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Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

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There was a moment of shock at Fia's outburst, all heads snapping up sharply in anger, except for Rinaa whose head seemed to tip downwards towards her boots in shame. The main look on the faces of everybody (even the bat-hybrid) in the room was one of utter disbelief, promptly followed by ones of 'how dare, how fucking dare she talk to us like that'. Toby and Kane made identical, incredulous noises, eyes flicking towards each other, each sibling seeking confirmation from the other that their ears hadn't been deceiving them and Fia had just had the audacity to say this shit to them. The others' expressions of hatred and murderous intent deepened, while both Quin and Jay's expressions hardened like stone. Both women stepped forwards, their bodies forming a physical barrier between Rinaa and her 'cousin', Jay opening her mouth with the intent to give Fia the tongue lashing of her life.

Whatever Jay was going to say, she never got a chance to voice, as Rinaa crashed to the ground before she could get the first syllable out. In that split second, all attention turned immediately away from Fia and towards Rinaa's unmoving body. The man-bat was the first to move, falling right to his knees, one hand going to the pulse point on her neck, the other to her wrist. "She's alive, but the pulse is failing" came the verdict, delivered in a tone filled not jsut with worry, but fear as well. As if to confirm his statement Rinaa convulsed violently on the ground. As her head snapped back she coughed, loudly and wetly, blood splattering from her lips and onto the floor. She tried to get herself up, but the strain proved too much and all she succeed in doing was collapsing on the floor, her hands smearing the blood from her nose and mouth across the floor. This invoked another coughing fit, noticeably worse than the first. Jay and Quin were by her side in a flash, their earlier intent to beat Fia to a pulp had been pushed to one side for now, Rinaa was more important.

Each wrapped an arm around her side and gently, but firmly pulling her into an upright position. 'Concerned' didn't even begin to cover the raw emotion on their faces, it was more like horror- the horror of watching their whole lives and the one thing they cared about more than each other crash and burn before them. Rinaa groaned, her head tipping forwards. Each word took immense effort to get out, her breathing was laboured and the blood wasn't helping matters. "This is it, we need.... we need to do it." Jay sucked in a breath. "Are you sure?" She asked, a catch in her voice. "You don't have to go through with this." The heartbreak was written all over the assassin's face, she was not even trying to conceal her emotions now, her pain was there for the world to see. Rinaa nodded vigorously before forcing out the next words "there is NO other way. We HAVE to do it. This is worth it, the changes it will bring, to ALL our lives.... it IS worth it. He's worth it, and you know it as well as I do now." The last sentence was delivered staring right into Jay's eyes. The next words were delivered in her native tongue, so quietly that they could so easily be missed. "I can't lose you." Rinaa's answer was equally quiet, and cut off by another violent coughing fit.

The man-bat who was still crouching down asked again. "Are you completely sure? If this goes wrong, it will kill you." Rinaa, with great effort, lifted her head and looked him as dead in the eyes as she could. "Kirk, I'm dying. THIS is it. I can feel it in my bones, this isn't like any other time. Whether we attempt the Split or not, this shift WILL be the one that kills me. Your mad mixture of science and crudely applied magic has done more to keep me alive than almost anything else. I'm giving you my consent to do the Split. If it kills me, it's NOT your fault" her eyes flicked up and around the group "not the fault of any of you, I would have died anyway. So please, just bloody do it already!" The last part was hissed out in pain as she dug her fingernails into her palm and her body convulsed. The man-bat regarded the rest of the group, his ears twitching back. "You heard her, let's do this. Just like we planned- you two, get the prisoner, you start on making the portal, you two get the wolf and the girl, you help me get Leah to the bench and you, watch the kid." Brown eyes flecked with amber then flicked towards Fia. "You.... just stay out of the way."
 
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As everyone looked at her with surprise that she would stand up for herself and her race showed Fia that she had for a split moment, knocked them off guard. She could tell that just by what they were saying, they were expecting her to just stand back and take whatever crap they were wanting to dish out, but she wasn't going to. Her words in her mind were valid, they were hypocrites. They were judging her entire kind and every single timeline version of her on their timeline version, instead of trying to see the her that Rinaa could now see. She stared them down, not feeling intimidated anymore by their judgemental and murderous looks and if that meant she got beaten up for it then quite frankly she felt it would be worth it. Even if she would have figure out how to explain certain scrapes or injuries, depending on how she would heal up by the time she snuck back into Cal and Cliff's apartment. She kept her eyes on Jay as she watched Jay and Quin stand in front of Rinaa like a barrier and Jay stepped closer to her to start speaking, only to have Rinaa's situation get worse and stop her from doing so.

