figure it out or don't figure it out

[Aurora Snow]

Prompt List

• Give Up
• Christmas
• Fire
• Secret
• Betrayal
• Rain
• Monster
• Siblings
• Have
• Guilt

[Aurora Snow]

R A I N

Every day was exactly the same for Aurora. They all blended together, one incredibly long, very gray blur. There were little bits and pieces here and there that stuck out - the various job, the random conversation. But overall, it was really just a lot of - well, nothing. Monday, she looked in the mirror, barely glancing at her reflection as she brushed her teeth. Then it was Wednesday and she was standing in front of the job postings board, looking for work - but she had a headache. She was waking up and it was Friday, and her phone was buzzing and it was Sunday and she'd missed lunch with Anna again. Eventually, I'm going to stop calling you, the voicemail threatened, but it went unheard because her mailbox was full and Anna would just hang up in disgust.

Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thufrisat - Wednesday again.

It had gone on like this for a long time - years, in fact. It wasn't immediate. First, there was the shock. Then, of course, the various stages of grief that followed. Aurora had lost her friend, her training partner, at the tender age of twenty-two, an age where mentally she hadn't even rounded out yet. So that was it, then. Her first taste of the real world - the really real world, as Fawn would say. The eventuality was that everything would die. And so, slowly, gradually, all of the colours faded from her peripherals. Every day, every job, every phonecall that went unreturned, every get-together or date or meeting that didn't involve her employment skipped. Sure, she was cordial enough - professional. But stand-offish. Like she'd never really recovered. But the truth was, whoever that had been before - that girl was gone.

This girl had a spine, and she had claws, and she wanted nothing more than to go through her day unbothered. She wanted to get up, go to work, do a job, get her money, and go home and go to bed. She found no joy in any of it. It was just routine. A comfortable routine. Her routine.

It was raining. Pouring, actually. Aurora was sitting inside Stav's office, arms crossed, her posture relaxed as she tapped her foot lightly on the ground. She was trying to see how quickly she could tap between claps of thunder. Onetwothreefourfivesixse-BOOMCRACK.

"Aurora."

"Yeah?" she said absently. Her brows raised, and she was looking at Stavros, but she was about a thousand miles away, looking through him.

"You're getting a partner," he said firmly. It wasn't the first time he'd said it, judging from the tone in his voice. "He'll be here today. I expect that you'll show him around and help get him settled."

"What?" she said, her voice very much in the present, sling-shotting the rest of her thoughts back with her. She looked at him like he'd just thrown a bucket of cold water on her. "Stav, you seriously got me to come all the way down here in this weather to tell me I'm getting a partner? After seven years?" She stood up. "You couldn't just leave me alone?"

Stavros Arun leveled his gaze at her. "Aurora, you know that you are like a daughter to me," he said. He held a finger up to stop her from interrupting him. "And as a father figure, as well as a Trainer here, I feel it would be negligent to let you continue. You're a Level 4. You should've been given a partner immediately following the resolution of the Midnight fiasco, and it was admittedly favoritism on my end that let that go."

"My work has been exemplary," she snapped, standing up. Her legs were shaky - when was the last time she'd eaten?

"Your work has been SLOPPY, Aurora," he rebutted. You rarely take jobs, and when you do, you act with little regard for yourself. Sure, you've brought down some of our highest profile targets, but it's almost always to the expense of yourself. Aurora, you are burned out, and you will die if you keep doing this. It would be dangerous to let it continue."

The room was filled with a massive silence that felt suffocating. So that was it, then. The rain beat against the window so loudly that it became all Aurora could hear.

"This is bullshit," she said. "You have hunters who have done FAR more idiotic things than I have and you praise them at every avenue for their ingenuity, yet I'm suddenly some sort of trainwreck for the exact same shit?"

"My decision is final," he said. "And if you keep at it, you'll see just how short my patience for your theatrics is going to become."

"Stav!" she protested.

"Get out, Aurora," he commanded. He rarely raised his voice, so when he did, it was effective. He watched the blonde vacate his office, the look she gave him at the door not at all unnoticed. She felt betrayed. She'd get over it. He'd let her go far too long, operating outside of the norm, and she'd grown so accustomed to it that she'd gotten comfortable in her solitude. It wasn't good for a hunter. They needed others. Even if they were all lonely creatures by heart. He knew that better than anyone.

Aurora didn't give a fuck about him or his life lessons, though. She threw the door to Connor's office open, interrupting the meeting he was having. A good-looking man that had about ten years on Aurora sat in the chair across from him. He turned his head to look at her, brows perked at the sudden intrusion.

"Ah, there she is now," Connor said. "Aurora, this is - "

"I want a fucking transfer," she spat, cutting him off. And then she was gone, the loud slam of the office door echoing in the quiet hall.

Aurora sped-walked to the garage, murder-death-kill violins shrilly sounding in her brain, like the jarring music from that Insidious movie. Honestly, if she had a superpower at the moment she would be using it. She felt so back-stabbed. They couldn't ease her into it? No, of course not. That wasn't Stavros' style. Never had been. She navigated her car out of the parking garage and into the storm.

For the first time in a while, at least, Aurora felt something. She felt rage.

[Aurora Snow]

S I B L I N G S

"Yeah, hey, it's me. Sorry to call so late - "

"No, it's fine. I love being woken up at 3 AM."

"I said sorry. Listen, I need your help - "

"So you're telling me you didn't call me to confess undying love?"

"You know what, forget it. Go back to bed."

"Who are you on the phone with?" came the drunken slurred and very excited voice from the back seat of Aurora's M5. Aurora turned her head, arching an eyebrow when she didn't see Anna immediately. She lifted her chin a little, looking further into the back seat, to find her sister laying down, unsuccessfully giving herself the nose-touch sobriety test.

"Nobody," she said dryly. She was quiet for a second, and then sighed. "Okay, let's get you home."

"I don't wanna go home!" Anna protested. "Nolan stood me up, I wanna party!"

Aurora gripped her keys tightly in her right hand, counting to ten in her head before forcing a smile through clenched teeth. "Nolan didn't stand you up, Anna. He got called into work, and sent me a text to come get you." She explained it slowly, like she was talking to a child.

"What? That's not true. I only had two drinks," she said, unsure of what she was arguing.

"I didn't say you - what? Okay, you know what? Get up." Aurora opened the door and got out, shutting it with a light slam. She opened the back door and Anna looked up at her, still laying down. The smell of alcohol was thick in the car, and now it was pouring out. Aurora was a drinker, sure, but she did it in the privacy of her own home, alone. She never got so piss drunk she made someone come get her.

"Heeeey sis!" Anna exclaimed. She held her hand out for a high five. "How are - OW!"

"Get UP, Anna!"

"OW OKAY!" Anna wrenched her hand away from her sister's death grip and sat up, albeit with a significant struggle. "Woo!" she said, putting her legs out of the car and touching the asphalt. "Hey, where are my shoes?" she asked, suddenly aware that she could feel the warm pavement beneath her feet.

"You threw them at Darren after he cut you off," Aurora said bluntly. "Can you walk?"

"What? But I love Darren, I wouldn't do that," she said, horrified. "Oh, no, maybe I would... I don't know," she trailed off. "Man, I'm drunk,"she hissed, as though she'd only just become cognizant of herself.

"So glad we're on the same page, now. Can you walk?" she prompted again? "Yeah? Okay, good. Sorry, still live on the third floor."

Anna moaned. When Aurora said that the elevator was still broken, she moaned harder. "Why haven't you moved yet?" she whined. "The elevator is always broken here!"

Aurora bit back something nasty. "I like the exercise. Now, come on," she said. "Get up, let's go. I'm not going to tell you again."

Anna made more noises of protest, but eventually she got up, stumbling towards Aurora. She went past her, then, lunging for the topiary of a large bird. Aurora made a confused face, but then Anna started making gagging sounds. "Ah, there it is," she said to nobody in particular. "Welp." She sat down on the steps of the nice-ish apartment building, pulling a cigarette out of the pocket of her sister's purse.

"You're doing sooooo goood sweetie," she called, voice flat. Anna continued to throw up, and this went on for some time. Every time Aurora thought she was done, she'd lurch back in for another pass.

"Is this why you called me?" Evan's voice pulled her out of her space-out session. He had his hands to his face, looking like a kid at Christmas. "I'm in utter disbelief. You needed help wrangling a drunk friend?" He was on the verge of laughing, and the look on Aurora's face suggested he absolutely should NOT so of course, he did start laughing.

Anna emerged from the avian shrubbery, wandering back over to them a great deal less full of alcohol than before, but no less drunk. "Sorry about your bird," she said, picking a leaf out of her hair.

Evan's face of sheer amusement turned into shock as soon as she came into the immediate space and he could get a good look at her. "Good GOD, there are two of you? Who thought that was a good idea?" He looked at Aurora. "You didn't tell me you had a twin."

"Would it have mattered if I had?" she asked, brows furrowed. "It isn't any of your business. And anyways, she's not my twin. This fat cow is my older sister," she grunted, taking on the brunt of Anna's weight as she shouldered her sister, who was officially done for the night.

"I'm in a state of shock. Really, Aurora. You keep such secrets," he hissed, pretending to look hurt.

"Are you gonna help, or are you gonna stand there and fuck off? Because I got a few flights of stairs ahead of me and if you aren't here to help, you can just - fuck off," she said again.

"Fell a little flat on that one," he observed.

"Yeah, I'm tired," she admitted. She turned, still shouldering her sister, and began talking to her softly. "Alright, let's go, up the steps, ready?"

Wordlessly, Evan came around to the other side, taking Anna from her sister. "Get the door," he nodded ahead. Aurora skipped the opportunity to rag on him for helping, since she really didn't want to carry that bitch up the stairs alone. Or at all. And now Evan could just do it for her! "Alright, alley-oop," he muttered, shifting Anna from standing to being carried. "Watch your head, don't want to knock you out, you'll already have quite the headache when you're up I think."

Aurora ignored him talking to her drunk sibling as she lead the way to her apartment. It wasn't until she had the key in the door that she realized that he'd never actually been there before. Until just then. Sure, he knew here address - he'd picked her up once or twice, but this was a little more personal than she wanted. And - okay, well, he pushed past her and went right in like he owned the place, so she guessed now was as good a time as any. Damnit.

"Sure, make yourself at home," she mumbled, rolling her eyes as she followed behind them.

"Sorry, did you want me to just toss her on the hall floor like a caveman and be on my way? Because, I can get her off the couch and go do that," he said. Admittedly, he was curious to see how his "other half" lived - but he wasn't sure what he expected. Whatever it was, this hadn't been it. It was too barren. There weren't any photos, no personal touches. He imagined her bedroom would probably be a little more cozy, since the living room looked - well, sterile was the word. But, still.

"No, it's -" she let out a long sigh. Gratitude, Aurora, she reminded herself. "Thank you."

