Warnings: More suspense, mentions of injury

Word Count: 2795

Request: Hey can you do something trenchis like you did with tyler but with josh? Like a girl escapes from dema and josh finds her and take her to the banditos and they fall in love? 💫💛🖤💛 -Anon

Author's Note: And here is part two! Make sure to read part one first, obviously. Like I said last time, this was super fun to write and I definitely want to do more Trench stuff in the future ;) Enjoy!

*     *     *

The first breath of air that you took outside of Dema's walls was exhilarating. Your lungs filled completely, welcoming the fresh air despite the slight sting from the cool wind. Josh allowed you to remain still for a moment, giving you time to look out at the expansive landscape before you. The sun was just beginning to rise, throwing a blanket of golden sunlight across the hills.

"It's beautiful," you murmured, more to yourself than anyone else.

Flat plains gave way to rocky hills in the distance, cutting up out of the landscape and contrasting against the pale sky. The quietness of it all unnerved you, but the nerves seemed to melt away as Josh reached out to rest a hand on your back.

"Come on, we still have a ways to go and their search won't stop just because we're outside the walls."

"Wait," you said, catching his arm as it began to drop back to his side. "We had a deal."

"A deal?" Josh asked, one eyebrow raising.

"Before we left, I wanted to see your face to know if I could trust you. If I'm going to turn back because I don't, I'd rather it be here than out in the middle of that field."

"You've come a long way if you don't trust me," Josh laughed quietly.

He pulled the bandana down around his neck, revealing the smile that you had only been able to imagine up to this point. You tried not to stare at his face as you carefully took in his features: the gentle way that his nose curved, the now-familiar crinkles around his eyes, the slight stubble that covered his chin after a long night in Dema.

"I think that's a face I can trust," you said, finally pulling your gaze away from everywhere else to meet his eyes.

He pulled the bandana back up. "Good, now let's keep moving."

*     *     *

It had only been a week since you and Josh had arrived at the camp after his impromptu rescue mission. Your dark Dema-issued clothing had made you instantly recognizable to the banditos - just as the yellow tape had made Josh recognizable to you - and they had welcomed you with open arms. It almost felt like coming home, though you had never been to this place before.

Trench. The name was familiar to you now, and just as comforting to hear as Dema had once been, long ago before you learned the true nature of the place.

The sky over Trench tonight was pink as you took a seat around the fire, maybe a little closer to Josh than would have been considered friendly. He smiled as you adjusted yourself on the dirt, pushing up your sleeves to compensate for the heat of the fire.

"Y/N," he smiled as you sat down. "How has your day been?"

"Rough." You smoothed down a bit of tape on your leg that had come loose during the day's work. "Life here is different, to say the least, but I'm slowly getting used to it."

"That's good to hear."

"What about you? Rumor is you've been on a couple rescue missions."

You hated the nights Josh went to Dema, no matter his purpose. Despite the short amount of time you had spent together, his solo rescue mission had created a bond between the two of you that wasn't easily broken. Whenever the two of you weren't working or outside the camp for one reason or another, you were at each other's side.

"I'm tired, but the work we're doing is important. The more people that we can get out of there, the better off we are."

"Are you trying to rescue everyone?"

Josh turned to you, eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Well, if you rescue everyone, then what do the bishops have to lose? They'll just come at us full force and take back whoever they can. It just seems like a vicious cycle."

"We can't rescue everyone, that's a given," Josh sighed. "But that doesn't mean that we won't try."

Josh's face had fallen at the mention of not being able to save everyone. Feeling guilty for even bringing it up in the first place, you reached out and gently took one of his hands in your own. You lightly traced your fingers along the back of his hand, taking extra care to be gentle around the cut he had received last time he went to Dema.

"You're doing good work, Josh. Even saving one life is better than saving none."

He nodded slowly, eyes still focused on the fire in front of him. His grip on your hand grew a little tighter, desperate for the contact.

"I'm going back tonight."

Your stomach flipped. "Again? You've already been so many times this week."

He finally met your eyes again. You could tell this was hard for him, especially when he knew you were so worried about him.

"There are more people to save. I can't sit idly by while I know I have the power to bring them here."

"I'll come," you said plainly. "I know Dema better than anyone."

