Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The cold affects everyone differently. For Ethan, the cold was a mix of frightening and inviting. The initial thought that you're freezing to death makes you frightened, but once you've been wandering for long enough, the cold proceeds to numb any pain, sending a quiet chill through you, and to Ethan Winters, that felt inviting.

But the cold couldn't help him ignore the gravity of what he had done settle in, almost rendering him incapable of moving (that is, if he wasn't possibly being chased by freaky wolf monsters or had Rose's whimpers and cries against his chest, wrapped in the jacket he'd since taken off to keep his daughter from feeling the cold). What had he done?

At first, nothing much had gone through his head. Just that he couldn't stay. He couldn't remain beside Mia for one more second. He'd chosen her at the house, and he was starting to regret it. Everything just ran in flashes through his head; sneaking up from beside his wife, grabbing rose, getting in the car and leaving. Of course, it hadn't lasted long, just to this strange run-down village. Survivors speaking of a Mother Miranda, before eventually burning in their sanctuary.

Ethan had done his best to keep the creatures from attacking his daughter, even at the loss of his own fingers. A large man-like one had leapt down then, and Ethan would have accepted his fate if not for the sharp cry of his infant daughter, granting him one last launch of adrenaline. So Ethan Winters did the one thing that came to mind;

He kicked the fucking bastard in the face. 

It barely made a dent, the creature barely turned his head, but the slight pause gave the man enough time to move and get away. He was certain the monsters would follow him again, but after a loud howl, they all disappeared. Ethan was alone again. Alone with the thoughts that kept swimming of what he had done, and why , almost feeling guilty in a way. 

Why did he feel guilty?

Guilt. It bubbled and boiled in the deepest pits of Ethan’s subconscious. It truly was a pity, after everything; The Baker’s, the testing, their once ‘happy’ marriage; he still turned his back on the only person he had left. 

Mia…

He takes time to reminisce about what they once had, what could have possibly gone so wrong? He thought they were perfect for one another. 

Maybe it wasn’t her, maybe he was just too stubborn to love; maybe there was some truth to how she treated him in Louisiana. Maybe.. just maybe , it wasn’t the mould that made her hate him so much.

Ethan couldn’t stand it, he knew he shouldn’t spend this time thinking back to it but what else was there to think of? The monsters that screech, running faster than he could even think? 

Maybe he should just focus on being alive.

But did he even want that outcome? 

He wonders where the thoughts of fading away originated from. They weren’t always there, but there had come a time where all he could think of was walking outside of his ‘home’ he once shared with Mia, gun in hand, ready to become one with the earth. He once thought bad things only happened to good people; but if he was such a ‘good person’; why did the pain continue on even after 3 years? 

Maybe it was, truly, his fault indeed. Maybe Eveline was right about him. 

Maybe he never loved Mia.  

He hardly remembered his childhood, not that it was terrible but it was never perfect; but was anyone's childhood perfect?

Ethan finally found a place he could relax, just for a second; a church. Funny, churches were always seen as a ‘safe haven’ throughout history and now he was sitting on the floor of one; rocking his daughter and feeling nothing but guilt for what he had done. 

The church was small, the interior decorated in older styled decorations; portraits of 5 individuals. He couldn’t help but stare; each of them seemed so…godly? Like they were on display just to be worshipped but there was no one to worship them anymore. Candles surrounded the portraits and platters of rotting gifts for these ‘gods’. 

He hated religion, he really did. Ethan once was a person who believed in a higher power but then he was shown the true power of the universe; like it was showing him that god abandoned the world long ago. 

The blonde felt his face scrunch up in slight disgust as he stared, remembering the events that lead up to where he is now slowly came back to him as he is reminded that gods don’t exist. 

 “..worship my ass.” he mutters to the portraits as if they could hear him.

He looked down at his now sleeping baby as he finally released a sigh that had built up in his throat, allowing his head to fall backwards against a wall he sat in front of. 

Then it comes back, Mia , the life he left behind. A mother without a child. 

He glances down at his wedding ring, a new feeling bubbling up his throat and poisoning his mouth. It was bitter. Although he couldn’t understand or pin-point the emotion he felt towards the reminder of his broken marriage. Maybe he was feeling bittersweet, but there was no sweetness to the memories; why would there be? She never took time to listen to him, she lied to him, she helped the creation and protection of a deadly bio weapon that tried to kill him. A Bio-weapon that forced him to uproot his life and move to a country he knew nothing about, he was just an average american who just got dragged into a situation he would’ve avoided if he could’ve. If he could have avoided it all, he would’ve. It wasn’t worth it. 

Mia was never the same, but maybe that's why he felt so guilty because he was never the same either. Maybe that’s what trauma does, it changes people. 

He scrunches up his face; pulling the ring off and throwing it in a fit of sudden rage..but he regretted that too. His face softened, she tried just as hard as him..didn’t she? At least that’s what she said.

“I am TRYING Ethan. You just don’t fucking realise it!”

Her voice still echoes through his tired mind, maybe she was trying. It wasn’t fair that he’s blaming her..this was HIS fault. 

Mia went through more hell than Ethan ever did, right? She was trapped there for years and he was only there for a day. 

Selfish.

He knew it was selfish of him to blame her for changing but she talked so proudly of leaving it behind, so he tried. He tried to resort back to his old self; he tried to live up to her expectations of him but it just was never enough .

Even after having a baby with her, nothing changed. He could tell she was keeping secrets still, but if he ever tried to ask..she would brush it off, she would change the subject and push the idea that Ethan was the crazy one now. 

He believed that. He was definitely not right in the head.

Chris even said his brain was… oh god Chris . 

“Shit…I need to move.” He takes a sharp breath, standing as quickly as one could with a baby strapped to their chest.

Ethan knew that it was only a matter of time before the BSAA would be chasing after him, which means Chris would be close behind him. He knew they would eventually start tracking him, he needed to get somewhere where Rose would be safe. 

Then, and only then, he would finally be able to rot.

His body was slowing down, he was exhausted, hurt, cold and his mind was shattered. Ethan just wanted his baby to be safe just so he can melt away with the void, finally turning up to his appointment with the grim reaper.

The blonde, finally standing once again, let his empty shell of a body push on; his hand makes contact with the church's door. He turns his head back; giving the shrine a small glance before allowing his eyes drift towards the now discarded ring that was supposed to symbolise the everlasting love he was meant to have with his wife. Ethan lets the memories of her fill his mind, the good and the bad. The arguments, the laughter and the deep rooted trauma the two had experienced together; he let himself drown in those memories just for a second, convincing himself that this would fix everything. It was his way of finally letting go. 

 He nods before turning his head back to the door he stood in front of; glancing down at his daughter.

“..this is it, Rose. it’s just you and I now.” he whispered to her, allowing his eyes to raise up to the door. He pushes, the door opening itself willingly as his feet meet the outside world once again. 

The thoughts were all crashing down. Moving back and forth, calling Ethan an idiot, a fool, someone who shouldn't have left. Why would you leave safety? ( because it wasn't safety , a small voice was drowned out by the rest)

He focused back on the cold. Rose whimpered, trying to bundle closer to her father's dwindling warmth. He was thankful she was too young to understand the amount of blood and gore he was coated in.

"It's alright Rose," He lowered his voice, leaning his head against the babe's for a few moments, heart warming at her coo to her father's voice. "We'll find somewhere to rest soon." Hopefully , his inner voice whispered, the doubt he wouldn't let Rose hear.

Almost like a miracle (things Ethan didn't believe in), a large, almost gothic in design castle loomed over him, thick iron gates that squeaked and creaked open, loudly. Ethan flinched, as though the noise alerted the woman far, far away by now. He stumbled up to the doors, almost crumbling to his knees. The cold was starting to take its toll now, he needed somewhere safe for Rose before he let himself fade with the cold.

He wasn't sure he had much strength left in his freezing and throbbing hand, but even so, he lifted it up, the loud knock echoing through. For a moment, he wasn't sure anyone would answer.

Then the door opened.

And while Ethan expected many things, what he saw was not one of them.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Nobody knocked on Alcina Dimitrescu’s door anymore. Her castle was left far from those that still lived in the town.

So, when she heard the loud crescendo of her knocker echo once, twice, three times, a quiet chill went through her spine. She called Cassandra to stay away with her sisters until she told them it was safe, not knowing who or what was behind the door.

Of course, it could be Miranda, but she did not want to chance it being some hunter come to attempt to destroy the “monsters that plagued this village”.

What she hadn’t expected, however, was the sight that greeted her.

A dishevelled, clearly half frozen man with a head of blonde hair, covered in blood (blood that smelt both of his own and the disgusting lycans Karl always had about-), a gun that shook in his grip. She would have shut the door without taking a second glance-

If it weren’t for the baby. A shrill cry split the air, calling the mother to turn back around. Her eyes widened as the jacket bundle the man was holding shifted, and he almost just as quickly moved to shield the baby from the huge form in front of him.

Maybe it was the thought of a child alone, freezing and cold, or perhaps it was something else that stirred quietly, but Alcina gave a shadow of a smile, and spoke.

“Well, who would you be?” Her elegance didn’t waver, but the wariness was evident. The man stared, and for a moment Alcina believed him to be daft or deaf, whichever proved itself to be the truth first.

“I…Ethan. Ethan Winters.”

Winters.

Alcina kept her eyes from widening. Ethan Winters. A name Miranda had uttered, saying he was important to her, needed for- for something , something she had not disclosed to the tall woman and her “siblings”. That was why she had left, to try and find him, bring him here.

And if he was important…then surely the babe in his arms was just as important. An intriguing thought raced through her, having her hide her smirk in a delicate smile, lifting her head up.

If Miranda was looking for him, and he had come here, then if Alcina were the one to bring him to her, surely, surely that would put her high in their mother’s favour.

So, Alcina gave him a warm smile, though she knew her eyes remained the same; cold, calculative.

“Well, Ethan Winters, what on earth is someone like you and your child doing out in this cold…?”

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan willed his half-frozen neck to crane up, looking up at the tall woman. Every instinct in his mind told him to run, to get far, far away as possible, but there was something else, some quiet, unspoken part of his brain that told him if he didn’t do this, his daughter may not survive the night. And Rose needed warmth above anything.

“I…we need shelter…my…my daughter needs shelter.”

The strange woman tilted her head, and she was too tall, her hat concealing too much of her face for Ethan to see. She gave a smile, and moved back slowly.

“Of course, I would be more than willing to help you both…” Ethan walked in slowly, looking around at the beautiful interior of the castle. It amazed him, that despite the decrepit feel of the town, the way people were dead and gone, the way the creatures prowled, that something- some one - was living here.

“You can call me Lady Dimitrescu, Ethan Winters.” She said his name slowly, some strange and unknown tone to her voice. The small voice telling him to run was getting louder, but he didn’t have the energy. And Rose needed the warmth, no matter what harmed him.

“I…thank you.” He kept his voice quiet, his head down. Out the corner of his eye, a shadow moved, causing the man to snap his head to the side, eyes wide with fear.

Nothing was there.

“Not to worry,” Lady Dimitrescu’s voice cut through the fear and panic clouding his thoughts, “I’m sure that was just one of my daughters…”

Daughters. Ethan’s shoulders relaxed of tension slightly, following the woman down the halls, as she pushed open a door.

“You can rest here for the time being.” When Ethan walked in, he jumped at the sound of the door closing.

He paused, waiting for the footsteps to dissipate, to grow faint until he was certain no one was there.

And then, only then, did Ethan fall to his knees.

What had become of this poor boy? What happened to the boy who fought against the people who hurt him, what happened to that stubborn attitude and desperation to be alive?

Well, it’s simple;

It didn’t exist anymore.

After everything, Ethan had truly lost his want to stay alive. It died off a long time ago, anything that was left inside him was now dependent on a baby.

Ethan let out a low, tired laugh as he muttered, 

“That’s quite selfish of me...isn’t it, Rose?”

Ethan’s eyes drifted down to his baby; seeing her tear stained face, her eyes that seemed to know what he was thinking.

You’re a liar, Ethan Winters.

He watches Rose, was this really all worth it? Rose had no mother to take care of her now and she was still too young to be separated from some kind of motherly figure.

He had failed to keep his family safe, he failed to prove that he was a good father even after trying so hard..

He still failed.

Ethan was a liar, he promised she would be safe but now he kneels on the floor of an unknown place with an unknown woman and her daughters roaming the halls. 

Who knew if they planned to kill him and take his daughter?

Tears poured, the gates breaking as he pulled his daughter up so their foreheads could touch..and he cried.

  He sobs and begs for forgiveness from his infant child as if she was the voice in his head telling him that he was a liar and a failure.

Ethan wondered if this was worth kidnapping his own child and separating her from her mother when Rose needed to be with her.

Was it worth seeing her crying, starving and cold?

The sobs that left his mouth began to become muted screams as he slowly pulled Rose into his chest and held her tight; his head falling forward. 

He screamed, silently, for mercy; but no one could hear the screams of a half-dead father as he begged for someone to hand him something that would suddenly fix all his mistakes.

But maybe something had handed him something that would fix it? Maybe he just hadn’t realised it yet.

Ethan muttered words that were barely coherent, broken sentences of a broken man; only hanging onto life by the few ropes that he had left. They were withering away slowly but he hung on, weakly.

 Rose looked around, confused on why her father was so upset; the type of upset that made her upset. 

She needed to get someone's attention, so she screamed.

The baby’s scream only made Ethan fall deeper into his pit of self-deprecation. She was screaming for him but all he could do was sob and blubber words that broke the second they left his mouth.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Alcina was still in her room, moving to grab the phone she was to use to contact Mother Miranda, a grin tracing itself on her lips. She could already see the shade of red her “brother’s” face would be in his angry haze.

But before she could pull the phone off of its receiver, a shrill cry split through the house. She knew it too well, despite it having been years upon years since she had heard it herself, sending instincts long buried, long forgotten, into overdrive.

A baby.

Not a cry of pain, no, but a cry of alarm. The one a baby would use to get attention if something was wrong. She moved without making a sound, heading down the hall to the room she had given the idiotic manthing and his child.

But it was another sound that stopped her from ripping open the door.

Sobs. Purely loud and gut-wrenching, mumbles too faint for her to hear without the door being open, the baby’s cries having gotten steadily louder and louder, still alarmed, begging for help.

But not for her.

For the manthing of a father.

Pushing the door open silently, her eyes widened at the sight of the man, already tiny in comparison to her, now seeming smaller, just clutching his daughter. Tears were staining his still blood-soaked clothes, mouth open in silent screams, mutters and sobs coming out at rapid speeds.

Miranda had gone after… this ?

Something shattered, a memory pushing itself to the surface, memories she had locked away.

Instead of Ethan, she saw herself, years upon years ago, clutching to the dying forms of her young children, as Miranda had come forward, speaking of a way she could help them.

And she had…but at what cost?

If Miranda was after this man…or rather, what if it was not the man she was after? What if it was not Ethan Winters, but that child …the child Alcina had felt strangely connected to, the one that made her choose to not slam the door in his face.

The child that…that he seemed to solely care about. She remembered, she had not cared what Miranda wanted with her, wanted her to do, she would gladly go through anything for her daughters, the ones she had brought in and loved unconditionally.

If Miranda wanted that child, wanted to take her away from him, what on earth would that do to him?

Deep down, she didn’t think she wanted to know the answer.

The way she had been…Miranda… Miranda …

Miranda had taken advantage of her, of her love for her daughters. And if she had taken advantage of her, then the others…had that been the same?

Her thoughts shifted, and any thought of taking him, taking this child to Miranda, vanished. Closing the door, Dimitrescu took a breath, and slowly knocked on the door. It took a few moments before Ethan opened the door, and it scared her how… fine he seemed, as though he hadn’t been breaking a few moments earlier.

“Y…Yes?” His voice was small, scared. For a moment, she would have been happy in that situation. But now…now was different. Building up courage, she spoke.

“Ethan Winters. I believe you and I need to have a chat.”

Chapter Text

Ethan stared at the strangely, almost comedical large teacup in front of him, Rose now settled and asleep in his arms. Unlike Dimitrescu, he had not touched his. He’d only sat there, and listened, and processed what she had told him.

Although Ethan was staring deeply into the liquid that was placed onto the large table in front of him, he was able to listen to every detail of what Dimitrescu was saying. He was still running so low on his will to survive, his body was aching but he knew he had to listen to everything, even if it meant fighting against his instincts of rushing towards that dark tunnel that had been calling to him since he first entered this village.

It was bone chilling to him that a woman he knew nothing about had spoken about him and he had something to do with this elaborate plan to get something ‘special’ through him. This… ’Miranda’ gave him some real bad vibes.

Ethan glanced down at the sleeping Rose in his lap as he finally processes that Miranda could be after her, the one thing that has kept him alive for this long. 

The blonde slowly looks up to Dimitrescu, his mind doing the type of mental gymnastics that would make anyone crack under the pressure of two thoughts tugging at different ends of a rope, one determined to attack and kill whoever was planning to take his baby and the other begging him to run and find someplace to hide with his child while leaving anyone else to deal with this Miranda issue; just begging for it to be dealt with by anyone but him.

 But there was really no fight over what he would decide, he’s a father first and foremost so hiding in this situation would always be a losing thought.

“..what if we kill her before she even notices Rose and I are here?” He suggests, looking down at his cup of tea once again, waiting for some kind of scolding from the giant lady; scared that he would be told he was being an idiot yet again. 

 An idiot for thinking he could kill something bigger and stronger than him yet again.

Dimitrescu tapped the table slowly, thinking, before bringing her teacup up and placing it back down.

“I suppose that could work…” She murmured quietly. “I suspect now she knows you are gone, she’ll be hunting you. Which will bring her back here…”

Ethan watched as the tall lady leaned back, and stood. “Cassandra! Bela! Daniela!” Ethan’s eyes widened as three swarms of bugs burst into the room, soon transforming into three girls who smiled up at their mother. She smiled down at them. “I need to sort something out. Do you mind watching Ethan?” She leant down to one of them, whispering something into her ear. She nodded, and Dimitrescu stood up tall again.

“They won’t hurt you. Stay here until I come back…” Ethan simply held Rose closer, and gave an empty nod, watching as Dimitrescu left the castle.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Alcina huffed, swatting the fields back and forth as she trudged to the factory, glaring and snarling back at any lycans that dared make a move near her, grumbling and cursing every step of the way.

She knew Cassandra, being the eldest, would be able to look after Ethan, but she couldn’t help the nagging feel in her stomach.

“Look after him, do not let him out of your sight.” She had said that to her daughter, who had nodded resolutely. She wasn’t sure why she had wanted him to be protected, but something nagged in the back of her mind, she just didn’t know what .

And not knowing what infuriated her even more.

Opening the door to the factory, she coughed, waving a hand at the sudden hit of metal and oil throughout the place, doing her best not to gag at the smells.

“Well, well, well!” The voice boomed above, and Dimitrescu kept herself steady as he leapt down, staring up at her. “Look who it is…finally done gallivanting around your castle?”

“Always a delight to see you, Heisenberg.” Karl Heisenberg glowered behind his glasses, leaning on his hammer. The lycans that had been slowly coming closer retreated as he lifted a hand up, tilting his head to the side.

“If I’d known you were coming I would have baked something. Maybe a pie.”

Alcina fought back the urge to roll her eyes, arms folding as she glared down at him. “We have something to discuss, Heisenberg.”

“I have nothing to discuss with you.” Karl snarled, turning back around.

“Not even if it involved Mother Miranda’s demise?” Alcina shouted after him, smirking in triumph as Karl stopped, turning back around.

“Well this is a change…what brought this on?”

Alcina huffed. “How about you follow me back to the castle? I’ll explain on the way.” Alcina turned back around, not leaving any room for the man to argue. Looking back over her shoulder, she smirked. 

“Oh, and keep your mutts away from my gardens. They shed everywhere.”

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan had watched Dimitrescu walk out of the castle, confused on what she was doing exactly but it wasn’t like he could just ask , no that would be rude; wouldn’t it?

Well, to Ethan it was considered rude since he was a guest in the home.

As Ethan finally decided not to question the woman on what she was doing he looked down at his sleeping daughter in his arms before turning around only to find a wide-eyed Daniela very up close and personal; so close to his face that he could see and smell the dried blood on her chin.

 He took a few steps back, a little shell-shocked at his personal space being invaded so quickly after the three girl’s mother had left.

 “Um..” As Ethan began to speak, Daniela quickly cut him off;

“Hi!” She yelled loudly before looking towards Rose and gasping, “OH! A CHILD!!” 

Daniela giggled as she examined the small child closely, her eyes filled with pure child-like curiosity as she zoomed around Ethan and his baby.

Ethan watched as the girl darted around him, asking some pretty...absurd questions; hardly giving him a single moment to answer her. This seemed like a normal thing for the girls though because he noticed one of the older girls seemed to smile at how excited her younger sister was acting, finding it entertaining.

As the time passed, Ethan grew anxious. He was left alone with these three girls who he did trust a little but it was still overwhelming. He tried everything to try and avoid them, sneaking away whenever the girls began to argue but being found again within minutes so he hardly got any time alone to think; guess he just has to adapt the only way he knew.

 He began to tune out the girls and their unnecessary bickering.

He finally had the silence to think about his situation, he wanted to make sure whatever happens that Rose would be in safe hands but so far he wasn’t sure if this place was the kind of home he wanted Rose to grow up in. 

 But maybe the girls would surprise him.

“Hey..heeeeyyyyy” A fast waving hand in front of Ethan’s face and a loud voice seemed to break him away from the peacefulness of his mind and thoughts. He looked up to whoever the hand belonged to, it was Daniela. She stood over him as he sat on the couch, softly rocking Rose to keep her from waking up.

“What are you doing?” She asked, staring down at him with a confused expression; finally allowing him the chance to respond.