Evan looked stunned. "Thank you?" he parroted. "That's it? No witty comeback? No venom?"

"Please leave?" she added, squinting at him like she wasn't sure what else he was looking for.

He was already heading to the door. "No, I thought we could have a sleepover. You know, braid eachother's hair, talk about boys? Of course I'm going, Aurora. Fuck sake. You called me," he reminded her.

"WOW, you guys," Anna outburst from the couch. "Aurora. Do him, or I will." And she rolled over, pulling the scratchy blanket over her head to block the light from the foyer.

"Yeah, leaving now," Evan said. He opened his mouth, held a finger up, and then shook his head and pulled the door closed behind him as he stepped into the hall.

Aurora stood in the abrupt silence for a few seconds, counting to ten yet again. She looked over at the couch slowly, and for a moment, considered just killing her sister. She was drunk, she'd say. She came at me. It would be self defense. They'd believe her, right? No, probably not. She locked the door and turned off the light, then went to her bedroom - which, Evan would be disappointed to know, wasn't any more personalized than the rest of her apartment.

[Aurora Snow]

G I V E  U P

Every day, the nothing inside of her was pushed out further, like some supermassive black hole, endlessly expanding and eating everything in its path. It wasn't even like she could mourn the loss of feeling; it had been gone so long she wasn't even aware of who she had been before. She had only been dimly aware of this, having grown naturally and aged into her skin over the years, so to her, she was the same. Of course, her family certainly didn't feel that way, and while Anna had been around for enough of it that the change was not as much of an adjustment, the rest of them weren't. As a result, there was often bad blood.

When Aurora received the text from her older brother regarding a birthday dinner for Anna, she made a noise of disgust. Evan glanced up from his paperwork to see what she was "ugh"ing about. He hated doing receipts for their stupid travel anyway, so any excuse to stop doing that and pry into Aurora's life was welcomed. She had already gone back to initialing and signing all of the documents that required it before the clerks would take them, and the phone was left forgotten about by her bottle of water.

"What 'ugh'? What are we 'ugh'ing?"

"Nothing," she said.

The room was silent for a while longer. Evan had learned that Aurora felt one-word sentences were acceptable, and where most people would offer more information, she never seemed to feel the need to fill gaps with an explanation. When she spoke again, it was to ask for the copies he'd made that needed her information on them still.

"Sure, but first, what did you 'ugh'?" he said. They'd only been together about six months or so, and they'd been working just fine, but Even had never met a human so resistant to him before. Granted, he didn't expect everyone to fall and worship at his flaming altar, but a Phoenix was naturally charismatic, being the 'bringer of life' and all that. He had initially thought she had a problem with everyone, and while she absolutely did, she specifically seemed almost - impervious? Maybe she was really just that dead inside. He didn't think so, though. She was far too intense to be dead.

"Just give me the fucking paper," she snapped. She snatched it from him when he held it out, and he gripped on it harder than he needed to, just to make her work for it.

"You know, you don't get paid any extra just to be a bitch, Aurora," he reminded her.

"Well, at least you're finally on the same page as everyone else," she said with a wry smile. She clicked her pen while meeting his eyes, and then abruptly went back to what she was doing. They always had moments like that, the two of them. A barb, a pointed motion, and then routine as usual, as though whatever it was had never happened. Honestly, he didn't remember humans being this frustrating. Aurora reminded him more of the Arun witch he worked with at Diamond. What was her name, Belle? Pretty name, mean girl.

He set all of his things down for a second and sat rather still, then lunged for her phone before she had time to fully react. Fully, because she did react, but all she was successful in doing was knocking everything off her desk as they wrestled over the phone. It was her work phone, so Evan knew the password to it. She managed to get it in her hand, but he turned, dragging her across the desk and bending her wrists at awkward angles, pinning her arms down against his side with his own. Both of their fingers were on the phone, but he managed to bend one of hers strangely and she yelled, releasing the device fully to him. He kept her arms pinned for good measure, and sat down at the edge of the desk, satisfied to have her laid out across it on the other side, lower half hanging off and her feet dangling above the ground.

"Aurora, Anna's birthday is tomorrow and we're taking her out for dinner. Please don't come," he read aloud. "Who's the sender for this? Adam? Who's Adam? I thought her boyfriend was Nolan?" He'd met them once, on accident. They were pretty cool, actually. Far better company than his current, at any rate.

"He's nobody," she said firmly. She let out a yell as he reached back with a free hand and jabbed her in the ribs. When she repeated that he was nobody, he did it again. It didn't tickle her, and that wasn't the goal. He didn't want to hurt her, either, but to inconvenience her - that was satisfying.

"Why is Adam texting you on your work phone about your sister?" he pried.

"If I tell you, will you stop STABBING me?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. He jabbed her again for good measure.

"Will you let me go?"

"Will you hit me?"

"No," she lied.

He jabbed her again. She yelled, much louder than before, and someone in the hall stopped and knocked on the door to her office. "Hey Snow, you good?" the unfamiliar voice called. Evan hadn't learned everyone's names just yet - too many people were in and out on a regular basis, it made it difficult to get acquainted with them all at once.

"We're fine!" he called back. The shadow hesitated at the door, then walked away. He looked down at her. "Are you going to behave?" he asked, voice lilting like he was talking to a child.

"Evan, if you don't let me go in the next three seconds, I'm going to fuck you up," she hissed. He must've taken her threat seriously enough, because he released her and jumped to his feet in one fluid motion, navigating out of the reach of the swipe of her fist that followed immediately after. She sat up, straightening her shirt and slid off her desk, going from frazzled back to dignified in just a few pats of her hair.

"Soooooooo who's Adam?" he asked again.

"He's my brother," she said firmly. She'd given up on resisting his efforts to fact-find, deciding that she'd just offer him very little in the way of supplementary information and allow him to wonder about it in silence for the rest of the day.

Evan looked mildly surprised. "Huh, how about that. I thought you only had the one. So, your work phone? Listen, if you don't offer up a little bit of detail here this is going to take all day - you give a one-word answer, I give you several more follow-on questions, do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Well, there went my plan," she muttered, rolling her eyes. He actually knew her well enough to know that, at least. Point in his favour. It had taken her sister years to figure out that she was never going to volunteer additional information outside of the most basic answer to whatever question had been asked. "Adam is my older brother, he works for Frost."

"And he told you not to come because..." he lead, gesturing in exaggerated motions for her to continue.

"Because last year they wanted me to participate in the dinner conversation and the meal ended with me telling them that I thought they were fucking stupid. I don't really remember a specific reason why, but I'm sure there are several to choose from. Really, Evan, why does any of this matter?"

"Oh, it doesn't," he said, an amused look on his face. "I'm just so relieved to see that you get on this swimmingly with everyone and it isn't just me." He actually wasn't lying, at least not wholly. It did explain a lot.

"Look, there's no fun story for this one," she said, shrugging. "My parents don't like who I've grown into. I get a lot of the 'where did we go wrong with you' shit. They compare Anna and I a lot which is weird, because we're two vastly different people."

"That I can most certainly agree on," he said, nodding sagely. "For one, I vastly prefer her as a beer pong partner. You throw like garbage."

"Evan, you've never even seen me play beer pong!"

"You're right, and I assume it's because you throw trash, so you've just accepted that you have no talent for it and left it up to those of us who excel. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, really."

She got quiet, and suddenly she remembered a random moment her first few months at the guildhouse when Fawn had convinced her to come to a dorm party. She'd never played beer pong before, but she and Fawn had run the table for several matches once she figured out how to throw the ball right. She had a far-off look in her eyes for a second, looking at the wall, but not at any particular thing on the wall.

"No," she said softly. "No, I'm actually pretty good." She blinked rapidly. "But I'm not really a party drinker anymore," she added, squinting a little at him. "Not really the best use of my time."

"Yeah, you'd rather kill half a bottle while you rearrange your serial killer board, I'm sure," he mused, nodding to the corkboard on the wall with photos and strings and notecards scattered all over it. "What is all that, anyways? Who is it?" he asked. He knew full good and well who it was - Diamond or no, most hunters recognized the elder vampires' faces just due to them always being at the source of most of the bullshit they dealt with on a daily basis.

"Nemo Nobody," she said sarcastically. She caught the clock on the wall above the door as she glanced back, and swore. "Ah fuck, the clerks are gone for the day. We can't turn this shit in until Monday now. See what you did, Evan? All these questions - you just pulled me off track from the one thing I came in to do today. Thanks."

"Oh no, we'll wait two extra days to get paid for that shitty motel we stayed in while flushing out a baby vampire nest," he said dramatically. "I'm sure that we will both survive without the eighty-seven dollars we spent," he joked. He tossed her phone back to her. "Come on, let's go. If you can't see Anna tomorrow for her fancy dinner, why don't you meet her at the bar for drinks tonight? You know she'll be there."

"Why are you so interested in my sister?" she asked, following him out of the office.

"I'm not," he said firmly. "I'm interested in half priced margaritas and nachos. That anyone else will be there is merely a consequence I'm prepared to face." He reached out to drape an arm over her shoulder, a gesture she squirmed out of almost immediately.

"I'll go, but if you do that again, I'm going to turn around and go home," she warmed, pointing at him with her keys.

He held his hands up. "Alright, I surrender. Come on, let's go before we end up being the sad lonely people at the bar with no chairs."

[Aurora Snow]

F I R E

Aurora came to, a haze of smoke and ash around her. She could see the dull of morning light through the dust and cloud that filled the room - what room was it? As she sat up, she moaned - she was definitely hurt, she just couldn't tell where yet, because every part of her hurt. Her lungs felt like they were being crushed, and as she tried to take in a deep breath, she choked, coughing violently. Fucking hell, what had happened? She couldn't think straight, everything around her blurring as she shook her head to try and rouse herself into the present. She stayed where she was for a moment, wiggling ten fingers, then wiggling ten toes, each methodical and deliberate. No, she wasn't paralyzed, and that was something. She began moving her limbs, now, again very slowly and deliberately. She had zero recollection of how she'd gotten here, in what was surely a freshly-burned building, but she couldn't see any active fires, so at least she knew she wasn't in immediate danger of being cooked. Still, the structure groaned, and she knew that she would need to move soon, or she'd be buried underneath what hadn't already caved in.

Speaking of that, why wasn't she buried? The damage was pretty extensive, and there were fallen beams everywhere - part of the fucking wall was caved in for Christ's sake, so she must've just gotten lucky. She let out a cry of pain as she moved her left leg. Not so lucky, she thought to herself, wincing as she leaned forward to inspect herself. There was a massive gash on her leg, and she saw what she was sure was bone exposed at her shin.

