( For the first time, she lifts her glass of wine and sips, thoughtfully, like he need to choose her next words, carefully. Especially in the presence of a woman who throws our her words like errant spells, or a stray bullet. )
Our dealings with Black Badge improved when he became our primary.
( Black Badge moved differently before he took over, and before Waverly, apparently. )
Dolls mentioned her, too. It's been a long time since there's been another Alice in the conversation and with such proper spelling.
She looks down at her phone. They always have it at the ready, being in the underground. It's a bit like being a doctor when you're on call. )
I apologize, I need to answer this, but, please enjoy and I'll be back as soon as I can.
( It's her polite way of saying, if shit hasn't hit the fan. Especially from Donna Paulsen.
"I feel kissed off," Wynonna says with a shrug. She doesn't know her amazing daughter. It's fine. But that was abrupt. "Dolls, how's your first Thanksgiving back with the Earps. Regret inviting us yet?"
Aalys steps away from the tables and moves up the metal staircase away from the speakers down below. As they waft Fall Out Boy's "Thanks For the Mmrs", she answers. )
["Hardly. You haven't even started any fights yet." By Earp standards, this is relatively tame. But holds up a finger. "That was an example, not a suggestion."
Donna sounds tired, but and there probably should be pleasantries, but she has to say this part or she won't be sure it's real:]
Brannigan's dead.
[Saying it the way Rusty said it, straight and to the point, doesn't actually make it any easier. It's still hard to believe, but that doesn't make it less true.]
( She catches Wynonna with a fork full of mash, held up, ready to fling it at Waverly. She eats it instead. He almost started it. Technically.
Very quickly, Aalys' world spins off its' axis as her hand finds the railing and she lowers herself down. She hits the edge of one step, sliding down to the next. She takes the call hunched over, phone to her ear.
The good and the bad swirl as this sinks in. Brannigan was not a good man, but he was a fair man. He did things in his way. He loved in his way. He also hurt many along the way.
She does have to ask after the others. The elite. She will ask how in a moment. )
Weren't involved from what I can tell, so they should be fine.
[She takes a deep breath, because really she doesn't know how this is going to fall out in the end.]
Wallace and Corsair put him up to taking a run at the Slayers. They blew up the castle in Scotland. Unfortunately for them, Buffy Summers survived, and probably has something to do with Brannigan's untimely demise.
[She doesn't know that the Butlers were there - Rusty left that part out.]
( Mixed feelings leak like a salve as she nods, head coming up, facing forward. )
Why would Wallace and Corsair... ( Almost opposite from her sinking down a second later, that strong arm pulls herself up to her feet as she heads back down, carefully, her heels clattering. She doesn't think Abernathy has joined them down here yet. ) The Gauntlet. But, they aren't witches.
Members of the Inner Circle are being picked off. Kirsanov and Hernandez are both dead already. I think they might have been under the mistaken impression that the Slayers were involved.
[Which, maybe there's a word where they could have been right. Instead ...]
Now they are involved. They're planning to hit the Riverboat.
( She knows the he to which she is referring as she crosses the warehouse floor. ) And now he has a pissed off slayer in his pocket. Wallace and Corsair ordered a suicide mission? They served Brannigan up on a platter, I don't what they think they were doing. They're getting desperate, which means every other witch will be right behind them. ( Drama aside, she has to check in, under the neon yellow light of the entryway. ) Are you okay?
They didn't do no damage. As far as I know, Buffy may have been the only one to make it out.
[But that's a question to sort out later. For right now, she tries to sort out how she's actually feeling.]
I can't believe he's actually dead.
[Not because she cared about Brannigan by any means, but because he's been such a fixture in her life that she doesn't know what to do with the empty space he left behind.]
It's Buffy, the vampire slayer. I doubt she was a sole survivor. I also doubt the younger slayers got very far. Reckless.
( That is what matters more. )
Chances are, it hasn't gotten back to the old man yet. But when it does, he'll do what he always does. Trade up - or down, depending - take them under his wing, and start the cycle over. Along with a slow, methodic, decades long revenge on them and their ancestors.
( He's brutal. Like a science. And not to be trifled with. )
But, first he'll mourn.
( And that will last a while. He is a maudlin person. )
[Donna was the apple of his eye for a while, but she didn't take to the Tower the way he wanted her to. Brannigan was always a political power player, always reaching for more, the way he should. She's convinced her sire expected to be deposed by him one day.
And now he's gone.]
Anyway, with the Gauntlet ramping up, I need to make some more calls. But I wanted to make sure you were aware. Be careful, Aalis. Things are going to get a lot messier before they get better.
