Scotty's Introduction to the Unseen

[demikara]

These scenes were completed and are being added here for clarity's sake.

The teenager struggled, but given her slight build wasn’t much of a match. “Let me go! This is some kind of a cult isn’t it!” She hadn’t understood what the hell was going on during the tribunal. No one there had explained a thing, just said she killed a family. “Let me go! This is America, mister, I have rights! And right now, I want to use my phone call to call my Dad! “Let me go!” She was not going easy. He shoved her into the cell and she grabbed the door frame and spread her legs to make it harder to push her in.



“Let me out of this freakish cult! I want my mom and dad, and you guys have already hurt me bad enough! What did you do to my teeth? Let me go!” She hadn’t understood that, hadn’t understood what the excruciating pain was. Even now it hurt to talk, but like hell was she going easy for anything. “I’m hungry, tired, in pain and Want. My. Parents!” Unknowingly she sent out a telepathic blast, struggling against going in.



The guard grabbed his head and she tried to take off, only to be grabbed by two more who had been out of the range of her blast and dragged, kicking and screaming into the cell. The door slammed shut behind them after they tossed her against the wall. She sat there and huffed. “You’re all jerks and I cannot wait for my Dad to sue you down to your skivvies! Stupid weird ass cult!”



“Good luck.” A quiet, female voice said having witnessed most of the incident from the small window in the door of the cell. “The Council has likely already covered it’s asses in that regard.” The woman informed the girl before resuming her spot again on a small hard bed in the cell. The days that had passed since the incident were innumerable to her, and they had ensured she had little way of counting the passing time. “They’ll feed you soon, but you might not like what it is.” She added before laying down and rolling over towards the wall.



There was little to do, except lay there, allowing her mind to drift as much as it was able. Even that wasn’t much of a respite from whatever insane thing the guards could think to do. Sleep was always interrupted by someone coming in to shove one thing or another at her, asking her to drink or swallow. Eventually she just gave in to the stupor and the exhaustion, knowing that she’d never likely see the outside of the cell again.



“Oh man, no. My family is huge, and it’s kind of important in our area at least. They’ll find me.” She kicked the door. “And it BETTER BE SOUP!” She shouted out the door. Then sat with a huff on the bed. “Ugh. Stupid weird cult. I don’t even know what this council is, but they are total jerks, and did something to my teeth. And it HURTS!” She shouted the last out the door too, furious.



She kicked her feet and crossed her arms, hugging herself and curling in on herself slightly. “I just want to go home and have some soup and hug my mom.” She tucked a curl of dark brown hair behind her ear. Given the riotous mass of curls she had, it didn’t do much. “I don’t even know where I am, or who these people are.” She whispered to herself, then looked up to her cell mate. “Hey old lady, do you know? Where we are and what that stupid council is? Have I been kidnapped by some kind of cult?”



The woman sighed and mentally counted backwards to herself before rolling back over and sitting up. At first glance from back she had seemed old, with her long white hair held in a loose braid at the nape of her neck. However, this was the only thing “old” about her appearance. Tall and thin, with delicate hands and fingers, with striking blue eyes, the woman was far from old.



“Firstly it is not a cult, secondly your family will not find you unless they have connections to the Unseen world.. Even then it is unlikely.” She spoke pointedly. “Thirdly, consider yourself stuck until they decide to review your case again.” She finished crossing her arms over her chest. She had known the laws, she had even enforced them, but that hadn’t prevented her from ending up where she was now.



“Connections mean nothing to the Council.” The woman said again quietly.



“Okay, yeah, definitely a cult. The Unseen? Sounds like a cult to me.” She sighed and scooted back, then pulled her legs to her chest. “And you skipped secondly.” She glared at the door, unimpressed, and fighting back tears. Where ever she was sucked already. But she wasn’t going to fall for this stupid cult shit. “My mouth hurts.” She gently probed her teeth with her tongue, trying to figure out what they had done to her. She shuddered a moment as she figured it out. “My canines and...the ones next to them? They feel funny. Like sandpaper.” She wasn’t happy at all.



Still, might as well try and be nice to the crazy old lady. “I’m Scotty by the way. Technically Scotlynn, but no one calls me that but my mom when I’m in trouble.” She usually just went by Scotty. She preferred it. “Just no Beam me up jokes please. I don’t think i could beam us up anywhere right now.” She’d still see if she could somehow mess with the door later. Maybe?


“Catherine.” The woman said, observing the girl. “Actually I didn’t, you just choose not to pay attention.. Which considering your current state of mind is understandable.” The girl practically was giving off veritable waves of distress. She didn’t appear to have very good mental shields at the moment, or control given how she’d sent one guard reeling with a telepathic blast. That in of itself was likely going to either earn them shorted rations or a long night with the night staff thinking up any way to keep them awake. That was, if her new cellmate even slept at night. Catherine didn’t really know much except that the Council had obviously gone ahead with their draconian dental procedures. The initial excuse was ensuring to the health of each inmate, but in reality it was just a power move on certain populations.



“I won’t give you any jokes if you don’t give me any.” She added, speaking with an accent easily placed as somewhere in Eastern Europe. Offering the girl a reassuring smile, and it seemed she had at least had similar procedures done at one point.



Scotty looked close and frowned. “They did it to you didn’t they? The weird tooth thing.” she sighed. “I don’t even know why I’m here. They said I killed someone, but I don’t even like hurting ants.” This had to be a lie. “And they haven’t fed me since, I dunno. I woke up? They already had me when I woke up, so maybe they kidnapped and drugged me or something.” She didn’t know. It wasn’t like this had ever happened to er before.



She looked to Catherine and managed a smile. “No jokes. You sound pretty though. I’ve never heard an accent like that.” It was nice though. At least her cellmate, even if she was brainwashed, was nice enough. “Hey what was up with that guard? The first one? He just suddenly grabbed his head.” she hadn’t been fast or agile enough to get away though, and that sucked. She had been so close too!


“It’s Romanian with a.. British education..” Catherine explained, seeing that the girl still thought that she was somewhere else entirely. It looked like she would have to fall back on her limited knowledge of some of the mundane things versus the unseen. “But, yes.. They remove your teeth under the auspices of assisting you with dental health.” She answered with a shudder as she repressed the memory. The smell of the antiseptics used, the sound of the dental tools and drill weren’t something Catherine was keen on remembering.



“The guards here are supposed to be nulls, but occasionally due to staffing issues we get a human whose less than resilient to telepathic blasts.” She added patiently. The girl would figure things out sooner or later, or so she hoped. Catherine almost felt bad for her, having been thrown headlong into the unseen and in a way that was far from kind.



“Okay, that makes, like, zero sense. They didn’t even remove them, I think. Just filed them down some. Wouldn’t that make them, I dunno, more vulnerable to cavities. They have that protective outer layer right?” Or something like that. The girl sighed. It hadn’t been fun at all. Her mouth still hurt and she just wanted to cry at this point. She was, though quietly.



“And there’s no such thing as telepathy. That’s a lie from the cult leaders who must be this council.” She had zero proof that they were anything but a cult at this point. She hugged her legs tight. They hadn’t explained anything. “He probably just had a sudden migraine or something.” Okay, so a migraine wouldn’t have done that, but it made a lot more sense than anything else.



“Right… of course.” Catherine deadpanned, quickly finding little entertainment in talking with her new cellmate. Eventually, something would happen and they would move the girl, but until now she supposed she could play nice. “Everything is a lie because you can’t prove it, haven’t experienced it, or haven’t seen it. So tell me Scotty… how do you know darkness or cold are something? They’re immeasurable to most scientific methods, yet they exist.” She said to the girl. “Maybe this is a cult, maybe it isn’t.. Can you prove it’s a cult? Have you seen any strange rituals? Have you heard someone praying to some unknown deity or claiming to be one? No?”



Catherine knew she was being an ass, but with little more than time on her hands she really didn’t care. The girl would likely serve a much smaller sentence than her, and be gone before long. Either way though, she’d have to get smart about the Unseen or end up back in Broadmoore again.



“I...I guess not.” She admitted quietly. “It could be Not a cult, but none of it makes any sense. You said a telepathic blast earlier. I can’t do anything like that. I’m just a normal high schooler.” Surely it hadn’t been her at least. “And I don’t even know what the Unseen is. And they kept saying I killed a whole family, but I wouldn’t do that, ever, and now I’m in some kind of a jail. And no one is explaining anything.”



She sighed and hugged herself tighter. “I just want my family and for my teeth to stop hurting.” At least she didn’t feel like a chipmunk, like she had when her wisdom teeth were removed.



“No, it’s not going to make sense and they’re likely not going to assign you anyone except Blackwelder.. And I know her docket is overloaded.” Catherine shrugged slightly. “Most don’t know about their abilities until it’s too late, and my guess is you’re what they call an everchild.. But older, which is unusual.” She said. It was obvious that the woman seemed to have extensive knowledge of what this unseen world was and how it worked.



“Look, you’ll survive this. Your sentence is likely shorter than mine, until then.. I don’t know. Just find a way to cope.”



“An everchild?” She bit her bottom lip. That didn’t make sense. “But I’m 15.” She wasn’t a little kid anymore, that was for sure. Still, the other woman seemed to have an idea of what was going on. “I don’t even know what my sentence was. They didn’t say.” Or if they did, she had been in shock still.



At least it sounded like someone would be looking at her case eventually. That was better than being stuck in here until she died. She just wanted answers at this point, having run a whole gamut of emotions already. The teen tugged a curl. “Do...do you think…” She changed her question. “Do you think they’ll give me some soup for a meal. I don’t think I could have anything else.”



Catherine snorted with mild amusement, “If they don’t give you anything else. But believe me, you won’t want it.” She commented. For some they were able to eat and drink like a normal human after their turning, others all normal foods smelled foul and spoiled. “An Everchild is what we tend to call someone who was turned before they reach full adulthood though. They’re generally not so much of an issue.. With the exception of a few who aren’t supervised enough.” Catherine informed Scotty. Those who weren’t, normally ended up dead within the first year. It seemed that her new cellmate had not been taught and was dumped and left to fend for herself; an unfortunate, but common occurrence within the unseen world.


“In the meantime, let’s tick off a list of what you do and don’t know.” She suggested. That would at least given the other an idea of what to expect later. “You were human before, yes? How do you think you ended up here?”



“Turned? Like a vampire?” She had read a bunch of vampire novels once. Huh. She was now a…. “Wait. I’m stuck at 15. Forever.” She took a deep breath. “I am going to deal with that later. The freak out can wait.” Plus she was tired from the fight earlier. “Yes I was human. As far as I know, I was at my boyfriend’s house, then I woke up at the tribunal, and then it began. They claimed I killed a family, and I didn’t get to speak in my defense. Then I was taken here.” The reality was that she had been near feral until the tribunal, when Kasimir has exerted his abilities to bring her back to reason.



She could deal with freaking out much later, once she had processed things a good deal more. Right now, she needed answers and it seemed like Catherine was willing to provide them. Well, in that case, she’d find out everything the other could tell her. Panic was for later. Like her dad said, first get safe, then panic. She hadn’t been doing great at that, but she would be now.



Oh God, she was a vampire now. Assuming the other was telling the truth, she was a vampire and stuck at 15 forever.



Meanwhile Catherine frowned listening to the girl recount what had happened. “Well… that’s not exactly normal. A tribunal usually allows you to recount your end of everything, not throw you into a cell.” She said slowly. Catherine wasn’t certain she liked where this was going, it was beginning to sound like something else much more like herself. “If you killed a family… and the crime is thought to have supernatural ties.. Oh christ.. They called MCU.” Catherine muttered as she pieced things together. MCU would have had a specialist on the scene to reconstruct and someone to manage Scotty. Sighing, she considered her next words carefully. “I’m not entirely sure how this fits together myself. Hopefully Blackwelder or at worst Klein will speak with you.”



Catherine had a suspicion, but wasn’t going to voice it for fear of it being a reality.



“If. I don’t remember killing anyone.” She wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t think it was normal. People have rights you know.” The teenager stood up and paced, trying to calm down some. “What’s MCU?” She hadn’t heard of that yet. An acronym though, hmm. Maybe it was like the magical FBI. That could be cool. Not so cool she had been thrown into magic jail, but te existence of magic FBI.



Well, Catherine was explaining things. She was cool like that, for an adult.



“Yes… people have rights, but the magical world works a bit differently.” Catherine agreed begrudgingly. The Council in her opinion was good at violating people’s rights in the face of adversity. They said it was for the greater good, but it left a lot of people frightened and questioning if it really was. “MCU is our equivalent of the FBI or MI5, depending on what country you grew up in… I used to work for them.” She explained her frown deepening as she risked becoming lost in her own thoughts. “The world is rather secretive, considering how humans have treated things that are different or unknown in the past.”


That in of itself was half the reason MCU and Council had been founded, to deal with the persecution many faced during the inquisitions in the middle ages. What had grown out of that was almost a fully fledged shadow world, with its own government systems, cultures, and populations.



“Oh man. It is magic FBI! That’s super cool. And you used to be in it. Woah.” This was definitely a cooler adult. The teen plopped down again. There wasn’t much else to do in the cell than sit, pace, or talk was there? Sitting got her thinking again and she fell silent for a few beats.



“This is pretty secretive isn’t it. So secretive they couldn’t even give me answers. And I still don’t understand what happened earlier. I’m not telepathic. Or at least, I wasn’t. And you didn’t do anything, so it must have been me.” She could put together clues just was well as the next person and the current clue worried her greatly. “Did they know I was? Is that part of why they put me here?”



“I don’t know, I wasn’t there.” Catherine replied shaking her head. “They don’t tell us much in here, and it’s for a reason. They feel that any outside news could potentially excite us, and they don’t want that.” She added. This was the most she had spoken in months, and even now she found herself fighting the effects of the medication they put in the water and the food. It made her unbearably drowsy and her stomach churn sickly, like she was going to vomit but couldn’t.



“Telepathy isn’t a common skill, they may ask you to prove it or not later. Each case is different.” She said tiredly as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Catherine knew she could only fight back sleep for so long, and this was getting towards her limit.



Scotty took a closer look and frowned. “You look...tired.” She frowned. “Get some rest, okay? There’s not much else to do here. I’ll wake you up when they decide to feed us.” She hoped it’d be soon. She was incredibly hungry. But her cell mate dd look exhausted.



“I’m pretty energetic. I probably just wore you out.” Definitely an old lady, but she looked young for it. Except for the hair at least.



“No.. it’s.. You’ll see.” Catherine commented shaking her head again. Eventually Scotty would figure out that they drugged them to keep them compliant, and that compliance meant less pain. Currently, Catherine was all too happy to escape the reality of where she was and what she had done. To even begin to think of it was too much, and she’d much rather just spend her time in a haze.



Several years later, Scotty slouched behind the corner at Visual Eyes arts. There weren’t exactly many places a permanently young woman could work, but Mr. Hammerstein was nice enough to let her work here and rent a room from him as well. Not that he was much older than her, but he was the boss, she supposed.



And the store was definitely not exactly hopping. It never was. Sometimes, she wanted to know where the money for the store came from. Most of the time, she decided she really did not want to know. At least it wasn’t as bad now as it had been at first in this weird world she was now a member of, and she was aging. Just, well, not much.



Still, eventually she’d be able to actually go to a bar and not have the bartender automatically confiscate her ID as fake.



Catherine on the other hand had been out a bit longer that Scotty, and had largely had her name cleared and resumed normal as best as she could. It wasn’t easy given the circumstances and what she had had to do to clear her name; and while Scotty sat sulking in the corner of the store, the door opened.