When Ethan glanced around the room, he found that the older two sisters had gone missing. It was now only him and Daniela in the room.

 “Oh..um I’m…I’m just taking care of Rose…” He looks down at his baby, smiling softly yet weakly at her as he continues to rock her.

“Taking care of her?” Daniela asks, “but you’re not doing anything?”

“Well..I am doing something…” He began to explain, looking up once again as he adjusted how he was holding Rose so she was now closer to his chest and he was able to rub her back in circles. “I’m comforting her..I’m making sure she doesn’t wake up because she needs sleep..”

“Why?”

Ethan blinks a few times, utter confusion filling his mind as he tilts his head; “What do you mean, why?” He asks, relaxing his tense body for the first time and yet again adjusting; although subconsciously; so Rose was just laying on her back in his arms so the sister was able to see her again.

“Why does she need to sleep?” She asked with pure innocent curiosity in her voice and eyes as she kneels in front of Ethan, smiling. “Is she sick?”

 “What? No, no” He smiles, finding the curiosity of the young girl a little endearing; “She’s only six months old, she’s just a baby so she needs to sleep a lot.”

Daniela scrunches up her face as she stares at Ethan, obviously even more confused than before.

“She’s a baby? Why?” 

Ethan laughs softly at the confusion before shaking his head in pure disbelief.

“Because she was only born 6 months ago, so she’s still a baby.” he explained but Daniela seemed to only grow more confused but before she could get another word out, a loud voice echoed through the massive room that seemed to be designed to be a ballroom but currently occupied couches and a large (yet small for Dimitrescu) table to place drinks on.

“DANIELA!! STOP BOTHERING THE MAN-THING AND HIS BABY!!” Ethan looked up to find Cassandra standing tall in an attempt to intimidate her little sister but it didn’t work as Daniela just poured before arguing back.

 “BUT I’M ASKING ABOUT THE CHILD!” She huffed as she stood up too to seem bigger than her eldest sister and then the two found themselves in a small petty argument about bothering Ethan.

Ethan watched, actually watched, this time to see what true sibling arguments looked like since he never had a chance to have those kinds of arguments with any of his siblings so he watched; he laughed and he smiled at the innocent argument before he watched Daniela’s face drop.

“YOU REALISE YOU WERE A BABY ONCE TOO?” Bela had yelled from behind Cassandra which just made Ethan chuckle to himself as he watched Daniela’s anger turn to a look of existential crisis taking control of her mind.

Ethan smiled before hearing a soft giggling coming from his arms, he looked down only to find Rose looking at the sisters and laughing; enjoying the chaotic nature of the sisters.

He paused as he watched Rose smile and laugh at the nonsense happening next to her…yeah, this is a safe place for her.

This place...this would be perfect for Rose to stay, she would be safe and well taken care of.

This is a home for Rose.

Ethan smiled, leaning down to softly kiss Rose’s head but was interrupted by a loud slam of a door opening which caused him to jump; entering panic mode once again. 

No, no, not again.

He looked around for a place to hide before holding Rose close to his chest and darting to hide behind one of the large chairs; watching from behind but doing everything he could to stay undetected.

“Oh, that’d be mother…!” Cassandra gave Ethan a quiet smile from where she was, managing to get Bela and Daniela’s attention as they seemed to transform back into the swarms, disappearing. Ethan, still holding Rose (who let out a tiny whimper at the disappearance of the three girls), made his way to the stairs. 

Lady Dimitrescu looked back, and smiled. “Ethan…” She made a gesture with her hand for him to come down, and Ethan knew better than to ignore a movement like that, quickly making his way down, being careful not to fall and injure his daughter.

She huffed, gesturing to a form of a tall man beside her, his long greyish hair coated in some grease and oil, a trenchcoat covered in some oil as well, a hat and some glasses concealing his face. Ethan tilted his head. Why did it feel like he’d seen this man before?”

“This is Heisenberg. Karl Heisenberg.”

The stranger, Karl, walked forward, swinging a large hammer over his shoulder. “Well, Ethan Winters …” His voice drawled out the blonde’s name, chuckling. “I’ll be honest, I expected more out of the person that convinced my dear ‘sister’-” Ethan watched as Dimitrescu rolled her eyes in disgust- “of finally getting rid of that bitch, Miranda. But then again, you are full of surprises…aren’t you?”

Ethan cocked his head in confusion, and Karl laughed. “I’m talking about our short-lived introduction earlier…” Karl tapped the side of his cheek. “You got me good, Winters.” Ethan looked up, noticing the very miniscule red mark on his face.

Ethan’s eyes widened.

“YOU!” Ethan glared, holding Rose protectively. “You tried to kill me!”

Dimitrescu sighed. “I have no doubt he did. But- Karl has wanted to destroy Mother Miranda-”

“-You mean Bitch.”

“Quiet child, adults are talking.”

“I am not a-” Karl crossed his arms with a pout as Dimitrescu kept talking, looking back to Ethan, who had forgotten he was an important factor, though he still shielded his daughter from the man in front of them.

“ Anyway , he has wanted to destroy her for a while, so I think among the three of us…we may have a chance.”

“Except, if I may speak you giant ego-centric bitch-” Ethan flinched away at Dimitrescu’s eye-twitch, while Karl kept talking, unphased- “You forgot she’ll have Moreau, that- damn thing, and possibly Donna on her side. And I don’t feel that confident. Unless you want your daughters to be bait.”

“Don’t you dare bring my daughters into this! What about your lycans!? Foolish, stupid, slobbering-”

“-hey now-”

Ethan flinched away, covering Rose's ears as he whistled, alerting the both of them.

“What if we talked to them as well?” They both looked sceptical, but Dimitrescu tilted her head, pondering.

“If she manipulated the both of us…maybe we can try and… convince them. I’m not sure about Moreau…but us alongside Donna could easily do that.” Dimitrescu turned, waving her hand.

“Come along children!”

Karl chuckled, looking at Ethan, and slowly extended a hand out to him.

“Well, shall we Winters?”

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Alcina followed the two of them up to Donna’s home, huffing. “This is ridiculous.”

“What? Annoyed you can’t get through the door?” Karl smirked, before clapping a hand on Ethan’s shoulder. (Alcina’s eyes narrowed at the way the human flinched almost immediately at the contact.)

“Just know if any harm comes to him, I will not hesitate to feed you to my daughters Heisenberg.”

Karl huffed, waving a hand. “Just try to contain your amazement as we come out with Donna in tow, alright?”

Alcina growled, opening her mouth to spit out a retort as Karl led Ethan inside, still holding his daughter tight to his chest, closing the door behind them.

She folded her arms, and kept an eye out on the village, making sure she couldn’t see anything that would alert Miranda of what they were planning.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan jumped as he looked around the house. Unlike Dimitrescu’s castle, her home, while large, was more comfortable.

That is, as comfortable as it could be with the absolute fuck-ton of dolls that were staring at them from the shelves, chairs and tables all around the entrance of the mansion.

“Oh fuck me…” Karl muttered. “And I thought that Angie was the most terrifying thing here.”

Ethan didn’t respond vocally, but he kept looking around.

He could have sworn one of them looked at him.

God, why did it have to be dolls? He had such a disdain for dolls but it wasn’t a fear ; no, it was just a normal hate for those ugly..grotesque..and disturbing things . Ethan stared at the dolls that caused a horrible bubbling feeling in his stomach.

“Fucking dolls…why dolls..why not…stuffed animals?” he whispers as he slowly backs away from the army of dolls; feeling every single one of their eyes glued onto him all in that moment. 

Yeah, Rose will never be getting a single doll when she’s older. Fuck that.

Ethan looked to the side as Karl strode forward, clapping his hands loudly.

“Come on Donna! My business partner Ethan and I have something we want to talk to you about!” Ethan did his best to try and keep from looking at the dolls for too long as Karl looked about, shouting at nothing.

“Come on Donna! Or your creepy little- doll- messenger- thing-! It’s a little bit of a union thing we’re planning! Come on, it’s about Miranda!”

At that word, one of the doors in the house opened, and Karl looked up.

“Now we’re talking.” Karl strode into the room without fear, only to shout in surprise as the door slammed shut behind him. Ethan ran over to the door, trying his best to open it while holding Rose tightly to his chest, before a chill went down his spine.

He looked aside, and sitting on a chair near one of the tables, was a short woman clothed in black, a veil over her face, holding an absolutely fucking creepy doll, broken in places with too wide eyes and a slightly dirtied wedding dress and veil in her lap.

“Hello Ethan!” The doll’s shrill voice pierced through, glueing him to the spot in front of the door Karl was now trapped behind.

This is not a groovy day…

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Nobody ever visited Donna. Not unless it was Miranda, and even then…when had the last time been? It had to have been years now…

She stared at the man in front of her, the sound of Karl banging on the door behind him. The stranger…Ethan, she supposed his name was, from what Karl had said, stared at her, holding a small bundle close to his chest.

She didn’t say a word, just staring, as Angie’s head tilted with a violent jerk, staring at the way Ethan cringed away from the movement.

“Hello Ethan!” Angie’s voice pierced the quiet, and Ethan swallowed hard, trying to calm the way his breathing had started to pick up. “Why are you here? With him? ”

Donna examined Ethan’s face as it retorted in disgust; he definitely loathed Angie and her other dolls. Interesting.

She was aware that not many people enjoyed the company of dolls like she did but she had never met anyone who actively showed their disgust for them before.

“Come on!” Angie spoke up, egging Ethan on; “Speak!” A loud giggle from Angie echoed throughout the isolated home.

The blonde flinched at the loud laughter, his eyes were filled with something Donna was very familiar with. A slight glaze of the deep rooted anxiety that she knew festered deep within her soul; she couldn’t help but feel somewhat sorry for the man; she came to the conclusion that no one would ever understand her and her hurt that grew like the vines overtaking her garden just outside her home due to being pushed to the side and forgotten about.

And this…this understanding…

It implored her to hear him out.

Ethan looked back at the door, still being banged on by Karl behind it, though now he had resorted to screaming curses and kicking like a petulant child. He looked back to Donna, bouncing the child in his arms that had been asleep the entire time, taking a breath.

“I…we’re here about Miranda.” The way he said her name; he had clearly never interacted with her, nor heard about her until now. She, nor Angie, didn’t speak as he continued, “About getting rid of her…Karl-”

“We know about that lumbering oaf!” Angie screeched, ending in a snarl. “He’s gone on and on with that drivel for ages now! It’s annoying!!”

“Is she insulting me, Winters!?” Karl’s voice was muffled behind the door. “I feel she’s insulting me!” The frantic jingling of a doorknob could be heard behind the door. “Motherfucker- this door won’t open!”

The jingling and banging seemed to pause for a moment, as though Karl was in deep concentration doing… something else. It was silent for a few more moments, before a loud “FUCK” could be heard behind the door, and the attempt to break the door open resumed.

Donna watched as Ethan did his best to ignore Angie’s screeching laughter at Karl’s misfortune, not taking his eyes off of her. There was a tremor in his hand as he adjusted Rose to hold with one arm, extending another slightly.

“I want to help…if…if we get rid of her, of this Miranda, then you all can be free…to…to do what you want.”

Angie’s laugh turned to a mocking snarl. She didn’t say anything though, as Donna stood to leave.

Until a giggle broke through the silence, somehow heard over Karl’s now cursing at the door he was incapable of opening, even using his special abilities Miranda’s experiments had given him.

She turned, and the baby Ethan was holding was awake, giggling and cooing at all the dolls, her eyes glistening with a child-like wonder. Ethan frantically bounced his baby, doing his best to shush her, his stance tense and terrified, as though the smallest thing could cause his child to be harmed.

The baby.

That was what Miranda was after.

Ethan looked up. “Please…I’ll help you…all of you…I just-...I just want to protect Rose. I just want to protect my daughter.” His eyes said what his voice didn’t.

She’s all I have left.

Donna kept Angie quiet, and in a small voice, still not looking at him, she whispered, turning to look up at him.

“Do you promise I won’t be forgotten…? Do you promise I won’t be left alone…?”

Ethan nodded, his hand still extended. It had stopped trembling now.

“I promise.”

Donna nodded, and the door keeping Karl away opened.

Letting the man fall flat on his face.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Karl hated this place. Of course, he had never been here before, and he spent the whole time trapped behind a door that didn’t even have metal where it should have metal, so he hated it.

He couldn’t hear anything aside from that blasted doll’s screeching laughter; couldn’t tell if Donna was doing anything, or if Winters had been okay-

But now here he was, flat on his face, Donna and Ethan looking down at him. Pulling his head up, he huffed, adjusting his glasses.

“Really? No metal doorknobs?” Donna shrugged, her face unreadable from behind her veil, but he could feel the doll’s damn smirk. Ethan sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Come on. Dimitrescu is waiting for us outside.” Donna’s head perked up at Ethan’s words, turning to Karl in a quick motion of disbelief. Karl groaned, waving a hand as he proceeded to adjust his hat.

“Surprised? So am I…but it seems my new associate here is very persuasive!” He slung an arm over Ethan’s shoulder, before it was pushed off him, adjusting to help Rose sit in his arms, still giggling at the dolls. 

Donna nodded slowly, staying a little behind them. Angie was silent, and he noticed how Donna seemed to gravitate closer to Ethan. She didn’t touch him, but she had enough of a presence he was always aware of.

Karl looked to the side as Ethan looked down at Rose, whimpering as they started to leave the dolls. He watched the man bend down to his daughter, nudging her cheek with his finger.

“You’re not getting a doll Rose, never.”

Karl bit back a laugh at Rose’s pout up at her father, who nudged her close to his chest. Yes…Ethan Winters was definitely a unique person.

And as they walked back out, facing his “sister’s” surprised face at Donna and Angie in tow behind them, Karl was never more certain of a decision he had made.

And he was even gladder that he failed to take Ethan to Miranda, and for once…just this once…

He let himself hope it would end well.

Chapter Text

Ethan had never considered himself as a convincing person, he was only a small time systems engineer from California. At least he was until two years ago, but his point still stands. He had so easily convinced someone who seemed so hateful of him at first to join this plan to kill Miranda just by talking about keeping his daughter safe; it was all seeming too easy for him but yet he stayed hopeful; maybe whoever this ‘Moreau’ was..he would be just as easy to convince.

“So..that was pretty easy..” He spoke, attempting to slice the silence that layered itself over the group, “what’s this Moreau guy like?”

The group paused for a few seconds before a series of ‘uh’s’ and ‘um’s’ entered the air as they tried to come up with a good way to explain Moreau to the blonde but fell flat on what to say.

“Well…You’ll see…”

Well there goes any hope Ethan had left in him for how this was going to turn out.

“Well, I have faith in my new business partner.” Karl glanced down at Ethan, a wide and cocky smirk plastered onto his face. “He could charm the pants off of anyone !”

Before Ethan could even give Karl any kind of response a loud thump was heard from beside him; once he turned he saw a Karl face first in the recently wet mud with his outrageously large hammer laying beside him while his sister huffed and continued to walk forward as if nothing happened.

  Ethan watched as Karl laid in the sludge, seeming to be contemplating his life while he marinated in the mud.

The blonde snorted softly as Karl lifted his head, spitting the watery substance out of his mouth which was followed by loud giggles from Rose as she clapped her little hands, wanting to see him fall over again.

“Oh, do you think this is funny?” Karl rolled his eyes at the child, getting up and finally ‘dusting’ himself off. “Maybe we should put you in the mud too!”

Karl’s words only made the baby laugh harder as she reached towards the man, only to be pulled away by Ethan who refused to let anyone get close to his girl.

Karl put his hands up, a way of showing the man he meant no harm, before picking his hammer up continuing. Ethan sighed, calming Rose back down before continuing to follow the two tall lords in front of him, Donna still walking closer to his side.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan…wasn’t quite sure what he had expected when they got to Moreau’s place. And it was far from a castle like Dimitrescu, or a mansion like Donna, or a factory like Karl had pointed out (and spent 15 subsequent minutes rambling about), but this? This was… very different.

“So, how do you feel about fish?” A cocky voice piped up from beside Ethan as he looked upon the hell that was Moreau’s ‘home’.

The look of it was...definitely something, he couldn’t quite explain it. 

  It looked as if it had been abandoned and left behind to rot; and if he had learnt anything, the homes of the lords seemed to directly represent them as people. 

Donna’s home was isolated and seemed to be a small family home fit for an entire generation of people; like the type of home that you see being passed down from parent to child. Dimitrescu’s home wasn’t homely but it fit the personality of a noble-woman who expected highly from her daughters yet it was almost like she had a sense of always being perceived as pure perfection.

As for Karl? Ethan hadn’t seen anything of his factory but from the way he described it, it seemed like he was a very busy man inside and out.

Now, Moreau’s home was something out of those apocalyptic movies he watched when he lived in America. Lost to the tests of time, rotting from the core as if a virus of abandonment had swept the land.

 And the smell…god, that smell.

Ethan couldn’t pin that ungodly smell on anything, it smelt like an infectious wound being left untreated for a thousand years with that hint of rotting fish left in the sun during a heatwave in Texas.

He covered his mouth, swallowing down the bile slowly rising in his throat. No one spoke, except for the doll in Donna’s arms.

“Well?! Let’s go talk to ugly!”

“For once,” Karl chuckled, “I agree with the creepy doll.” Karl stalked forward, the other lords following behind (except for Dimitrescu, who went as far as she could before water and mud could possibly do more harm than good- or maybe she knew just how much she would complain otherwise, and knew there was much more at stake than some mud on her dress).

“Just- maybe be careful, Karl-” Ethan didn’t get a chance to finish as Karl started to bang on the door of the main place, one hand holding his hammer carefully.

“Come on fish-guts! Open up! We got a business proposition! Get your ass out here! I know you’re in there!”

Ethan groaned. “Karl, maybe-” He blinked at the door starting to open, and Karl raised an eyebrow as though to say ‘see?’ .

Ethan rolled his eyes. Well, that was one way to handle it.

And as he took a look at Moreau, he had to fight that feeling of bile again, now understanding why they were so…unable to explain the final lord in front of them.

The man..no, this thing , was covered with a black cloth that covered his distorted proportions. It was accompanied with a small crown made out of what seemed to be a mix of human and fish bones, tied together with a black rope. Monreau’s face was mutated to the point it seemed to become one single body part directly fusing with his neck that was covered in bumps and orbs that seemed to move and bubble as he moved.

 As Ethan processed the awful sight of Moreau’s appearance he found his eyes drifting to the grotesque man’s hands and feet that seemed to replicate fish like fins with pointed nails that were yellow in colour with a slight black colouration on the lower parts of his nails as the skin on his ‘hands’ stretched over a small part of his nails as if his skin was trying to absorb one of the last pieces of him that resembled something ‘human’.

 The sight of Moreau was something out of a horror movie and he had seen a mutated spider lady with an egg sack on her lower stomach. 

Ethan had thought he’d seen it all but maybe there were truly worse horrors out there then just a few mutated humans.

As Ethan stared at the distorted ‘man’, he watched the mess that was Moreau’s body language. He kept a notable distance from the other lords, keeping his body shielded and his eyes glued to anything other than his siblings judging stares.

“Hey..-” Ethan started but was quickly cut off by Heisenberg's booming voice as he demanded for Moreau to stop being cowardly and listen.

“We could care less about your blind respect for Mother Miranda, right now we need your help to protect Ethan and his child.” Karl started, his voice turning threatening which threw Ethan for a loop. 

He watched as Moreau flinched in response to the threatening voice that was creating a hypothetical cage around him, trapping him in the conversation. Ethan couldn’t help but feel a sort of guilt for this man, there was still some humanity to him, maybe it was buried deep and hidden away behind a locked door but he could see there was still something inside of Moreau, begging to be released from his abuse.

“Heisenberg, wait…” Ethan looked towards Dimitrescu before down at his daughter who was sucking on the sleeve of her little pink jacket all while giggling. He sighed before slowly, yet hesitantly handing Rose to the tall lady; the only one in the room who seemed to understand his want to keep his child safe since she was a mother herself so...he trusted her enough to hold the tiny girl just for a moment while he did what he knew he had to do.

He waited for a moment as Dimitrescu gave him a shocked reaction before nodding her head, taking the fragile baby into her arms and stepping back to keep the child shielded from whatever was about to happen.

Ethan stepped forward, making sure to step in front of Karl so he couldn’t stop Ethan from doing anything and to also show this stubborn old man that it was Ethan’s turn to talk.

Karl seemed to blink at the attitude he believed Ethan was showing him, and the blonde watched the man slowly relent, allowing Ethan to take centre stage, though his hand rested on his hammer, a silent threat. Donna simply shuffled back a little, almost as though she were hiding behind him.

Ethan smiled warmly at Moreau as he softened his expression to show he meant no harm to the fish-man, slightly bending down to show he just wanted to understand the mutated man.

“Um...Hi, I’m Ethan…” He began, knowing this might take longer than before but he was determined. “We… I need your help…”

Moreau backed away from Ethan, unsure of the man that was suddenly showing him a type of kindness he had forgotten existed within humans.

“I don’t...w-want to help.” Monreau muttered, hiding himself within the shadows of his room; the only light coming from the static on the tv. “Mother would…s-she..”

Ethan sighed, slowly sitting on the ground in front of Moreau.

“Yeah..” Ethan began, remembering all the times Mia had threatened him before he ran away. “I get it...but a mother shouldn’t make her children afraid of how she will react to your choices..”

Ethan looked down at his hands, fidgeting with his sleeves.

“..A mother shouldn’t make you feel abandoned when you’ve done nothing but try to make her happy…” He looked up at Moreau once again to see his eyes were finally focusing onto someone, they were focusing on Ethan.

