𝚂𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚢 | Isabela x Reader

Your Favorite Crime

"You're sure it's this way?" Isabela asks, Dolores leading the way, her hand up to her ear in habit. It made you wonder if it helped her hear better, and if covering her ears helped mute noise too.

She continues to walk without uttering a single word for a few moments. And just as Isa is about to open her mouth to speak again, Dolores beats her to it. "No, not really."

Everyone turns to her in shock then notices the smirk playing on her lips to tease. "Kidding. Geez, everyone's so tense these days." Surprisingly, even Camilo looks at her exasperatedly.

Suddenly, Dolores stops, making everyone bump into each other. Isabela groans, thinking it was another way of teasing everyone. "Dolores I swear-"

She covers her prima's mouth, pointing silently by the river. A man in a soldier's uniform sits on the ground, bloodied and battered but still holding onto a gun in defense. His back was facing you, but you knew that uniform too well.

You crouch down immediately, gesturing for the others to do the same. The wind blows, the trees rustling along with the sound of low groans in pain. You whisper, hoping he was too distracted by the pain to hear anything. "I can't see his face, but that's someone from my village."

Mirabel's eyes shine, her voice slightly rising in anticipation, thinking maybe it was someone you knew. "Then we should help-"

"No." You answer shortly, perplexity showing on their faces at the direct dismissal to help. Thus making you need to further explain. "I need to get a good look at his face. This could be a trap to check for land to overthrow. It... it was something we did a lot in the past."

Knowing the very scene before you were influencing bad memories, Isabela takes your hand in hers, rubbing against the back of it with her thumb.

"What do you need us to do?" Luisa asks, always willing to help with the strength she was gifted.

"I need you all to just stay here and trust me. This is my forte."

Isabela grips your hand immediately in response, her eyebrows meeting as a frown starts to form on her face. How you loved when she got feisty. "No. Absolutely not. Never."

"You'd never trust me?" You state jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

She stares into your eyes, loosening her grip on your hand softly. "You don't have to do things alone anymore."

But it was something you were already accustomed to; encountering danger while your lover stayed in the safety of her home. That was what you wanted-to protect and provide for those you loved, and to bear the weight of having to sin just to make others happy. If god had judged you for the number of crimes you'd committed, you'd never see life outside of hell.

But Isabela refused continually, not an ounce of her giving in. The life you were accustomed to, and all the bad habits that came with it slowly being broken down piece by piece by Isabela.

Even after god himself chose to give up on you, Isabela still made an effort to guide you up to heaven. After all, angels like her could never fly down hell with you.

You take a deep breath, nodding as you squeeze her hand reassuringly. "Dolores, can you hear anyone else nearby? Maybe a group of people? Or horses in a short distance?"

She closes her eyes, focusing on her sharpest sense, searching the land for any kind of disruption, or plans for attacks, even for the sound of some kind of unique patterned breathing. Each sound she heard gave her eyes, and all she needed to do was focus on a certain area.

Opening her eyes once again, she points back in the soldier's direction. "Just a distance away, I can hear someone else breathing. It's unstable and shaky, just like his, but this one is more frantic. I think they're in a worse condition than him."