everyonelives | the ground could open, he could still say please

I don't think that's what he's doing.

[Burying his head, that is. Definitely a danger when it comes to Cooper, especially when he's not able to sit still and really absorb it, but he doesn't think this is one of those circumstances.]

He just spent months undercover for Allison Argent, and before that he lost Lucas. I think he just needs some space to only have himself to worry about.

Allison Argent?

( When you take yourself out of the narrative, there's nothing like coming back in too many chapters behind. )

What, under Monroe? He spent months undercover in an organization he first championed and maligned me for declining? He could've reached out. Did you know?

( Was he still under Monroe's spell? )

I think maligned is a strong word.

[Because Cooper wasn't that adversarial. He was just confused, because usually his parents were pretty same page. He was also raised to respect his mother.]

But no, I didn't find out until New Orleans, where he got caught.

( Granted, he was undercover and to be completely fair, she didn't make the effort.

She's trying with all her might to not let her dramatic side take off. She has that tendency, but everything she learns makes her feel so behind. )

He got caught undercover. ( She recenters herself, trying to sort through what she actually wants to ask. ) When was your turning point? New Orleans? When he was caught? I'm just trying to keep up. ( Catch up, even. ) What changed? Was it the wonderful influence of William?

( Did anything they taught him matter? )

No. Lucas is what changed.

[Lucas was both of their reasons, Michael digging in his heels so that the thing his son died for is worth something and for Cooper it drove him away, so that what happened to him didn't happen to someone else. William helped, giving him something to run to and a way to help other people but Michael has a feeling that even if William wasn't there, he would have found another more reckless way.]

I don't know when it happened, exactly. Sometime between London and New Orleans.

[But that's not the question that she really wants an answer to.]

I don't know if I really had a "turning point" as you call it. I don't have a good answer. I was given a choice between walking away and winding up dead and I convinced some people to come with me. It's probably the most good I did through this whole clusterfuck.

You did good, Sull. Just because something happened along the way. ( London. The witch massacre. In Prague. The hunter massacre.

Old habits never die when it comes to tracking your loved ones, the loved ones who are easier tracked. Michael didn't believe he needed to play a part because he believed in the part he was given. Cooper on the otherhand. )

Cooper was impossible, working overtime at not wanting to be found. Now I know why. We taught him well.

( But her husband didn't ruin himself. Or them. Or do something that he couldn't take back. )

I didn't believe in her.

You were right.

[And he's willing to admit that because how could he not? History will have her on the right side of it.]

I should have listened to you.

I should have been there.

( For you. Not her. )

You married a stubborn woman, Michael Sullivan.

Yeah, but I knew that when I married her.

[He's never been blind about Evelyn one way or another. She's always been the frustrating, infuriating kind of woman that lesser men would seek to tame or think might fade once they've wedded or bedded her, but Michael's always loved the challenge of Evelyn. He didn't want a wife that would bend to his will, he wanted a partner who wasn't afraid to challenge him, and she's always had that in spades.]

Some might even say it's why I married her.

What a gamble that was.

( She smiles, the effortlessness recaptured as she lets herself linger closer. )

I shouldn't have stayed away.

[He shakes his head.]

Probably was better. I know you weren't completely safe, given the job we do, but at least you were safer.

[He doesn't know what he would have done if he had lost his wife and his son.]

I don't know about safer. But, no, our lives don't grant us a lot of safety.

( The choices they make are a part of it, but their lives are inherently dangerous. She knows that. She knows what she signed up for. What they signed up for together when they became real. )

But, we chose this life and until then, I respected and honored every choice you made. I think I let losing Lucas... I think it's the first choice I ever resented and, that's not fair. We are not psychics. ( They save psychics. ) It could've been you. Or, Cooper. Or, me back here.

( Something she really thinks? )

If I had been in New Orleans...

( Monroe's death spread through the hunter network, both the legitimate one for true hunters and hers. )

I was thinking there were innocent people involved who did want to help, ones who probably feel like they have nowhere to turn. What to do next. What does it all mean. Not that you and I can answer such high-minded questions, but maybe we can help them out. Maybe even going so far as to deprogram. If it's needed.

( She breathes him in. )

We've always made a great team, Michael.

I convinced some of them to leave. Odds are I could convince that same some to work together.

[They raised two teenage boys with more impulse than common sense, they could probably handle Monroe's cast-offs.]

A lot of 'em were pretty green. Came right out of the military like Mickey or something similar. Might take a lot of work to whip 'em into shape.

( She'd bet more than probably, but she wants it to be his idea, too. )

We've worked with less.

( Garth once upon a time, and look at him and his cute werewolf family. )

We'll say goodbye, first. Maybe stay one more night. But. He doesn't need to go with us. He never did.

( Cooper had gone off alone before, back when he insisted on taking his own hunts. But this is more than that. )

You know better than I do, is this love? Is... he in love?

I don't know if he knows it yet.

[Which could take a minute. He's not sure Cooper's ever been in love before in a real way beyond infatuated teenage puppy love. But he can see the signs.]

But they've been through a hell of a thing together. If that didn't break them, I'd say he's pretty close.

I want that for him.

( She wanted it for both of her boys. )

I do too. But he's got to figure it out on his own.

[They can't push him into it or sway them by giving too much of a blessing. He's got to choose it for himself.]

But I think he will. William's a good kid. Think he's a little scared of me, but I think I'll let that keep going for a little while longer.

[His prerogative as a parent.]

You can be intimidating when you want to be.

( But not in the early light of morning, in her embrace. She has seen his softer sides. They are there, despite the few years of hardening. He has always been made of stone where it counts, but she likes all parts of him, what's underneath. )

You didn't threaten him, did you?

[He shakes his head.]

No, I just slept in the back seat of his car from New Orleans to Central City. Apparently just my mere presence is intimidating.

[He's enjoying it, even if he probably shouldn't.]

Well, you're his boyfriend's father. If they're using that word.

( This is what she's missed. This is the easy part. It's better than their hunting banter or their arguing. It's their lived in dynamic she's missed.

She points out, however, he will not be sleeping in her backseat! )

We're going to share driving duties.

Of course. I would expect nothing less.

[He also likes to drive, so it's not like he minds.]

And I'm not sure what word they're using. But I'm sure you'll find out soon enough.

I need to make things right.

( She will. She doesn't know when he's coming back (if they're coming back) but she will be there. She will always be there. He just... needs to know that. )

You will.

[Coop forgives easily when it comes to his parents. Disrupting lunch is the least of what she's done to him.]

I'm sure they'll be back from whatever it is they're doing at some point.

Hurricane Evelyn has taken whole small towns down to the studs.

( This is nothing.

Her arm hitches to his. It feels natural. She doesn't want to let go. )

I'll be here when he's ready. We'll both be.

We will.

[And he relaxes some, now that he and his wife are back on the same page.]

Want to go out and explore the city a bit?

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