I got a wonderful commission from @l1p3k4 thank you so much
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Name: Joy Louis (Seed)
Birthdate: 10/28/2003 (15 Years Old)
Occupation: Deputy
Bio: Joy Louis is the biological daughter of known person of interest Joseph Seed. Seed abandoned his daughter at the hospital after possibly attempting to end her life. Louis is permanently disabled and primarily speaks American Sign Language. She is now living with her adopted parents with no notable events. The US Marshall Service has approved Marshall Burke to use Louis as an tactic to apprehend the Seed Family. As a minor Louis must be granted parental approval and a cover alias will be used to protect the Louis family. Cover surname to be used is Rook. Cover story is to be that Joy Rook is a young 18 year old estranged from her family and looking to make her own way out of her bad family history as a Sheriff’s Deputy in Hope County, Montana. The Rook identity is to be used to gather information and intelligence on the Project at Eden’s Gate to be used against them in court over a 4 week period. Should Louis fail to provide substantial evidence the cover will be terminated.
Joy’s eyes flicked down the to ink embedded on his forearm. The soft curves of the woman’s face was familiar. Her breathing stopped for a moment. That was her birth mother. She could see the resemblance even in the low light and old fading tattoo.
Joy could barely keep her thoughts in line. Joseph was speaking again but it all felt surreal and dizzying. When she first came to Hope County she was so sure that she was going to be the one to bring her father to justice and prevent him from hurting anyone, like her, again.
“They put me in a room with this little pink bundle…”
Joy’s world sharpened all of a sudden. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her whole life was lived in and out of hospitals. A non stop battle uphill so she could “live like the other kids”. Even now being a deputy was far more strenuous on her body than she would ever like to admit and this man, her biological father, was using her so called death as a weapon. An inspirational tool for his congregation. Her hands were slick with sweat as she tightened them on the bars.
“…and I pinched it shut…” He closed his eyes and hummed.
Joy’s stomach almost flipped upside down as it felt like the ground gave away under her. It all shattered. Every single hardship she ever had to face was because of this man and his delusions about God. Those few moments without oxygen ruined her brain. The countless nights spent in impersonal sterile hospital rooms. All the time she laid bed bound in her room window watching as she watched her childhood pass her by. All because one man thought he heard God.
Joy closed her eyes.
She could see her parent’s faces. The way they cheer and praised her every single milestone she made to getting better. Joseph was wrong. She didn’t have just him. She came here on a mission.
“She would have been 15 today.” Joseph said in a mournful voice.
Joy scoffed. He couldn’t even remember how old his daughter was. Her face twisted into a scowl.
“Ssss-Sssiiix-teen.”
“What?” Joseph halted his monologue and looked at her curiously.
“I-I-I-I’m Ssss-Sssiiix-teen.” Joy held her gaze steady.
Joseph was silent. He started to truly look at her for the first time since her arrival. The realization dawned on him and he took a step back. Joy watched in smug satisfaction as he tried to wrap his head around it.
The baby girl he sacrificed was back and she brought wrath along with her.
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As always thank you to the LOVELY @ziorre she did a fantastic job bringing this scene to life! She’s the most amazing person and artist! Please please go support her!
Got this awesome commission from @dep-yo-tee thank you so much!!!
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Joy was lead to stand in front of him for the first time officially recognized for who she was. There was a crowd of peggies gathering around. She could feel the energy in the air. They could feel something important was happening. She felt goosebumps go down her back. The scene was eerily similar to the first time she entered that Church on the island and her whole perspective changed. Her uncles John and Jacob watched from behind Joseph with curious eyes. Her aunt Faith stood to the side and seemed to glow.
Joy stopped in front of him and shifted uncomfortably. He held out his arms to her. He gently cradled her face in his hands. His skin was rough and calloused unlike her soft pink cheeks. He held eye contact with her before closing his eyes and murmuring something under his breath.
“All these years.” He opened his eyes. “I did as God wanted.”
A scowl appeared on her face. He gently soothed the angry lines with his thumb.
“He has given you back to me. My beautiful daughter.” He turned her around to face the crowd and placed his hands on her shoulders. They felt heavy and restrictive on her thin frame.
Greetings one and all from your friends at Eden’s Gate! Special announcement: we have a new member.
Before the founding of Eden’s Gate our Father Joseph sacrificed everything including his own flesh and blood daughter so he could follow the Lord and start the project. Today, we welcome the Refuted Sacrifice. Joy Seed is the daughter returned from God and brought back into the arms of her Father on Earth. May she always remind you that God is good and merciful.
