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

[EquineGurl23]

The Firefly and The Rattler




Gaige Hannon, a former Firefly left San Francisco when Cameron did. But he didn’t go with him, he went north to Santa Barbara. There he found the group called the Rattlers and joined them, easily adapting to their way of life, but what happens when his past comes back in the form of another former Firefly?​

 

[EquineGurl23]

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

Spoiler: Gaige Hannon

Portrayed by Josh Hutcherson

Gaige had been several places in his lifetime, from Las Vegas, Nevada where he spent the first fourteen years of his life, to San Francisco, California. He was there until he was twenty-one. Gaige had met Benjamin Dixon and had hoped to spend more time with him, but eventually he, Nate and Max stopped visiting San Francisco. At the loss of his first crush, Gaige closed himself off from love, and when Cameron Harris, his brother and best friend left with Emmett Adler, Gaige left too.

He traveled north from San Francisco and ventured into Santa Barbara, as he made his way through the city, he was trapped and found by the Rattlers there. The former Firefly, pendant still hanging around his neck, was quickly recruited into the Rattler's ranks and worked his way the last three years into being one of the men in charge of the prisoners that they had, which included putting any prisoners who decided to be trouble onto the pillars near the beach. Gaige had gotten up that morning, grumbling as he made his way to the prisoners quarters.

"Alright, all prisoners up and to the gates. I don't have it in me to deal with heroes so why don't we all listen and I won't have to feed anyone to the clickers." Gaige said as he made his way to the cage door to get the cuffs on them to lead them out. One by one, he cuffed each one and turned to lead them to the area for the day where they'd be working.​

 

[icedthemoon]

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

Spoiler: Levi

portrayed by booboo stewart

Time for the tragic backstory. You know the one. Lost parents, everyone died, someone kicked the puppy. Blah blah blah. Yeah. That’s what everyone wants to know. What horror did you encounter that got you in a sorry place like this? How did you wind up behind these bars, waiting for someone to open up that door, shackle you together, and make you work all day? Huh, you think. Everyone really wants to know about you. You really want to know? Yeah, sure, we really do. Okay. Here goes.

FEDRA.

That was a good enough story for some. It meant nothing to the rest. But that’s all he would tell people. What messed you up so bad, kid? FEDRA. And I’m not a kid. It didn’t matter how many times he told people that, they never seemed to believe it. Maybe it was the long hair he managed to shove up enough for the slavers not to want to cut it all off like some of the rest. Maybe it was the way he had a softness to his face. Didn’t matter. He wasn’t a kid, and he hadn’t been for a long time.

Levi stood towards the back of the group, arms crossed, and waited until he absolutely had to follow the rest out. There was no fighting this. Well, not yet. He needed a good opening. He was not going to stay there. This place would not be the end of him. Not after getting out of one hell already. He stepped out, ready for manacles, and paused. This guy- the guard or whatever- he had a dog tag. He had a tag like Levi used to have. Now that was just something. How’d they manage something so unfair with that Firefly up there and this one in chains? He was going to have to watch a little harder it seemed.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

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

Gaige had taken note of the man in the back who had long hair, he watched him with those crossed arms. His brown eyes narrowed as he watched him come up as Gaige put those manacles on him. What the man didn't know was that Gaige had told the others to leave his hair alone, it was shoved up enough that it wouldn't be an issue and.. he found it oddly suitable on him. He secured the group and turned away, dog tag glinting in the sunlight that filtered through the windows.

Gaige brought the group through the compound, purposefully leading them close to the chained clickers and laughing as the clickers tried to run at them. The clinking of the manacles attracted their attention. He had seen more than a few runaways or even ones that didn't to well in the fields, get infected and turned just because it was amusing. He wasn't sure he found that amusing really but he didn't say a word. He did his job and did it well. Once they made it to the fields, he shifted and gestured to them. "Go to work." His voice was rough and cold as he took a step back. His rifle was pulled off his back and into his hands as he glared at them. The manacles didn't tie their hands together, which allowed them to work the fields while Gaige supervised.​

 

[icedthemoon]

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

As they walked, a nice chunk of strands fell out of his bun, and it wasn’t like it was easy to fix that with these manacles that kept them from doing anything productive like running away from this stupid fate of theirs. He huffed loudly as he blew the hair out of his face. Some others also got to keep their longer hair as long as they got to shove it away. One woman had hers in a pretty tight bun. Most had to cut theirs, probably because hair was unruly when trying to work. It always made Levi a little sad that they had to get rid of it, because these people couldn’t be bothered to do their own work. He loved his hair. It was a source of pride for him.

