Post by Delilah A. Black on Jan 15, 2013 23:12:30 GMT -8
((OOC: To take place after "Invitation to Godhood", "Cracks that let the light in", and "Earning your stripes".
To take place three days after "Unfettered"'s initial offer.))
Delilah sat at one of the tables of the relatively empty mess hall in the 'Nest. It was late at night, and the place was virtually deserted save for a few people who had just come off guard duty or were still sleeping over their food thanks to the rigorous training they received.
She heaved a small sigh and ran a hand through her hair. The meeting with Asiv and Strike had gone well
enough...but now she had many options hanging over her head.
And now she had to explain all of this to the man she loved.
The lights were dim, and the cafeteria moody; it was the witching hour, a dull darkness casting a sinister tone to even the friendliest of smiles. It was a time when only the gravely serious news was shared amongst companions, and as such, Stu already expected the worst.
The double doors swung open as he walking in, the thuds as they came close piercing the silence and adding some sort of punctuation to the entrance. His sword was hung across his back today, the length of the scabbard still flecked with blood from some umpteen battles. The cords were not always red, but they were now.
He sat across from his beloved, whom he spotted since opening the door. He removed his sword, laying it on the table.
"What's on your mind, Twist?"
Delilah looked up immediately as the door swung open and, as her eyes rested on Stu, her expression of consternation eased into one of relief. It always eased her heart to know they had made it just one more day, got to see eachother every evening. If it weren't for the sometimes gruesome nature of their work, it would almost seem...normal.
Case and point, as he laid his sword on the table, she noticed it flecked in blood. She didn't mind...it wasn't much different from how she came home most nights anyway.
Smiling tiredly up at him, she pushed a mug of coffee towards him. She hadn't been waiting long; if it weren't for the nature of their talk, she might have done so in their little apartment.
She didn't, however, want to disturb Oliver's rest.
Delilah nodded to the seat across from her. "...a few things. More than normal anyway," if and when he decided to sit, she would open her mouth a few times only to close it again. Damn. Harder than she thought.
With a mild sigh of aggravation, Delilah unzipped her hoodie and tugged down the top of her shirt an inch. There, Stu would be able to see the still healing, puckered scar now bisecting her midsection. Her lips formed a half smile. "Oliver was kidnapped a couple weeks back. I went after him and I didn't tell you. This...happened."
It hadn't been easy to hide it from him. The stitches had only just been removed. But she was nothing if not careful, and now, enough time had passed for this to hopefully not be too much of an issue.
Hopefully.
She waited a beat for his response. This was only the beginning.
He smiled at her wit, a cheshire grin that split his face. However, as she moved her shirt and showed him the scar, his expression changed to anguish. yet when he spoke...
His fist slammed into the table hard enough to dent it, the metal caving under the force of his fist. Throbbing followed, and a dull ache, his face a tumult of emotion impossible to pin down, made more difficult by his unyielding eyes.
"Wha... what the fuck?"
He couldn't comprehend the impossibility of that sentence. Sure, he had been busy for a week doing some undercover recon, but nothing major. Why hadn't she told him?
"Why... Why wouldn't you ask for my help? This.. this wouldn't have happened! You wouldn't have gotten injured! WHAT THE FUCK DEL?"
He was not happy.
Delilah didn't flinch as he reacted pretty much the way she thought he would. Actually, she half expected for him to hit her, but that was far in the back of her head, a part of her that actually wanted him to. Lord knows she deserved it.
"I couldn't tell you. He was playing hide and seek with someone who was watching him," carefully avoiding Nick's name.
"And I had to move quickly. I needed information and I needed to get it quickly and quietly. Once I found Oliver though, I...met someone who was stronger than I was. He had a force-qi, could send blasts of energy to knock me off my feet. He did this. Then he turned his back on me,"
To kill Oliver and then 'have his way with me' as he said it.
"And then I killed him."
Her blue eyes dropped a few degrees from his and trained themselves on the nape of his neck. "I'm sorry."