Hearing the man bat say that Rinaa did have a pulse but it was failing made Fia loft her hand sup to her face in shock and sadness, not wanting her to die even though she knew it was going to happen no matter what. The girl deserved to survive just that bit longer if it was possible. She continued watching with fear that she was about to watch one version of her 'cousin' die in front of her. She tried to fight off the tears that she could feel building up in the back of her eyes, not wanting to have the group see her cry, yet at the same time she couldn't help but wonder if it would shoe them more evidence that she was nothing like the Fia in this timeline. She watched on as Jay and Quin helped Rinaa up slightly as Rinaa tried to speak, but was clearly finding it difficult. she listened as Rinaa did manage to get some words out, whilst Jay was clearly trying to get Rinaa to back out of whatever plan it was she was wanting to do.

She could do absolutely nothing but listen to everyone talk with Rinaa and remain firmly in her spot in the room. She watched and listened as Rinaa then just hissed out her last plead and order before the man bat who she now knows is called Kirk started barking out orders before turning to herself with what she could only describe as venom in his voice telling her to stay back. She didn't like being ordered around but she also wanted to do right by Rinaa, right until the end so she stepped back once more but didn't once let her eyes stray from her 'cousin'. She didn't care that everyone in the room wasn't letting her near Rinaa, she still wanted Rinaa to know she was there for her, during these end days. "Rii just hold on a bit longer yeah?" she said to her, openly showing her own worry for the girl, Rinaa was the closest to a friend she had had, and she wanted to be there for her. Even if her words would possibly anger Jay and Quin, she would gladly continue being a friend to the girl despite everyone's hatred for her.
 
The bat's orders snapped everybody into action, Rinaa's condition was visibly worsening, there was no time for arguing or objections. Rinaa was a grown adult, she'd given her consent and made her choice, it was now up to everybody in the room to honour it. Jay, Quin, Kane, Toby and the twins all headed towards the lifts, heading down to the floor below. Overwatch 1 moved noisily and somewhat clumsily, he'd only broken his leg a few days ago and was still learning how to use the crutches properly. He awkwardly manoeuvred himself towards a desk on the far side of the room. Once there he propped one arm on a crutch and awkwardly leaned over, pulling out a prototype box from some concealed shelf under the desk. Inside it was a pair of clunky looking sunglasses and a special pair of gloves. The glasses' lenses were covered with alternating chevrons of blue and black and looked impossible to actually see out of. The gloves- a mixture of leather like material and circuitry- seemed incomplete (or maybe damaged) with exposed wires and loose threads visible. His eyebrows scrunched together and the tip of his tongue could be seen poking out of his mouth as he leant against the desk and began some kind of calibrations. Just as visible on his face as the concentration was the worry and there were a number of times his eyes flicked over to Rinaa.

Kirk had taken Rinaa's legs, while Marty had gripped her round the torso and between the two of them they'd carried her over to a sturdy chair- the kind one might see in a dentist's surgery- placing her down in it as carefully as they could. Rinaa's hands were still clenched into fists, the nails now digging in tight enough to draw blood. Gritting her teeth through the pain she gave another nod, signifying she was consenting for what came next-strapping her down. Leather straps were used to tie down her arms and legs, as well as one broad strap across her waist. Her head was also locked in place. The polo-neck was cut away with surgical scissors, revealing the real reason why Rinaa had chosen to wear long sleeves for the heist, it wasn't for practicality, it was to obscure. Painted onto the skin of her arms and across her stomach and lower ribcage were runes, runes that most definitely hadn't been there the last time Fia had seen her cousin in short sleeves. They were magical runes, used to bind a demon or similar entity in one vessel and prevent it from 'jumping' and possessing another body. The formation and shape of each rune was perfect, but Fia would be able to tell with a single glance that the person who applied them was not a mage. The runes were too 'textbook', whoever applied them had lacked the intuitive understanding of which sigils and runes worked best together and seemed to have slapped every binding rune possible onto the teenager's skin in order to contain the wolf in Rinaa's body.