He rolled his eyes at the order. “Where’d your light go?” He did not feel the need to pretend like he was not being harsh. His eyes involuntarily flicked towards those tags hanging around this man’s neck. “Looks like you got swallowed by the darkness.” He scoffed and moved out into the fields to start work. Walking by the clickers did not even bother him anymore. Those were just threats. Yeah, the slavers would do all sorts of crappy things, but it was never that bad as long as you didn’t do anything too stupid. The problem was that Levi was in the mood to be stupid. He was in the mood to not be here anymore. The problem was figuring out how to do that and still get away with it.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

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

Gaige flicked his gaze over to the man, he stayed near the back to keep them moving and watch them. It made it easy to the hair fall out of his bun and heard that huff. Gaige had rolled his eyes even as he watched him. Once they made it to the fields, he heard those words and his body stilled. 'Where'd your light go?' That question sank into his stomach like lead. 'Swallowed by the darkness.' Gaige clenched his teeth as he looked at him, refusing to say a single word. Even he knew better than to feed into the words. His light had vanished, promising to come back and visit but never did. It was then that the seeds of darkness started to plant themselves in his heart.

He simply growled "Work.." And looked away. Though he shifted his gun and one hand came up, fingers twirling the pendant around his neck. The dog tag that reminded him of his past, of the love that he never could have. He didn't even know what happened to Ben, but in this world? He could only imagine that he was probably dead, there was no way around it. Not in this broken world that they called home. Gaige's fingers stilled, holding the dog tag and running a thumb over his name and number. 000458. Gaige Hannon. San Francisco base. But that was the past and Gaige shook his head, paying attention to the workers as his hand left the dog tag and returned to his gun. Stop living in the past, it's gone. He's gone.​

 

[icedthemoon]

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

Work. That was all they ever did. That was all anyone ever wanted them to do. Work until they couldn’t work anymore and then keep working anyway. Always work. Keep going. Keep moving. Keep. Working. What gave any of them the right to stand there with their guns and wait for one of the poor saps out here doing all of that previous work to mess up. Fall apart. It was too hot out here not to collapse sometimes. And what happened to them? Well, he could say that if it happened again, he wasn’t sure he would be able to hold his cool.

Did that get a arise out of him? As he left, he slid his gaze over his shoulder to see. No? Maybe. He couldn’t tell. It would have been nice if he could. What could he do to hurt someone like that? Someone like him. Right? Yeah, sure. So Levi got to work. Moving his hands. Firing his muscles. Sweating like a dog. How could someone flaunt those tags and be one of them? That was what got him the most. It did not even make sense. They were fighting against exactly this. No, no this was worse. At least FEDRA didn’t use them like slaves. They were perfectly willing to let people starve if they didn’t want to work. They were perfectly willing to let them make their own choices if that choice was to not be used and exploited by their oppressive overlords.

It was a long day. Work. Think. Work. Plan. Work. Redo that plan. Work. Dog tags. His hand moved up to his own chest where there was only a shirt. Nothing else. Work.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

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

The sun was hot in the Santa Barbara countryside, no breeze blew as Gaige stood there, watching him more than the others. He was given a bottle of water around noon and it didn't take him long to down it completely. He didn't move, didn't talk, kept guard. Once a soldier, always a soldier. His group just changed. From a Firefly to a Rattler. From a group fighting to get rid of FEDRA, to a group fighting for their own survival using infected and survivors alike. It had been a month since they'd gotten the last two survivors, the woman and her friend.

The pair of them were doing pretty well with the others, working just as hard. Though he questioned if they were going to be trouble still, his boss didn't think they'd be an issue. Josiah, the larger built man, was one of the two in charge. The other was a skinnier yet just as rough woman named Emma. She kept them all in line. By the time the work day was done, Gaige whistled sharply to call the prisoners to him so they could head back to the cells. Then he'd lock them up and head for his food while they got the bruised food that the group wouldn't eat.​

 

[icedthemoon]

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

There was a rumor. No one believed them. No one believed her. She was looking for this place. This island. Getting her to talk about it was hard, but he did. They were of the same cut after all. She was looking for this island where the rest of them were. The Fireflies. His Fireflies. He didn’t even think there were anymore left. They disbanded or died or whatever else. Yet, here she was telling him that they were somewhere on an island. How many? He needed to know. How many other Fireflies were there?

Roughly two hundred.

