soon you'll see the sky fall

[bibrid]

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the right doppelganger | rhett, lindsay, damon, and stefan

[persistingly]

Salvatores!

( Rhett kicks at the dirt under him, trying to will the captured brothers awake with his insistence. The vervain injected keeps him weak, but he is not toothless.

Lindsay sits, wrists bound with spelled shackles for a slayer of any strength.

Damon, passed out, has been tied to a post almost within kicking distance of Lindsay. Stefan sits, slumped over, wrists tied with vervain-soaked rope, in a salt circle of some sort. An IV has been slipped into his arm as his blood drops into a nearby vessel.

It's clear to both Rhett and Lindsay from the light piercing through the slats above, they are underground. From the smell, they are under a barn of some sort. They had hours to deduce what is going on until they overheard the Gen-A assistant and the witch who'd taken them all chewed out because he let the wrong vampires go. They weren't the targets, which meant the Salvatores were still targets.

This is even more evident now that they're all together again.

Rhett wonders if Damon and Stefan remember the morning's events. As they were all involved until the witch did something. Knocking them out most likely. )

Can you reach him? Stefan. Damon.

[patrols]

[Lindsay sighs, because as much as disrupting that spell seems like a good idea, it's probably not. Especially when she doesn't know what the spell does, so sorry Stefan, she's going to leave you there for right now.

What she will do however, is swing her leg around and kick Damon in the leg as hard as she can. And given that she is a Slayer, that is very hard (18).]

Wake up, asshole!

[She means that with love.]

[unforgivably]

( Damon rouses with a jerk (6). )

Ow.

( He comes to, Lindsay coming into focus, Rhett, and )

Stefan.

( "We hoped you'd bring reinforcements, not be welcomed back into the spider's parlor," Rhett waxes. )

What do you mean back.

( "Do you not remember this morning?" )

[patrols]

She told that guy to take them away. Maybe they mind whammied them somehow.

[She looks over at Damon.]

All we know is that the goon took you two out, and when the big witch returned, she lost her shit. Apparently he got rid of the wrong ones.

[persistingly]

Apparently, we were never the targets and they weren't counting on kidnapping one of Buffy Summers' slayers. They course corrected.

( He hoped to be rescued. )

Did you get to Scarlett or Melanie?

( "Stefan called Ladies Night Out, we'll be rescued in no time." But he tries to project false confidence. "You weren't the target because my brother was. Must be all his doppelganger blood." (13) to mask his worry. He doesn't like that Buffy and company were sent to the picture of a residence they might not be under, but those thoughts don't help, do they. Hold up. "We were here this morning?" )

Yes. Hollering up a storm. You made a scene and the child assistant taped your mouth shut. Then, he sent you and your brother to sleep and took off with the both of you. We're hoping he was fired for his poor due diligence and cries revenge on his millennial employer.

[patrols]

It was very much a Kronk and Yzma situation, but this Kronk wasn't nearly as charming as the original.

[In fact, he's kind of gross. She wants to kick him in the face.]

She lost her shit when she found out you guys were gone. And when she brought you back she dropped Stefan in all of that.

[She gestures with her foot at the spell set up over there.]

[unforgivably]

She tranq'd me. What's your wrist situation?

( He's talking about the manacles, slayerette!

"If I'd wager, they are impugning her Buffy-given gifts," Rhett says, stating the obvious. "But let's all recap the morning's events, that will free us." )

[patrols]

Look Slayers are strong, but we're also human. If you make something heavy duty enough, it can hold us.

[A beat.]

But they're probably spelled just to be on the safe side.

[unforgivably]

Safe bet. The question remains, how long does my brother have and what happens to him after the witch bitch finishes her spell.

( He doesn't like either idea. )

[patrols]

Oh, I'm pretty sure once she's done, we're all dead.

[She's fairly confident at that point.]

She's been ranting about something called the Gauntlet, and I don't think she wants to give anyone a chance to get their own doppelganger blood.