Dressed in a nice suit, with her hair and makeup done, it was clear that Catherine had either just gotten off her shift or was fixing to go in. She had stopped by to ask Brandon a question about something on a recent case, leveraging his knowledge of different and more modern magic habits in the community. “Well this is interesting.” She mused to herself spying the teen sitting on a stool behind the counter than held some of the more expensive items.



“Welcome to Visual Eye A-” Scotty paused and looked closer. “Catherine? How have you been?” It looked like that was Catherine at least. That was weird. She had never expected to see the other after Broadmoore. She tugged on a curl, rather self conscious now. Well, the unseen world wasn’t that big, she supposed.



She stretched and stood. “Anything you need from here? If you’re here to see Mr. Hammerstein, he’s in his studio and doesn’t want to be disturbed.” Though she wasn’t going to stop a soul from trying. Her job was the shop, not the studio. If he didn’t actually want to be disturbed, he wouldn’t have said where he was and would have just made her call.



“Hello Scotty.” Catherine said walking up to the counter were the girl sat. “I see you’ve found yourself a job.” It wasn’t a hard either, as Brandon seemed to lately prefer to not have to do much with the shop and seemed more interested in persuing more lucrative projects. “I’ve been good, busy.. But good.” She answered nodding slightly. At least that’s what she was telling herself anyway, there were still a few things about being outside of Broadmoore that had been problematic. But, for now everything seemed to have largely settled into a comfortable lull.



“Actually, I am here to see Mr. Hammerstein.. But I’m kind of in a hurry, so I won’t bother him.” Or rather she’d take this opportunity to not have to deal with the increasingly fractured and distant relationship with her nephew.



“Yeah, Mr. Hammerstein was nice about it. He’s pretty cool. And I’m pretty sure he’s just out there working on a pot someone ordered, so if you don’t mind him keeping that up, he could probably still talk, especially if it’s some kind of MCU matter.” A pretty large pot had been ordered only a day or so ago, and he had seemed excited about it at least. But MCU matters were always to take precedence and she had been told that very sternly when she first begun.



Given her experiences with them, she disagreed strongly, but that was that. “Oh! Guess what? Ms. Blackwelder said it doesn’t look like I’m an Everchild at all. I have been aging, just, you know, slowly. She said it looked like I was a dhampir.” That had been an uncomfortable conversation. It had meant her birth dad wasn’t her actual dad. Not that she could see her family to ask, but she checked their social media periodically to make certain they were still doing okay.



Scotty was thrilled to be able to age. She looked closer to 18 now though still not quite there yet. Not being able to age would have sucked.



“Ah, that is an interesting development.” Catherine remarked, trying to hide her confusion. For what had seemed like forever, she had been the only one that had survived and that Council had known about.



'For christsake June… why.. the courts will be after her now..’ Catherine thought to herself. She had barely survived her own encounters with them, and Scotty didn't have the power or experience she had had. Catherine just hoped that June hadn't said anything else yet. Sometimes the woman could have the biggest mouth and enjoyed drama almost as much as the fae.



“But, I really need to get going. Please tell Mr. Hammerstein that the Warden stopped by.” She said after a moment of uncomfortable silence between the two.



Scotty hesitated and nodded. “Alright. I’ll let him know. Have a good day.” It was going to be awkward, wasn’t it? The only real commonality they had was they had shared a cell in that horrible place. Scotty closed her eyes for a moment and held her shields tight. She knew better than to think of there here. It messed with her shields each time.She opened her eyes again. “And please, come back any time.”



---



Rahal was guiding Catherine through another kata, slowly and carefully. She had this one mastered, or at least the movements, and they were working on the flow of the magic now in one of his labs set to contain any flares she may have. After all, anything he could do to keep her calm during these sessions helped, and this unquestionably helped keep her calm. Knowing that any damage would be contained had helped him as well while he was learning.



The mage smoothly flowed through the movements next to her, a glowing sigil by his eye allowing him to see how her magic was moving without the need for extra work on his part.



While the mage may have been fond of the katas, the other wasn’t so much. She felt that the movements lacked grace and were stiff wooden things; a far cry from the elegance of the sword play she’d been taught years ago. But, begrudgingly she went through them and attempted to remember to practice. Today should haven’t been any different, but it was obvious that the woman’s mind was starting to wander away from the purpose at hand.



It didn’t take long before things began to fall apart, and the briefest look of terror flitted across the warden’s face. Catherine made an attempt to pull everything back into alignment, and force the magic back into submission; it didn’t work. Instead all she ended up doing was making it worse, “Oh, pentru dragul meu …” She grumbled with agitation as the magic started to do as it pleased. While Rahal’s seemed to have somewhat tame nature, with the occasional bout of absurdity, her’s seemed to take great delight in doing just the opposite. Destructiveness seemed to currently be it’s calling card, as evidenced by the current flare Catherine was experiencing as she struggled to regain control.



Rahal sighed and redirected the magic to the ground, grounding it and himself as well. It was perhaps a good thing that he did serve as a ground for her and her magic. Otherwise these lessons would be much messier. Her movements were still too stiff and he had no clue when she would be ready to handle the weapon that would be the next step. Admittedly it was just a short staff, but still. He stopped the kata and turned to face Catherine. “You’ve been distracted the entire time. Would you like to talk about it?”



Very clearly distracted, given that she had been able to get through this last time she was here. His tone of voice had made it clear it wasn’t a request either. She needed to be in the right headspace for these lessons, and as they had previously discussed that meant talking when there were issues. It wasn’t like he would or could tell a soul. It was against his current profession, when they were in the middle of these lessons and on this property at least.



Catherine made a face and sighed as she sat down. Pulling her knees up, and placing her head down between them, she thought for a moment before answering. “Nu, dar... “ She started to say forgetting that she would need to answer him in English. “I ran into someone who I was in Broadmoore with.” Catherine finally admitted slowly, careful of her words. She hadn’t expected to see the girl again, and even more unexpected was the delight at which the girl had spoke about a recent conversation with June.

[demikara]

It seemed that just when things were resuming some amount of normalcy, this whole thing was sprung on her. It had effectively consumed her thoughts since their brief meeting. “Apparently she has been speaking with Councilor Blackwelder about an everchild issue.” She sighed, resisting the urge to just remain silent and deal with these thoughts later.



That was unusual. Rahal thought it over a moment. “I wasn’t aware you were with many in Broadmoore at all.” He began gently. “Seeing someone from there must be unsettling.” But she seemed focused on the ever child issue. “Is she an everchild?” That was a possibility that he was hoping the answer was no to. Ever children were...handfuls.



It was important for her to talk, even if seeing her in this position was disconcerting. The man took a seat across from her, not wanting to tower over her, and quietly waiting for her answer. Catherine was here for control, and as much as he was certain she hated it, talks like this were part of the process.



“I was at first, before they determined that I was a risk to the larger population.” She said. Her time in the Unseen world's premier facility for those declared criminally insane was not something she spoke about often, if at all. “The first few months, weeks... I don't know… they had placed me in a shared cell but without a cellmate. It didn't take long though, they found one…” She said slowly, taking a deep breath to steel herself and attempt, perhaps haphazardly, to clear her mind. Catherine really didn't want to focus on the issues at hand that were affecting everything.



“She was so frightened, Rahal… she didn't even know.” She added shaking her head again. “They had done the dental work, and… oh god, I don't know how to say this any other way. Blackwelder and Klein took special interest, she says she's a dhampir.” Catherine finally said, blurting the last part out so fast it was almost lost in her accent. “I didn't think that there were any others that survived much past early life.”



A dhampir. A young dhampir who didn’t know, still apparently was new to know, and had that wretched dental work done. Despite his own healing abilities, he couldn’t undo that terror. It was no wonder Catherine was unbalanced past this. “I can see why this would affect you. I’m sure she must be thankful to you, for explaining things.” And a special interest by both of those could be dangerous. June was usually harmless, but Kasimir. Kasimir taking a special interest was dangerous.



Still, the girl was a tangible reminder of the time Catherine didn’t like to speak about. “You don’t seem certain about how long it was before she arrived. Can you tell me why, or is that too much right now?” Either was fine. Honestly, he was surprised she was talking about that damned facility at all. The younger dhampir may have thrown Catherine off, but it may have been for the best.



Catherine stared at the mats on the floor where she sat, eyes unfocused and unseeing. Internally she was struggling with reliving the thoughts from her years spent housed in such a terrible place. If she didn’t speak of it, or even think of it, then it couldn’t have happened. Even now with her record largely expunged, there was still the occasional whisper behind her back. Catherine tried hard to ignore them, but at the end of the day it only contributed to the fear and anxiety that she’d never escape the memory of what had happened. She thought, if she just threw herself headlong into whatever came her way, followed every rule exactly, that the Council and it’s members would never look at her wrong again.



“I don’t know because they keep you drugged in that place…” Catherine answered, voice flat and quiet. “The guards also do everything short of… short of.. Short of killing you.”



Rahal went very still at that bit of news. He hadn’t know. Had he know… His own magic crackled wildly a moment and he redirected it. One of the mats promptly burst into a slew of brightly colored feathers. It was not that his magic was less destructive, but that he had trained it hard. Rather absurd than dangerous. “I see.” He kept his voice gentle and level, in rather complete contradiction of what his magic had expressed.



He struggled to think of what to say next, and decided perhaps silence might be better for a bit. A revelation like that deserved a moment of silence. Besides, falling silent usually encouraged the other person to speak some. It didn’t work on everyone, but it was a valid technique, once you got someone to start talking.



“But..” She began to say then reconsidered it. There was just so much wrong with what had happened, and it couldn’t be undone. The physical trauma healed eventually, but the psychological stayed with you. “I don’t know if she’s grateful or not.. Currently Brandon’s given her Laura’s old position.. So there is that.” Catherine commented drawing her knees in tighter to her chest. Why had her life been so cursed with misfortune? Just when something was going well enough, she was thrown a curve ball and expected to catch it with grace. “This isn’t anything that needs to be discussed with Council, they’ll put me back in that horrible place, claiming I’m unfit… there’s nothing else I can do.. This is all I know.”



She muttered, running her fingers through her hair and briefly stopping to untangle a knot that had formed at the end of a strand.



Oh there would be Words with the council, but he’d find a way to not entangle Catherine in them. Perhaps a visit to a former student of his could be managed. He had enough former students he’d find one there, he was sure. Or a fellow apprentice who had gone mad. Power wasn’t for everyone after all. Still, a visit was in order.



“Well. We can’t change the past, but we can work to a better future.” She needed something else, something other than MCU to lean on. “What sort of things to you enjoy doing outside of work?” There had to be something that they could work with. If not, then they’d find one for her, together if needed. He could only guide, but truthfully their freedom was dependent upon each other. He might have to be a bit more heavy handed with his guiding than he would prefer.





Catherine looked at Rahal dead eyed as she thought about things outside of work. “I’ve never had time.” She stated quite bluntly. Life outside of work was a rare thing, and didn’t often happen as either her or whomever she was with at the time tended to spend a substantial portion of their time on paperwork or reviewing casefiles. “Who do you think gets called at 3am when no one else wants to take the call? Why do you think I was the one who came out when you were having problems.. It’s because there isn’t anyone else. I have no relief.. There is not another warden and nightshift is well.. Nightshift.” Their crew was limited, and requesting more officers or the ability to hire and train more from Council was normally denied. She’d had the conversation with Kasimir many times over, and was always informed that the budget was not there. Many of her own officers were having to pay for gear and training without reimbursement; it wasn’t a model that was working well. At this point everyone just prayed that if they didn’t answer their phones at night, that someone else would take the call. Normally it fell to the ones without children, spouses, or families nearby. While the pay was good, the good didn’t always pay.



“I’ve always assumed it’s because I terrify the poor fools on night shift.” Not that he blamed them. Drunk he was...well people were safe from his magic, but not necessarily his magic’s creations. That would have been more difficult than he could do with diminished mental capabilities. She needed something else though.



“It may be time to off load some of the work you do to an officer under you. Delegate as much as you can and you may have more time. In the meantime though, think about the things you remember enjoying from before MCU. And let me know if I need to bully the council into hiring more people. I assure you, I can come up with a reason and make the funds suddenly appear if needed.” Perhaps...that would be terribly naughty of him.



It would be perfect too. He’d certainly be speaking to the council on the issue. Firmly.




The rest of the team would not be pleased, considering they were just now wrapping up a large case involving the Cedar Ridge pack. For her to suddenly be required to do less, and spend less time outside of the office was unthinkable. Catherine felt like this was an impossible task to ask anyone to do. “I will see what can be done…” She said slowly, wondering just who she could shove more work off onto. They were all drowning in a veritable sea of papers. “Rahal, I’ve been with MCU for.. Well awhile… my interests aren’t very modern, and you’ll more than likely find them embarrassingly simple.” Catherine commented, trying to shove aside the cold nauseous feeling that was trying it’s best to take her over.



“Playing music, a novel or two, things that they taught young women decades ago.” There it was, a small list of things. Things that didn’t exactly tell her age or how humiliatingly long she’d been working with MCU; especially when that was really her only career prospect, considering the Council.



“That’s a brilliant start.” He assured her, smiling. This would be easier. “We can figure out how to delegate and everything together, and for hobbies, you already have them. People still play music and read.” He assured her. “You could join a book club, or, hm. You mentioned things that they taught young women. I’m going to assume sewing and embroidery was among them? There’s club for that too. Or you can do them on your own, but take time every day to do a little bit of something.” Even a chapter a day was better than nothing.



“No.. no sewing or embroidery… and clubs would be awkward.” She said shaking her head. Catherine did not enjoy having to explain what she did for a living or why she wasn’t married, even if there was a very nice looking ring on her hand. Some people could just be entirely too nosey for her comfort, and that included most women in the mundane world that she’d met. “Let’s just consider that I’ve been on the local news twice in one week.” Catherine pointed out. The media had been having a field day with this recent case, considering everything. “I think we’ve been over this before.. But I was raised in the fae courts to take my Father’s position. I can handle a sword, I can do my job with MCU effectively. But outside of that? I’m at a loss largely.”



“Then we work together so you’re at less of a loss.” He said simply. “For now, just do them on your own for a bit. It’s just fine to have hobbies that don’t involve meeting with others.” He knew all about the being raised in the courts thing. It was very different in the human world than it was where he grew up. Very different.



Still, she seemed calmer now, more centered and he thought of what to next say. “I know it may be hard, but, well. You may want to try and behind the other dhampir. If anyone can relate to that place with you, it would likely be her.” That was an unfortunate truth. And she would have just been a teenager.



Yes, he would have to Do Something about this. And he would do it with glee.



Catherine continued to stare at Rahal as she watched his lips move, unsure if she had heard him correctly. “For the love of christ, mage! Do you think I want to discuss or relate to that bleeding hell hole?! No, and frankly it’s all I can do to maintain some semblance of control each day.. To pass as human.” She said harshly. There was a significant portion of her problem, the fact that her own very existence was considered a cardinal sin by most of the unseen world. The other, Scotty, hadn’t experienced that yet; and Catherine found herself moderately envious of a teenager who had had the opportunity at a normal life up until recently. “She seems content with whatever Blackwelder can provide her anyway.”



She knew she was being difficult, but felt like she more than had her hands full with her own issues to even begin to delve into someone else’s.



“Oh hell no. I know you don’t want to discuss it, and you don’t have to. But she’s a poor kid who just found out she was a dhampir and has been holed up in a hell you know well. You don’t have to befriend her, just, talk to her now and again. It’ll help both of you.” He rolled his eyes. Catherine could be a major drama queen at times, and when it came to confronting her past she definitely was.



“Look. Blackwelder can’t provide much. I doubt she’s even been told of, well, the issues surrounding dhampirs in the community and how she’s going to want to keep that tight to her chest.” It was difficult putting things in a way Catherine would do them. “You don’t have to go out of your way. She’s the latest stray at Visual Eyes. Go there, talk to your nephew some, and talk to her on the way.” He stood and offered her a hand to help her up. “It’ll be good for all three of you. Now come on. We’ll do the katas without magic. You’re still a little too stiff.”



