for the rest of us death will be a relief

[praevaricatio]

Comments

[stupetballs]

Donna.

[That name sounds familiar, and she doesn't think it's because Adal has mentioned here. Her hand stretches up over her head as she describes her.]

Redhead. Tall. Works at a law firm?

[lengthened]

Paulsen? Specter-Litt-don't make me list all the names?

( That is her. )

[stupetballs]

She's a friend of Doc's. I don't know her well or anything, but she always seemed cool.

[Getting the chance to meet her will be great.]

Do you know if she's in town? With the holidays and everything?

[lengthened]

She should be. Harvey is not, which usually means she must. Maybe there's a holiday party we can crash?

( Looking dressed to the nines of course. )

[stupetballs]

Maybe! I do love a holiday party.

[She's down to swing into a holiday party, particularly a fancy one.]

Do you want to let her know you're coming or do you want to surprise her?

[lengthened]

I always love the element of a surprise. If you're up for it?

( She can definitely dress to the nines and get a date out of it. Two birds! )

[thefaxwhisperer]

["Totally! Let me go make sure I have something to wear."

Which she does. If nothing else, she can borrow something sparkly from Wynonna's closet.

Donna, on the other hand, has been having a week. You would think, that with Harvey being in Paris things would be quiet at the office, but no one expects Isobel Flemming. She just arrives, like the Spanish Inquisition.

By the time the firm end of year holiday party comes around, it's a pretty subdued crowd. Many of them are off on PTO, spending time with their families, as they should, and it's a bit of a skeleton crew, but Donna believes in rewarding those who help keep the lights on over the holidays.

Currently she's fixed herself a drink and is sitting at the front desk, covering the phones while the secretary on call helps herself to food and drink, hoping that the phone doesn't actually ring.]

[lengthened]

( Connor skips Christmas with the family. With Harvey out of town, he has to step it up, and with all their revelations and the supernatural, he just doesn't know if he has it in him to keep everything under wraps. Especially with his sister. He also doesn't need any ex-husband questions.

But, his mentor is down by the phones, so he is also down by the phones, but with drink in hand, and he brings a plate by.

"I thought you might want something," he says, leaning in. "I know it doesn't sustain you, but the ham came out perfect."

Believe it or not, Donna will probably be getting a second dose of Isobel depending on what happens during their first meeting. She needs to shore up her contacts again, but, instead, she gets an Adal and a Waverly coming off the elevator. )

[thefaxwhisperer]

It may not sustain me, but it's still very tasty.

[She's about to dig in, when she sees there are some new arrivals, and it's something of a relief to not be a surprise like Isobel, and instead be an actual friend.

Waverly is also dressed to the nines to match Adal's sparkle, that sparkle is just buried under her winter coat because she hates the cold.

Donna's head tips to the side curiously.]

What are you doing here?

[A pause.]

This is Connor. Connor, this is my friend Adal and ... Waverly?

["Yep. Waverly Earp." She gives a small wave. "Nice to meet you."]

[lengthened]

( Score one for the conscientious.

Adal's never minded the cold. Once you make it a decade through cold summers, and another in a warmer climate, sometimes cold feels like a luxury. She enjoys any and all sensory sensations. She always has.

She gives Donna a small wave and one to Connor as well. )

Hello, Connor, you're in good hands under Donna's wing, ( she compliments. ) Her and I go a ways back. Speaking of, is there somewhere private you, me, and Waverly could speak? I'm sure Connor could man the phones in the meantime?

[thefaxwhisperer]

[Private conversation that isn't preceded by a phone call? This is interesting already, but she can't think of what it might be about.]

Yeah, of course.

[She starts to get up, taking her plate.]

Connor if you don't mind? Linda should be right back.

[lengthened]

( "I'll wait for Linda, but take the plate," he insists.

Adal graciously returns his smile and takes a step out, ready to follow Donna wherever she takes them. )

Thank you. We shouldn't be more than a minute.

[thefaxwhisperer]

[Donna will lead them back to her office, letting them all inside before setting her plate down on her desk and turning back to her friend.]

What's going on? Is everything okay?

[She pauses, before gesturing between the two of them.]

How do you two know each other?

["Fun little adventure with wild magic a couple months ago," Waverly smiles. "Also I have a friend who works with the Underground."]

[lengthened]

Xavier Dolls.

( She says, connecting the dots for Donna while she opens her pocketbook. She holds out one of the newspaper clippings. )

This is Jacob Holmes. Do you recognize him?

[thefaxwhisperer]

[Donna takes the picture from her and as soon as she looks at it, she snorts.]

