#voice oneshot
Pairing: Ezra x female mute!reader
Warnings: cussing, angst, spoilers for Prospect
Requested?: Yes from this ask - I loved Speak!!’ Ezra is such a dad. Maybe when your done with all your other requests can you do a part 2 where it’s set after the movie where they make it to the station and Ezra teaches her how to speak and maybe she tells him why she didn’t talk. You could come why she didn’t talk before
Author’s note: I slightly changed it to where she knows how to speak yet refuses.
Rating:PG-13
Speak - Part One;Pedro Pascal Masterlist
I don’t give permission for my work to be posted on another site with the exception of tumblr and AO3 (where I post the stories myself). If you find it elsewhere then it has been stolen.
After finally getting off the Green by ambushing a group of people to obtain their vessel, you, Cee, and Ezra make it back to the station. Medical personnel were there to greet the three of you. You and Cee watched as Ezra was carted off to have his arm further examined while you and Cee sat in the medical bay, only for observation and to get the two of you fed and hydrated.
Cee consoled you, “It’s okay, Y/N. We are fine. We’ll make it; we’ll survive. We always do.”
You had simply nodded, taking in more food and water. You then sighed and signed, “I know.” It felt as though you haven’t eaten and drank in years when it had only been a couple of weeks since the last decent meal you shared with your father and Cee on the Green before your father died.
The captain had come by to inform you and Cee, Ezra was doing fine and would eventually be given a prosthetic arm since he was an essential digger. She also informed the two of you, you and your older sister could use some rest before you started work back on the station and Cee left for the next departure to another planet to find resources to keep the station afloat until it returned to Earth in three months.
Once you and Cee were cleared from the medical bay, you made your way back towards your living quarters, which was going to feel smaller yet bigger since it was just you and Cee now. The two of you didn’t do much for the first day back except sleep, which your body desperately needed since you had barely slept a wink since Ezra walked into you and your sister’s life down on the Green.
You thought about Ezra often. Wondering how he’s doing, wondering what he’s doing. You had spoken in front of him, something you hadn’t done in ages since you could remember. Yet you do remember…you and Cee had just lost your mother and you blamed yourself, even though Cee never blamed you for her death, she always blamed your greedy hungry father for her death. You were closer to your mother whereas Cee was close to your father, mainly because Cee enjoyed going on digs and you preferred to stay behind and work on what you do best - the station’s comms system.
It’s where Ezra finds you, one day, while he’s roaming the station, trying to get his bearings back along with using the prosthetic arm the station’s doctor got him. “Afternoon, Y/N,” he remarks, his brown eyes looking at you. “Though we never know what time of day it really is up here.”
You simply nod and continue working. Getting your hands in between wires, fingers feeling them, as you make sure they are plugged into the right component. You feel Ezra hovering over you, so you look at him and motioned him to go away but he stays.
“I just wanted to see how you’re doing,” he informs you. “I ran into Cee in the mess hall.” He begins to ramble, “I guess I should watch out for the two of you. Seeing as I,” he lowered his voice to utter, “killed your father.” His voice returns to its deep timbre, “Yet he deserved it; he was tryin’ to swindle me, and I didn’t like that.”
You know he’s yammering on; most people do when they found out you don’t respond, don’t speak. It’s not like you were born with a disability, you choose not to speak because of your voice because it’s what caused…you shake your head pushing aside the thought before you truly think of it.
“What?” Ezra’s voice draws you out of your haze.
You look at him and sign, “Nothing. Please…let me work.”
“I’ve been learning more sign language since I’ve been held up.” He pauses. “Vids…even Cee. I might not know much now but eventually, I will, and we can have an actual conversation.” he chuckles, thinking the two of you will be like two peas in a pod.
“Great,” you sign with a bit of sarcasm in your motion. Of course, Cee would visit him. She and Ezra got along tremendously.
Ezra chuckles, “Even though you didn’t say it, I can feel the disdain you have.”
You roll your eyes and find the tablet needed. You begin to move your fingers against the touch screen, feeling at peace because this is what you do best. Your throat itches to speak, you had done it once before in his presence, but it was after he had helped you and he wasn’t being helpful this go around. You wish he’d just go away.
“I want to do what’s best for you, and Cee. Let me be your guys’ keeper. Gods, that sounded horrible. I mean, let me watch out for the two of you since you have no one.” Ezra declares.
Keeper? The word sticks out like a sore thumb. You’ve had enough of the man and want to return to your solitude. You place the tablet aside then stand. You sign, “You know nothing about me and Cee. As you mentioned you killed our father, yet…yet you did watch out for us afterward.” Your breath is heavy from signing furiously. “Just because you are an adult does not make you, our parent.”
Ezra swallows. He barely understood any of the signs since you moved your hands hurriedly. He knows you want to speak; you did speak to him though it was only once. “Look,” he licks his lips, knowing he’s never once done what he’s about to do, “I’m sorry. I…I didn’t mean to intrude. I was simply helping you and Cee. I’ll leave you alone.”
You watch him walk away with a hung head. Did you just watch and hear Ezra express feelings, other than greed? You shake off the thought then return to your work. You don’t need another parent. You had two and they were gone. All you have is Cee, no one else matters.
