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You Rescued Me

Summary:

Maybe it was fate that he decided to take the back way home that night, but whatever the reason, Inuyasha was grateful for arriving just in the nick of time to rescue a waif of a woman who had clearly been through hell. He never would have imagined that she would end up rescuing him, too.

Notes:

Have you ever looked at something so long, put so much effort into it, that you just get so damn sick and tired of looking at it and you start to hate it with every fiber of your being?

Yeah. This fic. THIS DAMN FIC a;sfjalfhF

Anyway.

I won’t ramble on like I did on Out of Time.

Note: Inuyasha is slightly OOC, but nothing too extreme.

Enjoy!

Chapter Text

Cigarette hanging from his lips, one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding his phone, Inuyasha navigated his Ford around the various potholes located at random intervals on the miles long back road that nobody ever used because of that exact reason, knowing precisely where each one was and how to avoid it from years of traveling this route. It was the quickest way to get to his house, and if he were honest, he didn’t really mind it because he hated traffic anyway. Going a few miles below the limit and bouncing over potholes he couldn’t avoid was a small price to pay if it meant he didn’t have to deal with stupid people on the road. And with nothing but open grassy fields on either side, it was peaceful, the silver brilliance of the July moon falling on the rolling hills in the distance a familiar and calming sight that he never got tired of.

As it turned out, however, it seemed that he wasn’t the only one on this night seeking to escape the busy highway. While Miroku prattled on about his latest conquest on the other end of the line, Inuyasha only listened with half an ear as he stared out the dirty windshield down the long stretch of road ahead of him, golden eyes trained on the twin pinpricks of blinking yellow he’d spotted the second he’d turned onto the road. Instantly he’d known what it was and without even thinking about it his booted foot had eased off the accelerator, slowing even more until his speedometer told him he was cruising along at about fifteen MPH, way below the limit, but he didn’t care. It was after 10 pm, nobody was behind him, and the closer he got to the flashing lights, the more his gut was telling him that something wasn’t right.

The feeling only increased when he spotted a second vehicle pulled up behind the first one, his sharp eyesight easily making out the sleek model of some sports car, top down and lights off, which explained why he’d missed it the first time. The car was darkly colored and blended into the night, a natural camouflage.

He frowned and a hard ball of dread formed in his chest, causing his hand to tighten on the wheel and his ears to pin down beneath the seen-better-days ballcap he wore on head. Movement dragged his gaze back to the vehicle with its emergency flashers on, some kind of small SUV, and he spotted them. Three figures, two taller ones towering over a smaller one and it didn’t take him long at all to deduce what was happening.

Inuyasha’s jaw clenched and his hand tightened on his phone as he cut off his friend mid-sentence. “Miroku, I’m gonna hafta call you back,” he muttered and ended the call before he could respond, tossing the mobile carelessly into the passenger seat.

Two minutes later Inuyasha trundled on past and he turned his head just enough to catch a glimpse of a terrified pale face. With hardened determination, he went a little ways ahead then pulled over and cut the engine, unconcerned with putting his own flashers on; it was unlikely anybody else would be down this road this late at night anyway and he didn’t want to draw attention to his presence. Quickly he hopped out of his truck and started slowly toward what was unfolding, and apparently being too absorbed in the slim figure before them, the two punks hadn’t noticed him yet, which worked just fine for him. It would make it easier if he had to interfere, which was looking more likely the closer he approached.

He could hear them now, the two males trying and failing to cajole the terrified woman back to their car and take her wherever she needed to go. With her back to him he couldn’t see her face but she was shaking her head frantically back and forth, taking a step back whenever they took one forward, and the acrid stench of fear was coming off of her in waves.

Suddenly very glad he followed his instincts again and stopped to check it out, Inuyasha’s frown deepened and he watched as one of the boys’ face contorted into an angry scowl as he raised a hand. “Shit,” he cursed and then he was running.

The fist descended at an alarming speed, petrified brown eyes squeezed shut, but a much larger clawed hand shot out in the nick of time and caught the fist before it could make contact. Inuyasha heard her gasp and was aware when she quickly spun around to face him but he ignored her in favor of pinning the ballsy little punk who liked to hit woman with a cold glare, taking satisfaction as the color drained from his face.