Josh shook his head, "You escaped hardly a week ago. They'll still be looking for you. Not to mention that you don't know the tunnels yet, in case you get lost. It's just too risky, for the time being."

"Then I better start learning the tunnels, because I plan to accompany you someday. You're not the only one who wants to save people."

Josh's mouth curled up into a smile, "I would like that."

"But since you are going without me for the time being, I want you to take this."

You pulled your hand away from Josh's, trying not to frown too much at the lack of warmth that he had been providing. He eyed you carefully as you reached into your jacket and pulled out the tiny, black notebook that you always carried with you.

"What is this?" he asked, taking it carefully from your hands.

"All the information that I gathered when I was planning my escape. There's all sorts of information in there: walking patterns of the bishops, phrases that I picked up on, passageways that I noticed people slip through when they thought they were alone. That sort of thing."

Josh began to thumb through the pages, his eyes widening in surprise as he read over the things you had scribbled down. He was the first person to actually see the content of the book, you had been too scared to let anyone onto your secret within Dema. Now that you were here - outside the walls - it didn't seem so risky.

"Y/N," Josh murmured. "This is impressive. You managed to gather all this information inside the walls?"

You nodded, "Like I said, you can learn a lot if you look in the right places."

"How long did this take you to put together?"

"Months, probably, of getting maybe a piece of information or two every few days. I started collecting information in the middle of winter with the plan of escaping when the weather got nicer and I had a better chance of survival. The information started to come more often as it got closer to my planned escape. I think they were starting to suspect that I was leaving."

"Survival?" Josh asked. "Didn't you know that we were out here? That we would help you?"

You shrugged, "I didn't believe anything that I hadn't seen with my own eyes. I wanted to believe it, but I refused to give myself false hope if there was nothing outside the walls."

Josh nodded and continued to flip through pages, examining all the notes you had taken. He finally reached the page where you had written down the various phrases you had heard, quietly whispered as residents had passed one another in the hall. It always seemed intentional, as if you were meant to hear it.

"Wait," you said, stopping his hand before he turned the page. "I had a question."

"What about?"

"This phrase," you pointed to it for emphasis, "what does it mean? I've figured most of the others out because people have been saying them, but not this one: sahlo folina."

The heads of nearby banditos swiveled towards you as you uttered the phrase. You scanned each of their faces, noticing the worry that was etched onto most of them.

"It's a distress signal, of sorts," Josh explained. "You say it when you're in need, hence the response you've created."

You muttered a quiet sorry to those around you, who simply smiled and brushed it off. They seemed reassured that you weren't actually in distress, just simply curious about the inner workings of the banditos.

Before Josh had a chance to keep looking through your notes, Tyler came wandering over. He was dressed in his typical camouflage coat and his mouth was set in a hard line as he looked down at the two of you.

"Five minutes," he said sternly.

"I'll be ready."

Tyler turned and walked off, most likely to collect the rest of the group that would be accompanying him and Josh to Dema tonight. Josh shut the notebook and rested it on his leg.

"This is invaluable, thank you for letting me take it," he said.

"Just don't lose it, alright?" you smiled, trying to lighten the heavy mood that had set in.

"I'll keep it in my bag, right next to the tape."

You watched the firelight dance in Josh's eyes as he stared down at the small fire. A nearby bandito threw a couple more sticks onto the fire, reigniting the flame. The warmth on your hands became more evident.

Josh must have felt you staring, because he slowly turned to you and met your eyes. You held his gaze, as tempting as it was to send him a message by glancing down at his lips. He had enough on his plate for the time being, your confession could wait.

"Be safe for me, would you?" you asked quietly.

Josh reached out and grabbed both of your hands, holding on to them tightly.

"Funny, a week ago I believe you weren't willing to trust me at all."

You shot him a look, bringing your elbow around to lightly bump him in the shoulder without releasing his hands.

"Maybe I'm still not, just in a different way now," you grinned.

You lightly pulled on his hands until he was close enough that you could wrap your arms around him. His hands were rested on your back, clutching lightly at the fabric of your jacket.

"Please be careful, Josh," you whispered into his shoulder. "I don't want to lose you."

"You won't."

*     *     *

You watched the sunlight creeping over the distant ridge, just beginning to bathe the fields in golden sunlight. Trench was still eerily quiet, not yet filled with the daily commotion of the banditos. A light wind rustled the few plants that dotted the landscape, but that was all. It was unsettling, the silence.