"Oooh," she breathed, again sucking in that thick air. Now she was really coming around, and she was painfully aware that vacating the building was going to be a lot harder than she'd initially thought. She rolled to her side, pushing up off the ground, ignoring her palms as they dug into bits of broken glass and shards of burnt wood. "Fuck," she hissed. She struggled, but managed to rock herself to a stand, trying to balance on her good leg. That lasted for about all of a minute before she teetered, and fell back down. She felt something grip her under her armpits before her butt hit the ground, and she jerked her legs back to her chest in surprise, instinctively going to kick whatever was behind her. Except, with a broken tibia, that didn't work out so well, and this time her hissed cries became yells.

"It's me, Aurora, it's me," the voice said.

"Evan?! What - what the fuck happened?"

"Listen, I'm going to pick you up, and we're going to leave, because we're on significantly borrowed time. Let's go, ready? One, two, " he counted off. On three, she felt him pull her up, and she used her good leg to propel her. He scooped her up, carrying her like she were a maiden fair (which she was not), and carefully picked his way through the rubble, and made a quick exit by way of the collapsed wall.

Outside, they met with a medical team, already on site.

"Looks like my little display garnered some attention," she heard him musing to himself. Aloud, he called to them. "Over here!" He began rattling off her visible injuries, to include the break, and while doing so closed to gap to where the vehicle was. She felt herself being placed on a stretcher, and gripped him tightly, fighting him as he tried to put her down.

"Aurora, you're - stop - you're going to hurt yourself - stop FIGHTING me, woman!" he commanded suddenly. His tone caused her to release him, partly in shock, and partly because she felt someone else reaching for her arm. Oz was already hooking her up to an IV.

"It's gonna be fine, Snow," a youthful voice said. Aurora looked over at the offender, a girl with dyed red hair working quickly to get her fluids going.

"Who the fuck?"

"My name is Nina," the girl explained. "Get her up!" she called, directing others to lift the stretcher into the back of the ambulance the guild had. She followed her in, leaping expertly into the back of the bus. "You're safe with me," she assured her. "I won't leave you. Your partner is going to meet us at the guildhouse, but he needs to be checked out, too," she said, glancing up at him and shaking her head as he made to get into the back with them. Something about the way she said it suggested that he let them ride alone, and Evan let go of the door.

"I'll be right behind you, Aurora," Evan assured her.

Once they'd started to move, Nina began checking her vitals, and then gave a whistle when she saw her leg. "The good news is, it looks like a clean break. We'll know more once we've got you in the med bay, but I think you're going to be okay." She pulled something out of a little kit, and then went to her IV. "I'm going to give you something for the pain, okay? I know you don't feel a lot now, but - "

"I'm in shock," Aurora said, her voice thick from the smoke she inhaled. She coughed, and Nina moved around a little more, bringing something to her face.

"It's oxygen," she informed her, pressing the mask to her face. "Don't worry, just breathe in and out like normal. We'll be there soon, and this will all be over." She placed her hand on Aurora's head, gently stroking her hair.

Aurora thought she heard her start to sing softly, but she felt herself fading into blackness, and could no longer find the strength or will to keep her eyes open.



"We are overrun, do you hear me?" she was screaming into her phone. She rattled off the address of the warehouse she was at, running down the stairs as she did so. "There are too many of them. Do NOT send backup, it is NOT safe." She paused in the stairwell, knowing that Evan was just on the other side of the door. "This is it," she said, her voice hollow. "Don't come for us. It's too dangerous." And with that, she dropped her phone and took a deep breath. This was it.

She kicked the door open, sprinting across the warehouse floor to her partner, who was running to meet her. Like a whip crack, something struck her left leg, dropping her. She went down with a cry, but got back up, dragging herself until she saw Evan's feet. He pulled her up, and she willed herself to stand, the pain like lightning through her body. Around them, the shadows advanced, the soft whispering echoing until it became one loud noise. Aurora felt despair setting in on her chest, but tried to ignore it, thinking of only the moment in front of her. She looked down at the gun in her hand, a defeated noise as she realized she was on her last magazine. "This was a fucking trap," she said, holding onto him for support.

"So it would seem," he said. He kicked out, catching something with the steel toe of his boot, sending it skittering back with a screech. It wouldn't hold them off for long. "Aurora, did you tell them not to come?"

"Yeah," she said. "Hell of a last stand."

"No," Evan said firmly. "No, it isn't."

He spun around, looking her in her eyes. "Do you trust me?" He had her by her shoulders, gripping them so hard that she felt the ache in her bones. There was something in his eyes - like a - a light, his pupils were lit somehow. Was it a trick? "Do you trust me?" he asked again.

"Yes!" she snapped. "Of course I do."

"Good. Close your eyes. It's going to get very, very bright - because I don't do last stands. Not now, not ever." He wrapped his arms around her, pushing her head into his chest and cradling her. "Keep your eyes closed, Aurora. Just keep them closed, and it will all be over soon."

She could hear the shadows closing in, and felt tears roll down her cheeks. She couldn't say anything, only nodded against his chest. She knew that he felt it; she knew that he knew he had her trust.

At her nod, Evan held her more tightly, looking straight ahead as one creature in particular came within spitting distance. It whispered something to him, something in an old language that had origins far beneath them, through other planes and where Eldrich things slept. It taunted him, he could understand that much. It was asking him if he was ready to die. The funny thing about a Phoenix though, was that they didn't really ever die. And what defeated shadow, but light? Light and fire.

Flames rose off of him, massive wings from his back coming into view of the creatures, who positively went wild with panic. How had they not known? How could they not have sensed this? Their Master had not told him that one of those was in this fight. They tried to fall back, scrambling to rip reality as they knew it apart to portal home, but it wasn't quite fast enough. He burned, first a yellowish red, then blue. The building around them went up like tinder, with the Phoenix commanding it, and them, to burn.

"Not my last fucking stand," he spat, the flame subsiding. There was nothing left of them except the ash that floated on the air, and that would burn away, too. He waited until he was sure they were all gone, but he heard nothing, and saw nothing. It was only then that his footing broke, and he fell to his knees, dropping Aurora in the process. Everything went black.



Evan watched the ambulance leave, and heaved a sigh of relief. Hopefully they gave her something that would knock her out, or she'd be fighting them the entire way to the guild. He allowed another medic to give him a once over, but waved them away once they started in with the questions.

"You know," a voice said, causing him to turn. "She really thought she was going to lose you."

"Stav," Evan said. He reached out to the man for a shake, surprised when he was pulled into a hug. It was brief - the manly kind of hug, but still, more than Stavros Arun ever emoted most of the time. "Do I get the lecture now, or later?" he asked, arching a brow at him.

"No lecture. Just, a careful warning - there aren't many of your kind left. Don't burn so brightly that it's the last time."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Evan said glibly, unaffected by Stav's admission of knowing what he was. Fucking nothing got past that Arun, so Evan had never assumed that there wouldn't come a time where it would come up. Granted, he had hoped over polite conversation with whiskey involved and not outside the wreckage of his making, but it was what it was. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a girl in a hospital bed." He paused. "And as for losing me - not fucking likely."

"I expect nothing less," the Arun said, and stepped aside so that Evan could get into the car that had arrived for him.

[Aurora Snow]

S E C R E T

Aurora looked in the mirror, marveling at herself. Her skin had a glow to it, like a soft golden shimmer. She imagined this is what Fae must feel like. She held her hand up, watching the faint aurora-like waves of reds and yellows phase in and out of view.

"Fitting, I think," a voice behind her said. She felt arms wrap around her and a kiss on her neck, and closed her eyes, a laugh escaping her mouth. "Auroras for Princess Aurora."

"Princess, hardly," she snorted. She wanted to say more, but she was still stunned by the reflection in the mirror. It was like something was behind her eyes, quietly burning. She leaned forward, feeling Evan's arms slack as she did so, and put her face directly up to the mirror as though she were about to search for an eyelash that had gone wayward.

"It won't last very long," he told her, watching how she became utterly ensconced by her reflection - or, rather, the changes in it. "It'll fade in the next few hours." He let his arms slide off of her, lingering at her hips for a second before letting go entirely, allowing her to turn this way and that and examine herself.

She turned around to look at him, and for a second, he almost remembered what it had felt like to gaze into eyes like that on such a regular basis. He sighed, giving her what could be considered a regretful smile. He reached out, touching her chin lightly. "It suits you," he said softly. He gave her a gentle kiss on her cheek, and then disappeared from the bathroom, presumably to get more dressed and eat. He was always eating.

Aurora felt she should probably do the same, and cast one last look into the mirror before she left. She'd have to remember her sunglasses.



The drive to work had been mostly uneventful. She found out that in her absence the parking pass she had expired, so she got to spend twenty minutes trying to unfuck that. When she finally got into her office, she pushed her sunglasses up into her hair, and let out a noise of disgust. The only thing in her office to greet her was a stack of paperwork on her desk. "Come on!" she cried. "I was on LEAVE. Can't anyone else do this?"

Erik rocked back in his chair across the hall, having heard her. "Skye used to, but ever since she got swapped to Onyx, it's like it's never ending."

"Never ending or you guys just don't do it," she muttered. She began sorting them out, already reaching for her earpods so she could just turn on the music and turn her brain off. At least filing would allow her to catch up on cases she'd missed. It seemed it was open season on all things supernatural again. Since the incident with the cthonic shadows, she'd been steering clear of anything that didn't walk upright and have fangs, but it didn't mean she wasn't curious. She entertained herself by reading some of the reports the guys wrote - some of them were really not aware how to give a concise account of their job.

Time flew, and eventually everyone left, which meant Aurora immediately locked the door to her own shared office with Evan and flipped the whiteboard over to her personal project: her Bacchus tracker. She sat down on top of her desk, fumbling in the drawer absently for the bottle of Jack Daniels before feeling the lid on her fingertips and leaning further to yank it filly out. She thought about getting a paper cup above the water cooler for it, but - nah, best not to get into the habit of that. It was a sipping drink, after all. What better way than right from the bottle.

She heard keys jiggle into the door and kicked the board, flipping it back over to the right side. Magnets got sent flying everywhere in a little rainbow-coloured shower, and she swore and set the bottle down on her desk, dropping to her hands and knees just as Evan came in.

"Hey, did you want to - uh, what are you doing?"

"Fucking magnets," she said, as though that explained everything. When he made a noise, she sat up into a squat, holding a handful of technicolour letters in her palm to show him.

"Uh-huh.... Well, after you're done with... whatever that is...," he said, gesturing at her with a swirling motion, "We've been invited to dinner."

"Oof," she said, still in the squat. She stood up, tossing the handful of letters she'd recovered on her desk, then ran her fingers through her hair. "Dinner? I don't know, I've already had a few," she said, as though that excused her from social obligation.

"Aurora, if you don't want to go, you can just say that," he informed her.

She regarded him for a moment, trying to determine if he was truly serious. He'd dragged her to just about everything lately, and she'd been far less resistant than normal - mostly, it was the painkillers, which made her a significantly nicer person, but were coming to a close. That and - well, ever since they'd started sleeping together, she was slightly more inclined to go along with him. But tonight, she'd really just wanted to look at her Bacchus board and dig through archives to find out what that brown-eyed fuck had been up to.

