One of Us Is Going Down

[Capricia Varekova]

Prompt List

• Fever
• Blood
• Anger
• Duty
• Devil
• Humanity
• Fury
• Sword
• Christmas
• Slap

[Capricia Varekova]

S L A P

The sun had just set, leaving the house darker than usual. Capricia had been concentrated in her office, attempting to catch up on her paperwork now that Anya was away for the weekend and Connor was gone with Trick and Danny in Vegas. She'd actually been an adult and opted out of the trip. She'd gone before; that was how Connor had proposed, in his drunken stupor in the middle of the strip. She'd said no, naturally, because she was also drunk, and one of them had to be an adult about the situation.

He'd proposed again later and it had been a much more successful endeavor. In fact, she was going to take a break from that paperwork, the stack of which she'd gotten mostly through (and she was incredibly proud of that) and start doing what she didn't want to do and look at wedding dresses. Her mother was up her ass about having a "real wedding", which meant a Russian wedding, which meant there would be no open bar, but bottles of vodka at every table and more money than Capricia could handle in one venue at once. She was completely tuned into the laptop screen and didn't notice when the door of the house opened. At least, not right away. She did notice when a male voice made a pained sound and the coffee table she'd literally just gotten the day before sounded like something slammed into it. She straightened at her desk, and then spun out of her chair, reaching in a fluid motion for the .45 that was on the desk next to her. She went straight for the door, ready to hit whatever it was head on, and reached over with her free hand to smack the light button to the on position.

What she found was Andrew standing in her living room favouring his shin. He looked up, and his eyes flashed anger at hitting the table over the guilt of breaking in - "I didn't break in," he affirmed as she rolled her eyes and lowered her gun. "You left the door unlocked." He watched as she went right by him to the door, looking at it as though he had lied. "Why would I lie about that?" he protested, finally untangling himself from her living room furniture and getting onto the wooden floor of the foyer.

"Didn't say you would. I just can't believe that I didn't remember to lock it. Or turn on lights. Holy shit, I've been working on that stack since three," she said, brow furrowed. "What time is it now? Seven?" In the winter, she could never gauge the time appropriately because the sun set to damned early.

Andrew smiled a little. "Capricia, it's almost nine. What paperwork?" he asked, moving past her to stick his head in the office. He raised his eyebrows at the massive (literal) stack she'd made; it must have been several months worth of reports she hadn't done. "Oh my god," he said, laughing as he got closer to it. "These go back six months and more," he remarked as he lifted the first folder on the top. "You've been doing this all day?"

She had put the gun back down on the desk and leaned against the doorframe. "Sure have. Hey, I'm a full time everything now. Paperwork doesn't always get priority. That's why Christian has trainees," she added with a knowing smirk. "Have you given any consideration to coming back on as a trainer?"

Andrew shook his head, his eye catching on the screen of her computer. "Yeah, I don't know yet," he said, voice absent. "Wedding dresses, huh?" he said, voice a little louder than it had been before. "I'm surprised you're going through with this."

"Oh?" she asked. She had to admit, she was a little amused by his surprise. Andrew didn't shock or scare easily, and it made her lip twitch as she fought off a smirk that refused to submit. It ended up spreading across her full lips in a sort of sadistic grin instead, which may have been better or worse depending on how shocked Andrew actually was.

"Come on, I've known you since we were both teenagers. You just don't seem like the marrying type," he said. The comment seemed... weighted. As though words were on an anchor that had just gone overboard a boat in an ocean of energy, the same energy that Vidas had and could manipulate to encourage humans to think and feel the way they wanted them to.

Capricia leaned off of the doorway, turning and going back out into the living room. "I'm not," she said. At that, Andrew followed her back out. She turned around, stopping short so that he was only a few feet in front of her. "I'm really not. But - I mean, I don't know what I should be doing. I'm just - oh, Andrew, you know me. I'm too rough and tumble. I'm on the line every day - even now that I've been moved up to a trainer, it means that I'm not taking as many jobs but they're a hell of a lot more dangerous than they used to be."

Andrew reached out, taking her hands as she waved them and circled around the room in place, as she tended to do when she got anxious. "Hey, hey, hey, calm down," he said, slowing her roll. "Since when have you ever been this freaked out over something before? And since when have you ever felt forced into something?" he asked, his brows furrowed. It was funny that he said that while laying on that magical charm.

"You're right," she said with a heavy sigh. "I just don't know what to do. I can't just leave. I'm kind of stuck at this point. If I walk out again, that's it. Connor and I didn't go through our last breakup well, if we have another one... yeah, we'd be done." She flopped down on the couch.

