undergrounds | Five Years Later...

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A lot can change in five years. Students who were at Redbright have now started their careers. People have moved out, moved in, started a new life together or apart. Some move on from the city while others return to it. But while the lives of its residents continue to grow and change, London remains as it has ever been: a focal point for magical power.

A tentative peace
The last five years have not been without conflict, both internal and external. The vampires have played with the politics of in-fighting and backstabbing. The werewolves have overthrown their leader and chosen a new alpha. The witches have suffered one scandal after another. And the fae have quietly engineered a small change here, a personal revenge there, until finally with Redbright and Hillingdon acting as neutral parties a peace agreement was reached between Circle Daybreak, the Islington Nest and the East End Pack. Their territories are still beholden to the same rules (e.g. vampires are still forbidden to enter East End territory and vice versa) but they are no longer in open conflict. Small steps, perhaps, but positive ones.

A delicate balance
The year is 2022. The balance of power in the city is now evenly split between the East End Pack, Islington Nest and Circle Daybreak, thanks largely to the rise of the werewolves and the new President Laura Roslin who simultaneously holds the post of Werewolf Representative.

Samantha Okeke lost her position as Witch Representative following allegations of corruption, and has been replaced by Diphylleia "Dee" Absin, a much more co-operative member of the Night Council. While Samantha has retained her title of Mother of Witches, there are rumours that she lost her powers during a confrontation with a powerful fae. Circle Daybreak firmly denies all such speculation.

The connections between the Redbright Institute and the Hillingdon Clan have grown stronger since the former is now perceived to be a more neutral force rather than tied to the Night Council, although Hillingdon certainly still has the less clean-cut image of the two.

Meanwhile, the Seelie and Unseelie Court have largely withdrawn from public life in the mortal realm except in isolated corners, though they claim the right to go where they please throughout the city. Consequently, there are no barriers preventing travel between the realms, which seems for now to be an acceptable compromise.

And after all, politics is the art of compromise.

Looking ahead
All in all, the vampire and fae presence in the city has reduced as the vampires move around and the fae decide that if they're invited it can't be that great a party anyway. The number of witches has recovered thanks to an amnesty allowing those who were once members of Circle Midnight to return (though the faction itself has not reappeared).

The biggest change that has been noticed first by staff at the Redbright Institute however is the increasing number of meta humans, in particular young meta humans, being discovered in the city. Often these are humans with no knowledge of the supernatural developing their powers for the first time. The reason why has yet to be discovered...

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wow. Buzz kill. Sensing the shift, Nancy sits up a bit further.

"yeah?" she asked, trying not to roll her eyes. "You don't say!"

He shakes his head and sits back again. He never thought he'd be this mad on Eames' behalf before, but he's seen what this whole situation with Nancy has made him feel. "I'm just saying. I don't know why you'd choose to be doing this to make ends meet."

Nancy raises an eyebrow at him. "Because I always have...?" Like it's some big secret or something that she was a talented thief.

"And there ain't taxes on it."

Arthur sighs and shakes his head again. She must realize that Eames tells him things, that they talk and have gone past the point of keeping big secrets from each other. Maybe she's withdrawn so much that she doesn't even know how involved they've become, but that's her own fault, and Arthur's not about to volunteer up information about his personal life for her benefit since she's the one that wanted out of everyone else's lives to begin with.

Whatever she knows or doesn't know or realizes about what Arthur must think he feels too upset to keep trying to tell her that she shouldn't be stealing to scrape rent together. He's just so disappointed.

"What?" Nancy prompts him, leaning forward again. She's confident he can't see through her illusions, so she should appear the picture of health. At least he's not on her case about that.

"I got sacked at the bike shop in Richmond," she says by way of explanation. This had been some time ago, when they'd found out Bill was stealing parts.

"Anyway, c'mon, what's new with you. It's been ages, hasn't it?" She smiles, because she does want to know. She misses Arthur, same way she misses all her friends. It was a pity they'd drifted apart. A pity that she'd withdrawn so much.

“Yeah and there’s a reason for that,” Arthur says, impatient but not outwardly angry yet. “Even if you were still keeping in touch I’m not going to meet you for coffee behind Eames’ back. That wouldn’t be fair to him.”

Nancy's brow creases. "We're not meeting. We just happened to meet. And honestly, why do you even care what Eames thinks?" She was still living in a world where the two of them couldn't stand each other.

Arthur stares at her from across the table, eyebrows drawn together as he considers what he's going to say. He hates this process of telling people to begin with - it's no one's business but his most of the time - but people who know both of them should be aware at least. Arthur's not sure Nancy qualifies for that anymore, even though under different circumstances they'd probably be having her over for dinner every couple of weeks, but he decides to let her know anyway at least to give her some perspective on why he's behaving the way he is.

"We've been together over four years," he finally says, "you'd know that if you hadn't decided to cut him out of your life."

Nancy swallows.

"He- he never said anything," she says slowly, blinking across the table. "Not even earlier, nothing." Eames had been better at keeping in contact, always inviting himself over- he'd even interrupted a fight one night. She always tried to keep the conversations away from her, but...

She reaches for Arthur's coffee, hoping to steal a sip. "What's he told you?" Nothing good, she can hazard a guess.

He only glances down at her hand as she reaches for his coffee. He probably won't drink any more if she has some but he can sacrifice that.

"Everything," he says. "He really cared about you, you know."

Everything. The word rings in her ears and Nancy looks down, closing her eyes as her illusions flicker. So Arthur knows. Great. Name one person in all of London that didn't fucking know.

"I care about him, too." They didn't understand, of course. She'd had to do it. It was for Eames' safety, in the end.

Arthur shakes his head. It doesn't matter whether she cares or not. "We could have helped you."

"I don't need help." All her life... No, what she needed was understanding. Someone who was willing to listen and try to get it. Someone who knew why she loved Bill, and how much he loved her, too. But there wasn't anyone. Nancy was alone.

And if that's how it had to be, it had to be.

He raises an eyebrow at her. "If Eames even thought about raising a hand against me or cutting me off from everyone I cared about I'd put a silver bullet in his kneecap," he says, low enough that the other patrons can't hear him. "That's not how love works, Nancy. You're not supposed to excuse everything."

Nancy frowns at him, her eyes dark. "I know how love bloody works. You don't get to tell me that, not when you and Eames hated each other last time I checked- I don't know where the hell he gets off, telling you about my private relationship."

Did all of London know she was being viciously abused by a werewolf with a temper tantrum problem? Probably.

Maybe if people minded their own business they could still stay in her life.

"He was upset, and I'm his partner, so he told me."

Arthur's not even going to touch the rest of it right now. His and Eames' relationship has always been a bit unusual but there's never even been a threat of physical violence. A bit of shoving and yelling at the most, way early on.

"I want to understand this and I want to be able to be your friend but I can't do that. Not with how things have gone."

It sounds so strange to hear that eames, of all people, was upset.

Nancy swallows another mouth of coffee. "So you don't want to understand. Christ, what is it with you both and never giving my boyfriend a chance?" Cooper had been good for her. But no one has seen it. Maybe if she'd had their support with him...

"Bill loves me. Why can't anyone see that?" Because the bruises blocked the view.

"Because it doesn't matter. There's a difference between loving someone and treating them well," he says, shaking his head.

"He does treat me well. Sometimes things happen. It's always done with love." There was no way she was going to admit that her fave was problematic.

Five Years Later...

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