And still, Evan stood, patiently waiting for her answer, brows perked, dressed nicely and holding her coat in his arms already. She shook her head.

"I don't think it's good if I go," she said.

"Okay," he said.

"That's it?" Her voice was full of doubt.

"No, obviously you're going," he said, making a face at her like she was fucking crazy. He was already advancing on her, coat raising to her shoulders. She took a step away from him. "No, I really don't think I should go," she insisted.

He stopped fucking with her coat, frowning at her. "Is it the vampire tracker you've got? Because I promise, this will be better than you eye-fucking it all night and killing that bottle."

"Oh, what could possibly be better?" she asked sarcastically, and in that moment, was internally mortified to know that she sounded fucking identical to her sister, Anna, something that, by the look on Evan's face, did NOT escape him.

"Well, the dinner is with a very old friend," he explained, trying to wrangle her coat on her while she spun around in difficult circles to outmaneuver him.

"Emphasis on old?" she asked, dancing away from yet another swipe with a sleeve.

"Yes," Evan said, kicking her desk chair at her intending to crack her right knee with it - just a good bump, that's all.

She turned sharply out of habit, then doubled over doubled over, having been hit in the left shin instead.  It was enough for Evan to get within arm's reach of her without getting swiped at by her claws - ever since she'd started getting her nails done, he found that his extremities were in extreme danger. He threw the jacket at her. "And his girlfriend happens to have had audience with someone you very much want to find a weakness for," he added. "So, I'm going to ask again - do you want to come to dinner?"

"Yes," she snapped, pulling on her jacket. "Did you have to hit me in my left leg, though? I literally just got off recovery for having broken bones in it."

"Well," he said, shrugging. "Don't block with your left side."

"Get the light, would you?" she asked, already out the door.



On the ride over, they were both quiet, thinking through various things. Aurora was wondering exactly what she might learn, naturally, because anything that got her closer to determining an "in" for Bacchus was something she needed. Why would Evan volunteer this, though? He had already expressed his hesitation at her quest for revenge, though lately he'd been backing way off of it. In fact, ever since the incident, he'd been totally different with her. She didn't not like it, she just didn't know why. It was like he'd seen into her core and suddenly understood her better, or something.

Of course, that was kind of what had actually happened, but Evan wasn't going to just tell her that. He valued good communication, but there were just some things that he didn't share. It was like that residual glow she had, which had faded already, he noticed, glancing at her from the corner of his eye in the darkness of the car. He could see it, but mortals couldn't, not anymore. Other things had happened, too, and he drummed his fingers lightly against the steering wheel as he wondered if Stavros would try and give him a new partner. Generally, sleeping with one's partner was frowned upon; at the very least, Aurora might get that transfer she had screamed about at their first meeting. Oh, but how love complicated things - not that he was in love with her, of course. But he was incredibly attached, and he supposed that it could be considered love by mortal standards. That had been a conversation looming on the horizon, he knew.

As though she could hear his thoughts (she couldn't), Aurora reached out for his leg, placing her hand down as though she just wanted to know that he was there. Her gaze out her window was unbroken, but he saw her smile when he moved a hand from the steering wheel and twined his fingers with hers. Christ, but she would definitely have to be transferred. He could see the glow on her hand, and shook his head a little to himself. It was his magic, after all, that stained her. Of course it would react to his touch.

Standing on the doorstep of the quite large house, Aurora had no idea what to expect. She had no idea whose house they were at, either, and she'd found herself wishing she'd stolen another drink or two of the Jack that Evan had no doubt thrown into the trash on his way out of the office. She knew she should have gone out last. Oh well, too late for that now. When the door opened and Gareth was standing there to greet them, she couldn't help but make a face.

"Aurora?" Gareth greeted, hesitantly holding his hand out to her. "Nice to.. see you?" he asked, closing one eye as he tried to determine what that awful face was.

"I - Gareth, yeah - no, yeah, sorry, I just - I've never been here before and Evan said we were going to a friend's for dinner, I just didn't expect it was someone I already knew. Sorry, hi, yeah, hi," she said, shaking his hand.

"Right," Gareth said, in that very British way he had. He raised an eyebrow to Evan as Aurora walked in, and Evan made the crazy sign with his finger, following after her quickly.

"You didn't tell me Gareth was old," Aurora hissed as they took their jackets off by the coat rack in the front hall. "You could have just said we were coming to his house."

"I said he's an old friend, Aurora. Literally, the word 'old' is in that sentance," he hissed back, their loud whispers not even a little inconspicuous. "Why are you acting like you're mad, you like Gareth!"

She had begun to walk towards the dining room, but turned around, pointing a finger at him. "You need to quit keeping secrets," she said, her hoarse whisper causing her to cough.

"Speak for yourself. See? Coughing, from choking on your secrets," he said, his tone normal but low, as he came right over to her ear. He did offer her a few pats on the back, allowing her to hook her arm around his so they could finally go to sit down.



Dinner wasn't awkard, at least. Aurora had never met Jill before tonight, and though she had confusedly asked Evan quietly where Autumn was, he'd only snorted and said she was with her actual boyfriend. Aurora just let that go, feeling like maybe it wasn't on her to unpack that suitcase. At any rate, Jill was nice - lovely, actually, and much more Gareth's speed than the girl Aurora had seen do a rail of coke off of a dirty bathroom stall in a dive downtown.

She especially liked when Jill poured her wine for her. Jill was very heavy-handed, and when Evan tried to protest, she just told him that he was driving, so he didn't need to worry, and to mind himself. "Yeah Evan, mind yourself," she said from around Jill's body as she poured, causing Evan to give her a Look.

"Alright, well, let's go have a walk, mate," Gareth said, sensing that the two were about to get into one of their one-up arguments  that he wanted no part of. "I'll show you the remodel of the study." Evan agreed, and off the boys went, leaving Jill and Aurora alone in the dining room.

Jill sat down next to her, pouring the remnants of the red wine into her own glass. She swirled it for a moment, then took a thoughtful sip. "So, Gareth tells me you're looking for information. I might be able to help you," she said.

Aurora tilted her head. "Yeah, you said you're like an archaeologist specializing in the extra-ordinary, right? Although, I need most current information, and I feel like - no offense -  you'd only have shit from way back."

JIll chuckled. "I take no offense," she assured her. "But, I would advise you that knowing your enemy more wholly can greatly assist you on a takedown - and Aurora, let me be clear - you will take him down," she said, her voice low.

"I - excuse me?" Aurora said, sitting back in her chair a little.

"Yes, that's right," Jill said, her voice firm. "I'm hiring you. Not in official capacity - this one will be off the books. It has to be. Gareth can't ever know," she told her, speaking hurridly, her voice hushed.

"Jill, what the fuck," Aurora said, turning in her chair to face the woman more fully. "Where is all this coming from?"

"Meet me tomorrow at this address," she said, handing her one of her business cards on it. "That's my warehouse downtown. It's safe for us to talk there. Not here, though. Bloody house has too many ears," she said, referring to Gareth and Evan. "And Aurora - you mustn't mention this to Evan. He and Gareth go very, very far back - like, to the Crusades," she said, giving Aurora a momentary mental hiccup.

"Yes, sorry if you didn't know, you do now," Jill said, but she didn't look entirely sorry. "Without the guild you will lack money and weaponry - I will provide that. Just meet me there tomorrow, and I'll give you everything you need to take that sodding cunt out."

When Jill dropped the c-word, Aurora made a face that plainly said that she was shocked. Even for slang, she hadn't heard Jill or Gareth really throw it around, and Evan usually didn't either, having lived in the US for long enough to know better. She was eager to know why she hated Bacchus so much, but moreso, she was eager to ask Evan exactly how the fuck old he was, because if she preoccupied him with that, which she could surely turn into an argument, he wouldn't be able to sense the drug deal she'd made beneath the surface.

"Thanks for the ammo," Aurora said, surprised as Jill took her hands in her own. She clenched them for a moment, then let them go as soon as the two men shuffled back in the room.

"Did you two kill that entire bottle?" Evan asked, pointing to the third bottle of wine - the one that Jill had just emptied into their glasses, actually.

"Yes," they both said, looking up at them with twinkling eyes.

"Christ, they're both drunk," Gareth said.

"Alright, time to go," Evan said, pulling Aurora's chair out with her still in it.

At the door, Jill hugged Evan, and then Aurora. "It was so lovely to meet you both," she purred. "I do hope we'll see eachother again soon, Aurora."

Aurora nodded. "I'd like that," she said with a smile.

Once in the car (again), they chatted about this and that and nonsense, really, until Evan finally zeroed in on real questions. "What were you and Jill talking about when I came in?"

"Bacchus," she answered. Better to be as honest as possible. "Apparently she has some pretty conclusive texts on him from before. Gives me a better idea of what kind of psychopath I'm looking at, I guess," she said with a shrug. Her shoulders were heavy from the wine.

"That's all?" he asked.

  She nodded, appearing to have lost her appetite for conversation. They drove in silence for a while, Evan mulling over things in his head, when he heard her take in a sharp breath, and then: "You were around during the fucking Crusades?"

Oh, Christ. "I did tell you I was old," he said, attempting to maintain footing on what was sure to be a nice, calm conversation. He could see that she was twisted in her seat so that she could face him, back against the window.

"Yeah, Evan, but I thought you meant a couple hundo, not - fucking Jesus of Bethlehem, or some shit," she sputtered.

"First of all," he said, holding up a finger, "Jesus was a very nice man, I'M TOLD, because I'm not that fucking old - and secondly, I never indicated how old I was, I just said old. And I'm still considered YOUNG for my kind!"

She was quiet, mostly, something muttered about him keeping secrets from her, and he snorted. If you only knew, he thought to himself. He wanted to call her out on her own secret-keeping, but he held his tongue, trying to remember that he needed to take the high road, because otherwise, they could argue into infinity. She thought he didn't know about all manner of things she did, mostly how she felt, but the joke was on her - Phoenix were rather intuitive, especially of those they held close to them. And Aurora - after going through the near-death experience, and then after sleeping with her - she would have a very, very hard time hiding things from him. Not impossible, of course, because Evan knew her and boy did she know how to play a good game, but if she wanted to really keep her plans under wraps, she was going to have to learn to stop being so goddamn volatile.

Of course, he wasn't going to tell her any of this. It was on her if she didn't research it; especially now that she was such good friends with Jill (he'd gotten the distinct impression they'd exchanged information for a playdate later on, which he was thrilled about, as it would keep her out of trouble - lord if he only knew), then that was on her. Besides, he figured after this Crusades revelation she'd just had, she probably would be getting more specific with her questions to him. She didn't always learn fast, but she did learn.

