undergrounds | waves that swallow quick and deep

"But you're saying this time, Millicent was bad enough that you didn't think of every angle—you didn't expect the fallout." Natasha would be lying if she said she hadn't foreseen this. Maybe not Raymond Harris specifically, but the power vacuum. But she hadn't done more to stop it, had she?

"Well, that explains how she did it," Natasha says then with a sigh. "I would have taken her more seriously if I knew she had someone on the inside."

"Precisely." She takes a long drink of her whisky. "I didn't go in that night planning on being an accomplice to any murder. I would have rather done it myself, made it far cleaner. Mind you, I didn't go there expecting to murder anyone, either. But I saw an opportunity and I took it."

And she was regretting it every night.

Wait.

"She spoke with you?"

"I ran into Alex before it happened. She'd been sniffing around, got my attention. I tried to talk her out of it." Natasha doesn't mind sharing this much. She's already admitted it to Cooper, making her less than his favorite person at the moment. "I told her something like this would happen—not this specifically, but something. The nest wasn't going to take a werewolf killing their highest ranks without some kind of backlash."

She takes another drink of her coffee. She's not judging. In a way, she blames herself too. If she'd taken Alex more seriously, she might have stopped this all before it happened.

"Honestly, I though she'd get herself killed."

"I did, too. And she would have." She takes another sip, savoring the pause. "If I hadn't been there."

They'd had no way of knowing that this would happen. None at all. But here they were, and here Evie was.

"I need to fix this, Natasha. Somehow, there has to be some sort of way." Back in the old days, they'd start at the bottom, assassinating those with titles who shared the same beliefs and instilling someone they could trust there. Nowadays, it was much harder to get away with murder. Not to mention, all those involved were vampires. That tended to make things more difficult, even for her.

"I won't be able to live with this, in a manner of speaking."

Natasha sets her mug down and pulls her feet up onto the couch, leaning closer to Evie. Her expression settles into something serious, curious, her gaze fixed on Evie's face. "Are you asking for a friendly ear? Because I can do that."

On the other hand, if she was asking for more than that, Natasha wasn't sure she could give it. Her own position here is too precarious.

The situation is already turning over in her head, spinning it around, checking all of the angles. It's not for the first time. She's been considering it for some time.

She's already gotten involved enough.

"Yes." She says it without hesitation. She knew, more or less, where Natasha was at. She wanted to get out of this business, and Evie was not going to drag her back in, not when her past was so fraught with difficulties.

"I know better than to ask for more."

For moment more, Natasha returns a level look, then she lets out a sigh. "I can do that. I can't blame you for it. Millicent was going to bring the nest to the same place eventually. This way, it just happens faster."

"And I wouldn't blame you even if you did blame me for it." She sighs heavily.

"There are so many people dead, Natasha. Which is what I was trying to avoid."

Natasha's chin comes up, her brows furrowing in an expression that might be sympathy. "You didn't know this would happen."

"But I should have. I should have waited, let her get killed." She pours herself a bit more to drink.

"I know I shouldn't beat myself up about this. Logically, I know that."

"Would you feel better about that?" Natasha asks honestly. It's hard to say. Even a moral vampire might not have a problem letting a werewolf be put down, especially for a greater good. And even a capital A Assassin had to be pragmatic sometimes. Alex was no innocent.

Natasha saw a little of herself in the girl, though. A little of her from fifty years before.

Evie has to consider this carefully.

"I would have done it myself, eventually, if things had continued down this path with her- I was always taught that the lives of the people are far more important than the life of just one person." Second life, whatever.

"There's no way of knowing, truly."

"But you'd have had a replacement lined up first, right?" Natasha says. She knows how this works. She's done this before. Removing one dangerous leader didn't do any good if the new one was just as counter to your purposes as the one you disposed of.

"Exactly." It's the way it should have been done, and the way it's been done thousands of times in the past. Both of them had done it before, she knew that for a fact. "And more than that, we'd want replacements down the line." Just in case the other side decided to do the exact same thing.

Though, ideally, they wouldn't even realize what was happening until it was too late.

She pours them each a bit more whiskey, and she's fairly certain Natasha's coffee is more booze at this point- idly, she recognizes how cute her friend looks in pajamas, still looking a little sleepy.

This is a rare way to see Natasha. Not by design, exactly. She's not bothered by Evie's presence here. It's just that when she faces the world, it tends to be in a sort of armor, her appearance and her mean carefully cultivated for desired effect. Evie's caught her in a less professional moment, though; curled up with a coffee mug, still in the clothes she wore to bed, she still projects a self-contained air, but the professionalism is replaced by pensiveness.