“..N-no, Mother…she does it cause…” Moreau starts to scramble to defend Miranda’s honour. “Cause she wants me to do good…”

“No, Moreau.” Ethan states, his body tensing as the memories from the past 6 years of his life with Mia. The uncertainty of how he was being treated was normal or not; the fear of his own sanity being drained the longer she was around. The near death experiences he encountered when he tried to save her and then her refusal to let him heal after the Bakers incident. “She is doing this to hurt you..you’re being blinded by an empty promise of everlasting love from a mother that will be thrown away the first chance that comes her way..”

“NO!” Moreau screams, his hands covering his face as his back hits the wall. Although Ethan’s words hurt like a shot to the head, Moreau knew; deep down; that Ethan was telling the truth even though he didn’t want it to be the truth.

“Moreau.” Ethan tries to get the fish-man’s attention, wanting to help him the best he could. “I know…I get it, it’s scary to face the truth but if you’re not willing to accept my help then we can’t help you break this cycle of hurt…”

Moreau slowly looks up from his hands, shaking slightly as he examines Ethan’s body language. He notices that Ethan’s eyes had a glaze of sadness to them; not a pity sadness, but a type of understanding sadness. Moreau hated seeing the pity everyone seemed to have towards him but finally seeing that look of someone who understood how he truly felt was something he had never experienced throughout his entire time living within this cult made to worship Miranda and do as she says without question.

“Please..we need your help too…they all want to be free too,” Ethan extends a hand out to Moreau, the same he did to Donna; an attempt to show all he wanted to do was help. “I was in your position once too..I know how it feels to be left to rot by your family..I know how deep the pain goes when you’re shoved into a hole to wallow in your self pity..” 

“Get out.” Moreau was done talking, he needed time to think. Think about how he truly felt about Miranda but Ethan could see that his words got through to Moreau, the truth had shattered open that locked door of a broken yet manipulated man and helped him take that first step to breaking free of his chains.

“What?” Karl growled, unhappy with how this had turned out. “But we need you to help us?” He grips tightly on his comically large hammer and steps forward. “What do you MEAN ‘get out’?”

“..I won’t help Miranda but I’m not helping you either.” Moreau turns away from the group, hunched in a corner. “Just...leave. Leave me alone.” He let a soft sniffle leave his distorted mouth before speaking once more. “I just want to be left alone.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Karl begins to step towards Moreau, anger boiling within him. “You’re being so sel-”

“Stop. No.” Ethan placed a hand in front of Karl, stopping him from stepping forward any more. “We got what we were looking for.”

“What we were looking for was-” Karl blinked as Ethan grabbed a handful of mud and flicked it at his face- “Did you just throw mud at me?”

“To shut you up, yeah. Better go wash your face. Donna, Angie, Lady Dimitrescu and I will meet you back at her castle.” Ethan looked at Moreau, giving him a sad smile and a nod before walking off back to Dimitrescu, who bent down, handing Rose back to him, who had been nomming a bit of her dress.

“Thank you.” He whispered, nudging Rose close. Karl grumbled while wiping the access mud off his face, Donna walking back to Ethan’s side like she had seemed to drift already.

And with that, Ethan followed them back to the castle, though he couldn’t help but look back to Moreau one last time…

But the fish-man wasn’t there, the only light being the faint glimmer of his tv in the house.

And no Moreau to be found.

Chapter Text

Ethan sat at the large table back at the castle, Dimitrescu, Karl and Donna all sitting as well. He still held onto Rose, who had fallen back asleep (Dimitrescu shoo-ed her daughters away with a loving smile before they could overwhelm him, which the blonde appreciated).

“So. What’s the plan then?” Dimitrescu spoke first, not seeming to be addressing the others.

But rather Ethan himself.

“Uh- well-...” Ethan shrunk in on himself being put on the spot, tilting his head in consideration. “I have guns? And I’m sure I can get something else from that…that Duke guy.”

None of them spoke, and Karl was the first to start laughing.

“You think guns alone would work on Miranda?! Oh man- you are a riot Ethan…!”

Ethan shrunk in a little further, turning his attention to Rose. Dimitrescu rolled her eyes.

“I believe what my idiot ‘brother’ is attempting to say…” Dimitrescu spoke calmly, her gaze seeming different as she looked at Ethan, “is that while that would be useful…Miranda is stronger than a few guns. But…perhaps if we all use the power she gave us against her…”

“We could actually do some proper damage. Or at least disorient her enough for some solid hits.” Karl echoed the end of her sentence, and Ethan was shocked to see the two grin at one another for once.

“Donna,’ Dimitrescu looked at the woman, who looked up in response to her name, ‘do you think you could try and cause some form of…what it is you do, or that… doll of yours.”

“We’ll be fine, you giant thing!” Angie cackled.

Karl chuckled. “I have a few presents for her…” He looked at Ethan, a wide grin on his face.

“How are you with rocket launchers?”

Ethan turned his gaze to the 6-something foot man, a hint of excitement in his own eyes which was clearly visible to Karl. 

  “I mean..If I could kill a spider lady with a shotgun I’m pretty sure I can handle a rocket launcher.” Ethan states with a cocky smirk; he knew he was more than capable of handling any kind of weapon especially after the training he was forced to undergo with Chris..

He missed those days, the days he spent 24/7 with Chris Redfield; being trained then being able to spend a few hours just spending time getting to know the soldier. It was the only thing that kept him from dropping off the face of the earth sometimes..well until Rose was born; but then Chris stopped visiting due to his dumb missions he was being given but it wasn’t like he missed him…right?

He was shaken out of what few good memories he had when Angie laughed, cackling.

“She won’t know what hit her!!” The doll shrieked with laughter, but she was the only one laughing. 

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Alcina strode through the halls to where Ethan had gone. They were waiting until the night, when Miranda was most likely going to be back. She had no clue if he was going to bring Rose or not (Karl had suggested using Rose as bait for Miranda, and it had taken all three of her daughters to hold Ethan back from launching across the table and beating the shit out of him)

She tapped on the bedroom door before opening it, Ethan turning to face the tall lord. “What is it?” Ethan’s voice was quiet and confused, bouncing Rose who giggled and nommed his finger.

“I wanted to make sure you were alright. And certain about this…”

They had eventually decided Ethan would approach Miranda, while Karl hid with whatever he had been planning to fight Miranda with, while Donna and Angie hid as well, but closer to Ethan, and Alcina herself and her daughters were to wait for Angie’s signal of flying at Miranda’s face.

Karl had left to get some grenades, pipe bombs and a rocket launcher for Ethan, laughing about ‘how fun this will be!’ in his usual Heisenberg fashion.

“I’m fine.” Ethan spoke simply (and yet Alcina, for some reason, had a hard time believing him), and nodded slowly. “And I am certain. This…this is good…” Alcina tilted her head, nodding slowly.

Ethan confused her, and even with Moreau, listening to him speak to the final lord…the way he knew what he was saying, somehow, he understood him. Understood, in a way the rest of them could never have, the rest of them never will.

It worried her in a way. But why, she had no clue. 

She watched Ethan as he looked down at his bouncy baby girl, an image she knew well; although she had only ever seen it from her own point of view. It was somewhat comforting to be able to see this again, the happy giggles of a small child as they looked up to their parental figure.

“..after all of this..” Ethan had snapped Alcina out of her thoughts by speaking again, still looking down at his daughter. “Can..would you be able to take care of Rose for me?..if anything happens…”

Alcina couldn’t find the words at this moment, processing what Ethan was asking. It sounded like some kind of cry for help, like he wasn’t planning to survive this but she hoped that this was just him preparing for every kind of outcome possible.

“We will make sure Miranda doesn’t-”

“-I know. But…” There was a shake to his voice, quietening it down, as though he were afraid of even the walls having ears. “Just-...promise me you’ll look after her. If anything happens. Anything.” 

Alcina stared at him, and nodded slowly.

“I promise. But Ethan…we will make sure you and Rose are alright.”

Ethan nodded slowly, and as Alcina turned, she couldn’t help but think back on the way he looked at her as she left.

As though he didn’t believe her.  

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan pushed open the door to the church, rubbing his wrist as he looked up at the altar, candles still flickering, even in the darkness that was the moon starting to shine.

Karl and Dimitrescu waited outside, her two younger daughters, Bela and Daniela hidden on the other side, alongside many of Karl’s lycans. Her eldest, Cassandra, was back at the castle, looking after Rose. Karl had managed to convince Ethan (and Dimitrescu herself) to allow him to leave enough lycans there to give Miranda a tough time, so they could hurry to protect Rose if she got wind of what they were doing, and where the child was.

Donna and Angie were hidden in the darkness of the church, in the corner of Ethan’s vision, so that he could see them no matter what. The plan was…simple enough, for now.

When Miranda showed up, he was to try and stall enough for Donna to get Angie in a good enough place to launch the doll forward, where Angie would cackle and lure Miranda out of the church, where the rest of the ambush would take place.

Even though Ethan had bounced off of Karl a lot, in a way he felt… proud of himself. Of using what tactics Chris had taught him about planning an ambush.

He wondered if the soldier would be proud of him.

He walked up to the shrine, looking at the portraits of the lords that he strangely felt connected to. It was strange…he knew they barely cared about him, aside from him helping them get rid of the one that had plagued them for so long, and yet…there was something that connected all of them.

If only he could figure out what .

His fingers brushed against the main portrait of this ‘Miranda’, when the door creaked open. He spun, aiming the gun immediately.

Only to be face to face with an old woman.

Ethan barely had enough time to process that this place was where he seeked a safe haven, before he found people who were willing to save him and his daughter, the people he was now saving from their own hells. They had saved him so now it was his turn, he had to do this or Rose would never be safe.

Ethan’s grip tightened on his gun, not willing to give any thought of doubt a chance to waver his confidence. Now face to face with an old woman who was hunched over almost exactly how Moreau had been which allowed a single doubt enter his head.

Was this just another lord they never mentioned?

His hands begin to falter, unsure on how he should be reacting; none of them had mentioned this to him. Was this all just a trick to separate him from his baby so they could kill him?

  Had he really been that foolish to fall for another trick by those he trusted?

Ethan watched as the woman slowly stepped forward, her movements jerking around just like his grandma’s before she passed. This had to be a normal old woman, it made no sense for this to be Miranda but he knew better than to let his guard down so easily; Jack Baker taught him that.

  He knew the moment his guard was down that meant he was open to any kind of attack, he needed to stay focused on the plan, the task of ending the life of someone who had hurt so many people.

And it was then he noticed it; Donna out of the corner of his eye. She didn’t make a movement, nor a sound, her hand covering Angie’s mouth to keep the doll from shrieking out, though the doll was very well-behaved currently.

She was nodding her head wildly. And all at once, Ethan understood.

This was Miranda.  

And she was telling him to be careful.

Any doubt that was once in Ethan’s mind had dispersed, his hands no longer faltering as his grip tightened on his gun once more, keeping his eye on Miranda.

“Miranda.” He spat, a deep anger bubbling inside of him as he finally processed that she was trying to manipulate him but he was done being manipulated. He was done being someone else’s puppet.

“Hm...I suppose nothing can get past you, Ethan Winters…” The woman spoke, finally, making no more movement towards him. “Did my children tell you about my tricks?”

Ethan felt his face scrunch up in confusion, not understanding how she could’ve known about that. This whole interaction already felt off, there was something that just... wasn’t sitting right in his gut.

“I was wondering why none of them came for our regular family meeting, not even Moreau came!” In a flash she had transformed from a decaying old woman to a youthful young lady, similar to the one in the portraits within this church, just-...without the mask. “And he is my most loyal child.” Her voice seemed to contain some kind of disdain for her children, as if they were all considered failures to her, yet she never verbally said it. Her tone was enough to solidify that disdain.

“They didn’t tell me shit , I’m just that smart not to fall for a dumb trick.” Ethan smirked, priding himself on the fact he considered himself smart even though he was rather dense at moments. “But hey, no need to feel so embarrassed for being unable to trick me.” 

If Angie was allowed to speak, he had the weirdest feeling she may have cackled at that. Miranda scowled, taking a slow stalking movement towards him.

Ethan took a few steps backwards, keeping his gun aimed directly at her head. If he knew anything about those who were mutated, a few gunshots to the head may not kill them but it would slow her down enough so he could give the signal and then bolt. It would also secure his safety if she was to lunge at him.

“What a cocky little attitude you have..” she hisses, only playing nice to the father in the unlikely case he was the only one who knew where Eva’s vessel was. “It really is too bad that once I have my Eva I will have to permanently remove you from the equation. You would’ve gotten along very well with Hisenberg.” Miranda takes the last few steps towards Ethan before noticing the man in front of her smile, seeming to only gain more cockiness as she closes the gap of where she needed to be for the plan to be executed.

As Ethan prepared to give the signal, he paused as Miranda began to reach for something. It was small but shiny, it glistened in the candlelight, it seemed to fit perfectly in her fingers as she fiddled with it; flicking it around between her fingers.

His wedding ring. The last remaining thing to remind him of his sacrifice, his mistakes. The things he left behind, the mother he had stolen Rose from.

“How..” Ethan felt himself drift into the memories of when he had thrown the ring in this very church and there was something about seeing it again that fueled that deep anger he already had bubbling. It only seemed to solidify his want to end this bitch . To keep her grubby hands off his daughter and to finally free himself of the chains he had wrapped around his tiny body that were put there by Mia, the one who trapped him in a failing marriage. 

Ethan hissed, his anger finally spilling over; like a cup being filled to the brim before a small drop of water dripping into it, causing it to overfill and spill over the edges.

“Well, it’s too bad you won't be around long enough to see how well we will get along.” Ethan snarled, as he unloads his gun into Miranda’s skull, dark blood spattered out of the wounds. “I hope you like dolls.” As he fully empties his gun he turns to where Donna was holding Angie; Miranda now stunned and holding her bleeding head. “NOW, GO, GO!”

Almost immediately, Donna let her doll go, Angie lunging forward with shrieking laughter. Miranda shrieked in rage as she stumbled back, clawing at the doll. 

“YOU PATHETIC BRAT!” She roared, and Ethan pushed past her, grasping Donna’s hand to pull her out of the church as well. It hadn’t been part of the plan to get Donna out as well, the woman assuring them she could get out herself, but he wasn’t going to take any chances, not leaving her alone with Miranda.

He panted, grabbing the grenades and launcher Karl had given him that they’d hidden under some of the rubble, turning as Angie was thrown out of the church straight at Donna, who caught the doll quickly. Miranda stalked out, wings flaring out angrily.

“I’ll kill you, WINTERS!” She screamed, her eyes blazing with raw anger and fury. Ethan’s heart pounded, doing his best to will himself to keep standing, to keep from obeying the bitch in front of him.

That will was solidified as she screeched, a loud blast landing at the ground near her. Karl laughed loudly, his eyes wild behind the glasses.

“SURPRISE Mother! ” He snarled, raising his hands. “Ethan and I have a little gift for you!” Bringing his hands down, lycans tore forward towards Miranda, some keeping a blockade in front of Donna and Ethan.

Dimitrescu moved forward, her daughters giggling as they brandished their sickles, helping attack with the lycans and Karl in tandem. Miranda screamed, doing her best to keep away from the onslaught, but Ethan could see that on her own ?

She was nothing .

“You all would dare defy me!? Even you ?!” She turned to Dimitrescu, who shrugged, picking some dirt from her nails.

“The man-thing was very persuasive. As was his little dear.” 

Miranda’s eyes flared up with anger, screaming as Ethan shouted, causing Dimitrescu’s daughters and the lycans to move as he fired the launcher at her, eyes narrowed.

“Stay down bitch!” It was hard for him to use the launcher without some of his fingers, but he wouldn’t let that stop him. Every moment he thought of Rose, of the life she was to have, the life where she’d be happy, where she’d grow.

And he wasn’t about to let this bitch ruin that plan for his daughter.

Not one FUCKING bit.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan cradled Rose inside the room. They were back in Dimitrescu’s castle. The lycans had been forced back to the factory, but some prowled around the village and the castle, just in case the remains of Miranda’s body somehow formed themselves back together.

He could hear Donna (or more Angie), Karl and even Dimitrescu outside the room, their voices faint as they seemed to talk. It wasn’t a celebration by any means, no cheering, but-...it was different. It felt like something had been lifted off their shoulders and they were allowed to do their best to be normal.

He looked at Rose, cooing and giggling, making grabby hands up at him. He sighed softly, adjusting Rose against his chest, holding her close.

“Come on Rose…w-...we have places to go.”

Rose seemed to tilt her head, letting out a cry, as though she knew what Ethan was going to do, that they were leaving, and she tried to cry to alert someone’s attention. Ethan tensed, bouncing Rose and murmuring softly, her cries soon ceasing as she started to fall asleep, most likely having played far too much with Cassandra instead of napping.

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief, starting to find his way to the front doors. As he moved to put a hand on the door, he hesitated. Why was he hesitating? He helped free them, they wouldn’t want him around anymore.

He shook the thoughts from his head, placing a hand on the door. He jolted as a voice pierced through the suffocating silence.

“And where do you think you’re going Ethan Winters?” Dimitrescu’s voice rang out as she walked down the stairs towards him. Donna and Karl weren’t with her, so it was just the two of them (three if you counted Rose asleep in her father’s arms).

Ethan looked aside, shrugging. “I…I don’t know. To find somewhere for Rose and I. Somewhere…somewhere we’ll be safe.”

Dimitrescu nodded slowly, adjusting her hat. “Well, I may know of a place.”

“You do?” Ethan tilted his head, brow furrowing confused. Dimitrescu nodded, turning back around. Upon noticing the man not following her, she turned back.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“I…was waiting for the answer?”

Dimitrescu let out a sigh, slow and drawn out. “The answer is here . You are not leaving. You and your Rose will stay here in my castle. Donna has asked to be here too, so I hope you can handle Angie.” Dimitrescu extended down a hand, giving a shadow of a smile.

Ethan looked at it, before looking up.

He took one last look at the front doors, thinking of the world outside, of the BSAA hunting him down. Maybe…maybe here, with everyone, yes. This would be the safest place for Rose to grow up.

To be somewhat normal.

So, perhaps against better judgement, perhaps not, Ethan did his best to smile, as he followed Dimitrescu back into the heart of the castle, where the others were still waiting.

Chapter Text

The hallways of a home he once knew had transformed from those that held in the laughter of his family to the walls that were decaying, wallpaper slowly falling from the walls; the plaster behind the once bright wallpaper chipping away and rotting with his memories of all the happiness he once felt.

He brushed his fingers along the broken walls, his footsteps echoing louder than his own thoughts as the corners twist and distort as he presses on through the ‘home’. He couldn’t bring himself to speak, it wasn’t like he wanted to. 

 As he walks, he feels as if he was shrinking as the walls grew taller and taller until he could barely see the roof of the home. This place felt so familiar yet those memories that seemed tied to this home were so blurred between the lines of his other memories; he was unable to place this haunted memory in his horror movie like life. 

The longer he walked down these dark halls, the more he felt as if there was truly no end to the darkness that swallowed the hallway behind and in front of him. It was like it was trying to consume him, a darkness that was inescapable for him; no matter how far he ran or walked. It followed him from behind and prepared itself in front of him, ready to snatch up the man who just wanted to move forward. Move past that darkness.

 Maybe the darkness was him, a version of himself that he locked away so deeply that it was finally preparing to swallow him and claim him as its own.

Hours seem to pass, the hallways only seem to drag on. He felt a sort of frustration at the constant walking, his feet hurt but just as he was preparing to give up..a door appeared in front of his own eyes. It seemed to be wobbling as if he was looking through a water lens. The door was only just barely hanging on by the last hinge that wasn’t rusted or snapped off, it had dents and holes as if someone had been kicking and slamming their fists against the door in fits of rage. This door seemed to be just as broken as the rest of the home was, but it was better than constantly following the endless twist and turns of a dark abyss.

The door opens with a loud yet muffled creak, threatening to crash and break under the slightest pressure of his hand pushing against it. Once opened it showed a bedroom, trashed. A small mattress was left in the corner of the room, ripped apart with nothing more than a small dirty blanket that had never seen the tiniest bit of soap in its entire life. The walls had little to no wallpaper covering it and the floor was covered in dirt, worms and dead bugs that were unidentifiable. The room also contained a small but broken dresser that had drawers stuck open with clothes falling out as well as more bugs crawling all over it.

He glances over everything in the room, a hand moving up to his mouth as he restrains himself from gagging just purely at the state of this room that seemed to mimic a child’s room but then the smell hit him. A smell of pure death, of an unwashed and rotted human. He wondered who would ever leave a room like this let alone one that seemed to belong to a child but his question was soon answered by the soft whimpering of a small child.

He looks towards the noise to find a small, malnourished, boy in the corner. The boy was hunched over, hugging his body in an attempt to stay warm within the cold, abandoned room. The boy was shaking, crying as if he was begging for the man in the room to look away. To give the boy at least some dignity. Dignity that he had lost long ago.

He feels himself drawn towards the child, causing him to step forward. He needed to help this poor child. His steps echoed, although it was almost like the sound was muffled to his ears, as if he was trapped under water.

 As he steps closer...he feels his body being pulled backwards and away from the child, in a desperate attempt to reach the child he reaches out his hand before being suddenly thrown backwards and out of the room. His body is thrown backwards through the hallways as if he was being dragged back to the start of this labyrinth.

Ethan’s eyes shoot open, his body ejecting out of his bed with a scream as he reaches out his hand like he had in his dream. He glances around the room, somewhere unfamiliar. Where was he? He needed to save that boy. 

The blonde had started to feel his chest tighten as he threw his blankets across the room, trying to escape the entanglement of them.  He scrambled to get out of his bed, slamming onto the floor face first as his eyes stung with the threat of tears. 

That boy..he needs me!

That’s all Ethan could think of as the cold floor embraced him when he finally curled up to cry. He couldn’t do anything else. His body was refusing to move. 

He was stuck in a position of vulnerability, his hands grasping at his chest and throat as he fought to breathe while his body refused to give him permission to take in any air at all.