And while he thought the joke was on Aurora, the joke was actually very much on Evan. She'd already asked Jill about his kind, and Jill had given her a very quick rundown of what she knew - and promised her more when she saw her again. Now, she wasn't in the business of outright lying, but if he thought that she couldn't manipulate how she felt to only let him see what she wanted...? For the prospect of killing that son of a bitch vampire? Aurora would have done anything, including lie, cheat, and steal. Simply not letting her partner know her innermost thoughts? That was a small request she was happy to fill.

Her only goal was asking him how this magical residue worked, next. She'd have to work that into conversation when they hadn't been sniping at eachother, though - maybe over the next few days. She'd have to play into her genuine curiosity at it, but really, she just wanted to know if she could use it, or if it was just a stain on her. She'd be disappointed if it was just a stain, but she'd find another way to melt Bacchus' face off if that were the case. Idly, she reached out, putting her hand on his leg, almost instinctively. She felt his hand over hers, and though she didn't smile, she rested her head against the car window and closed her eyes. Even if he pissed her off, even if she wanted to fucking kick him down a flight of stairs, she did feel safe with him. She'd have to have a hell of a lot of firepower before she left his safety to go handle her - and now Jill's, apparently - business.

[Aurora Snow]

C H R I S T M A S

"It's simple. First, you will be taken. Then, once you're inside, you get to Iloquil or Deja. One, or the other, I promise it will not matter which. Finally, you kill that son of a bitch.""

"Are you sure you're okay?" Persephone asked. She gave Aurora a critical look as she sat in the back seat of the black sedan. If she'd only known Jill had sat there several months prior. Aurora glanced from then window to the rear-view, meeting Persephone's yellow-green eyes. They were so striking, it was almost off-putting. But Aurora knew a thing or two about being off-putting.

"Yeah," she replied.

"That looks pretty nasty," she observed. "Did he do that?"

"Fuck him," Aurora spat.

"Good thing he's dead, then." Persephone fell into the comfortable silence that came with a music-less car ride. She had a feeling that, were Aurora driving on her own, it would be the same. Persephone had had those days - fuck, she'd had those months. She was incredibly fortunate for the support she had both inside Midnight and out.

"Stop here," Aurora said suddenly, sitting up. She hadn't been wearing her seatbelt - she was too fucked up to really care, honestly.

"Snow, I know the way to Jill's house, and we're still about a quarter mile away." They hit a red light, and Persephone turned around, throwing an arm over so she could fully see Aurora. "It's fucking cold out. Don't be stubborn and walk it off. I promise, it won't feel any better."

Aurora stared at her for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay. But I am taking the walk to my apartment."

Persephone snorted. "I've already got your address, too, if that's what you're worried about - but look, the ladies said it. You've got fucking immunity. Honestly, I've never seen that before." She reached into her bag on the passenger seat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, offering her one after pulling one out with her teeth. Aurora accepted, and the light was long enough for Persephone to light both of their cigarettes before it changed. She ashed out the window, making the left into the nice-ass subdivision that Jillian Frost called home.

"You know, I think I'll redecorate his quarters," Persephone mused, alternating between biting the polish off of her thumb and puffing on her cigarette. "He was such a fucking cancer. Did you know, he threatened to bite me once?"

"Did he?" Aurora asked. She felt numb, like she was on auto-pilot. She was in shock, really, which Persephone knew. As they had left, Justinian had instructed her to keep Aurora talking - not to get information out of her, but to stop her from mentally checking out. When she'd said she wanted to go to Jill's first, Persephone had felt like that was a good sign, at least. Wanting to be with friends, right? Boy, she'd be eating those words shortly.

"Yeah. He was a cunt. He was born a cunt, and he died a cunt, and nobody will miss him. Your friend killing his bloodbond really scrambled his brain. Before that, he was somewhat level." She paused. "Sorry about all that mess, really. She did kill a bloodbond, though." It didn't excuse it, but Persephone did wager it explained why he'd gone so mental.

"Yeah she did," Aurora said, smiling a little to herself. Fuck, it was over. She felt emotion wash over her, and pushed it back down into her core, where all of her emotions went to go and hide from her when she was in such rigid control of herself. "She fucked her up, too. Blew her fucking head off. Of course, then she blew her own off, but, you know." She took another drag. There was no malice in her voice, none of the usual bitterness. She sounded proud.

The car slowed as they finally arrived, and Persephone hit the lock so she could get out. "She's the only one who ever broke his control," Persephone informed her. "In almost a thousand years. The only one who had done that before was the bloodbond. Your friend was OTB, girly. OTB indeed. I'll be right here when you're done."

Aurora got out, and took a deep breath as she began to walk up the drive to the house. It looked like they'd shoveled the walkway, at least, so she wouldn't have to walk in the ankle-deep snow (which was still coming, just incredibly slowly). Well, THEY hadn't shoveled anything - more like, Jill had almost fallen and broken her fucking neck, and Gareth decided he'd shovel. She observed that they had no decorations, but there were nets of lights thrown over the bushes, and some hung from the eaves of the house. She wondered which one was the Christmas fan.

She beat her fist on the massive wooden door, her open knuckles stinging in the cold. She wasn't fully aware of exactly what she looked like, to be perfectly honest. Persephone said she looked like she got hit by a car, and then an airplane, but Aurora didn't really feel it. That was probably actual shock, not mental shock. When she came down from that, it was going to be a hell of a hard fall, but right up until that moment, Aurora was going to abuse it. The door swung open, to Gareth wearing a Christmas sweater with lights all over it that were blinking and a decorated santa hat that said his name on the white fur trim.

"Guess I know which one of you likes Christmas," she said, eyes wide.

"Holy shit, Aurora," Gareth gasped. "Where the fuck have you been? Evan's been looking for you for the last week! Stavros was staring to put out feelers for you, it was like you went completely dark." He paused. "What the fuck happened to you? And is that," he said, pointing to her neck, "a vampire bite?" Before he could assault her with a further battery of questions, Jill came to the door - she was dressed in a sensible pair of jeans and a red sweater (it was worth noting).

"Hey," Aurora said, nodding to her. "Gotcha somethin'." She reached into the small front pocket of her jeans, pulled out a man's ring that had a rich, dark red stone in its center, and tossed it to Jill, who caught it effortlessly.

"Any trouble?" Jill asked.

"Not at all," Aurora said.

"Doesn't look like it," Jill replied, tipping her head to the bite that Gareth had just asked about.

"Oh, that's just a love bite," Aurora said. "Anyways, Merry fuckin' Christmas. I'm gonna go home and shower for the first time in a week." And with that, she turned and walked away.

Gareth had never been treated quite so invisible as he had just then. He was massive, so it wasn't often that people found a way to so completely ignore him like these two had just had, and what was all that secret code they spoke in about? He looked down at Jill, who watched her bloodied friend until she was safely in the car that was waiting for her, and then turned wordlessly, the ring between her two index fingers, and walked off into the house, and directly toward her office.

"Oh, absolutely not," Gareth said, closing the door. "Jill!"



Aurora was still buzzing with energy when Persephone dropped her off at the gate to her complex. She bid her farewells, telling the shifter that she sincerely hoped their paths never crossed again, and thanked her for the smoke. Then, she began the short walk up the hill and to where her building was. She took a few moments to look at all of the decorations people had put up  - mostly lights hung off balconies, but she could see trees through some of them, and they looked pretty nice. She didn't even have a tree. She'd gone under the week that she'd planned to get one, and now, it was a week before Christmas, and not worth it in her opinion.

When she got in view of her building, she spotted someone sitting on the bench outside, and stalled out in her steps. They'd seen her anyways, and she could tell by the figure headed towards her that it was Evan, and he was walking with purpose. He grabbed her in a hug, releasing her as soon as she cried out. She felt her feet on the ground and backed up two large steps from him, hands guarding her midsection.

"Fuck," she cried. "How did you know I was - Gareth," she said, answering her own question. She straightened out, holding a hand up to stop him from coming closer. "Dude, I have like, two broken ribs, okay? I'm very happy to see you, but I was hoping to at least take a shower first before I did," she admitted.

"Two broken - Aurora, where the fuck have you been?" he yelled. He was feeling a variety of emotions, and though mostly relief was flooding him, he was also frustrated already by how her casual behaviour was. Did she truly not know how her being missing for a week had hit him? Or her guild, for that matter?

"Midnight," she said, shrugging. She walked away from him, headed towards the doors to her building. "You coming?" she asked, calling over her shoulder.

He held his hand up, willing it to shoot Force lightning out, but nothing happened (of course) and he followed after her, hurrying to keep up with her gait. She was walking fast for someone who was showing a fairly decent amount of battle damage. Then again, Gareth had told him that she'd literally been dropped at their door by a car from Midnight, he just had tried to imagine any other reason why she might have fucking been in that vehicle. Maybe she just had really shitty taste in friends like that one bartender - but no, no, Aurora had literally just said, "Midnight", like that explained everything. In the elevator, he felt it pertinent to ask further questions.

"Were you at Midnight for a reason?" he asked, holding his arms out and attempting to get her to expand.

She was quiet, and then the doors opened, and she stepped out, heading toward her door without answering him. It may have been that she just didn't want to tell him out in the hallway, because it was actually pretty big news - or it could have just been because she wanted a drink before she told him anything. He was on her heels as she entered, picking up the keys she tossed on the table and hanging them on the key rack he'd put in (because she lost them so fucking much). He watched as she poured herself a rather stiff drink, and then sat down at the kitchen table, motioning for him.

"I need to tell you something," she said, hands on the table. When he reached for hers, he made a noise as he realized how bloodied up they were, and she withdrew them before he could touch her. "Evan! Quit trying to do a battle damage assessment on me and listen!" she snapped.

He hadn't been doing that, but felt it better not to argue with her when she was this way. All he wanted to do was hold her, and it seemed all she wanted to do was take a shower. He could understand, he just couldn't help himself.

"Okay," he said. "You have my full attention." And he meant it.

She looked at him, one hand now up on the table again, wrapping around the glass of nothing but ice and vodka. "I killed an Ancient."

Consider that bomb fuckin' dropped. She kept going, too.

"I was in Midnight, not at Midnight. Not visiting like Jill did, I was taken. And while I was there, I killed an Ancient. I killed Bacchus."

It hung like a strange weight in the air. She stopped talking, and it was obvious she was shaking as she lifted the glass to her mouth, but she grasped it more firmly (as firmly as she could, as it turns out, she had some bone fragments giving her a hard time of it), and drank it until the ice clicked against her teeth. She set the glass down, exhaling the burn, and leveled her gaze at Evan. When he said nothing, just stared back at her, clearly trying to process the information, she picked up the bottle to pour herself another. He took it from her, his fingers lightly grazing her fucked up ones as he did so, and simply poured for her, and when he was finished, he got up and got one for himself, too.

