Chapter Text
Sitting in the cold of the airport, Eliza sighed. The wife of her best friend was dead and she was trying to get to him before the funeral. After calling the prison he had been housed in and learning that Shadow had been released from prison a few days earlier, she had booked the first flight up to Indiana. It was a haul, and the layover had her brain frazzled. She leaned back in her seat, sighing once again as her head fell backwards.
A familiar voice sounded at the ticket counter, and she looked over her shoulder. There was the back of Shadow Moon’s head, dark and smooth and shining in the light. Her heart beat hard, eyes bright as she stared at the back of his head. He got his ticket and turned around, dark eyes looking sad and heavy. It hurt to see him in so much pain. She stood and walked halfway to him, a hand clenching by her side when his eyes landed on her form.
Shadow mouthed her name before he half jogged the rest of the way to her, thick arms wrapping tight around her body and crushing her close to himself. They were both quiet as they hugged, Eliza standing on the tips of her toes to pet her hand over the back of his head and neck in a soothing manner, her heart aching with the way he shook against her. Her poor Shadow, poor thing, such a sweet man that deserved much more and much better than what he had been given and been through.
“Come sit down, Shadow,” she murmured as she pulled away, taking his hand gently and leading him to where her stuff was sitting. The tiny seats didn’t allow much maneuvering, but Eliza held Shadow’s big hand in both of her own and turned towards him as much as she could in the little seats they were in. Shadow looked bone tired, and she pressed a gentle kiss to his temple as she pulled him into a tight hug.
She had missed him, in the three years he had been locked up, and had missed spending time with her favorite person in the world. She’d never say it to his face, but Eliza had always known that Laura was nothing good for Shadow. She knew it from the moment the woman had first called him puppy instead of his given name, and how she had become cold to him.
“Laura’s dead,” Shadow murmured as he stared at her tiny hands around his own, and she nodded her head. “I don’t know what to do now, honestly.”
“I know, honey… I’m so sorry,” she sighed.
A sniffle sounded as he leaned forward, his eyes pressing into her shoulder. One of her hands rubbed over his neck, soft shushing sounding.
“You’re okay now, Shadow. I got you, you’re okay,” Eliza added with another gentle kiss to his skin. Shadow sighed softly, pulling away as he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. She smiled gently against Shadow’s head, though it was a sad smile. “I’ll keep you safe now. You know I will.”
Shadow let out a wet laugh against her shoulder as he curled his arms around her waist, squeezing tight enough to steal her breath.
“I know you will, El, I know.”
In the car with Shadow, Eliza watched the scenery pass by. She’d rented the car for them, and Shadow paid her back by driving. She knew he wasn’t going to last much longer, gaze catching on the tightening of his fingers on the steering wheel over and over. He was pissed, and itched to do something, and she let him build it up.
“Gonna take a break,” he stated, and she nodded.
“Take your time, Shadow. Get it out, whatever you need,” she replied in a sweet voice, reaching over to squeeze his shoulder in reassurance.
Shadow pulled off to a canyon, climbed out, and stood at the edge. Eliza thought back to the old man they had met in first class, Mr. Wednesday, and thought over who she thought he was. His demeanor, the name, the eye comment, everything screamed otherworldly to her. It screamed god, and it screamed Odin. Her skin crawled with the feeling and the knowledge of meeting the god she worshiped and gave her prayers to. He knew her, from the way he spoke, and knew they had a connection.
The sound of Shadow’s deep, heart wrenching scream leveraged her from her thoughts, and Eliza climbed out of the car to stand just behind him. Once he was done and had it out of his system, he turned to give her another backbreaking hug. She cooed gently, shushed him, and rubbed his back. Anything to help him, anything to make him better off.
“Let me drive now, Shadow. You need some sleep, you’re exhausted,” she offered up when he pulled away. Shadow leaned his cheek into her palm when she cupped his face, a thumb running over his cheekbone. His eyes were soft and tired when he stared at Eliza, her words taking a minute to register correctly in her head. He nodded slowly when he understood what she offered, and gave her the keys to the car with heavy hands.
They both climbed into the car, switching positions with ease. Shadow was asleep the moment they were on the highway, his snores filling the car and drowning out the music Eliza had playing on the radio. Though it was loud snoring, she didn’t mind it. It was knowledge that Shadow was resting, knowledge that he was getting sleep.
Eliza was thankful for small luxuries, and murmured her thanks to Freyja, hoping that her lady was as real as Odin was.
Shadow woke up when they passed into Indiana, sometime deep in the night when Eliza felt fatigue settling at the back of her mind like a bad cold. He murmured something about food as he rubbed his eyes, and she agreed. He woke slowly and they switched positions again, Eliza getting a nap in before they pulled into the parking lot of a hole in the wall bar.
Half an hour later and Shadow was at their table with Odin himself again, and he was asking her for what she wanted to drink. She stared at him, deep in his eyes, and felt his power in her soul, buried somewhere deep in her bones.
“Water, plain and simple,” she replied simply. Mr. Wednesday laughed a bit at the answer, shaking his head in wonder. Eliza huffed, shaking her head right back. “I don’t drink, Mr. Wednesday. Don’t have the taste for it, and don’t have the blood for it either,” she replied simply as she looked over the newspaper Shadow had placed in front of her.
While he flipped his coin and Wednesday went away for their drinks, Eliza read the obituary, and felt even more pain in her heart for Shadow.
She was surprised by the smell of tobacco and sweat that came up behind them as she set the newspaper on the table. Eliza looked over her shoulder at the tall, redheaded man that chattered about coin tricks. He plucked gold coins from the air with an air of swagger that had Eliza’s cunt pulsing in time with her heart. Her breath hitched when his eyes met her, the peek of his cherry red tongue showing with a flash of gold as he spit a coin into his cup.
Oh, she was in trouble.