Catherine took his hand up and followed his lead through the next set of katas. She still didn’t like them, and would have rather passed on them, but knew better. The Council was more than likely asking for weekly reports from Rahal, and she would rather not show them that she was less than a stellar student.



---



Rahal stood in front of the council, clearly not pleased judging by the way he was freely letting his magic spark over his body and up and down his hair, a shroud of it hanging around him like a miasma of electric blue. No, he was furious and the polite smile on his face did not hide the force of his magical presence. He did not often fully unleash it, but he well knew those on the council responded best to power. Already Klein had paled to a miserable color.



“Council members. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me today. I know it isn’t our usual time, but well. A rather unfortunate fact has come to my attention in the course of my contractor work, and I believe I have a solution to it.” and they wouldn’t like it, but he would get his way, if he had to force the matter. And he would force the matter, if he had no choice but to do so.



Leveling a building was only a spell away if you hit it at the right points. And a combination of spells would keep the people inside safe and whole.



“And what pray tell mage is this solution?” One of the Councilors asked boredly. For all they cared, this was just an excuse to get out of something the mage didn’t want to do.”Besides which.. Aren’t you under restrictions after the last stunt you pulled?” Another asked, equally bored. Why were they even here? This wasn’t worth their time, and they could have been doing other things.



“You haven’t even asked the problem councilors.” He said simply, turning the brunt of his magic presence on them, fueled with anger, fury and the forces of chaos themselves. “The problem, you see, is a lack of funding. So I thought, why not divert funds from elsewhere. Here is my offer. I will, for free, upgrade Broadmoore’s security, wards, and the facilities as a whole. It will take less staff to ensure the facility is secure, and will be easier to maintain so have a lower operating budget.” He was rather filthy stinking rich after all. “In return, you will increase funding to MCU and approve of more officer positions.” His voice was smooth, silken, and dangerous. They would behave. They would bow to his will. He wasn’t going to give them a choice after all.



Quietly furious, though his magic still lashed about, he turned the brunt of his magical presence, his very angry magical presence on the entirety of the council. They responded to power. He had that in spades.



Nearby a vase exploded.



“There are many problems, and Broadmoore isn’t one of them.” The Councilor who questioned Rahal’s restrictions commented. Far as they were concerned, the facility in question operated just fine without any potential need for change. “Do you have anything else to say mage, or are you just here to waste our time?” Another asked eyeing the vase with suspicion. There were supposed to be wards preventing any sort of magical outbursts in the chambers, and apparently they weren’t working right.



“Ah. I see you mistook me.” He said simply. A painting fell from the wall. “See, I did a welfare visit on a former student of mine who, unfortunately, is a resident there. And I found him not well.” A second vase exploded, this one sending shards outward. “I will be correcting the issues at Broadmoore. You will increase funding for our loyal and brave officers of the law. This is not a negotiation.” This was a demand.



He could break through the wards in this building. He could break through any of their wards. “I am aware I am usually mild mannered counselor, but you forget yourself. I was trained to be a war mage. Not a battle mage. A War Mage. If you will not listen to me, I will gladly show you exactly what the consequences of your previous decisions will be. And then I will gladly acquaint you with one of the many spells in my arsenal for war. There is a caldera of my own creation in Texas. It is 20 miles wide. I created it with a single spell. I am more than glad to show it to you.” The spell or the caldera was up for debate.



One of the Councilor’s scowled and considered the current situation carefully, it wasn’t often that they had to deal with an individual who could easily bypass the wards, or hold them hostage like this. “You did a welfare check…” One of them muttered in disbelief. Welfare checks weren’t done by contractors, were normally given to officers to conduct, and did not involve a prison.



“We think you also forget yourself too, mage… we’ll consider your offer carefully. But you will not receive an answer today.” At least as long as he could stall they wouldn’t. Where the hell was Klein finding idiots like this? And more importantly where the hell were Blackwelder and Summers? Those two seemed to be conspicuously missing. “What I believe my colleague is trying to say.. Is we will have a decision after a brief recess.” One who so far had remained silent said, glaring at the man who had decided to appoint himself as speaking for the group. They had to reach a decision on this as a majority, whether or not Councilor Angevin wanted to cooperate or not.



“Yes. I checked on the welfare of a former student. Is that not a welfare check?” He gave the councilor an acidic smile. He pulled a small handful of postcard sized images out of the inner pocket of the suit he wore for this and flicked them into the air where they not only remained, but grew to poster size. “Images I took while there, to give you an idea of the current conditions of your...asylum. It, by the way, is poorly equipped in modern medicines, psychiatric knowledge, psychological knowledge, and even proper modern wards.”



The images backed him up. One was of a child, huddled into a corner of a filthy cell, arms bound tight, crying into his knees. Another showed a row of patients in filthy scrubs sitting on a hard bench, all unkempt. The images went on, showing the terrible conditions. He had managed one short video of a guard kicking a patient in a straight jacket, already on the ground.



It was a filthy miserable place. They would take corrective action. “Patients are kept drugged to keep them docile. None who are there for control issues are taught control. None who are there for any reason receive any aid but cruelty. That is no asylum. It is a torture house.”



Angevin paled in reaction to the images, this didn’t match up to any of the reports they’d received in the past. To their knowledge, the facility was considered safe and sane; not this horrific vision that hung before them. “I.. stand corrected. This is far from acceptable.” The Councilor stammered, shamed into changing his opinion on the matter.



“I do not believe that the verdict is debatable any longer. Broadmoore is clearly in need of reform.” The Councilor added. The images were disturbing at best, and very plainly showed the need for the reform of the facility. “You have your request, mage. But be aware, that this is still a mixed use facility for housing criminals alongside those with psychiatric or should I say magical issues.”



“Then it will be well reformed. I will work with the...leaders currently there for the handover, and new ones will be selected to oversee and maintain the reforms.” And they had no choice in this. It would happen as he willed it. “Thank you for your consideration.”



Though he had needed to hold them hostage. The damage his magic had done was repaired with a snap of his fingers. “You will also increase funding for MCU. Nipping issues in the bud early will negate the need for harsher sentences later.” and Broadmoore was as harsh as it went.



“Fine, fine.. Just get out of the chamber mage!” Angevin scowled, clearly unhappy with having been put in such a difficult position. The funding was there, and even if they didn’t want to spend it, it looked like they would be doing so.




---

Catherine sighed as she stepped out of her car and shut the door. She was going to try to follow Rahal’s advice, but she didn’t think it was terribly good. What she hadn’t wanted to say in relation to hobbies was that she had dabbled in basic watercolors over the years, and while not very good, it was nice to sit and just do something that wasn’t work related. These thoughts largely consumed her as she approached the shop sitting on the corner of Cedar Springs and Routh Street. Opening the door and stepping out of the heat, and down the stairs into the cooled store made her realize just how late in the day it had gotten. Their current heatwave wasn’t expected to break for another week, and even many of officers who normally wouldn’t have complained about it, were making objections. ‘Just a few things, and I’ll leave. Besides…’ Catherine thought to herself as she stopped to examine a display of pastels and pencils.



It wasn’t Scotty manning the shop right now though. Brandon had been in the back, but when the shop bell tinkled he stepped out and wiped done glazing paint off his hands. The work he was currently doing could sit a bit while he helped a customer. It was why he was doing it here.



“Welcome to Visual Eyes Art!” He called out and paused, seeing it was his aunt. “Aunt Catherine? I wasn’t expecting you.” After their last two falling outs, was he even allowed to still call her that? He didn’t know. They hardly spoke enough for him to find out. Brandon had never learned quite how to keep himself clean and tidy while he worked on his art, and it showed. His apron was a mess of paint, some of which had just been deliberately brushing the brush against it to ‘clean’ it. He had a streak of glazing paint at his hairline, where he had wiped at his forehead while working, trying to keep shaggy hair out of his face. Other than that though.



He still looked sickly. He always would, given the nature of his turning, and he knew well he required more blood than most did to keep him looking less sickly. He was still furious he had been turned. But the past was the past and he still preferred going by Brandon Hammerstine over Brandon Lessard any day. It had been for their protection, he reminded himself. There couldn’t be an easy connection, not if he wanted to keep his family safe. And now, well.



He was better. The therapist had helped and he continued to see the man. Today was not the best day for his appearance. It took more blood than he liked hunting for to keep him looking even peaky and not on death’s door. Right now he was somewhere in between, waiting for a shipment of the blood to come in. It should arrive tonight, but should was always the keyword.



‘Ah shit…’ Catherine thought to herself as she turned to look at Brandon. “Yes.. well I had some time off and needed a bit more ink for a project. I’d honestly rather the money stay locally than not.” She said carefully choosing her words. It wasn’t so much of a lie as a half truth, sure enough some of her private journals were still written with pen and ink, but in reality she wasn’t sure what she was doing there. The damn nosey mage had made it clear under no circumstance was she allowed to avoid this one. Especially after their lengthy discussion about Broadmoore, the Councilors, and Scotty.





However, after two rather spectacular incidents between herself and Brandon, it wasn’t clear how long either could keep up the civility. “I didn’t think you’d be here, the girl you hired said you had had a large project to complete.” Catherine added, trying her hardest to keep her tone neutral and hide any thoughts or emotion she might be feeling. Compartmentalizing was something she did well, and it had almost become a habit to treat everyone like another officer or someone she would encounter on duty. She knew it was a bad one, but after so many years with MCU it was a hard one to break.



But it did appear that whatever project he had been working on had gotten more paint on him than the canvas. ‘Cleanliness was never your forte, Brandon..’ Catherine thought, careful as always of her own mental shields. While Rahal may have demanded it be dropped during their training sessions, she couldn’t afford to relax it outside of that; it was inviting trouble.



Brandon grinned. “I’m handling the painting of the pieces now.” He admitted cheerfully. He was going to be civil and polite to her. She was his aunt, and even when they didn’t get along, he still loved her dearly. “Let me know if you need any help? You and uncle and all still get the family discount.” Because, even with the rift, he still loved them. The twenty year captivity had just, well. He was still recovering from that, but he was doing better. Working with clay helped, as it always had.



“I am glad you came. You’re always welcome.” They all were. Even when things were tense, and they were tense, he could feel it even now, well, they were welcome. He just, well, he had to heal before he threw himself back to spending more time with his family. He was better, but he didn’t know if he was well enough yet.



“Ah, I see..” She replied slowly. “So I’m guessing that’s why your face is covered in paint?” Catherine asked, the words out of her mouth before she could even reconsider them. This was not normal, her words were always carefully considered before they were even uttered. ‘I’m going to fucking kill that bloody mage…’ She thought darkly. Rahal’s pressuring for everyone to make up and make nice was the cherry on top of the sundae of an already stressed week. While Catherine understood that actually trying to listen and follow his precepts he set forth as instructor were part of the deal with Council, it didn’t mean she had to like it.



“Don’t worry about the discount, it’s fine.” She quickly said, now eager to leave and be rid of this uncomfortable situation. There was just too much to handle at once, and she knew that she’d be going back in the next week being requested an explanation of why she’d done what she had. It was one thing to explain actions to the Council, but Rahal had become both a teacher and friend; whether she wanted to admit it or not, and failure wasn’t an option she was eager to confront.



“I just need the few things, and then you can get back to your project.” Catherine reiterated, eager to retreat and avoid another unfortunate confrontation that would further damage things.



Brandon touched his face, then snickered. “Ah man. I should have known I wouldn’t get out of this without getting messy. This is what happens when my hair finally started growing in.” Well, it had taken a spell, but it had worked well enough. He offered her a smile. “Thanks for letting me know.”



There was no denying things were still tense, but he wasn’t going to get upset just because she had commented on paint on his face. He was in a much better place than when they had last spoken. Given he had weekly therapist visits for a while, that was no surprise. Still, she was clearly nervous.



He stepped back. “I’ll go wait at the counter.” She’d have to go there to checkout anyway, and she was already nervous. He didn’t want to make it worse. She was not the cause of his torment. She had always tried to help and he wasn’t going to take out his healing on her.



At least he had made it that far, though he still lashed out at times.



“Of course.” She said nodding and tried her best to shake the uneasy feeling she had as she went back to browsing. Catherine suspected he had learned to used a spell or at least a physical glamour since last she saw him, but wasn’t about to confirm them either way. She hadn’t been entirely sure how receptive he would have been towards her, and it seemed things were relatively on neutral, but shaky terms. At least he hadn’t thrown her out of the shop, demanding she leave, even though he likely had every right to do so.

[demikara]

Picking up a bottle of prussian blue ink, a pen, and a small soft leather bound journal, Catherine made her way over to the counter. Setting the items down, she took a moment to look at the contents of a the displays, while she attempted to will whatever anxiety and tension to leave. It wasn’t easy, and the results were more her seeming distracted than anything else. Today she found her thoughts filled with so many things, from the small girl from the Cedar Ridgeback they’d found dead, to everything in between. Clearly her thoughts were a jumbled, chaotic mess, with little clarity yet in sight. “Just these things I think.” She said.



Brandon nodded and checked her out smoothly and easily, putting in the discount he had mentioned without bringing it up again. “Ta da.” He finished putting them in the bag. “Come again soon?” He didn’t mean to sound pleading but he knew he did. He missed his family dammit, even if it was past time for him to be able to stand on his own. Uncle Lex and Aunt Catherine weren’t going to pass any time soon. They had time to mend the bridges between them.



“The door’s always open.” And he was pretty sure that she had his number, and knew that she knew where he lived. The question was, would she ever be ready.



“Maybe.” She answered as she signed the receipt and handed back the pen. “And I know, it’s just.. Been busy.” Catherine added, as if to excuse her avoidance of the shop. In reality, she’d known that he would have needed at least some time to cool off from the two previous arguments. At least this time it hadn’t resulted in the pair getting the better of one another, and thankfully his new hire wasn’t there, so she didn’t have to confront that fact.



“You’re busy. I understand that one.” She had been busy ever since he met her, judging by the fact that unlucky officers, usually Molly, were the ones who ended up watching him after school more than once. He managed a weak smile. “I should get back to the ceramics I’m making. Have a good day Aunt Catherine.”



---


Two weeks later, still in the thick of the most recent case, Catherine sat in her office trying to sort through coroner reports and reports from her own officers. As usual, it was a disaster zone, with piles of papers and files stacked precariously on just about every flat surface. The office hadn’t been clean since the case started, and to top it off, one of the newer officers had been speaking to the press. That leak was going to be hell to plug, especially considering the restrictions when it came to dealing with the mundane. They were to appear and act as human as possible, and using magic on them was to be considered unfair and an abuse of power.



Thankfully, while there was still so much to do, it gave her the perfect excuse to forget about Broadmoore and its associated problems.



Unfortunately for her, one of those associated problems had business with her. A firm knock came on the door, as Kasimir Klein waited for a response. The secretary was away from her station for whatever reason and he would rather not wait. His time was crowded enough with his duties on the council.



Though he did have good news for her, at least, he suspected the...request he had for her was not going to go smoothly. Perhaps he should start with the other news, given the situation. Not that it would delay things long.



“Come in!” Catherine said answering the knock with a rather terse tone. She could have sworn she’d given her secretary instructions that while she worked through lunch, to hold all calls and appointments. This obviously was someone who hadn’t gotten the message, or had figured out how to get around the secretary. “I swear to god.. If this is Bronson..” Catherine muttered to herself. She’d taken an unprecedented amount of enjoyment at watching the office’s current sargent continue to run headlong into the wall, failing to understand why they couldn’t just phase through. Eventually, Molly had gotten the message that there really were spaces that were off limits to her, and had been sulking ever since.