Now go forth brothers and sisters spread the good word and bring Joy to the world.
Whichever last name you know me by, I am the same person. Recently the cult known as The Project at Eden’s Gate has been circulating propaganda about who I am, but let me tell you direct from the source who I am.
I am the daughter of Joseph Seed. This is true. He attempted to kill me shortly after I was born. I was revived by the doctors at the hospital but I am permanently disabled. I speak in ASL and take more medications than I’d like to admit. My whole life was determined by one action of a man I didn’t know. I’ve been in and out of hospitals my whole life. My adoptive parents have been nothing but supportive but I’ve been asked to help bring my biological father to justice. I have come to Hope County on one mission. I have had enough of people telling me who I am. So listen to me when I say:
I am Joy Seed and I am here to bring The Project at Eden’s Gate to justice.
Written with @strafethesesinners! She wrote the middle part and I wrote the beginning and end.
Rating: T
TW: choking
Summary: After it is revealed that Joy is the daughter of Joseph some of the resistance has turned against her despite her obvious efforts and contributions to the resistance. Ft. Protective big brother Cooper!
The OCs:
Joy Seed: The thought dead daughter of Joseph Seed. Due to her almost death at birth she is mostly mute and speaks using ALS. She's com back to bring her family to justice.
Cooper McCoy: @strafethesesinners's OC. Cowboy criminal posing as a Deputy of Hope County.
Ryan Erkhart: Cityboy paramedic who moved suddenly from New York City to Montana.
Joy carefully brushed out her hair. It was so nice to have it down again after her father forced her to wear a high bun non stop. She could feel the headache melt away as her scalp relaxed and thanked her. She rubbed her sore scalp tenderly and carded her fingers through her hair. It had grown since she moved to Montana. She would probably have to get it cut again when this was all over.
“Seed.”
Joy turned with wide eyes. The word had practically been spat at her. She expected hostility from some of the resistance members but still her heart rate rose. A small group of people stumbled into the room.
“Your family is a fucking plague.”
She could smell the alcohol from his breath from across the room. She rubbed her arm nervously. Those few who didn’t look drunk were staring at her with such intensity that part of her wished she was back with the project. At least they looked at her with respect.
“What? You ain’t gonna say shit?” The man moved closer until he was face to face.
Joy pressed her lips together and stared at him in the eye. She tried to hide her trembling but she was sure that her lip was quivering. She could hold her own in a fight and was stubborn enough to not back down but this was something different. She felt small.
“Pffft, I forgot you can’t talk.” The man paused for a moment and looked back at his friends before looking at her again. “Ya know. Everyone here lost something or someone to that damn family. They are parasites that need to be cut out. I wait for the day I can finally put a bullet into one of their damn skulls.”
Joy felt like she was falling suddenly. Fear flooded her as she realized how serious this man was. She couldn’t talk her way out of this one even if she wanted to. There was no reasoning with him. She broke eye contact and glanced around the room for an escape.
“I can see you thinking.” The man grabbed her arm as she started to back up. “You’re not leaving until everyone here gets justice for what they had to suffer.”
Joy grit her teeth as the man held her delicate wrist in a bone crushing grip. With a snarl and determination to not go down so easily she aimed a well placed kick right between the man’s legs. The man screamed and doubled over in agony. Joy wasted no time pulling her hand free and making a beeline for the door.
She had only taken a few steps when she felt a sharp pain in her head as her neck was jolted backwards from one of the assholes grabbing onto her hair. She let out a sharp gasp at the pain that quickly returned to her scalp.
“You fucking little bitch. I’ll make you regret that one.” A different man snarled at her.
He tightly held a fist full of her hair and raised his fist when a woman stepped in and grabbed her. The man let go of her hair but glared at the woman.
“What the fuck are you doing?” He demands angrily.
“You saw the broadcast. Joseph tried to suffocate her as a baby so we might as well try to finish the job.” The woman suddenly lunged forwards and grabbed hold of her neck.
Joy screamed louder than any noise she probably had ever made in her whole life. She could feel the pressure on her neck squeezing her life away. Her cry ended in a cut off garble. She clawed at her attacker desperately but there was a dangerous and cold glint in the woman’s eyes.
Darkness started creeping into her vision and her limbs began to feel heavy. Her struggles were becoming weaker and weaker. The world became muffled and distant but she could swear that she could hear her name being called. She closed her eyes and wondered if she fought her whole life just to be reduced back down to nothing but a cruel joke of the universe.