"I was hired by someone to take him out. It wasn't through the Guilds. It was through back channels. I was provided everything I needed to complete my mission, and now I'm home, and it's mission complete."

"When were you hired?" was his first question.

"October," she said honestly. "It took a while for us to gather everything I'd need. To know where to go, what to do when I got there, et cetera."

He stared at her. She was being very concise when she spoke, and he felt like she was leaving out a lot of detail. "Why don't I go start a shower, and we can talk about it after," he offered. He was already standing up, but she put a hand up, giving him pause.

"Sit down," she said. "I need to walk you through all of this. And then I never want to talk about it again," she said, her words incredibly clear, but that hollow tone taking her voice again as she finished speaking. She looked not at him, but through him, and her blue eyes remained unblinking for a long few seconds. His magic had faded off of her, and all that remained was the red in one of her eyes from being hit in the face by something. Something, because, she had no idea what had hit her. She just knew it wasn't the first time she'd blown a vessel in her eye, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

Evan sat back down at her issued command, but poured himself another glass of vodka. "Will I like what you're about to tell me?" he joked. He was sure he wouldn't.

"No," she said, and there was no humour to her voice.

[Aurora Snow]

B E T R A Y A L

Aurora explained how she had been taken, in detail, particularly the fact that she'd had to use his magic to make herself more of a mark due to the fact that humans just weren't it at Midnight anymore. She would pause to pour herself another drink, and noticed about five or so minutes in that he had declined her offers, glass sitting in front of him and sweating as the ice melted into the vodka, untouched.

"I didn't realize that humans weren't so trafficked through there these days," he said, voice carefully neutral as he tried to give himself time to think. Everything she said just hit him harder, and he felt a tightening in his chest that went unnoticed by Aurora - very clearly - as she continued to speak and drink. It was like she had lost her sense for him.

"Oh, no. The more exotic, the better," she laughed. "I saw a Phasi in there. Haven't seen one of those in a while. No Fae though, at least not that I could see. I did look." She paused, reaching into her purse that had been tossed haphazardly onto the dining room table at which they sat. She pulled out a soft pack of cigarettes, Lucky Strikes, and lit one. She didn't smoke inside of her apartment, ever, but clearly now was a special occasion. He watched as she ashed into a forgotten cup of coffee that had been sitting cold and half-full; Evan's, no doubt, from earlier in that day.

"So, after getting in, I began mapping. I was brought all over because they were so excited to see me. They really thought they had something, there," she said with a harsh laugh. She coughed shortly after, turning her head and covering her mouth with the fist belonging to the vodka. She took a sip, then cleared her throat. "Evan, I know the layout of that place better than anything we had before. I knew the normal maps that we had, plus an extra guide from when Jill was there, but those were mostly upper levels." She sat forward, her voice excited. "I know every location of every cell, every housing quarters - fuck, I even know where the goddamn armory is."

He did his best to smile, but it came out halfway, and she finally noticed.

"What?" she asked, genuinely confused. She hadn't even gotten to the part about actually killing the bastard - or the bite, either.

"So what you're telling me," he said, speaking slowly so that there were no mistakes, because he wanted to be absolutely sure of what had transpired before he reacted, "that you used me in order to cover yourself with my magic so that you could pass as a Phoenix long enough to - to not only be taken into Midnight, but also to get the layout of everything before you luckily managed to catch the attention of the right ancient vampire - in a place where the overwhelming majority of them are the wrong vampire?"

"It was fucking genius," Aurora said defensively. "I have come back, alive, by the way, which wasn't FUCKING easy, and I have new intelligence that can help us finally collapse that piece of shit organization down on top of itself. Don't act like I betrayed you - I just did what you, and everyone else, fucking taught me to do. So again, I say it was fucking genius," she said, pointing her finger on the table as she spoke, tapping it for emphasis.

"It was fucking STUPID!" Evan yelled, slamming his fist down on the table.

  Aurora jumped at that, still a little nerve-fried from the last three weeks. "HEY!" she spat.

  He ignored her; he was going to say what he had to say. "The sheer number of ways it should have gone wrong and gotten you fucking killed is staggering, and as if not caring about your own life to such a terrifying extent isn't enough, you used my magic to do it.  Aurora, do you have even a fucking clue why they would have grabbed you thinking you were a phoenix?  Do you think they're just going to forget about that magic now that they let you go?  My kind is almost extinct because humans, vampires and everything else on the humanoid spectrum wanted pieces of us for whatever purpose they figured out that fucking afternoon.  I'm still alive after all this time because I don't waltz into places like Midnight with my shit on display because having bits cut off of me for magic fucking potions isn't my fucking kink!"

He was angry, so fucking furious that his eyes blazed with that inner fire, but it was fear fueling it.  Fear for himself, but also for her, fear and hurt.  His voice was softer when he went on, a sudden release of pressure.  "I thought we were past you wanting to die.  You told me that I made you not want to die.  Guess that was part of using me for my magic, too, huh?"

"Get out." Her voice was quiet, but there was no mistaking what she'd said. She lifted her drink to her mouth, tipping the glass up to her split lip which had, sometime recently, begun to bleed again.

When he didn't move immediately, she stood, throwing her glass across the room in one motion. "I said GET OUT. GET THE FUCK OUT!"

Evan had seen her mad before, but she was absolutely rabid - a stark contrast to his very contained anger. Her shoulders heaved as she breathed. He stood, but in his own time, snatching his coat off the back of his chair. He looked like he wanted to say something, but Aurora was crystal clear about what would come next, just in her body language alone, and it plainly said that she was willing to go to blows over this. It was a fight she would lose, but as angry as he was, his intent wasn't to hurt her, it was to try and get some damn sense into her. What he had said was true, all of it, and it wasn't his problem if she chose to be hurt by the truth. Apparently she'd been needing to fucking hear it for a while now.

Aurora waited until he left to sit back down in her chair, practically slumping as the rush of adrenaline subsided and left her in the weakness of its afterglow. She rubbed at the bite on her neck. She needed to clean that goddamn thing out before it got infected. She reached out for Evan's glass, thankful he hadn't crushed it during his tirade, and drank the rest of what was in it.

No point in wasting the alcohol.

[Aurora Snow]

M O N S T E R

Aurora sat outside Stav's office, slumped back in her chair with her right leg bouncing. She had her arms crossed, and her eyes stared straight ahead. I feel like I'm back in high school, she thought to herself. She was trying to temper down how she felt about all this, knowing that Stavros would sense it and it could sway his judgment. He'd been in there a while. Connor was in there, too. So was Evan. So was Irulan. She could hear their voices inside, but couldn't listen in unless she strained, or got up, and she was willing to do neither.

Across from her, another blonde girl sat, and though she wasn't outwardly projecting her nerves through fidgeting, it was clear the way that she "read" a book by just flipping pages to look like she was being productive that she wasn't able to concentrate any better.

"What are you in trouble for?" Aurora asked.  She didn't immediately recognize her, and Bacchus, seated in the chair next to her, leaned in to whisper.

"That girl looks like she's about to quit," he said, staring at Lily as he spoke. He looked back to Aurora, whose eyes were wide. "Oh, sorry - did I not explain this super clearly last night? Yeah, I bit you right before you crushed my heart - which, by the way, seems like your specialty," he added, "and uh, yeah. You're stuck with me now."

She turned her head slowly to stare at him, lips pursed - obviously, she wasn't going to answer him. She was still trying to figure out if he was a hallucination or not.

"Oh, don't worry, I can talk all day," he said, stretching in the chair. "I like that you're already questioning your sanity, though. I'm definitely here, it's just that only you can see me, my little devotee," he said with a smile. "That's the price you pay for killing me right after I sank my teeth into you. By the way," he said, tilting his head to look at the bandage covering her neck, "that looks rough. Have you been cleaning it properly? Maybe you should get Victor to look at it."

She looked away from him and back to the girl. She recognized her as Lilyana, but she'd been a transfer from Onyx. Probably where she was headed, if they didn't sequester her to Frost - or cut her altogether. She shifted in her chair, glancing back towards the door again. What was taking so long? Just fucking figure it out.

"I set up an appointment to talk to them, that's all," Lilyana said, answering Aurora's question. "You?"

Aurora let out a noise that sounded like a laugh, but not quite. "I took a side job and did a lot of damage," she said, and it was honestly the truth.

"Don't forget to tell her you killed an ancient. That seems to be your claim to fame," Bacchus reminded her.

"Would you shut up?" Aurora snapped.

"What?" Lily said, stunned.

"Sorry, my fucking phone keeps going off. Apparently when you're in the principal's office, all your friends want to know the deets," she said, holding her phone up.

"Nice save," Bacchus said. "Let's see how many more times you can do that before you start looking crazy." He got up, and walked over to where Lily was, taking a seat next to her. He grinned as Aurora stared at him. He could see that she didn't know whether to be angry or horrified. "Why do you think she's going to talk to them?" he asked, looking at her. "I still think she's quitting. I bet she's pregnant or something. She looks like the type that would get knocked up and quit. Pretty hunters never last long." He paused, then looked back at Aurora. "Except for you, of course. But I don't know if I'd call this 'lasting'."

Aurora tried to ignore him, but she had to admit, the girl did look nervous. "If you made an appointment, why do you look like you want to dig a hole and hide in it?" she pressed. Hey, she had nothing to lose, now. The longer this took, the more likely it was that she was getting the axe.

Lilyana set her book down. She didn't speak for a minute, staring at the ground, and then looked back up at Aurora. "Did you ever want something else out of life? I just don't know if this is for me anymore. My life is changing, and hunting is a large part of it. Too large. It occupies space that I need for other things. So," she said, taking a shaky breath, "I'm probably putting in for my terminal leave."

Bacchus laughed. "I knew it!" he shouted. "This bitch is pregnant!"

As much as he was pissing her off, Aurora found herself thinking he might be right. "Can't relate," was all she said. Good. Quit. Go 'occupy space' as a housewife or whatever. Maybe they won't fire me if they're short people, she thought selfishly.

The door to the office opened and Aurora sat up, turning to see who was coming out. When she saw it was Evan, she felt anger. She stood up, and Bacchus stood, too, coming to stand just at her side. "Hey!" she snapped, yelling at his back. It figures he'd try to bail without even so much as looking at her. "What the fuck were you in there telling them?" she demanded.

"The truth, Aurora," he snapped. He didn't stop moving, either - it was abundantly clear that he was still in his feelings about what had happened.

"That's your man?" Bacchus asked. "I thought he'd be taller."

"Not everyone can be as tall as you," she snapped.

"Aurora," Stavros said. He didn't yell it, he just said it, and that was enough to stop her from following Evan. ThE TrUtH. What version of the truth, she wondered. She spun on her heel and went into the office, not even bothering to shut the door behind her. They'd either get it or they wouldn't; she didn't particularly care who heard what she'd done. She didn't feel it was anything to catch a reprimand for, still. Bacchus followed her in, because of course he did.

