Homecoming {Connor}

[Capricia Varekova]

Capricia arrived at 7 PM sharp to pick up Anya. She had a key, but she still didn't feel like letting herself in. As she opened up the door of her Dodge Magnum, her phone rang, the opening tones to the Nutcracker Suite letting her know that it was her dear brother on the phone. She looked at her watch and gave a little sigh, and then opened her phone.

"ПривеÑ,?¹" she said, walking up the path to the door slowly, trying to dawdle a little. She scuffed her tennis shoes against the pavement, idly tipping her head to try and sweep strands from her blonde ponytail out of her eyes.

"Я имею плоÑ...ие новосÑ,и²..." came the hesitant, deep voice from the other end of the phone.

She paused, and then quickly switched to English.  "What's up? I'm about to pick up Anastasiya, and Connor and I are trying to work things out, so if this is a joke..."

When Connor opened the door, Capricia was looking to the left a little, mouth half open, watery brown eyes staring at a spot that was on the ground, or maybe not. Something was clearly wrong, because since Capricia had finally stopped taking anti-depressants and had been medically cleared for work, she'd been behaving quite... well, normal. She met his expression with a hazy, sort of blank stare.

"I have to go home," she said softly. "Sergei just called. My dad..." she trailed off, and cleared her throat. "I need to use your computer. I have to book a flight." She moved to push passed him, heading straight for the laptop.



1. Hello?
2. I have bad news...

[Connor Batten]

Connor still didn't get why Capri didn't just use her key, but considering how shaky things had been on and off, he supposed he really didn't mind.  Either way, he let her do as she pleased in that department, and didn't mention it.  They had far more important things to worry about.

Like why Capri had that look on her face.

"Capri?  Home?  But you ju--" 

Nevermind.  It occurred to him all at once that Sergei was her brother (something he'd known already, but hadn't thought about), and her dad?  She had to book a flight?  Shit.  What was going on?

He moved to let her in, even if she was going where she wanted anyway, and basically just followed.  What else was he supposed to do in this situation?  "What happened?"

[Capricia Varekova]

Capricia sat down at the desk where the computer had been sitting, and started pulling up airline sites, writing phone numbers down, and, basically ignoring what Connor was saying to her for the moment. It wouldn't become more clear to him until she actually got on the phone with one of the companies, and began talking to them about grievance flights. Connor would've been able to get the idea from those conversations alone, if her wide-eyed, frozen sort of facial expression didn't do it for him.

As she spoke on the phone, she paced closer to Anastasiya's room, daring not to go inside in a state of disarray like this. She wanted to see her little girl a good bit right now, but she knew that she wasn't stable enough not to accidentally squeeze her a little too tightly. She didn't even want to poke her head in the doorway, because she knew that if she was awake, she'd be active on sight of 'mommy', who wasn't around nearly enough that it was almost like a treat when she was.

She paced back down the hall, giving the airline her credit card information, and quickly jotted down her confirmation number. Once she got off the phone, she sat down on the couch and put her head in her hands for a few moments. Finally, she looked over at Connor, who had inevitably been trailing her, but not too closely. Wise.

"My father had a heart attack," she said. "They called Sergei first because they didn't have my number." She sighed a little, and then shrugged. "I leave at midnight tonight - four thousand dollars. Fucking plane tickets, eh?" she said with a little laugh, but even she knew she looked like she was about to crack. "Will you be okay with Anya? Evangela volunteered to watch her the other day when we're busy," she offered. "I need to call Christian, anyways."

She didn't look very happy, and sank back into the couch. She squeezed her eyes shut again, forcing herself not to cry.

[Connor Batten]

Yeah, Connor wasn't stupid.  He'd been worried, especially at the mention of her father and the way she was acting, but he didn't KNOW, and he hadn't wanted to say something stupid if he was wrong.  Mention of 'grievance flights' was the clincher.  God.  As though they didn't already have enough problems.  Now, he couldn't even TRY to address any of their issues, because that was just plain wrong.  She had enough going on.

