because the lives of the wicked should be made brief

[somanyadjectives]

Comments

[transientem]

Shit.

[It's not an admonishment so much as a statement of fact.

Crash's eyes dart fitfully between Julian and Kieran, making a step to reach out to their partner but retreating again when they realize that they don't know if that's the best idea.

"What's wrong?"

Kieran ignores the question and just goes to her brother. Her voice is low, soothing, trying to ground him.]

Sometimes if he gets a little too protean, things can get dicey. But it's okay. I'm okay. It was a really rough day but everyone is fine and we need to get you to the hospital. Okay?

[tuumest]

( Her voice cuts through the noise, (10, 14, 15) and he nods, body stilling. All the anger and the darkness subside like a retreating tide. He holds his hurt hand more steady and blinks, present again as he stands himself up. Something clicks.

His sister. )

I'm good.

( He assures Crash first, looking at them. He knows this will come with its' own conversation, or some kind of crimp in their budding relationship, but it always comes up sooner or later. For a long time it was him and his sister. Her mouth and his temper. Her blood and his body.

He sits in the back with Crash while Kol drives the four of them. Quietly, he addresses them. )

I probably scared you with all that shit back there.

[boomgoesthedynamite]

[They do not want to have this conversation in the car with Kol and Kieran. But it seems like they are going to, and they swallow and nod.]

A little bit.

[More for him than of him, but they won't lie that they're not a little concerned.]

[tuumest]

( He sees that they don't want to have this conversation, and while Kieran knows, Kol might not. He doesn't actually know. He nods, letting them all fall into silence again. He leans a shoulder against Crash's without having access to either hand. )

[boomgoesthedynamite]

[They lean back against him, a gesture of reassurance, saying that it isn't a never, but more a not right now. They will talk. They have a lot of things to talk about.

They make it to the hospital, and when Julian gets swept back to be worked on, Crash slumps into a seat in the waiting room - they're not next of kin, not really, so Kieran gets those honors - but Crash has their own portion of this evening to sort out.

They wake their phone up and pull up their text thread with Shep.]

My dad found me. Sort of. More my sister, but she claims she already reported back.

[pricetags]

Do you need backup?
Are you okay??

[boomgoesthedynamite]

I'm okay. There were unrelated problems but we dealt with them and I'll probably bail in the morning once I've figured out how to deal with her.

[They might not even have that much time, but they'll start there.]

I doubt he'll come himself. I don't think he wants me back, I think he just wants me dead.

[pricetags]

You're not an easy casualty, so I'm not worried.
Bail back to us? With or without Jules?

But how you holding up?

[boomgoesthedynamite]

Jules and I haven't talked about it yet, but probably with him.

[They hope with him.

The second question is harder to answer. They're worried about their partner, they're worried about Kieran because as much as she plays it cool, being a hostage had to have taken a toll, especially since Bruno didn't seem much interested in taking proper care of her.]

It was a long fucking day.

[pricetags]

Not the time, but when you can, how's everything with the persnickety sister?

Let me know if you need anything on my end. I can put someone on your father.

[boomgoesthedynamite]

She's almost finished with her project. If we leave she'll have to move her workspace to the Abattoir, but given what happened today, it's probably better she take advantage of Mikaelson hospitality.

[She'll certainly be safer. No more misunderstandings.]

Let me figure out what Vita actually did first, and I'll let you know.

[pricetags]

Not hospitality I'd take any time soon, but I liked Kol.

I got Gabriel on standby.

[boomgoesthedynamite]

I'll text you once I have an exit and an ETA.

[And once Julian is done being patched up, they will return to the house where Vita is still locked up. They pause outside the door and take a deep breath.]

Let's just ... get in there, find out what she knows.

[tuumest]

( He's worried. It wasn't his best spellwork. He was already a swirl of darkness and emotion when he tried spelling her in. He takes what he managed to get up down before taking a deep breath and leading the group inside.

Vita has shifted, but only slightly, managing to cross "Mickey's" legs.

Her head pops up as she hears the door opening. She tenses, but relaxes when she sees her sibling's squeeze, his sister, and the cook, Kol.

"Welcome back." She flexes "Mickey's" wrist. "I got two 'I quit,' messages, so you must've done a number on Bruno's henchwitches of the week." )

[boomgoesthedynamite]

Bruno's dead, so are a couple of the others. You shouldn't be surprised.

[They did take a Mikaelson with them, after all. Crash moves closer, and crouches down in front of her.]

What did you tell Dad, Vita?

[tuumest]

( Her smirk wanes as her sibling approaches. It's gone fully when they crouch at her feet. They're trying to bargain. They're afraid. They should be.

