[ He'd done his damnedest to keep his distance, ever since she first came barging into his life. Wasn't the time or place to be getting invested, and never mind that she felt...different. Smelled different, whatever the hell it was. His head was still too turned around to do anything but bury it down and ignore it, focus set too deeply on the past.
But their paths kept crossing. Convinced him to take on her bosses as legal council. Managed to track him down once he broke out, insistent on staying involved even when he pushed her away. But there was still something, itching under his skin. Tugging.
Keep her safe. He barely knew her, but the feeling was there all the same. Got stronger the more she stuck around instead of fading like he'd expected.
It wasn't enough to stop his path. Didn't keep him from going too far, from creating a rift through his actions because he was too stubborn and too angry not to finish what he'd started. But he hadn't forgotten, even if she hadn't been enough of a reason to step back from the edge then.
He followed the rest of it to the end, pulled on the thread that ripped his life apart until there was nothing left to follow, until the threads put pressure back in turn and brought a little perspective. She still came back, even when he wouldn't have blamed her for staying away, even when he continued to tell her to stay away in order to keep her safe, keep her out of the shit he was wading in, until protesting became more of an exercise in empty words rather than sincerity, and even that weighed a little heavier. A little harder to keep distance, even if he continued to dig his heels in because he'd spent so long at it that it was reflex at this point. Harder to push her away.
Eventually, he got the hint, somewhere in between getting wrapped up in somebody else's shit and another mission he told her not to get herself tangled up in (not that it helped). A few too many close calls, and a trip almost to death's door, and he Got It. Focus on the living. Live in the now instead of what's behind.
Don't fucking ignore the shit staring you in the face because it's not going to be there forever.
So he tracked her down this time instead of waiting. Pounded on the door of her apartment, one eye on the hallway just in case, and waited. ]
idk probably an alpha tbh. and 1+ whatever else ends up in it?
But their paths kept crossing. Convinced him to take on her bosses as legal council. Managed to track him down once he broke out, insistent on staying involved even when he pushed her away. But there was still something, itching under his skin. Tugging.
Keep her safe. He barely knew her, but the feeling was there all the same. Got stronger the more she stuck around instead of fading like he'd expected.
It wasn't enough to stop his path. Didn't keep him from going too far, from creating a rift through his actions because he was too stubborn and too angry not to finish what he'd started. But he hadn't forgotten, even if she hadn't been enough of a reason to step back from the edge then.
He followed the rest of it to the end, pulled on the thread that ripped his life apart until there was nothing left to follow, until the threads put pressure back in turn and brought a little perspective. She still came back, even when he wouldn't have blamed her for staying away, even when he continued to tell her to stay away in order to keep her safe, keep her out of the shit he was wading in, until protesting became more of an exercise in empty words rather than sincerity, and even that weighed a little heavier. A little harder to keep distance, even if he continued to dig his heels in because he'd spent so long at it that it was reflex at this point. Harder to push her away.
Eventually, he got the hint, somewhere in between getting wrapped up in somebody else's shit and another mission he told her not to get herself tangled up in (not that it helped). A few too many close calls, and a trip almost to death's door, and he Got It. Focus on the living. Live in the now instead of what's behind.
Don't fucking ignore the shit staring you in the face because it's not going to be there forever.
So he tracked her down this time instead of waiting. Pounded on the door of her apartment, one eye on the hallway just in case, and waited. ]