The usual crisp words are slightly garbled around a mouthful of turkey, but it's still enough for Aalis to let herself in. He's perched at his desk with his plate, watching his people from the wide window as they enjoyed their holiday time.
He glances over to Aalis' and they've been working together long enough that he knows her bad news face. "What happened?"]
( While she can't shoulder Donna's burden of where she comes from or what The Ivory Tower was to her, it's what they have in common. It was always be their shared scar between them and what bonds them in her eternal and her (nearly) eternal life. She has her own connections, but for the time being, she has to play for her own team. Which means ruining one person's holiday and possibly rallying others'.
For the record, she would have started with happy Thanksgiving or happy holidays. )
The Inner Circle enlisted members of the Ivory Tower in an attack on the Slayers in Scotland. Their castle. Casualties haven't been logged yet, but Buffy Summers survived and is bent on revenge and Brannigan - didn't.
[He lets out a low whistle as he processes that, because of all the things that could happen, that's a big one. But he also knows that given Aalis's involvement in the Tower this is about more than just the hit.
( Which isn't enough for Abernathy. She knows. He expects to hear more. They have a deeper history even before she fell back in with him. But, she's also not going to let it affect her. Not like that. There are more pertinent things. )
[Abernathy nods, because he can read the implications. They knew the Gauntlet was coming, but now it's here, and they need to be ready. For better or worse.
He sets his plate to the side. "I'll start making some calls. Go find Cordy and see if she can dig into her Slayer network and get the details of what actually happened in Scotland. Then start reaching out to your witch contacts and see if any of them need to be moved or require back up."
If she wants this to be all business, then they can be all business. They can talk later.]
( She thinks about asking something else, but she has her orders. He will meet with his son. They will weather this storm. At least they know to batten down the hatches.
Closing his door behind her, she slips her cell phone back out. She has a call to make before she finds Cordelia.
[The noise of the giant quarter Thanksgiving celebration floats in through an open window, but she, Eliot and other members of her team are planning on staying in. Eliot is cooking and Sophie is helping. Mostly by pouring wine and providing witty conversation.
But when her phone rings, she steps away, moving towards the sounds on the street below.]
Happy Thanksgiving.
[She says, despite the fact that they are both older than the idea of America, let alone the nation.]
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everyonelives2025-03-12 08:39 pm
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Dolls shakes his head as he brings over some drinks.]
None taken. I don't work there anymore.
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( Alys tries following. She has known several languages over her lifetimes, but there was just used - four times?
"And Waverly runs... one of -- the there - s?" )
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[And because she's deciding she should be significantly less cryptic.]
Black Badge. I work under Jeremy Chetri at Black Badge.
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( For the first time, she lifts her glass of wine and sips, thoughtfully, like he need to choose her next words, carefully. Especially in the presence of a woman who throws our her words like errant spells, or a stray bullet. )
Our dealings with Black Badge improved when he became our primary.
( Black Badge moved differently before he took over, and before Waverly, apparently. )
He rambles.
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[Is that a warning? Is Aalis' point a criticism? She couldn't tell so might as well float that out there.]
And he's tempered it some, since he became he director.
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( Or, when it tends to swirl around the obvious and then twists around a nonsequitor and finally settles on someone's point.
She finds it endearing, Waverly. )
How long have you worked under Dr. Chetri?
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Ten years or so? I started working there after Alice came back to Purgatory.
[And as they're sitting there chatting, Aalis's phone starts ringing, showing a call from Donna.]
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( "And my kid," Wynonna confirms.
Dolls mentioned her, too. It's been a long time since there's been another Alice in the conversation and with such proper spelling.
She looks down at her phone. They always have it at the ready, being in the underground. It's a bit like being a doctor when you're on call. )
I apologize, I need to answer this, but, please enjoy and I'll be back as soon as I can.
( It's her polite way of saying, if shit hasn't hit the fan. Especially from Donna Paulsen.
"I feel kissed off," Wynonna says with a shrug. She doesn't know her amazing daughter. It's fine. But that was abrupt. "Dolls, how's your first Thanksgiving back with the Earps. Regret inviting us yet?"
Aalys steps away from the tables and moves up the metal staircase away from the speakers down below. As they waft Fall Out Boy's "Thanks For the Mmrs", she answers. )
Donna?
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Donna sounds tired, but and there probably should be pleasantries, but she has to say this part or she won't be sure it's real:]
Brannigan's dead.
[Saying it the way Rusty said it, straight and to the point, doesn't actually make it any easier. It's still hard to believe, but that doesn't make it less true.]
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Very quickly, Aalys' world spins off its' axis as her hand finds the railing and she lowers herself down. She hits the edge of one step, sliding down to the next. She takes the call hunched over, phone to her ear.