It took what felt like an eternity before Ethan was able to successfully take a gasp of air, and then another, before his breathing settled, and he leant back. 

He remembered where he was. Lady Dimitrescu’s castle. She had sent Karl back yesterday, telling him he was not needed in her castle, but he had winked at Ethan and told him the factory door was always open if he got ‘tired of Dimitrescu’s nagging’. Donna however, had stayed, not seeming to want to go back to the isolation of her mansion.

He was fine. He and Rose…they were fine.

Rose. Ethan stood up, moving to put his hand where Rose was lying asleep beside him last night, Dimitrescu having had her daughters help set up a makeshift cot for her, looking so much like a very soft proper cot. When he moved to hold her to take her to find food, however, his hand was met with air.

Looking down frantically, he paled.

Rose wasn’t in her cot.

“Rose?!” Ethan exclaimed as he lifted up the blankets, only met with nothing. He searched the entire room but found no sign of his precious daughter. “No..No, no-” 

Ethan slammed open the door of his room and raced around the castle, searching for either Rose or Dimitrescu. If someone had taken Rose then he needed to tell Dimitrescu immediately. He needed to make sure his daughter was safe, and if Miranda wasn’t dead then that could mean she took Rose. He knew he would never forgive himself if anything happened to the only bit of happiness he had left.

As Ethan searched the castle he soon heard the bubbly giggles of Rose in one of the sister’s rooms, he quickly ran towards the noises of happiness.

He had hardly even thought before opening the door, but the second he had opened it he was met with the sight of the three sisters all standing around Rose who was bouncing in a make-shift bounce, all chanting ‘bounce bounce bounce’ at Rose, who was giggling happily and bouncing.

A small sigh of relief left Ethan’s throat as he made his way over to Rose, picking her up and hugging her close to his chest. He hated being separated from his baby, it felt like his own heart had been ripped out of his body. It was painful to be away from Rose, but he assumed that was just what it meant to be a father. 

“God..” He sighed before looking at the now saddened sisters, “Do not take Rose without me knowing, ever again.” Ethan hadn’t realised he was subconsciously scolding the sisters until they all collectively made an ‘awh’ noise at him.

“We left you a note!” Bela exclaimed, pouting just a little due to being ‘robbed’ of quality Rose bonding time. “And mother said we could play with her!”

“And did she say anything else?”

Three blank confused stares blinked at him.

“No..” Danelia muttered before looking away from Ethan, obviously lying but she also really couldn’t remember if their mother had said anything other than ‘you can play with Rose’. “But we did leave a note! On the bedside table!”

Ethan simply looked back in the room, not finding the note, before his foot stepped on a piece of paper. Looking down, he indeed found a piece of paper. Picking it up, he saw the words ‘We have Rose! :)’ in a strangely dark red ‘ink’

Somehow, he really doubted it was pen ink.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan held Rose close to him as she cried into him, loud and unending. It was afternoon now, normally around the time she would be put down for a nap. But here she was, still clinging to him two hours after her naptime, still screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Rose, sweetheart, shh…it’s okay…it’s alright!” The blonde wouldn’t lie, he was… frightened . Rose didn’t have a fever, he had fed her, and she didn’t have to be changed. Everything was fine. So why, why was his daughter refusing to sleep?

“Rose please …” While walking, his head turned as he flinched at a familiar cackling, looking into a bedroom he was passing.

So, that was where Donna was staying , he mused, looking at the woman sitting in a chair, Angie beside her, seeming to be dressing some dolls, others sitting on the floor in a circle in front of her. She put it down, the doll having string attached to a wooden cross connected to its limbs, and she moved it  perfectly, testing the motion of the doll.

Almost at once, Rose let out a coo and excited squeal, startling both Ethan, Donna, and the doll that had now fallen off the chair, grumbling as she sat up.

“Ethan!” Angie whined in her usual tone, “Can’t you control your baby’s noises!?” 

Ethan held Rose tightly, avoiding Angie’s gaze as he looked at Donna. “Sorry-...she won’t go to sleep…come on Rose, let’s not disturb Miss Donna, okay?” Ethan moved to walk away, wincing as Rose started to cry again, reaching out.

Donna stared at Rose, not responding vocally, however she stood, letting the doll dance about, doing her best to not appear to be tormenting Ethan with the movements. Her head lifted up as Rose kept giggling, trying to wiggle herself along with the doll’s dancing.

Ethan looked down, smiling a little. “Do you mind?” He murmured a little. Donna stood still, and Ethan imagined she was blinking behind the veil. However, she nodded, letting them in to sit as she kept using her dolls, not speaking, but the movements amused Rose, causing the baby to giggle and squeal and clap her hands.

Ethan relaxed, watching his daughter play with Donna and her dolls, cooing and squealing, though Angie always groaned at the squeal, grumbling quietly. He smiled a little, letting his shoulders relax.

Seems I’m not the only one getting used to everything here…

He snuggled Rose close as he set her in his lap, closing his eyes for a few moments, before snapping them open once Angie started cackling with a growl. Rose had currently nabbed her and was squealing with delight.

“I am not a toy!! Put me down!! Ethaaaan!! Control your- thing!! ”

Even with Angie’s yelling, Ethan couldn’t help but chuckle, Donna’s hand moving under her veil, as though to cover her mouth in a laugh.

Maybe…maybe this could be a home.

Yeah…

He could see Rose growing up happily here.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

As the days passed, Ethan had found that Rose was a lot happier around the Dimitrescu family (plus Donna and Angie) than when she was with her mother. It was almost like the baby knew what their old ‘home’ was like. Maybe she was more aware of the pain Ethan felt then he had originally thought.

Although, while Rose was thriving in this new place they both had begun to call home..Ethan was struggling to adjust fully to being away from Mia. it was..unnerving for him. 

He considered himself free of her overbearing need to control what Ethan wanted to do, her need to make him forget what had happened and the need to pretend like she had never betrayed his trust; but he never truly felt ‘free’ of it all . The nightmares still continued even after time went by, he was plagued with the nightmares of her finding him, taking Rose and leaving him to rot in the darkest part of the hell he called life without Rose.

Some days he found himself wandering the halls of this giant castle while the sisters spent time with Rose or Dimitrescu made Ethan take a break from constantly carrying the baby around. He wandered, no real goal in mind of what he was looking for but he felt the need to search the castle for something . Maybe that’s what solidified his mind on this being the perfect place for Rose, the fact that this place was so… ’child friendly’ .

But the more it solidified in his mind how good this place was for her, the less time he had to worry about Rose’s safety. The blank slate in his mind where those worries usually were being vacant allowed for other things to enter his mind. But Ethan never dwelled too much on it to truly figure out what those things were, and any time they started to trickle into his mind, he just as quickly shoved them away. As Ethan…he wasn’t sure he was prepared to face whatever the strangeness was that entered his mind.

While distracted by his own thoughts, the blonde had hardly noticed that all the noise of the sisters, Donna (/Angie) had faded to nothingness as he wandered into an untouched area of the castle. It was colder than the main area of the Castle that was being warmed by fireplaces and by the bubbly personalities of those around him. The halls were dark, the torch-light on the walls barely lighting anything aside from the walls itself.

Although, Ethan had barely noticed any of this, too lost in his own head and thoughts to notice his legs moving automatically, until he slammed into a door with a loud crash. Ethan groaned, holding his nose. Shaking his head, he looked up.

The door in front of him was different to the others in the castle. Where the others in the castle were delicately crafted, with decorations across the wood, this one was large and thick, notched and ancient, worn and broken down, yet still holding strong.

He should have turned around, he moved to turn around, but then he heard it.

The noises coming from behind the door. The gurgling of liquids as if something was drowning purely on its own air, the slow but heavy footsteps that were followed by deep growls that were beyond anything human. Ethan turned back around, swallowing. Something in his mind told him to get away from the door, but he had to check. After all, he needed to know this place was safe for Rose.

The moment he placed a hand on the door however, a loud voice made him flinch away.

“Ethan Winters!” Dimitrescu’s voice shouted from the stairs, her eyes wide with some form of panic. 

“I-I’m sorry-...!” He stammered, moving away from the door, doing his best to keep his breathing from picking up too much. “I just-...I wanted to check the place for Rose, and-”

“ Man-thing .” Dimitrescu spoke above his words, calming her tone quietly. “Calm yourself. That door leads down to the basement, full of…creatures that…that not even I can fully control. But rest assured, it is strong. And quite capable of keeping what is down there from coming up here. The only way through is to actively open the door.”

Ethan let out a sigh of relief, and nodded. 

“Good. Now come along, not even I like being down here.” Ethan nodded again, following Dimitrescu back up. And yet…he looked back at the door, brow furrowing.

He made a mental note of where it was, and the way to get there. He’d have to make sure the door didn’t break. And if any monsters got in, he’d know what to cover up immediately.

He’d make sure Rose would grow up safe and happy here.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan sat in a large chair as he blankly stared at the wall in front of him, his mind and body trying to relax but the loud giggling and obnoxious talking stopped him from finding any sort of calm in himself. His skull felt like it was pulsating, his brain scratching on the walls of his head, begging for him to stop the noise but he had already tried to tell the girls to quieten down a little. 

 Of course they didn’t listen, and of course Rose enjoyed the loud and overly bubbly sisters…not that it made him actually angry that Rose enjoyed the company but he needed to get away from the painful noise.

As he stares, his face scrunching into a look of pure frustration as he lifts his hands towards his face to aggressively rub it; leaving red marks on his cheeks.

He enjoyed the distractions Dimitrescu’s daughters brought, and the way they made Rose giggle and laugh with delight, but sometimes he just couldn’t . He just-

He started as a finger carefully trapped his head, and looked up to see Lady Dimitrescu standing somewhat behind him. “Ethan,’ she gave a quiet smile before gesturing with her hand away from her daughters and Rose, ‘I need help with something, come along.” She turned, not giving him any chance to say yes or no. 

Looking aside at Rose, he relaxed. She’d be fine with them. Standing, Ethan hurried after Dimitrescu, who led him through the castle out to the garden. Ethan sighed quietly in relief at the silence, the only thing he was able to hear was faint whirring of Karl’s factory in the background (he wondered how the man was going, and if he was alright. Maybe Ethan should go check on him at some point), and the wind blowing with a gentle force.

He kept following her, feeling far more relaxed in the garden. He blinked, as the tall woman led him to a somewhat large seat in a pavilion, set up with some tea in the centre. He looked up to her as she smiled, sitting down in one of the chairs, gesturing to the other.

“Even I need to get away from my daughters from time to time…now, are you going to join me?”

Ethan lets a soft smile, finally allowing his walls to drop just a little. He had never been able to pull down his walls, never feeling safe enough to be so vulnerable. 

The blonde slowly makes his way towards the chair opposite to Dimitrescu, sighing as he sits down. He couldn’t be more relieved to be in a space that seemed so peaceful, he had never had a chance to relax in a place like this before. Mia had always made him feel guilty for needing some space from her or Rose when she was born, so he never even tried to find somewhere to ground himself or free up space in his mind for a coherent thought or even enjoy his own company.

“If you ever need some space…” Dimitrescu began, giving Ethan a gentle smile, “you can come out here whenever you need. Or I can make us some tea, if you want company.”

Ethan couldn’t help but blink rapidly, confused on why anyone; let alone Dimitrescu, was being so nice to him. Handing him a safe place with no implications of having his emotions toyed with…it was unnerving to him. Ethan couldn’t remember a time where his wants or needs weren’t used against him in some way so seeing someone offer him a place where he could relax or get his well deserved quiet time caused a domino effect in his brain as his mind flipped between so many different thoughts.

What if it's a trick? 

Is she being serious?

I don’t deserve this.

Dimitrescu watched, finding herself wondering why the man hadn’t responded to her just yet, but one look at the expression his face held was all the answer she needed. She could see just how difficult it was for him to accept the help or kindness of others, it obviously concerned her but she knew it wouldn’t help to push or pressure him to open up when he wasn’t ready.

“Ethan?” she spoke softly, trying not to scare him or make him feel as if his unresponsive state was a negative thing. 

“Huh?” He shook his head softly as if he was evicting all those thoughts within his head so it was empty once more; opened to the more positive thoughts that hardly ever set up a home in his brain. “Sorry..um…that would be nice but…”

 He looked away, examining the garden as he pulled his legs to his chest. Attempting to become as small as possible so he didn’t take up too much space.

“..Why are you being so nice to me?” He sunk into himself, looking towards the fabric of his pants. “I…Don’t understand it…”

Dimitrescu’s eyes saddened, placing a finger carefully on top of Ethan’s hand. “ Why …is simple; you are a guest in my home. And after all you did for us…those who, if I am being frank Ethan, did not deserve the help you gave them…why would I not try to repay that kindness?”

Ethan looks towards Dimitrescu, his confusion only growing. He didn’t deserve this kindness even if he had helped them and saved them from a hell of constant manipulation and abuse. 

“I..dunno…” his eyes darted around, avoiding the glance of the taller woman. “ I don’t think I deserve it…it’s probably my fault you even had to kill Miranda…” 

“If we hadn’t …” Dimitrescu spoke sternly, but made sure to keep her voice quiet, “nothing would have changed. Heisenberg may have brought you to our council room, and Rose may have been taken from you. If you had not come to my castle…things could have been very different, Ethan Winters. You gave us back the one thing Miranda had stolen from us.”

Ethan tilted his head. “What’s that?”

“Freedom.”

Chapter Text

The mud and dirt that surrounded the factory, that belonged to a man that royally irritated Ethan, only made Ethan ever more irritated at Heisenberg. It seemed like almost anything involving Karl just..angered him. He was so cocky, so overbearing, touchy, obnoxious…and yet..

“ Sweet..” Ethan finished the sentence of his own thought as he arrived at the gates of Heisenberg’s factory; looking up at the creepy building. His body shivers as he looks around for some kind of ‘door bell’ but finds nothing. “Great. Add that to the list of reasons why he annoys me.” he huffed before slipping a hand through one of the holes in the gate, leaning his body back to test how much weight the gate could withstand. 

“Hm..” As Ethan stood up straight again, confident to see that the gate would be able to withstand his weight. “Alright..now time to jump a fucking dumb ass fence.”

As Ethan looks up at the fence, he notices the barbed wire. He analysed the gate for a few seconds before shrugging, slipping both of his hands into the holes of the fence; making sure he had a good grip onto the fence. He attempts to lift himself up but soon realises that his hands weren’t high enough up the fence for him to pull himself up higher than the metal covering the bottom of the gate.

“Shit..” He lets go before taking a few steps back, staring up at the fence. “Alright..if I could take down mutated assholes then I can do this.” He nods before pushing the sleeves of his jacket up, taking a few more steps backwards and running up to the fence before jumping. Once he had jumped he quickly grabbed onto the fence, slipping his fingers into the fencing before pulling his body up so his feet were also placed in the holes of the fencing.

Ethan smirked as he adjusted his hands, slowly climbing up the gate. Once he had reached the barbed wire, he made sure he was extra careful of where he placed his hands; soon finding that he was able to just stand on the top of the fencing without his hands holding on.

“YES!!” He yelled, a shit-eating grin on his face as he held his arms above his head. “TAKE THAT, MOTHERFU-” As Ethan celebrated, his footing slipped. In a desperate attempt to stop himself from falling, he grabbed onto the barbed wire before his body tipped forward. 

Ethan’s body began to fall forward, his lower arm scraping on the barbed wire as he fell forward and off the gate; landing face first into the dirt below him. 

“..ow.” He lifted his head, dirt covering every inch of his clothes and face. “Note to self…stop celebrating early.” he hissed as he began to stand up, noticing his now scratched up arm. He sighed softly before standing up fully, a hand placed over his bleeding arm in an attempt to stop any bleeding but he knew that did barely anything to help but he promised Dimitrescu that he would be fine to travel alone to Heisenberg’s factory. 

“Well..Dimitrescu is gonna be pissed. ” 

He snorts softly, remembering how Dimitrescu reacted when he had accidentally cut his finger when he was cutting up some apple slices for an afternoon snack. She was so concerned for him at that moment, but he could’ve sworn that the sisters were staring at his bloody finger as if it was their own afternoon snack but it must have been imagining it; or at least that's what Dimitrescu said to him. And she wouldn’t just lie to him about something like that.

Right?

On that note, Ethan was now at the giant metal doors that looked like they belonged in a barn which…made him laugh. He slowly opened up the doors, feeling confident since on the outside the factory didn’t look that big but once he got a glimpse on the inside he noticed just how cluttered it was.

“Jesus…” He walked slowly, looking at every detail of the factory, it was cold and smelt like..well, metal. Mainly rusted metal but it was a smell that he wasn’t really a fan of; not that it would stop him. “Does he not know how to clean up after himself?” 

As Ethan walked up to the next set of doors, a loud growl was heard from behind him. His body tensed as he slowly turned only to see one of Heisenberg’s lycans standing behind him, growling at him. Ethan stared in pure terror as the lycan slowly steps forward, seeming to be threatening Ethan, at least from Ethan’s point of view it seemed like it was threatening him for jumping the fence.

“ Of fucking course he has guard dogs. ” he mutters before slowly reaching for his handgun that he took everywhere but just as he pulled it out, the lycan bit at Ethan’s hand causing him to drop his gun. “Fuck-” He looks at his gun, now across the room. 

Ethan glanced over to the second set of doors before looking back at the lycan, knowing he needed to take his chance out-running the dog-like creature. 

“Fuck it.” He reaches into his pocket to pull out one of the small amount of bullets he has, throwing it at the head of the lycan with a loud ‘nyeh’ noise before booking it towards the doors. Ethan didn’t even bother to look back towards the monster as he slammed his body through the metal doors; only to figure out they were extremely easy to push open, his body falling through the doorway and hitting the ground with a loud thump.

“Jesus fucking…” he pushes his body up and off the ground with a hiss, noticing the wound on his arm now covered in oil and small rusty metal shards. “Are you fucKING KIDDING ME, HEISENBERG?!” 

Ethan huffed, kicking a small metal table in anger before yelping when the pain from kicking a pure metal table leg ran through his foot.

“FUCK!!” He hisses, glaring at the table. “I’ll come back for you.” he hobbles away from the table, leaving it to hypothetically process the threat that Ethan threw at it.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

A loud, harrowing scream echoes through the large factory as Ethan bolts down the twisting hallways of the engine room, a small hoard of creatures that were covered in metal gadgets and weapons that seemed to have been sharpened to the point that they would probably instantly kill him. 

 “FUCK FUCK FUCK!!” He yells as he runs through the engine room, trying to figure out how to navigate this labyrinth of hell. “I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU” 

Ethan finds himself slamming against a wall, seeming to have no escape now until he catches the glimpse of a ladder. In a flash he grabs onto it and pulls himself up to a ledge; finally free of the mutilated and re-animated corpses that groaned and gargled on their own spit. He let out a soft sigh before turning, trying to figure out where he was but the map he had found barely did anything to help him.

“Great!” he exclaims, sarcastically as he crumples up the dumb map. “I’m fucking lost!” he grumbled before throwing the map to the side, slowly making his way down a hallway that was littered with trash and rusted metal that seemed to replicate weapons but they were broken and bent.

“I guess he doesn’t know what recycling is.” He rolls his eyes as he picks up a small piece of metal that would make a pretty good temporary knife. He flips the metal around in his hand a few times before smirking. “Nice, now I can at least protect myself a little while I’m here.” 

Ethan looks down the dark hallway, his eyes darting from door to door; beginning to severely regret throwing away that map. It was hard enough to remember his own phone number, how was he meant to remember every detail of a map that was so complex that it made his brain want to implode? 

And the handwriting on there? It was barely readable, sure Ethan could read it but not without jumping through the mental hoops that was the misspelling of like 20 different words. Ethan could only roll his eyes so far back before it started to give him a headache. 

It was dumb that Ethan found a sort of friendly annoyance in those details, the way he would stare at the things around the factory; laughing at the stupid signs that had small ‘>:(‘ at the ends of the sentences. He found Heisenberg so unbelievably irritating but the way the man always included him in every sentence made something in him feel… differently about the man who seemed to annoy everyone. 

As Ethan thought about these thoughts, he had been subconsciously wandering through different doors. Entering rooms that smelt like rotted body parts mixed with the smell of metal or maybe the iron-like smell that filled the air was the dried blood that covered the floors from wall to wall or maybe it was the actual metal covering every inch of every room and hallway.  

“Ugh..” He pinched his nose between his fingers to try and stop the smell from infecting his senses. “Alright, next time I come here…I’m bringing a bucket and a mop. This is disgusting.” He rolled his eyes as he opened a door to leave the room he had wandered into.

Only to be met face to face with another Lycan.

Ethan screamed, falling backwards as he watched the lycan stare at him. It didn’t move, as if it was examining the blonde closely. “Are you fucking kidding me..?!” he slowly sat up, slowly moving the opposite direction to the lycan; his back soon hitting a wall. 

The lycan tilted its head as it slowly steps forward. Ethan had hoped it was blind or something , and the reason it wasn’t attacking him was because it couldn’t see him but he soon found out that wasn’t the case when it suddenly lunged at him. He quickly rolled out of its way before shoving the make-shift knife he found into the side of the creature as he shot up. 

He looked down at the whimpering ‘animal’ before glancing at the door, and without a second thought he ran, the lycan not far behind once it had recovered from the sudden stab. Ethan ran, now weaponless as the loud thuds from a monster that was only a few feet behind him.

He bolted down every hallway, turning every corner and jumping off multiple different platforms as he was chased into what seemed like a deadend. Ethan turned, his back up against the wall as the lycan corners him. The blonde hardly had any energy left to fight back but hell knew he would try. And that's what he did.

 He fought like hell but eventually it turned out for nothing as the creature grabbed his leg as he lifted it to kick the ugly faced monster. 