He'd followed her a little, just trying to catch as much information as he could, and leaned on the other end of the couch as she sat down, just....waiting.  He figured she'd explain eventually, since she'd gotten done with the calls and looking up information and all that.  Finally, she DID talk, and he sighed at the confirmation.

"Plane tickets are definitely going up," he agreed to the neutral comment immediately, organizing his thoughts.  "Are you sure you want to go alone?  I mean, I can handle Anya, especially if Evangela wants to keep an eye on her to help out, but you don't have to go alone."

No, he wasn't a total asshole.  They had problems to resolve, but that didn't mean she should have to go deal with her father's death without some support.  He could keep everything else quiet for a few days, or at least, he hoped.  He remembered when Val took off to Japan, but he could deal with some misery, even if it wasn't really fair to Val.  Some things were just necessary, and abandoning Capri when she might actually, for once, need him wasn't really an option.  Unless she decided that she didn't need him, and then there was nothing he could do but wait until she decided that she did.

[Capricia Varekova]

The thought that Connor would be interested in her family affairs sort of surprised her enough, but that he offered to go was something else entirely. She'd never have expected anyone to offer to come along - she really didn't have any friends. She just stared at him when he said that, unwilling to move any closer to anyone at the moment because she was afraid of what she would do.

"If you want to come, I'd like you to," she said finally, after a long pause. "I don't think I'll be able to be there with my mother and brother by myself... I might not come back very sane," she said. She laughed, thinking of how fucked up her family was, but the laughter almost instantly turned into crying, tears meeting her hands as she buried her face in them. This was a little too much reality for her. This wasn't vampires and guns. This was her life.

[Connor Batten]

Really, it shouldn't have been surprising that he cared about her family issues, since what mattered was that it was affecting her.  Obviously, he'd cared enough about her to get this far, even if there were definitely things that he wasn't pleased with.  Neither of them was completely innocent in the situation, but he didn't have it in him to run away when she needed him, though it'd happened to him.  Twice, if he remembered correctly.

Could he handle going to Russia with her to handle her brother and mother?  Certainly.  It wouldn't be fun purely for the reason they were there, but he could handle it.  He was just going to have to be very careful about everything he said and did, particularly if they were there for more than a few days. 

"Then I'll go with you.  I'm sure it's going to be bad enough without having to deal with going crazy with your family," he teased her, and really, he had every right to.  One need only look at the craziness that was HIS family to understand.  "When did you book the return flight for?"

[Capricia Varekova]

"Day of," she said, her breathing less relaxed than normal, but still not shallow enough for him to worry. "Arrival is around five in the evening, the funeral is the following day at noon, and the flight leaves at six. I don't plan on being there any longer than I absolutely have to. My mom is liable to not even show up, but I know my brother will be there. That will be something," she said, but the way she said it, she may as well have said, 'Christ, here we go.'.

She looked at Connor, and then patted the seat next to her. When he eventually did move over, which she was sure would be with only the brief hesitation to wonder if she was going to do something irrational, she leaned her head on his chest and sighed again heavily. She was able not to cry, but it didn't stop that lump from taking its place in her throat for a few moments. She did not speak, if only because she was aware that the lump was ready to try and force its way out - Capricia was going to melt down in private later, when she was alone.

"You can call Christian or I can. Either way, it needs to be soon."

[Connor Batten]

He listened and moved to sit beside her without any actual hesitation when she gestured for him to.  He knew better than to think that Capri was going to do anything crazy to him, and if she did?  He wasn't exactly as easy to damage as he used to be, and he was confident he could handle whatever she might do.  Of course, having her lay her head on him wasn't exactly something he saw coming.