Scott was the one who didn't move, Kirk had told him to 'watch the kid' and he was going to just that. The Japanese man's arms were firmly crossed over his chest and he regarded Fia through narrowed eyes. Out of all the people in the room, he was the one who looked the least different from the version in Fia's timeline. Which wasn't exactly saying a lot, as the Scott in Fia's timeline never spent much time with her, to the point where it was looking like he was deliberately avoiding being near her when Elliott wasn't around. For Fia he was also the biggest unknown element of AJ's crew- he wasn't just a daylighter, he was a vampire by birth, the offspring of two fertile pureblood vampires (purebloods were almost always sterile, having been drained entirely by their sires before they were converted). This made him a thing of myth and legend, just like the phoenix he was creature that wasn't believed to actually exist. He hadn't said a single word since she entered, just glared with cold eyes, but her worried comment towards Rinaa made him snort derisively.

"Oh no, no, no" he shook his head, his voice low and snarling, his eyes flashing with anger. "You don't have the right to do that. You do not get to just say that, you to stand there and act like you care about her. As if you showing care now will magically change everything and make this messed up, twisted world all fucking right again. You might not be the bitch that ruined her life, and by extension ours, but you DO NOT have the right to sit there and judge us from your moral high fucking horse horse, condemning us one minute and acting like your fucking heart is breaking the next. Standing there acting like you care, like you understand all the shit we've been through. And don't you dare slap us with the label of hypocrite! Every single one of us in this room, every single person who helped us plan this, we are all going to die for this cause. We will erase ourselves from history to give an entire planet, TWO entire planets a second chance. That means all the people on them, including you and your mother. After what these versions did to my people? It's a chance they don't fucking deserve. But you two are getting that chance anyway, because of Leah. Because she is choosing to make a sacrifice nobody will ever know about, or even remember. So get you can get rid of that holier than thou fucking attitude, and start praying to whatever gods your kind believes in that she makes it through what we're about to do."
 
Fia watched as everyone jumped into their specific actions whilst also keeping an eye on Rinaa. She watched on as Rinaa got put in the chair and strapped down with her permission, and how her clothing got cut up, revealing the runes which she recognised straight away. She was impressed at how precise they were drawn on but she knew even from where she was standing that quite a few of them should not have been put together and thus meaning that whoever did it to her didn't really know what the hell they were doing. It made her bite her tongue to refrain from saying anything about how risky and dangerous it was to have mixed those runes together. Looking at the combinations she knew if her dad was here he would be seething as well in annoyance at the lack of knowledge that was showing. She did however get that they had made those mistakes out of trying to help Rinaa, but they were incredibly lucky that said runes didn't cause a massive backfire on her and do more damage. Which just made her feel all the more disappointed in these people. If they had just sought the right information they could have made those runes so much more effective and stronger she thought to herself. She also noticed how out of everyone, Scott was the one clearly in charge of keeping watch on her. She took note of his body language as well as how very much the same he was as the Scott she sort of knew in her timeline. Even in her timeline she had hoped that out of everyone, Scott would get her, be someone she could possibly sometimes talk to about being a rare mythical being, but it seemed that was to never to be in any timeline.

However when Scott couldn't keep his mouth shut when she tried to tell Rinaa she's there for her, she looked at him as he went on his long angry rant to her. Fia just let Scott snarl at her as he lectured her, gritting her teeth to try and keep herself under control, even though every part of her phoenix side was burning to just explode back at him. When he was done, she really tried to make sure she picked her words carefully, but she could feel her fingers twitching as her hands threatened to shake from how angry Scott was making her. "I don't have a holier than thou attitude over this! If anything it's you lot that do! You're all toxic!! She's the first friend I've ever had and yeah, as much ad you don't wanna accept it, I DO care about her! She's learned to see me as a completely different person to the psycho bitch of this timeline so you lot need to accept that. No, you're right, I don't know the full extent of this world has been like for you all, and I don't try to because I know whatever I imagine won't be a patch on the truth, but yeah I will call you all bloody hypocrites because that's exactly what you are! You and me are both considered mythical beings but you act like you're better than me! You don't even KNOW me! You know nothing of my timeline or my family from my timeline, you know nothing of the person I am but you're just judging me because of my appearance! So fuck you Scott! I am praying she makes it through and not for your sakes or mine, but hers!" she snapped back at him, not even caring that it could land her in serious shit anymore. She was going to defend herself and Rinaa whilst she still could. She was trying so hard to not let her phoenix bloodline take control as she really didn't want to give them the ammo they wanted to show she was the same as the bitch alternate, but she wasn't going to just sit back and take the barrage of abuse either.

"Rinaa means a lot to me and I want her to make it through this as much as you lot! Even if whoever did the runes screwed them up putting her life in even more danger!" she finally said, an angry single tear falling from her right eye, that she didn't even realise was, like her left eye, sparking between her blue hue and a golden hue.
 