“This is not Bronson.” Kasimir noted as he opened the door. “Though I do wonder what has her sulking. I walked by her in the bullpen and she seemed...well. Sulking like a small child really.” He had no clue how spot on he was. “I thought I would come and pass on the news of the council’s latest decision myself.” And be very glad he was nowhere near Rahal right now because he had forgotten that Rahal the war mage was even a thing and he did not want to see that ever again.



“It concerns both MCU and Broadmoore after all. Though there is, of course, other business.” There always was. Still, given the other business may also be good news, well. It should be entertaining at least.



“New wards, she spent the last week running headlong into my door trying to break them.” Catherine explained smugly. She still wasn’t happy to see Kasimir though, considering he had been rather front and center of her time at Broadmoore. “I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you’re talking about Klein. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been neck deep in a murder case.” She said, staring at the vampire blankly. That was the truth too, there were so many details to sort out, especially after the rookie arrested the one man. Currently he was sitting in the Dallas County Jail awaiting to be brought up on fraud charges. “You might as well have a seat and tell me just what the hell else you bastards are fixing to hand me.”



Kasimir snorted at that. “I may have to ask for a copy of those. Someone recently damn near shattered the council room wards.” They were still up, but incredibly shaky. He was surprised they had survived the encounter. “And I am about to hand you the ability to hire on ten more officers. I’m still working on the second Warden part, but ten officer positions will now be fully funded.” Though it had taken sheer terrorism to force that one through.



Still, she ought to be pleased enough. Ten new officers wasn’t much, but even that much would help. Much of the rest of the funding was spread throughout each of the districts.



“Hm, how about no?” Catherine remarked, refusing to let Klein have access to her own warding spells or methods. There was always the fear that it would be used against her, or others she cared for; not to mention some things were best not known by the Council. “And maybe you should hire that same terrorist who tried to shatter the wards to repair them.” She added, thinking she had a fair idea just who had taken a hold of the magic and done as they pleased. “But, ten new officers and the potential for a second Warden is welcomed.” Catherine said, grateful that at least they had that. It had taken the better part of the last 5 years just to get the Council’s attention on just how thin they were spread.



“I could have used them this last week, considering everything with Cedar Ridge.” She remarked thoughtfully. Then no one would be in the current situation they were in, where she was still facing a reprimand after her own actions, unless certain neglected training was completed.



“Tell Alexander to do so then, because I don’t want to be in the same room as said terrorist for at least a month.” He didn’t even have blood pressure and yet it still needed to go down, given the stress he had been in. “Further, in light of compelling evidence,” and the fact that councilor Angevin had nearly pissed himself “Broadmoore will be undergoing comprehensive reforms. I am given to understand that includes firing the current head and the current heads of the departments.” Along with whoever else didn’t step up to the plate. Rahal hadn’t yet submitted his plans for anyone’s perusal but Klein had no doubt that at minimum the leaders would be kicked out.



“I don’t tell Alexander to do anything for the record. That’s between you, Blackwelder, and him.” Catherine pointed out, mildly amused that Kasimir was so panicked. It seemed that the vampire had grown soft in his position as Councilor, and was more afraid of what an angry mage could do than the bad publicity that Broadmoore could bring them.



“Broadmoore has.. Needed reforms… I’m at least glad to see it’s happening.” She hesitated. How long would it last before someone grew tired with the project? There was so much that the facility needed, and so many things it didn’t. Broadmoore and its abuses were not a thing that Catherine had wanted to think about.



“Yes, that was rather shoved in all of our faces without an ounce of mercy or kindness.” He grumbled, unimpressed. They may have needed it, yes, but it was still a bit much. Of course he wasn’t quite done either. “One final bit of business. I know you don’t like to discuss this topic, so I apologize, but I’m afraid it’s become rather imperative. June and I need to know if you know who your sire is.”



He didn’t even want to bring that up either.



Catherine’s expression darkened immediately upon hearing Kasimir’s question. “Why exactly pray tell do you think I know that…” She said slowly. The Council had access to these records, they didn’t have to come and interrupt her day. “My father found me as a child in.. very bad shape. No one knew who my sire was and my mother was already long since dead.” Catherine said harshly. It really was a topic that she didn’t like discussing, muchless with Kasimir. “I’ve told the Council before, I do not know.”



“I know this. I had to ask, just in case something had changed.” He ran a hand through his hair and considered what to say next. “There is… there is the possibility that your sire had a second child. This child has much the same abilities, if weaker, and as you know such things tend to run in family lines.” They had suspected the younger dhampir had been her sibling since day one, but, well. In Broadmoore, it was easier to ignore the problem. With both out now, well. It was impossible. “Telepathy and…” He didn’t want to say the other one, but it was true. “And the ability to go into a berserker rage when sufficiently angry or upset.”



“Nothing has changed.” She replied bluntly. Catherine’s thoughts towards her sire were not altogether wholesome, and she held no love for the man whose only interests seemed to be sperm donation. “And I know enough about the family lines to have some inkling of why the Dragon court was so bloody hot on my heels when you bastards let my records be leaked.” She commented. From what Catherine had been able to determine, her sire’s bloodlines were old even when she had been born, and that coupled with the fact that her mother’s family had had the potential for being magically adept made her situation a unique one. “Rage? How would you feel if you just witnessed two people you loved be killed right in front of you? One right after the other...” Catherine asked, seething anger barely held in check. After that, she had blacked out, and only remembered waking up in one of Broadmoore’s more sturdy holding cells.



“So what of it? Why should I care?” She asked again. Her life hadn’t always been easy, and no doubt this potential siblings wouldn’t either; but she doubted that either would want the other to cling to them for some semblance of support. Catherine had seen enough fractured families to know that reunions and long lost siblings weren’t always happy things.



“Much the same.” He admitted. But he doubted he had the bloodlines to go into a berserker rage. Still she didn’t have to care, and they both knew that. How to put this as delicately as possible. “The childe...well, was shocked to learn she was adopted. She had never been told such. We had hoped to seek out her sire to, well…”



A third child from this line could not occur. “Much of the council seeks reassurances. A little under half are clamoring for the childe to be bound before she becomes a possible threat. If a relationship can be disproved, it may be possible to prevent...over eager fools.”



Her fangs had already been filed down. More was not needed.



“To what? Ask him if he plans to fuck anymore unsuspecting women? Leave them with a pregnancy that will kill them? Tell me Kasimir.. What exactly does the great and mighty Council plan to do with my.. Oh wait, our sire?” Catherine demanded. “The girl doesn’t need a binding, she needs help, and not the kind you’re proposing. Because need I remind you just what I’ve done to Council bindings and wards without assistance to learn...” She stated bluntly. The girl may have come from the same old lines, but she didn’t appear to have the other half of the equation of a family with strong affinities to magic.



“If the Council seeks reassurance, then they are fools. They should have been looking for this.. Vampire from day one.” Catherine spat. “He is sire only in name and genetic contribution.” She added.



“I suspect she’d think similarly.” Though he didn’t know for sure. Kasimir sighed and stood. “I…” The council wanted to know likely to have the vampire killed truth told. He was clearly too elderly to sire anyone else, given the instability of his children. “Thank you for your time, Catherine.” He wasn’t going to push her any more. Getting her too angry was dangerous. Everyone knew that now.



The man stood up and left, not sure what else to do.



---

Scotty was not impressed to be at the MCU station. She was even less impressed with what she was pretty certain was a broken arm given how her eyes were watering and her arm was throbbing. The fact that all she had gotten was told she would heal was even worse. The fact that she was being to wait to be questioned while they questioned the jerk who attacked her was worse.



She had already taken the liberty of texting her boss with the full details via voice to text. The minute he read it, she was certain he’d swoop down here in a righteous fury. In the meantime, all she could do was hold her arm against her and wipe her tears away regularly. At least she was no stranger to pain, given what the bastards had done to her teeth.



No there was no love lost between her and MCU and this, this was not helping. But the second Mr. Hammerstein heard, she really hoped he’d swoop down here with his lawyer. Maybe stupid Officer Johnson would be fired. She hadn’t even fought back, just called for help and tried to hide. She knew better. She was a dhampir and a prior detainee. Mr. Hammerstine had sat her down and made it very clear that for her sake, she needed to keep both quiet.



“Look, all I’m saying is one of you started it and you both know better.” Johnson stated with exasperation. He wasn’t getting anywhere, and he suspected that the girl had started it. “Now because your stories don’t match up, you’re gonna tell me again what exactly happen.” the officer drawled. This would certainly put him back in the good graces of the Warden and the other officers. But, far as he was concerned, this was an open and shut case.



“I already told you.” She wiped at her eyes. “I was leaving work and he attacked me. He...he said it was cause I’m a dhampir. I didn’t even try and defend myself, please, just can I go? Or can I at least have an aspirin?” It hurt. She hurt. She just wanted to go home at this point and she was really hoping that Mr. Hammerstine would come soon because she hated this.



The officer wouldn’t believe her though. She held her arm close and made up her mind. Surely if someone else saw what was going on, surely it would stop. Tentatively, she reached out with her mind, trying to find someone who may be receptive to help.



She didn’t have to worry though. A snarling Brandon arrived, armed with a very properly dress and glasses clad lawyer. “And she’s not saying another word, Officer Chihuahua.” He snarled and gently pulled her chair away. His lawyer would handle the officer. He was more concerned with his employee. “Scotty, how bad are you hurt?”



The lawyer gave Johnson a bland smile. “My client will not be speaking to you. Given she hasn’t even received basic medical aid, however, we will not only press charges against her attacker, but also against you, officer.”



A little away, a curious blonde head peered over. This was...not good. Brandon, his lawyer, and Johnson together wasn’t good at all. Given the crying teen, Molly decided the warden could use a heads up. This was going to cause trouble already and she knew it. This is what Molly got for hanging out with the beat cops today as she went through some old files. Quietly, she dialed the Warden’s number.



“What do you need Molly…” Catherine answered with annoyance after she had seen the caller ID. So much for explicit instructions being followed, first Kasimir and now Molly. Her week couldn’t possibly get any worse could it? “You do realize this is my first day off in…” She said looking at the calendar in her kitchen. “In three months?” She finished, wondering just how clueless the other was sometimes.



Alexander as usual had gone off to fulfill his duties with the Council, and left the house in relative quiet. She had just finished making herself a mug of tea before the phone rang.



“And if Officer Chihuahua listened to me, I would have stopped him before I had to call you.” Molly said simply. “Call in sick tomorrow.” Also, she really had to start taking regular time off, especially on days when it would have just been paperwork. The warden was in desperate need of an assistant. The council would never agree, but the need was still there.



“Everyone’s favorite idiot currently has Brandon Hammerstine, his very good lawyer, and a teenage girl who is injured and crying at his desk along with a very smug looking...hm. I think I recognize him from Cedar Ridge.” Which meant werewolf. That was going to be fun. “Want me to just hand the phone to Johnson, or?” The warden could always chew him out over the phone. It was less intimidating but still worked.



“No…” Catherine sighed with a disappointed tone. So much for a day off, someone always found a way to hijack it. She can’t remember the last time she wasn’t off and on call, or having to clean up a mess. At this point, she was sorely tempted to just disappear for a few days a month and not leave any method of contact; it would get her some peace and quiet, but would also get her hell from the Council. “I’ll be there in.. fifteen?” She commented doing a bit of mental guesswork to figure out how quickly she could be there. Traffic was always a problem, and then there was the constant state of construction across the city. “Just.. tell Johnson you out rank him and the Warden will be there shortly.” Catherine added, pinching the bridge of her nose. She could feel the migraine beginning to worm itself into her skull and behind the back of her eyes. Personnel issues were never fun, and when it boiled down to personal lives getting involved it was even worse.



Fifteen minutes later, she had arrived at the station and was already inside. Her foul mood worsened when she saw Brandon’s lawyer, Brandon, Scotty, and Johnson. ‘Oh for the love of… seriously?!’ Catherine thought as she made her way over to where the pair sat at Johnson’s desk. “Johnson… were you not still assigned to desk duty? Duty that does not include questioning and taking reports?”


Molly had at least gotten him to stop trying to question the people involved. That she had managed, though it was clear that she wasn’t happy with the situation ever. Still, she stepped back so that the Warden could handle it.



“Yes Warden, but we’re shorthanded and I was asked to handle a simple assault case once they were picked up.” He didn’t pick them up himself. Surely he could get out of her bad books by showing the initiative in a simple assault case. “It was between a werewolf and a dhampir. The culprit is obvious, ma’am.”



Brandon glared at Johnson, unimpressed. “He seems to be under the-” His lawyer put a hand on his shoulder, and Brandon shut his mouth. The lawyer began to speak.



“A pleasure to see you Warden, however unfortunate the current circumstances. Officer Johnson appears to believe my client attacked Mr. Richardson here, despite the fact that she is clearly badly injured.” Scotty wiped at her tears and held her arm close. Brandon turned his attention back to her and pulled a juice box out of his satchel, holding it out to her, hoping she’d accept the blood in it. She wasn’t much of a blood drinker, but it would help with the pain, he knew it. Scotty turned her head in response.



Catherine held up a hand as everyone began talking at once, it was hard to follow, and understand everyone’s concerns at once. “And whom was it that asked you to handle that assault case, Johnson?” She questioned the other pointedly. There was more to this than Johnson just deciding to do as he pleased. “I am extremely curious to know.” Catherine added calmly, holding the growing anger and frustration that boiled just below the surface in check. “Because in case you have not noticed, the girl is the one with the most damage and this one is sitting her like a bloody cat that ate a canary!” She seethed.



“Send the dog home and send the other three to my office. That is an order Johnson, in case you thought it was a suggestion.” Catherine said pointedly as she knelt down to take the cuffs off of Scotty. Incidents like this were why she couldn’t take a day off, or meet someone like Alexander during work hours for a quick coffee. ‘At least the dumb bastard got the right cuffs this time..’ She thought as she took them off of Scotty’s wrists, careful of the broken one.



Johnson quickly uncuffed the werewolf. “Officer Thompson ma’am. Yes ma’am.” Hell, he had thought this would put him in her good books. There went that idea.



Brandon sighed, relieved that was taken care of. Scotty blinked and whispered a quiet thank you, carefully standing. “Come on Scotty. I’ll show you the way to the warden’s office.” He murmured. “You need to drink the box, but it can wait until we’re there.”



“Isn’t she your aunt? And I hate drinking it…” He sighed, his lawyer following as Brandon carefully showed Scotty the way.



“Here, she’s the warden. It’s easier to just call her that, because this is her work, not her personal life.” He murmured to her, trying to be quiet. There was a definite divide and he had been raised knowing it. “And I know you do, but it’ll help with the pain.”



“Actually.. go home for today Johnson, leave your badge and gun here as well. Lieutenant Boyuan will speak with you later.” Catherine instructed turning her attention back to Johnson. If she had her way the man would be gone, and his record would leave him unhireable by any other agency. Fortunately, Catherine knew better, and all she had to do was let the other officers talk. Word would quickly get around that Johnson was prone to profiling and other decisions that looked bad to any other agency. ‘Asshole… nothing but problems.’ She thought to herself with frustration, before realizing that her office was likely still locked. Half the reason for that was Molly had had a habit of snooping and so did a few others she had worked with in the past. Catherine was not a fan of finding people waiting for her in her office, or finding things missing or misplaced.


Joining the three later in her office after having informed Xiaolian of the current problem, Catherine sat down behind the massive antique desk that was piled high with papers and files with a relatively new computer buried somewhere in the mess. “Start talking.” She said. “And.. not all at once please.”