“What the fuck—” the kid sputtered, clearly surprised at this unexpected turn of events and he tried to yank his hand back as his friend let out a choked curse and jumped back. “Hey, asshole, what the fuck are you—”

Inuyasha squeezed the hand hard, his face an indifferent mask as the little shithead gasped then whimpered in pain. “So you like to hit woman, huh,” he muttered around his cig and casually reached up to grab it in two fingers before blowing the smoke in the kid’s face. “Too bad for you,” he continued and studied the fag he was holding with an air of boredom, “I ain’t down with that.”

“What the fuck—” Apparently those were the only words in the asshole’s vocabulary. Typical of the average frat boy, which Inuyasha was almost positive that was what these two jackwads were. He could smell the booze clinging to both of them, along with the nauseating stench of pot and sex and he wanted to gag. It was obvious what they had in mind tonight and damn if he was going to let them get away with it.

Carelessly dropping the butt and smashing it with his heel, without warning Inuyasha used the grip he hand on his hand and cranked down hard on the kid’s arm, bending it at an awkward angle until his victim’s high pitch scream of pain pierced the night. Then just as abruptly he released him and watched as the punk stumbled back, cradling his arm and trying breathe through the pain. Thankfully, apparently using his pea-sized brain and thinking it wasn’t such a good idea to hang around any longer, he spun around and hightailed it back to the sleek sports car, his friend quickly following suit.

Minutes later the smooth purr of an engine coming to life echoed around them and with a squeal of the tires the two assholes took off into the night, speeding down the road and Inuyasha watched them go with an air of disgust. Good riddance.

A stifled whimper reached his ears and he schooled his face back into a neutral expression before turning to face the poor girl. Evidently his attention hadn’t been what she’d wanted because she slapped a hand over her mouth and stared at him with wide, frightened eyes, her face still pale and her slim form shaking like a leaf. Inuyasha didn’t move, didn’t say anything as he studied her.

She reminded him of a cornered fawn; small, delicate, wanting to flee but frozen by fear. No doubt that little display of intimidation he’d put on had spooked her and she wasn’t sure if he was friend or foe, which was understandable. Despite the fact that he'd just spared her from an unfortunate encounter, she was unsure, wary, and Inuyasha knew he looked rough in dirty torn jeans, muddy boots, and a plain black t-shirt so he couldn’t really blame her for being cautious. Being rough shaven probably didn’t help either, the stubble darkening his jaw most likely making him appear like the “tough guy” Rin liked to tease him of being sometimes, but in reality he’d just forgotten to shave that morning. 

She didn’t know that, though, so he had to approach this carefully. Her gaze was bouncing around, possibly looking for an escape route if things went south, and he let her, content to wait it out until she was ready to face him. In the meantime he took the opportunity to get a good look at her. She was wearing what looked like pajamas, or at the very least what he considered loungewear; large baggy t-shirt, flannel pants with a plaid pattern and…were those slippers? Thick, ebony hair was piled up into a messy bun with a few tendrils framing a beautiful but still ghostly white face. From the few times her eyes skittered briefly across him then darted away again he managed to deduce they were the color of melted caramel and swam with thinly veiled distrust, cheeks wet from tears.

A sharp pang went through his chest and he frowned at the strange sensation but he ignored it and continued his perusal. Slender and short, he guessed she came up to about his shoulders and a surge of protectiveness swept through him, however he didn’t know if it was because of how tiny she looked, huddled against her car and obviously scared out of her mind, or if it was the purplish-yellow bruise darkening the delicate line of her jaw. The flesh around her neck was also blemished, as if something had put force there with great pressure.

Inuyasha’s throat tightened and his hands fisted tightly before he forced them to relax at his sides; he didn’t want to scare her even further with his anger. It wasn’t a hardship to put two and two together and a single glance toward her vehicle with smoke rising out of the open hood told him her plans to escape had been temporarily thwarted. No doubt those two idiots had made her night even worse and put her even more on edge.

He had half a mind to turn around and leave, but the other, prouder half wouldn’t let him abandon this woman who was in desperate need of some help. Perhaps it was a weakness, but he’d always had a soft spot for women and he harbored a very large hate for women abusers. Besides, not to jump the gun or anything, but he’d probably be doing her a huge favor.

That is, if she decided to trust him. By the looks of it, she was seconds away from either bolting into one of the fields bracketing the road, or locking herself in her car. Neither option boded well.

She was still keeping her distance, looking at anything but him, eyes bouncing and darting around frantically and it astonished him how patient he was being. It had never been one of his strong suits, after all, and to think a little waif of a woman had suddenly turned him into the most patient man in the world puzzled the hell out of him. Perhaps it was how frail she seemed, or that he had a penchant for wanting to protect those weaker than him, but whatever the case, he was grateful and didn’t question it.