You had barely slept all night, too worried about Josh to get much rest. When you did manage to fall asleep, it was all nightmares or tossing and turning uncomfortably. As soon as the sun had started to come up, you had called it a night - or rather, a morning - and got out of bed to watch the sunrise instead. At least that gave you something to focus on, rather than just the nerves.

It was a rare occurrence that a rescue party wasn't back before sunrise. Their missions didn't take nearly as much time as doing rounds of a sector, and longer time away never boded well for the condition of the rescue party. Then again, Tyler - who was much more of a leader than Josh made him out to be - was the one in charge of this rescue, and he had yet to fail.

Tears brimmed your eyes as you thought of what could have possibly happened to Josh. You pushed them away, trying desperately to rationalize the situation in your mind, but the combination of lack of sleep and a fresh wave of emotion overcame you and the tears began to slip down your cheeks. With a sigh, you bent your forehead to your knee, hoping that it would hide your tears from anyone who happened to pass by.

"Sahlo folina," you whispered quietly, audible to nobody but you.

*     *     *

The sun was only halfway up the horizon, the sky still pink, when there was a clamor at the edge of the camp. You stopped what you were doing and turned in the direction of the sound, scanning for movement. Of what, you weren't yet sure.

Then he came into view, torch in hand and face a little more beat up than you remembered. His eyes locked to yours and you saw his shoulders drop in relief. Next to him, Tyler didn't look much better. Something had happened.

Not wanting to make a scene, you allowed Josh to put his things away and come over to where you were waiting outside your tent. Now that he was close, you could see the deep purple bruise under his eye and the small nick above his eyebrow. As for the rest of his face, it was still covered by the yellow bandana.

"What happened?" you asked, reaching up to rest a hand on the - hopefully - uninjured side of his face.

He pulled the bandana down, revealing another cut on his lip, thankfully with a centimeter or two of clearance from where you were resting your hand.

"Turns out not everyone is eager to see their friends leave."

"People from Dema did this to you?"

He nodded slowly, "But I'm fine. This is the worst of it."

"Promise?" Your eyes switched between his, looking for any indication that he could be lying.

"Promise."

You rubbed your thumb gently over his cheekbone, "You had me worried. I thought you weren't coming back."

He reached up and grabbed your hand from his face, lacing his fingers between your own.

"I'll always come back for you."

Josh's gaze was so intense that it was making your cheeks hot. Deciding that now was as good a time as any, you broke eye contact for a moment to glance at his lips, hoping it would send the right message. The sight of the cut made your stomach twist in discomfort.

"It won't hurt, you know," Josh whispered.

His expression was soft as you brought your eyes back up to meet his. One of your eyebrows raised slightly.

"What won't hurt?"

He moved closer to you so that his lips were practically touching yours. The grip that he had on your hand tightened.

"If you kiss me. The cut won't be a problem."

Without a moment's hesitation, you closed the gap between you two and pressed your lips to his, taking extra care around the cut. His free hand moved to your waist, pressing your body to his. You eventually pulled yourself away, remembering there was a whole group of people not too far away. Josh's grip on your waist didn't loosen.

"I should have gone with you," you said, reaching out to fiddle with one of his sweatshirt strings. "I could have helped."

He shook his head, "It was too risky. The safest thing for you was to be here, away from the bishops and with plenty of people."

"I'm not going to sit idly around forever, you know."

Josh sighed, but his mouth curled up into a smile. He pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead and wrapped both of his arms around you, pulling you further into his chest. "I know."

You stood there like that for a moment, arms wrapped one another and simply enjoying each other's presence. It was odd to think how fast Josh had gone from being a stranger to someone you trusted with your life.

"Thank you for getting me out of Dema," you said quietly. "I don't think I'll ever thank you enough."

"I could say the same to you."

You leaned back to look at him, making the confusion on your face evident. He reached into the pocket of his sweatshirt and pulled out your notebook, which was a bit more tattered now than it had been.

"You knew of a tunnel that allowed us to get out of there and back to the area we knew. It saved most of us from getting dragged back to Dema."

You smiled, happy to know what your information had come in handy more than once.

"Looks like we've got a pretty good team going here," you said.

"Yeah," he answered, pressing one more gentle kiss to your lips. "I think we do."