The lawyer nodded to Scotty who began to talk. “I was leaving work.” She whispered, then sniffed and made herself talk louder. “I just wanted to get some groceries, that was all. But I was...he stopped me.” She was still quiet. “Said...said I was an abomination, even for a vampire, and said I deserved...said I deserved to die for it. I started to run, but he chased be down and started just… attacking me. He...he hit my arm really hard. It hurts.” Scotty sniffled and wiped at her eyes. She didn’t understand what was happening. “Someone called the police? I guess they were unseen too, and knew us, or knew we were.” It was well known Visual eyes was a place you basically had to be unseen in some way to work. “Or knew one of us was, at least. MCU arrived. They..they arrested us both? Before..before Officer Johnson took over, they let me text Mr. Hammerstine. Then he took over and he started questioning us both.”



Brandon sighed. “I called my lawyer and came as soon as I got the text. I grabbed some of the blood boxes on the way, to help if she was hurt and...she’s hurt.”



“I don’t like blood.” She hated drinking it.





Catherine sat there listening to Scotty and Brandon, far from happy with the outcome of this situation. “There has been bad blood for some years between the Cedar Ridge pack and vampires of any sort. For whatever reason, and I suspect this is likely before my time here, they have got a chip on their shoulder from an encounter.” She explained, leaning forward onto the desk for a moment. “You’re not at fault, and I could understand if you wanted to press charges.” She continued, carefully considering her next words, intent on the anger and fury towards Johnson not coloring them. “Especially with Johnson. As a blanket statement, we do not condone profiling or anything of that nature.” Catherine added, making sure Brandon’s lawyer understood that Johnson would summarily be dealt with. This wasn’t a situation that was ideal by any means, and it only added fuel to the fire when it came to what caused her so much stress.



“Is there anything else? Mr. Hammerstein, take her to the urgent care off University. They’ll get the arm set and in a cast so it heals properly.”



“Of course.” He murmured. Scotty rubbed at her eyes again. She considered if she would like to and then nodded uncertain.



“I want to press charges, please.” Against her assailant and against Johnson. The lawyer nodded at this and glanced to the Warden. “Can we go now?” It hurt and she wanted it to not hurt and she knew perfectly well that blood may help but it could still heal bad and she wanted the painkillers they were sure to give her anyway. They’d help better, as far as she was concerned.



“Of course, Scotty. Let’s get you to the urgent care. Thank you Warden.” The recommendation likely meant it was a decent one for the unseen to go to., or that there would be fewer questions asked if they went there. There was little more they could ask for.



---



Visual Eyes was usually a pretty peaceful place. It was known as an unseen safe haven or a place to meet up, though Brandon had put his foot down on putting in tables like Scotty had suggested more than once. It was an art store, not a coffee shop. Someone else could open up an unseen coffee shop. Hell, Scotty could once she was firmly on her feet and had raised the capital for it.



For now though, it was fairly quiet, only a handful of customers and Scotty was manning the counter, most bored, and limited to just the cash register by the already brightly colored cast on her arm. Half the people who came in insisted on signing it or drawing on it and she let them, mostly amused. She hadn’t known people here liked her that much.



Right now though, the young seeming dhampir was having to deal with one of the worst parts of her job, and with only one good arm too. Men, she had decided, were clearly pigs and Circe had it right. She maintained her polite this customer is clearly nuts smile. It did not stop the werewolf shouting at her.



“You’re a fucking whore! You damned bitch are the reason a pack member is in jail, and I cannot wait for you to step foot out of here.” The werewolf snarled and Scotty remained silent and rather afraid. Mr. Hammerstein's shields were too powerful for her to even try touching his mind and asking for help, and he was in the workshop that wasn’t attached to the shop. “Do you know what Cedar Ridge does to trouble causing sluts like yourself? Especially ones as disgusting as you are dhampir.” He said it like a slur. “Your mom couldn’t help but sleep around could she? Ended up carrying a freak to term, somehow.” That was too much.



“Shut up.” She damn near hissed. “You shut up about my mom.” If she had fangs they’d be bared right now. But those has been taken from her. Just like her mortal family had been taken from her. And this dog didn’t get to speak about her parents. Her good first balled up, fury shaking her body. Given her lineage it was probably not the best situation.

[demikara]

Catherine had walked into the store during the middle of this altercation, and for a moment she held back waiting to see what the girl would do. Unfortunately though, it seemed that she was largely defenseless in the face of this assault from the Cedar Ridge pack member. ‘Brandon.. You might want to see what’s going on out front..’ She thought, reaching out, snaking her way past shields and wards to carefully touch the other’s mind. In the meantime however, she needed to do anything she could to keep Scotty from trashing the entire place, and ending up in facility again. ‘You might need to come help…’ She added after a moment as she crept around the behind the werewolf, concealing herself for the most part with shelves and displays that crowded the store.


This kid was beginning to be more trouble than Laura had ever been. “Hopefully this ends well..” She muttered to herself from behind a display of canvases and art boards.



In the workshop Brandon paused and took a rag to his clay covered hands, already on his way to the door. ‘Aunt Catherine, didn’t you teach me to knock on people’s shields?' He thought back, rushing rather more than he’d like. ‘On my way.’ And he was going to hurry too. Hopefully he’d get there before the kid actually lost her temper. He didn’t actually want to have to intercept that, even if he knew he had a cheat on the entire thing.


The werewolf smirked, and looked down on Scotty, not paying head to the area around him. “Or what? Going to try and hit me? I’ve already heard about your little fight. Cody says you didn’t even try and fight back. I doubt you’ll do any better this time. Even in defense of the whore who raised you.” He snarled, more amused than angry.



Scotty clenched her fist tighter and reached out to Brandon. She knew she couldn’t get through his shields so tentatively ‘knocked’ on them so he would know to listen ‘Mr. Hammerstine. There’s a werewolf here who won’t leave me alone! He’s starting to really piss me off.’ It showed in her mental voice too. Brandon cursed and moved faster.



“You need to leave now.” Scotty said aloud. “Right now. You’re not welcome here.” She was not going to lose her temper, she was not! The werewolf leaned in close, getting into her space and grinning.



“Or what?”

“Or else I’m going to arrest you for trespassing.” Catherine answered stepping out from behind the display where she’d been keeping quiet. Catherine would prefer to avoid a fight and destroying inventory, but if push came to shove she’d defend herself and Scotty. Brandon was more than capable of taking care of himself, even if he didn’t seem to like to admit it. ‘Yes, unfortunately this was a situation where it is generally excused.’ So what if it wasn’t exactly polite? This was a situation where it was warranted to just slip right through.


Staring down the werewolf, she waited for him to make another move. Catherine herself didn’t look like she was capable of much in contrast to the large and heavily muscled werewolf that was currently leering over Scotty. “So if you’ve got nothing better to do, go home.” She added crossing her arms over her chest.



Brandon cursed and entered in the back door of the shop. ‘Stay calm Scotty. Please, just stay calm.’ That was important as hell here. If Scotty and Catherine reached out then it was bad. Unfortunately here, seconds would count.



“I said leave!” Scotty pushed back with her ones good arm, fury clear now. “F-Fuck off!” Catherine was there, and she’d make him leave. She had to. Scotty was shaking at this point, trying to stay calm just like Mr. Hammerstine wanted her too. It was important. She couldn’t get too angry.



The werewolf laughed at the push, poor as it was. Scotty may be a dhampir but it was pretty clear she was still adhering to human limitations. “I’ll go. But I won’t go far.” Across the street wasn’t trespassing after all. He gave a smug glance to Catherine. “Good luck keeping her safe. You’ll need it.” He walked out just as Brandon came in through the back.



“While you’re gone, why don’t you ask your buddy O’Hara about last time. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to fill you in.” Catherine said with a derisive laugh. She’d be more than happy to clean the alpha’s clock if it meant a change in dynamics that got rid of idiots like this one. “In the meantime, I would suggest you not make idle threats kid.” She warned. The community Brandon was a part of was more than happy usually to see to it that a child, or anyone for that matter was kept safe.



As the werewolf left, Catherine allowed herself to relax slightly as she saw Brandon coming in from the back. “You just missed it.” She said to her nephew shaking her head. The wolf had been cowardly, and was likely following some sort of goading from the rest of the pack.



“Damn. Thanks for reaching out to me, both of you.” The telepathy definitely came in handy. He noticed Scotty still shaking and walked to her side. “Scotty. He’s gone. You need to calm down.” It was less a can and more a need, given her history.



“It’s hard. Thank you for getting rid of him Catherine.” She said, still shaking. “He’ll probably be back, but at least he’s gone now.” She was terrified of werewolves now. After having been jumped, no one could blame her. But she was safe for now at least.



“Anytime.” Catherine said with a nod. “I’m sorry for doing it like that Brandon, but it was either that or watch Scotty here level the shop and get herself in even more trouble.” She said apologetically. Catherine really didn’t like having to resort to tactics she would have used in the field on a basic welfare check. In the meantime however, it looked like someone was going to have to accompany Scotty anywhere but the shop. Undoubtedly the Cedar Ridge pack, and O’Hara with his hatred for anything different was going to ramp up the level of threats.


“Yes, he’ll be back… but in the meantime I think we can get you some personal wards. They’re not a cure all, but should at least mask you from those that would do harm.” Catherine conceded. Scotty was going to have to stop acting like most of this wasn’t happening one way or another.



“It’s more important she’s safe.” He admitted and checked her over, making certain she wasn’t hurt more thanks to this latest thing. Scotty put up with it for about thirty seconds, then rolled her eyes and pushed him away.



“Not actually a teenager, as a reminder.” She pointed out. “Thank you, both of you. I know how important it is I don’t...I don’t lose control again. I don’t know how anyone else manages it. It’s hard staying calm when people are being like that.” It was very hard. She bit her bottom lip and considered what to say next. “I would like some personal wards. And is there anyway to ward the shop? I don’t want to just say no werewolves, but they’re the ones who have been giving me so much trouble.”



She didn’t get it. Just because her sire was a vampire and her mom was human didn’t mean she should be beat up for it, or torment, and it hurt when they did that to her. But that way was madness and she knew it.



“I don’t disagree…” Catherine replied slowly and thoughtfully. “Scotty, has Brandon been teaching you anything? Or just having you mind the shop?” She asked looking over at her nephew questioningly. To her it seemed that someone should at least given the girl a 101, here’s how everything works. “And yes, we know you’re not a teenager. However, if you’re curious about the wards.. I’ll call someone I know.” Catherine mused, thinking Rahal at least owed her that after all the last three calls out to deal with his drunken revelry.



“Either way, I think, and Brandon you’re welcome to correct me here, but I think you’re going to need someone to accompany you outside the shop for awhile.”



Scotty nodded and thought it over. “Shielding and using my telepathy mostly. How to deal with the hunger and the weird vampire etiquette and stuff like that.” She didn’t pay too much attention to that part. “He hasn’t taught me any magic or anything though. I’m still a little uneasy with it.”



Brandon shrugged. “We’re working on meditation but...it’s a work in progress.” Scotty nodded at that and winced. Meditation was hard, as far as she was concerned and the long silence brought up memories of Broadmoore, where they basically laid their silent for nothing to do or talk about. There had only been so much they could talk about, after all.



“I don’t know too many people I’m close enough to for that.” She admitted. “I try to be as little in the unseen as possible.”



“I see.” Catherine said slowly. Brandon seemed to have it enough in hand, and there really wasn’t much she needed to do. Except for maybe the wards, and that seemed to be easy enough to accomplish. “It seems like Brandon has it under control..” She decided. That in of itself would definitely allow her to resume her attentions on the case at hand. Thankfully the Dragon Court hadn’t decided to come knocking, and it was just a problem with the Cedar Ridge pack. Really, she didn’t want to be paying O’Hara a visit, but it might not be a choice she had. Eventually this was going to reach a boiling point that no one wanted to think of.



“And, you’ve made the right choice. Lay low until you have everything figured out.” Catherine added, praying to whatever gods were out there that the girl didn’t have the same problems with magic as she did. She hoped there wasn’t an affinity, as combined with their lines could quickly become disastrous.



“I guess. There’s stuff he can’t help me with, but every bit helps.” She wished she had some kind of training in all this beforehand at least. Her introduction to this world had been a tribunal than several years of isolation in a prison. She considered herself well adjusted given those things. It didn’t mean she wanted to be in crowds of others like her though.



She had a hard enough time in the store. In actual crowds she panicked. “Thanks for coming to my rescue like that. I know I could have taken him if I let myself get angry but...but it’s dangerous.” She couldn’t exactly control it after all.



“I understand more than you would believe.” Catherine said to Scotty sympathetically. Control was hard at times to maintain, and when it was lost things ended badly. It wasn’t just losing one's temper, it was losing control over a monster that very gladly took control given the opportunity. “But, what do you mean things he can’t help with? Last I knew Brandon was quite knowledgeable about most things in the unseen.” She asked.



Catherine had been the one to raise him after a time, and Brandon had gotten a front row seat to exactly how things worked.



“He knows basically everything about the unseen.” Scotty admitted quietly. “And he understands the jail thing.” She knew about his captivity, which had largely been kept quiet as possible. “But...I don’t know. Mr. Hammerstein doesn’t understand what it’s like to be hated by everyone. I don’t know how to handle it either. Everyone who finds out what I am...they all hate me. That werewolf earlier, well. It’s not just the werewolves.” They were just the most vocal. She sighed.



“I’m just. It’s like a constant low level anger? This world has been super crappy for me.” Thrown into an asylum as her introduction, hated by anyone who knew what she was, so it seemed, stuck aging ridiculously slowly, attacked physically and verbally by werewolves, unable to ever speak to her family again, and finding out her mom had sex with someone other than her dad, that her dad wasn’t really her dad after all. That she had been abandoned by some mysterious man instead of taught from the very beginning.



The anger was constant, and it made it that much easier to lose control. Had Catherine not acted sooner, she had no doubt she would have acted, well, would have lost her temper at least.



Catherine smirked with amusement, it seemed her nephew had another case of a girl completely enamoured of him. “Everything? Well.. maybe not.” She said thoughtfully, careful not to burst the girl’s bubble. Everyone that consulted or worked with her team at MCU had a specialty, and Brandon’s tended towards darker magics. While he might not have known everything, he had at least a good solid knowledge if not more of his own specialties.



She continued to listen to the young woman, trying to remind herself that despite the fact there was a good 1500 years between them, they were both encountering many of the same problems. ‘Oh you poor confused child…’ Catherine thought as she tried to think of the best thing to say. The Council was breathing down everyone’s necks lately after the incident at the school, and any publicity it seemed was going to be bad. “Look Scotty… would you be more comfortable staying with me? I know Brandon has let you have the apartment, but would it be better to have someone with you?” She suggested, unsure of how the girl would take the offer. Her property was heavily warded against just about everything that didn’t have an invitation, especially after the one attack during her first month as a Warden. Catherine could at least empathize with the feeling of security and safety being violated.



Scotty hesitated a moment then nodded. “At least til I heal, I think I’d be more comfortable with that.” Besides, it would be nice to get away from Mr. Hammerstine more. He liked drinking blood a bit too much for her tastes, even if she knew she was supposed to. It was gross. “It would probably be better too. For...well, if I lose my temper, you’re a warden. You could handle me, if you need to.”



Though she couldn’t understand why the other would go back to MCU after her captivity. “Are you sure? I don’t want to impose.” She’d be fine on her own, just, well, more liable to be attacked and she knew it. And right now, the shop didn’t feel very comfortable either. It was a public space, and the apartment upstairs, well. It probably wasn’t too much more secure than the shop, and break a window and you’d be in the shop.



She had no clue of how extensive the wards on the shop were. The attack on the shop had shaken Brandon more than he liked to admit, so, well. Heavily warded it was.