“Oh shi-” Ethan was yanked, his head hitting the floor at an inhuman speed as the lycan began to run off, its hand still firmly holding onto his leg. 

Ethan had been given no time to even process the fact that he was being dragged by the lycan, his mind entrapped in a dense fog. He could barely even comprehend his own thoughts let alone the world outside of his mind. He could’ve sworn that he had passed out once or twice during this but he really couldn’t tell anymore; time had just fused all together into one weird time-loop like the ones you’d see in those dumb cliche movies.

Just thinking about that made him snort and giggle to himself as he’s dragged through the factory by the giant beast bounding forward. 

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Muffled yelling was the only thing that Ethan could hear, it was the first thing he noticed as he finally began to comprehend the things around him. The second thing was a cold, hard surface underneath his body. Although the surface was hard, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat comfortable wherever he was laying. 

The last thing to come back to him was the throbbing pain on the back of his head and the memories of being dragged through Heisenberg’s factory. Although he could just barely remember why he had been dragged, his mind was still in such a daze he just couldn’t put a finger on the exact details of what had happened. 

He let out a soft groan as he reached up a hand to his head, finally opening his eyes to be met with a rusted metal roof with a single hanging light that was emitting a soft buzzing noise and a faint glow that just barely lit up the room but luckily there was another source of light coming from the left side of him. Upon turning his head to the origin of the brighter gleam he found a small desk light that was on a wooden table that was covered in all kinds of papers and books; a small TV set on the furthest corner of the table that had multiple video feeds on the screens, and a small microphone in front of it that connected directly to the TV.

Ethan soon turned his head to the other side of the room to see a tall figure standing just outside of the doorway, seeming to be yelling at something that was standing…or sitting? In front of them. Although he couldn’t figure out what was being said as every noise aside from the subtle buzzing and clunking of machines and lights sounded as if everything was submerged in some kind of liquid. Not quite water but not far from it.

“ Ugh…” he slowly sat up, rubbing his temple with one of his hands as he groaned from the pounding headache and the slight stinging coming from his arm. “ The fuck…? ” 

The small man slowly looks down at his arm, noticing that his jacket was no longer on his body and his once torn up arm was now wrapped tightly in a clean bandage. He tried to remember when he had patched up his wound but no such memory came to him. Weird . 

As the fog started to clear, the sounds became obvious, louder, but seemingly not too loud, as though this room specifically was designed to be more sound-proof, to prevent the cacophony of machines and creatures outside of the door.

And alongside those noises, he was able to hear something more prominent; something inside the room with him. A voice. A very familiar, frustrated, and annoy ing voice…

Ethan let out an irritated groan as he swung his legs to the side of the small table he was laying on, his body now facing the man who had made his way to the top of Ethan’s ‘people who piss me off’ list. Although that didn’t stop him from at least being polite.

After a few minutes of just sitting there, trying his best to just filter out Heisenberg’s voice, he was finally… finally directly addressed after a slam of the door to the room had caught Ethan’s attention.

“Ah!” Heisenberg smiled, obviously happy to see that Ethan was awake. “So glad to see that you’re finally awake, Ethan Winters.” 

Ethan rolled his eyes as he slid himself off the table, pulling his bandaged arm to his chest before responding; “Yeah, yeah..so… glad to see you too. Super happy.” he spoke through gritted teeth, just trying to play nice with the man.

“Well…You sound very excited, Winters” He raised an eyebrow before shrugging off the lack of excitement from Ethan, as if it hurt him deeply that the blonde wasn’t as excited as he, himself was. “Not that it matters anyway.” Ethan watched as Hesienberg reached up to tie his hair back into a bun before he walked over to the large freezers one would expect a mortician to pull a body from in a morgue. He recalled that there were the same type in the Baker house, he hoped that these ones weren’t full of the moulded like at the Baker house…he really didn’t feel like having to get into a fist fight with one of those ugly bastards again. Ever again, in fact.

Heisenberg opened up one of the doors before sliding out a tray that had a mutilated body on it; its chest ripped open with the rib cage smashed to pieces...or at least that's what it looked like to Ethan. The body was also covered in mechanical parts, similar to the creatures he ran from just hours ago.

“Are you just going to stand there?” Ethan jumped at the loud voice, finding himself jumping back a little before tilting his head in confusion which caused Heisenberg to sigh. “Just..get over here and give me a hand.” 

Ethan suddenly tucked both his hands into the sides of his body, his arms crossing over each other as he glared at the older man. “No way!” he shouts which caused Karl to groan before reaching over to the blonde, grabbing him by his upper arm and lightly dragging him over to the body he now had a hand inside of. 

“Not literally, you idiot.” Heisenberg huffed as he took time to show Ethan what he wanted him to do. 

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan pushed his hands further into the pockets of his coat, as Karl walked with him back to Dimitrescu’s castle. Ethan wasn’t sure how long it had been, but judging from the sky, it was very close to the evening; crap. He most likely either missed or almost missed dinner. Whoops.

He and Karl had spent the entire day (more so afternoon) elbows deep in dead bodies and doing dumb note taking but it wasn’t as bad as it seemed, the two of them found that they actually had personalities that seemed to both clash and compliment one another. Ethan found himself laughing and smiling at the dumb jokes that Heisenberg made. 

As much as Ethan loathed the man, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of comfortability towards him. The more time he spent around Karl the more he noticed the small quirks about him that seemed to make that initial feeling of annoyance fade into the background. 

Like the way he swore under his breath when something didn’t go his way, or the way he would tap a finger on the table in a rhythmic pattern that mimicked a song; a song he wasn’t familiar with but the way he tapped seemed to match some kind of melody. 

Ethan glanced over at the 6 foot man who walked with his hammer in hand and his mind also seeming to be distracted with his own thoughts. He smiles as he notices the soft noise of muttering coming from Heisenberg, it was something so dumb yet so calming. He didn't realise it before but maybe Karl wasn’t so bad .

“Well…” Heisenberg stopped walking a few feet from the castle gates, shoving a hand into his pocket as he looked down at Ethan. “This is probably as far as I can go otherwise my sister might get a bit pissed off for getting OiL oN hEr cLeAn mArBlE fLoOrS.” As Karl spoke, his voice began to mimic Dimitrescu’s voice and he waved his hands around in a similar way to the woman he called his sister in a mocking way. 

Ethan couldn’t help but laugh, and he laughed hard , finding no reason to not laugh at something that seemed like pure innocent sibling rivalry. Ethan had realised that although the siblings refused to acknowledge that they were technically siblings, they acted a lot like an older sister and a younger brother fighting over the more petty things.

“Oh?” Heisenberg smiled, watching Ethan laugh the hardest he had ever seen anyone laugh before “so you DO have a sense of humour, Ethan Winters!!” 

Ethan looked up at Karl, still laughing. He rolled his eyes as he snorted at the dramatic reaction to his laughter. “Oh shut up, you fucking giant oaf.” 

Heisenberg snorted softly before placing a hand onto Ethan’s head and ruffling his hair.

“You know..you should smile more..” He takes his hand off of Ethan's head before turning to leave, looking over his shoulder at the younger man. “It suits you, Winters.”

Ethan smiled softly, watching as Karl walked away and disappeared into the distance. He only seemed to smile more as he replayed Heisenberg's words in his mind. Ethan felt a warmth bubble up in his chest as he looked back towards the castle..

He frowns as he looks down at his hands, the positive words of Karl now being overtaken by louder words that belonged to someone he couldn’t see.

You don’t deserve that.

Ethan’s body tenses as he quickly hugs himself, accepting the ‘ truth ’ that pounded itself against him. A truth that was inevitable.

“.. I don’t deserve it.. ” He mutters before slowly making his way into the castle. 

He will never deserve it. He will have to accept that sooner or later. 

And sooner was better than later.

Chapter Text

“Now girls, do you understand the task at hand?” Alcina walked back and forth, her three daughters standing in a dutiful line. “I need you all to look after Rose, while Donna, Angie and I take Ethan out to check around the village. He needs some air.”

It had been two months since Ethan and Rose had made their home here, and Ethan…Alcina had kept a close eye on Ethan and Rose for a while now, noticing how Ethan only smiled when he realised someone was looking at him. She saw the way he wandered the halls, an almost empty glazed look in his eyes as he kept quiet; only speaking when spoken to. Even when he did speak it was soft and short. Simple words that only took up as little space in the air as possible. 

And though she would never admit it vocally, it concerned her. She wasn’t the only one to notice either; she and Donna had shared concerned glances (at least, the best she could through Donna’s veil) many times, when they would notice Ethan staring at Rose laughing and giggling with the sisters with a strange look in his eyes…

As though he were taking something in that he may never see himself again.

“We know mother!” Bela nodded, giving a fake salute. “You can count on us! We’ll look after Rose!”

Daniela nodded in succession. “We won’t let anything happen to her!” 

Alcina nodded slowly, turning to Cassandra, who smiled, maintaining her composure a bit easier than her sisters.

“I’ll look after them all, mother.”

“I know you will sweetheart…” Alcina smiled, nudging all of her daughters before she started to head down the stairs to where Donna, Angie and Ethan were waiting. The three sisters all looked between one another, Daniela beaming.

“Alright Rose! Who’s ready to have some fun?!- Where’s she gone?” Cassandra turned with Bela, eyes widening.

The couch that Rose had just been sitting on mere moments ago, was empty.

Well. That was a problem.

“Mom is going to kill us!” Bela wailed, holding her head in her hands in shame. Cassandra bit her lip, putting her hand on her sister’s shoulder.

“No she won’t, not if Ethan gets to us first.”

And on that note, the three sisters scattered to the winds quicker than they ever had before. They needed to find Rosemary, and FAST.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Rosemary was smarter than those in the castle gave her credit for. She knew where her prize was, but how to obtain it was another challenge, one this tiny baby was determined to succeed at.

Which is why the clattering of pots and pans and the shattering of plates and bowls on the pristine marbled kitchen floor was the first indication to the three sisters of where the child had gotten to. But they could not fathom the determination in this tiny child’s body. For she wanted one thing, and one thing only.

Cheese. Parmesan cheese.

She knew this was where her father had her auntie hide it, and she would not be kept from it any longer. Giggling and babbling with a newfound determination, she powered her way through the kitchen, knocking things down onto the ground as she looked for her precious cheese.

She hadn’t even noticed the girls come in, winded and panting, not used to running so quickly without transforming.

“There you are Rose! You can’t be running away from us!” Cassandra sighed, picking the baby up, that babbled in furious protest. How dare they keep her from her prize!? Cassandra simply giggled, booping the child on the nose as she put her down on the floor. “Alright, so now we head to her room. We have her toys out ready right?”

“Mhm! I even have the note Ethan wrote for us!” Bela looked down at the paper in her hand. “ One of the pages at least.”

“Sisters.” Daniela’s voice was too quiet; the girls couldn’t quite hear what she was attempting to tell them.

“Well where are the other pages!? Didn’t you keep them together!?”

“With what? Nothing was sticky enough!”

“SISTERS!” Daniela shrieked, albeit perhaps a bit too loudly, as both other girls held their ears tightly in pain.

“What is it? You don’t have to yell.” Cassandra sighed, and Daniela simply pointed down.

Down to where the baby Rose had just been put a minute ago. Cassandra let out a groan.

“Are you kidding me!?”

It was Bela that turned her attention elsewhere, heading to the ajar fridge.

“Where’s the cheese?”

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Rose giggled in triumph as she shoved a fistful of the cheese into her mouth. When she was done with her snacking, she looked around the large sunroom, tilting her tiny head. Now what was she to do?

Crawling around the room, her eyes landed on one of the windows, left open slightly to let some air in, curtains blowing gently in the winter breeze. 

Ah ha.

Her father wasn’t one to let her out of his sight, especially not in such a large place. But recently he was leaving her with the three girls or her auntie a lot more often than usual, which she enjoyed! But even then, windows were something she could never quite reach.

But now, ohohoho, now she is determined . With a furious battle cry babble, she made her way to the open window, waddling faster than she ever had before.

Meanwhile, racing through the corridors, the three girls were running quickly, having split up now. Daniela was handling lower levels, while Cassandra handled outside. The main floor was Bela’s to handle. As she turned the corner into the sunroom, she saw it.

Rose giggled and babbled as she had somehow made her way onto the back of the large couch in front of the open window, open just enough for a little child to get through.

“Rose!” Bela lunged forward, managing to grab the child before she went through, who frowned heavily and fussed in the vampire’s arms. “No no, no window jumping.” Bela looked around. Not til you’re old enough for us to successfully catch anyway…

The girl sighed, putting the baby down as she closed the window, smiling in relief.

“Cassandra is gonna be so proud of me! I found Rose first! Take that big sister-” As Bela turned, all triumph faded from her face.

Rose’s giggling could be heard echoing all throughout the castle. The middle Dimitrescu child narrowed her eyes.

This baby knew what she was doing. But that didn’t stop Bela from taking off after her again.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

“This is insane! She’s too fast! HOW IS SHE THIS FAST!?” Daniela slumped over on the ground as they watched Rose giggle, furiously crawling across the ground, a tiny itty bitty bag of cheese being dragged across the ground.

“I don’t know…I mean mother told us she wasn’t human, like Ethan!” Cassandra sighed. “But we can’t give up now! She’s heading upstairs! Come on girls!”

The three raced up the stairs, around bedrooms, bathrooms, lounge rooms, trying hard to find where the baby’s echoing giggles came from.

And eventually, they found her. Bela lifted her hands up and out.

“Rose…can you get off of the stair bannister for cousin Bela? I’ll give you a cookie!” The baby giggled, staring at them from where she was lying on her belly, having crawled onto the bannister. 

“Come on Rose, you want your teddy?” Daniela waved the small toy, trying desperately to get the baby’s attention.

“I really don’t think this is going to- NO!” Cassandra’s voice cut off as Rose slipped down the bannister, giggling in a way that almost sounded like a ‘weeee!’ The three girls raced down the stairs, all trying to catch her at the same time.

But well, what happens when you get three sisters with zero impulse control trying to reach for the same thing? A pile, that’s what.

The three crashed onto the ground, Cassandra onto Daniela and Bela across the both of them, right under the bannister Rose was currently sliding down.

And it was then that the front door opened.

“Well, that was nice, wasn’t it?” Alcina’s voice was warm as she adjusted her hat, shaking some snow off of it onto the ground. Ethan shrugged, standing beside her.

“I…I guess. You both really didn’t…” He shook his head, cutting himself off as he, Donna, Angie and Alcina came across the sight in front of them; the sight that was three out-of-wind vampires in a heap on the floor, with a giggling Rose shoving fist after fist of delicious cheese into her mouth.

Ethan sighed, but couldn’t help the playful smile that came onto his face, picking her up. “Girls, you know she isn’t allowed to have cheese, she’s just a baby.”

Daniela looked at Bela, who looked at Cassandra, who looked at Daniela, and the three of them groaned, flopping back on the marble floor in their heap of tired aching bones.

Maybe next time they should get Karl to help.

Chapter Text

Ethan sighed as he adjusted the beige jacket, a pitiful thing to try and keep out cold, so he grabbed the scarf that ‘wound up mysteriously’ in his closet, though he could notice the way Donna seemed to perk up when she saw him wearing it one day.

He looked to the cot beside his bed that Rose tended to sleep in, knowing she wasn’t there right now, moreso with Dimitrescu and her three daughters. Bela, Daniela and Cassandra were tasked with looking after the baby today, while Dimitrescu, Donna and Angie went out for some air, being quite insistent that Ethan come along as well.

It’s not like he doesn’t appreciate spending time with the people he’s created bonds with, no, he would never complain about that. He just couldn’t understand why they insisted on him coming along on this ‘quest’. Ethan could barely even comprehend why he stayed sometimes, but he did his best to avoid that subject; there wasn’t a point in festering on the topic of leaving. Especially when his daughter still needed him. 

 He simply sighed, imagining all those negative thoughts were escaping his body with the air he exhaled while pretending, as he inhaled, that positivity was re-entering his body and mind. Like a trade, giving the air the negative while being rewarded with the positive.

Ethan slowly stood from his bed, his body only acting on its own separate line of thinking in comparison to his mind and emotions. He knew there was no way out of this day with Dimitrescu, Donna and Angie so might as well put himself in autopilot until it was over. The faster this day ended the faster he could be back to holding his baby and falling victim to his only comfort now; sleep.

As he slowly walked downstairs after saying goodbye to his daughter, the two Lords were already standing at the front door waiting. Alcina gave a warm smile that the man tried to give in kind, but from the concerned spark in her eyes, he knew it wasn’t as good as he hoped.

“Come ooooon!” Angie squealed with a manic delight. “Lights wasting!”

“Shall we head then, Winters?” Alcina’s voice had the same sharp tone it always had, but there was something softer now when it came to the man, something he both appreciated and loathed, but for what reason, he couldn’t say.

He simply nodded, following them out of the castle and down the winding road without another word.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan shivered as the cold wind bit forcefully against his skin. The others didn’t seem to mind it all that much, but then again, they weren’t human. He looked around at the complete silence of the now seemingly abandoned town, the stink of death still permeating the area.

His gaze travelled sideways to a familiar, burnt down home behind a massive gate, tugging on the scarf tightly.

Ethan’s feet stopped the second his eyes met with the home that had once belonged to some of the only other humans he had met here, all of which didn’t even survive even after everything they did before he showed up in order to survive..there was no point in their desperate attempts to live. Ethan found himself lost in the flashing images of his memories, the fire, the blood, the last attempt he made to save at least one person when all he had ever done was get people killed. He wanted to blame himself for all the misfortune in other’s lives and his own life. If he couldn’t save someone who was so easy to save then how was it possible that he was able to save his own daughter, why did the corrupted god above decide that he was the one to constantly suffer the pain of watching all those around him die, over and over and over again. How was this fair?

“Winters?” Alcina’s softened voice broke Ethan from the looped memories, his glance slowly turning towards the large woman who was bent down to be level with him. He assumed she did this to keep him from feeling small and insignificant, but no good came out of it as it only made him feel belittled and like a burden for making someone so tall feel the need to make him feel better about being smaller than her. 

Ethan’s hand was gripping so harshly on his scarf that he had barely noticed that he had tugged the scarf so aggressively far down that it was causing a slight burning pain on the back of his neck, his hand now turning white from how harshly he was holding his hand into a fist; his nails digging into the palm of his hand through the scarf; a slight stinging being the thing that makes him look down and release his death grip before finally responding to Dimitrescu.

“I’m fine, sorry, let’s keep moving..” His voice, flat, monotone and robotic as he turned away from the home that would become a forgotten memory for everyone but him. A home that meant nothing to anyone else but him. 

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan looked around, frowning as he eventually noticed through the hours of the day, the cold getting easier and easier to handle, that for a while it had just been himself and Dimitrescu wandering through the village, occasionally picking at some of the rubble, other times simply standing and taking in the fresh air.

He’d tried to look up at the tall woman a few times, to try and see something on her face. She was a lord of the village, and through notes and journals strewn about when he’d explored a few times, it seemed she was no stranger to…sacrifices, from the village.

But whether it was the hat, or something else, she was good at concealing her face in these moments. Looking around, he tilted his head, squinting as fallen snow seemed to clear, catching something growing on the patches of grass surrounding the village.

The quietness of the world around him seemed to only grow worse as he tried to focus onto the small blobs of green and white. He was sure Dimitrescu wouldn’t mind if he just slipped away for a few seconds, wanting so badly to know what this mysterious blob of colour was when all the colour he had seen lately was the bright colours of Rose’s toys. It felt unnatural to see such a bright green in such a dark and gloomy village.

Ethan kept his eyes fixated on the growth he saw, his feet walking closer as his hands fell to his side. His mind fully glued on what this thing could be, maybe it was a lost piece of treasure some unlucky person had dropped before their untimely death, or maybe it was just grass..or maybe it was a weapon of some kind. 

 But no idea in his curious mind had prepared him for seeing what it actually was.

Any normal person wouldn’t have felt the fear he felt upon seeing it, it was just a simple flower after all. A Snowdrop flower to be exact; but Ethan wasn’t any normal person, he was plagued with so much deep pain that flowed through every vein in his body, a pain that was sewed into his memories. 

This flower was one that he remembers seeing all the time back at home with Mia, it was one that could thrive even in the harshest conditions. Ironic, he thought it was pure irony that this was her favourite flower. She told him that the flower was proof that they were meant to be together, that it was a blessing upon their marriage. Although Ethan saw it as an omen, a warning he never listened to; because while the flower can survive such harsh conditions that means nothing can truly kill it, you can’t rid your life of it. It was stuck there for good. 

“.. shame that you’re beautiful.” He whispered to the flower as he kneeled down, his body facing the flower that taunted him. It’s beauty laughing at him, a reminder that no matter how far he had ran; there was no escape from Mia. He wasted his time.

 Ethan watched the flower gently sway in the soft breeze, a burning filling up his chest as he moved a hand to mercifully place a finger to the white petals. He remembered when Mia was kind like him, or was there ever a time when she was kind? Maybe he made that up too; to excuse her of all she had put him through. The days and nights that were full of fights, tiptoeing around her to avoid an argument about him. Ethan remembered the times his words were twisted against him, like a bullet being shot straight through his protective wall that he had spent so long building up; only to have it broken down into nothing but ash.

He pulled his hand away, glancing down at it as if he had been burnt by a fluttering flame. But no wound was left in the place he had hoped it would have been, maybe he would’ve felt more human if there was, but no; there was only an emotional wound that tortured him everyday. Bringing him to question if he was even sane, if he had a daughter. He sat in the cold snow, hoping to be burnt by his own guilt and torturous memories. He was pathetic, he wasn’t good enough to be Rose’s father..