His hand gripped the table as soon as her story began, and by the time it finished, there were more finger indents added to the already morphed table. Her story was plausible, and it wasn't that he didn't believe her. She wouldn't lie, he hoped, he believed, but she was holding something back.
"How?"
He steepled his fingers, looking over the digits and into her eyes, pulling her focus from his neck to his face.
"How did they get him. Who. Tell me now."
They weren't questions. They were demands. And he knew he wouldn't hurt her, but if she didn't acquiesce... Well, who knows what could happen.
Her eyes lifted to his and she grimaced. She was hoping she wouldn't have to divulge this much. It had been harrowing to say the least.
But she knew better than to try and divert Stu when he was on the warpath. Or so to speak.
"On the beach. I was away doing a diplomatic mission with the Dragons. Nick and Oliver were playing hide-and-go-seek. You know how good at hiding that boy is..he went to the borders of the Crows territory and he was snatched by a guy looking for 'Experiments' to bring to some dickwad named Arkham. Oliver wasn't the only one there either.
"I tracked down the guy who took him, tortured some information out of him and then went to the old steel factory to rescue him. After I got him out, I blew up the factory. Then I came back here to get stitched up and to have my nose fixed."
Nick. Of course. One of her squadmates.
"Of course."
He was fuming, however it wasn't that man's fault. It didn't make Stu want to flay the skin off of him piece of little piece. His shoulders slumped and he opened his eyes after centering his breath.
"Others? Anyone important? Is this going to happen again?"
"Others as in other children that were taken. Because they looked like Experiments." Oliver with his white hair and mismatched eyes stood out quite a bit, even though he was 'normal'.
"As for if it'll happen again..." Delilah grimaced. Now to deliver the rest of her news. She knew this was going to be hard on them both. But if she didn't tell him,
it would be the same as her not telling him about when Oliver went missing.
"I can't say that for sure. Whether he'll be kidnapped again or whether I'll be put in a position to act before I can tell you, I just don't know."
Delilah sighed. Now or never. "'Unfettered' asked me to become one of the Gods, so that we could bind together an alliance of all the gangs. I'll essentially be at the center of all of it. Of everything, thanks to my pull with Dragons and the Free Experiments, my position here with Crows as a First and a member of Militia." She looked into his ink-black eyes, trying to see if he got the gist of what she meant by all this. Or if she was going to have to be plain about it.
her admission of not being able to protect Oliver stung him as much as it probably stung her, and he didn't jump on it. It was a sensitive topic, always, from the beginning with their first fight after he had learned about the boy.
But now that she spoke of having bigger responsibilities, the house of cards that was his life seeming bottomed out.
"So... So you'll be going away more. Even more. Less time. Sure."
He stood and grabbed his sword and walked towards the door. He pushed them open and they embedded into the walls on either side.
He couldn't do it anymore.
His reaction, his hopeless emptiness was like a knife into her heart. It seared, brought tears to her eyes for the first time in months. Her love in pain. A pain caused by her.
Was it worth it?
She was on her feet, walking briskly behind him until she caught up, ignoring the looks people were giving them. "I haven't said 'yes' yet," she said in a slightly strained voice. God, and she wasn't even through yet. "I wanted to talk about this with you first. I almost think he doesn't want me to, but he had to ask because I'm the only one who can hold this together."
He stopped but couldn't turn to face her. He slung the sword around his back, and took a half step, still not facing her.
"So do it. We've got jobs to do here, isn't that what you told me? Isn't that why I stayed in the first place."
Of course that wasn't why he stayed. That's why she stayed.
"It's all fucking bullshit, Del. All of it. We give, and give, and give, and for what? Someone else's definition of what we need to do."
He gripped his hand and looked her dead in the eye.
"You just do what you think you have to do. Just do it. Because you're going to anyways and I've already signed up for that ride."