"Would that be so bad?" he asked, sitting next to her. He placed his hand on her knee lightly, causing her to look at him.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, turning her upper body a little so that she faced him more. "You think we should break up?"

"Well," Andrew said. He trailed off, because he hadn't been prepared for her to really buy into what he'd been saying. He supposed it had worked, but then he was a little confused himself. He needed to remember the reasons he had. Oh, right - "Yeah. I do. Capri, look at all of the bullshit you've been through. You never wanted stability, and now you two own a house. You have a kid, a kid that you came to me wanting to get rid of until he pulled some stunt and you felt guilty. Your hunting has been cut back - you're doing paperwork. Capri, you're not happy, and you haven't been."

She was quiet for a long time, and then she spoke. "So, what should I do, Andrew? Leave it all behind?" She scooted closer to him on the couch, and placed her own hand on his thigh. "Leave Connor? File for custody - or better, relinquish? You want to travel the world and hunt demons together?" she asked, inching closer.

"I won't tell you what to do, but would that be ideal? Yeah, I think so. Don't act like you don't feel it, Capricia. Since we were kids, you felt it. You were always the girl for me. Why do you think I always came when you called?" He leaned in to kiss her, and he found that she didn't hesitate. He successfully locked lips with her briefly - the first kiss they'd had in a long time. And then there was a horrible stinging sensation on his cheek - she'd slapped him.

She stood up, pointing at the him. "I thought you came because you were my friend. This whole time you've just been buzzing around me, putting bad advice in my ear? You're the reason I almost aborted my daughter in the first place, you and that Vida magic whatever the fuck it is," she shouted, throwing her hands up in anger. "This whole time, Andrew? This whole time?"

Andrew stood up with her, pressing a booted foot on the table to push it away from him. It slid across the carpet without effort, as was his intent - to remind Capricia that he was still stronger. "That depends on the context. Have I been in love with you this whole time? Yes. Have I tried to advise you badly based on that? Absolutely not. I'm just trying to advise you based on the ideals you had before you went all... crazy!" Now he was raising his voice, a booming and loud thing.

"Get out," she snapped. "You had so many chances, Andrew - SO many, but it's too late. And STOP pushing on me with that magic, because it won't fucking work. I am friends with Raven, too, you know," she roared.

"Capricia, don't - "

"GET. OUT. I will NEVER be yours, Andrew. Get out, before I put a fucking hole through your chest that you'll bitch about more than your aching, broken heart. OUT."

Andrew set his mouth into a firm line, and held his hands up. He wanted to speak, but instead he just nodded. He turned on a heel and walked out the front door, slamming it so hard behind him that the glass broke. He left immediately, knowing Capri would stand by the door with her .45 and wait for him to completely disappear from the street.

Once she'd lost view of his lights, she got the dust pan and began sweeping up the glass. Fortunately they had this exact instance occur several times when she'd left in a huff, and so she went straight into the garage and got the replacement glass for the door. She spent the next hour angrily replacing it, and after that she spent another ten minutes wrestling the coffee table back into place. It had taken three of them to move it in, and of course Andrew moved it and screwed up the carpet beneath it with one kick. Dick.

She finally went back into the office and sat down, mouth curled into a sneer. Absently, she reached for her can of Dr. Pepper and took a sip, lips curling at a bitter taste that assaulted her tongue. "Ugh," she cried, flinging the can at the trash basket. "I fucking hate flat soda!" she roared. She slammed the screen of her laptop down and began angrily sorting through paperwork. About another twenty minutes went by, and her phone rang. It was Andrew.

She rolled her eyes, then picked up the call. "Hey," she said smoothly. "I'm knee-deep in paperwork. Come rescue me? I'll love you forever," she said, a small smile tugging at her mouth.

[Capricia Varekova]

D U T Y

The hall was silent, all except for the sound of the thick, stacked heel of Anya's boots contacting sharply against the hard tile as she walked. Slung over her shoulder was a small duffel bag loaded with gear. She continued walking down the length of the long corridor until she reached the end, where the massive gymnasium that guild members trained in was located, and paused. She hesitated for a moment as she pulled the keycard from her back pocket, the ID with the magnetic strip swiped once through the lock; the light switched from red to green with a soft beep, and the bolt slid from the lock, allowing her entry.

"It wasn't this high tech when I first started here," a voice behind her said. Anya turned as she opened the door, a dark expression in her warm brown eyes; it immediately turned into recognition, then happiness. She smiled broadly, tilting her head and continuing in, knowing that the person would follow her.

