emeralddodge:

There are a lot of fun “what ifs” that I’ve thought about over these last few months. This one is one of the few that isn’t totally depressing.

Jill would’ve known that she couldn’t have done anything without alerting at least Ember. She would’ve told her that she was going to fake her death and run away. Knowing Jill’s mental health at the time of Ignite, she would’ve asked Ember to plant a memory in someone’s head of her jumping off the bridge. Ember would’ve been deeply unhappy, but would’ve complied. After Jill didn’t come home from patrol, Patrick would’ve sent them out to find her. That’s when Ember would’ve “found” the homeless person who “saw” Jill take a swan dive off the bridge and never resurface. Luckily for Jill, Patrick was an elder’s son; his word would’ve been enough to smother any suspicion that Jill wasn’t dead. He certainly would’ve believed it–after all, he’d aimed to make her miserable.

Reid would’ve mourned his poor, sad teammate who’d served with him so bravely. After the wave of excruciating grief had passed, Marco would’ve noticed that Ember acted weird whenever anyone talked about Jill, and he would’ve figured out that Ember knew something. Being sharp as a tack, he would’ve guessed the truth before too long and forced it out of Ember, then gone to find her.

Hours after Jillian Johnson died, “Ruth St. James” would’ve walked into a women’s shelter and asked for a place to stay. She’d chosen her name simply because she liked the name Ruth, and St. James was obviously an important surname to her. From there, she would’ve made a phone call to the number on the business card and said she’d changed her mind. Janice would’ve cheekily sent Benjamin to fetch Ruth the next morning, and he would’ve been appalled to see where she was staying. Just like in Battlecry, Ruth’s sad secret would’ve stirred deep protective instincts in him, and their relationship would start.

Ruth would’ve been honest about her lack of qualifications, and Janice would’ve patiently put her in a minor, but extremely well-paying administrative assistant job–about $25/hr. She would’ve made appointments, copied documents, answered the phone, and done other tasks that didn’t require much training. Janice would’ve made it very clear to the other people in the office that Ruth had done the Trent family an immense and personal favor, and that absolutely nobody was allowed to be unkind to her. As a result, Ruth would’ve adored her job, where everyone was so nice to her! 

The bosses’ handsome younger son would’ve started picking Ruth up from work and taking her home (he would’ve gotten her out of the shelter as soon as possible), and soon they would’ve been dating seriously. Benjamin would’ve sensed that she was hiding a huge secret. Maybe it was the way she searched every crowd, as if she expected to see someone. Maybe it was that she never went out at night, like she was certain she’d meet someone she didn’t want to. Maybe it was that she always hesitated when she introduced herself as “Ruth St. James,” like another name was on the tip of her tongue.

He would’ve eventually asked her about it, and she would’ve finally relented and told the truth, and then asked him to help her get the others out.

And that’s when he would’ve realized that he was in love with Jillian.