undergrounds | Five Years Later...

Five Years Later...

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Samantha Okeke lost her position as Witch Representative following allegations of corruption, and has been replaced by Diphylleia "Dee" Absin, a much more co-operative member of the Night Council.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Meanwhile, the Seelie and Unseelie Court have largely withdrawn from public life in the mortal realm except in isolated corners, though they claim the right to go where they please throughout the city.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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Eames frowns, lips tight, because his instant response would be 'no thanks' and 'get out,' but he manages to stop himself, if only not to have to deal with his neighbours seeing a woman leave his home in tears in broad daylight.

He's got nothing to say to that that isn't along those lines though, so he looks at Arthur a little expectantly to see if he has any thoughts on this.

Arthur lets out a big sigh and looks up at Nancy with a tired expression.

"You don't need to do that," he says.

"I know. I want to. I want to do something." She swallows and wrings her hands.

"Look- I shouldn't have come to you two last night. It was uncalled for, rude and... I never meant to hurt either of you. Let me do something- anything to try to make it better. I know I can't- but I have to offer. Next time- if there's a next time- I won't come here. I'll go somewhere else so I never bother you again." There would be a next time, everyone in the room knew it.

"I appreciate everything you two have ever done for me. I want you both to know that. I- I love you both so much and-" She takes a shaking breath, blinking back more tears. "I'm sorry. Christ I'm so sorry..."

Edited 2017-10-20 16:32 (UTC)

Well there's something Eames has no idea how to process. An apology-- a real one, for everything, it isn't something he ever expected to hear from her. He wants to tell her she can come here whenever she needs, but he doesn't want to be back here a month from now, Nancy beaten and bloody and sobbing, knowing she's just going to go right back to him the next day.

He's quiet for a long few moments, trying to decide what best to say or do, and eventually extracts himself from Arthur to get up without a word. Surely nobody could fault him if he left the room, but he doesn't, goes to a cupboard instead.

"Here," he says softly, handing her some kitchen paper. It's not as good as tissues, but he's not feeling quite that generous either.

Arthur sighs again, watching this happen carefully. He knows both of them are just too tired to be that angry and they need to get something sorted out before Nancy leaves. This can't become a ritual; it's too stressful.

"I think we both want to be here for you," he says, looking up at Eames for confirmation.

Nancy is sure Eames is gone, but to her surprise, he remains. She accepts the paper, dabbing at her tears. At least her face is no longer bruised. "Thank you," she whispers again.

Nancy nods. "He hates Eames. Doesn't trust the fae." Made sense, considering Fagin. "I don't know what to do."

In a less serious situation, he'd make a joke about how he wouldn't trust himself either, but as it is he has to fight himself not to roll his eyes as if that's the biggest problem with all this.

"What if I cursed him?" Eames suggests it flippantly, mostly because the idea's only just ocurred to him as he goes to sit back next to Arthur, "made it so he couldn't hit you. Maybe then you two could talk your shit out."

She'll say no, he already knows..

Arthur thinks about all the guns he still owns and about how he could just kill Bill or permanently incapacitate him but he doesn't say any of that out loud because that would just upset her. He also doesn't say that he doesn't believe someone like that can be reasoned with, so the curse would have to be permanent, but maybe if she tried to talk things out with him in a situation where he couldn't hit her she'd actually see what a sad coward he is.

He keeps quiet because he has a lot of these feelings that he can't say out loud, opting for sipping his coffee and settling back in at Eames' side instead.

Nancy balks at Eames' suggestion. "what! no- he'd be livid!" It isn't that she likes the violence. She hates it. But Bill would be so mad if he thought she'd enchanted him. "He'd blame me, of course. Trust me, I'd love to talk things out with him, I really would. But he'll think it's me." He had other ways to get his anger out other than with his fists.

Of course, if they wanted to do something about him on their own and leave her completely in the dark, it's not like she could say no.

He's considered killing Bill a lot, it'd be easy too, it's not like Eames is one of those old timey fae who care about honour and doing things Right. The right way is the way that gets it done.

Still, it was worth saying out loud. If he couldn't lay a hand on her maybe they'd find something decent or she'd see him for what he really is, but he's not expecting much on her side. One of the things that's always frustrated him about Nancy is just how blind her love is.

"Fine," Eames waves it off and shakes his head, "forget I said anything."

Arthur sighs (again) and shakes his head. There's a comment about how Bill can hit Nancy but Nancy can't protect herself with a bit of incapacitating magic brewing in his head but he doesn't let that out either. He just tilts his head and regards the mess of a girl standing in their kitchen.

