the ground could open, he could still say please

[slavophile]

Comments

[dupes]

They do not eat hearts. They will tear them out and stomp on them though. Some of them are so heartless they'll possess their own kids to get themselves more power.

[The Inner Circle doesn't fuck around.

Abernathy nods at Annie's assessment before continuing. "The Gauntlet is also trouble because it's not just a handful of witches. They open the top spots up to anyone who's willing to do what it takes to get them. Which means there will be a lot of witches looking to seize an opportunity."]

[pricetags]

( "I was going to say heartstompers," Taylor says to whomever is sitting next to her. The poetry of it landed better than breakers. A person can survive a broken heart, but a stomped heart - they are not as resilient.

"Their own kids?" she asks. )

The power is too enticing.

( Everyone is collateral damage, even family. Shipp sits int he painful familiarity of this entire conversation. )

[dupes]

["All this is to say that you'll need to keep your eyes out for trouble while you're in the field. And everyone is on call in case we get a call for help. No one goes out alone."

Going out alone is a recipe for trouble.

"And don't go borrowing trouble. Just keep your heads down and do your jobs." He steps back, and waves the rest of them off. "If you have any additional concerns, you know where to find me. Until then, get some rest."

He heads back to his office, and the group begins to disperse. Annie makes a beeline across the room for Shipp, and places a hand on his arm.]

Drink?

[pricetags]

( The group disperses. Taylor finishes her notes, Angel and Cordelia return to their quarters, and Alice stays by Alexander's side.

Ship sits, preoccupied with the Colony resurfacing. Memories he chooses to relive alone play at the back of his mind as the meeting sinks in. Annie brings him to.

Playing it cool becomes effortless after awhile when that's all you do. But, there are cracks in his armor today, cracks he has to take care of so they don't become fissures. )

... Always.

[dupes]

[Alexander watches them for a moment, before taking Alice and Jackson and heading back to whence they came, probably off to the war room to see what jobs were on deck. Annie and Ship have always understood each other, so Alexander is going to let her do her thing, and check in with her later.

Annie nods, before tipping her head back towards the room where she usually bunked. She and Serena tended to be on opposite missions, so their special talents didn't counteract each other, but they lived out the same room. A pair of twin beds frames a nightstand in the center of the room, and Annie goes into it to pull out two glasses and a bottle of Scotch.]

[pricetags]

( Shipp watches as Alexander, Alice, and Jackson head back to the war room. He could help, but that would be blowing a careful cover he has kept in place for years now.

Slipping into Annie's bunk, he closes the door behind himself, grateful for the offer of alcohol. He sees if her shared bunk is as minimally decorated as his is before he accepts a glass of scotch. )

[dupes]

[Her half is. Serena's comes with a closet full of colorful clothes, and assorted knick knacks from their souvenir shop back in Chicago. The one that had burned down with Serena's father and Annie's brother in it just before they joined the underground.

They both have their reasons to shoulder their burdens. It's why Annie doesn't tend to push at old wounds. But she will at least ask this much:]

You good?

[pricetags]

( His entire coven, technically, has been running from the Colony for generations, cursed into their power. Shipp has gone to great lengths to distance himself from who he was, from where he was from. Hardly anyone knows his whole story. Most people in the Underground just think he's a witch. They aren't wrong. )

Can't help if it stirs shit up.

( The scotch helps. Some. )

Nothing alcohol won't numb. Tomorrow morning I'll be good old Shipp.

( in ship-shape with wisecracks at the ready. )

[dupes]

[Mmm. She refills his glass once it's empty before knocking back her own.]

Back to being cryptic and driving the kids up a wall. As things should be.

[She goes to pour herself a second glass.]

But if you want to talk about it, you know it won't get further than me.

[pricetags]

Talking about it doesn't... it's never done me any good. Gemini, we're -- we're in the middle of everything. I talk about it, even with you, and it's real. It's always real. But, Shipp's also real. I am that smart, savvy fuck-up. I'd rather be in a cloud of weed then...

( Who he really is. )

I told someone else once. Before you, before finding the Underground.

[dupes]

What happened?

[She assumes it's bad if he's so worried about telling it to someone else, but she wants the answer to that before she reassures him that he can be both.]