She winced at the expression on his face, the lash in his words as he addressed her. They hurt. He was the one closest to her and his words were the closest to her soul. They cut far deeper than that knife.
"I can't really say anything else that wouldn't sound trite and stupid," she said softly. Her gaze was still fixed determinedly on his, however, "But this is hard for me. I love you and Oliver more than anything else in the world. You KNOW that, Stu. I love you both so much that I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure we can have a future together." Tears were spilling out from her blue eyes now, racing down her cheeks. "And that's not even half of it..."
Delilah took a few steps toward Stu, speaking with a lowered volume. Who knew who might be listening? "There's a plot against 'Unfettered'. Posidon and some of the other Gods, the ones he pissed off back in the day want him dead. Apparently, I'm the only one who can prevent it."
It would be foolish to say a 'soothsayer' told her, but it was the truth.
What it meant, however, was more danger, more time away from home, more cuts and slices and broken noses. But Stu had to know. She couldn't not tell him.
This was heart-wrenchingly hard for her and, while his reaction was understandable, it wasn't helping. She needed him. His support, his companionship. Otherwise, she might not have the strength to do it at all.
And the other shoe dropped with as much force as the original. Unfettered might be the only person Stu cared about besides Del and their son, and with him threatened, Stu knew he'd be working now too.
"Well, we can't have Johnny boy getting hurt. You have to do what you have to do. I'm not gonna like it."
He moved forward and embraced her. His arms snaked around and held her close, and he kissed her forehead. He was gentle, trying not to hurt her again.
"We've got jobs. That's better than some people can say. Aye... Fucking Aye. Let's do it."
Delilah sniffed, melting into his arms and burying her face against his shirt. His kiss on her forehead felt like a salve, melting away her pain and regret. Emboldening her. Making her strong.
She tilted her head up to look at him,eyes still shining, but she was smiling now. "Where would I be without you?"
"Probably somewhere way worse, twist." He kissed her on the lips again and together they walked towards their home. There he'd play with Oliver, and they'd eat something real. Then they'd go to sleep, or at least try to, but would end up wrapped up in each other one way or another.
It wasn't a bad existence.
To take place three days after "Unfettered"'s initial offer.))
Delilah sat at one of the tables of the relatively empty mess hall in the 'Nest. It was late at night, and the place was virtually deserted save for a few people who had just come off guard duty or were still sleeping over their food thanks to the rigorous training they received.
She heaved a small sigh and ran a hand through her hair. The meeting with Asiv and Strike had gone well
enough...but now she had many options hanging over her head.
And now she had to explain all of this to the man she loved.
The lights were dim, and the cafeteria moody; it was the witching hour, a dull darkness casting a sinister tone to even the friendliest of smiles. It was a time when only the gravely serious news was shared amongst companions, and as such, Stu already expected the worst.
The double doors swung open as he walking in, the thuds as they came close piercing the silence and adding some sort of punctuation to the entrance. His sword was hung across his back today, the length of the scabbard still flecked with blood from some umpteen battles. The cords were not always red, but they were now.
He sat across from his beloved, whom he spotted since opening the door. He removed his sword, laying it on the table.
"What's on your mind, Twist?"
Delilah looked up immediately as the door swung open and, as her eyes rested on Stu, her expression of consternation eased into one of relief. It always eased her heart to know they had made it just one more day, got to see eachother every evening. If it weren't for the sometimes gruesome nature of their work, it would almost seem...normal.
Case and point, as he laid his sword on the table, she noticed it flecked in blood. She didn't mind...it wasn't much different from how she came home most nights anyway.
Smiling tiredly up at him, she pushed a mug of coffee towards him. She hadn't been waiting long; if it weren't for the nature of their talk, she might have done so in their little apartment.
She didn't, however, want to disturb Oliver's rest.
Delilah nodded to the seat across from her. "...a few things. More than normal anyway," if and when he decided to sit, she would open her mouth a few times only to close it again. Damn. Harder than she thought.
