instead of her dying, dexter saves her in time. she doesn't remember much about the assault but she swears she saw him kill her attacker before she loses consciousness. she wakes up in the hospital, he's there by her side. his hands trembling as he holds hers, brows furrowed, unable to meet her eyes. he mumbles "im sorry" and they sit in silence. she's trying to remember what happened but it's a blur. debra comes in and checks on her, gives them the bad news that trinity is in the wind. only, he's not and dexter knows it. he's at the bottom of the ocean, rotting in a trash bag. he's grateful for that at least, but he feels so guilty for what almost happened to rita. weeks pass, things are *different* between them to say the least. strained, painful. almost as if they can't look at each other anymore. he tries to talk but the words won't come out.
one day, rita has a dream of the attack, and clearly sees dexter stab trinity. she decides to follow him one night. she isn't sure why she hasn't ever done this before, he's always out so late.. and she's never quite sure what he's really doing. she watches with wide eyes as she sees him heaving what looks like a body in his trunk. he drives to an abandoned looking house. the moment he's inside with the body she shuts off her vehicle and follows him. she's peeking through the windows but can't see anything, so she sneaks inside quietly.
it's then that she sees all the plastic sheeting, curiously, she peeks behind it. only to reveal dexter, in all his homicidal glory, shoving a knife into some random man she's never met. the look in his eyes terrifies her and she lets out a gasp, almost tripping over something and falling back. his head snaps up and he can't believe his eyes. before she even gets a chance to run he's grabbing her, covering her mouth so she can't scream.
"it isn't what you think i promise- i was only-"
he can't think of a reasonable excuse, instead he just starts begging her not to leave him. he doesn't even care if she turns him in, he can't kill her. a million thoughts are running through his head and the biggest one is: "i can't lose them. my family. my wife. i won't lose them."
she's crying, her tears running onto his hand. the way she's looking at him makes his chest ache. he isn't sure what that feeling is, maybe hurt?
he takes his hand away slowly, "please.. rita. i can explain."
she shakes her head and looks away from him. she can't speak. she can't move, too terrified of the man she thought she knew. the man she married, the man she loves. loved? she doesn't even know anymore. was everything a lie?
he begins kissing her tears, salty on his lips. his hands, always so gentle when they touch her. even now, when they are covered in someone's blood.
"please," he begs again, his voice desperate.
she's shaking against him and she rasps out, "you killed him.. didn't you? the.. man who hurt me? i saw you.."
he nods and swallows the lump in his throat, "yes.. and this man. he hurt other people too. i only kill the ones who deserve it. i swear, i can prove it to you."
as if that justified him, as if that would make her stay. she finally looks up at him, and he can't tell what she's thinking. she's searching for something, he thinks, in his eyes. deceit, truth. every moment that passes is like an eternity until finally she stops shaking and her eyes soften. it's all beginning to click for her.
"this is your addiction, isn't it?"
he wants to say yes, because for the longest time it had been.. but the fear he just felt when he thought he could lose her told him otherwise. he kissed her, expecting her to pull away in disgust. only she didn't, she let him melt against her. shedding the mask he had put on for his entire life. someone finally saw him.. and she didn't leave.
Cw. Drugs, mentions of war, Naga being deranged. Bonus Naga face hcs in the end
GENERAL
-Short king 5'3ft/160cm
-Asexual
-Actually Hmong (thank you @vasyandii for this info)
-Has anger issues tho he's also a cocky bastard
-And also very much holds grudges, accidentally spilled coffee on him 3 weeks ago? He's still planning on your death
-Also has some superiority issues and some apathetic tendencies
-Was an addict at one point in his career, probably the reason why he's not a warlord anymore. "Nowadays"(1980s) he still does drugs but in "controled" quantities
-Unsurprisingly this causes him to be more deranged some days
-Likes arts n crafts, to be specific, painting clothes and characterizing things to make It "more him"
-Simultaneously doesnt care abt his appearence while also being a very vainy person. Like he's the type of person to just shave his head bcs fuck it its easier this way but also owns HOARDS of acessories
-Will and has taken small trinkets from other dead soldiers (dog tags, small accessories like rings n stuff and also body parts (to both serve as throphies))
-His birthday is most likely wrong (due to the war that was happening in 1950s)+ he doesnt really care? Like he will most likely forget abt it anyways
-Never went to the Beach (lmao)
Headcanons about his backstory:
-Bcs of his height he got picked on a LOT as a kid/teen and to defend himself he started training muay-thai (and IS REALLY GOOD at It too) + other martial arts on the side
-His father was never really a present figure (bcs of the war)
-After some complications his father came back but by this time Naga had already grown a resentment towards him
-His family mostly worked in agriculture and he overall hated doing heavy work
-His mother was ok but died early because of unknown causes
-First started smoking as a teen and tried to quit a few times only to constantly fail on month 2
Career:
-When he was in his early 20s the ongoing war started to have a bigger impact in his life
(Now If I were a good writter I would specify how this led to him being a Warlord, but since im not, have a brief rundown)
-When he joined the war, the team he was assigned to in particular was already very corrupt, and even still Naga saw the wasted potention in it
-So what did he do?
-He killed his boss and took over his army of men
-And well basically he just got more and more power and influence overtime
-Very capable of reading and manipulating someone to his desire. (But he does find intimidating people into submisison more amusing and even fun for him)
-He's slowly drifted into the cartel/smuggling bussiness, starting with weapons, drugs etc
-In his late 20s/early 30s, despite the war being over, he still a very respectable and powerfull man (Warlord) and It was also during this time where he got the reputation of being a "brutal son of a bitch" from the CIA
-At one point in time he did come back to his villa but purely to kill his father lol
Face headcannon
-All of the piercings he has were homemade (aka he did It on himself) but he fucked up on the thongue one
-Since he most likely has enemies (other than the ones we see on BOCW) he has scars from many MANY failed assassination attempts
Anyways thats ALL of my Headcanons for the guy, Hope you guys liked reading them :3
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