"Well, when you started here, it was nearly twenty-five years ago," she reminded her mother playfully.

"You say that like I'm old now," Capricia said hotly, but there was a hint of laughter to the edge of her voice. "I'm only forty."

"Mom, you're forty-four," Anya said flatly, her statement punctuated by the bag dropping to the floor with a loud thud.

"Anastasiya," Capri warned. "I'm as old as I want to be." She dropped down onto the mat and began going through her daughter's bag to see what she brought.

Anya sat down next to her and raised her eyebrows. "Then wouldn't you want to be twenty-four?" she teased. She nodded approvingly as she watched Capri admire the knew knife that she'd just 'acquired' from her latest mark. "Firestone," she bragged.

"I see that," she muttered, turning the blade over to get a better look at it. She glanced up at Anya, those twin brown eyes focused on her daughter's as she spoke. "Anya, what mark did you bag that you were able to nick this from?" she asked.

Anya shrugged a little. "Some vampire," she said vaguely.

Capricia set the knife down and nodded, then set her lips in a firm line. "Anya..."

"I really don't want to get into this, mom. I left a date early so I could come back here and practice with you. Can you spare me the third degree?" she asked, her voice tired.

Capricia made a disapproving noise. "Hnn. Okay, I won't say anything. I'm sure I'll find out when I go through the records later as they're entered into the system. I will say," she said, raising her voice a little as Anya sighed loudly, "that you had better watch your back, Anya I'm serious," she added. "Don't roll your eyes or say I'm being over-protective, because your father and I are the least over-protective people we know. I'm just saying... I never had partners I could keep, and seldom few between those that I trusted to watch my six. You and Tyler make a very good team, but don't. Push. Your. Luck. Okay? That's all. Okay?" she said, reaching out and tipping her daughter's chin up.

Anya looked at her mom and sighed, then nodded. "Okay, mom. I will. Besides, he's a tiger. He'd kick someone's head in before they ever got near me," she said with a laugh. She was trying to make light of a situation, but they both knew that tiger, witch, or vampire - it didn't matter. All it took was once.

"So your father didn't want to come to our training session, huh?" she asked, letting the subject go entirely, just as she said she would, and began rolling into her stretches.

"You did hear the part where I said date, right?" Anya said with a laugh, pulling her boots off and laying on her back, raising her knees up to her chest.

"Who with?" Capricia asked, looking over at Anya, her brows raised.

"Not important," she muttered. "Isn't going to work out."

Capricia sat up. "Oh? Sorry, honey. Should I even bother to ask why?"

Anya made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort, then sat up and slowly eased her legs into the splits. As she leaned all the way to the left, then slowly to the right, she spoke. "He's a normal. Civilian. Not a hunter, just a human. He's just... "

"Normal," Capri said. "You know, if I hadn't have married your father, there was a good chance I would have ended up with a Vida," she informed her.

Anya raised her eyebrows, still leaned all the way to the left. "Really? Dad never said anything about that."

Now it was Capricia's turn to snort. "Of course he wouldn't. He and Andrew... bad blood. Good reason, too. Andrew - the Vida - went a little batshit. But, he wasn't always like that, and I think that if things had been different, he may never have. But, we'll never know, so it doesn't matter. Anyways, my point was, even though Connor is human, he's definitely not normal."

"Yeah, no kidding," Anya mumbled. "But, I know what you mean. Anyways... look, mom, I know this isn't the life you guys wanted for me." She held her hand up as Capri opened her mouth, and Capri stopped. "But, it's the life I chose for me. I love you and dad, lots. And being around this stuff all my life, it's just natural to me. It's in my blood. And I almost feel like I've got some sort of calling for it, some... talent."

Capri nodded. "I know what you mean, sweetheart. You have a very strong sense of who you are, and if who you are is a hunter, then that's just the life you've chosen. And, you're right - a normal individual, man or woman, won't fit into it. Hunters have a sense of duty that's beyond the day-to-day. You'll never be happy in the rat race, and those people... they just get hurt in our race."

Anya nodded. "Yeah. So, anyways, dinner, he paid, of course - and I told him that I was through. He was a little surprised, I mean, I think he thought things were okay, but I'm not interested and I told him as much. Besides, Ty hated him."

Capricia let out a knowing laugh. "Your partner has to be on board with your significant other, whenever you narrow one down. If not, they'll make your life a living hell."

"Yeah... Tyler scared him. And, let's be honest - I could never date anyone who's scared of Tyler. I mean, I could kick his ass," she laughed.

"Yeah, you say that, but he's a Mistari - he plays nice with you, but - "

"I know mom, it was a joke," Anya said, laughing.