With a mild sigh of aggravation, Delilah unzipped her hoodie and tugged down the top of her shirt an inch. There, Stu would be able to see the still healing, puckered scar now bisecting her midsection. Her lips formed a half smile. "Oliver was kidnapped a couple weeks back. I went after him and I didn't tell you. This...happened."
It hadn't been easy to hide it from him. The stitches had only just been removed. But she was nothing if not careful, and now, enough time had passed for this to hopefully not be too much of an issue.
Hopefully.
She waited a beat for his response. This was only the beginning.
He smiled at her wit, a cheshire grin that split his face. However, as she moved her shirt and showed him the scar, his expression changed to anguish. yet when he spoke...
His fist slammed into the table hard enough to dent it, the metal caving under the force of his fist. Throbbing followed, and a dull ache, his face a tumult of emotion impossible to pin down, made more difficult by his unyielding eyes.
"Wha... what the fuck?"
He couldn't comprehend the impossibility of that sentence. Sure, he had been busy for a week doing some undercover recon, but nothing major. Why hadn't she told him?
"Why... Why wouldn't you ask for my help? This.. this wouldn't have happened! You wouldn't have gotten injured! WHAT THE FUCK DEL?"
He was not happy.
Delilah didn't flinch as he reacted pretty much the way she thought he would. Actually, she half expected for him to hit her, but that was far in the back of her head, a part of her that actually wanted him to. Lord knows she deserved it.
"I couldn't tell you. He was playing hide and seek with someone who was watching him," carefully avoiding Nick's name.
"And I had to move quickly. I needed information and I needed to get it quickly and quietly. Once I found Oliver though, I...met someone who was stronger than I was. He had a force-qi, could send blasts of energy to knock me off my feet. He did this. Then he turned his back on me,"
To kill Oliver and then 'have his way with me' as he said it.
"And then I killed him."
Her blue eyes dropped a few degrees from his and trained themselves on the nape of his neck. "I'm sorry."
His hand gripped the table as soon as her story began, and by the time it finished, there were more finger indents added to the already morphed table. Her story was plausible, and it wasn't that he didn't believe her. She wouldn't lie, he hoped, he believed, but she was holding something back.
"How?"
He steepled his fingers, looking over the digits and into her eyes, pulling her focus from his neck to his face.
"How did they get him. Who. Tell me now."
They weren't questions. They were demands. And he knew he wouldn't hurt her, but if she didn't acquiesce... Well, who knows what could happen.
Her eyes lifted to his and she grimaced. She was hoping she wouldn't have to divulge this much. It had been harrowing to say the least.
But she knew better than to try and divert Stu when he was on the warpath. Or so to speak.
"On the beach. I was away doing a diplomatic mission with the Dragons. Nick and Oliver were playing hide-and-go-seek. You know how good at hiding that boy is..he went to the borders of the Crows territory and he was snatched by a guy looking for 'Experiments' to bring to some dickwad named Arkham. Oliver wasn't the only one there either.
"I tracked down the guy who took him, tortured some information out of him and then went to the old steel factory to rescue him. After I got him out, I blew up the factory. Then I came back here to get stitched up and to have my nose fixed."
Nick. Of course. One of her squadmates.
"Of course."
He was fuming, however it wasn't that man's fault. It didn't make Stu want to flay the skin off of him piece of little piece. His shoulders slumped and he opened his eyes after centering his breath.
"Others? Anyone important? Is this going to happen again?"
"Others as in other children that were taken. Because they looked like Experiments." Oliver with his white hair and mismatched eyes stood out quite a bit, even though he was 'normal'.
"As for if it'll happen again..." Delilah grimaced. Now to deliver the rest of her news. She knew this was going to be hard on them both. But if she didn't tell him,
it would be the same as her not telling him about when Oliver went missing.
"I can't say that for sure. Whether he'll be kidnapped again or whether I'll be put in a position to act before I can tell you, I just don't know."