"I told him I tracked you down. Bruno had designs on Kieran, that was not my doing. I was his backup." She shrugs. "I was pissed. You got out. You got a shiny new toy, powerful friends - 'Take Vita with you,' he always says. Not, go with Vita. Not listen to Vita." She grits her teeth, looks behind her sibling and then finds Crash's eyes. "He doesn't know where you are, okay. He just knows where I am." She lifts a shoulder, like what of it. )

You are where Crash is.

( "And whose fault is that?" )

[boomgoesthedynamite]

[Crash scrubs a hand over their face.]

How long ago did you last talk to him?

[That will tell them how much time they have. Kieran is safe back at the Abattoir with Kol, but if Vita's gone radio silent, then the protocol is to send someone there to clean up the mess.]

[tuumest]

( "How long has it been? Maybe an hour before we dropped in on Kieran." Looking like Crash was all her doing. She thought it was cute. Hilarious even. Needle her one-time brother. "I didn't even mean to find you. Bruno stumbled onto his old friend and lo and behold, not even six degrees away, there's nonbinary Kevin Bacon. What are the odds." )

How long do you have?

[boomgoesthedynamite]

["Not long enough."

The sing-song tones give them away. Harley is clean up crew, nothing more. Which means things are about to get messy before they get better.]

Long time, Harls. Does it really gotta be like this?

[He shrugs, before swinging his eyes over to Julian. "We can make a little small talk first. Who's the pretty boy?"

Crash's eyes dart to Vita's. They're close enough to free her from the chains. Give her an advantage. Who's side is she going to be on if they do? She knows as well as they do that Harley isn't discriminating.]

[tuumest]

( a nat (20) to both convince her sibling and fool harley. she knows harley is all clean-up. and that includes her. she's off the reservation. bruno's awol. she's got very little life to live if she doesn't team up. She turns "fearful."

"Crash's new boyfriend. But, careful, he and that Original over there took out Bruno." She turns serious. "Harley, they're crazy. Kieran has people in high places. They tied me up and left me to die. If you didn't show up, I don't know what they'd do to me." she pleads. )

[boomgoesthedynamite]

[Crash very delicately releases the clasp on the chains (17 vs. 8), letting it fall away under Harley's view. The chains are probably the strongest weapon they have, so they stay close, waiting for Harley to make a move.

"Aww, V. Sounds like you had a bad day." He does believe her fear (19), but he's unmoved by it. He fishes the silver-plated knife out of his picket, tossing it casually in his hand. "Too bad I'm here to make it worse."

He flings it, aiming for Crash's head (10 vs. 11), and Crash feels the sizzle of the silver against their ear as they dive out of the way.]

Jules, pin him!

[tuumest]

( Those chains will make a great weapon if Crash grabs a hold of them. And to keep Harley occupied, V cowers. She's going to unpack how Harley isn't at all touched by her pain, but she knew what they had isn't serious. She thought he had some loyalty. At least.

V in Mickey skin grips the loose chains, ready to attack.

Jules attempts to drop Harley to the ground, but one hand is still bandaged and his chi is still all over the place. (6)

Kol moves to attack, but hears someone behind him, turning to catch the arm holding a stake (19). He grapples Harley's partner (18 vs nat 20) and the other shapeshifter drives the stake into his heart. This only incapacitates him, but he does go gray and collapse against the shapeshifter not ready to hold an Original.

"You brought Arielle," Vita asks, tears drying up. Standing, the chain drops and she tries grappling Harley with it, but it's still at her feet and longer than she anticipated. (5) )

[boomgoesthedynamite]

[Harley just barely manages to side step Julian, even with the warning (7). Possibly because he isn't expecting the witch to come at him all the same. So much so that he stumbles right into Vita's clumsy grapple (3).

It's not her fault. Mickey wasn't really built for strength or speed. But she manages to succeed just enough and get the chains around part of his chest. Crash picks up the other end of the chains and twines it once around Harley's neck, but Harley manages to get one hand under it to keep it from landing on his throat, skin smoking (11 vs. 15).

Crash tightens his grip, before glancing over at Julian, then at Arielle.]

Get the knife.

[The one Harley threw at his head.]

[tuumest]

( That belief and promise into what he can do fuels Julian. With a (15), he flings the embedded knife back at Arielle. The knife spins so that it turns blade-first in her direction.

Vita holds the chain taut, her own hands burning, as she "climbs," it, pulling her closer to her former paramour. She tries a propulsive and emotional bitchslap, but likely from her burned hands, she doesn't get the angle she wants.(5) )

[boomgoesthedynamite]

[Arielle just dodges to the side (17) to miss the knife, before starting to charge towards Crash to get them off Harley (1 vs. 13), but whiffs it big time, off balance from dodging the knife.

Harley tries to force both of them off him. He manages to dislodge Vita (10), but Crash manages to keep him pinned (18 vs. 6), tightening their grip on the chains and increasing the smoke.]