Fandom The Firefly and The Rattler { The Last of Us 1x1 with icedthemoon }

[EquineGurl23]

Gaige Hannon
Former Firefly now Rattler | 24 | Current location ;; California

Gaige got most of the workers shackled when he caught sight of Levi coming up to the front and lean against the bars. His brown eyes widened slightly as he saw him looking like he was almost frowning? And then when it was his turn, he watched him pull his hands out of the bars and moved towards him. Something wasn't the same as it was yesterday, which made Gaige wary. He slipped the monocle onto Levi and turned, leading the group out. He stayed near the back once more to watch them as they headed from the cells to the field. Gaige's gun once more was on his back as his fingers on one hand played with the dog tag around his neck. Something wasn't right anymore. Inside him. A seed of something unknown had been planted in his gut as they moved.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Seth Levinson
Former Firefly | 22 | Current location ;; California

Forgot. Maybe he forgot. After the conversation with Lev and the hours to think about it, Levi wondered if maybe that was right. Maybe he forgot who he was. He was hanging there for all of them to see, and he forgot. This guy was always towards the back, and so was Levi. They were always close. He never really thought about it until now. He never noticed this before. Maybe it was because he was wallowing in his cranky for so long. He opened his eyes now. He waited until he was closer to the back so that he could whisper and the rest not hear him. “If you aren’t a firefly anymore, what are you?” He didn’t look at him. He couldn’t yet.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Gaige Hannon
Former Firefly now Rattler | 24 | Current location ;; California

Gaige hadn't noticed that he was beside Levi until he heard the words spoken so only they could hear them. He kept facing forward though as he mulled that over. What was he? He wasn't a Firefly but more than half the time, he wasn't a Rattler either. Gaige.. sometimes felt like a displaced chameleon, blending into this group like he was one of them when he wasn't. Being with them, it gave him a place to land. A place where he could have food and live and not have to think about him. "I don't know." He replied, surprising himself at the honest answer as they drew closer to the fields. That hard truth broke something inside him. Gaige truly didn't know who he was anymore. Was he still a Firefly at heart, is that why he kept the pendant? Or was he a hardened Rattler guard. He just didn't know.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Seth Levinson
Former Firefly | 22 | Current location ;; California

Really, he didn’t expect an answer. He thought that he was going to be asking this profound question that was going to get a rise out of this guard who would probably scream in his face, push him around, and do something nasty to him. Maybe they could have a nice argument. It would probably get him in some ridiculous amount of trouble, but he’d been there a while and hadn’t gotten anything too bad. He knew that if he pushed too much that could get him strung out on the pillars. What he didn’t know was that this was going to cause such a small reaction. Or maybe a big one? Levi looked up, unable to conceal the shock in his face. It was not meant to stump the guy. Was he really thinking about this question? Was he really acting like a human being? He stayed quiet as they made it to the fields. Quiet as he looked back over his shoulder. Don’t give up on him. Huh. Then he went to work.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Gaige Hannon
Former Firefly now Rattler | 24 | Current location ;; California

Gaige hadn’t been expecting this kind of conversation, as simple as it was. He saw the shock on Levi’s face and blinked, he wasn’t sure what that meant. As they got to the field, he saw Levi look back over his shoulder and he sighed softly. Something was pulling at him. He remembered Ben, the life and light that he had. Gaige didn’t know him long enough, but sometimes when you meet someone, there is a connection. He watched the men working but he was more relaxed in his stance as he kept his gun on his back, his hand was playing with his pendant as he stood there and watching Levi more than the others. The small seed earlier was getting bigger as he thought that maybe this wasn’t the place he should be.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Seth Levinson
Former Firefly | 22 | Current location ;; California

Occasionally he looked over at the other workers. Sometimes he even looked at what they were doing. He was trying to plot how to leave. There just were any good ways. With these stupid manacles, he wasn’t going to be able to get a lot of places. Maybe if he could get past the guards right when the manacles came off. If he could distract the guards or catch them off balance. Then run. He would have to run really fast and be so careful. It could work. Maybe. About halfway through the day, as he moved around, he couldn’t help but think about the man watching them. Who was he? He didn’t even know his name. Before he even knew what he was doing, he was taking a wide arc in his walking and found himself close to the guy. He didn’t stop walking, though when they were close, he asked, “What about a lightning bug?” He didn’t even look. He kept walking and went back to work. This was not meant to be a conversation. He didn’t even know what it was supposed to be. He just thought about it. He was not even sure why he felt the need to share it.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Gaige Hannon
Former Firefly now Rattler | 24 | Current location ;; California