Whether or not that's less imposing depends on you point of view.

"That would be ideal. Being able to support a movement or even a faction is safer than a leader." Leaders being demonstrably easy to dispose of when it becomes necessary. "Do you have anyone in mind?"

To Evie, it's hardly imposing. To her, it's a show of trust. Here is Natasha in a moment of vulnerability, caught unawares. And she'd let her in and was talking with her. She really was a different person then the woman she'd read about.

"And without the support, you can't do anything, anyway." Which was part of their problem- half of the members of the Nest adored Raymond and his edicts.

"The only suitable candidate I can think of right now is, well, Jean-Claude."

Natasha hides a slight smile behind the rim of her cup before taking another, healthy drink. Her gaze is on Evie though, and the look in her eyes shows both amusement and agreement.

"The thought had occurred to me too, but I'm not as much on the inside of the nest to say for sure." It is an interesting idea, though. "Does he have anyone in his corner? When I first met him, I had the impression he wasn't especially popular with the nest, but since then..."

Maybe his star had been rising? Natasha is clearly warming to this topic though. This sort of conversation was a part of her old life, but not so easy to leave behind. The fact Evie and Natasha were on the same page only made it more comfortable.

"I've been gone for years, at this point, I feel as if I'm as much on the other side as you are." She sighed.

"I'm keeping an ear out. Most of the dislike I'm sure was from his stunt with the dancers. Speaking of, I went to the club the other day, she's doing well." She hadn't gone for the women, obviously. Just to speak with JC and check in on Cherry.

"I haven't settled on him, but he's old. Far older than me, and knows how our government works. He's of a similar mind with humans, as well."

"I know." Another smile smile, this time a bit guilty. "I checked in myself. She wasn't in when I stopped by, but I asked."

Something Natasha wouldn't have done even ten years ago. Now... perhaps she's learned a bit of empathy, or at least curiosity about the state of those around her. Strange thing to only learn as a vampire.

"Jean-Claude seemed pleased I asked. And that I stopped by." Which did say something about him. "At the very least, we know he takes care of his own."

A smile broke across her freckled features. That was good to know, and helped, oddly, take a bit of weight off of her shoulders. Or perhaps that was just the whiskey loosening her up a bit?

"Meanwhile, I have a feeling Harris will throw any of us to the metaphorical wolves without a second thought." Maybe even the literal wolves.

Either way, Natasha doesn't mind seeing that smile. It means the other woman is relaxing. Considering the state that drove her to show up on Nat's doorstep, that wasn't a bad development.

"I don't doubt it." Especially her, but Natasha had been prepared for that when she sided against her own. "He might enjoy it."

The more she considers it, the better Jean-Claude seems as a choice. "I wonder if he's ambitious."

Planning, as it was, was helping her relax. This was something she could control, and it was already lightening the load on her shoulders to see it laid out before her.

"From what I've seen, yes. He was the one that suggested the duel against Daybreak the other month." She hadn't seen Natasha there, but had made a point to speak with Jean-Claude. The turn-out was upsetting, but it had been a unique experience. Certainly a possible way to minimize bloodshed.

"But he has a mind for politics. He's seen quite a lot."

"I believe that. A lot more than I have," she agrees thoughtfully. She drinks more, then adds more whiskey to her cup, sans coffee. Evie had been concerned, but she wasn't too worried about about drinking early in her day.

"We could do a lot worse." At the very least, she didn't doubt at this point that he was smart enough to understand the importance of keeping a low profile. He wouldn't draw serious attention to their community, and at this point, that might be what the vampires in the city needed most.

"More than either of us, and a lot more than a good number of the vampires in the city." You live long enough, and you see history repeat itself. Having JC on their side would surely turn the tides in their favor. He'd, ideally, be able to circumvent any issues before they even arose.

Of course, that was the ideal period.

"We could. And considering we have a lot worse in power..." She catches herself. She's not supposed to be planning with Nat. This life wasn't hers anymore, and she respected that.

"Considering?" prompts Natasha when the other woman trails off. Her interest in this subject isn't entirely academic. As a vampire living in London, it could have a very real impact on her life, to say nothing of local supernatural politics and the lives of the humans around them. But there's something enticing about returning to her old job, as well; she feels more like herself.

And maybe this is for a good cause.

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