Delilah sighed. Now or never. "'Unfettered' asked me to become one of the Gods, so that we could bind together an alliance of all the gangs. I'll essentially be at the center of all of it. Of everything, thanks to my pull with Dragons and the Free Experiments, my position here with Crows as a First and a member of Militia." She looked into his ink-black eyes, trying to see if he got the gist of what she meant by all this. Or if she was going to have to be plain about it.
her admission of not being able to protect Oliver stung him as much as it probably stung her, and he didn't jump on it. It was a sensitive topic, always, from the beginning with their first fight after he had learned about the boy.
But now that she spoke of having bigger responsibilities, the house of cards that was his life seeming bottomed out.
"So... So you'll be going away more. Even more. Less time. Sure."
He stood and grabbed his sword and walked towards the door. He pushed them open and they embedded into the walls on either side.
He couldn't do it anymore.
His reaction, his hopeless emptiness was like a knife into her heart. It seared, brought tears to her eyes for the first time in months. Her love in pain. A pain caused by her.
Was it worth it?
She was on her feet, walking briskly behind him until she caught up, ignoring the looks people were giving them. "I haven't said 'yes' yet," she said in a slightly strained voice. God, and she wasn't even through yet. "I wanted to talk about this with you first. I almost think he doesn't want me to, but he had to ask because I'm the only one who can hold this together."
He stopped but couldn't turn to face her. He slung the sword around his back, and took a half step, still not facing her.
"So do it. We've got jobs to do here, isn't that what you told me? Isn't that why I stayed in the first place."
Of course that wasn't why he stayed. That's why she stayed.
"It's all fucking bullshit, Del. All of it. We give, and give, and give, and for what? Someone else's definition of what we need to do."
He gripped his hand and looked her dead in the eye.
"You just do what you think you have to do. Just do it. Because you're going to anyways and I've already signed up for that ride."
She winced at the expression on his face, the lash in his words as he addressed her. They hurt. He was the one closest to her and his words were the closest to her soul. They cut far deeper than that knife.
"I can't really say anything else that wouldn't sound trite and stupid," she said softly. Her gaze was still fixed determinedly on his, however, "But this is hard for me. I love you and Oliver more than anything else in the world. You KNOW that, Stu. I love you both so much that I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure we can have a future together." Tears were spilling out from her blue eyes now, racing down her cheeks. "And that's not even half of it..."
Delilah took a few steps toward Stu, speaking with a lowered volume. Who knew who might be listening? "There's a plot against 'Unfettered'. Posidon and some of the other Gods, the ones he pissed off back in the day want him dead. Apparently, I'm the only one who can prevent it."
It would be foolish to say a 'soothsayer' told her, but it was the truth.
What it meant, however, was more danger, more time away from home, more cuts and slices and broken noses. But Stu had to know. She couldn't not tell him.
This was heart-wrenchingly hard for her and, while his reaction was understandable, it wasn't helping. She needed him. His support, his companionship. Otherwise, she might not have the strength to do it at all.
And the other shoe dropped with as much force as the original. Unfettered might be the only person Stu cared about besides Del and their son, and with him threatened, Stu knew he'd be working now too.
"Well, we can't have Johnny boy getting hurt. You have to do what you have to do. I'm not gonna like it."
He moved forward and embraced her. His arms snaked around and held her close, and he kissed her forehead. He was gentle, trying not to hurt her again.
"We've got jobs. That's better than some people can say. Aye... Fucking Aye. Let's do it."
Delilah sniffed, melting into his arms and burying her face against his shirt. His kiss on her forehead felt like a salve, melting away her pain and regret. Emboldening her. Making her strong.
She tilted her head up to look at him,eyes still shining, but she was smiling now. "Where would I be without you?"
"Probably somewhere way worse, twist." He kissed her on the lips again and together they walked towards their home. There he'd play with Oliver, and they'd eat something real. Then they'd go to sleep, or at least try to, but would end up wrapped up in each other one way or another.
It wasn't a bad existence.
