that someone's lookin' out for us, that someone loves us

[slavophile]

( After searching the hunters' phone, decoding barely cryptic cypher, and triangulating what he realizes are coordinates, he brings everyone together. Timing is crucial.

The summer solstice is that evening.

Isaac, Bonnie, Gloria, Mia, Danny, the twins, and Hope are in William's room. )

It's the Astronomical Clock.

( "The abstract art?" Lizzie asks, remembering her meet-whatever with Danny in front of that very landmark.

Hope, Josie and Danny found the same. With the twins' begrudging acceptance of Jo's informative text (and not much more scolding, maybe it's coming), the plan comes together. With the summer equinox being about the incoming nourishment after action, then this is the local yearly ritual. )

Witches will be there in droves. In plain clothes, but there to reaffirm and grow their power. That is the hunters' target. What I don't know, is if this is a blunt assault. I downloaded schematics. This looks on the outside like an act of terrorism.

( So. Bomb. )

Every hunter we find is low on the totem pole. The higher ranked hunters run the ops. There will be civilians and civilian hunters. Low-ranked boy and Girl Scouts. It's dangerous.

( Which is why their answers are few and far between and why Cooper's double agent act only gets him so far. )

What do you think?

Comments

[undermyfeet]

[His eyes widen and because Danny is a good, he charges forward to check her vitals. Her heartbeat is still thudding under her fingers, but she seems to be unconscious.

Then he glances around, trying to see what he can make of the spell she was doing (12).]

[ostensively]

( A. They were not supposed to die. Tying their life force was supposed to tether them to the magic in the absence of an immortal. She could only play so much of her hand, especially when Original vampires and Bela Talbot are involved.

B. The supernatural teenagers were not in her plan. How could she know they'd take a graduation trip? Bonnie Bennett and Isaac Lahey had to be sidelined. But, her nieces or whatever, were mucking up her plans. Something is off with those Gemini twins. It overpowered the spell's failsafe.

C. Never send hunters in to do your own dirty work. She stayed on the sidelines long enough. This is her only chance until winter.

The bomb and the spell are a distraction, giving her enough time to reach an end goal years in the making. She did not start Monroe, that was Gerard Argent, but she was able to point Monroe in the direction of the witches. And with her went her international armies. Her generals. Her incompetent barely not-a-civilians.

An opportunity presented itself when the Knightsbridge's connection to their magic faltered. It waned, merely existing for months on end while the other heir fell off the face of the grid.

She needed him to be in the same city, and Prague presented itself perfectly.

Well, as perfectly as it could. She had drop-ins and saviors and resourceful heirs. And blundering hunters. She used their blundering to her advantage, she thought. Scare them and scare the witches. Turn them on each other while she slipped upstairs.

Gemini witches overpowered the dark object holding the labyrinth together. And the hunter's clear but brittle connection ended with it.

With magic as pure as this, she needed to be as delicate as she could. But, they made it impossible. This magic is rightfully hers. The Knightsbridge Coven and the Colony need a real leader. Knightsbridge has been bastardized. It's ancient. It's word of mouth and it's stories and traditions.

It's time to modernize the old ways. Call her a consultant nobody hired. Somebody has to do it.

That is the last time she leaves something as prodigious as the damnum essentia in the hands of two hunters who've been bested more than once. After the first time, she strengthened their minds, linked them with her. Felt the pain of every mess up, but continued on with their collective strength, and their eyes.

She'll have more clean up to do. There is the vampire blood in her hunters' systems. An army of an idea for later, the ones not burned or taken by Elijah and Bela.

Ambition is a tricky thing. It can also be your downfall.

Pride goeth.

✵⁂❉

Danny's entirely unfamiliar with the runes, the candles, the exploded pieces of clay. But his 12 buys him that it's elaborate.

Sierra's (17) brings her back, but she doesn't move. She's not alone. Someone is checking her pulse. She feigns exhaustion turning into confusion as she turns on her side and coughs, but to Danny, this woman is just moving slowly and reacting to something.

She sighs.

All that work. All that planning. And then she looks around her, sees Danny and with a (13) deception attempt: )

Who are you?

[undermyfeet]

[It's been a long day, and Danny isn't as sharp as he can pass himself off as being sometimes (10). He turns to the woman next to him, and rests a hand on her shoulder gently.]

Easy. Something in the spell went wrong. My name's Danny Brighton. I ... I just wanted to see if you were okay.

[He shouldn't be so trusting. Something knows that, one way or another, something went wrong here. But he's still just a kid, reaching out to another witch.]

[ostensively]

( The children really are our future.

Sierra's more weary than even she knows so the story she spins seems more off the top of her head, like she has nothing to hide anyway (4). )

I got out of the maze, I knew I had to, something must've been causing it and by the time I got up here, the spell was collapsing.

[undermyfeet]

[Something about that doesn't ping right (11), but given that he doesn't know anything about what Coop revealed about their being a witch working with the hunters, his brain doesn't jump to that.

He just assumes that she's woozy, coming out of a bad spell.]

C'mon.

[He holds out his hands to her.]

Let's get you out of here.

[ostensively]

( It's risky, going with him, and he suspects something. She weighs her options quickly before letting him help her up to her feet. )

I just realized you're a strange kid and I just rambled to you about some spell collapsing.

