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( A (19) has him let go of his gun completely, looking out to the water. He processing slower than others. Combining his usual process, it takes longer to work its way through his compelled system. He shakes his head trying to sort his thoughts. )

She wanted me to take care of you.

Okay.

[He figured as much. Now he just needs to figure a way out of it. He doesn't want Mickey to get further in trouble, but he also doesn't want to die. He needs Monroe to think things are playing out according to plan so that she doesn't divert and make a bigger mess.]

What did she want you to do with me?

[Because Monroe, like Gerard, is all about the show of it all.]

Nothing's off the table. In the least, tying you up and dropping you off the back of the truck. Making the example. She wouldn't have cared if I left you for dead. Coop, whatever you're doing, you're not just on her radar, you're in her crosshairs.

( He runs his fingers along the steering wheel before flinging himself out of the car, slamming it behind him. He approaches the water, shoving his hands in his pockets. )

[He grits his teeth, before shaking his head.]

Okay. Okay, then ... let's do it. Let's make an example of me.

[He can take the beating. Maybe this is an instance where he'll be more effective on the outside, rather than in.]

But you don't have to kill me to do that, do you?

( Mickey wants to fight everything that's been instilled in him but the (11) pushes the compulsion and the orders to the forefront as he draws his gun. )

I don't want to.

[Coop's face falls and he brings up his hands, not wanting to make himself seem like a threat.]

Mick ... c'mon man. It's me. You know me.

[He knows they're reaching the end of the line on this, but Coop knew he was living on borrowed time to begin with. He tries to maintain eye contact and get through to him.]

You don't have to do this.

I do. I have to do it. I don't have a choice.

( He tries his hardest at making that abundantly clear. This isn't because his loyalty is being tested, or because he doesn't love his best friend, it is because of compulsion he can't fight. He tried every way around it, but playing the part if the dutiful soldier only ends in one way.

He wishes it didn't. )

[Unfortunately, Cooper is too busy scrambling to try and save his life to see it (3). He's searching for familiarity in his friend's face, and instead all he sees is someone trapped and unable to see a way out.

And he knows that this is the way it was always going to end.]

I'm sorry.

[It's to William, but it's also for Mickey too. Sorry for putting him in this position, sorry for all of it. Sorry for thinking that he could do better in a world that wasn't built for it.

And, before he can say anything else, a bright orange fireball goes up in the middle of the French Quarter. He turns to look at it, taking his eyes off Mickey just for a moment.]

What the fuck?

( "No. You're not, you're not sorry," William says, both to Bela and to Cooper. "Negotiate. Tell him, tell him there's a hunter in their ranks we put there," he pleads as he fights back tears.

Mickey's focus falters, too, in the comedic moment between the two of them as the fire shoots into the sky. )

Yeah.

[Coop glances back to him, and sees Mickey shift, and does the only thing he can do. Because he doesn't want to die, he doesn't want to just give up, so he does the only thing he can do.

He tries to make a go for the gun (10). But given that he is just a human, and doesn't know that Mickey is not, it might not go well for him.]

( Despite the human-vampire divide, Mickey's compelled devotion and distraction (9) means Coop's training kicks in and he gets his hands on the gun. Not knowing what to do, he tries to wrestle it back, pulling Coop backward toward the water as he does (12). )

[Coop manages to hold his ground and keep his grip on the gun (18). He's not giving up yet, but he doesn't know how much leverage he has left to work. He tries to shift his grip, working one arm over top of Mickey's and attempting to shove his elbow upwards to catch him in the face (6) but his aim, it's not good unless Mickey rolls real bad.]

( "Cooper, Cooper. Just say something. I don't care."

Mickey's (15) dodges Cooper's arm, and yanks harder, taking them both closer to the edge with his vampire strength (19), and while he manages to wrestle the gun away, they both plunge into the river. )

Edited 2021-11-29 23:21 (UTC)

[There's assorted grunts, and a muttered curse, but unfortunately that's all he manages to get out, before the earwig hits the water and sparks out, sorry William. And it's that sparking tingle in his ear that forces him to lose his grip on the gun as he jerks away (3).

He comes up coughing, gasping for air as he searches for Mickey above the water, trying to see where he might be coming from next. But he does kick back from the shore, deciding it's not worth it to try and scramble back onto land by trying to get past Mickey.]

Look, man, I really don't want to do this.

( Vampire or not, he is not coordinated enough to tread water without the use of his arms, and surfacing, the gun cascades below them. He turns around, seeing Cooper is swimming away. )

Coop - I - I can't not. I want to not have to do this. Stop me from doing this.

( This isn't HIS call. )

How? Because fuck, I'm not gonna kill you, man.

[He refuses to cross that line. Mickey is still his friend. And even in the water, Coop is still struggling to catch the meaning between the words (9). He's just struggle busing all around.]

( He holds his arms up, as if to say he's not going to try and drown him as he tries kicking over. )

Cooper. I'm a good man. I knew your brother. I was ordered to do this, I'm supposed to be the good soldier, to, to play the part I've been given.

( He turns his left hand, trying to illustrate the lapis lazuli ring gifted to him like a handcuff around his wrist. )

I didn't enlist in this. I didn't enlist for this.

Edited 2021-11-30 00:52 (UTC)

[He sees the ring, and then it all clicks. His eyes widen as he feels like he's been punched to the gut.]

Fuck. Fuck.

[This is not how he wanted to spend his day.]

When?

I can't talk about it. I... ( He holds the syllable out. ) got captured and escaped.

( For the record, he's trying to explain he did get captured, he did not escape. And, yes, there were high powered players who could compel even him. )

How long have you been working against us?

After Mystic Falls. After everyone ...

[He takes a breath.]

After I thought you died. All those lives and she just threw them away, for what? So she could play chess and plan this - which how many fucking innocent people died in that blast?

[He shakes his head, continuing to tread water.]

I couldn't keep toeing her line. And I wanted to try and save as many people as I could.

We don't know that was her.

( He suspects. )

And how has that been going? We lost ten of us in Prague. Because of a witch you say worked with us.

Don't we?

[They knew a move was coming. It has to be.]

By the time I got in deep in Prague, things were already in motion. I was trying to get information on the witch, and they wouldn't give it to me. But if we don't do something, New Orleans is going to be ten times worse. I didn't say I was perfect. I just said I was trying.

Then - then convince me to help. Convince me how helping you helps them. Maybe I can -- do something.

( Else, he thinks, as they bob slightly in the water. Make your case. You at least circumvented his direct orders for now.

His (18) keeps him in control of what he's been told to do, swimming away from Cooper and pulling himself up and out of the water. )

[He stays in the water. Because if Mickey's compelled, he doesn't want to concede his ground just yet.]

You said it yourself, eleven dead in Prague because they tangled with a witch. Everyone that got wasted in Mystic Falls. Tamara doesn't care about us. She just cares about her vision, and all of those hunters back there are roadkill to get her to the end of the line.

[And then, because he has to ask.]

Who compelled you? Kol or Klaus?

[Elijah was out of the country and Rebekah doesn't have that power anymore.]

( One thing he's able to say, he does. )

I don't know who Kol is.

( You got it in one question. )

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