Her caramel-colored eyes still would not stay on him for more than a few seconds and it obvious she was still nervous, though he noted her heart rate had calmed somewhat. She didn’t say anything, crowding against her car, worrying her bottom lip and still looking like she was battling her flight or fight responses. Inuyasha waited to see what she would do, however he really hoped she wouldn’t try and run.

After another minute, his patience was rewarded when her gaze finally found and stayed on him this time; he took a few experimental sniffs and was relieved to discover she was starting to wind down, perhaps realizing after he just continued to stand there that he was going to let her go about this at her own pace. He knew forcing any kind of reaction out of her would only end up very badly and he wanted to avoid that if possible. For some reason the thought of this woman being scared of him bothered him greatly but he didn’t dwell on the thought much.

Skittish cinnamon eyes met concerned amber and Inuyasha ducked his head a little. Christ, what the hell did one say in these types of situations? He had literally zero experience with this type of shit, but he had to do something. He couldn’t let her stay out here all night after what she’d been through.

Gathering his thoughts, Inuyasha figured he should start with the basics first. “…You okay?”

Fucking stupid question. Of course she wasn’t, but what the hell else could he say?

Thankfully, though, she didn’t look at him like he was mentally challenged and simply stared at him with those wide brown eyes before giving a small, almost imperceptible nod.

Relieved, Inuyasha nodded back. “Alright.” He paused, trying to think of something to reassure her that he wasn’t going to hurt her, came up with squat, so just decided to bite the bullet and go with his gut. “Lemme start by saying that you call the shots here,” he started, keeping his voice soft but loud enough for her to hear. She visibly stiffened but didn’t bolt; that was encouraging, so he continued, “If you want me to back off and leave, I will, but I want you to know I’m here to help.” He flicked his gaze over to her smoking car then focused back on her. “Mind if I take a look?”

She hesitated, biting down on her lip as she looked between him and her vehicle. A tense silence followed and Inuyasha was beginning to think she wouldn’t answer when she gave a little jerk of her head then scurried back, away from the front of the car.

Inuyasha inclined his head and made his way over to inspect the innards of he car, having a pretty good idea already what it could be. He made sure to give her a wide berth and kept his movements slow, measured and his hands where she could see them. Perhaps he was being overly cautious, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He still wasn’t sure she wouldn’t turn tail and run any moment so he wanted to be careful.

The moon provided some illumination, but he still took out his phone and used his flashlight to see what was doing, waving his hand to disperse some of the white smoke. He could feel her eyes on him but ignored it in favor of reaching in, tinkering around for a minute, and then pulling back. “You have a blown gasket,” he told her and pocketed his phone again after switching off the light. “You might have a coolant leak, or it’s something else that made the engine overheat.” He paused and gazed at her steadily, not at all surprised when she ducked her head and avoided his gaze. “I’d fix it, but I have no way of towing it to my place where my tools are, and there aren’t any overnight tow companies around.”

He let her digest that information and stuck his hands into his pockets, casually leaning a hip against the fender of her car as he regarded her silently. Even though she was staring at the ground, Inuyasha suspected she was seconds away from crying with her hunched over shoulders, tightly crossed arms and trembling form, and yep, he could smell the salty tang of fresh tears welling up.

That pang from earlier swept through him again and he grimaced, feeling like an ass for delivering the bad news, but not wanting to lie to her either. So perhaps he could have delivered it more gently, but he’d never been one to sugarcoat shit and subtlety was another one of his weaker traits. The words “soft” or “gentle” had never been used to describe him or anything he did. He was more of a take the bull by the horns kind of man, known to barely crack a smile, used to hard labor and getting his hands dirty, both literally and figuratively. There wasn’t any one reason for why he’d turned out how he had, although thinking on it now, he supposed it might have something to do with his half-breed heritage. He’d long ago accepted what he was, though, and didn’t care what others thought of him. He had a few close friends, and that was enough for him. 