“What are you doing!?” The shrill cry was enough to startle him arm moving to strike whatever startled him, settling when he only saw Donna holding Angie, the veil covering her face, though if he squinted he was certain he could see a sad and gentle face behind it. He wondered why she used it.

“J…Just-...” He looked back at the flowers, standing, kicking snow over it, as though that would kill the flowers growing beneath it, as though that would kill the way he saw them, the way they felt. “Remembering things.”

Angie, for once, was silent, and Donna reached forward to place a hand on his arm before wandering back to Dimitrescu. Ethan took one more glance at the snow covered snowdrops, before following after her in kind.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan trailed slowly behind Dimitrescu and Donna as the three started to wander back, the cold getting harsher and the day’s light slowly fading away. Dimitrescu had made a comment about ‘Karl’s mangy mutts’, clearly having expected some form of a reaction, and he hated the way she looked at him when he didn’t give one. He couldn’t tell if it was worry, or pity, or even annoyance.

Probably the third one.

As hard as he tried to keep looking up, he couldn’t help but stare at his feet slowly dragging him as they walked back, mind racing and falling deeper and deeper than it had. He knew Dimitrescu and Donna had done this to help him but…

It did jack shit to help him, as much as he wanted it to have helped; all it did was push him further into his mind. He was reminded of too much that he hated about himself. It only helped solidify his hate towards himself for being such a waste of time, although he had wished it helped; there was no helping him. Ethan knew that, he knew he was stuck in the loop of whatever the hell this was. Ethan knew he was bad luck to everyone around him and it was only a matter of time before they all got struck with his bad luck and he would be standing over their corpses as he screamed to the heavens for them to just come back.

A bubbling stirred in his stomach, a bubbling that may have been made up all by his brain but it was a bubbling nevertheless. It churned his stomach as he kicked the soft snow that painted the ground, wishing he could be one with the dirt that laid underneath the cold blanket. That’s all he was worth at this point, he couldn’t save anyone, he couldn’t keep Rose out of harm's way..he couldn’t save himself so how could anyone else save him?

His mind continues to drown in the memories, the deep thoughts of self loathing; becoming a ghost to everything around him. He was invisible as he stirred the probability of how much he actually meant to people. 

Rose was getting older, he knew this. There was going to come a day where she wouldn’t need him anymore, he would become worthless to her too; just like he was worthless to himself. His only qualifications to be worth anything was watching after her as she grew and fighting the bastards that tried to kill him or his daughter.

The memory of Chris creeps into his mind, causing his body to tense as if he had slammed into a wall and there was no longer a way forward. Chris , he was such a distant memory he had almost completely forgotten why he was even in this situation and why he couldn’t leave it either. Chris wasn’t coming to save him from his own nightmare, it wasn’t like Chris would want to anyway. Who would ever want to come save him? No one. He was on his own.

Ethan finally glanced up to look at Dimitrescu, finally noticing that they were only a few metres away from the castle, he needed to ask Dimetrescu something and fast otherwise he might lose the chance to ever ask.

He quickly picked up his pace, the first taste of determination he had felt in a long time fueling his body; trying to catch up to the tall lady who made him feel as if he was a burden on everyone, including Rose. 

 Once he had caught up to her, he let out a soft sigh as he spoke;

“..Hey, wait, can I ask you something quickly?” He spoke softly, not wanting anyone else to overhear his question.

Demitrescu stopped walking, glancing down at the small man. She leaned down, nodding her head as she answered him. “Of course you can.”

“..Okay uh..” He felt his throat close up as he went to finally ask his question, “If..If something was to happen to me…Would you take care of Rose?” 

Ethan looked down at his hands, he hadn’t noticed that he was now holding his trusty gun. A gun that he never left without if he was going outside. When did he take it out of his pocket? Why was he now holding onto it? Yet again his mind baffles him at its capability to do things without his knowledge. He truly was on autopilot. 

≪ •◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Alcina’s brow furrowed as she stared at the man, looking up at her. Donna was walking ahead to the castle, she hadn’t noticed them falling behind.

It…confused her. She and Ethan barely had conversations about this, though she’d started to try.

“Pardon Mr Winters?” She tries to see something in his eyes, something to give away this sudden conversation, the reasoning behind it. But she sees nothing but an empty gaze.

“If something happened to me. Would you?” Alcina blinks slower, trying to comprehend the conversation in front of her. Of course, without much work, she knows her answer.

“Of course, but-…why would something happen to you?” Ethan is silent. He’s staring ahead at the castle, the doors beginning to open, able to hear Rose’s giggling inside.

She looks back at him, and he’s fiddling with the pistol he carries with him to keep himself safe when leaving the castle. His eyes are empty, but somehow, somehow they’re emptier.

“No reason Dimitrescu, no reason.”

Dread . That’s what she feels, a pool settling in her stomach, something at the front of her mind but too scared to say it aloud. 

She stays motionless for a few moments, before delicately moving a hand to his (her face etching with worry as he flinches), as he allows her to take the gun, however small in her hand. The words she utters next are ones she didn’t quite expect.

“ Alcina , Ethan Winters.”

Unfortunately, staring back at her, there was nothing but emptiness acknowledging it

Chapter Text

Alcina found herself staring strangely at the Winters family lately, both at the father and the child, who was currently babbling with delight as her daughters played with her. Ethan had been leaving Rose with them more and more often lately, ever since their conversation, and the sudden shift in the usually over-protective, hovering father was…terrifying, to her.

The question he had uttered had been trapped in her mind weeks after it had happened.

‘If something happened to me…would you take care of Rose?’

She found it… hard to figure out why he had said it. Why it had come out so suddenly, and so out of place compared to other small conversations they seemed to have. She barely let him leave the castle sometimes, he wasn’t in any trouble from the Lords themselves, nor Heisenberg’s mangy mutts that were always hanging around, and whichever people were left in the miserable excuse of a town, however close or far, barely showed their faces.

So why, why did he say such a thing?

It had scared her so much that…she didn’t want to risk him leaving without warning. The part of her that had seen Ethan when they first met told her he wouldn’t, not when it would result in leaving Rose here, but…

The empty look in his eyes had gotten worse since that conversation, and she wasn’t sure she liked that. So, she did what she supposed was the right thing then; she didn’t let him leave the castle at all. If he wished to see Karl or anything, she’d have Donna or her daughters head there, and vice versa. But he hadn’t brought the man up since they apparently had spent the day together, which now that she thought about it, felt like so long ago, even if it had only been a few weeks or so. 

Had Ethan and Rose really been there for so long now that seeing them felt like a daily occurrence she had grown accustomed to and fond of?

She sighed, shaking her head and lightly tapping the sides of her face before she wandered back to the rest of the babysitting duty, but that didn’t stop her from constantly sending glances down the hallway where she knew Ethan’s room was.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check in on him later.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan had barely left his little room he was given by Alcina, the past few weeks had felt like months rather than what they truly were. He knew it wasn’t healthy to stay locked up in a deathly silent room for this long, but how was he meant to do anything else when the repeating voice in his head reminded him every second of what his true worth was.

 Ethan knew this wasn’t healthy, after all, he did have a therapist for a small time after the Bakers incident, but that was just an assigned therapist that he had to work with in order to go back to a ‘normal’ life. Mia didn’t even seem to try and help with his recovery of what he had gone through. 

Maybe it was selfish to expect that from her, especially when he could never imagine what she had been through herself..he was definitely being selfish.

He groaned, sitting up in his bed. He needed to get out of this room for once, maybe explore the castle a bit more. He was sure that there would be something he could do to pass the time. Maybe he’d find someone to talk to other than the people around him; someone who wouldn’t ask him if he was okay or look at him with that look of annoyance .

Ethan could barely keep his own mind awake and aware of things around him; he was drowning in the vat of acid that was his own thoughts. They were so toxic to his sanity but how was he meant to stop them when he could barely find any will to stick around?

As he wandered the empty halls, the only sound echoing was the sound of his own feet hitting the marble floor. He could barely believe that this castle was so big, so many rooms to be explored; but little energy to care about all the details of each room. It was almost like he was looking for something, but what exactly..he didn’t know.

People were scarce in this castle, Ethan slowly began to notice that the longer he wandered. He was so far deep into the castle’s harrowing walls; although he was willing to admit how depressingly beautiful every bit of gold trimming, glistering marble and dark wood was. 

Maybe it was just him but this place seemed so much more fitting to his own mind than he had thought, there was a darkness to it that was hidden by its radiant features.

He placed a soft hand on the walls as he walked in the long corridors, trailing his fingers along as his emptied eyes danced between the windows, floors and the doors that littered the hall. A void filled his chest as he continued to escort himself, and only himself, towards the more darkened parts of the castle. 

Windows slowly became boarded up, droplets of blood covering the floor, a deep smell of iron and rotted meat filling his nose. Ethan inspected the sudden change in atmosphere, removing himself from the wall as he investigated all the new rooms that had doors hanging onto their hinges as if they were someone gripping onto the ledge of a cliff; refusing to be thrown into the depths of a bottomless pit. They swayed in the small breeze that flowed from the shattered windows that had been covered with wet wood; exposed to the elements of the world outside. 

A suffocating pressure began to slowly build up in his chest as he spun around, analysing every detail; something he hadn’t bothered in doing before. 

He couldn’t help but just wonder if things had been different, if his situation had been any different , would he have ended up here? Would he have ended up having his own blood spilled on the floor, a victim to the horrors that he could only dreadfully picture in his mind of what had happened here. 

 Was Rose the only reason he had survived..? Did Alcina actually plan to put him in a coffin rather than protect him and his daughter..?

His fists clench, eyes burning as he finally breaks. 

“..She could’ve killed me…” He felt a wave of betrayal, his chest tensing up as his hand covered his mouth; a soft, sharp inhale causing a painful sob to be released outwards into the echoing halls. “..why..?”

Ethan took a deep breath as he stumbled forward, needing to find a way out of this place. He needed to escape the disorientating smells and sounds. 

His once uneasy wobble turned into a fast walk, which then slowly progressed to a jog then finally a full sprint as he ran through the twisting corridors. He sprinted until he couldn’t any longer; now face to face with a door.

“What..” He blinked, investigating this new door. A door that was actually still connected firmly to its frame. He placed a hand and pushed..It stayed put, and with a confused expression, he glanced down to the handle. 

The door had a handle, of course it did, but a fancy lock seemed to keep it in place. His eyes stay focused on this lock before tucking a hand into his pocket, hoping to find his gun but he is met with an emptiness. 

“Fuck..” he swore as he remembered, Alcina had taken his gun from him. 

He had originally assumed she did it because of his question, which he understood. Who would want to leave a clearly unstable man with a weapon like that, a weapon that could cause a child to become an orphan the second he pulled the trigger; but now he wasn’t so sure about that.

Ethan sighed deeply, wiping his eyes of any leftover tears that had escaped his eyes. 

His hands slam against the door as he swears, he wished for an escape; an out to his pitiful pain. An end to his spiralling self-deprecation. 

A muffled clash came from the door as Ethan had finally started to turn away from the door, he whipped his head back towards it before slowly leaning in to place an ear against the thick door. He was met with silence for a few moments..

He sighed, his hope escaping him as he slowly began to move away but the second he did; he heard it. A growl . A growl he hadn’t ever heard before, he had heard Lycan growls before but this noise was nothing like that, it was different somehow. 

He wanted to know what it was. He needed to know. 

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Alcina sighed to herself as she hurried along the corridors of the castle. Rose was starting to fall asleep as Donna told her a story with her dolls dancing about the room; even Alcina’s own daughters were falling asleep.

She wanted to check up on Ethan, make sure he was okay. Wandering through the halls, she tapped softly on his door, voice quietening down, knowing he didn’t like loud noises and yelling.

“Winters? Ethan?” Pushing the door open a crack, she paled. Well- paled as much as she could. The room was empty, save for his jacket on the ruffled sheets. Fear took over as she began to race through the halls as quickly as she could, suddenly cursing the fact she didn’t take Heisenberg up on that offer to have a tracker dog. She doesn’t want one of those things slobbering about thank you very much.

Eventually, she heard some quiet shuffling, as she went further and further down the castle, eventually coming to the darker, drearier atmosphere. She hesitated slightly, the place where she and her daughters had harmed so many. Of course, she had little regrets, they needed the sacrifices to survive.

What she did regret was the knowledge that…had things gone to Miranda’s plan, it may have been Ethan down here. And for some reason, the knowledge that their bond, their friendship may not exist in another time, it pained her.

Well.

She truly couldn’t imagine a life without Ethan and Rose here, could she?

Shaking her head, she continued wandering down, staring at the door she had made certain she kept locked up tightly, ever since Ethan and Rose had made their stay here permanent. She couldn’t have them hurt. But in front of that door, was Ethan, hand pushed against it, as though he were trying to make the ageing wood crack under his fingers-

“Ethan?” Her voice made him startle, turning to her, having been caught in his own little world. The dull stare caught her off guard, worrying her. “What are you doing down here?”

“I-” She watched as Ethan paused, seeming to look down, then all around the room. But what startled her the most was the distance he had between them. She had not seen him keep that distance since he first arrived here.

“I was just exploring and…ended up down here.” Ethan turned back to the door, pointing. “What’s behind there anyway? None of the rooms are locked, except that one.”

“ That one is dangerous. To both you and Rose. I had it blocked once your stay became permanent. It houses the most dangerous creatures of the castle, horrific monsters even I can’t control.” Alcina did her best to smile, heart breaking at the flinch of her hand coming forward to him in the gentle way she’d learned to do it (had she done something wrong? He had not reacted this way to her in a while), chuckling.

“Come on, let’s get back to Rose. Donna’s telling her a story.” 

As Alcina led the man out, she failed to notice the way he looked back at the door, empty gaze hardening into one of self-destructive determination.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan stared at Bela who was helping clean up some of the statues in the castle, humming and giggling to herself. He took a deep breath, before heading towards the middle Dimitrescu sibling, who smiled brightly upon noticing the man’s presence.

“Hi Ethan!” Bela’s smile was wide with delight as she bounced around the man. “What do you need?”

Ethan tried to return the smile Bela gave him but it wasn’t a very convincing one considering what he was planning. He felt a sort of..guilt over it.

“Ah I just had a question..” He rubs the back of his neck, exhaling softly. “Does your mom have a key to the uh…door for the basement at all?”

Bela immediately stopped bouncing around, blinking a few times before tilting her head; curiously.

“Huh?” She was confused by the question, her expression was a clear sign of that. “Why would you want to know that, even me and my sisters aren’t allowed down there!” 

“Oh, well, she’s done so much for Rose and I so I wanted to help by cleaning out the basement for her..” He lied, that’s not what he wanted at all. “I mean she seemed really concerned about it..”

The middle Dimitrescu sister hummed in thought as she processed the response Ethan gave her.

“Hm..well, the basement isn’t a good place for you to be..” She seemed unsure about revealing anything to Ethan. He was going to have to lie even harder.

“Why? What’s down there?” 

Bela’s body froze, a nervous laughter leaving her mouth as she avoided Ethan’s gaze. “Um..Well I don’t know exactly but mother said it was home to our own monsters we created…”

“Well, you know how well I was able to kill Miranda? Maybe I could get rid of those too so then you and your sisters can go down there and maybe turn it into somewhere even Rose could play!” He felt horrible for using his own daughter against the girl standing in front of him, the very naive girl that seemed so bubbly and easy to manipulate..but something was stopping him from caring much about it. Maybe it was his new found determination.

Or maybe he was always such a monster.

“..Oh” She glanced around the clearly empty room before looking back at Ethan, a sudden smile appearing on her face. “Well, It would be fun to make Rose a cool playroom or something!” 

Ethan nodded, faking the best smile he could. 

He was definitely a monster.

“Okay, well mother keeps all her keys in her room!” She bounces in excitement at the idea of giving Rose a place to spend all her time, maybe they could turn it into a little classroom to teach her new things too. “Her room is uh..upstairs!!”

“Wow, thank you so much, Bela!” He patted her head gently, feeling proud of himself for getting Bela to spill the information he needed. “I’ll make sure it’s all clean and tidy real soon!” 

Bela giggled excitedly before nodding aggressively. She really was too naive for her own good. “Yay! I can’t wait, just don’t let mother know you were in her room, she doesn’t like people being in there!!”

“Gotcha, I’ll be careful.” He smiled before waving a quick goodbye to Bela, turning fast on his feet. His smile quickly disappeared as he left the view of Bela; a bubbling guilt building up but he didn’t have the time to care about that. He needed that key.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan sat on his messy bed, Rose’s cot empty; left with Alcina and the three daughters. He held a key in his hand that he had stolen only the day before.

He stares down at the golden key, a small thing that was the metaphorical trigger for a choice he had been stewing on for the last couple of days; ever since he saw that door. He knew what he wanted and no one would be able to stop him now; especially when they’re so busy watching after Rose.

“..How could a tiny key hold so much power?” He muttered as he gripped the key tightly, glancing over to the small desk he was gifted by Alcina; a letter placed gracefully on top of the wood that had been so carefully crafted to fit the aesthetics of the castle.

Ethan stood from his bed, shoving the small key into his pocket before walking towards the letter, a letter he had written the night before while Rose was sleeping peacefully. A letter that was full of apologies and a request; take care of Rose.

The letter thanked Alcina for everything she had done for him, but that this was the end of his story. He couldn’t go further, he had to leave Rose in order to keep her safe.

Call him selfish for that, he really couldn’t care less. Who cared if he was selfish, he was doing this for Rose; not for himself. That isn’t selfish, if anything that’s selflessness . 

After simply staring at the letter, he lets out a sigh; picking up the letter and walking to where Alcina was with the girls and his own daughter.

He didn’t say a word to her, even when she asks if he’s feeling okay. He simply hands her the letter and leaves. 

Ethan wasn’t sure why he had decided to hand it to her himself but it felt like it was the right thing to do at that moment and there was no way, in his mind, that she would be able to catch up to him in time.

Auto-pilot was his friend now, he was completely out of control of his own actions as he walked back to his room; taking this chance to get one last look at everything he was leaving behind. The beauty that was engraved in every detail of his room, the small toys that littered the floor and the cot..the place his daughter slept at night. 

Once he is finished admiring all the good memories he had, he takes his leave. Walking all the way to the door he had been so fixated on ever since he had laid his eyes on it; knowing it hid monstrous things behind it, so sure of the fact they would rip him apart limb by limb.

A painful death that was truly deserved.

Ethan stood, staring at the door that he knew would secure his own undoing. His painful death was only a centimetre away, this door was the only thing stopping him. A death not even Alcina could save him from.

But yet, he hesitates. 

Why? This is what he wanted , so why is he hesitating? This was what was best for Rose, why did he struggle so much in this now that he was face to face with it?

Maybe he was a coward.

He exhales as he pulls the key out of his pocket, his hands shaking as he glances down at the lock. His body tenses as he thinks of Rose, the one thing that had him pushing further every second of the day..was she not worth enough for him anymore?

No . He was doing this FOR Rose, she deserved better. She deserves a life where she can thrive, but he can’t do that for her. He just wanted to give up; he was so tired, emotionally and physically. He couldn’t do it anymore. 

He was so deep in his own pool of self-hatred that he had barely noticed the tears falling down his pale face, but then a familiar voice snapped him out of his thoughts. A voice he recognised but couldn’t understand.

Ethan looked to see Alcina standing behind him, speaking to him but he couldn’t understand a single word she was saying. He couldn’t process her words, he was so exhausted. His mind was running 10 times slower than it normally was, but even so he was responding to her. He was just unaware of what he was actually saying. His body just wanted to drop dead but yet he was still speaking to her.

He didn’t understand, was this all a trick?

Why was she even here? Did she read the letter too early? He needed to get this over and done with before she could change her mind about him.

He turned to look at the door again, he didn’t want to hear what she had to say anymore. He was so sure this was all just a trick; she was going to use this against him.

Mia did, so why wouldn’t she?

Before he could even finish his thought or do anything about his thoughts, he was pulled into a soft, comforting embrace. His body immediately tensed up as he processed what was happening.

This wasn’t right , This isn’t how these things usually go. Why isn’t she screaming at him? He didn’t understand. Mia would’ve yelled at him; she would’ve screamed at him for trying to ‘leave her’ again. She would’ve used all the times he comforted her against him. 

“You’re such a selfish man! You’re going to leave me alone again ? Leave me to raise a child all by myself ?!”

Mia’s voice echoes through his mind, repeating those words over and over again as he lays in the arms of Alcina; he wanted to push her away but he just couldn’t . Instead, he broke. He sobbed, he cried.

“ I’m sorry, Alcina .”

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Alcina may not be well-versed in the goings of people much anymore, but she knew better than anyone to trust her instinct when something happened.

So, when he had eventually approached her that day, from the moment he entered the room she knew something was wrong. It had been…ordinary. For the most part, at least. Ethan, alongside his daughter, had been staying with Alcina for a while now, though at this moment the baby was playing happily with her and her daughters while the father rested.

He must have spent almost, if not the entire night watching over Rose, the tall woman having checked in on him in the morning, only to find him sitting next to Rose’s crib, eyes vacant as he stared at the wall. It…worried her, concerned her. It seemed like no matter what she did to try to help him, nothing was working and if anything, it was only pushing him further away.

It was late in the afternoon when he approached them. She had smiled, asking if he was okay, dread settling in her stomach at the lack of a verbal response. He had simply handed her a small envelope, before wandering back to his room.

Looking down, there was something about it. So small and simple.

Alcina may not be well-versed in the goings of people much anymore, but she had a horrible feeling about it. Quickly settling the baby down with her daughters, she had made her way quickly to Ethan’s room, not bothering to do her polite knock and call so that he knew it was somebody safe on the other side, simply opening the door-

To nothing. A clean, made bed. She turned, searching through the entire castle, before remembering a few days before.

The door. That horrid, miserable area of the castle, a place full of monsters she, nor her daughters, had any control over, and to head down there without a gun, when she had banned all firearms from the place, for his own safety?