This was one of those moments when he didn't doubt why he was even with her, and he twined his arm around her.  He felt bad because she felt bad and there wasn't anything he could do about it.  One of the few times she seemed to honestly need help, and there wasn't much he could do.  It was cruel, but the sort of irony that he wasn't all that surprised at anymore.  It was just how his luck rolled.

He didn't ask any questions about her family, instead just nodding and tossing in a verbal agreement.  He'd take whatever information he could get on the subject beforehand, but none of it mattered in the end.  It had to be done, and it would be.  Speaking of what had to be done, though.

"I'll call Christian in a little while.  You don't have to worry about it."  He was going to have to make a few calls to handle being out of town for a day or so, anyway.

[Capricia Varekova]

"Okay," she said. She looked down at her phone as it lit up. She expected it to be Sergei, and then realized she didn't recognize the number at all. She frowned. "I'm tempted to make you answer it like I used to," she said half-joking. There had been a time when she and Connor were younger where they'd split up, and one persistent fellow wouldn't leave her to her devices. Connor'd only had to answer the phone once for him to stop calling. She stood up, sighing. "I'm going to go check on Anya," she said, and without a word, opened the phone and disappeared into the rest of the house to go see the baby.

From upstairs, she could hear Connor making his own calls. She sat down in the rocking chair with Anya in one arm, and was thankful for how serene she was. She didn't cry much, or really do a lot of anything. She was constantly looking, curious, and sometimes a noise here or there, but for the most part, she wasn't loud. With the phone tucked across her chin and her ear, she answered it. She was actually surprised when she found Andrew on the other line.

"Hey," came the hesitant reply. "Sergei called me. When do you leave?"

Capricia started a little, arching a brow as Anya moved for a moment, and then settled back into what was a more comfortable position and closed her eyes. "Andrew?" she asked, still disbelieving. "Sergei called you? I didn't know he had..." she trailed off. She realized her brother must've been more resourceful than she'd given him credit for. When she'd put his calls to voicemail earlier that day, he'd called the next best person to track his sister down.

"Yeah," he laughed. "He was worried. Listen, I'm sorry to bother you. I know you're probably busy. I just wanted to call and make sure everything was okay. Where are you?"

"Oh, at Connor's with Anya. I was supposed to take her for the night, but it looks like Christian and Evangela will be watching her for the next day or so. I'm leaving at midnight. Connor's coming, too, so hopefully we all return in one piece," she said with a sigh. "My mother promises to be a real treat, I'm sure. I plan to avoid her."

"That's why I called, actually. I didn't want you going alone, but I'm glad he's going with you. Listen, I don't want to keep you. Call me when you get back in, okay? I've got to meet Darren in a few minutes, so I need to run anyways. Be careful," he warned.

"I will, Andrew. Have fun. Darren's got as good of luck as Connor does. They're both cannon fodder for the undead as of late," she muttered. "See you soon."

She heard steps up the stairs, and stood to put Anya back in her crib. "Connor?" she called.

[Connor Batten]

Connor smirked at her mention of him answering her phone, something he'd always liked doing even with just friends that happened to be female, and his sister.  Random guys on the other end never knew the difference, so long as it was a male voice.  It usually worked.  Now, it was tempting, but he was hoping that Capri didn't have that kind of a problem.  They were a little old, not to mention hunters, so creepy stalker boys had better beware.  He figured Capri would have started busting kneecaps if she wasn't pleased.

"Just bounce his head off of his car sometime.  He'll stop calling," he offered, hoping after the fact that she never tried taking his advice with HIM, and brushed it off.  She wouldn't. 

With Capri headed upstairs to tend to Anya, Connor grabbed Frankenphone from the coffee table and called Christian Shane first.  Fortunately, the conversation didn't take long, and involved a planned time for them to drop Anya off as well as the understanding that Capri would be out of the country for about two days and probably a little 'off' for some time after.  From there, it was up to Christian to handle her hunting assignments.  Connor was glad, right then, that she'd switched to Frost.  It meant he didn't get brutally murdered for being concerned and considering whether or not Capri should be hunting while mourning.  That was for Christian to decide.

