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Fucking Janders.

[Waverly doesn't drop F-bombs often but this particular agent deserves it.]

Where is he now?

Janders? He's back at headquarters. He trusted me to handle it and, frankly, I'm not sure where his orders came from. Maybe my dad. He sounded the kind of concerned that might kick in if I discovered something major. And now I still have no answers... but I want to keep Alice out of it.

( he just can't go back without some kind of answers. )

Okay. Here's what we're going to do.

[She wants Archer to get his answers and she knows that Alice probably owes him something of an apology so maybe they can kill two birds with one stone.]

I'm going to send you an address. You are going to meet me there, and fill me in on your case, and I will do my best to get Alice there too, and you two can sort this out.

I won't blame her if she doesn't make it.

( He fucked up. )

She'll make it.

[His phone dings with the address as promised.]

It'll be okay. C'mon, I'll order us some lunch.

Okay. Fine. Today?

( He feels enough like a bonehead. )

Definitely lunch today. You can catch me up on what's been going on.

[Alice may take more doing, but maybe she'll be feeling up to ripping the bandaid off.]

Janders doesn't send you my debriefs?

( She means, personally, doesn't she? )

Oh, after what went down with Janders last time, Jeremy knows the less I have to deal with him the better.

[She does not like the man and she never will.]

But I can go pull them up if you don't want to talk.

I haven't been assigned on my own just yet, something about my training wheels.

( But, he's been busy nonetheless. )

Growing pains all agents go through.

[But she can understand the frustration.]

If you need this to be a work chat, I was also impacted by the wild magic. You can take my witness statement.

Look, I appreciate smoothing things over. I mucked up. But, I'm hoping I won't always need you to broker peace between Alice and me.

( If she wants to know his goal for all this. )

I was on assignment since we left Purgatory. Save for a weekend here and there with my parental figures. We were in Canada.

I'm hoping you won't either. But Alice is her mother's daughter, and sometimes you need to just not spook her.

[She gets another ding which is Alice's agreeing text that she and her roommate are on their way over, so she'll order lunch and focus on the story.]

What were you working on?

I -- ( did screw up. ) Your point's made.

( and he hears it. )

A frost demon infiltrated the Toronto suburbs. I moved in as Janders' nephew.

Oooh frost demons are nasty.

[And he can continue catching her up until there's a knock on her hotel room door, and she opens it to be greeted with Alice, her roommate, and the pizza boy with three pizzas.]

Look at that. Gang's all here. Hi, Lizzie. Nice to see you again.

( He agrees. )

And this one had a cloaking spell attached. Another family.

( It was a very big whodunit. Turns out, it wasn't the newest neighbors, but the oldest. They lost their oldest to a frozen lake. It was a sad story. He trembles through describing the final confrontation before a knock interrupts.

"Hey, Waverly! Abs." Lizzie says, striding in. )

Lizzie. Alice.

[Waverly handles the pizza boy and sends him on his way, before taking Lizzie gently by the arm and steering her towards the in-suite kitchenette.]

Lizzie, will you help me with the drinks?

[Aka give the kids a chance to talk. This isn't going to be mega privacy, because they're still in the same room, but Archer and Alice are the ones who need to talk.]

( "Alcoholic drinks?" A girl's gotta try...

She can give them the time and space they need, though.

Archer sticks his hands in his pockets, exhaling. It's the least subtle exit. )

I do owe you an apology, if you'll accept.

["Let's see how all that goes first," Waverly replies.

Alice tries not to appear immediately defensive, not crossing her arms in front of her chest and nods slowly.]

I'm willing to hear it. We'll see after that if I accept it.

( So, he has to make a speech.

Lizzie fiddles with the coffee maker, spinning the little rack of pods, keeping small talk going before her and Waverly.

Archer crosses the divide between them. )

I was scared. And ashamed. And then, very suddenly assigned to investigate something I only recently learned you were involved in. I thought, foolishly, you might react differently. I thought about what I would say, or what would happen. Coming back together. But, I didn't earn that dream and I really slammed that hope in the bin. I recognize that.

( And... )

If I could've stayed -- My life isn't my own, and I thought about you, and thought about reaching out, but every time I did, I didn't know what I could say, that you would... even want to hear. And then one month became six. My crash and burn isn't an excuse. Neither is my fear. Or, my buffoonery. I messed up. All around. Every step of the way. And I am sorry for it, Alice.

[She takes a deep breath and nods.]

I accept your apology. You also need to apologize to Lizzie too because she had nothing to do with this - [this being their relationship] - and you broke into her room.

[A pause.]

Because that's the thing that really freaked me out. You broke into a private space when I wasn't even expecting you and I'm sorry for ... taking it to eleven. I could have handled it better.

Edited 2025-03-12 02:25 (UTC)

I'll apologize to Lizzie. Personally.

( he'll take his lumps, though. )

Do you mind if I file away that you're a Christopher Guest fan? ( He hopes. ) I like you. I liked you then for real, possessed or not, I liked you and I like you and that's why I acted like a real knob. The last thing I'd ever want is to freak you out. You deserve better.

Edited 2025-03-12 02:26 (UTC)

[Oh, he does like her. She let's those complicated feelings swirl for a minute before admitting some of her own vulnerability.]

I never blocked you after you left.

[Which is neither a confirmation nor a denial of anything, but more an opening. Maybe the hope that he would reach out. That it wasn't all in her head.

And then he didn't.]

I didn't think you did, but, how would I know. I'm sorry.

( A real, honesty apology. )

I know.

[It's not fixing anything right away, but it's a start. She takes a deep breath, before glancing towards the kitchenette.]

Pizza smells good. Anything else you have to tell me while they pretend they're not listening?

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