He wasn’t coming back. He was walking himself into a situation that would leave Rose without a father. And she knew he was smart enough to know that.

She runs down, finding him standing in front of that fucking door, before noticing the key she kept carefully in her bedroom held tightly in his hand.

“ ETHAN WINTERS! ” Her scream is loud, panicked and scared , an emotion she hadn’t felt since before agreeing to Miranda’s experiments on her daughters. Her scream is loud, startling the man, who turns, though instead of looking at her with shock or fear, there’s nothing. A strange emotion she’s never seen before etched onto his face as he stares at her. Before he speaks.

“...Alcina?” He whispers, voice breaking just as his own sanity seemed to be. His eyes, glazed with an emptiness that seemed to only encompass a disconnection to the reality that surrounded him. “..I’m sorry, I can’t be a father..”

“What?” She began to slowly lean down to him, attempting to reach a hand out to him but he only flinched away. Why did he seem so terrified of her? She watched his gaze drift back to the door for a split second, taking that as a sign that she had to act quickly. “Ethan. Ethan, listen to me..You can be a father, you are an incredible fath-”

“Why are you trying so hard ?” He snaps at her, shooting her a glare that; behind the initial hurt, was a man begging to be freed of his torture and metaphorical prison he trapped himself in. “What do you have to gain by helping me?”

“I’m not doing this to gain anything..I’m doing this because I care , Ethan” She smiles at him, a reassuring smile as she desperately attempts to bring him back to his senses. “Rose still needs you.”

“Ha..funny.” He spits; an acidic undertone to his dull voice as he clenches his fists. He was no longer looking up at her but rather down at the key in his hand. “You say that as if you weren’t planning to kill me just weeks ago.”

Alcina’s body freezes, the world around her suddenly stands still. Sure, he was right but that wasn’t the case anymore; she did care about the father and his small baby that just weeks ago had entered her castle and changed her view of almost everything around her. His presence changed her, he had that effect on many people it seemed. 

“Ethan..” She had to make a decision, was she to tell him the truth and risk pushing him further away or lie and hope that he would trust her word? She knew so little of how humans operated, at least mentally. She wasn’t entirely sure what reaction either choice would get from him. “..Ethan, I need you to listen to me.”

She watches as he lifts his head to look at her, waiting to hear the excuse she was going to spew; yet also hoping she would tell him the truth. He trusted her after all.

“I would never think of harming you or baby Rose.” She lied, she knew that was disgraceful. She resorted to lying to him but right now she felt like it was her best bet; she would hate it if Ethan looked at her as a monster. “You trust me don’t you?” 

He nods, watching her movements; trying desperately to figure out if she was being truthful but no person in the headspace he was in would ever be able to tell; especially not when she had learned how to lie with grace from her time around Miranda. 

“Then trust my word when I say, I would never think of harming you or Rosemary..” She wasn’t being entirely dishonest, she truly wouldn’t hurt either of them. Yes, it was a lie in what her original plans had been but those plans had only lasted for such a short time that maybe the lie was excusable. “You and Rose are both a very important part of our family . MY family.” 

She looked at the broken man who stood before her, completely empty but hopefully not all the way gone. She felt a deep need to protect him and has for such a long time now; but it was somehow even stronger than ever before now that she was seeing how tormented he was deep inside. 

Ethan stared at Alcina, sighing as he turned towards the door once more; contemplating the possibilities that lay in front of him. Maybe all he wanted was someone to prove he was worth a struggle or maybe he just wanted someone to look at him and see that he was deserving of being saved. 

“Come on, Ethan..” She whispered softing as she reached her hand out once more, one last attempt to bring him back to her and to safety. “Let’s go back, back to Rose..”

He simply shook his head, a soft saddened laugh escaping him as he stared at the door. “No..you don’t..understand..”

He turned his body to face the door, his decision becoming even harder. “Alcina..I’ll only get her killed..this has to be the end of my story.”

“No, no, Ethan..this isn’t the end.” She begins to creep closer to Ethan, a small plan formulating in her mind as she tries to convince him to stay . “You still need to see her story, you need to be here to watch her grow..Come now, take my hand”

Ethan looked towards Alcina, one last time, his eyes filling with tears and a soft, heartbroken smile on his face. His once empty eyes; now full of determination. He wanted it all to end; his memories of Mia, the nightmares of the Baker incident, the horror of all the people that now lay in the ashes of a forgotten home and all the lives that no longer exist. He wanted all that condemned him to hell to end. 

He wanted to pull this trigger, and stop being a burden on others.

“I’m cursed..”

He turned back towards the door, no more responses; he had nothing else to say. He made his choice.

 But Alcina had other plans, she wasn’t going to let him give up just yet; she knew he needed to be around just a while longer. She knew he could heal and she wanted to give him that chance to finally heal from everything that pained him.

Just like he had for all of them.

Alcina scooted closer once more; now close enough to reach a hand out and grasp his sleeve. The second she had a tight grip onto him, she pulled him close. Away from the door and into her arms. 

“ No, Ethan, you are anything but cursed.” 

She held him. Held him as if he could vanish into the air at any given second, and Ethan? 

He broke. He blabbered and begged her to end him. He apologised and begged for the end of his deep emotional scars that would forever lay waste on his mind. 

“ Please..I’m sorry..just let me do this for Rose…give her a good life..please..”

That. That was what shattered Alcina; because even in his darkest moment he still thought of Rose over himself. He was ready to pass but only because he thought Rose would want that. Of course Alcina knew better, she knew Rose would never be the same if she lost her father, Rose adored him so much and she saw that in the child’s eyes everytime she looked at him. He was her light, he meant the world to the tiny baby even if she couldn’t comprehend half of what her father was experiencing behind his smile he greeted her with each morning.

Alcine comforted him, she held him until the afternoon turned to night. She allowed him to cry, to let out every bit of his pain from deep inside of him. She held him until he finally fell victim to his exhaustion, sleeping peacefully as she held him, protectively; like a mother would to her own child. From here, she promised to both him and herself that she would never let anyone bring him or Rose any more harm; she, for the first time in her life, would protect a man. She was going to be the mother figure he needed. She will keep him from entering this dark void ever again.

No matter what, she would protect him.

Because the one thing Alcina Dimitrescu values more over her own life and stature, was her family .

Chapter Text

Alcina paced back and forth through the lavish bedroom of hers as she muttered to herself, her hat for once off as she ran a hand through her hair. Her mind kept racing, thinking of multiple different things at the same time.

It had been only 2 weeks, almost 3 since Ethan’s…

She sighed. Still incapable of calling it what it was, it seems. Regardless, no matter how hard she tried, she had no idea what words or actions of hers were helping the man, and what was making him feel like a burden on the rest of her family.

He hadn’t seemed like he was getting better but he was at least coming out of his room a little more and trying to eat more than he had before the.. incident . 

She was getting desperate. 

Resisting the urge to throw one of the small decorative busts against the wall, she sighed, racking her brain for what to do. Donna was knitting clothes for them, the girls were always around to help, still incapable of understanding what Ethan was going through, and though she had tried, she had other things she knew she had to do.

Clean out that fucking basement for one.

Sighing, she sat down. There was always-

No.

No…she couldn’t be that desperate could she!? That she would even consider that scruffy, greasy sack of bones that she doubted had ever washed even a finger!?

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

The factory doors were right in front of her.

She groaned, leaning her head back before pushing open a door, wincing at the shrieking sound that echoed as it scraped against the floor. The Lycans at least had the decency to run away and not bother attacking her. Least they knew who they were dealing with.

“Heisenberg!? Get down here!”

Looking around, she grumbled, arms folding as she tried to pat the dust that she was certain was gathering on her dress away.

“You don’t have to shout.” Karl’s voice bit from behind her, and the woman turned, the smaller, greasy man standing in front of her, with a cocky smirk of a smile.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫  

“Well, had I known you were coming here I would have baked a pie.” Heisenberg smirked up at his sister, who stared disinterestedly down at him. Though for once, albeit weirdly, there was something else behind the eyes she hid with the hat.

He couldn’t help but feel a slight overflow of concern filling the pits of his gut as he watched every detail of his ‘sisters’ body language, he could just feel that something wasn’t right. She never came to him for anything ; so what was so important that she took the time out of her ‘busy’ day to pay him a visit?

It had been so long since he had seen her or even Ethan, he’s been distracted with his own little experiments even if there was no reason for them anymore, he needed something to keep him occupied during the day when he had nothing else to do. I mean, he had no mother to shit on metaphorically so what else was he supposed to do?

He watched Alcina sigh, fiddling with her hands as she looked around the place.

“I am, unfortunately , here to ask you for your…assistance, with something.”

“With what?”

“Ethan.”

The straight to the point use of his name made Karl pause. Why did she need his help, with Ethan ?

…Did something happen? 

Is Ethan okay? He seemed fine the last he saw him, what changed? 

“Ethan? What on earth would cause you to come ask me for help regarding him?” He asked, curious yet concerned for the response he would get. 

But nothing prepared him for the blunt response that was returned to his question.

“..He tried to get himself killed.” Her voice wavers slightly as she holds back the underlying hurt she felt with the memory those words contained.

Heisenberg, on the other hand, could barely comprehend the words that were spoken to him. Something inside him wanted to deny this truth, he wanted to laugh. Convince himself that whatever Dimitrescu was saying was just a horrible attempt to joke around. 

Though he would refuse to admit it outloud, he had a pleasant impression of Ethan. The way he laughed, poked fun at him and the way his sass always got to him brought him fond memories; it seemed like just yesterday he was admiring the hard laugh that Ethan had let out at his dumb impersonation of his ‘sister’. What changed to make him want to do something…something like that?

“And why come to me? ” Karl’s arms folded, watching Dimitrescu sigh, huffing to herself.

“ Because- ” She began harshly, before stopping to consider her sentence- “Because… I don’t know what to do. ” Her voice breaks, and Karl can only watch as she holds her head in her hands for a few moments. “He needs help, but I…I don’t know what to do. Anything I do- I can’t tell if it is helping or hindering him.”

He watches Dimitrescu’s hands shake as she sighs heavily. Even though there is a part of him that is elated to see this usually graceful and perfect Dimitrescu at what seems like a breaking point, there’s a weird fucking part of him, deep down that…doesn’t like seeing her this way. Unsure and panicked.

“Just-...please.” She speaks again, and it’s weird to hear the pleading behind her words. “I don’t care how long you stay for just-...” She swallows, and the next word is something he doesn’t expect to hear.

“ Help.”

As much as he wanted to refuse or laugh at her asking him for help, he just couldn’t bring himself to do so. He might be an asshole but he’s not heartless . He would never take advantage of her while she was clearly at her breaking point, and he knew, even if it was subconsciously, that she would have never come to him and ask for help if she wasn’t truly desperate for his help.

“..Okay” He sighed, reaching up to remove his fancy hat before running a hand through his greasy hair; the oil and other.. unknown substances on his hands only added onto the greasy look his hair had. “I’ll help. What do you need me to do?”

Dimitrescu looked at him once again, he almost felt guilty for how he had treated her when she first arrived but his determination to help her and Ethan overpowered that guilt. Which was probably not the greatest thing but who gave a shit, definitely not him. 

“I’m…I’m not sure. I don’t know how to help him. I just…”

Karl put a hand up, adjusting his glasses with a smile. “I get it.” He chuckles, looking up. “A sleepover sounds wonderful .”

And as Karl looks at the way Dimitrescu’s eyes go flat with boredom and annoyance, he counts it a win to see the old Dimitrescu back for a moment.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫  

Karl looked around the weirdly clean room Dimitrescu had given him. He wasn’t used to it, but at least it was better than her stupidly oversized couches. And it was a few doors down the hall from Ethan’s.

Speaking of, perhaps now he should try to put his charm on to try and help Dimitrescu with Ethan’s…condition, he supposed was an- alright way to describe it.

Heisenberg had remembered Dimitrescu mentioning that Ethan was in his room at the moment which seemed to worry her, the reasoning to why it concerned her he would never know. She never elaborated on the details of what had happened but he didn’t dare press her on it, it was way too early to out-warm his welcome that was definitely not enjoyed by his ‘sister’ but she had to deal with it, he was her only resort now. She’s gotta suck it up.

The giant of a man made his way out of the, unnaturally, clean room that was ‘claimed’ to be his and wandered himself down to the open door of Ethan’s own room. He wasn’t too sure on why it was left open, he had taken Ethan as a private man, a man who would probably prefer his own privacy so it felt weird that he was able to just peek his head into his space at will; maybe that was simply a result of Dimitrescu’s fears towards the incident.

He peers his head into the doorway to see if Ethan was indeed inside and surprise surprise, he was. 

Heisenberg knocks softly on the opened door before announcing his presence. “Ethan?” 

He watched as the body of a very obviously exhausted man rolled over on his bed to look at who was at his door, even though it was pretty damn evident on who was at the door; the man still had to look. 

Once Heisenberg had the chance to see the face of Ethan, all he saw was an empty stare with the undertones of slight annoyance at seeing the large man at his door; something about that annoyance reassured Heisenberg that the same old Ethan he came to know was still there, just hidden behind whatever it was that was causing him to seem so..shattered. 

“There you are!” He smiled as he made his way inside the room, glancing around as he admired it. “Wow, gotcha-self a real nice room here, huh?” He joked, turning his gaze to the man that would once laugh or roll his eyes at his over the top personality..but yet he was met with nothing but an empty smile that was so blatantly fake.

Heisenberg couldn’t help but feel hurt by the silence, something definitely wasn’t right about Ethan. He could tell that much but he would not give up. No, giving up was for the dumb mutts that surrounded his factory, he was not a dumb mutt. He will keep pushing until he gets something that resembles the old Ethan, even if it killed him.

“Oh, come on.” He walked closer to Ethan, watching as the man who was wrapped in his blankets as if he was a caterpillar wrapping itself into a cocoon, seemed to only show more annoyance towards Heisenberg. “Not even a chuckle? You gotta give me something, maybe just an eye roll?”

“..Not when you just barged into my room without me saying you could enter…” Ethan finally smiled, a genuine smile. “Do you not have manners?..”

There he is.

“Oh, I’m soorrryy, do you want me to try this again then?” He smiled down at Ethan as he turned to head back to the door. “Anything for you, your majesty- FUCK!-” Karl’s mocking bow seemingly disintegrated as he had taken a step back, accidentally slipping on one of Rose’s new ball toys, smacking his face hard on the floor of the room.

Ethan let out a laugh as he watched Karl..putting it simply, eat shit. 

Karl hissed before looking up at the sound of the laughter that he..weirdly missed hearing; unable to hold back the smile as he watched and listened to the man that had seemed so far gone just a second ago. There was just something about hearing that laugh that made him want to hear it on loop for the rest of his life and he would be happy . 

“First you insult me and now you’re laughing at me ?!” He jokingly yells at Ethan, attempting to stand again but as he puts a hand on the ground to be able to sit up again..he immediately feels the sharp corner of a wooden letter block stab his hand which causes his arm to give out and his hand slide out; his face slamming right back into the floor. “MOTHER FUCKER” He curses. 

This only makes Ethan laugh harder as he sits up, holding his stomach. Absolutely keeling over in pure laughter, watching as Karl struggles to get up a second time. 

Ethan continued to laugh for what seemed like forever, unable to stay still as he rolled around his bed before eventually falling backwards off the edge of his bed, just inches away from Karl’s feet. 

All laughter ceases.

“HA now who’s on the ground being laughed at?! HA HA” Karl begins laughing in a, very clearly, overexaggerated and fake tone, before the laughter begins to turn into a coughing fit, which only serves to start Ethan’s laughing back up. 

Karl continues to cough as he looks over at Ethan, rolling his eyes in a very sarcastic way since he really couldn’t say much while he was hacking his guts up. 

Ethan takes a second to look at Karl, promptly noticing the small drops of blood dripping from the giant himbo’s nose. He ceases any laughter he had just seconds before seeing the blood, almost instantaneously moving forward. 

“Holy shit, are you okay?!” Ethan gets as close as he can to Karl, without it seeming weird, his hands moving upwards in concern as he watches the blood drip from Heisenberg’s nose. 

“Whoaa, Personal space, Winters.” Karl wiped his nose, looking down at the blood and simply shrugging in response. 

Ethan softly apologised, scooting backwards as he sits with his legs crossed; now refusing to look at Heisenberg in the face. “Sorry..”

Karl glanced over to the now silent man, his own smile falling from his face as he slowly sat up; finally being able to after double checking for any more toys that seemed to have it out for him. “Don’t apologise.”

Once he was sat up straight, he watched Ethan for a few seconds before scooting forward and mimicked the way Ethan sat in order to make the other feel more comfortable and safe.

“But Ethan..” He tilted his head, ever so slightly. “What about you ?”

“What about me?..” Ethan looked up at Karl, his eyes starting to show more of his personality that was once unavailable in his expressions.

“Are you okay?”

Chapter Text

Ethan paused, staring at Heisenberg, tensing. He…he didn’t know how to quite respond to that question. 

It was a question he saw everyone avoid asking him, he saw the fear in their eyes as they stared down at him both literally and metaphorically, their eyes and movements gentle with him, as if one wrong move could shatter him, something that only made him feel a million times worse. The guilt he had felt from his own actions were already antagonising him, it burned his bones. The guilt of knowing he had hurt someone who did so much to help him and Rose in their time of need, this guilt continued to bubble up his throat; overflowing of a night when he knew he was alone and out of sight of the watching stare of the people he cared for.

He couldn’t see past the glasses Karl wore to cover his eyes, he couldn’t read the face of the man who seemed so worried about Ethan. Why did he even seem worried? Karl hadn’t tried to come visit him before so why the fuck did he care now?

“Of course I am!” Ethan faked a smile, more convincing than his past smiles.

 He had spent the last few weeks practising that smile; refusing to let anyone know what the state of his mind truly was behind his glazed eyes and the heavy bags that laid waste on his skin, under his eyes. He didn’t want to give anyone the chance to question why his eyes always seemed so puffy, seeming to be breaking from the seams as he held back the monstrous amounts of tears that were trapped behind a dam that had been broken down so long ago.

Karl knew that Ethan was lying, of course he did. He saw the look in his eyes, that look of someone who begged to be rescued from his own hellscape, a hell that was inescapable.

“Come on, it's just us..” Karl removed his glasses from his face to show his softened, ghostly coloured eyes. “You can trust me, Ethan.”

Ethan stared. 

How could he not? He had never seen the cocky oaf’s eyes before. He saw how they seemed to swallow his mind as they turned into a more pearly colour as the light from the window hit his face at different angles as he moved. The ghost of his past seeming to haunt the darkness within the pupils of his eyes. That made Ethan wonder about what Karl could be hiding deep within his mind but he couldn’t bring himself to even ask.

“..I-” Ethan felt his body relax as his walls began to collapse around him. “ No..no, I’m not ” 

His body curled up into itself as the tears burnt his burdened eyes, the hidden things he never wanted Karl to ever see finally coming to the surface. 

The one thing Ethan hated more than his inability to keep others safe was how easy it was to get him to crumble into ashes, a few simple words of comfort was enough to make the man fall apart and turn into nothing but a pathetic blubbering mess on the floor. It was a horrible feeling to come undone in front of someone who didn’t even try to come see him at least every once and a while; he felt shameful as the walls around him closed in on his trembling body.

“ I’m n-not okay..I’m anything but o-fucking-kay, Karl…” He mutters out as his chest twists around in knots, his lungs seeming to inflate but never deflate. Never exhaling the air he choked on as it travelled down his throat. 

He wheezed. He gasped, hands slowly reaching to his throat. His fingers slithered around his neck, nails digging into the pale skin that had deep scars littering every inch of the once perfect and smooth skin; creating deep ridges in his arms, back, legs and torso. He scratched against his contracting throat; trying with all the will of a man on the brink of death to rip open his neck to get to his air-ways in hopes he could open them easier. 

Just so he could breathe.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫  

Karl was, and always had been, more in touch with certain feelings, even after Miranda’s experiments. First learning what she had done, he was- for the lack of a better term- not okay . So when he saw Ethan begin to remind him of the way Karl himself acted for the first few days being a Lord, he knew he had to act quickly, but above all, carefully.

“Hey..” Karl spoke softly as he carefully reached a hand towards the almost inconsolable man that sits, scratching at his throat, in front of him. 

He scoots forward as he places his hand, sympathetically, upon the blonde’s own hands. He watched Ethan try to turn away from the older man but the soothing back and forth feeling of Karl’s thumb gently grazing Ethan’s skin seems to stop him. The touch wasn’t much, Karl knew better than to overwhelm someone who was in the state Ethan was now in, but it was enough to give him something to focus on.

“ You’re okay.. ” His voice was considerate of the possibility that Ethan may not be able to recognise the sound of Karl’s voice, although he still spoke. In case he could recognise Karl. “ Here, take some deep breaths with me, in and out. ”

Karl took a deep breath in, holding it for just a few seconds before releasing it. He continued that, trying to get Ethan to copy what he was doing before speaking again.

 “ Good job, you’ve got this. ” Karl praised Ethan for taking the deep breaths needed to help him relax again, although he could see the smaller man was anything but relaxed. “ I’m right here, you are safe.”

Ethan looked up at Karl, his face absolutely covered in snot and tears. It was a little disgusting to see the man in that state but Heisenberg had other things to worry about than the messy face of Ethan Winters. 

“ See? I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere. ” He reassured Ethan as he moved his other hand to softly wipe a tear from Ethan’s cheek. A soft thing you would never see Karl do to anyone else, yet for some reason, for Ethan he would gladly let his defensive walls come down and let himself become softened. Ethan mattered more than his own pride, he was finally willing to accept that, and all it took was to see the man become a sobbing mess on the floor. 