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Cooper yawned as he entered the interior of the Hope County jail, mumbling a greeting to the woman sitting at the reception desk, which had been converted to a supplies and ammo stash. He stretched his arms wide and rolled his neck, to crack the tension out. Cooper was exhausted. Weeks of running around fighting Eden’s Gate with only a few hours sleep here and there was starting to add up. Every part of him hurt. Cooper was used to intense exercise but that was normally aided by warmups and cool downs and adequate food and sleep. He ambled down the hallway thinking of finding the least gross bed he could and pass out for a few hours.
He heard raised voices coming from somewhere close by and stopped, frowning. Must be someone having a hard time coming out of the Bliss. Some people who really struggled would attack whoever was trying to tend to them. Cooper sighed heavily, figuring he should go help, when he realized the voices were much too close to be coming from the infirmary, and just as he thought this he heard a scream. A high pitched, trembling, petrified scream that could only come from a teenage girl in danger.
Joy.
Cooper ran toward the sound, any tiredness forgotten replaced by suffocating panic as the cry cut off suddenly. As he located the open door and rushed in, time seemed to slow down for a moment. His peripheral vision registered about three or four men standing in the room, but all his focus zeroed in on the figure currently pinning Joy against the wall by her neck.
“Joy!”
Cooper charged forward, brushing the men out of the way as easily as if they were a cloud of gnats. Part of him recognized Joy’s attacker as a woman, but in this case that didn’t matter. He grabbed the back of her shirt and yanked her away from Joy, lifting her off her feet, and throwing her at the group behind them like a bowling ball. She slammed into one of them and both fell, but Cooper had turned back to Joy before they hit the ground.
The girl was coughing feebly, her eyelids fluttering as she fought to stay awake. Her legs gave out and she started to fall. Cooper caught her and laid her on her back carefully.
“Joy, can you hear me?”
She said nothing but her eyes were trying to focus on his face, which Cooper thought might be a good sign. There were red marks on her neck, and Cooper felt a flash of rage at the sight of them. He ground his teeth together as the anger boiled up in his blood. His fists clenched and he closed his eyes briefly, counting to ten.
Making sure Joy was ok was more important than retaliation right now. She needed to get to the infirmary. Cooper’s instinct was to scoop her up and run there, but with her neck injured he wasn’t sure if it was safe to move her.
Ryan. He needed Ryan.
“She needs help!” He barked at the room at large, “somebody get Ryan! Or Dr Lindsey” he turned to look at the group.
“NOW”
None of them moved. The woman was on her feet as was the man she had knocked down. The man closest to Cooper was swaying slightly and the smell of alcohol filled the room. Still, one of the men who seemed the most sober moved towards the door. Another one stopped him.
“Why should we help her?” the drunk man sneered, “she’s a Seed.”
“She’s a little girl!”
“Her family destroyed our lives,” the woman spoke up, “took everything from us.”
“Well she didn’t,” Cooper snapped, “it’s just easier for you to hurt a kid cause you’re too yellow to face up to her dad.”
“Fuck you,” spat one of the men who hadn’t spoken yet.
Cooper ignored him and turned back to Joy. She was still wheezing, the sound tearing at Cooper’s heart. It was clear none of these people was going to get help. Cooper took a deep breath, getting ready to shout for help, hoping someone was near enough to hear, when he heard the click of a gun being cocked behind him.
Cooper was still in a kind of half crouch but he moved quickly to shield as much of Joy as he could before turning around.
The woman had a revolver pointed straight at him.
“Move,” she said, her voice cold, “or we’ll kill you both.”
Cooper stared her down. His hand hovered over his own gun, but even if he had been standing, it was holstered with the safety on. He’d never draw it in time. Some fucking cowboy he was, he thought bitterly.
But the woman was trembling, hesitating. None of the others dared to move. The seconds ticked by in charged silence. Then Cooper felt a tug at the hem of his shirt. Joy was waking up; trying to get his attention, but he couldn’t turn around and take his eyes off the woman. Tears formed in the corners of Cooper’s eyes. He could only hope that if the woman fired, the sound would bring someone to help before she could also shoot Joy.
The sober man cleared his throat as the woman continued to hesitate.
“Um, maybe we should take a second….” he mumbled, “I mean…this is the deputy….”
“Shut up!” the woman growled, “and I don’t care. The Seeds took my husband and my kids. If he’s helping any one of them, he can go to hell.”
She pulled the trigger.
