coming at you fast, midnight

[cosmiccon]

Comments

[cowman]

( The waiter is on a roll tonight and a man crossing his path will not stop him from serving an order (16), but that concentration bumps Doll's trajectory right into Doc's.

Doc's head lulls to the side as Serena sings but he freezes in his tracks, the low-level trance breaking in seconds.

There is no mistaking it. Doc's nostrils flare as he propels himself forward out of his chair and around that same waiter who spins around the cowboy on a mission (16) )

Xavier.

[cosmiccon]

Damnit.

[It's muttered under his breath, and he flashes Alys an apology, before turning to face him again. As he turns he can see Serena's brow furrowing in confusion as she continues to sing, but sorry, you're on your own, buddy.

Dolls takes a deep breath, and unfortunately blows his cover.]

Doc. Can we not do this here?

[cowman]

Well, I would do this in the afterlife, where I and several close acquaintances believed you to be.

( There is no nicety. There is no friendly air of days gone by. Because there are many days. )

Would you prefer to do this outside these grounds?

***

( Meanwhile, not one needing to be in the middle of drama, Alys attempts a stealth check to slip through the door they'd been eyeing. (14) )

[cosmiccon]

I would, yes.

[He lets Alys slip ahead and keeps his attention on Doc, not wanting to make this job anymore complicated than it already is. He gives Serena a nod, and gestures for Doc to lead the way out to the alley nearby.]

[cowman]

( Doc clocks that look, and Alys slipping away (19) but he is far more concerned with the ressurection of his fallen frenemy.

Outside, he waits for an explanation, or any indication of this not being the Xavier Dolls he remembers. )

Tell me why I should not this very second phone Wynonna and bring her down here.

[cosmiccon]

[Dolls holds up his hands because god, the last thing this situation needs is Wynonna Earp.]

Please don't do that. What is she doing here? What are you doing here?

[He should know this - Jeremy said he would keep him in the loop. But the last time he talked to Jeremy was much longer ago than it should have been. Apparently forcing your friend to go back and live away from the people he cares about doesn't help maintain said friendship.

Not that that was ever intentional on Dolls' part. He loves Jeremy and would always be there for him if he asks. He just didn't feel the onus to reach out as much anymore.]

[cowman]

We do not owe you the explanation in this scenario.

( Doc remembers how blurred the lines became between he, Wynonna, and Dolls, how Alice's parentage could have been a floating question mark between them. Xavier and Wynonna carried as much chemistry as Doc and Wynonna, but in different forms, and it ultimately proved fleeting. Or, so they thought.

The blur of their partnership bites at Doc's tongue as he holds back everything family, Alice and Henry, and Rebekah. )

[cosmiccon]

[He takes a deep breath because fair. Very fair. Running a hand over his face, he glances around the alley to make sure no one's coming.]

I wasn't ... one hundred percent dead. Jeremy figured it out. He smuggled me into Black Badge and by the time I was conscious again, you, Wynonna and Waverly were six months into your eighteen month stint in the Garden. Jeremy thought it would be best if I stayed under the radar.

[And then, when he was well enough, he funneled himself out into the Underground because staying any longer as a Black Badge lab rat was making his skin crawl.]

[cowman]

Wynonna and I are in the city because I have a family I am raising and our shared daughter is matriculating in the city. We are co-parenting.

( Trying. For the first time. It's proving more complicated. )

Did Black Badge dig up your body?

[cosmiccon]

[He shakes his head.]

As far as I know, I was never buried.

[But that is information. It's hard to believe it's been long enough that Alice has grown up and gone to college. It's still surprising that he and Wynonna didn't work out.]

Look, I'm not here to cause problems. I have a job to do and once it's done, I'm gone. No one has to know I was here, and I won't come back.

[cowman]

You expect me to keep this from Wynonna, a woman who cared for you. Mourned you.

( They all did, except apparently not Jeremy. They will be having words later if he takes his calls. )

I interrupted?

[cosmiccon]

[But she never quite wanted him in the same way he wanted her. Sure, things didn't work out between her and Doc, but he knew where he stood in the rankings. Coming back into Wynonna's life to make her angry and never see her again - because why would she forgive him? - isn't going to make things any better.]

What can I give her, Doc? I'm going to be gone tomorrow and I can't tell her where I'm going next because I don't know. So what's the point?

[A deep breath.]

And yes, you interrupted.

[cowman]

And what, pray tell, did I interrupt? ( But, Doc is one to follow a lead and Doc knows his own assignment. ) Are you after their assets?

[cosmiccon]

We believe that they've stolen a powerful magical artifact. Possibly for an upcoming witch war. We intend to disarm them.

[Because once a soldier, always a soldier. Never truly allowed to be anything else.]

[seirenes]

[Serena watches from the stage, still confused, but she lets the scene play out, to keep doing her job. She also notices, as Doc and Dolls exit the room, that Alys is not going unnoticed (18 for the guards).

She glances over to the piano player and smiles.]

Why don't we give them a real standard, Bobby?

[The opening chords of Moonriver floats through the room and she dials up her focus to give Alys room to escape (18). It seems to do the trick, as both guards seem to be drawn back in to the rest of the crowd (4, 4).]

[lengthened]

( Unaware, Alys slips behind the door, closing it behind her. What's beyond? )

[seirenes]

[What's beyond is a long hallway. It features some bathrooms, a manager's office, and a door that leads to a staircase. From what Dolls told her, the stair case is what's most likely to lead her to her destination.]

[lengthened]

( Because she is one to perform every sidequest (she's a completist when it comes to the games Crash gets her to invest in), she first slips into the manager's office and does a cursory search for anything useful (16) )

[seirenes]

[All the door takes is a jiggle and it opens, revealing a standard office. Computer, file cabinets, printer, etc. No people, just record keeping. But if she pokes around the desk, she might find the rather hefty bribe the crew has been using to hold their business here.]

[lengthened]

( That could be useful. She folds that bribe and slips it into her jacket pocket.

She skips the bathrooms and heads down the staircase she anticipates will bring them closer to the dark objects they're intercepting. )

[seirenes]

[As she reaches the middle of the stairs she picks up the sound of voices coming from further in the room. Stealth check, Alys.]

[lengthened]

( She gets a whopping (5) as she makes her way down the stairs. )

[seirenes]

[The voices stop (19).

"Did you hear that?" A few feet shuffle and footsteps are starting to come in Alice's direction.]

[lengthened]

Invisique.

( she says quickly with a wave of her hand and the quickness of a (19) )

[seirenes]

[Despite their fast appearances, they miss her performing the spell (15). Two male figures appear in the door, scanning the hallway for some sign of an intruder. The first one shakes his head.

"Could have sworn ..." But with that, he retreats back inside.]