That was where he was going to go. He was going to get out of this horrible place, and then he was going to go there. Look for the light. He didn’t know this was how his light was going to go. He moved along with the rest of the prisoners, forgetting to survey the area. He already knew where everyone was stationed. He knew where some holes were. He could probably get through a section of fence if he was fast enough. He hoped. Not today. Not yet. Not- Dog tags. They were hard not to look at as they moved through the line towards the cells. “Good to know you don’t value your own people,” he muttered as he kept moving. He stared forward instead of at this guard. He didn’t want to look at someone who could do that. Forsake everything. And for what? This was a horrible way to live even for those not forced into slavery.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

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

Gaige watched as the prisoners came over, though he did notice that the woman and the man that called him out were talking together. His eyes narrowed as he watched them, his teeth clenched as he walked them back to their cell. As they moved, his dog tag caught the fading light as he heard those muttered words. He was too close not to and he let out a low growl. He hadn't.. he didn't.. Gaige shook his head. No. His people forsake him first so why should he value them? Was.. was she a firefly too?

How many of these men and women were former Fireflies, and on the flipside, how many of them were former FEDRA? Former alliances weren't spoke of here, former groups and people. Here everyone was the same. The guards, the Rattlers, and the people. The prisoners who got caught. The prisoners who tried to escape and got caught again. This was just how things went, how life was now. He got to the cells and pulled it open for them and one by one as they entered, he slipped the manacle off and not so gently pushed them. He paused for a second longer at the man. "I'm not a Firefly anymore so I'd be quiet from now on if I were you." He hissed as he went to push him in a little rougher.​

 

[icedthemoon]

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

Without thinking, he whipped around as he stumbled into the cell. He stood on the inside of the cell, glaring back where the door was. He shoved his hands on the bars. He knew better than to do anything more than that. “Have you really lost everything they taught you?” His voice had an edge that swirled with his incredulous question. He was angry, yes, but he was more confused than anything else. He really didn’t know how someone could fall so hard that they dropped everything that they knew before this. Everything that meant something. Did it not mean anything to this guy?

He shoved his hand behind him. Someone was telling him not to antagonize. It wasn’t worth it. He was going to get himself strung up on that pillar. He was going to get all of them in trouble. He was not planning on doing anything that could hurt the woman or her friend. He didn’t want to be that guy. He just didn’t get this one. “How do you decide to be worse than them?” He didn’t feel like he was going to have to say who the them was. Not if this guy was really once a Firefly. “Because you are. You are worse than the bad guys we used to fight.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

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

Gaige narrowed his eyes as he saw him whip around as he shut the cell door, locking it. He could see the glare on his face and he had one on his own face. His gun was slung over his back but his quick reflexes could get it into his hands fast if he needed. Right now, his hands were clenched into fists at his side. Had he lost what he learned? No. He used it daily here, just.. in a different way that back in San Francisco. He watched as the shaved woman came up to his side, her own eyes narrowed as she grabbed his hand.

Gaige heard his words and blinked, before he let out low rough sigh. 'Be worse than them?' Those words settled like a brick in his stomach as his eyes widened, a flash of something going through his eyes. "I'm not like them. Either of them." He replied, meaning both groups. FEDRA and Fireflies. He had cut ties from them when he joined here, yet the nostalgia of the dog tag around his neck weighed on him with every action he did. "Levi.. let's go.." Abby said softly as she pulled on his hand, she had Lev to protect and a way to escape to plan, she didn't need him blowing that for her.​

 

[icedthemoon]

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

“You’re right.” One last thing, and then he would let it go. He couldn’t yet. Not yet. “You drag all of them down with you.” He slammed his free hand against the bars. This guy was so unbelievably horrible. Only the worst would be like this. Then he backed away. He pulled his hand from hers and lowered his head towards her and the younger one in apology. He hadn’t meant to be like that. He didn’t think this would bother him so much. It wasn’t even like he really missed the Fireflies. Not really. Not like he ever had a real home.

But he did. Every day. He missed what he took for granted. He missed what they stood for. He missed what he had. Abby got that. That was why he could get her talking. He believed in something better, and she was looking for something better. But right now, they couldn’t get there. They were stuck behind bars with people like that keeping them apart. He moved to the back of the cell, shoved his fist into the back wall, and slid to the ground. His glare moved back to the guard who was going to leave them. Good. He couldn’t look at him any longer anyway.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

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

Gaige watched as the woman pulled on his hand. Levi. So that was his name. He hadn't bothered to pay attention nor ask for it anyway. His eyes widened, flashed and narrowed as he heard those simple words. 'You drag all of them down with you.' He glared at the man as he slammed his hand against the bars. Then he watched as the prisoner, Levi, as he backed away from the bars. He watched him go over to the back of the cell. Gaige shook his head, he couldn't get wrapped up in this. He turned around as the other guard came and slid trays of bruised and busted fruit and other crops on large trays under the bars in the small gap between them and the floor. He headed for the kitchen, grabbed some food and went to his small room.

