7 Works by InEmbers
Listing Works
-
Tags
Summary
"Joel... Is there any way I could be dangerous to the baby?" Ellie asks. "Because of my... condition?"
Joel's heart twinges, recognizing the familiar dance of guilt and fear she's ensnared in.
"Look at me, kiddo," he replies. "You're not dangerous, alright? I know your heart's in the right place. You care 'bout that little one already, you wanna protect it. And that's real admirable. But you're not a threat, and you can't infect anyone else. You believe that, right?"
The tight knot of anxiety within her loosens just a bit, replaced by a cautious sense of relief. Joel's always been a man of action, of practicality; wrestling with words isn't necessarily his forte. But for Ellie, he would cross the goddamn universe.
✧✧✧
While passing by the Millers’ open window, Ellie overhears Tommy and Maria discussing her, and she believes their words reveal that they see her—and the dormant cordyceps infection inside her—as a threat to their unborn child.
Joel finds her in distress and comforts her, promising to confront his brother and sister-in-law, and if needed, to forge a new path away from Jackson with Ellie by his side.
Series
- Part 4 of Every Thread of Us Connects
-
Think I’m Gonna Start a Fire by InEmbers
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
28 Jul 2023
Tags
Summary
Ellie's voice splinters the calm, her words a cascade of surprise, elation, and the signature profanities that echo off the surrounding trees. "Holy shit!" she exclaims, her voice punctuated by giddiness. "Get your asses over here, quick! I fucking did it!"
Joel and Tommy hurriedly make their way over, footfalls crunching against the autumn-kissed ground. Reaching Ellie, who's cautiously guarding the glowing embers in a nest of dry grass, Joel crouches down beside her, inspecting the delicate bundle.
His heart swells with an unmistakably paternal pride that had burned stubbornly in his chest like a tiny spark, refusing to die out. In the dancing flames, he can almost see another young girl's smile gazing back at him across the years.
✧✧✧
Or: The loss of their precious flint and steel inspires Joel and Tommy to teach Ellie how to make fire in the "old school, Boy Scouts style". All it takes is one tiny spark...
Series
- Part 1 of Tiny Sparks
-
The Truth Is in the Embers (Of Everything We Say) by InEmbers for Aledhwen
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
03 Jul 2023
Tags
Summary
"Do you think we'll always be like this?" Ellie asks, her voice soft, yet carrying in the quiet room. "Or will we grow apart, like the kids in class and their parents?"
Joel's an old hand at tough situations, traversing the hostile landscape of a world gutted and left for dead. But this—this is something else entirely. This is Ellie, the girl he's come to see as his own, laying bare her deepest fears. His heart aches for her, for the fear etched deep into her youthful face. This isn't the fear of the infected, nor of the unforgiving world beyond Jackson's borders. This is a fear of change, a fear of losing the only semblance of normalcy and family she's ever known.
Ellie watches him, her eyes wide with a fragile hope. He yearns to reassure her, to tell her everything will remain the same. But time brings change, whether they want it or not. What he can promise is that he'll remain by her side, steadfast as always, through whatever comes their way.
✧✧✧
Or: Ellie's classmates make her question her bond with Joel. But while their journey to Jackson has left them reshaped and remade, what's left behind is everlasting.
Series
- Part 5 of Every Thread of Us Connects
-
Guided by the Same Light by InEmbers
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
21 Jun 2023
Tags
Summary
Ellie's reflection stares back at her. She's the same girl who once fought for survival, and now she's grappling with existence. Living, not surviving. She yearns to find the right words, to spill out this conflicting gratitude that's threatening to burst from her chest. But how the hell do you say "thanks" when it's laced with the guilt of knowing that your continuing life, your ongoing existence in the world, has been bought with the lives of others?
Her heart clenches with a twisted combination of gratitude, remorse, and a fiery spark of defiance. She's the girl with the cure for the cordyceps infection, denied her chance to serve up salvation for humanity by Joel's swift intervention. Was he a knight in rusty armor or a ruthless thief? The answer is like smoke, dancing and twisting, forever out of her grasp.
✧✧✧
Or: On the journey home from Salt Lake City, Joel told Ellie the truth about the hospital and the Fireflies. Now in Jackson, Ellie wrestles with anger and acceptance, guilt and gratitude, and how to move through hurt into something resembling hope.
Series
- Part 2 of Every Thread of Us Connects
-
Somebody to Mend You by InEmbers
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
21 May 2023
Tags
Summary
The reality of Joel's confession collides into her like a tidal wave, eroding her from all sides. She's a ravaged island of wreckage and loss, all jagged cliffs and crumbling monuments to belief and hope. "Do you really think they would've killed me?" Ellie asks, her voice atremble with uncertainty.
"Yes," Joel responds immediately, his voice steeled with conviction. "I saw it in Marlene’s eyes, heard it in her words. She really thought you'd be nothin' but cargo to me, thought she could just slip right on back into your life like no time had passed at all, and she'd just regain your trust with nothin' to prove. Maybe she even believed it would be easier for me to walk away if I knew they'd be killin' you, like I'd fulfilled my obligation or somethin'; like I could just get up and go, and leave you behind to die.”
Joel glowers in the dim light, his features chiseled by the chiaroscuro of shadows. "She had no fuckin' idea what I'd do to keep you safe."
✧✧✧
Or: On the journey between Salt Lake City and Jackson, Joel tells Ellie the truth about the events at the hospital, because she's his compass, his baby girl, and his purpose—and God help any motherfuckers who stand in his way.
Series
- Part 1 of Every Thread of Us Connects
-
Sons and Daughters by InEmbers
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
12 Apr 2023
Tags
Summary
Ellie quietly stands in front of Maria and Tommy's fireplace mantel, her gaze solemnly regarding the chalkboard memorial, her thoughts swirling like autumn leaves on the stormy wind of her disquiet. The names and dates have long ago carved themselves into her memory, yet they still hold her captive on this mild spring morning. On any other day, the morning might feel alive with the promise of warmth and renewal, but here in this quiet reverie—frozen in the sunbeam dust of this house that's not her home—Ellie feels like an unmoored vessel, adrift and alone.
Her heart aches with worrisome fears as her eyes linger once more on the names. Sarah, who perished at 14, cradled in her father's arms, as the world they knew was consumed by fear and chaos. In the aftermath, Joel had very nearly embraced his own anguished end, just barely flinching at the self-inflicted gunshot that would have found him following in his daughter's fate. His real daughter. His irreplaceable Sarah.
✧✧✧
Or: The memorial for Kevin and Sarah leads to Ellie bonding with Maria over her fears of losing Joel, and her desires to carve an Ellie-shaped space in his heart that she can always call her home.
Series
- Part 3 of Every Thread of Us Connects
-
Perfectly Aligned by InEmbers
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
02 Apr 2023
Tags
Summary
After all she’s witnessed and experienced since leaving Boston—and especially after David tried to consummate his twisted vision of two likeminded souls hungering for communion—Ellie knows she can’t put her faith in the God of men like David. Maybe not even in the God they spoke of back in Jackson, who talked to the townsfolk in all the different dialects they longed to hear.
But she knows that Joel will never ask her to pray for salvation and repent for her sins. He would sooner siphon them from her soul himself, liberate them from her marrow and her memory. He’ll hold her burdens like a holy fire, but he’ll never let her burn.
✧✧✧
Or: Days after her harrowing experience at Silver Lake, Joel tends to Ellie as she continues to emotionally unravel. But her candor, and his care, begin to carve away at resistances and armor, revealing two damaged souls who may be perfectly aligned.