“I would hope you wouldn’t lose your temper, you are an adult after all.” Catherine said plainly, knowing that it was a possibility and Lex wouldn’t be too enamoured of their house being completely leveled. “But you won’t be imposing. Most of the time it’s just me and my husband, Alexander, is away on Council business a good bit of the time.” She explained. Lex’s schedule all seemed to depend on the dockets, and who had done what.



“But you’re welcome to stay as long as you feel the need to.” Catherine assured the girl. In the meantime, there would likely be discussion and debate on how best to repair the wards on Brandon’s shop. Because if the Cedar Ridge pack had figured out how to get through the ones preventing hostilities, there wasn’t anything stopping them from launching another attack on Scotty when there wasn’t anyone to help.



“Council?” There was no stopping that squeak. She backed up a bit, half hiding behind an unimpressed Brandon who raised an eyebrow as he looked to her. “I’d rather not live with a council member. They scare me more than the werewolves do.” They were the reason she was in constant pain and not just from a broken arm.



She was terrified of the council.



Brandon sighed and moved from in front of her. “Lex is basically not council, position or not. Think of him as a big goof. He’s mostly harmless.” Except in battle, but the truth was Lex was a goof the majority of the time. There was nothing to worry about there. “It would let us improve the wards a bit. Something must have fallen for him to even make it in here with hostile intent.”



Which would involve untangling what was currently there, or stripping them down and re-raising them. How much did Rahal cost again? Though he could go with the cheaper option of Molly, then bug his aunt for the anti-Molly ward.



“I don’t know if something has fallen or was taken down, but it is concerning. Letting Scotty stay with us for awhile will at least give you time to repair them.” Catherine said agreeing with Brandon. There was something going on, and it wasn’t just the normal community drama. “And yes.. Technically both Alexander and myself work for the Council in one role or another. But, it’s not like we would be reporting back on you. That isn’t our way.” She told the other. In some ways, it did help the Council to have individuals who wouldn’t constantly side with them or play their politics. Politics were generally reserved for the fae and that was a whole different game.

“Like I said, he’s gone most weeks, and it would be just you and I.” Catherine explained patiently.



She would have to examine her own property wards after this incident though, to try to look for any holes or discrepancies. That was going to be long exhausting work, and with Scotty staying, it likely wouldn’t go quickly.



“It’s probably for the best. And I promise, Lex is sweet and you already know Catherine.” They had shared a cell for some time after all, beyond their contact in his shop. “She’ll take care of you while I repair the wards.” They’d need repairing, and then they could swap. He’d crash at the apartment for a bit while Catherine made certain hers were good.



Just being there with Catherine would ward off all but the very worst of them, and his aunt was terrifying enough she could handle the rest on her own.



“Can’t you just take me to your place? It’s big enough.”



“No. That place...you’re...it’s a bad choice.” The old Lessard place was better, but it was still a hot spot of darker magics and the sensitive still got nauseous when they came over. You had to already have a darker side to not be sick and frankly Scotty there, given her angry control issues, would be a terrible choice. “There’s….there’s a history of dark magic there. It’s bad for everyone’s control.”



“Brandon’s place is absolutely off limits.” Catherine told Scotty flatly. She knew the history, she knew what potentially lurked in shadows and frankly it made even her uneasy. “You’ll be fine at my place. We’ll take a look at the wards and get you started on some more advanced control techniques.” That would keep the other busy enough, and was a decent excuse to take a few days off in retaliation for calling her in the other week. She was still a bit peeved about having to deal with Johnson, and the other officer who had decided to have the guy ‘help’ out a bit.



“But, like I said you are an adult and this is your choice. You can stay here, or you can come with me. There are only two options here that we’re able to give you in light of the recent situation.” She said. Frankly, while Brandon’s place at the old Lessard manor was better warded, when the man said no he meant it.



Scotty didn’t want to stay anywhere that would shake her control. And Catherine and Brandon vouched for this Lex guy. She took a deep breath. “I think the best choice for now is staying with you.” She was an adult. Most people didn’t treat her like it, but she was and she could make this decision. “Once the wards are repaired, I can come back.” That was something that was up to her, after all. She’d feel better once they were up again.



Brandon nodded. “I’ll make sure it’s the magical equivalent of Fort Knox.” He assured her. For both of their sakes, he wanted the property very heavily warded. Besides, heavy enough wards and Babbit could hide in his workshop and no one would be wiser for it all.


“Yes, you can come back if you feel up to it.” Catherine said affirming Scotty’s opinion. No doubt the other enjoyed what little privacy she got at the small apartment, and seemed to be doing relatively well enough. Unfortunately though, it seemed that until this issue was resolved she would be trading privacy for safety.



“I’ll come and get you when your shift is over, and we’ll pick up something for dinner and head to my place. You okay with that?” She asked the two. Catherine would rather have an agreed upon plan than just winging it. Especially when the werewolf had threatened to come back. To her he had seemed rather over eager and bold, and the kind who would try again if he thought he could get away with it. In the meantime, Catherine continued to hope and pray that this didn’t turn into things like with Laura. Chased halfway across the city, and having to deal with the empty husks controlled by half mad necromance still made her shudder.



That made everyone shudder. Scotty hesitated a moment and then nodded. “Yeah. That sounds good. I’ll pack a bag.” She would just be coming back to work, and since she lived above it, it wasn’t like she needed to pack everything at once. “I get off at five?” Mr. Hammerstine took over at that point, for what little happened by five. Technically they were open until eight, but functionally, people didn’t come by often after six, so it was light enough.



Brandon smiled to Scotty. “I’ll come in at 4:30, so you have some time to get what you need together.” He offered, all too easily. It wasn’t like it would be hard to come in early. It was a damned shame that they even had to find a way to keep Scotty safe though. Well, it wasn’t like his family took in people that others could handle. He should have known his foundling would be trouble, whether she knew she was a foundling or not.



“Good, I’ll see you then.” Catherine said with a nod as she left the shop. The paperwork alone for the child case and Scotty’s incident with Johnson would keep her busy enough for the next few hours. She’d also try to get some more information from Molly about what exactly had happened, other than a rapid, breathless explanation over the phone. She had been half tempted to tell the Sergeant to breathe, and then tell her; but once the name Johnson and lawyer had left the other’s lips it was no use trying to make sense of the rest.



The time passed and Scotty was ready, her bag packed, still not one hundred percent on this, but knowing it was better than the alternative. Besides, if Mr. Hammerstine’s place pushed at his control, it was probably best she didn’t stay there. Her control wasn’t near as good. Also, advanced control exercises sounded like a good idea. She definitely needed help.



Staying calm was surprisingly hard. It didn’t help that she was terrified of being angry. That just made her control even worse.



With her shift ended, Catherine managed to slip out just before another emergency reared its ugly head. The night shift could deal with it for awhile, and she wouldn’t be coming to their rescue for once. Instructions had been left, that hopefully for once would be followed, that unless it was anything in relation to the case with the child she wasn’t to be contacted. ‘We’ll see if they actually pay attention…’ She thought to herself as she pulled off the expressway and headed towards Brandon’s shop. Parking in one of the spots in the back, she exited her car and headed around to the front door. This time of evening, she knew that the back entrance would likely be locked as a security measure; one way in and one way out made it much easier on the owner and his employees.



Locked down tight and warded to boot, given what had happened earlier. Brandon lounged behind the counter, balancing a pencil on his nose to the best of his ability and frequently failing. Given he was also balancing the stool back on two legs, it wasn’t too shocking. Scotty was straightening a display on reflex, her bag on the ground next to her. The door opened and both looked over. Brandon promptly dropped the pencil to his hand and both stool legs were on the ground the second the very familiar mind arrived. He was a dignified adult, and this way his aunt wouldn’t get, well, okay she was likely not impressed, but oh well. He had merely been keeping an eye out for any possible troublemakers given the time of day and that Scotty had been harassed earlier. Otherwise, he tended to keep his mental skills locked in tight.



Scotty didn’t notice that Catherine was here yet, and continued straightening things, determined to get the display exactly how she wanted it. Brandon didn’t really care so long as things were neat, but Scotty was determined they be both neat and pretty so they’d sell more, if possible.



Across the street a car was parked with a handful of people loitering in it. They seemed to be talking amongst themselves. The car was a little beat up, but that was about it.



The loiterers were briefly noted, but it wasn’t anything terribly unusual about the neighborhood. There was a series of bars and restaurants not from the shop; it was a bit of a mixed development area. Opening the shop door and walking down the stairs from the street level entrance, Catherine looked at Brandon sitting behind the counter with a quizzical expression. “You look like I caught you with your hand in the cookie jar.” She remarked as she walked further into the shop. “Scotty? Are you ready?” Catherine asked turning to the young woman currently fussing over a display of acrylic paints.



The reply was automatic, years of life spilling out. “Dawson did it.” When it doubt, blame it on Dawson. Dawson would blame it on him, and hey, then they both got to share in the misery. At this point, blaming Dawson when he got caught was an automatic reaction.



Scotty stopped fussing and took a deep breath, then squared her shoulders. “Y-Yeah. I’m ready.” Nervous, but ready. Leaving the shop wasn’t a big deal, not if she had someone with her. And this time she’d have Catherine with her, and Catherine was strong even heavily drugged and fed a minimal amount of food. It’d be fine.



“What does Dawson have to do with this?” She asked looking at Brandon again curiously. The other of her nephews wasn’t even working in their area, and was to her knowledge settled somewhere in the upper midwest with a relatively easy position with the reserve. Then again, she really hadn’t seen the other as much as she had Brandon since assuming her position with the Council’s Warden’s office. Her schedule tended to keep her insanely busy. “Good. My car is sitting out back in the parking lot.” Catherine said nodding to Scotty. She could tell the girl was anxious about this new change in her routine, but they were all relatively anxious given the afternoon’s earlier events.



“I don’t even know. It was instinct.” He admitted, not sure where it came from himself. He shrugged and smiled. “You two stay safe. I’m probably gonna fall asleep in the workshop again, so call if you need anything.” the workshop was far friendlier than the Lessard house where the phone reception. Well, if he held his phone a certain way and prayed it could connect. And if he stood very, very still, he could even use it as a phone.



Scotty smiled to Catherine and shouldered her duffle bag on her good shoulder. “Lead the way.” she said, trying to sound confident. This was a bit awkward. It would be better if she could use both hands, but so far no dice. It still had to heal and she kept refusing the blood that Mr. Hammerstine swore would help it heal faster.



The people in the car were now loitering outside the car. One of them likely looked familiar. Two of them had baseball bats. They seemed to be talking to each other.



“Stick close Scotty..” Catherine said quietly as they left the shop. She wasn’t sure what was going on with the car, or it’s occupants, but it worried her. A fight would be potentially devastating for either party, but if it came to it, Catherine wouldn’t exactly shy away. She was just more concerned with keeping Scotty out of more trouble, and that seemed to be a bigger task than her or Brandon realized.

[demikara]

Scotty stuck close, one eye on the group. She didn’t want to get hurt, and she had a bad feeling about it. Uncertainty, she reached with her mind, just as they turned their attentions to them. “Oh shit.” She whispered, scared now. “Oh shit!” The group advanced.



Five werewolves faced them, coming closer, two arms with metal bats in attention to their own preternatural strength. To a one they had demented grins on their faces. “Ah, don’t be like that. Come out and play.” One taunted, enjoying himself.



Catherine frowned in suspicion as she watched the five approach. “Do you need something? You’re awfully far from Cedar Ridge territory..” She commented as she stepped slightly in front of Scotty and slowly reached around behind herself. Sitting at the small of her waist and underneath her jacket was a backup pistol loaded with blessed incendiary silver rounds. They didn’t work on everything, but tended to discourage bad behavior. Catherine just hoped that that would be enough to scare the five off before things got too ugly.



“Dallas is a big town. We don’t have to stick to our territory.” The ring leader said, tapping the bat against his palm, more amused than not. “As for what we need? That damned little mouse behind you.” They planned on having fun with her, in the worst possible ways.



Scotty was shaking, hearing their thoughts all too easily. “No. No!” she denied them and covered her ears with her hands as if that would stop her from hearing their lewd and cruel thoughts.



“I don’t think so.” Catherine remarked as her hand settled around the grip of the gun. She knew not to draw and fire unless she absolutely had to, and even then it was risk as to what would happen next. This was turning out to be a bad start to the night, and she had just gotten off shift too. She knew there was backup with Brandon if she needed it, but she’d rather not have to ask. Five werewolves weren’t exactly a ideal textbook situation, but at least it wasn’t the zombified husks.



“Unless you want your dick full of silver, scram or I’ll have all five of you charged with rape and assault.” She scowled.



“Haven’t raped her yet.” The lead said coming closer. “And we’re so scared. There’s five of us, and only one you keeping the mouse safe.” And they weren’t that scared of Catherine. Between the five of them, they were convinced they could take her on.



Scotty pressed her back against the wall of building and hunched in on herself, trying to get away from their thoughts, trying to regain control. Her mind was lashing out and she couldn’t find an even keel.



“Oh one of me is all there needs to be.” Catherine said as she took her hand off the gun and left it where it was; secured in its holster. “I would highly suggest you leave before this turns into something you’ll regret.” She informed the five. Briefly reaching out, she took a moment to enfold Scotty into her own shielding temporarily. ‘It’s okay.’ Catherine told the other as she turned her attention back to the werewolves. “But then again you’re mouthy little bastards aren’t you?” She sneered as she slipped something off her hand. O’Hara may have been smart enough to run, but these five didn’t seem to be doing anything other than looking for trouble in the wrong place.



‘I’m going to count to three.. And I want you to run and find Brandon.’


Catherine knew this had the potential to turn bad, and backup would be needed; even if it came with the darker arts.



Scotty stopped panicking inside of Catherine’s shields. They were so much stronger than her own. Taking a deep breath, she shuddered and nodded. ‘Okay. I’m ready.’ Nervous, but ready. She could do this. All she had to do was run back to the shop and they weren’t far from the entrance anyway. Catherine could handle the werewolves long enough for Brandon to come at least. And all she had to do was run back to the safety of the shop.



One of the werewolves laughed. “You’re just a human. Do you really think you can handle us?” With that he attacked, lunging toward Catherine, his fist cocked and ready to hit her hard enough to knock her out.



The five had obviously not been completely informed about Dallas’s newest Warden, and Catherine was content to keep it that way for now. Timing her movements carefully against the werewolf’s punch, she held up her arms to block, then grabbed the man’s wrist tighty. Catherine then pulled him forward and off balance where her knee waited to drive home a hard strike into his gut. “I think I’ll survive.” She commented, knowing that all she had to do was hold out until Scotty could get Brandon’s attention.



‘Good, now run!’ Catherine told the other, hoping that Brandon wouldn’t take long. But with situations like these, it could seem like an eternity until help arrived.


Scotty took off like a bullet, reaching out desperately for Brandon’s mind as one of the pack took off after her, giving into the urge to chase. The wolf who had punched her grunted and collapsed over his gut, holding his stomach in pain. For a woman, she hit hard. The other three moved to surround her, and the two with bats both swun at her from two different directions.



‘Mr. Hammerstine! Help!’ Scotty didn’t care if someone else heard. She was mentally screaming, glad she wasn’t far from the door. She pulled it open and slid through the door, only an inch from the werewolf behind her. Brandon hopped the counter with the clatter of a falling stool.



This felt like the husks all over again, except this was more obviously a premeditated situation. Someone had decided that they had something to prove and that Brandon’s latest employee was the one that they were going to prove it with. However, the two bats were going to be a bit more of a challenge to defend against. Fortunately for her, the pair weren’t as coordinated as they could have been and she was able to reach out with her mind, and give at least one a push before the other’s bat managed to connect. Pain blossomed white and hot across her lower torso as the metal made its mark on her flesh. Gasping in both pain and surprised, Catherine rounded on her assailant, the expression on her face largely unreadable except for the anger that boiled just beneath the surface.