The good and the bad swirl as this sinks in. Brannigan was not a good man, but he was a fair man. He did things in his way. He loved in his way. He also hurt many along the way.
She does have to ask after the others. The elite. She will ask how in a moment. )
What about Byrne, Behan and Balfe?
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[She takes a deep breath, because really she doesn't know how this is going to fall out in the end.]
Wallace and Corsair put him up to taking a run at the Slayers. They blew up the castle in Scotland. Unfortunately for them, Buffy Summers survived, and probably has something to do with Brannigan's untimely demise.
[She doesn't know that the Butlers were there - Rusty left that part out.]
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Why would Wallace and Corsair... ( Almost opposite from her sinking down a second later, that strong arm pulls herself up to her feet as she heads back down, carefully, her heels clattering. She doesn't think Abernathy has joined them down here yet. ) The Gauntlet. But, they aren't witches.
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[Which, maybe there's a word where they could have been right. Instead ...]
Now they are involved. They're planning to hit the Riverboat.
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He can't be working alone, Donna.
( She knows the he to which she is referring as she crosses the warehouse floor. ) And now he has a pissed off slayer in his pocket. Wallace and Corsair ordered a suicide mission? They served Brannigan up on a platter, I don't what they think they were doing. They're getting desperate, which means every other witch will be right behind them. ( Drama aside, she has to check in, under the neon yellow light of the entryway. ) Are you okay?
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[But that's a question to sort out later. For right now, she tries to sort out how she's actually feeling.]
I can't believe he's actually dead.
[Not because she cared about Brannigan by any means, but because he's been such a fixture in her life that she doesn't know what to do with the empty space he left behind.]
And I don't know what the old man is going to do.
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( That is what matters more. )
Chances are, it hasn't gotten back to the old man yet. But when it does, he'll do what he always does. Trade up - or down, depending - take them under his wing, and start the cycle over. Along with a slow, methodic, decades long revenge on them and their ancestors.
( He's brutal. Like a science. And not to be trifled with. )
But, first he'll mourn.
( And that will last a while. He is a maudlin person. )
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[Donna was the apple of his eye for a while, but she didn't take to the Tower the way he wanted her to. Brannigan was always a political power player, always reaching for more, the way he should. She's convinced her sire expected to be deposed by him one day.
And now he's gone.]
Anyway, with the Gauntlet ramping up, I need to make some more calls. But I wanted to make sure you were aware. Be careful, Aalis. Things are going to get a lot messier before they get better.
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( When things get dire, she swears. She used to do it much more when the swears had more thought to them. But Donna has heard it all from her. )
And now I need to make just as many. If not more. You stay safe. And you know where to find me.
( She gives herself a minute to pull herself together before knocking on Abernathy's office door. )
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The usual crisp words are slightly garbled around a mouthful of turkey, but it's still enough for Aalis to let herself in. He's perched at his desk with his plate, watching his people from the wide window as they enjoyed their holiday time.
He glances over to Aalis' and they've been working together long enough that he knows her bad news face. "What happened?"]
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For the record, she would have started with happy Thanksgiving or happy holidays. )
The Inner Circle enlisted members of the Ivory Tower in an attack on the Slayers in Scotland. Their castle. Casualties haven't been logged yet, but Buffy Summers survived and is bent on revenge and Brannigan - didn't.
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"How are you handling that?"]
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( Which isn't enough for Abernathy. She knows. He expects to hear more. They have a deeper history even before she fell back in with him. But, she's also not going to let it affect her. Not like that. There are more pertinent things. )
It's the Gauntlet.
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He sets his plate to the side. "I'll start making some calls. Go find Cordy and see if she can dig into her Slayer network and get the details of what actually happened in Scotland. Then start reaching out to your witch contacts and see if any of them need to be moved or require back up."
If she wants this to be all business, then they can be all business. They can talk later.]
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( She thinks about asking something else, but she has her orders. He will meet with his son. They will weather this storm. At least they know to batten down the hatches.
Closing his door behind her, she slips her cell phone back out. She has a call to make before she finds Cordelia.
She dials a familiar number she hasn't in awhile.
When the call connects, she speaks. )
Hello, Sophie.
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[The noise of the giant quarter Thanksgiving celebration floats in through an open window, but she, Eliot and other members of her team are planning on staying in. Eliot is cooking and Sophie is helping. Mostly by pouring wine and providing witty conversation.
But when her phone rings, she steps away, moving towards the sounds on the street below.]
Happy Thanksgiving.
[She says, despite the fact that they are both older than the idea of America, let alone the nation.]
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