[pricetags]

Gemini disappear. We aren't on anybody's radar and that's how we like it. Because of that, there's a lot on the streets about us. Most of it's bs.

( But that bs fuels some people, like someone who used to be his friend. )

Some of it's true.

( Really, he just denies it all. )

The coven I fell in with wanted to fortify. LA's -- it's easy to find friends. When I told Patrick, the leader, about who I was, about what I was -- thinking I'd be able to trust him, thinking I was safe - he - drugged me. Dosed me with vampire blood and --

( He cuts himself off, remembering siphoning just enough magic to end his life before he could end Shipp's. )

I've been on the run ever since.

( Twofold. )

His coven thinks I killed him in cold blood, not in self defense, like I wanted his power. I didn't. I just wanted a safe place to land.

[dupes]

People are shit.

[Which is said to commiserate, mostly. She doesn't blame him for being mistrustful, given that particular past experience. But she meant what she said, and she fully intends to keep his secrets.]

But I never said that Shipp isn't real. Shipp or Shep, whoever's on the board - I'll have his back. And I won't let that happen to you again.

[Because that's what friends do, after all.]

[pricetags]

It's all real, baby.

( He downs his second scotch, laughing to himself. )

It's not just what happened with Patrick's coven. It's my family. It's my big brother. We all carry this weight. All of us. Sole survivor looks good on me, but unsuspecting stoner looks better.

[dupes]

[Annie only knows bits and pieces, the parts that Shipp would tell her when he was feeling up to it. She let's that information ebb and flow, but something about "sole survivor" seems wrong. Because Shipp isn't the only person she's heard the word "Gemini" from.]

Have you talked to Alexander about what went down in Mystic Falls?

[pricetags]

When?

( Mystic Falls is a magic capital after all. He's done his research. Ten years or so ago, Hellfire shot into the sky. Thirteen years ago, Mystic Falls became a magic free-zone for a few months. He knows enough. )

[dupes]

A few months ago. One of the hunter attacks.

[She makes a face because she's not sure, but some of the pieces line up.]

His contact's wife is a pretty powerful witch. If I remember correctly, they have twin girls. Siphoners. I'm still working my way through the reports, so he hasn't mentioned Gemini directly but ... maybe it's not a coincidence.

[pricetags]

( The dark liquid in his glass captures his gaze as he tries to make sense of what she's saying. A powerful witch wife. Twin daughters. Siphoners. He flashes back to waking up alone and bloody in their backyard. He walked himself back inside and found his family massacred. )

He looks up. )

Twin siphoners is not a coincidence, Annie.

[dupes]

[She holds up her hands because she doesn't know how things work with the Gemini, and she also doesn't know anything more than that. She reads the reports because Abernathy doesn't always like to share, but she's still playing catch up.]

That's all I know. If you need more detail, you'll have to go get it out of the kid.

[pricetags]

( He drains the contents of his glass, getting to his feet. )

Then let's visit the playground.

( But, really, come with him because he wants the emotional support but he's not going to say or ask her for it.

He knows the last place they were headed was the war room, so he leads the way there, letting himself inside. )

Are we interrupting?

[swillpot]

Not at all.

[Alexander shifts, leaning back from the table to give Shipp his attention. They're not focusing on anything right now, as they don't really have a lot of information to act on, but maybe Shipp has something he wants to move on.]

What's up?

[pricetags]

How long have you known a member of the Gemini coven was in Mystic Falls?

( He doesn't have the patience to put up his act. He has purpose. (Something he usually lacks.) His energy is best when he has something to channel it into. Like this confrontation. )

[swillpot]

[Alexander looks a little put off by the accusation, because while he had suspicions, he never had confirmations with regards to where Shipp came from. This is confirming some of those suspicions, but his brain still doesn't quite understand the way he's being made to feel like he did something wrong.]

Like ... six months?

[At least, that's as long as he'd had confirmations.]

It was in my report? But I don't know if it's all that big a secret, dude, she's like ... the head of the coven.

[pricetags]

Nobody is head of the coven. They were wiped out.

( They weren't. Obviously. But, the most of his family, his parents. )

[swillpot]

[Alexander holds up his hands, because he doesn't know the answer to that demand.]

That's who they told me she was? Her name's Josette Laughlin. She's a doctor.