Gaige looked at the workers, watching them though he noticed that Levi would sometimes look at the others and he did as well. He got a bottle of water from the others about noon time. The sun was just as hot as it was yesterday, though today there was a light breeze blowing over them. It made it a little less bad working in the fields today versus yesterday. He blinked when he saw Levi making a wide arc and he was coming close to Gaige. He should've said something, told him to move away and keep going but instead, he waited. He watched. And heard the question though it took him a moment as he watched Levi walk away and back to work. Lightning bug? Gaige wasn't a biologist, but wasn't that just a different name for a firefly? He continued to think on that as the day came to a close. "Alright, everyone come on, time to head back."​

 

[icedthemoon]

Seth Levinson
Former Firefly | 22 | Current location ;; California

For the rest of the day, Levi tried not to think about his least favorite guard. The more he thought about him, the more he occasionally was angry or confused or possibly something else? He hated it. He didn’t understand why thoughts about this guy were taking the place of where he could be planning his escape. He talked to Abby sometimes about it, but he didn’t know how they could all three get out and not get in trouble. He would consider talking about it with them later. As they lined up again, he found himself in the back. His hair was falling out of the bun again. That was really frustrating too. He was more than a little grumpy about that, the heat, his hunger, and more. When the guard was close, he did it again. He spoke, and he didn’t even mean to. “What about a fire beetle?” He really didn’t even get what he was trying to do.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Gaige Hannon
Former Firefly now Rattler | 24 | Current location ;; California

Gaige watched as everyone lined up once more. They just did it the way they were supposed to, and no one had seemed to challenge it so far. A flawed system that worked based on the fear of the pillars. Or being turned into an infected and chained up. As he was near the back once more and he flicked his gaze when he heard his words. Fire beetle? “How about Gaige.” He whispered, letting Levi know his name. He pulled his pendant free and slipped it into Levi’s pants pocket. The pants they wore were usually tattered hand me downs from the men and women. And many of them had pockets. So he slipped his into there. A little.. more information. His pendant was issued in San Francisco as noted by the number in the 400’s. Once he got to their cell, he opened the door to begin taking the manacle off each one and putting them inside the cell.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Seth Levinson
Former Firefly | 22 | Current location ;; California

That was even more unexpected than whatever it was that should have happened. A scoff. An eye roll. He could tell him to stop coming up with words for Firefly. Ask him what he was trying to insinuate with all of this? Gaige. There was about a second where Levi was trying to figure out what they were supposed to be gauging before he figured out that this was probably his name. His name. This guard gave him his name? Gaige. He didn’t even know how to respond to that. He blinked as they walked. Why? Then he blinked again and looked down as the hand put something in a pocket. What? What was happening? He was so off put that he stood there almost dumbfounded as this guard- Gaige- took the manacle off. He stayed by the door and kind of watched him from the other side of the cell.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Gaige Hannon
Former Firefly now Rattler | 24 | Current location ;; California

Silence followed as he looked at Levi when he took his manacle off. He didn’t even push him into the cell like he did the others. It was.. uncommon for him as just yesterday he was shoving him in. He stepped back once everyone was in the cell and locked the door. He usually left at this point but decided to stay for a bit. He leaned back against one of the far walls, arms over his chest as he watched Levi just kind of watching him, and he watched back. A silent moment of watching each other. Gaige sighed and gave him one last look before he turned to head out for his room. Abby and Lev both watched this and Lev had caught him sliding something into Levi’s pocket. “I told you not to give up on him. What’d he give you?” Lev asked curious as he came closer.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Seth Levinson
Former Firefly | 22 | Current location ;; California

Levi stood on the side of this door. Gaige stood by the wall. One of Levi’s hands slid into his pocket. Chain. Was this- Oh. He checked Gaige’s chest. Not there. Did he- He traced the lines of the tag with his fingers as he stood by this door. Before Gaige left, Levi stepped forward and touched the bars of the door. He watched him go. Then he was gone, and Levi felt so utterly alone. Again. He was not sure how long he stared at the nothing on the other side of their cell. He wasn’t aware of anyone else around him until Lev was speaking. He pulled himself from his thoughts and looked at the kid. His eyes darted to everyone else around him. No one was even looking. No one noticed whatever just happened between him and Gaige. No one but Lev. Well, and probably Abby then. He looked down at his hand in his pocked and slowly pulled out the tag. He let the chain hang in his fingers between them for several long seconds before he pulled it up so that he could look at it. The Firefly symbol. He really was one of them. Gingerly, he turned it over to read who he was. Gaige Hannon. San Francisco. That much Levi still remembered. “His past.” He stepped away and moved to the back of the cell like he always did. He slid to the ground, tag clutched in his hands.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Gaige Hannon
Former Firefly now Rattler | 24 | Current location ;; California