His next phone call was to Sitara, and to Jordan.  Chase would get the message through Jordan, and that would make it clear that HE would be gone, and that one of them should peek into the guildhouse and his office to make sure everything was running smoothly.  Between the three of them and his phone, he figured the Guild wouldn't explode while he was gone.

He hoped, anyway.

Finally, he gave Val a call, though Frankenphone got a break on this one.  He could have used the phone, but Capri was already weirded out enough by his situation without him getting caught on the phone letting the vampire know where he was going.  Val deserved to know, but Capri might not see it that way, and he didn't want to have to fight over that right then.  Better to just keep quiet about it, get it out of the way fast, and move on.

Val!  Hey, Val!  Fangface!  You listening?

... Regretfully and reluctantly, yes.  What do you need?

Shut up.  Listen, Capri's father died, and I'm going to be joining her for the party that's sure to be.  Should be about two days.

There was a short pause, one that made Connor wonder if Val was even listening, but the vampire finally responded.  I see. My condolences to the family. Is there a reason I should know this?

Now, it was his turn for a pause, though he didn't wait nearly as long.  Well.  The funeral and all happen to be where her family lives.  In, uh, Russia.  Yeah, that'd go over well.  From the length of the pause this time, it looked like his assumptions were correct.  Lead balloons don't fly well.

I see.  Insert another damn Val-pause here.  Russia is not as far as Japan. And we are stronger than we were before.

We'd better hope that's how it works.  I don't think that a vampire showing up at her dad's funeral would work out well.  I doubt she'd mind killing me in the process in that case.

Agreed. It would be morbid to die at someone else's funeral.

He didn't know if the joke was really all that funny, but it was unexpected out of VAL, of all people, so it got a laugh out of Connor, sitting alone in his living room.  Well, that looked mentally healthy.  Time to stop this and go see Capri, before it got any weirder.  You speak the truth.  Alright, I'll keep in touch if anything crazy happens.

He knew Val would do the same, either through the bond or with a phone call, so he wasn't worried.  Time to go tend to his girls, who were actually quiet by the time he was headed up the stairs, right up until he heard his name.

"Yeah?  Everything okay?  Who was it?" he asked, just curious.  Entering the room, he once again marveled at Anya's demeanor.  Given how loud both of her parents were, he was amazed she was as quiet as she happened to be.  Maybe it was like math.  Loud (-) multiplied by Loud (-) equaled Quiet (+).

Ahh, Connor math. 

[Capricia Varekova]

She glanced up as he entered the doorway and smiled a little. "Andrew. He was calling from a number I don't have. I guess I should expect him to have as many as I have," she said with a laugh. "Sergei nearly rounded up the calvary looking for me this morning. I didn't realize he'd been trying to get ahold of me for as long as he had, but he evidently pulled out all the stops, short of calling you. I figure that if I hadn't have answered that last time, you'd have been on the phone when I got to the door instead of me," she added scornfully. She did not appreciate how Sergei always knew how to find people who could find her.

"Did you talk to Christian?" she asked, standing to hand over the baby. "I don't know that I even want to go, but I guess I need to... say goodbye. I'd rather stay here with Anya. I've never been a good daughter, even though sometimes they didn't deserve anything else, but still." She fell silent, watching him.

[Connor Batten]

"That would have been an interesting conversation," he commented on the idea of Sergei calling him.  It made sense on the other man's part, but he still wasn't so sure how well it'd have gone.  He wasn't so sure if Capri's brother liked him all that much.  It was hard to tell.  He didn't say anything on the Andrew subject, though it wasn't that he had a problem with Andrew, since Capri could have male friends just as much as he could have female friends.  He really just didn't have all that much to say about it, and therefore left it alone.

