Work Text:
"It's dark."
"It's always dark here."
"It's cold."
Cybil rubbed the bridge of her nose, growing irritated. Across the room, Rose peered out the window, out into the dark. It wasn't night, but they had heard the bell and sought refugee in an apartment over a shoe store. Now they stayed in this room, waiting for the darkness to seep away with the door barricaded, the window covered, and the faint glow of a dying flashlight in Rose's hand illuminated the floor dimly.
The cop quietly got to her feet and crossed over to the silent woman. The silence was one thing, Cybil could handle that. It was practically a requirement when you had to ride for a good hour or two straight in the middle of the night from one town to the next. This silence coming from the distraught mother, however, was chilling and unnatural. It was as if without her daughter, Rose was only a shell of a human being, cold and empty.
Empty. Soulless.
The blonde hesitantly put a reassuring hand on Rose's shoulder. She meant to find words of comfort, but Cybil's voice was locked in her throat. Instead, she slowly embraced Rose, wanting to warm her. To ease her worries and fill her again with life.
Rose tensed her fingers around the flashlight, slowly placing her other hand over Cybil's arm. She clenched the policewoman's arm, feeling her for the first time and dragging herself out of her thoughts. Cybil's breath touched the woman's ear, soft like a child's whisper, making Rose really listen to what the other woman was about to say.
"We'll find your daughter and get out of here." A pause. "In the meantime, let me fill the empty spot in your heart."
A tear rolled down Rose's cheek.