The one blown away grunted and pushed himself up. The man with the bat who connected hollered in glee and faced her with no fear. The third wolf lunged at her as she turned. They were determined to win against her and make her crumble. Then they’d have two playthings for the night.



‘Scotty get behind the counter.’ Scotty dived behind the counter and crouched down, curling up into herself, terrified. He was about the play hardball. The man gave a mental call to his familiar and the capybara skeleton slipped from a shadow into the room. “I suggest you sit. Down. wolf. And leave my employee alone.” Given the amount of necromantic energy he was calmly exuding, he’d be surprised if the other lasted more than a few seconds. It did tend to make people sick.



Behind the counter, Scotty shivered, using her mental abilities to keep track of who was in and out of commission.



‘About time…’ Catherine grumbled mentally as she turned her attention to wolf lunging at her. With the primary binding off, it would be easy to work the magic required to turn the wolf to nothing more than a pile of smoldering embers; but that was almost too easy. She would return their malice in kind, and try not to kill any of them, tempting though it was. “Malthinae.” Catherine said extending a hand out, meanwhile asking the magic to work with her and halt the wolf mid lunge. She just hoped that none of them had had the time to work in any nullification charms; shattering charms wasn’t on her to do list tonight. “Stay.” She said, adding to the command of the magic. “There are five of these bastards, and I think this was planned.” Catherine said to Brandon, for now holding the anger barely in check.


It was hard, especially when the magic and parts of her gleefully aided in dispensing with the werewolves. For now though, the warm night air shimmered with more than just the heat radiating off the pavement. The magic emitted from both was enough to drive home the fact that they had picked the wrong people to mess with.



Brandon calmly knocked the werewolf who had dared to chase Scotty out with an easy flick of his necromancy and then looked to the others. “Apologies for the aura, Aunt. I’m afraid I’ve lost my temper a little.” He brought the full force of that aura down on the wolves. One of the one’s she had dealt with already soiled himself and whimpered. The other promptly vomited, though he had been the one that had received a knee to the gut. That merely left the one remaining wolf with a metal bat.



Shaking in his boots, the wolf swung with the bat, determined to hit Catherine again. He had managed it once! He could do it again.



“Well, I can’t say I blame you.” She remarked as she watched the wolf with the bat muster up the bravery to take another swing. Catherine could already feel the crackling from the broken ribs, and the pain with every breath was a white hot dagger into her chest. But, there was only one wolf left.



For a rare instance, she relied on her physical attributes instead of the metaphysical. Moving quickly, quicker than any human had a right to, she stepped inside the wolf’s swing. Grabbing the arm with the bat’s wrist, she made a twisting and crushing motion relieving him of his bat. “I told you, you would regret this.” Catherine said coldly as the other hand wrapped tightly around his throat. Holding him there with his feet barely touching the ground, she was tempted to enter his mind and determine just what had set them on this disastrous course.



“Aunt Catherine, as much as it would be my pleasure to completely ignore the law we are supposed to uphold, I recognize the look in your eyes and please. Just knock him out.” Much like the others already were. Calmly, he retracted his aura and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “You can question them at the office, after a good night’s sleep on your behalf. Or just have Molly do it.” That was torment beyond anything else. Molly was not just relentless,s he was annoying, prying, and Knew Things. Give her thirty minutes and she’d have the information needed to make them sing like song birds.



More than that though, it meant it’d be done while Catherine got some rest. In the shop, Scotty counted minds and states and peeked up over the counter, then moved around it and stuck her head out. “C-Catherine? Mr. Hammerstine? Is it safe?” She wasn’t stepping one foot over the ward line until she knew.



For a moment Catherine ignored Brandon’s request as she struggled to regain control of herself and the magic. Her grip briefly tightened on the wolf’s throat before she let go. The oxygen deprivation alone would be enough to knock most people out, but for good measure she touched the edge of his mind leaving a command to sleep in her wake. Dropping the wolf unceremoniously onto the pavement, Catherine took a deep breath and reached for something in her pocket before reaching around and checking to make sure her gun hadn’t disappeared during the heat of the fight. She would hate explaining that one to Council, how some members of the Cedar Ridge pack had managed to get a hold of a Warden’s side arm. That would be a disaster enough.



“So.. who's going to take them in?” She finally asked, breathless with pain and exhaustion. Having Molly deal with the five was a decent idea, it gave the sergeant something to do besides harass her partner, Boyuan. “And yes, it’s safe.” Catherine told Scotty, trying not to stand there just holding her side. She suspected that there would be copious bruises and pain in the morning.



Brandon considered it. “Technically I don’t think you can handle it. Call Bronson and tell her to come do a pick up. She’s called you in before. You can call her in.” And if would likely give his aunt some measure of satisfaction. Besides, Bronson would be here quickly. “Or call the office and have them send someone or some three, given the number of assailants over.”



Scotty stepped outside worried and walked the long way around her attackers. “Are you okay Catherine? You sound hurt.” She knew that sound well enough. Broadmoore had been hell on earth for them both, for a myriad of reasons she’d never discuss.



“No.. I didn’t say I was.” Catherine replied, agreeing with Brandon. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out an older smartphone and entered the passcode into the screen. Scrolling through her contacts she found who she was looking for and sent a quick text message to Molly asking her to come deal with five Cedar Ridge pack members. The other was likely to all too gleefully take the chance at watching the five come around in holding and then begin her questioning. It wasn’t often Molly was turned loose on something that wasn’t a child case.



“I’m find.. I mean fine and I’m just bruised.” She told Scotty, knowing that that wasn’t the truth, but still apprehensive about saying much more. Healing from a round with the wolves wasn’t going to be a good time.



Sitting down on the curb nearby, she checked herself over to see if there had been any more damage than just what the bat had done. Catherine found herself with a few scratches, scrapes that were quickly healing, and a sore knee. The rest she wasn’t entirely certain about. “I don’t know what you did to piss them off kid, but they were out for blood.”



“I don’t know what I did to piss them off.” She had no clue. For the most part she kept to herself. “I don’t...the only place I go associated with the unseen is here, the shop. I keep my head down as much as I can.” She really only even knew some of the repeat customers and that was it. She fussed over Catherine, worried. The other seemed better, but tired. That wasn’t too bad.



Brandon sighed. “Wolves. Who knows how their minds work.” He never had and didn’t like them. On the other side of the screen, Molly sent Catherine an enthusiastic yes along with a series of smiley faces and emojis meant to convey her love of the idea.



“That is true… I don’t even really know.” Catherine said plainly, having dealt with her fair share of them during her time as an officer. “Bronson is going to come get their sorry asses, so we just have to wait till she gets here.” She informed the two. Catherine looked at the emojis on the screen again and sighed before putting the phone back in her pocket. Some days she could almost swear Molly was younger than the age listed on her personnel files.



“We’ll talk about this later Scotty, in the meantime we might as well just wait here in case any of them come round again.” Catherine was reasonably sure that that wouldn’t happen anytime soon, given the amount of abuse the five had taken at the hands of her and Brandon. But it worried her, Scotty generally kept her head down and mouth shut once Brandon had given her a quick run down of why. “Also, Brandon.. I’m sorry for earlier, some days are harder than others.” She apologized after a moment of silence between the three. Catherine had never intended to do much more than leave the wolves with a very painful lesson, but in the end her temper had gotten the better of her.



Scotty stayed near Catherine, worried. She didn’t like having to even be near them, but she trusted Catherine would be on her side and keep her safe. As much as she hated to admit it, they shared a pretty traumatic time together. Things were better now, but it had still be bad for awhile there. It still was for her, some days.



Brandon shrugged it off. “I figured it was a rough days. It’s why I talked you down.” He grinned at her, amused. “Plus, I’ve done so much worse, and you and I both know it.” Scotty didn’t, but she’d figure it out eventually. “Sorry about the whole death aura thing. I know you don’t like it.”



His aunt did not approve of his skills in those arts.


“You and I both know I have one foot in the grave anyway.” She said with an amused snort, before wincing in pain.. “Yes you’ve done so much more than me threatening to kill and or wipe some poor sod’s mind.” Catherine said, thinking that it was still tempting but staying out of Broadmoore was even more so. “But yes.. It’s been a hell of a week. Fucking Kasimir let himself into my office for a surprise appointment.” She spat, thinking just how much dislike she had for the vampire. It had been worth reminding him, just how much of a problem she had been for Broadmoore though. Catherine knew she wasn’t exactly supposed to take pride in that, but she did anyway.



“Apparently someone went and threatened Auvine within an inch of his life about Broadmoore and he pissed himself. So now we’re getting reforms.” She didn’t know how long it would last, as she knew first hand how hard it was to run a facility on a limited budget. Money talked, and so did power, but what the Council listened to more was power. It seemed to scare them that there were people out there that could easily off them with the wave of a hand.



Scotty blinked. “Reforms? Think that means less…” She glanced to Brandon unertainly. “Well do you think that means they’ll not be so, um.” She hesitated and shrugged. “Them?” She had been drugged into compliance and when she fought back, damn near tortured into compliance as well. She had hated the place with a passion and was glad to be done with it. She shuddered, remembering. They never seemed to get her dosage right, so she was also over drugged and everything was so hazy.



Brandon snorted. “Good on them. The asshole deserved the humiliation and the reforms were long overdue.” Very long. The only reason he hadn’t stopped and fixed it was the rush they had been in. Now though, there was little worry and little concern. Still, it would be nice for it to go from the hell hole that it had been to a cleaner place at least.



Molly stepped into the street from nowhere, looking gleeful. “I get to do the questioning! I never get to do the questioning!” As effective as she was, it was generally agreed she liked it a bit too much for anyone’s comfort. She looked the scene over curiously. “I’m going to need to take multiple trips. Also, it’s good they are knocked out. I would have had to do it myself otherwise.” It wasn’t really, well. Only Molly really understood what she did, and other people tended to get very sick when she took them with.



“Hello to you too Sergeant.” Catherine said flatly. The other was entirely too happy about this in a way that was rather disturbing. “The only reason you’re getting to question them is I’m not exactly… what is the word... equipped for it right now.” She commented as she watched the tall woman count her newest charges. “They’ll be out for awhile, I made sure of it.” Catherine added, failing to mention exactly how they had managed to knock out five werewolves in the span of an hour. The conversation about Broadmoore could continue later, somewhere where they weren’t sitting in the middle of the street licking their wounds.



“Be sure to charge them with assault on an officer and sexual assault.” The warden added with a bit of self satisfaction that the decision the five had made would follow them for the remainder of their lives. “Just… don’t go overboard and let me know what happens.” She added with a slight groan as she stood. The pain wasn’t letting up, and it didn’t seem to be getting better either.



“I think.. This is going to need to be see to..” Catherine commented, finding herself off balance as she tried to minimize the effects of the pain.



“Hello Warden.” She had forgotten to say that hadn’t she. “And you’re not allowed to anyway, since you were definitely on one end of the as-Warden?” She frowned and knelt down, looking Catherine over. It was unlike the other to trail off like that. “Do I need to call an ambulance?”



Brandon hesitated and looked down to his aunt. Scotty took a deep breath, then nodded firmly.



“Please. But I’m going with her, and...and Mr. Hammerstein had to come too, so we’re all safe.” She was firm on that. The three would stick together, and Catherine would get help and it was going to be okay. “And, um. I definitely want to press charges. Is that a thing? I want it done.” She didn’t know how it worked, but it seemed to be a thing they said on TV at least.



Brandon bit his bottom lip, but Molly already had her phone out and she dialed 911. She could always get aid to get them to the station after all.



All she could do was nod slightly, the pain was worst where the metal bat had made contact, but the severity of it seemed to magnify the other problems. “Oh fuck..” Catherine mumbled as she moved just wrong enough to set off another wave of pain. “No, Scotty.. You stay here.” She managed to as she fought back the nausea from the pain. Unfortunately Catherine wasn’t likely to get her wish as she found herself increasingly unable to pay attention to much more than how much it hurt.



Everything from there on out was a dizzy, sickening, blur as the EMT’s arrived on scene shortly after Molly’s call.



Like Scotty was going to listen to that. Scotty hopped into the ambulance declaring to the EMTs that they were sisters. Catherine looked just young enough they could probably pull that off. Molly calmly put each of the attackers into the three cop cars that came to pick them up and directed them to take them to MCU, as professionally as she could. Brandon closed the shop for the night and headed to the hospital after Scotty and Catherine, grabbing Scotty’s bag on the way.



In this instance, none of them were going to listen to Catherine. Not that two of them listened all that well anyway. Some time passed at the hospital and before Catherine even woke up, the three of them were in a room, two on either side of the bed and the third in it.



The woman had been dealt a significant blow by the metal bat used by the attackers. It was more than just a few bruises and a cracked rib or two. The injuries sustained were enough to cause concern by the physicians at the hospital. Where the bat had stuck over bone, the skin had bruises and lacerations, the ribs had broken and there had been significant internal trauma following from the blow. Catherine may have had something of an advantage over humans, but she wasn’t by any means bulletproof; despite her job description asking her to be.



For the last few days, the staff had kept her heavily sedated, and intubated with a stainless steel tracheal tube. It was a precaution that this particular hospital took when it’s patients appeared to be combative, and more than capable of cutting off their own air supply. But, earlier that day the nursing staff had come by and removed the tubes and lightened the sedation, satisfied that their patient could breath on her own.



Waking up from a drugged state was never anyone’s idea of a good time, and Catherine really wasn’t an exception to that rule. As she started to come around, the first thing she noticed wasn’t the pain, but the feeling of heaviness the sedatives left her with. Slowly, she began to become more aware of her surroundings, the quiet sounds of the hospital and the dull drone of a TV stuck on one of the 24/7 news stations nearby.



Brandon was mostly asleep by now, having let go of Catherine’s hand though his remained on the bed. The table next to him had two or three of the ‘juice boxes’ on it, each already empty. He hadn’t wanted to leave, but the need for blood wa strong, so he resorted to the juice boxes.



Scotty noticed Catherine stirring and smiled brightly. She had left to rest and to change, each time under heavy guard, a member of Catherine’s team with her, just in case, and sometimes someone else in the unseen world. She squeezed Catherine’s hand with her good arm very gently. “Catherine?” She murmured, knowing the other would be able to hear her. She had excellent hearing after all. “Good...afternoon I guess.”



Still groggy, she squinted and blinked blearily trying to make sense of why everyone was there and who everyone was. Sometimes the names evaded her, other times they didn’t, today wasn’t much of an exception. But more so, Catherine was confused by Brandon still being there, along with Scotty who seemed intent to not leave her side. It was a strange feeling to wake up in a hospital room and not be alone.



Squeezing Scotty’s hand back carefully, she found her throat quite sore from the breathing tube that they had put in once her airway had become compromised. “Scotty..” She managed, finding it was still difficult to speak. Eventually the full effect of the paralytic sedation they had given her would wear off, but in the meantime Catherine was likely to be tired and groggy. A release day was still uncertain, but was likely to be soon judging by the progress that had been made so far.



Scotty grinned, pleased the other was awake now. She recognized the grogginess though and knew how to handle it just find. Don’t speak too fast, keep her voice low, and don’t attract the attention of the guards. Those were the rules, when they were awake, at least. “I didn’t want you to wake up without someone here.” She admitted quietly. She would have hated it. “Your family has been taking shifts. You team has been guarding us the whole time.” She hadn’t been alone.



That was probably the most significant change from Broadmoore. Catherine wasn’t going to wake up and it just be the two of them, in sad shape. Scotty was not going to let that happen. She didn’t care if she had to drag bodyguards around with her or anything. Neither of them ever needed to wake up in a place like this, alone.