And missed. The bullet whizzed by Cooper’s head and imbedded in the wall behind them. Just as he had hoped he heard people shouting and running their way. And then Sheriff Whitehorse was there in the doorway, gun drawn.
“Drop the weapon!”
The woman did, surprised at the sudden appearance of the sheriff. Tracey came in after him and snatched it up. Virgil the mayor hovered in the doorway; eyes wide with apprehension behind his glasses.
“On the ground! All of you!” Whitehorse ordered and the group did as they were told, all of their bravado gone in the face of so many witnesses.
Cooper immediately turned back to Joy. She seemed more conscious now; but he was still worried for her.
“Tracey, help me cuff these dirtbags, Virgil! Medics now!” Whitehorse issued instructions with trained authority, “rookie…..you stay with the girl.”
Cooper nodded in acknowledgment. His adrenaline was fading and he was too tired now to stop his tears from falling. Joy lifted her hand and reached out toward him. He clasped it gently and laid his other hand on top, covering hers completely, and tried his best to smile at her.
“You’re gonna be ok now, Joy.”
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Air came rushing back to her as she gasped for breath. The pressure around her neck was gone. For a moment she couldn’t do anything but lay on the floor and heave heavy breathes for her starved lungs. She gripped at the ground uselessly as her senses came flooding back. She choked out a sob. With much effort she turned her head to see a blurry outline next to her. Their back was to her but she recognized that voice and hair from anywhere.
Cooper had come to save her. Relief washed over her body. She lifted a trembling hand towards him trying to get his attention. She grabbed at him weakly. She felt him tense slightly under her touch. At least she got his attention. She tried to sit up but even just raising her head up made the whole room spin. She let her eyes slip back closed and focused on her breathing. Her throat was sore and her lungs burned but still she tried to steady herself.
She opened her eyes again and propped herself up on her elbows, without the spinning this time, to see Whitehorse looking at her with pity and concern on his face. Her eyes shift to Cooper who is staring at her with such worry written into his face. Tears started making their way down his face. She reached out to wipe them away. She hated to see his normally bubbly face to be so sad. He reached out to hold her hand gently. His palms were calloused and rough but warm.
“You’re gonna be ok now, Joy.” He whispered to her.
She smiled softly at his watery smile. She held his hand tighter and with her other hand signed ‘thank you.’
“Ryan or Dr. Linsey should be on their way ok? We will take care of you.” Cooper moved one of his hands to brush aside her hair to see the angry red marks in the shape of hands around her neck. She winced slightly as he brushed against the sensitive skin.
“Are you ok? I mean of course you aren’t ok, but like… how are you now?” Cooper struggled with his words for a moment.
Joy’s smile faltered for a moment and she pulled her hand back. Cooper tensed around her fingers for a moment before realizing she needed her hands to speak and let her go.
“I am ok now. You’re my hero.” She teasingly signed.
Cooper huffed and rolled his eyes but there was a smile pulling at his lips, “be serious! They tried to kill you.”
Joy didn’t say anything. Instead she reached out her arms towards him. Cooper hesitated but eventually leaned in and allowed her to wrap her arms around his neck. He gently rubbed circles on her back trying to soothe her.
“Hey, it will be ok. We know you aren’t your family. You have done more for this resistance than anyone else here.” Cooper whispered to her reassuringly.
Joy’s grip on his neck tightened. Cooper chuckled slightly and carefully moved her so she was sitting in his lap. She buried her face into his neck as he hummed softly to her. He carefully ran his fingers through her hair and carefully pulled at the knots until they were smooth again.
“Cooper? Joy?” A familiar voice echoed as both of them turned their head to see Ryan entering the room with worry written across his face.
“Ryan!” Cooper perked up.
“What happened here?” Ryan glanced between the two of them before settling on the red ring around Joy’s neck.
“Some assholes tried to kill Joy. Found them trying to choke her.” Cooper tightened his grip on her.
Joy looked up at him with big eyes that made his heart ache. She had been through so much already and it wasn’t fair.
“Fuckin’ assholes.” Ryan sighed. “There isn’t much I can do for this but we need to keep the swelling down. Let’s go get some ice, huh?”
Joy tried to nod her head but winced. She slowly disentangled herself from Cooper and went to stand slowly. Cooper watched her carefully get to her feet before pulling at him to follow.
“Careful, Joy. He’s old. Don’t rush him to his feet.” Ryan snickered.
Joy giggled and stuck out her tongue at him. She let out a shaky breath and allowed the two people she knew she could count on lead her back out into the jail. She just hoped this all ended soon. Before the County was truly torn apart beyond repair.