[undermyfeet]

[He tosses her an easy smirk.]

Could have been worse. Could have been mouthing off to a security guard.

[Because he's sure those are going to show up eventually.]

But I'm a witch too.

[ostensively]

Of course you are. I'm lucky you found me and not a security guard. Could you imagine explaining that?

( ... )

Speaking of, let's get you out of here.

[undermyfeet]

[Danny nods and starts to head back down the stairs, sneaking a little bit ahead so that he can try and listen ahead to see if anyone was coming (18).]

Were you here for the solstice?

[ostensively]

( Seeing as the kids split up and Hope is licking her prideful wounds, the Saltzman's are indeed searching for him. He can hear faint talk of keeping Hope from going off the deep end and finding Danny. )

It's silly, but, every year I come here because it helps me feel closer to my heritage. Even though, I'm not from here. Something about the clock.

( Sierra, continuing to fake that she needs to be held up, hears this as well (15). )

You're Danny, right?

[undermyfeet]

Yeah.

[He nods with a small smile.]

I'm part of the Knightsbridge coven.

[ostensively]

( It’s foolish, how easily Danny let’s slip this kernel of information. I’m the witch world he’s infamous, but not deservedly so. Bonnie Bennett should’ve taught him better about the kindness of strangers. )

My coven doesn’t have a name, or, a coven really. I practice with a small group.

( Unless she’s tasked with Colony business to keep up appearances. )

What are you doing in Prague? - I just mean, your accent.

[undermyfeet]

On vacation.

[Which is true enough.]

Wanted to get away for a little while. Stumbled into a bit of a hunter problem.

[ostensively]

Without their gatherers, I assume.

( Oh, she forgot, didn’t see. )

I’m Maura, by the way. Maura Walsh.

( Since they’re being formal.

Not being formal, the search party they come upon as they make it down the ramp.

Lizzie sees him first.

”Danny.”

She hesitates, seeing the strange woman under his arm.

Josie doesn’t do better in her reaction, something inherent within her (15) distrusts her outright. Whomever’s magic is within her, it’s telling her to be wary. Is she connected, or is this a glitch? )

[polydeukes]

[Josie stops short of them on the stairs, trying to make sense of the swirl of feelings within her. One hand comes up to rub against the center of her chest, before trying to shake it off.]

You okay?

["Yeah, this is Maura. She was trying to stop the spell." Because that's what she said, right? He can't one hundred percent remember.]

[ostensively]

( Shit. A (7) gives her the barest of understanding with what Josie has going on. But it’s something hostile and familiar. Which, with a 7 makes zero sense. )

It stopped itself I think. We left a mess back there.

[polydeukes]

[Josie is just going to keep a wary eye on her for now, but she has no reason to disbelieve Danny's interpretation. For now, she's just going to go with it. They don't have time to ask questions.]

We need to get out of here. I have a feeling the cops are going to show up soon, and we don't want to be around when they find the dead hunters.

[ostensively]

( It’s not like either one of them will break the barrier of civility. But she now has to remember you. )

Dead hunters!?

( Acting was not her major. (2) )

[polydeukes]

[Danny (6) and Josie (3) both notice something off with the way she says it, but they're going to just chalk it up to all the weird shenanigans afoot. They don't have time to really question it.

"Josie's right, we have to get out of here."

Josie nods, before turning to lead the way.]

C'mon, back this way.

[ostensively]

( She noticed them noticing but all are otherwise involved. She needs to be grateful, but not latching, because she cannot stay with them. Ingratiating herself is not the plan.

But does the plan need to change.

There is no moment she can message Jaq. So she agrees and a suspicious Lizzie follows as they rush out of the building through the back door to the alley that’s now unoccupied. Timing.

Shit, she’s in this until she isn’t. )

[polydeukes]

[Danny glances around as they come out into the alleyway, and then shifts to reach for his phone. "We should find the rest. See if they're okay."

By the time they find them, Isaac will be covered with blood, but he'll also be healed. So there is that.

Josie puts her hand to her ear.]

Hope? Mia? Are you guys okay?

[ostensively]

( "All in one piece. Anyone who could even be coded as a hunter is in the wind, which isn't surprising since there's an entire tourist attraction full of dead them."

Her eyes apologize to Mia for her flippancy, but she'll get to know Hope sooner or later.

As for "Maura," she furrows her brow. )

OK, Sydney Bristow is a witch.

( It's better this way, actually. She knows more now. No wonder their efforts have been in concert from the beginning. They must have someone on their payroll. Or, one of them has a graduate degree in computer science.

She plays it off, looking back behind them. )

I can't believe they're all dead.

[undermyfeet]

Whatever they got tangled in, it was their choice.

[Danny should probably feel bad for them. Probably.

But then he thinks about them slaughtering his family and friends, and he feels less bad.]

We need to go.

[ostensively]

( Not quite, but she'll dog ear that anger to her advantage for later. )

Anywhere but here, huh?

( Right now, the same is for her. But, she can't stay this close. She wasn't supposed to make contact. )

Thank you, for reviving me.

[undermyfeet]

Of course.

[Danny doesn't want to just leave her, but he's getting the sense that she has somewhere else to be.]

Do you have somewhere safe to go?