Lev had seen the two looking at each other, just as Gaige had caught Levi touching the bars of the door as he left. Lev’s attention drew to the dog tag in Levi’s hand and his eyes widened slightly. “Oh.” He managed to get out as he watched Levi move to the back of the cell. He followed, while Abby waited for food, she had a plan brewing in her mind about how to escape. Leg sat down beside Levi looking at the tag. “Do you know who he is now? And do you think he’s fallen as far as you once thought?” Lev asked as he leaned back against the wall on the back of the cell. Meanwhile Gaige was laying in bed and rolling around, unable to stop thinking about Levi which was frustrating and annoying and kind of nice..​

 

[icedthemoon]

Seth Levinson
Former Firefly | 22 | Current location ;; California

I don’t know. That was Levi’s answer to this question, and that was terrifying. It shouldn’t be. It should not matter who this guy was, where he came from, and what he was doing now. Levi didn’t care about his past or his present. Gaige clearly didn’t care about any of theirs. He couldn’t if he willingly became a slaver and did it all the time. Every day. All day. He could leave. He could help them out. He could choose any other life, and he chose this one. He looked at Lev with a hardened expression. He gripped the tag tight and shoved it into his pocket again. “Does it matter?” He couldn’t let some confusing feelings about whatever was happening to get in the way of his plans. He couldn’t let some kid lead him away from his impending freedom. He stood up and moved to Abby. “Okay.” He kept his voice lower. “I want in. Your island. How do we get out?”​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Gaige Hannon
Former Firefly now Rattler | 24 | Current location ;; California

Lev wasn't sure if he agreed with this answer but there wasn't more he could do. He'd met several warriors in his life with the same kind of hardened expression. It was something he'd gotten used to and yet still made him frustrated. "I thought it mattered." He replied as he stood up and followed Levi over to Abby. She looked at him and nodded. "Okay, fine. The idea is to take off once we're in the fields. We can get the manacles off when we're free." Abby said. It was the best plan she'd been able to come up with, and even then it wasn't the best in the world. "Any thoughts or suggestions on that plan?" She asked, looking at him.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Seth Levinson
Former Firefly | 22 | Current location ;; California

Levi didn’t want to hear Lev’s response, because it hit too close to something that almost hurt. He refused to think about why it might be like that. Refused. He shoved his hands into his pocket as he listened. It was a terrible plan. They could very easily be caught if they weren’t lucky. He didn’t like having the manacles on when they tried to leave. It was probably better than his other thought. His would also require so much luck. “Those aren’t good odds.” What other option did they have? There wasn’t any. “We only have to get around really one. There’s a part of the fence towards the back that’s falling apart. We can probably get through it pretty easy. Wish he could get our hands on some tools.”​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Gaige Hannon
Former Firefly now Rattler | 24 | Current location ;; California

Abby had seen the fence that was falling apart and it was apart of her escape plan. “If we work our way towards the end of the field, we can slip through the fence before they notice.” She said as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her words paused as they slipped food under the cell door. “We can do it tomorrow. Tools or not, I’m not staying here any longer.” She said, and if she was in the same condition she’d been in when she arrived, Abby would’ve bulldozed through these people. But months of being starved and worked all day in the sun took its toll. Lev looked between the two of them and sighed. “Maybe he would give us tools but I don’t know if he’d get punished too. I’ve seen them take members of their own and they end up in here.” He said as he looked over to a woman leaning against the back wall. Susie had been a guard until she tried to feed a prisoner fresh food, and she ended up in here.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Seth Levinson
Former Firefly | 22 | Current location ;; California

They still weren’t good odds. If they had nothing, it was going to be harder to take these manacles off. If they had nothing, it was going to be harder to get through obstacles. They weren’t going to have any food. They weren’t going to have any additional clothes. They would be entirely on their own in this horrible heat, hunted, and surrounded by people who wanted them dead. They were weaker than when they first were captured. It was a bad plan, he knew it, she wanted to go. He looked at the lady who took over guarding. In his mind, he saw Gaige, and his stomach churned. He wanted to go too. No questions. No more concerns. “We don’t have time to hope someone here would take mercy on us. They wouldn’t. Not when they’re at risk to be one of us like her.” He didn’t look at Lev. He was too good for this. He was too willing to hope. Levi nodded. “It’s a bad plan, but I don’t want to be here any more. We get you out first,” he looked straight at the kid, “and then you. I can go behind to make sure you get out.” He wasn’t going to think about why he cared to do that. “Just don’t burn me.”​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Gaige Hannon
Former Firefly now Rattler | 24 | Current location ;; California