If he butchered it accidentally, it would only make things worse.  Besides, he was quite grateful that Andrew was helping Darren out, so he wasn't touching that situation.  Actually, though..."Did Andrew say anything about how Darren's doing?  I haven't heard much about it, but nobody's dead yet, so I assume they're doing well."

Oh, and Christian?  "Christian and Evangela said that watching Anya was fine, and they send their condolences.  I'm sure you'll talk to them both when we drop Anya off, but Christian's got everything at the guild covered for you for the next few days," he told her.  He left out Val's condolences.  He didn't think she cared.

[Capricia Varekova]

"It would have been very brief. He's not personable with anyone. He doesn't even like Andrew that much. I think it's what you do when you're a big brother, but I'm not positive." She paused. "He's doing good. He said Darren's doing okay so far. Hard for anyone to attack him when he's nearly always around one Vida or the other, plus a Triste who's not got much of a penchant for putting up with people's shit these days." She smiled a little, watching Connor cuddle Anya.

"If you tell me what you need, I can get it together while you play with Anya." She paused, feeling awkward. It was as though he were more attached to her than Capricia was, and that wasn't the case. Capricia just... it was different. Family was different for her than Connor. "It's either that or I go lay down with her while you do what you need to."

The idea of Capricia and Anya laying down on Connor's bed while he packed struck her as funny. Then they really would look like some sort of real - and very mismatched - family.

[Connor Batten]

Connor smirked at the mention of 'what you do when you're a big brother', thinking of Chase.  He'd gotten personable with her boyfriends on the phone before.  Sometimes TOO personable.  He was thinking it was just Sergei's personality.  Hearing good news from Andrew about Darren was nice, though.  One less thing he had to stress over, and Capri had a point.  There wasn't a whole lot a vampire could do when her target was constantly with fairly powerful protection.  It sucked for Darren to have no life like that, but they were working on a solution.

If he were someone else, he might have considered taking Capri up on her offer, but that wasn't the case.  As much as he liked playing with his daughter, he had things to do, packing to take care of, and he'd do it himself.  Besides, Capri was the one upset, so there was no reason to make her do more than she had to.  She could take it easy and lay down for awhile.  He'd take care of the rest.

Transferring Anya to Capri's arms, he smiled, shaking his head.  "You two go lay down.  I'll pack some bags and take care of it all," he told her, already considering what he'd be needing.  Besides a bag for Anya's things to take to the Shanes, Russia was colder than New York, so he'd have to be back to his slightly warmer clothes, and there was the issue of weaponry.  He had the 'official documents' to take a gun onto a plane, but that didn't mean he could get away with it without Capri knowing.  Would she be taking any weapons with her?  Most hunters didn't like to travel without something, but they were going to her family's home.

"Anything in particular you need?" he asked, assuming he'd pack for her, as well. 

[Capricia Varekova]

"Did I leave my H&K when I was here last time? I'm pretty sure I left it in my jacket in the closet. I'm almost positive I've got my paperwork and ID stuff in the car to get on the plane with it, because I know all I've got now is my Springfield and two magazines. I guess it would be fine, but I won't mind having another one just in case." Capricia was always willing to suggest things Connor wasn't. Russia wasn't any less cold than this place, figuratively. She didn't know if Connor had been there before, but their vampires were slightly less organized, and recognized less law and order - most of them were young and had no ties to the world around them, which made them dangerous. It was just that the police were so corrupt it didn't matter.

"I've got a bag already packed in the closet. I guess you never go in there. It's not necessarily for family emergencies, but it's for emergencies all the same. I'll just get a black dress when I get there, it won't be hard to find." She nodded to him a little, giving a tired sigh before wandering back down the hall.

She plopped down on Connor's bed, turning on the television to the Disney Channel, surprised to see Aladdin was on. She actually liked that movie, and so she rolled over onto her back and sat up against a little pile of pillows she'd made, resting Anya on her chest. The baby instantly fell back asleep, and it didn't take long for her to dose off, either.