for the rest of us death will be a relief

[praevaricatio]

Comments

[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.

[lengthened]

Did he do it himself?

( What has his life been like all his life, but more importantly, in the past few months. )

He's alive. And they're all dead. And he has cohorts.

[thefaxwhisperer]

No. He wasn't there.

[That she knows for sure. He couldn't have gotten from Scotland to New York that fast, even with his skills. Boats and airplanes are harder to manipulate than cars.]

And yes. His cohorts are who I sent Adrienne to. I'm not sure how much she knows about her parentage though. She introduced herself as a Melroux.

[lengthened]

Yes, you said she's Colony. She's -- she's part Melroux, then --

( Then he was with a Melroux. And - betrayed them. Maybe was betrayed. )

She is his daughter. You know this for sure? His daughter?

[thefaxwhisperer]

Well, as far as I know they haven't run a DNA test.

["We could do that," Waverly says quickly. "Run a DNA test."

Donna nods, before she continues.]

But the heirs seemed pretty convinced that she at least was who she said she was. The information about how she died bore fruit. She was killed to curse him. That's about all I got to listen in on before they took her to Baltimore.

[lengthened]

Baltimore.

( She turns to Waverly, hand lightly grasping at the fabric of her coat. )

There's a trail.

[thefaxwhisperer]

[Waverly gives her a squeeze back. "This all started in Baltimore. I take it Rusty was there?"

Donna nods.]

Yeah, he was. He's not anymore though. I can call David, let him know you're coming if you want to see Adrienne.

[lengthened]

Should I? ( He hand clings to Waverly's arm, clings to something amid the truth. ) She doesn't even know I exist. And she's newly returned, which is harrowing enough. I can't lead her to her father, I don't want to be the bearer of no tidings.

[stupetballs]

You are a tiding onto yourself.

[She may not realize she has a grandmother to reach out to, and is falling back on what she knows. That being said:]

You don't have to decide right now. You can take your time to think about it. I'm going back to Mystic Falls this weekend and -

[Her eyes light up as though she just realized something.]

- Oh! Mystic Falls! She should - we're getting a bunch of the resurrected folks in one place to try and see how much data we can gather about what happened to them. If Adrienne is willing, she would be a good person to include. She kind of breaks the curve with regard to how long ago she died.

[Donna nods slowly, before reaching for her phone. "I could put you in touch with the heirs. See if they'd be willing to persuade her."

Waverly nods.]

I'm happy to talk to them. As Black Badge agent Waverly Earp, anyway.

[lengthened]

( Hard not to take that as the vague compliment it could be. A thousand plus year old witch is blushing for the first time in decades. But, feels like she has more footing, now. Waverly grounds her, so she lets go. )

Right after Christmas.

( It seems time has a sense of humor. )

If she's anything like her grandmother, she'd want any and all answers.

[stupetballs]

[Oh right, she had a question about Christmas. Pin in that until they get the business stuff done and they can let Donna go back to work.]

So let's at least give her the option, and you can come to Mystic Falls and we'll see what happens.

[Donna nods in agreement, before pulling up Max's number on her phone. As the phone rings on speaker, she pats the desk next to her.

"If you're going to pitch this, you should be close enough for them to hear."]

[maxxx]

( Max checks his caller ID, smirks, and steps out of the room he's in, closing the door behind him. )

There are no casualties to report, Donna. Everyone is playing nice.

[stupetballs]

["Good to hear, Max. But that's not why I'm calling."

Donna glances up and Waverly can take her cue.]

Hi, Max, this is Special Agent Waverly Earp from Black Badge Division. We're investigating the recent resurrections, and were told that one of them may be under your care. We're trying to get as many of them as we can together in one place so we can gather as much evidence as we can to determine why this is happening.

We'll be meeting in Mystic Falls this coming weekend and wanted to extend that invitation to your guest, if they're willing to come.

[maxxx]

( Under their care is a stretch, but in their hands, sure. A back-from-the-dead Isobel and Adrienne are a part of a set of resurrections. They are obviously playing with not enough cards. )

How many recent resurrections?

[stupetballs]

Including Adrienne and her vampire friend, we're up to twelve.

[Waverly's never been one to pretend she doesn't know something unless she's undercover and this doesn't seem like circumstances that require it.]

Appearing in at least six different cities across the US. Star City, Mystic Falls, New Orleans, Sioux Falls, Beacon Hills and New York.

[maxxx]

( That's not a low number. It also feels significant. Maybe all numbers could be significant.

Mystic Falls. New Orleans. Beacon Hills. New York. )

What's the going theory?

[stupetballs]

Our working theory? Six degrees of Kevin Bacon.

[Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense but she'll continue to elaborate.]

There was magical event in Baltimore -

[Donna interjects. "Max knows a little something about that."]

Well, everyone who's resurrected so far seems to be within a six degrees of separation from someone who was there. We don't know what magic exactly was involved - hence the big group meetup in Mystic Falls - but the witches that have examined them say that whatever magic it is, it seems to be complete. No lingering triggers.

[maxxx]

( He just - puzzles over that before she mentions Baltimore. )

Closed loop. ( Is that built into the -- he'll have to bring that back to their council. ) I'll float the offer to Adrienne and Isobel.

[stupetballs]

Great! I'll have Donna pass on the information. There's no pressure, but if you decide not to go, please keep us apprised if you notice anything strange or odd that may be happening? The more information we have the better we can get to the bottom of this.

[And with that she will grab a note pad off the desk and write the address and other information she has down.]

Thanks for your time!

[maxxx]

Yep.

( He takes a second, flicking a thumb against his lip, hand still on his phone before turning back. He glances over at Isobel who stands and glances back.

He lets himself back into the room, joining the interrogation in progress and waiting for a beat to speak up. )

[lengthened]

( She waits for Donna to end the call. )

Thank you, Donna. This will make a difference.