"Jesus Christ, what is this, a gangbang?" he asked, looking around the room. "Three against one? Oh, you're definitely getting fired, Rory. They brought the shrink," he said, gesturing to Irulan.

She ignored Bacchus, sitting down in the chair as she was directed. He continued to walk around the room giving commentary, but she tuned him out as she would a gnat for the moment - despite some of the things he'd said being pretty on point.

"So, Aurora, you know why you're here, right?" Connor asked.

"Because I took a side job, infiltrated Midnight, and killed an Ancient," she replied bluntly.

"That is why you're here, partially, but it's more because of the things you did to achieve it," Connor said, sitting forward. "Aurora, it's a great accomplishment, but it could have come at the expense of your life - and you used your partner."

She looked at Stav, brows arched. Was he actually on board with this "almost died" bullshit? She looked back at Connor. "Ah, look - I get that Evan's mad about whatever he thinks I did or didn't do on his end, but you're seriously sitting here telling me that I'm on the chopping block because I risked my life for a job? Connor, when's the last time you were out on a hunt? We risk our lives every time we go. What fucking reality are you guys in?"

"Get him," Bacchus hissed, suddenly leaning over her shoulder.

Connor opened his mouth, probably to put Aurora in check, but Irulan held her hand up. "Alright," she said, cutting him off before he started in. "Alright, listen. Nobody in this room is minimizing your accomplishment. You are the first hunter to successfully target, track, and kill one of the Ancients. But because you went through backchannels to accomplish it, it displays a level of recklessness that I know you've been dinged for in the past." She stopped for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts, and then she came from behind Connor's desk and sat on the front of it, off to the side so she wasn't blocking him.

"Aurora, I promise, I understand the need for closure. I was tortured, and lost most of my family the same night that your friend was killed," she told her gently. "I get it." There was something dark in her eyes, something darker than they were, when she spoke about what had happened. It actually gave Connor and Stavros a little shock, because she never discussed it.

"But," Aurora prompted her. She was listening, though.

"But," Irulan agreed. "And honestly, suspend the idea that we're upset about your risking your own life, because I'm not in accord there. What you did do, though, is risk an incredibly rare and valuable asset - who, yes, also happens to be your partner. Relationship aside, Aurora - whatever you did or didn't do to him physically or emotionally, you did reveal his presence, and nature, to two Ancients in Midnight. And that puts him at a grave risk. He may have to relocate entire, or go into hiding again."

Aurora was quiet. She really didn't have any room to stand, and she knew it. "Iloquil already knew what he was," she said, though it wasn't in defense of her actions. More like, she needed to clarify something. "She asked me if I wanted to know how she got her fire." She stopped, realizing that all of them, including Bacchus were waiting for her to continue. "She just - trust me, she already knew." She sighed. No sense in divulging those details, since they weren't pertinent. And since she didn't know just what she was allowed to even repeat from their conversation. Didn't need to have more ancients trying to splatter her.

"It doesn't matter if she already knew," Irulan said. "You were taken, so that's every creature that saw you on the way in, and then every creature who saw you before you got directly to the top. It's too many eyes, and we can't verify who actually knew what it was, and who thought you were just some weird brand of shapeshifter. You're not in trouble because of your accolades. You're in trouble because you lost us an asset."

Irulan had a feeling that Connor's attempt to appeal to her emotional side wasn't going to work right now, and she was right. Speaking from her own experience, Irulan had become very pragmatic after everything that had happened. Attempting to make her feel bad for things just didn't impact her, and actually only seemed to make her mad. Telling her that she was messing with the logical nature of things, though, that made sense to her, it was something she could see and understand. She was so emotionally stunted after repeated traumas that it took a long time to get back to normal. And she could see that Aurora had regressed a little from the experience, despite defeating the so called monster under her bed. Sometimes, even if you killed them, they'd still remain in your head. It was the worst part about revenge.

"Shit," Aurora hissed. She looked at Connor. "So, I'm done then?"

Connor sighed. "No," he said. "Trust me, I wasn't on board with that, either. I'm incredibly disappointed in you, Aurora. You are better than this. I know you are," he said, and he didn't care if she wasn't receptive to it at the moment, because he needed to say it. Keeping faith in his hunters was part of the gig of leadership, and eventually, she would come back to it, and it was important that she knew it. "You have every ability to excel in this profession. But right now, you need some time off. You're on admin leave for the next two months."

"Are you serious?" she asked, her eyes as wide as saucers.

"As a fucking heart attack," Stavros said. "And in that time, you will see Irulan on a weekly basis. You need to get your head put back together, girl," he warned her. "I trained you, and no student of mine is going to do the things that you have done. Evan is an old, trusted friend, and when you cut into him, you cut into me."

"So this is personal?" she asked, unable to stop herself. It didn't help that Bacchus was egging her on from the sidelines - when he wasn't touching shit in Connor's office, that is.

"It is absolutely personal, Aurora," Stavros said. "Like Irulan said - you lost us a valuable asset, and you wounded a personal acquaintance in the process. If you'd have just asked me for help, I could have helped you. You could have skipped the whole process."

She stood up. "I doubt that if I'd have told you I wanted to get taken into Midnight, you seriously would have helped me," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, Aurora, I would have," Stav snapped back. "That you are my student and demonstrate so little knowledge of my abilities as a hunter and a trainer shows how far you've degraded yourself. I sincerely hope the time off and the time with Irulan will be well-spent in returning you back to fully operational." He looked at her, and it wasn't a nice look. "Dismissed."

Aurora left, hands up as she did so. She paused at the door, turning to look into the office. "Hey Batten, I think your next hunter is pregnant. Why don't you try the appeal to good nature with her, instead? Might be more effective." She saw that he spit out the water he'd just taken a sip of, and grinned to them all before turning and walking off, leaving Lily staring at her in abject horror as she did so.

As she walked down the hallway, Bacchus hurried to catch up to her. "God damn!" he hooted. "Rory, I didn't know you had it in you! Fuck, I'm a little turned on right now by how that went. Never back down from a fight, do you? Oh man, I can't wait to spend the rest of my limbo life with you."

"Quit calling me Rory, you fucking reptile. It's Aurora," she growled. "And as soon as I figure out a way to banish you back to whatever shadow realm you came from, I'll be a much more perky girl."

"Oh, no," he sang, wrapping an arm around her aggressively. "We're best friends forever."

We'll fuckin' see about that, she thought to herself, cringing under his grasp as they walked towards the parking garage.

[Aurora Snow]

H A V E

Aurora was drunk. She hadn't been this drunk in a while, but Bacchus knew something was up when she came home from the store with several bags of goodies from the local liquor store. "Christ," he muttered, sitting on the couch in the living room and trying to ignore her as she sat alone in the kitchen, her back to him, and killed a bottle. She'd offered to pour him a drink, but then laughed when she realized he couldn't, and walked away.

She sat in her chair, quietly mulling over her current glass, holding it with her wrist twisted so that she could still have her chin on her hand, elbow rested against the table. She was deep in thought, despite her her head positively swimming. There were so many things she needed to deal with, and she had no concept of what order to go about it. Her solution, of course, was to get drunk about it, and hope that she'd have some magnificent moment of clarity. It was how she'd come up with the Midnight plan - several bottles of wine and another brilliant mind to help lead the way. But now, sitting alone, her problems just seemed endless. She groaned and set the glass down, stretching and leaning back in the chair a little. Abruptly, her eyes popped open and she righted herself, an expression of shock on her face.

"I've got the spins," she said aloud. She heaved a loud sigh, and then picked up her glass. "Fuck it," she muttered.

After a moment, she turned, scooting her chair loudly so that she could see Bacchus without craning her neck like a fucking owl. "Hey," she called. "What are you doing over there by yourself?"

Bacchus stared at the TV a moment longer, then looked pointedly at her. "Avoiding the trainwreck that is you, right now, sister. Seriously, you've got issues, and they're just radiating off of you. I'm good over here on the limbo couch. Besides, I want to see who the Masked Singer is."

Aurora got up, glass in one hand and bottle in the other, and approached the couch. "It's John Legend, dude. It's always Legend." And she sat down next to him, glass in hand. She emptied it, then shook the ice around, and set it down on the floor for a second next to the bottle. She then turned to him and just stared at him. It was critical at first, but then the expression faded away off her face, and she sort of looked blank.

"What?" Bacchus said. "What? What is your problem, you little weirdo? Are you always like this when you've had more than your limit?" He didn't scoot away from her; there wasn't really a point.

She tilted her head a little. "What's it like?" she asked.

"What is what like?" He glanced back to the TV, but Aurora took the remote and turned it off. He huffed.

"Dying. What's it like? Where do you go when I don't see you?"

"I don't know. I don't think I'm fully dead. I think dying is just nothing, just ceasing to exist. But this, this is some hellish limbo," he confessed. He looked at her, his thick brows furrowed. "And I don't know if I'm stuck here forever or if there's a way to bring me back or push me over to the nothing, but I know that eventually, it will get very, very old seeing you."

She snorted. "I'm a vision," she said, tossing her hair.

"Yeah, a vision of a car crash in slow motion. Listen, I know you killed me, but honey, you need to slow your roll. I suspect if you die, I will also cease to exist, and if we're in our sharing circle right now, I'd rather find a way to be brought back," he told her.

She shook her head, this a totally new thought to her. "Wait, you think if I die, you'll just - " and she made a gesture with her hands that gave the impression he'd just pop out of existence.

He shrugged. "I don't know. But I don't think I'd like to find out. And that Phoenix of yours doesn't seem too keen on the idea of you dying, even if he's raging fucking mad at you, still. Have I told you what a fucking power move that was, by the way? I have to admit, better killed by a worthy adversary than by like, a random hunter while I'm minding my own business."

She smiled, and reached down for her glass. She knocked it over instead, the ice splaying out across the floor. "Whoops," she muttered. She picked up the bottle instead. "Guess I don't really need a glass after all."

"Uh, maybe you should slow down," Bacchus said, holding a hand up. He couldn't really touch the bottle, or take it from her, but still. "You're going to end up dying of alcohol poisoning."

She gave him a Look, and then lifted the bottle, taking a healthy sip. "Don't tell me what to do. You have no power over me."

He gave her a dark look in return, something far more familiar of him than what she'd seen recently. "Put the fucking bottle down," he commanded.

She found that she was compelled to put the bottle down, and then looked at her hand, and then him, mouth agape. "No," she growled. "No, you don't get to do that." She wretched, the feeling of violation running through her body like a dirt that she couldn't wash away. She cringed, crossing her arms tightly and looking down at the couch. "Don't ever fucking do that again," she said slowly.

"I'll be honest and say that I didn't even know I could do that," he admitted. "I don't know if I could even replicate it." His voice was stunned, and a little impressed with himself. "Fuck, the possibilities could be endless," he muttered.

