Prelude - Encounter

Joel finds a young woman, Adeline, being held hostage by a group of men while he's out on patrol one day. He brings her back to Jackson, where she's given the opportunity to have something resembling a real life, for the first time. Joel and Adeline orbit around each other, destined to crash, if both of their reservations don't get in the way.

OR

Joel finds the love of his life lost in the woods.

(obviously deviates from canon as he's not going to see any g*lf clubs and Ellie doesn't hate him because I've already got enough angst to write without that)

fic playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Q4Ye6oEr8Eaafv0dYvrEC?si=077733b0860b482f