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When Nadie awoke, only darkness lay at the end of the horizon. All that stretched before her was a ruined road and flat, barren land. There were no cars, nor anyone else. She was alone, as she had been for so long. She touched the gun holstered at her thigh, and its weight was familiar.
But she wasn't supposed to be alone. She had met Ellis, traveled together with her, settled down awhile, and then started traveling again, this time with no bounty on Ellis' head. They were free now.
"Ellis?" Nadie called out hopefully, but her voice was lost to the darkness. She had a memory of blue fire, of secrets and Ellis fading away, but no, that had only been a nightmare.
However, now she stood alone on a ruined, empty road, and even the stars had abandoned her.
She began to walk aimlessly, and her white cloak provided little protection against the mocking cold. She was alone again. No, not simply again. She'd always been alone, for as long as she could remember. She never grieved, because she had no one to grieve for, nor to grieve for her. In the end, everyone left her.
How long she walked, she didn't know, and nothing ever changed. Find a bounty, get paid, and move on. The scent of gunpowder and blood filled her nose. The ground around her was colorless and lifeless, no grass or trees, no homes or noise. Only an unending, cold silence. She was used to it. She was nobody, after all.
"If you have any last words, say them now."
"I love you, Nadie."
She broke into a run as tears stung at her eyes. It wasn't fair - they survived the impossible, they lived again after everything that happened. She didn't hate traveling; after all, it was better than rotting away in one place, and the open road was supposed to be a little bit lonely, but it had changed with that young witch. Ellis had said she loved that sparkle in Nadie's eyes when they traveled.
"Dammit!" Nadie shouted. "Ellis, where are you?"
Yet no one answered.
She kept running, as far as her legs could take her. She couldn't be alone again. She and Ellis had defined death itself to be together. Still the endless road mocked her.
Blue fire streaked across the barren lands, engulfing even the darkness. Nadie reached out, seeing a glimpse of pale yellow turning away from her, but she fell, fell for a very long time into cold, consuming fire.
And then she finally awoke and found herself with her head in Ellis' lap.
Ellis stared down at Nadie and blinked in confusion. "Nadie?" she said carefully. "Are you all right?"
Nadie let out a deep sigh and glanced around without lifting her head from Ellis' lap. They had made camp just out of sight of the road, protected by a row of trees. A gently burning fire lay beside them, lit by Ellis' magic. "Oh, did I fall asleep?" Nadie asked.
Ellis nodded. "You sounded like you were having a nightmare, so I tried to comfort you. I… couldn't think of anything else."
In this moment, Nadie was glad of Ellis' gentle warmth. "A nightmare, huh?" she repeated with another sigh. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"What, and ruin my tough image?" Nadie chuckled with false bravado.
Unsurprisingly, Ellis didn't seem convinced, and she laid a careful hand on Nadie's hair. "Nadie…" she whispered.
"All right, all right, you got me." Nadie tried to smile, weak as it was. "I may look like a cool, confident bounty hunter, but even I still get scared."
"Of what?" Ellis pressed gently.
Nadie turned her face away and chewed her lip. The fire burned brightly, warmly, but again she thought of that blue fire separating her and Ellis. "I've been alone a long time," she said at last. "I thought I was used to it. But then I met you, and we got into all kinds of trouble, and, well, I don't know. Maybe I finally understand how painful loneliness is."
Ellis' hand on Nadie's hair stilled a moment. "Yeah, it is," was all she said in reply, her voice barely a whisper.
Silence fell over them, save for the cackling of the fire. How far they had traveled, how they almost died during some crazy ritual - would've died if not for Blue-Eyes' own magic - and now they were free, free to travel any road they wanted. But still the nightmares tormented Nadie.
"I was alone a long time too, even with the professor," Ellis said suddenly, surprising Nadie; she rarely spoke of her life before ending up in Mexico. "And then he died and I wound up here, trying to hide and understanding nothing. But then I met you and learned so much, and… I don't want to be alone again either…"
Carefully Nadie sat up and saw the tears that stung at the corners of Ellis' blue eyes. "Guess we're both needy people, huh?" she chuckled weakly and brushed her finger against Ellis' cheek, catching a tear.
"I meant it, you know," Ellis muttered. "When I said I love you." She raised her head and closed the space between her and Nadie with a kiss.
They held the kiss a moment, and Nadie drew Ellis into her arms, laying a calloused hand on pale hair. Before meeting Ellis, she couldn't remember holding someone like this. The warmth of another person really was nice, she could not help but think.
Ellis' arms came around Nadie's back, thin but strong. Her breath tickled Nadie's neck, and a soft smile tugged at her lips. There was a sparkle in her eyes too.
"I was born and raised on the open road," Nadie said after the silence. "And if it brought me to you, it's not so bad."
Ellis laughed. "It's a part of you, after all."
"Just like your magic is a part of you too," Nadie said softly. Here on the open road, Ellis' magic didn't need to be a secret. Maybe someday they would settle down - Nina and Roberto had promised them a home, after all - but there was still so much of the world they had yet to see.
"So where should we go next?" Ellis asked.
Nadie tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hm, that's a good question. What do you think?"
"I'd like some ice cream!"
"Ice cream, huh? Yeah, that does sound like a good idea!"
Maybe it wouldn't be a grand adventure. But as hunter and witch, the open road was theirs.