Karl held Ethan’s face for a few seconds before moving his hand to the stramineous-blonde hair that belonged to the distressed man; softly running his fingers through it before bringing his hand right back to Ethan’s cheek. 

As Karl began to gently rub Ethan’s cheek with his thumb just as he had when he held the man’s hand just minutes ago, Ethan moved one of his shaky hands up to Karl’s. He placed his hand on Heisenberg’s before leaning into the soothing touch of the man that once annoyed him and made him roll his eyes. He was no longer pushing Karl’s touchiness away from himself but rather, he was accepting it. Which was..definitely a first for the hammer wielding man.

“ ..Thank you, Karl. ” Ethan whispered as he moved forward to finally collapse into the chest of the person who was the first to ever comfort him during one of these intense moments. 

And Karl couldn’t be anymore thankful that Ethan was trusting him enough to feel safe enough to no longer hide his emotions away.

Oh he was definitely going to brag about this.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫  

Alcina sighed, pacing through the hallways as she readjusted one of the paintings of her family in the hall for what felt like the millionth time. She shook her head, silently berating herself for the silly way she was acting. But well, she couldn’t help it; Ethan had just tried to end everything and no matter what she did nothing seemed to fix it. He meant more to her than what he could comprehend so of course she felt herself spiralling when everything she did was a failure to fix anything.

She wasn’t even completely certain Heisenberg would be able to help him, but what other choice did she have? Nothing was working; she’d tried everything and nothing WORKED . How on earth was she going to keep her promise when she couldn’t even help him through this ?

She stared at the painting with another sigh, rubbing her face with her hand. She figured she may at least try to find them, to make sure Heisenberg hadn’t done or said anything to upset the broken man, and make sure he hadn’t dirtied the room she was allowing him to use for the time being.

Wandering through the halls, she made her way to Ethan’s room. She knew Rose was with Donna at the moment, and Ethan barely really moved from the bedroom a lot of the time, unless it was to eat or cradle his daughter when she was worried and wanting her dad.

Putting her head to the door, she panicked internally at the sound of nothing, before she was able to catch quiet breathing from inside the room. Two sets. So Ethan was still alive then, good. Good.

Pushing the door open gently, she blinked at the strange sight before her.

The two men laid on the floor, intertwined with one another. Heisenberg laid on his back, completely stretched out to cover the floor as he softly snores. It was certainly a weird sight to see him sleeping when the man had seemed like such an insomniac normally. Ethan on the other hand, was cuddled up to Heisenberg’s side, curled up with the large man’s arm underneath him with his hand in the blonde’s hair. Ethan seemed to be in a deep slumber just as much as Heisenberg was; both of them seemed to be completely at peace as they laid together. Something about this sight just refused to sit right with Alcina. Maybe it was the fact that her so-called ‘brother’ was so close to Ethan when she was certain he had never bathed a single day in his entire life.

Alcina huffed, gliding over to where Heisenberg laid. She promptly woke him up from his peaceful sleep, dragging him along her clean floors by the collar of his disgusting trench coat. She tried her best not to wake Ethan but he was so far deep in his dreamless sleep that nothing would wake him from the well deserved rest.

Or so she thought.

About halfway down the hall, ignoring Heisenberg’s screaming and cursing the woman at the top of his lungs as he wriggled furiously like a toddler having a tantrum as they were pulled from a candy aisle, she heard a familiar voice, laced with the tiredness of a man that had only just woken up, his hair still dishevelled from where he lay a few moments ago.

“ Alcina?.. ” He spoke with a soft raspy voice as he rubbed his eyes, trying his best to wake himself up. 

“ETHAN!” Heisenberg screamed, still flailing around like a giant baby who was being forced to go home after acting up at the park. “HELP ME, SHE’S FUCKING KIDNAPPING ME!” 

“I am not ‘kidnapping’ you,” Ethan watched Alcina scoff, before turning back to the father with a soft smile. “I refuse to let you sleep around this- thing, when I am most CERTAIN he has fleas!”

Heisenberg promptly stopped any and all movement before slooooowwly turning his head up to look at Alcina, a VERY offended look plastered over his face as he hung from the collar of his coat like a puppy who was being pulled away from a fight with its siblings by its mother.

“I do not have fucking fleas ” He spoke with a scoff before reaching a hand up to his ratty hair to very aggressively scratch his head. He stopped, looking at his hand before at Ethan. “Lice, maybe.”

Ethan looked at Heisenberg with a look of pure horror before slapping his hands over his head and yelling. “YOU HAVE FUCKING LICE?!” 

Ethan took what seemed like about 10 steps back, away from Heisenberg. Completely shocked by the fact he was cuddling with the man who was back to scratching his head. “When was the last time you bathed ?”

“Uh..” Heisenberg shrugged, completely unsure on when exactly. “Let’s see..” 

 He looked down at both his hands and started to softly count the days, months and maybe even years since the last time he bathed and actually cleaned himself or washed his hair. 

“...I am never cuddling with you again.” Ethan tried to hold back his laughter as he watched the lice infected man pout and complain about that fact. 

He seemed…better. Ethan was smiling, laughing as he continued to berate and insult the man that had resorted to looking as though he were about to bite the taller woman if it would get him out of the iron grip she still had on his coat, before instead trying to wriggle out of it, promptly getting even more tangled up, which only served to make Ethan laugh harder.

She watched the man that had been so broken days ago seem to have his personality back , perhaps not entirely, but enough that the place felt…normal again. The cracked ice they had all been treading on was harder, no longer afraid of it cracking underneath his feet as they tried to reach him.

In the span of mere hours , Heisenberg had managed to do what she and all those in the castle had failed to since what happened.

Her eyes burned underneath the cover of her hat; why were they burning? Why did she feel so upset? This was what she wanted, Ethan to feel happy again, to see the personality he had a while ago. 

So why was she upset?

Was it because she had been trying so hard to help him, and it had done nothing? That she was so useless she couldn’t do what Heisenberg had in a few moments? That she had tried so hard to make the jokes he was used to and watch nothing but a blank face stare through her? She did everything she thought of, and if that- that fucking child was able to help him-

What good was she?

…Would Ethan even be happy here?

Come to think of it, all this had started the longer he stayed at her castle. This had started the longer he was around her. Just like her daughters, they hadn’t gotten sick before she had taken them as her own. Her mind drifted to the lie she told, that she wouldn’t have hurt him.

Of course, of course she wouldn’t now, but if the truth ever came out- would he leave? She had gotten so used to him and Rose being around in the castle, would that cease? Would he leave them all behind without a second thought if it meant his daughter would be safe?

…Would he take revenge and kill her? Kill her daughters?

Her thoughts drifted away from that and back to what was in front of her. Would he be happier just…with Heisenberg? Maybe he’d actually heal if he was away from this place, away from her, from a monster, from-

From a liar.

Alcina’s eyes burned, and for the first time in a while, she felt tears threaten to fall. Everything she tried to do failed, nothing worked. She tried so hard to help him, be the protector, the guardian figure he needed, but here he was, here was somebody else, able to help where she failed.

…Perhaps she was still as inhuman as she thought. 

She let her grip disappear from Karl’s coat, unable to care as that caused him to lurch forward and slam his head onto the marble, every laugh from Ethan striking and coiling around her chest like a boa constrictor subduing its prey. She hated that the one thing she had wanted was causing her so much pain, but no- it wasn’t that he was happy.

It was that she failed to do it. She failed to uphold her promise already.

Listening to the laughter, Dimitrescu walked away.

Chapter Text

Donna was not used to seeing Karl around the castle. Of course, it had not been more than a few days, but even so, she was more than expecting Alcina to kick him out by now. But, Ethan was doing seemingly better, and wasn’t that the point of asking him here?

But, her worry was not with the human currently. And rather, the tall vampire that owned the residence they were now staying in.

Alcina had been…noticeably absent for a while. Even her own daughters had been worried; the woman simply wandering quietly through the halls; the once hovering presence that was almost always looking after Ethan and Rose these days had disappeared, leaving him primarily with Karl.

…Had something happened that she had missed? Alcina cared for the two of them deeply, and it was unlike her to be acting this way, so cold and distant, it was so…

So similar to how things had been before. But instead of that malicious and cruel gaze, whenever Donna was able to catch Alcina’s face from behind the brim of her hat, there was only…pain. Pain, and a strange form of sadness the dollmaker was incapable of figuring out.

It worried her, that Alcina of all people was going through something; if anything she- well she was the most put together out of everyone here. It worried her, and she knew that she was the only one who had been lucky enough to catch this.

So, with a quiet sigh and a cackle from Angie, Donna stood from the seat in the bedroom Alcina had given her as a resident within the castle, and made her way out into the castle halls to try and find the taller Lord, and hopefully try to give some comfort in a possibly trying time.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan looked up at the snow and ash filled air, taking in the surprisingly soothing sounds of Karl rambling about his creations and experiments as they wandered through the village. The unwashed bastard was convinced that the air would do Ethan good, and with a bit of convincing to leave Rose with Alcina and her daughters, here they now were.

And weirdly enough, despite the complete hatred he had of the day Alcina and Donna had taken him out on this…with Karl simply filling the silence with something completely natural and unrelated to Ethan’s problems, it felt nicer. He was at peace, yet it confused him how Karl’s presence was able to do that, when he had found (and still does find) the man to be completely and utterly annoying. 

The deep voice may have been annoying at first but now that it was a sound that seemed to flow through the thick air, slicing every dense fog of silence; making it easier to breathe and admire the frosty scenery. A scene he could’ve sworn he saw once in a picture book he read as a child; a snow-capped woodland that held its horrors and tragedies, yet within the plants that refused to die held the beauty that was beginning to stretch throughout the village lands. 

A cold, soft breeze travelled through the frozen blades of grass that seemed so sharp they could’ve cut through his skin; yet the thought of those blades of grass seeming to continue living considering the conditions surrounding them brought the memories of how he was never able to actually take those steps to meet death, that there was always something stopping him; maybe there was something here that was worth staying but what that thing was, Ethan would struggle to realise and comprehend. 

“Deep in thought, hm?” That weirdly familiar voice that Ethan had once rolled his eyes at had changed to a voice that was laced with a homely harmony of the sweet smell of warm hot chocolate and the sourness of an old orange that had become just a little too ripe. The old smells of grease and death no longer lingered on the tall man, now an elegant scent of newly cleaned floors with a soft fragrance of newly made wooden doors seemed to attach itself onto Heisenberg. 

“...Did Alcina force you to take a bath?” Ethan tilted his head as he asked, squinting at the larger man.

Heisenberg pouted, looking away from Ethan. “…no. Why do you ask?” 

“Because you don’t smell like an oiled up rat.” Ethan smirked, attempting to hold back a laugh as he watched Heisenberg yell and scream.

“YOU LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE-“

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Donna continued to wander through the halls of the castle carefully, trying to listen to the sound of Alcina’s footsteps echoing on the marble of the stairs. She had already peeked into one of the main areas to find the three sisters babysitting little Rose, the tiny baby giggling in delight as she was held aloft in the air.

She truly wasn’t used to wandering around this place without Angie, the veil in front of her face making it somewhat difficult for her to see, but she knew if she wanted to figure out what was wrong, it was better if she tried to do it herself, lest her doll companion make things more difficult.

She sighed quietly, looking up at a painting that seemed to be…before all of this. Before Miranda, though she could see the three small girls beside a- honestly more normal-looking Alcina. None of the four lords ever really mentioned their pasts to one another; though she supposed they were never that close, not until everything had occurred with Ethan-

“What are you doing?” Alcina’s voice jolted Donna out of her thoughts, looking up at the tall woman, whose eyebrow was arched underneath her hat. Her voice held a strange edge to it, cold yet not as sharp as it had once been, and despite being, well, a borderline behemoth size compared to the smaller Beneviento, she could see Alcina’s eyes were clouded, as though deep in thought and yet exhausted all the same.

“Well?” Alcina spoke again as Donna hesitated, her eyes darting around the room. She wasn’t the type of person to enjoy company let alone being stared at so intensely but her concerns for Alcina’s mental state seemed to take priority over her own anxiety.

“ ..um…well, I was actually searching for you, ” Donna spoke softly as her eyes avoided the gaze of her sister, worried about what she was thinking. She may not know Alcina very well but she could definitely tell that there was something very wrong. “ I..was concerned about you. ”

Donna watched as Alcina seemed to pause, folding her arms as something strange moved in her eyes; a look of hesitance, before it vanished in the same millisecond it was there for.

“I can assure you I am quite fine Donna,” Alcina’s voice was sharp as she continued to walk away, seeming to end any possible conversation the dollmaker was going to have with her.

“I…I don’t believe that.” Donna’s voice cut through quietly as she did her best to keep up with the taller woman. “You’ve been avoidant, even your daughters are worried about you.”  

She watched as Alcina flinched at the words, seeming to pause in her stride. She took the silence from her as an incentive to keep talking. “I…I know that…you having Karl- Heisenberg here isn’t…isn’t something that you enjoy but-”

“And why would this be about Heisenberg!?” Alcina’s voice seemed sharp as she snapped at the dollmaker, causing Donna to flinch and take an involuntary step back. “Why on earth would I care about some- some grease-covered, flea infested mutt that seems to do the same things that we did and yet making more progress than- than-” Alcina’s anger seems to trail off as Donna blinks from behind her veil.

Oh. So that is what this is about.

Donna seems to think for a moment, shuffling on her feet as she tries hard to try and figure out how to help. She hasn’t needed Angie yet, she won’t start now. At least for today. Taking a few breaths, she looks up, smiling behind her veil.

“H…How about s…some tea?”

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Dimitrescu stared at the small teacup in front of her, as she and Donna sat outside in the pavilion of her once ever-green garden. She was, for lack of a better word, surprised, to see Donna wander about without that insufferable menace that spoke for her, and also the fact that the dollmaker had- well spoken to her, without the help of said insufferable menace.

The two sat opposite from one another, a tiny little table sat between them where both their teacups sat. Dimitrescu watched Donna as she also stared down at her tea. 

“ ..heh…I um…did not think through the ‘tea’ part of this.. ” Donna attempted to joke with Dimitrescu but it didn’t really work, considering her voice was so soft and full of anxious energy as she sat politely in her chair. 

Dimitrescu sighed quietly, saying nothing for a few moments as she tapped the outside of her teacup slowly. “So what is this about then?” Dimitrescu waved a hand dismissively. “You were ‘worried’ you said…and I implore you that I am fine.”

“..Well…your- um…’outburst’ about Heisenberg…says otherwise…” Donna murmured, flinching her head back slightly as Alcina’s claws seemed to scratch the table a little.

“..As I said before… why would that petulant child bother me? ”

Donna was silent for a second, staring into her cup before looking up at Alcina. “..Because…Because of Ethan…” Donna whispers plainly, causing Dimitrescu to pause.

Dimitrescu had no witty response for that, no hateful remark..nothing. It was Ethan after all, she would never want to be cruel towards him, he was family after all but deep down she knew Donna was right, she knew Donna had cracked the shell that she had tried to hide within. She didn’t want to admit to her ‘jealousy’ surrounding Heisenberg’s ability to help Ethan or the feeling of guilt and shame when she thinks about how when she tried to do what that insolent child did, it didn’t work. But when he did it, Ethan was laughing and showing a side of himself that even she hadn’t seen. It just wasn’t fair.

She didn’t understand . It was her daughters, her family that he had spent the most time around, it had been her to allow him to stay in her home. How was she so useless when it came to helping him, yet all Heisenberg had to do was show up and act like the flea-ridden annoyance he was, and all of a sudden Ethan looked brighter than he had in weeks?

What good even was she? She thought back to when she had found Ethan, what he had said.

“..as if you weren’t planning to kill me just weeks ago.”

She had lied, yes, but what else was she supposed to have done at that moment? She was a liar, a monster. If she wasn’t any help to Ethan, perhaps it was better if he wasn’t around her, perhaps it would be better if he spent his time with who seemed to be able to help him. He didn’t need her, clearly-

“ Stop.” Donna’s voice was soft, but held a concerned and- almost loud edge as she did her best to move her hand to Dimitrescu’s, causing the tall woman to blink.

Had she said that all aloud?

Dimitrescu didn’t seem to speak for a moment as Donna kept looking up at her. Despite the veil, Dimitrescu almost swore she could see nervous and panicked tears in her eyes. Or perhaps it had been the dollmaker’s tone that caused that image.

“...Stop.” She repeated, quietening down again. “..You’re not…useless…you…” Donna sighed softly as she leant back again, tugging the sleeve of her dress as she seemed to consider her next words carefully. “..When it happened…you acted…different. Not…too different, but…different. You just…need to help in a different way.”

Dimitrescu sighed, deciding to humour Donna for the moment. It was more than obvious she didn’t completely understand a lot about how humans worked, or those like Donna or Heisenberg , and considering her distaste for the metal wielding fleabag, Donna was her best bet.

“Then how do I?” Dimitrescu murmurs quietly, a small hint of fear in her voice. “How…How do I figure out what he needs?”

“..It…it’s a little simple. I guess,” Donna looks up again, giving a little smile from behind her veil. “It’s the same as Heisenberg being- himself…’

‘Just…you.”

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

“Do you think Alcina’s alright?” Ethan looks up at Karl as he asks the giant metal man his question, Heisenberg looking over to him with confusion as he digs some metal out from underneath the wreckage of one of the houses.

“Her? She’s fine. She’s always fine .” Karl snaps softly as he continues to pull metal out from the burnt remains of what once was a home. “Anything that she’s going through, trust me, she will be okay…she’ll get through it and she’ll be back to her normal self..alright?”

Ethan glances towards where the castle was, his home, thinking deeply for a second or two before looking at Karl once again. “I don’t know, Karl , I think I can tell when someone is fucking upset by something.” He huffs. 

“I may be dumb, but I’m not that dumb.” Ethan crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Karl stand upright, looking down at the blonde man who was significantly shorter and smaller than the man holding a hand-full of metal bits and bobs.

“ Trust me ..” Karl looked at the castle, his once cocky and witty attitude dispersing into the wind, seeming to gain a sense of understanding and empathy towards the one person he claimed to hate. “She’s going to be alright, she’s the strongest out of us all.”

Ethan saw how the closed off man, the man who seemed to be unable to show any emotion other than cockiness. (Ethan didn’t care about if that was an emotion or not, it was an emotion to him so it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, so suck on that, Angie.) How he seemed to show a new side of himself, his eyes; behind those god awful glasses that he insisted were ‘high fashion’ but Ethan would swear up and down that this man knew absolutely fuck-all about fashion. 

“Heisenberg, was that a heart you just displayed?” Ethan grinned mischievously as Karl slowly turned to look at him with a deadpan expression, trying hard to hold back his snickering.

“One more word Winters, and I swear-”

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Ethan smiled gently as he watched Rose sleep peacefully in the bassinet beside his bed, smiling to himself before he wandered out of the room quietly, moving silently down the halls, sighing in relief as he managed to find Alcina standing in one of the hallways, looking at a painting that seemed to be of a more human-seeming woman that looked identical to her, with three younger girls beside her.

Was that…Alcina and the girls before Miranda? Ethan thought to himself. He took a few steps forward; even if Karl had reassured him, he still wanted to check on her. After all, she’d done so much, including putting her grudge with Karl aside, all to help him. What kind of person would he be if he didn’t do the same?

Ethan knew how it felt to be left alone to stew in those dark thoughts, oh dear god did he know how that felt. To feel lost in a deep sea of harsh waves and a dark sky shielding any sort of light from piercing its way into the water as you slowly drown and sink to the bottom of the depths. He wouldn’t be human if he just let someone he cared about succumb to that darkness. 

“Alcina?..” Ethan slowly walks towards the person who he considered to be his family, his home and the reason he can see his little girl grow day by day. “Are you alright?…I um..I apologise for bothering you..” he began to nervously rant and ramble on at her. 

 “I just…I want to make sure you’re okay and everything because…well you know, you uh kind of saved my life and all and I noticed you weren’t doing so well, but I mean if I’m just uh assuming and you’re actually fine then that’s okay too I really don’t mean to bother you-“ he stops for a few seconds, waiting for her to respond as he fidgets and pulls at his fingers. His anxiety of what she might say began to bubble.

Dimitrescu seemed to pause when she first heard Ethan, turning around and giving a small smile to the man who seemed to have so easily become a part of her family. She paused for a moment, seeming to figure out the right words to say.

“I…suppose I have been thinking about certain things…” Alcina spoke slowly, being careful with what she admitted to him. “But-...well…I had a chat with Donna earlier, so I believe I’ll be alright Ethan…but, thank you.” She gave a small smile as she bent down to give his shoulder a gentle squeeze, at least as gentle as she could with her size and strength.

“..I’m glad you’re doing well.” She murmured, before standing back up. “But I am telling you I refuse to have that flea-ridden man in my house for longer than- hm- another week at most.” She spoke plainly, though the sides of her mouth tugged in an amused smile.

Ethan smiled softly, although a small pit of disappointment tugged at him when he thought about Karl leaving...now that was new. 

His eyebrows furrowed for a split second before he went back to smiling. 

“So…you both have grown a heart?” He asks, jokingly. However he had noticed how the two ‘siblings’, although they hated each other, seemed to have some love and care for each other deep down. “Seems like you both are a lot more like siblings than you’d think.”

“Keep talking Winters, and I’ll send you with him to that grease and dirt-infested factory.” Alcina stated with a small hint of amusement, a quiet chuckle appearing to be in her voice as she turned and began to head back to her room. “Get some rest, Ethan.” She called back, before properly disappearing down the hall.

Ethan watched as she walked towards her room, smiling proudly as he realised that he, Ethan Winters , made Alcina Dimitrescu laugh. Even if it was just a quiet chuckle, it was still such a big accomplishment for the little man.

He will definitely be sleeping soundly tonight.

… although, he is going to miss Karl when he’s gone…