"Just saying!" Capri said, dodging as Anya tried to hit her. "Okay, it's late. Let's start training before your father starts blowing up my phone. He had his friends over for a poker game tonight, and he asked me not to be gone too long because he doesn't want to lose all his money."

Anya stood up, offering Capri a hand to pull herself up. "Let me guess - Trick and Fury? Did Patrick's wife come, too? The only time he ever loses bad is when Varia plays sweeps week on him. He's good at reading people, but Varia's... Varia," she finished, snickering.

"Yeah, so like I said - let's get started." And without any warning, she took a hard swing at her daughter, catching on a block that Anya threw up just as quickly. And just like that, mother and daughter, first and second generation hunter, began yet another of many, many training sessions.

[Capricia Varekova]

H U M A N I T Y

Capri was actually about to leave early for the first time in - wow, a few months, at least. It was rounding 1500 and she'd come in at 0600, as usual. Every day she was grateful that they had people they trusted to watch her daughter, because otherwise this guild shit would have been hell. Neither she nor Connor had any intention of quitting, despite how much shit they'd been through, although if she were a betting woman, Connor might be swayed to be a stay at home dad with the right incentives. He was by far the better parent, and they both knew it. But, none of this was on her mind - instead, she was mentally checking off the list of things she could achieve around the house finally while there was still daylight on the clock.

She saw Bacchus in the hall, talking to Axel, and gave a little more than a curious glance their way as she approached. The body language was relaxed; Axel was standing casually, while Bacchus had his arms crossed, but he was nodding intently - whatever they were talking about, it wasn't anything hostile, and so, she did what she'd never been good at, and minded her own damn business. It wasn't until she was clear of them and almost to the door that lead out of the offices and into the main hall when she heard Bacchus calling her name. She stopped, head tipping back.

"I almost made it," she hissed, not bothering to hide the fact that she didn't relish whatever was coming next. She turned, and her posture did the same thing, telegraphing that this was absolutely the last thing she wanted to be doing. "What, Bacchus? Did you come to - I don't know - buddy up to my counterpart?" she asked, a hand up as she gestured to where Axel had been standing (he was gone, thankfully, because he probably would've had a smart remark).

He sucked his teeth, dropping his head for a moment. "Okay, I deserve that," he acknowledged. "But, no, actually I was hoping to talk to you. It's kind of overdue," he added.

"Fuck," she said, holding her hands up in a strangling motion. "I don't like you, Bacchus. No amount of apology is going to change that, so can we just skip it and go to tense encounters when our paths overlap - on accident?" she asked, emphasizing that they didn't need to try and be in eachother's company on purpose. "Now, that's settled, so I'm gonna go, and you should probably do the same, before Lucien finds out you got out of your cage or - whatever," she said, waving her hand to highlight how much she didn't know about his situation and didn't care. She turned again, planning to ignore everything that came out of his mouth after that. She thought she'd made herself pretty clear, so there wasn't a need for him to speak.

Of course, it was Bacchus, and so, he didn't really care. "Does Connor know you almost left him for Andrew when you were pregnant?" he asked. Honestly, since she didn't care what he had to say, it really made no difference what he said at all, right? He didn't need to have supernatural ability to see the mix of emotion flash over her body as she stopped dead in her tracks. "I got a couple more bombs I could drop right here in the hall, if you really don't care," he said, digging in.

She turned and looked at him, her jaw set in a way that seemed comfortable for her. Wordlessly, she advanced on him, then snatched him by the arm, much to his surprise, and began dragging him down the hall to her office. "Walk," she commanded. "Quickly." He did, though he didn't escape her grip until they were in her office, at which point she shoved him in front of her and cornered him, slamming the door behind her. "Alright, vampire. Say what you came to say. Maybe you'll leave alive."

He bit back the urge to tell her that if she killed him, she'd have far more trouble than it was worth. True, Lucien had told him not to go picking any fights, but in his defense, that's not what he'd come here to do. "I came to apologize," he said hotly, adjusting his coat from where she'd wrenched on it.

"Oh really?" she shot back, arms crossed. She leaned in as she said so, her head tilted. "You could have fooled me. And, whoa, by the way - that was not yours to see, "she snapped. "What, did you rip that memory off me when you bit me?" she demanded.

"Yeah, actually," he said, and to his credit, he didn't step back from her - but nor did he lean in and try to get in her space as much as she was in his. "And a lot more. Sister, you've got some damage," he said, a dry laugh escaping his mouth as he shook his head.

