execution. Only for you if you’re lucky. Your whole family can be summarily shot in extra-judicial retaliation.
Entire family trees have been wiped out like that in the past four years.
“I think I’ll have that cigarette now.” You admit wearily, the reality of the situation setting down on you.
***
Note | Yep, this is the start of the story that kept me up half the night earlier this week. Let's hope it's going to be as good as it was in my head, haha! Also, because it bears repeating: this is not a history lesson, it's a love story. Enjoy it for what it is~
My tag list is open~ If you're already on my tag list, and this is just totally not your jam, send me a message and I'll ofc take you off it for this story.
taglist | @ponyboys-sunsets | @thatchickwiththecamera | @littlewhiterose | @katieshook02 | @straightforwardly | @zazzysseoul | @rororo06 | @datingbtr | @notalxx | @fresh-new-yoik-watah | @gretagerwigsmuse | @swthxrry | @joshkiskasbunion | @caelipartem | @blackbrownie | @yanak324 | @unluckymonaghan | @letusbewildflowers | @ticklish-leafy-plant | @alana4610 | @eg-dr3amer3 | @turningtoclown | @mell-bell | @mak-32 | @avis15 | @helplesslydevoted | @benhardysdrumstick | @chaoticversion | @cherrycola27 | @roosterschanelslut | @notroosterbradshaw | @eli2447
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