Bring Me to Life

Liv was sitting in the garden again, eyes closed as she let the cooling breeze wash over her and lift her hair from her shoulders. The dark red, almost black mass was down to the small of her back now.

She didn't sense him until he was standing in front of her, blocking the sun from her face. She opened her eyes and immediately felt her mouth go dry, leaving her speechless. She should have known he'd find her eventually.

"Liv," he said. The colors around him had changed. The gold was gone, and the blue was darker, almost black. She assumed his time with Apocalypse had left his spirit broken.

When she found her voice, she asked, "Why?"

There was a note of laughter in his voice, but mostly he just sounded tired and lost. "Which question do you want me to answer? Why did I go with Apocalypse? Or why did I come back?"

"Don't play with me," she said, turning her gaze down to her hands. "You don't know me anymore."

Warren knelt down in front of her, careful not to touch her. "I know, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the past two years, and what you've been through because of me. Scott … he told me where you'd goafteafter you left. He told me how much I've hurt you."

"Why should you care? You were too selfish to see what it could do to me." Liv pushed to her feet, moving as far away from him as possible. "Two years, Warren. You let your friends think you were dead, and then show up fighting against everything you used to believe in. Nothing is worth that. Nothing."

He nodded, even knowing she couldn't see it with her back to him. "You're right. I was selfish, and I'm sorry, but I can't change the past. I know that I would have died without amputating my wings, but can you blame me for freaking out?"

She shrugged, hugging her arms to her body. "I blamed myself. When I thought you were dead, I blamed myself. And then I let myself believe that it was my fault you'd become something I should hate. And then I came home, and I still blamed myself. Now here you are. Why did you go?"

"Because I knew that you'd gone, and there wasn't anything here for me anymore." He stood up and brushed himself off, still keeping his distance. He felt so far away from her, even more so now that he could see her and knew that he couldn't touch her. "I don't blame you for leaving; I would have done the same thing in your place. But knowing that I'd made you leave, it killed something inside of me, and I'd already lost such a huge part of myself …"

Liv swallowed, feeling the burning of tears starting in her eyes. "I'm so tired, Warren. Tired of listening to people tell me that everything will be okay. Tired of wondering if I'll ever wake up one morning and not think of you immediately, or if I'll go to bed without having you as my last thought. It's been two years and nothing has changed. I want you out of my head."

Warren nodded, mostly to himself. "Okay, Liv. Since I haven't unpacked it won't be difficult to get my things together and leave."

"I never said you had to leave."

His laugh was bitter and confused. "Then what the hell am I supposed to do, Liv? Stay here?"

"No matter where you are, it doesn’t change things. You've finally come home, anwon\won't ask you to leave. I feel like leaving for a while again."

He sighed, wings fluttering with frustration and hurt. "Whatever you want," he said softly, leaving her in the garden as snow began to swirl down from the sky.