Pull the trigger, my love

by poopaw

(Disclaimer: I do not own Revenge)

Daniel feels himself shaking, from his feet to his outstretched arm. The very same arm that wields a gun pointed right at the heart of his fiancé. They're on the beach where their first engagement party was held. He's dressed in a fine suit and she's dressed in a beautiful gown, her hair billowing with the salty wind. The sun has long settled and only the weak light of the moon illuminates them. Their sins hang in the air, thick with lies and deception.

How many times had he sided with his family? It was his family that has wronged so many, most especially the woman in front of him. And yet, time and time again, he had defended them in front of the world. He was bound by blood to protect them.

How many times had she lied? How many people has she condemned? All of the deaths and imprisonment brought about by a scorned little child. It was her family that was wronged but was revenge the only way? She was also bound by blood.

It was a beautiful tragedy played out in a beautiful forsaken land.

And now, here they were. Both of them are holding each other at gunpoint. Neither one is talking. His eyes settled directly on hers. He's never seen her eyes look so bright before. After all, he was the last nail on the Grayson Family coffin.

Death was her adrenaline.

"So, this is it huh," he whispers, the waves calmly colliding with the sand. The sea was absolutely calm. There was no violence between the ocean and the wind. They were on the eye of the storm. One gunshot and everything would come crashing down.

He watches her clench her teeth and steady her arm. "This is the last step."

"Everything was a lie. You used me as a pawn in a game I had no control over."

She laughs darkly and looks at him viciously. "No control? Daniel, you had every chance to avenge my father. You had every chance to give your family up."

He grips the gun tighter. He doesn't want to pull the trigger. He can't say the same for her, however. She's looking much angrier by the minute. "So you get to protect your family and I don't?"

"Your family is evil."

"You've killed. How is that any different?

"I killed people who were evil! Your family took out my father who had done nothing!"

"Murder is painted black and white, Emily," he spits out angrily. He feels betrayed because despite everything, he loves her. He's been in love with her for four years. Almost since the moment he's met her. And since then, she has never stopped lying. "A kill is a kill."

"Shut up!" she brings her arm higher. He feels it pointed directly on his heart. There was no doubt in his mind that she could hit the bull's-eye. He's seen her in the target range far too many times to doubt her skills. "I have to do this."

"Tell me this," he has to ask. He has to. "Did you plan to kill me from the start? Was I absolutely nothing to you? A mere pawn in the grand revenge of Amanda Clarke? Did you even care for me at all? Because I gave you my all, Emily. I gave you the good and I gave you the bad. You told me you loved me despite of it all!"

She closes her eyes but the gun never waivers. "Daniel," she whispers.

"Answer the goddamn question, Emily! One of us will die tonight and I'd like you to be honest for once!"

"I did. I loved you the first time. You were nothing I was familiar with. You were innocent and pure – absolutely beautiful in the middle of the ugliness your family was caught up in. You were a Grayson by blood, neither by values nor actions. For a moment, I thought that maybe you'd be the one to save me. That maybe after I've avenged my father, you'd save me from the viciousness that surrounds me."

His eyes watch her finger curl around the trigger. He does the same thing. Will she shoot him, knowing that he can very much do the same?

Her eyes open and she looks so determined. "But you changed. I lost you to them."

"I changed because you never gave me a chance not to. I was always in the dark. I could've helped you if you just told me."

"Would you have really turned your back?"

"I loved you!"

Emily stares right at him. "I never planned for you to die, Daniel."

He fires at the same time she does.

Daniel falls back rather slowly, if you ask him. It was as if time slowed down for this very moment. As he crumbles, he watches her. Her mouth opens and her eyes water. She drops the gun almost immediately. He thinks she looks beautiful – scared and vulnerable but also very proud of what she's done. He wants to congratulate her. She's finally finished her life mission. He wants to ask her what she'll do next. Will she stay in the Hamptons? Marry Jack? Or maybe it was Aiden? Has she even planned her life after revenge?

She wears a red gown, very much like what she wore to their first engagement party. It accentuates her lithe body. Her luscious hair frames her features in a way that leaves him quirking his mouth in the tiniest of smiles.

Daniel knows he could've hit the bullet directly on her chest as well. She knows that as well or she wouldn't have looked so shocked at the bullet flying a hair away from her arm. He had planned to kill her until the very last second, just before pulling the trigger. After all, he was a Grayson. If he's going down, he might as well take her with him.

But that's the thing. He loved her and he would've done anything for her. What she never tried to understand was how much he considered her as his family too – the best part. And everybody knows his allegiance will always side with his family. He hits the sand just as he closes his eyes, allowing the pain to dull the voices in his head.

If his death were the last piece to Emily's happiness, then he'd give it to her on a silver platter.

Author's Note: There will be another chapter. It will be the same scene. But from Emily's perspective. Also, I advise listening to New York by Snow Patrol while reading. I played it over and over while writing this. What a beautiful song.