Staring at her now though, looking so small, so damn fragile and most likely seconds away from having a nervous breakdown, Inuyasha found himself wanting to tell her anything if it got her to smile at him because he just knew it would be absolutely dazzling. He found himself wishing he knew how to be soft, or gentle, or whatever so she wouldn’t look so damned frightened and vulnerable. Fucking hell, he wanted to take her into his arms and tell her everything would be alright— 

“Alright,” he said abruptly, viciously cutting off that particular train of thought that had come out of absolutely fucking nowhere, and watched as she jumped a little in surprise and lifted her head to gaze at him with wide, watery caramel eyes. His heart ached a little as he continued more quietly, “I’m gonna hazard a guess and say you’re not up to being around a shit ton of people at the moment, so a hotel is out of the question.” She winced and he wasn’t surprised when she gave a few rapid shakes of her head.

“Didn’t think so.” Heaving a sigh, Inuyasha whipped off his cap and thrust a hand through his short silver hair, his brows dipping into a frown as he contemplated on what to do next. There was only one obvious solution to all of this, however he wasn’t sure how she would react. But he had to at least try, and if she declined his offer and wanted to stay, he’d oblige and stay with her. No way in hell he was leaving her unprotected after what he’d witnessed.

With firm resolve, he tugged his hat back over his ears and focused his attention back on her in time to see her gaze quickly drop from the now concealed furry appendages atop his head to his eyes with a guilty flush. He managed to hide his amusement as he said, “Listen. I know it’s hard for you to trust anybody right now, but believe me when I say I won’t hurt ya none. I don’t like the thought of leaving you here stranded, so if you’ll let me, I can help you out.”

The woman sucked in a breath, bit her lip, and after a minute, nodded for him to continue.

He cut right to the chase, never one to beat around the bush. And besides, she deserved nothing less. “My place isn’t far from here. About ten minutes that way and I have a guest bedroom you can crash in for the night. In the morning you can call a tow truck to come get your car to take it wherever you want and I can take you there to meet them.” He paused to let her take all of that in and even though it was dark, he could still see her eyes widen in surprise and her mouth part slightly. Clearly she hadn’t been expecting that.

“It’s completely up to you,” he continued, seemingly uncaring, but secretly hoping she wouldn’t be dumb enough to actually decline his offer. “If you decide you’d rather not trust me, which I understand given the circumstances—” He deliberately dropped his gaze to the bruise on her jaw and he saw her flush before she turned her head, “—then I’ll wait here until someone else comes along that you can trust and helps you. I ain’t about to leave you unprotected.”

Inuyasha paused and studied her, catching the way she shifted her weight and chewed her bottom lip. “You’re callin’ the shots, alright? I won’t force you.” Pushing away from the car, Inuyasha took a few paces toward his truck. “I’ll let you decide and wait in my truck. Door’s unlocked.” With that said, Inuyasha nodded his head then leisurely made his way back to his Ford, hands stuffed in his pockets and although hidden by his cap, his ears were trained backward on her.

He didn’t look back as he hopped back into the driver’s seat, closed the door, got comfy and shook out a fresh cigarette from the carton sitting on the middle console. He lit up and settled in to wait for however long she decided on what to do, even if it was few minutes, or all night.

Parked as he was a little ways ahead and to the side, Inuyasha had a clear view of her in his review and side mirrors and he kept his gaze trained on her as he idly puffed away at his cig, unable to look away. Every instinct he had was screaming at him to storm out and demand she go with him, but he knew that would not end well, so he forced himself to wait right where he was. He knew she’d make the smart decision and accept what he offered. A place to crash, somewhere safe and out in the middle of nowhere; he had a feeling she’d like the isolation.

And whaddaya know, his hunch was correct; a few moments later he watched through the door mirror as she disappeared behind her car and lifted the hatch, grabbed something, and shut it again before going to the front with a duffle bag slung over her shoulder and closing the hood. She hesitated and stood there for a moment, and he wondered if she was having second thoughts. But then she shook her head, retrieved the keys from the ignition and locked things up before striding over to his truck.

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly as he straightened in his seat and revved up the engine. He rolled both windows down with a press of a button and didn’t look over as the passenger door swung open and a slim figure hopped in. He waited until she was buckled in and then he waited still, one hand on the wheel, the other on the gearshift, ready to put it in drive at her signal.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that her hands were folded in her lap, her head was bowed and she was worrying her lip again, but he was also very pleased to note that her scent was considerably more pleasant now that most of the fear had leeched out of it. Vanilla and honey was what came to mind when he took a few discreet sniffs and he felt something loosen in his chest as he took it in.

Then he saw her take a deep breath, lift her head, and without looking at him she have a single nod.

Wordlessly Inuyasha stuck his half-finished cig back between his lips, shifted into drive, and eased off the shoulder back onto the pothole-riddled road.