Abby watched as Levi lowered his head and pulled his hand. She watched him go to the back of the cell before she walked over to the food. Her body was so thin from the lack of true food and working all day every day. She grabbed Lev an orange and an apple for herself before they both moved to the back of the cell as well. She still thought about Seattle sometimes, mostly the happy memories of her and Owen versus the devastating memory of finding him dead because of her. She put that out of her mind as she worked on an escape plan, munching on the apple. Lev on the other hand walked over to sit beside Levi. "Do you know him?" Lev asked curiously.​

 

[icedthemoon]

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

No. He wasn’t in the mood for this. He didn’t want their cast off food that wasn’t good enough for everyone else. He didn’t want to have to hear their good times and parties upstairs. They played music and ran around. Just because they were in cells didn’t mean they couldn’t hear what was going on in the rest of these places that used to be houses. They weren’t sound proof. Sometimes Levi wondered if they did this on purpose so that the slaves would feel bad. He brought his hand to his lap. The open wound stung as the blood slowly dripped from his knuckles. God, he really shouldn’t care this much.

He tried to look away from the rest of the people. He wasn’t one of them. Sure, he was literally one of them. He wasn’t trapped there like they were, but they weren’t the same. He was not like them. They weren’t resigned to this fate, and he wasn’t. Of course, they would probably fight for their freedom if they were given a real chance, though he didn’t see how that could work. He couldn’t come up with something that great. Levi looked at the younger one. Lev. It almost made him laugh when he heard the name. They had such similar names. He even considered using his actual name for this kid. What was that about? Finally he shook his head. “No. I really don’t.” He turned away hoping that was enough to end the conversation. He didn’t want to talk about it.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

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

Gaige was in his room, not wanting to partake in the usual party and music. He wasn't in the mood for that cheerfulness, he wanted to wallow. To lay in his bed and think about what life would've been like if he'd left and gone after Ben. Would he still be here? Would he be living somewhere in a dream, with a huge family? Maybe. He didn't know and that terrified him more than anything else because he didn't know. Instead he laid on a mattress that could use some more stuffing, eating a sandwich and staring at the crumbling stucco style ceiling.

Lev tilted his head as he saw the blood on the man's knuckles and he ripped a piece of his shirt off and reached for the hand. "Oh. You just.. seemed to share experience with who he used to be?" He asked as he tried to piece together the words and how the guard had reacted. "He seemed like he knew what you were talking about." He added as he grabbed Levi's hand without allowing protest and wrapped the shirt over the bleeding knuckles to help stem that bleeding.​

 

[icedthemoon]

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

He should have known that wasn’t the end. It never was the end with curious people. Other slaves before these two came were endlessly curious about him as well. It was nice to know the people you were destined to die with. Levi didn’t like to talk about himself much. There was nothing to tell really. It wasn’t as tragic as some of the backstories here. It wasn’t as great or heroic. He wasn’t much of anyone. He was just him. Seth Levinson. Only he didn’t want to be that guy anymore. He didn’t want to be the guy from a failed cause. So he wasn’t. He could be someone else. No one here really cared that much anyone. He didn’t not dare to look at Lev. “Yeah. Well, he seemed to forget what he used to be.” He nodded towards Abby. “Where she’s from. The original one. That’s where I’m from too. Sort of. Same group. Had the tags and everything to prove it before they ripped those from me too. And that guy? That guy acts like he’s better than us because he’s out there with his stupid gun and his stupid music?” He looked up at the ceiling imagining that guy having the time of his life. “He used to be like us too. We fought people who did this. I don’t know how someone can fall that far.”​

 

[EquineGurl23]

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

As Gaige slept, or tried, Lev was learning more about him. He turned to look at Abby, who was watching their interaction as she ate, and then back at Levi. His head tilted slightly as he crossed his legs once he was done wrapping the man's knuckles and set his own hands in his lap. "Forgot who he used to be? Or decided that wasn't where he wanted to be?" He asked, putting forward that question. He had left home because it wasn't what he wanted. Much like his friend Alexander who was headed east. "Many people find themselves confused and hurting, especially after sudden change." He added as he looked at Levi. "I left my own group because I didn't want what they had planned for me, but what if he came here because he had nothing else?"​

 

[icedthemoon]