“Good to hear.” Catherine said slowly. It was hard not to drift back into sleep and it’s dark, warm, embrace. But instead, she was making an effort to stay awake, the memories of Broadmoore more than weighing on her mind. Sleep there had been an escape, it meant that there would be no abuse, and the guards weren’t interested in a inmate who spent more time asleep than awake. The last time she could remember being in a hospital like this was Halloween night, long before Broadmoore was even a thought.



Thinking for a moment, she looked over at Brandon, dead to the world among his empty juice boxes and slumped in his chair beside the bed. There would more than likely be no waking him until much later that evening she assumed. “Thank you.” She said, voice thick from sleep and hoarse from the tube they’d placed earlier.



Scotty nodded. “Of course. I….I don't like hospitals. I guessed you wouldn’t either.” She didn’t know for sure of course, but it was a possibility. She thought of what else to say. “The attackers are in custody. They’ve been denied bail.” Too dangerous, apparently, and she was glad for it. Molly or someone on the team could tell her more though. “Oh! And Mr. Lex has come by too. He’s not too scary.” He had really only left when the council business he had to handle showed up again. He seemed pretty cool.



It was too bad he was on the council. “Are you...are you feeling okay? I can call a nurse if you’re still in pain.”

[demikara]

Catherine considered Scotty’s question for a moment before answering. “Better.” She said, finding herself largely limited to one or two word sentences. “And good.” Catherine added, satisfied that their assailants had practically had the book thrown at them. She suspected that Lex likely wouldn’t give the five any leeway when it came time to hear their case anyway; knowing him he’d likely say they deserved it. “No, no nurse.” She told Scotty, she wasn’t in any paid, the drugs they’d given her had at least seen to that. “We need to talk.” Catherine finally managed, feeling a bit more alert the longer she was awake.



Scotty nodded glad to hear that Catherine was doing so well. Good. The pain meds must have been helping. She knew Catherine was on some. Still the we need to talk made her bite her bottom lip in confusion. “Talk?” What about? Her attackers were in jail, the cedar ridge pack had been ripped a new one by a furious Molly, and well. They’d both heal. It’d be fine.



“Is something wrong?” Had she been doing something wrong? Well, she wasn’t about to let Catherine sit here unattended, not when Scotty… Not after Broadmoore. Maybe the other just wanted her to mention it less.



Sighing, Catherine pushed herself up in bed slightly before fumbling for the controls to raise it. “No, you aren’t doing anything wrong.” She answered. “This is complicated.” Catherine continued trying to figure out the best way to explain things without it seeming overly dramatic or overly strange. “Before the mess with the store, Kasimir had been in my office talking to me about you.” She said, trying to recall details that were now muddy thanks to the drugs they’d pumped her full of. Her mind felt cloudy, tired, and slow; but it was better than the white hot searing pain that had previously engulfed her body.



“He thinks that there is a connection between your sire and mine somehow.” Catherine explained, without confirming something she didn’t already know much about. The Council had been rather secretive, and Kasimir had largely danced around the issue when they last spoke. It hadn’t exactly given Catherine a vote of confidence for her employers.



Scotty went very, very still. She didn’t like speaking about her sire. She didn’t like acknowledging she even had one. But this was important. “A connection.” She murmured, uncertain. “What sort of connection?” And could she yell at either one, because she was rather angry about her status as a dhampir.



The young woman tugged one of her curls again, curious and dreading it, but she kept her shields high, knowing Catherine could read her mind otherwise Could probably read it now, if she wanted. “Does this mean they know who my….sire….is?” She’d deal with the council if it meant finding that out.



Catherine hadn’t even thought to reach out and touch Scotty’s mind. The only time she had done so was during the brawl with the wolves; and that had technically been an emergency. Such things could be excused depending on the context of the situation, but she understood that it might unnerve the other to have someone able to easily slip in and out their mind at will. “They don’t know, but considering your specific… gifts they suspect we share the same sire.” Catherine said, discomfort evident flashing briefly across her face before disappearing again.

“They’re hoping that your record of birth lists a father… as mine does not.”




She would have been surprised if anyone really even knew, as by the time she came to live with the man she had actually called Father, there was very little to do except damage control. “I’m sorry Scottlyn.. This isn’t easy for anyone.” Catherine apologized beforehand, knowing that this wasn’t exactly the sort of news anyone wanted to hear.



The Council was nosy, but to be found by ones sire was even more worrisome. The fact that they hadn’t been able to gather the information, despite possibly having the means, meant that either the Courts didn’t know or weren’t talking.



“My...I’ve never seen my birth certificate.” It wasn’t exactly something teenagers ever saw. “I think I may be able to request it, but it’s likely that, well. It’s..they probably…” She hesitated, uncertain how to put it. She still struggled with it. She struggled with a lot. “The...after there...they set me up with a new identity. Because my old one was…” She sighed and whispered. “My parents had me declared dead.” She didn’t think she could get a birth certificate, not if she was, well, dead. And she had been declared dead.



She squared her shoulders and reminded herself it would get better. “But. But I know where I was born, and when and even the hospital. So we can probably get the records somehow, regardless.” She just wasn’t sure how and didn’t know if she wanted to be sure how. Still, the unseen had answers for a lot of things.



Catherine nodded tiredly, “Of course.” Many times when a child or person was coming into the unseen from the mundane, new records were created. If only because many times parents disavowed any knowledge of their children living or often enough the circumstances surrounding an individual's induction into the unseen world at large was often traumatic. “Talk to…” She said before trailing off for a minute, trying to remember who would be able to assist Scotty with her request. “Talk to Bronson or Boyuan, both will help you.” Catherine finally said, knowing that one or the other would be able to circumvent any restrictions in obtaining the information. If that failed, then they would have to go a different route.



“...Maybe Boyuan. Bronson is well, sometimes it’s like talking to a kid?” She shrugged, not sure how to put it. “Like a hmm like a middle schooler. She acts kind of like that.” And it was weird but she was good at her job, Scotty supposed. She’d have to be to be on Catherine’s team, and that much the dhampir knew.



She nodded. “I’ll talk to Boyuan.” She affirmed and smiled. “And I’ll let you know what it says.” She wasn’t about to go the council with the information.



---


An envelope clutched tight to her chest, Scotty hesitated as she walked through the MCU building, and tried not to flinch away from every officer there. MCU terrified her. She had no clue how Catherine could stand to work here, with them. But she had, and she had wanted to know when Scotty received the birth certificate, so a few days after she had, well, come to terms with the contents, she had come here.



And now she stood in front of the secretary’s desk and bit her bottom lip. Hopefully Catherine had time. Scotty didn’t want to be here any longer than needed. “E=excuse me? I need to, um, speak to the Warden. Could you let her know Scotty is here about, the um, business that came up?” She didn’t want to say what said business was. This was bad enough as it was.



The secretary offered Scotty a warm smile before ushering her back towards Catherine’s office. “She told me you might be by sometime, so you’re in luck, she just got back in from a press conference.” The other woman explained as she showed Scotty to a rather nondescript door halfway down the hallway.



The building in general had been designed to be a mix of old and new, having taken over the old Parkland building sometime in the mid 2000s. Old brickwork was mixed with new modern metal and glass, combining to create an aesthetically pleasing overall design. The secretary knocked on the door, stuck her head in briefly and then turned to Scotty. “Go ahead.” She said before leaving the young woman standing there outside of the office.



Scotty shuddered and went in quickly. It was easier ehre. Catherine didn’t wear a uniform and that helped a lot. It didn’t change the fact that she was in...well it was better not to think of it. It wrecked her control and she needed every ounce of control she had. The girl swallowed and smiled to Catherine, though it was hardly a confident smile.



“Hi Catherine.” It was good to see her. She held up the envelope, uncertain. “The, um, birth certificate came in. It’s not, um, my dad’s name, so maybe it’s his.” She liked Catherine but this place terrified her.



“Really now? May I have a look?” Catherine asked motioning for Scotty to have a seat in one of the plush leather covered chairs nearby. The office was relatively cluttered, but a bit cleaner than it had been the last time she had been there. It’s state of disarray was normally dependant on the type of case and what else might have been going on that week for her. “You said you were adopted, correct?” She asked as she took the envelope from Scotty, her hands cool and almost cold to the touch as they brushed up against the other’s hand.



Opening the envelope, Catherine steeled herself for whatever information might be present. If anything, it was potentially life altering to either one; Scotty especially as she hadn’t yet found her way through the myriad of complicated politics among the unseen. Catherine also noted that she appeared scared to death of any law enforcement, MCU included.



“By my dad, I guess. I didn’t know until...until after.” She didn’t say after what. “I always figured he was my birth dad, since no one ever said different, but that says different, so I guess not.” Scotty shrugged and curled up in the plush chair. It was comfortable. That was nice, and curled up like this, she felt a little less afraid.



The birth certificate was a standard one for the state of Maine. The father’s name was listed as Griogre Constantin and his place of birth simply said Romania, and the sage said 33, but Scotty had a feeling that was a lie. “That’s...That’s not the name of the man who raised me.”



“That’s not uncommon for someone to adopt a child shortly after birth and never tell them. Especially if neither birth parent is in the equation.” Catherine remarked as she skimmed through the details on the certificate. ‘So is this the man who I have to blame for all of this?’ She thought to herself as she soaked in the details of the father’s information on the certificate. Had this been intentional or accidental? There were too many questions and too few answers. “It’s not the name of the man who raised me either, I assure you we’re in a similar situation.” She said as she set the piece of paper down on her desk.


“I’m going to make a copy of this and send it to Council. They’ve been curious about this for some time. It’s not going to cause you any trouble, they’re just trying to prevent further problems.” Catherine explained, unsure herself what this actually proved. Neither herself, nor Scotty to her knowledge had ever really claimed any allegiance to a particular Court; if anything, Catherine was more loyal to the fae than vampires she so detested. “Is there anything else you want to talk about? I have time.”



Scotty swallowed and look up at Catherine, before the words came tumbling out. “How can you stand to be here, with….with them, and work with them? I can’t even. I’m terrified to even be in this building, there’s no way I could work here or lead anyone here. It’s...after what they did...I’m scared of them, and it’s hard to be here. But you’re so calm and collected.” And she was terribly jealous the other could be. Scotty could hold it together in the shop, but she froze when a uniform came by.



She still didn’t have the full story of why she was taken in, of what happened. She didn’t think she would ever get it. Silently, she held her knees close to her chest and sniffed, then wiped at a tear angrily. “This place is havoc on my control.”



“Firstly, it’s only havoc because you allow it, and second stop acting so damn childish. You’re how old now? At least 18 or 20? Grow up, there are worse things out there than a cop, I’ve seen them.” Catherine answered bluntly. “I’ve worked with MCU for a very long time, and the Council isn’t always the bad guy. It’s a lot of politics and it’s messed up, but we are on your side at the end of the day.” She said as she took a seat across from the other. “Broadmoore isn’t anywhere, anyone ever wants to be, but it’s purpose is to keep the rest of the world safe. Up until very recently, the Council didn’t know what was going on there. They had assumed that it was normal.” Catherine explained, seeing that memories of the place still haunted the other. They tended to resurface at time for her too, unwanted and unwelcome, they seemed to be triggered by the strangest or most mundane things.



“After… incidents that brought me to that place, I was largely forgotten about until Alexander and a few others worked to secure my release.” She added, trying to explain how the situation had been. The Council was largely willing to overlook the problems after it had been pointed out what had triggered them, and the fact that up until then she had largely been unproblematic. They also hadn’t been able to legally make any reason for her being there stick.



The order to grow up was unexpected and Scotty looked to Catherine in shock, uncurling some. But she listened, closely and frowned. “When...when it’s better, I want to see it. To see proof.” Proof that people were stuck in dark dirty rooms to rot. She swallowed. “I know it’s needed. And I know I shouldn’t be scared. The people here aren’t going to hurt me.” Her mind knew all this, but her heart didn’t seem to.



“I just, I think...by the time I got out, I was kind of resigned to being in. Forever.” She shrugged. “It’s bigger here, and there’s so much I still don’t know.” She trailed off. “In. in there, I didn’t...the room they had us in. I couldn’t hear anyone outside it. Coming out here is hard, because I can hear everyone.” She hesitated and considered things. “Not so much here. Everyone here is quieter.” Not quiet, but quieter. That was one nice thing about this. “Out there, it’s so loud. I’m working on better shields, but those first few weeks, everything was so loud.”



She had been lucky, as far as she was concerned, that Brandon had found her, though he never told her how.



“We’ll see.” Was Catherine’s response to most of what Scotty had said. She though the other had a lot of growing up to do before anything else was accomplished, and that wasn’t her job. “MCU uses telepaths and empaths in investigative work. It’s a handy skill to have around here, but not everyone here is one.” She explained. MCU with the assistance of Council had developed a program to funnel in new officers that would be a benefit to their community; but they were generally careful to hire more empaths than telepaths. Telepathy was a gray area as far as they were concerned with the laws, and difficult to prove that someone had actually used it for anything at all.



“Honestly though, you’re just going to have to learn. Things won’t be handed to you here Scottlyn, we’ve all had our share of life issues, but it’s not holding us back or dragging us down.”



The other was right. She didn’t need to let all this weigh on her. She took a deep breath and considered what she should do next. It was difficult to say. Everything was difficult lately. But she had to grow past it. The young woman considered things. It was pretty cool that they had jobs and stuff for telepaths. Scotty was silent a moment longer, then spoke.



“You’re right. I am going to have to learn. And I’m going to have to. Have to face what happened. I can’t cower from it. Cowering just gets me attacked and my arm broken.” And that hurt more than she likes to admit. Still, if she could keep her resolve, it would be better. It would just, well, take time. But she knew what might help, if one existed. “Are there...I want to talk about there. With a therapist. I think it’d help.” Therapy was supposed to help. “Are their unseen therapists?”



Catherine considered this request and then reached inside of her desk for something. Writing on a small slip of paper, in a elegant but scrawling hand, she carefully considered who to send Scotty to. “Here, call this number.” She said handing the piece of paper over to the other. “If they ask how you got the number, tell them I gave it to you.” Catherine added, knowing that this was more than likely going to come up in her next lesson with the mage. Either way, he’d be someone neutral but understanding for the young woman to speak to. In many ways, she felt that Scotty needed it more than she did.



Scotty accepted it and smiled. “Isn’t that how everything in the unseen works? Let people know who you found out from, so they know it’s safe?” It certainly seemed to be how it all worked. Not that she minded though. By now she was used to it, and still found it hilarious. She grinned, feeling better. Still a little shaken, but better.



Yes she was in a building full of people she was scared of. But there was also Catherine’s team. Boyuan who had helped her figure out how to get her birth certificate, or well, somewhat. Molly who was basically a giant kid. Even the others, who had helped make certain she and Catherine were safe, after the last attack. It wasn’t scary here. Well, it was, but not as scary. Besides, she was pretty certain Mr. Hammerstein would put up a huge fuss if anyone tried to put her away again.



Catherine just shrugged in response to Scotty's comments. “Yes and no. This individual in particular has reasons to be cautious.” She said. Rahal had largely been disowned by his own family for his choices, especially when he had had the gall to disagree with something they'd done. Catherine knew that Scotty still had a great deal to learn, and still found herself hoping that the other would catch on quickly.



Scotty shrugged. “Alright.” She agreed simply. “I’ll call.” It would help, to have someone to talk to who wasn’t in the middle of all this. And it would help to get answers, and she was pretty sure she’d only get answers if she played along. She could do that. The teen gave Catherine a bright smile.



“You know. I think being outside suits you.” It suited Scotty. The other grinned to show she was teasing. Being outside suited them both. Scotty was enjoying the more varied diet, even if she did have the occasional ‘It’s donated and you’re young, you need it’ pint of blood.