Abby agreed at that, she was sure they’d find a way. She wondered though if maybe that guard that watched them didn’t want this. Maybe.. maybe he’d let them go. Lev looked at Levi and nodded. “Okay.” He agreed as Abby nodded. “Then it’s a plan. Tomorrow we’re out of here.” She said as she grabbed some food for her and Lev. “You should eat something Levi. You’ll need your strength.” She told him as her and Lev went to their normal spot near the back to rest for the night.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Seth Levinson
Former Firefly | 22 | Current location ;; California

Levi returned to his back corner of the cell, finally alone from everyone else. He wanted this to work. He had to go. This was not how he lived or died. This was not who he was to become. On his way to the corner, he grabbed a beat up fruit and took a bite. He was not going to get these horrible leftovers for the rest of his sorry existence. No. He had been here too long as it was. As he finished, his fingers pulled out the pendant again. Firefly. Gaige Hannon was a Firefly from San Francisco. What did that even mean? If this man was a Firefly and could become a slaver, who was Levi? That wasn’t even his real name. He sat there thinking about too many things, and eventually fell asleep. Tomorrow. Tomorrow they would leave. He didn’t need Gaige or anyone else.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Gaige Hannon
Former Firefly now Rattler | 24 | Current location ;; California

Gaige woke up the next morning in a panic, his hand flying to his neck to find his pendant and then it wasn't there. He looked around frantically before he settled and sighed. Right. He'd given it to Levi. A gesture perhaps that the man was right. That Gaige had fallen so far into the darkness but he was stuck, trapped, here. He had no way out, no guiding light anymore. His light had left and he had nothing else. Just him. Until now, his thoughts the last two nights were of Levi. Of being lost in the darkness. But perhaps.. a new light has come to guide him. These thoughts swirled in his mind as he walked out of his room and over to the cells. "Alright, everyone line up." He said as he unlocked the door.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Seth Levinson
Former Firefly | 22 | Current location ;; California

He was awake too soon. Levi’s pulse was too fast as he watched each of the other slaves begin to awaken before they had their official wake up call. He gazed over at Abby and Lev occasionally as he waited. While he did, he held onto this other man’s Firefly pendant like it was going to be the physical connection between himself and his own fallen past. Finally, it was time for yet another day’s work. The last day. One way or another, he was not doing this anymore after today. As everyone else got in line, he waited. He waited. He was always last. He moved up to the doorway, pendant clutched in his fist and shoved it into Gaige’s chest. He did not speak, because it couldn’t look like they were having a conversation. He wasn’t even sure what he would say. He let it go. It was up to him to catch it or let it go. He looked away, and muttered under his breath, “Wish I had mine.”​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Gaige Hannon
Former Firefly now Rattler | 24 | Current location ;; California

Gaige put the manacles on each prisoner though he was moving like he was made of molasses. He was slow, almost disoriented, and when he got to Levi, he felt the pendant shoved into his chest. He caught it and looked at him, hearing those words. Hm. Gaige put the manacle on Levi before turning away, slipping the pendant over his neck once more. “I’d need your full name.” He whispered before he sighed softly. “Let’s move.” His voice was loud as he spoke and he bit his lip as they started walking. He was near the back as normal to make sure that none tried to run for it while they headed for the fields.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Seth Levinson
Former Firefly | 22 | Current location ;; California

Yet again, Levi found himself shocked. With anyone else, his actions would have gotten him a berating and a beating. It would have gotten him punishments that he couldn’t come back from. A problematic slave was a bad slave, and they couldn’t afford that. Not with this man. Not with Gaige. It almost felt like he was willing to not only listen and take whatever Levi was going to throw at him but he was also willing to help him. Would this man try to get his own pendant back? When he got caught, everything he had was stripped of him including that. He had not seen it in what felt like a very long time. As he walked he considered this. What if it was a trap. What if this wasn’t real? It would be a horribly cruel thing to do, and he wouldn’t put it past a lot of these Rattlers. It was the long game. No. Why was he even thinking about this? He was going to leave now. It wasn’t like he had time for Gaige to go find it. It didn’t matter. It was just a piece of metal that hung on his neck. He swallowed it down and moved to the fields. He could not ruin his chance to finally be free.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Gaige Hannon
Former Firefly now Rattler | 24 | Current location ;; California

As they made it to the fields, Gaige couldn’t believe what he was doing. What was it about this man that made him question everything he’d done since he got to Santa Barbara? What could he possibly gain from this. If he tried to get his pendant back, would they question why he needed that specific one? They had a room of all the prisoner’s things. A trophy room is what Josiah called it. He stood like normal, in charge at the head of the field. Abby and Lev kept an eye on him as they worked, moving slowly yet steadily closer to the fence.​