"Don't we all," she said with a roll of her eyes. "So you came here to apologize by telling me I'm damaged? Roger, got it. Tracking. You can go now," she said, arm extending behind her to the door.

"No, that's not the apology - actually, hadn't even gotten to that part yet," he added, brows raised. "Listen, stop for a second. I came here to say I'm sorry for biting you, but also, I got a pretty hard pull when I did. And Andrew Vida? He is not your friend."

Capri stared at him for a second, unsure of whether to laugh or yell. She laughed in the end, but it came out more like a barking noise.

"You already knew?" he asked, a confused look on his face.

She sighed, motioning for him to get out of her way so she could get by him to her mini-fridge, where she pulled out a small airplane bottle of vodka. She unscrewed it in two turns, then flicked the cap off. She nodded, but drank it down before she chose to respond. "Yeah," she said, a little out of breath by the drink. "Whoo, I do not drink like I used to. That burns a little," she said to nobody in particular, shaking her head as the liquor made its way down into her chest and below. "And, yeah, I knew. Not like, a super long time ago. Ballpark, less than a year, more than three months. Time passes weird when you have kids," she said, trailing off. "Anyways, yeah. It's been handled."

It was Bacchus' turn to look a little shocked. "Handled?" he asked. "What, did you cut his head off and burn the body?"

"No, of course not," she snapped. "I told him if he ever came near me again, I'd kill his siblings."

"Oh," Bacchus said, brows perking. "Well, that's - wow, okay, then." He was quiet for a second, and then nodded. "Anyways, that's what I came here to tell you - aside from, you know, the usual 'you need to see a psychologist, I can't believe you're in charge of anything' yadda yadda," he said, making a motion with his hand.

"Wait," she said, catching him just as he'd turned on his heel. He turned back around, looking at her expectantly. "Did you come out here just to tell me that Andrew was a creep?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, shrugging.

"Why?" She looked at him critically, and he felt like he was being studied. He knew that whatever he said next was probably going to make or break this bridge he was attempting to rebuild.

"Because I knew a guy a lot like that, once upon a time," he said. He heard the 'Mm' noise she made, and couldn't help but chuckle a little. "I guess I value humans more than I used to. It's weird being on this end of things, seeing how manipulated good people get. And he's the worst kind. Because he poses as someone you trust."

"So, what if that wouldn't have worked?" she asked. "Did you have a hail Mary? Some childhood memory of mine you saw that you thought you could win me over on?"

"Honestly?" he asked. When she nodded, he shrugged. "I was going to tell you that Bastian is way more dangerous than I ever will be, but when I stopped to talk to Axel, it turns out, he's actually doing pretty good. Yeah," he nodded, seeing her knowing smile. "Took the wind right the fuck out of my sails, let me tell you," he admitted. He passed his hand through his dark hair.

The phone rang, and Capri held a finger up, answering it. "Varekova. Hey, Dev - whoa, what? Hold on," she said, sliding from the relaxed position she'd taken on the desk to standing. Everything that had been relaxed about her had tensed up again. Bacchus couldn't hear what was being said because he no longer had that vampire hearing, so he settled for holding his arms out, giving her a look that said 'what the fuck' while she listened to whatever Dev was saying.

"Yeah, no, he's right here, I will tell him right now. Okay, thanks Dev." She hung the phone up and looked at Bacchus. "Is your phone off? Dev's been blowing you up," she said.

"I left it in my car because I only thought I'd be here a few minutes. Why, what? What do you need to tell me?" he asked, still holding his hands up. He didn't do surprises well, and anticipation even less than.

"Your girl Aurora just got brought in by one of the Onyx hunters, a vampire named Julia. She got fucked up," she told him, emphases on the 'fucked' part. "Broken femur is all I got, but Dev said she's in surgery now, so it must not have been the only thing. You know, you're human now, Bacchus, or, as close to it as you can get - I think. You have a lot of powerful enemies. This was only a matter of time," she said, and she said it firmly and with no malice.

"Okay, acknowledged. I'm going," he said. No doubt this was his fault somehow. "Fuck, I knew this could happen, I just figured they wouldn't move in so fast," he hissed.

"Welcome to my world," she said. "Can't trust anyone. Look over your shoulder always. You bit me, you saw. Are you sure you're ready for all that humanity has to offer?"

"Doesn't look like I have much of a choice," he said. He gave her one last nod, and slipped out the door, leaving her alone in the office.

Capricia sat for a moment, as if considering something, and then bent down to the fridge and got a bigger bottle. She put two paper cups on top of it, and headed out of the office and down the hall. "AXEL!" she called, alerting her friend to what was coming. Guess it's going to be a late night, after all.