[unforgivably]

Then she should get a casting agent and call MTV.

( Joking helps the situation. He tries pushing against the vervain soaked chains. (4) )

[patrols]

[Eventually their voices draw the attention of Kronk, and he pokes his head in, squinting at the way that people are carrying on.

"Be quiet. She's trying to concentrate."]

[unforgivably]

I know I don't remember this morning, but from what I've been told I did not lack in colorful commentary and I don't think I'll quit while behind. Besides, if she's a real witch she can block out all distractions. Go ahead, bet me that I won't go into a rendition of hello my baby, hello my honey. Be honest, does she want to be my ragtime doll?

( Well? )

[patrols]

[Kronk's brow furrows like he doesn't get the reference. Clearly he did not grow up with a cartoon dancing frog. Must be more Gen Z than millenial.

"She wants you to be quiet. So be quiet or I'll make you be quiet."]

[unforgivably]

Oh, baby. Don't make promises you can't keep.

( Is he trying to annoy him into making the approach? Of course. )

[patrols]

[Well, of course he's going to take that bait - he's a dumb-dumb. He strides over easily to slam a punch into Damon's face (15).]

[unforgivably]

( Damon doesn't even try to dodge, taking the punch he asked for, instead trying to catch that gaze in his direction to compel him. Maybe he didn't take his vervain today. He's weaker, but not too weak (12). Come on, asshole, succumb. )

[patrols]

[Well, for one, for being a dumb jock, he doesn't seem swayed by Damon trying to take control of his mind (19). And that's likely for a pretty good reason.

"Are you trying to compel me?"

He swings to punch Damon in the face again (18).

"I'm a witch, shithead."]

[unforgivably]

( Damon is captured, so he takes the punch hard (3). He flex his jaw. )

Who knew. Gymrat witch. Is that a Scottish thing, or just a you-thing?

( He tries his bindings again, but the spell on them seems to have cracked (19) considering a certain witch's distraction.

Damon tries in one fell swoop so, break through and grab the witch's arm to twist him over and tug it back, standing above him. Tries, anyway (16) )

[patrols]

[Welp, the witch was doing so well until he wasn't (4). He lets out a cry of pain as he hits the ground, but does his best to keep his wits about him. He raises his hand and attempts to do the aneurysm spell (5). He doesn't really succeed.]

[unforgivably]

( Damon deflects (10) with a patented arm jerk. )

Nu-uh.

( With gymrat in his clutches, Damon hopes that whatever hold he has on his friends might dip. )

Guys. I'd try those bindings again. Unless you'd rather lift them and keep the arm.

[patrols]

[Lindsay pops her manacles easily (20), smiling a bit as she does.]

That's much better.

[She then makes her way towards the ritual Stefan is wrapped in, but flinches back when she feels a tiny zap - a warning sign not to go further.]

Didn't work for your brother though.

[persistingly]

( The vervain is still in his system, but Rhett manages to push against the sizzle (14) and the chains snap in several places, dropping to the ground. )

Much obliged, Damon.

( Getting to his feet, he gets to brushing the dirt from his suit. What, this suit was not meant for close contact with dusty basements.

"No, she wouldn't be stupid enough to trust this Guido to enchant my brother. She'd do that all by herself, wouldn't she?" Damon asks, pulling harder on gymrat's arm to get an answer out of him. )

[prettyclothes]

["She wanted to make sure I didn't fuck it up again!" Gym Rat protests, not really getting out much more than that, before the door blows open.

Mostly because someone is flying through it.

Hippie witch hits the ground hard (1), but tries to keep hold of her spell anyway (15). Coming in not far behind her is the familiar click-clack of Scarlett's heels, hands rested firmly on her hips.]

I'm not sure what manners are being taught these days, but in my day, we were taught it was rather uncouth to keep people against their will.

[persistingly]

Except in conversation. Scarlett, my dear.

( "Lift the spell or your assistant loses an arm," Damon says, doing his very best at intimidation (11) )