"DON'T," Aurora yelled. She was drunk, which she was aware of, but she felt all of those problems just rushing to the surface, and Evan's words about 'thought you were past wanting to die' kept bouncing around in her head like a fucking 22 caliber bullet. "If you're gonna try and use me like some creepy wind up doll, then just fucking kill me," she snapped.

"What?" Bacchus said. Where the fuck did that come from. "We just discussed you not dying," he reminded her.

"No, no," she said, and she straightend out, then scooted towards him. "Bite me again. Undo it."

Bacchus looked incredibly confused, but he didn't scoot away from her, yet. "It doesn't work like that," he informed her, holding his hands up. "You need to go walk this off or something. You are beyond trashed now."

She fixed her stare on him, eyeing him critiacally again. "But if you could, would you?"

"Would I what? Undo it? I'd undo my entire demise, you're goddamn right," he spat. "We're not twinsies just because we both got the last blow in a fight to the death, you know."

"No," she said, though she did snort at his exposition. She would never consider them that close. "Would you bite me agian?"

Bacchus stood up. "Alright, well, that's my cue," he said loudly. He tried to pick up the vodka bottle, swearing when his hand went through it. Of fucking course it did, he thought to himself. At any rate, he was absolutely not about to get into this violent and somehow strangely sexual territory with the girl who had murdered him as revenge for him "ruining her life" or whatever. Whatever was happening, it was all because this stupid human had drank her goddamn weight in alcohol and was saying whatever inflammatory thing she could to try and - get a reaction out of him? He honestly didn't know. Truth be told, him not being able to do anything about it probably motivated the shit out of her. Bully for him.

"You probably couldn't manage anyways," she said to herself. "We just keep getting away from you. Somehow, we always just slip away," she said. She was referencing Fawn, Jillian, and now herself. She shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment. They popped open when she felt something on her, and realized that she was looking right into Bacchus' dark brown eyes - and they were angry.

"Gentle reminder, Rory, that you didn't get away from anything. You don't have me, I have you, don't confuse what's happening here." He had pinned her to the couch, though he wasn't hurting her at all - if someone were to walk in, they'd have thought something very different was happening. He had his hand at her throat, gently, just as he'd said, and his fingers lightly brushed over the bite that was still healing. She was frozen under him, and he could feel that her breath had caught in her throat.

He was off of her, just as quickly as it happened, and she un-froze, leaping off of the couch - jumping over the back of it, in fact, and hitting the floor like she were ducking from a grenade blast. She popped up, suddenly very fucking sober, and backed against the wall, holding an angry finger up to point at him. She couldn't even speak, she was so fried.

To be fair, Bacchus also looked pretty surprised. "I didn't know I could do that, either" he said, his voice betraying his amazement. He looked down at his hands, then back up to her. "Holy shit, I can touch you."

"Stay the FUCK away from me," she screamed, suddenly able to move again. She raced around behind the couches, taking the long way around the living room and escaping into the bathroom.

"Really wish I FUCKING COULD!" he yelled back as she slammed the door.

[Aurora Snow]

G U I L T

Evan had actually felt good for the first time in a while. He'd laid pretty low, for the better part of a year actually, and on this day he woke up and felt like there was an end to all of the bullshit, finally. He would return to work Monday, and he was eager to get back into the swing of things. There were new marks, new trainees, new everything. He'd been offered a trainer's position for a while, Stavros expressing how happy he'd be to have him, but Evan felt like he could do more without being stuck in just one spot. As it stood, he'd be able to float, at least until he settled back down.

The guild was usually slow on Sunday; they had 24-hour shifts, but most of the higher level trainers were home doing things, and so he was genuinely curious to see the light on through the frosted glass of the office door he shared with Aurora. He opened it, fully expecting to find someone like Zahra or Shannon in there going through their files (since neither woman apparently had a life outside of work, if their constant presence around the compound was any indication), and felt something when he saw Aurora, half-seated on her desk, thumbtacks in her mouth, and reaching to pull down her chart.

  "Guess you don't need that anymore," he chirped, not to be set back by feelings. As he came closer to his desk, he realized that she had done more than take down the crazy Pepe Lives conspiracy board - her whole desk was empty, and there was a box in the chair.  "Oh," he said. He didn't know what else to say, but he was sure she'd inspire him as he heard her take in a breath to speak.

"I got transferred," she said after spitting the tacks into her hand. As she spoke, she glanced over her shoulder at him for a second. It was obvious she didn't want to hold his eye contact for long, and so she turned and went back to what she was doing.

He stared at her, crossing his arms. His expression said a lot - more than what he could verbally convey at the moment, unfortunately. When it came to Aurora, he felt himself locking up automatically. Wonder why. "Well, I suppose that's to be expected. After all, you did kind of burn an asset and go rogue," he said flippantly, tossing a hand up as he tilted his head. He turned, pointedly going to his desk and taking a seat. He had his back to her for a moment so she couldn't see his face, which wasn't as impassive as his tone would suggest. He wanted to throttle her, still. But it wasn't out of anger - well, a little was, but even after a year, even after all their conversations and the subsequent apologies, he couldn't let this one go. At least, not for right now.

"Yeah, that about does it. Plus, they want me to keep an eye on Bacchus, and the nomination for that job wasn't at my request," she added flatly. She finally got the whole sheet down, and then folded it up and put it in a second box marked SHRED. Really, that had been the last thing she needed before carrying the burn bin into the small room they kept the printer and shredder in. It was fortunate that she routinely cleaned out her paperwork or she'd have a year's worth of shredding to actually do.

"I didn't say it was," he said, holding his hands up as he straightened out his chair to face his desk more. He busied himself looking at a report that had been put there for his eyes on Monday, something that caught him up on all the theatrics he'd missed, but he found himself reading the same paragraph repeatedly and being unable to discern what it actually said.

Wordlessly, she picked the box up of shit she was keeping, and placed it outside the office door. He could see that she was planning an escape; she'd take the shred box last so that she wouldn't have to come back in. Part of him felt a little guilty; he obviously still cared about her, and he hated that this is how it was about to go down, but at the same time, sometimes all of the apologies in the world couldn't fix something. Maybe Bacchus knew a thing or two about holding a grudge, but he'd never lived as long as a Phoenix had, and they were professionals about it when they deigned to be.

"Alright, Evan," she said softly. "I'll see you around."

Just as her hip was on the door, he finally spoke. "Did you ever love me?" he asked. He set his pencil down from where he'd been angrily doodling a dick on the corner of the report and looked up at her, brows raised. He asked her just like he'd asked her a normal question about the weather.

She sighed, shifting the box. Briefly, she debated setting it down to have this conversation out, but then she thought about the other times she'd already had this conversation. She kept it in her arms. "Why do you keep asking me the same question expecting to get a different answer? Yes, I told you that already."

"Yes?" he asked, sitting back in his chair a little.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Evan, I was in love with you. I told you the truth. I'm telling you the truth, now. Get your head out of your feathered ass and maybe you could see that."

He snorted when she suggested he had a feathered ass. It was rich considering she'd never even seen his other form, but he chose not to highlight the fact that she would never. He looked at her for a long second, studying her, and in the few seconds of silence had walked through every memory he had of her, the last six months or so in particular. "No, I think you're telling me the truth," he said, nodding.

"Wait, what?" She hadn't been expecting that. "What made it suddenly click?"

"Because, you loved your goal," he said matter-of-factly.

"Fucking... alright, Evan," she sighed, setting the box down. She approached him at the desk, and slapped her hands on the front, bending forward to look him in the eye. "This vague shit? I don't have time for it. I know that you do, since, you know, immortal and all, but the rest of us have shit to do. So. I loved you. I didn't lie. I didn't know what the fuck was happening until after it had already happened. I didn't choose to be bitten. I didn't choose to be followed. I did choose to end things with you after you told my fucking sister that Orpheus broke into my apartment because the one thing I told you not to do, ever, was to tell my family anything about my job, and you decided to sit down for bottomless margaritas and tell her the whole story about how he murdered everyone in my fucking building and I got put in a crazy room for a few days while Stav had to clear me mentally fit because of the repeated traumas I suffered."

"Well, I had to tell someone!" he exclaimed. "Rory, you were falling apart at the seams!"

"First of all, you don't ever, EVER fucking call me that," she hissed. "Only one person earned the right to call me that, and it isn't you." She took a breath, backing up a little.  "The problem is that you did tell someone, because EVAN KNOWS BEST, and my brother found out, and got himself killed for the trouble, which is why I didn't want you to tell anyone!" she yelled. "I could never trust you after that!"

Evan responded by slapping his hand next to hers on the desk with a loud noise as he rose and bent, matching her energy. "And I have apologized for that, and I will always regret how that happened, Aurora, believe me." He paused. "But you're not going to talk to me about breaking trust."

"Oh, now it all comes out," she said, pulling away from the desk. "Let it fucking GO, Evan! I almost got you killed, you got my brother killed, let's just - let's just fucking call it even, okay?" She was yelling loud enough that people outside the office could hear them, not that anyone was out there, but it was a testament to how heated they were getting. She put her hands to her face for a moment. "I'm done," she said. "I'm gonna go."

He reached out for her hand, catching her by the wrist. "Aurora - "

"Oh, no," she said, jerking her hand away from him. "You don't get to touch me like that anymore. You lost that right."

Well then. "Okay, Aurora," Evan said, nodding. He walked around the desk and sat on it, gesturing to her. "You want to talk about lost rights? We can talk about that. You lost the right to even look me in the fucking eyes after you used me the way you did. I thought that after a year or so you'd get your head sorted and we could get back to the way things were, but it's painfully fucking obvious that you only loved your obsession, and that obsession was killing Bacchus. Funny story, I heard from a guy on the Onyx payroll that Bacchites' curse is being obsessed. Crazy, right?" he said, raising his hands and laughing.

"I'm going," she said, turning on her heel.

"It's wild that you two ended up together after all this," he said.

That hit her square in the back like a cold knife. She stopped in front of the box, and then took a deep breath, willing herself not to respond. When she bent down to pick it up, he went in for the killshot.

"Honestly, you two deserve eachother. Should have seen it sooner. I mean, you had his photo on your wall, looked at it every day. When you kissed me, it was always his name on your tongue. It wasn't ever going to be you and me. It was always you and him. Isn't that right, Rory?" he asked. His voice was soft as he spoke, almost no emotion in it whatsoever. For a creature of fire, Evan had mastered the art of ice.

She walked out of the office without looking back, her cheeks hot as salty tears stung them. She wouldn't sniffle and she wouldn't sob - she was far past that point in her life, but still, he had known just what to fucking say, hadn't he? It was like he had reached into her soul when he spoke, dragging out all of the dirty things that she didn't like to examine in daylight. She might have been upset, but anger swelled in her body, and at the core of it, something worse, something small, dark, and shameful. Guilt.