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

This kid was shockingly profound. How was he supposed to answer that? Clearly he was going through some things that were similar to this situation. It wasn’t Levi’s place to ask. It wasn’t his place period. What this kid wanted to share was up to him even if Levi wouldn’t do it. Though, he didn’t share some. He shared more in that moment than he had with anyone else. He blamed his anger with some guard who made them work and refused to do anything himself when he should have been fighting against that kind of oppression. He did before, right? “I did.” Because it was true. He came to this area because he didn’t have anything else for him. There was nothing left. He abandoned his first life just for his second to fall apart. In this third life, he wasn’t about to forget why he made all his choices. He pulled his newly wrapped hand to his chest and looked away. “That’s not an excuse.”​

 

[EquineGurl23]

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

Lev looked at Levi, hearing his words as he thought about them. Was he making an excuse for the guard? "Oh." He whispered as he bit his lip, though he wondered if he should share his story. He felt better when he knew that Abby knew and accepted him. "Have you heard of Seattle?" Lev asked Levi, his eyes searching the man's until he looked away. "That is where I came from with Abby. I was part of a.. religious cult there that had very strict beliefs." He said as he finished his food and his hand brushed his cheek, brushing against scars on his cheeks. Scars. For so long he heard wolves call them that, but then he met a wolf and went through a short two days where he put more trust in her than he'd ever thought. It had changed something inside him when he did that.​

 

[icedthemoon]

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

To be honest, Levi did not expect to hear something so real from this kid. He didn’t feel like they were that close. He wasn’t close to anyone. Not for a long time. Levi shook his head. No, he hadn’t heard about Seattle. Well, okay, he heard about places and their general goings on but he didn’t know anything specific about Seattle. He looked at those scars on his face. Honestly, Levi thought that was something crappy that happened to him. Apparently it was. Religious cult. Was that any worse than this? He didn’t even know. He couldn’t guess. He wasn’t sure he wanted to. He listened though. He wasn’t sure what else to do at this point. “So you left them. Good for you. You didn’t become a slaver like that. Especially not after working against the kinds of people who might do this to you.” He was too angry to see reason, though he wasn’t as aggressive as he was earlier.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

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

Lev wasn't expecting to reason with him, but more so planting seeds that not everyone is really as bad as it seems. There was good in everyone, even those that seemed far from being saved. "I left my group, joined forces with our enemy who quickly became my closest friend, and fought my people to leave. The woman I was with, the group that absorbed her and the others, were worse than any stories I'd heard of FEDRA. My point, not everyone is truly lost, maybe temporarily blinded by the darkness but never fully lost. Abby wasn't. She came back to the light." Lev said as he got up and placed a hand on Levi's shoulder. "Don't give up on him. Perhaps the light is closer than you think." He said as he walked over to Abby and laid down beside her to get some rest.​

 

[icedthemoon]

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

And then he was alone. Left to his own thoughts. Don’t give up on him? Was this kid really asking him to try to find the food in the man who put manacles on them and forced them to work? Who was this kid? Who was this woman with him? He wasn’t going to know. One leg straightened as the other stayed bent. He rested his arm against his knee and sighed. From where he was he closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. He might as well try to sleep. Only he couldn’t. He wasn’t meant to be here. He should have been anywhere else. He didn’t fight for freedom to have it taken away. By the time he fell asleep, it was hours after everyone else. He was so conflicted. He was going to be so angry, but now- He didn’t know. That was the worst part. He just didn’t know. The next morning came and he was back to being angry. It was all he could be and still understand.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

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

Abby fell asleep when Lev came over, both of them laying beside the other. Comfort in found family. The only family they both had left was each other at this point. After Seattle. The next morning, Gaige woke up. He'd only gotten a few hours of sleep and it was time to get moving once more. Gaige grabbed his gun and headed down to the cells once more, unlocking the cell door and looking at them all, though his eyes lingered on the one in the back, Levi. "Alright everyone, time to get up. Come on. Let's get moving." He said, his voice rough, perhaps a little tired and drained, but he pushed that aside as he worked on putting manacles on each prisoner.​

 

[icedthemoon]

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

By morning, he was not the first awake. A couple other people were already awake and preparing for the day. He stuck to the back like he did most of the days. He had no reason not to. Then came his least favorite guard with his eagerness to shove them back out into those fields. While he shackled the rest, he moved up to the front and leaned against the bars. He slid his hands through so they lazily hung through. He watched this guy with an expression that had the faintest hint of anger. His lips pursed in almost a frown. He watched as everyone else was taken, and then he pulled himself out of the bars and languidly moved so that he could be next. He stared at him for a moment then just laughed.​