"What do you want?"

She didn't have the energy to fight with either of them, so when Eames drops the idea of a charm, Nancy is incredibly thankful.

"what I want?" She blinks at them. "I... I want to be with him, for the rest of my life. I don't want him to hit me- I want to marry him, to have his children. I want a family, a real one." Bill wouldn't marry her, and he didn't want children. That was the good thing about him being arrested when he was- he wasn't around to find out that Nancy had been pregnant at the time.

"You're not--" Eames frowns and looks aside at Arthur, his expression almost pained. Looking back at Nancy, he just looks sad and tired, "you're never going to have that with him, some part of you must know that."

And that's to say nothing of what a man like him would do to a child in his home. She's living in a fantasy, and Eames is just going to accept all over again he'll never be able to make her see the reality of her life.

Arthur leans on Eames gently, just a subtle movement from someone else's perspective. This is hard for both of them but he knows it must be really hard for Eames.

"What makes you think he'll ever stop hitting you?"

Nancy looks at them both. They're right. she knows that deep down, but she can't say it, can't recognize it on the surface level.

"he's changing! He's already so much better than before he was arrested- without Fagin to fuck it all up he's so much better. and maybe just maybe, when he knocks me up again, he'll change his mind. Now that Fagin ain't around to..." she makes a vague gesture.

"We could have our happily ever after." She had clung to that idea for years and years. it would take a lot more than Eames and Arthur to change her mind about that.

"I'm sorry, I can't. I can't do this." Eames stands, unsure of where he wants to go, but he can't be around this. He's exhausted and stressed way the fuck out and upset and he doesn't know how to be calm about.

"I'm not going to sit here and pretend it's not fucking delusional of you to believe that." Eames shakes his head, jaw tight in anger, "I've seen the two of you-- I know he loves you, but love isn't enough on its own."

Arthur stands too and puts his hand on Eames' back, trying to be soothing and supportive. "He's right. We can't help you until you realize that you can't fix him."

It's so good to hear that Eames has recognized the love that Bill has for her. It's so often gone unrecognized or appreciated.

But Eames is going to leave again and so is Arthur and she needs them here. "It should be! He saved me, and I can do the same for him, I know it. If... if cursing him is going to be the only thing that makes you see that I'm not delusional, then do it. You'll see."

Eames looks at Arthur a little helplessly, he doesn't even know what to say to this. There's literally nothing he can do to make her see this for what it is; certainly nothing he can say in a morning that'll compete with a lifetime of Bill and Fagin.

Arthur rubs Eames' back, pressing his lips together in sympathy. "I just know that I personally don't want to keep enabling you to go back to him. Sure, cursing him sounds like a good idea, but the curse is going to get lifted and he's going to go back to what he was doing before."

Nancy presses her own lips together, and dabs at her eyes again. "If I decide to leave him- sometime down the road- would I have your support? Could I come to you then?" It's clear this is hard on them, seeing her. She doesn't understand quite how hard it is for them, not by a long shot. So perhaps boundaries would be good. She can't see them.

But when she was ready? She needed to know she'd have someone there for her. Else what good would leaving him really be?

The thing is, she won't. He knows she won't. Even if there would be a day that she'd decide she couldn't be with him anymore, he'd kill her long before that day came. One day he'd hit her too hard, or she'd fall and hit her head, or any other myriad of things, and she'd be dead and gone.

"Yeah, of course." He says it emphatically, because as doubtful as he is it'll ever happen, god does he want it to.

It's the first time she's ever mentioned the possibility of leaving him, which makes Arthur equal parts wary and hopeful.

"In a heartbeat," he adds after Eames, dropping his hand from Eames' back so he can go lean on the counter. He's still so tired.

Nancy nods again, her eyes closed. All her makeup from last night is long since cried off. "Thank you. That's... all I think I need. Right now, anyway. To know I've the support in you two." She glances at the best pup that wasn't Bill or Bullseye, "Three, even."

She'd have to be blind, not to notice how tired the gentlemen were. "Go back to bed, you two. Let me make breakfast. Then I'll get out of your hair. Let me take care of you two, for taking care of me." Plus, she was a really great cook at this point now. Since Bill returned, she'd been working extra hard to make sure they had some damn good meals. Especially now that her boyfriend could appreciate real food on a level that her ex could not.

Laying down sounds really good right now, Eames honestly could fall asleep any time now. He's still not... He's not happy but he's been mollified some. Enough not to start a fight or make any more snide comments at least.

He looks at Arthur, thoughtful, and puts a hand on his leg. "What do you think?"

Five Years Later...

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