Yeah, that's Rusty DeBrande. I guess Jacob was the alias of the time. When was this, the nineties?

[Waverly nods. "So you know him? You could call him?"

Donna glances up at her and shakes her head.]

Yes to the first, no to the second. We've never really been friends, but we've crossed paths here and there. He's never given me his number. Mostly because he didn't trust the Tower. Why?

[lengthened]

( The snort is odd, but the name, the recognition feels like something. )

His alias.

( If people were after him... )

Was the Tower hunting him down? Through the decades?

[thefaxwhisperer]

No, the Colony was.

[Donna's tone shifts, her understanding of the situation - or more so lack thereof - coming into focus, and she glances between the two women, trying to read something out of their expressions as she continues to speak (nat 20 because of course, she's Donna).]

Russell DeBrande was one of the founding members. Story goes, they had a falling out around the time of the Salem Witch Trials, the previous Gauntlet. In fact, he was the one who called it - I don't know why. He lost his gamble, though, and as a result, they cursed him. If he could make it to the point where he could make it to old age and die of natural causes, he wins the little game. But up until this point, the Inner Circle would hunt him down and take him out before he could get that far, so he kept getting reborn and starting all over again.

The Colony has - or had, rather - allies in the Tower, so he didn't trust Tower vampires, estranged or not. I first met him back in the forties when he was spending time with the Butlers.

[She and Scarlett still kept in touch, on and off. She turns her attention to her friend, her tone different this time from the off-hand question for more information. She knows Adal, she knows the things that are important to her. This time, there's weight to her asking for more.]

Why?

[lengthened]

( Adal braces herself against the desk she's near, lowering her body against it as the words wash over her. Her heart hurts for his gamble. For the tradition her son started. For his involvement in the Colony. And not the Tower. )

The -- Scarlett?

( She comes back into her own body, righting her stance. She's strong. This is the information she needed. Not that she is close to the Butlers. Not that she was close to Scarlett. )

She - He's my son.

[thefaxwhisperer]

Oh my god.

[Donna looks down at the picture in her hand again, and now that she's looking at it she can see the resemblances. The pieces of her friend in his face. The eyes. She should have seen it, but at the same time, how could she?]

I ... Adal, I had no idea.

[lengthened]

No, Donna. Neither did I. I had no idea. I only -- knew his spirit had -- appeared and reappeared. Over the years. But I didn't know how or, or why, not until now.

( She moves forward again, tapping the picture of him. )

He fell into Colony hands. And they betrayed him.

[thefaxwhisperer]

If he called the Gauntlet, he may have betrayed them first.

[But that's neither here nor there. The Gauntlet must have meant different things back then. She's not versed enough in witch politics to know otherwise.

Donna drops into her desk chair, rubbing her eyes briefly as she does.]

I don't know where he is. He finally managed to kill them all, and according to the rest of his co-conspirators, he's off the map. I could try and ask Scarlett, but if he doesn't want to be found, she won't tell me.

[She pauses, before drumming her fingers against the arm of the chair briefly.]

But I do know where your granddaughter is.

[Waverly blinks, eyes going wide: "What?"]

[lengthened]

Co-conspirators. You make him sound like a terrorist.

( She supposes he is a witch terrorist. )

My -- I'm sorry. Who? He - My -- ?

[thefaxwhisperer]

They did just commit a bloody coup so ... I'm sure to his ex-friends he was.

[Donna takes a breath, before glancing between the two of them.]

Have you heard about the resurrections that have been happening?

[Waverly nods because yep, she's been all up in that. "About a dozen people spontaneously came back to life scattered across the country and - oh." It clicks before she can even finish her ramble. "She's the witch. The one who showed up with a vampire named Isobel?"

Donna nods.]

She wanted to go back to her coven, so I helped her connect with the new leadership of the Colony. But she was Rusty's daughter. They killed her as part of the curse.

[lengthened]

What --

( She has been singularly focused and not answering anything Underground-related, so, she turns to Waverly. She knows Waverly is not hiding this from her, that she shouldn't be so spectacularly out of the loop. She looks back at Donna. )

She bound his curse. A curse that great would require a sacrifice. One person's life force to give him an infinite amount of them. And you know Russell?

[thefaxwhisperer]

[Waverly would have gotten around to the angel in her borrowed guest room eventually.

Donna takes a deep breath, and nods.]

I know him. I've been seeing a lot of him lately, actually, because Harvey had been working on the aforementioned coup.

[A beat.]

He's the one who warned me Brannigan was dead.