——-
Time passes by quickly as you continue with your work on the station. You don’t mind it though since Cee has accompanied Ezra on a couple of digs. Cee had been hesitant to leave you alone, but you informed and reassured her you would be fine. After all, working on the station’s comms made you feel at ease, it brought you back to yourself once again.
Ezra stayed away from you. Only doing simple greetings if he ever crossed your path. You had ignored him since the fleeting moment you had shared deep within the station when you yelled at him through your hasty hand movements. Cee could sense something was off when the three of you sat in the mess a couple of times eating dinner. She didn’t press either of you about what had happened, fearing it would evoke an argument. Though it didn’t stop her from divulging information to Ezra when he told her about the confrontation when they were on a dig together.
“She’s the youngest. So, I must watch out for her. But she is the smarter one,” Cee had chuckled. “She loved learning about everything, didn’t want to get her hands dirty,” Cee had informed him. “Y/N was close to our mom. I was close to our father, we always enjoyed going on digs. My sister stayed behind to work on the station cause our mom worked on the station. She followed in our mom’s footsteps, I followed in our father’s.”
Ezra had glanced at Cee, acknowledging why Y/N was defensive with him all those many moons ago. “She’s protective of you, and herself.” Ezra had chuckled and shaken his head. “She’s in her element back on the station.”
“She is,” Cee had replied. “It’s her world, her comfort zone. And the digs are mine.”
Ezra had only nodded in response, realizing he had disrupted you in your element. He hadn’t pressed Cee for anything else after that.
Ezra now moseys about the station. The months have flown by and in a few days, they would be returning to Earth and as Cee informed him on their last dig, she and Y/N would be going to see their family and he was more than welcomed to accompany them. He liked the idea of a found family, especially since he had looked after Cee and Y/N, though it was mainly Cee. He never had much of a family growing up and now he had one.
But an eerily feeling plagued Ezra. He had to make amends with you; he had to make sure you and he were on good terms before going on another journey to who knows where to meet the people who’ve helped raise you and will continue to raise you since both of your parents are gone.
He finds you in the belly of the station as he had done all those days ago. “Y/N,” he utters as he approaches, keeping up his defenses, afraid you might attack with your quick signage.
You stop what you’re doing and look at the man. His hair is slightly shaggier now; the blond speck is still present. The beard covering his face seems to be thicker with hints of gray. “What?” you sign. You knew he was tagging along with you and Cee once the station touched down on Earth. You had been mad at Cee for days on end until you realized you couldn’t persuade her to uninvite Ezra.
“I…I,” Ezra stammers, unsure of what to say. He ponders, “Why can’t you use your voice to talk?”
You sign slowly, “Why…does…it…matter…to…you?”
He had learned enough sign language he could almost be fluent in it, especially since Cee helped him. They didn’t have much else to do on digs when they found gems. “Cee said you were close to your mother. She says you blamed yourself for the longest time.”
“If it wasn’t for me, she’d be alive,” you sign, not holding back since Cee and Ezra have spent an abundance of time together. “I feel responsible.”
“What happened?” Ezra inquires. He then signs, “Use your voice. Please.”
Tears sting your eyes. It was because of your voice she had died. You avert your eyes and begin moving your hands out of habit, “My father…” You stop yourself and lower your hands. “She,” your voice cracks; it’s hoarse and your throat grimaces at the sensation of speaking. You wipe away your tears. “My father asked her to come along on a dig, years ago. She didn’t want to go down; she loved the station yet he persuaded her, and I wasn’t old enough to remain on my own so I went as well.” You pause, remembering the details. “We ran into trouble. Dad told us to keep quiet, Cee and I. Mom was back at the campsite. It wasn’t far from where we ran into a group trying to hijack Dad’s cache of gems.” You pause again.
Ezra takes a step forward, “It’s okay, Y/N. You can tell me.”
You look at Ezra; your eyes glazed over with tears. “Because of my voice, she died. If I…if I hadn’t spoken she would still be alive.” You begin to sob, “I had to warn her! I couldn’t lose her. The three of us couldn’t lose her! But Dad…,” your voice becomes incoherent because your sobs are uncontrollable.
Ezra gathers you gently in his arms, hugging you as softly as Cee has always done. He pets your hair soothingly, “It’s not your fault. Never was your fault.” He knows it was her father’s. If it wasn’t for that bastard, Cee and Y/N’s mother would still be alive. He pulls you apart from him. “It was your father’s. And I am sorry you lost her. Sorry, you lost a true parental connection when she was taken away from you.”
You nod profusely, wiping at your tears with the long sleeve shirt you have on. You hated being emotional even for a person of your young age.
“I promise nothing will happen to you. I will protect you and Cee. You two are the only family I have,” Ezra lopsidedly smiles, pulls faintly back, and looks at you, “and I’ve never really had a family before. So, this is new for me. But I want to let you know, you and your sister will be protected, taken care of.” Ezra searches your eyes, “I am not replacing your parents. They will always be your parents.”
“I know,” you cry softly, finding reassurance in his words.
“Good.” He hugs you again. “The three of us will always have each other.”
And he was right. All three of you had one another, whether on Earth or back in the Great Beyond. The three of you are family and you had the one thing back you thought lost forever - your voice.