Fia's outburst rung out in the empty room, her yells bouncing off the walls, Overwatch 1 had stopped his calibration and turned to watch the yelling, eyes flicking worriedly between the teenager and the vampire. Had Jay or Quin been there, Fia calling them toxic would have been enough for the women to finally snap, but luckily for Fia, they were down below on another floor. Scott was more controlled, at least during the initial part of her speech. It was when she mentioned their common status as mythical creatures that a muscle twitched in his jaw and his eyes turned solid black. When he spoke again his tone was level, the kind of level that only came from supressing and immense amount of anger. "You're forgetting one crucial fact, I do know your people. Ever wondered why vamps, even the full strength clan leaders make it their business to avoid you? Why they'd rather form an alliance with a were-creature than a phoenix? It's because the phoenix is the mortal enemy of the vampire. A being with that kind of command over fire whose corpses literally explode into flames? That's a purpose made vampire killer right there, and your ancestors were all too aware of that fact, hunting my kind was a sport. And before you start yelling about how that doesn't happen anymore and I shouldn't be judging you on the feuds of the past, know that I went into this whole thing with an open mind and intention to build bridges, not burn them. I never even talk about my heritage, yet alone think or act it makes me better than anybody else. Before I knew what your mother was I worked with Elliott's crew to track her down and when she was lying there bleeding out on the ground I tried to save her life."

As he spoke he held up his palm showing the self inflicted scar running across it. Scott's heritage had given him the gift of being able to use his own blood as a healing agent. The level edge had gone from his tone and Scott was once again flashing his fangs with every word her spoke. "And after you were born- still just a baby, when one of the clan leaders got it into their head that taking you and your mother, drinking your blood for power then converting you was a good idea, I killed her and spread he message to as many clans I could, telling them to back the fuck off, that you two were off limits. And what did I get in return for putting aside this stupid feud and trying not to let this ancestral bullshit define everything? Your mother slaughtered and tortured my clan and the strays under my protection when she wanted information. There were kids in that group! Scared fucking kids who'd been turned and abandoned and who barely knew what they were, let alone anything about the Downworld in general. So I know what you're capable of and that in every way you could kill me far more easily than I could ever kill you. You might not be the one we know, but you look too much like her for anybody to trust or let down barriers. How can any of us ever trust again when our lives have been so thoroughly ruined? So instead of giving third, fourth, fifth chances and having them thrown back in our faces, we draw together and protect the ones we care about. Leah is the best of all of us. Whatever you feel she means to you, she means even more to the rest of us. If we're hypocrites, if we're as toxic as you seem to think we are it's only because this world, these people we live with every day left us with no other choice. You can leave this nightmare world, we never can and we never will. So if our only satisfaction is in taking our grievances and holding them so tight they burn, well that's our choice."

When Fia followed that up with her runes comment the man-bat's ears turned red. "I'll take full responsibility for the botched magic, it's really not my department, but there was no other way- nobody else would help apply them" he looked up from the strap he was securing in place to properly look at Fia. "Without her anchor, Sykes is an uncontrollable force. When Leah had proper chimera DNA there was enough of her there to fight off the parts that were Sykes, but the wolf destroyed each of the constituent DNA strains one by one, until Leah was more wolf than girl. Right now she has two core strands lefts-her parents- though both are heavily degraded and battered. Leah's body was failing and Sykes was preparing to another jump body, infect somebody else and ruin their lives and body's just like they'd ruined Leah's. Almost as soon as she passed through the portal from the timeline you were in, she had uncontrollable seizure as the wolf tried to rips it's way through her body. With no choice I bound the wolf in the only way I could think of. And I did actually try to get a professional to do it. After Leah had initially been bitten John came to me looking for a scientific solution, but there was none, so I looked elsewhere. I asked John for help with the runes, even before Leah came then I begged him for help. Each time he refused, more vehemently than the last, saying it was an idea that would never work. I couldn't ask anybody else in the Justice League Dark because by that point Leah was declared dead and if they knew she was alive, it would ruin the whole ruse" he shook his head sadly. "There was nobody else and for the rest of my life I will live with the cost of this botched magic and the knowledge that it was wrong and just like so many other things in my life, I probably made it worse. It will haunt my conscience for the rest of my days, knowing it's too late to fix or redo it. But it had to done, just as now, they have to be undone and we have to unleash the wolf."
 
As Scott started snapping back at her, fangs baring, eyes black, Fia clenched her fist. Not because she wanted to punch him, but to hold back her own anger so she didn't become the very psycho bitch her alternate self was. She wanted to be better than that Fia, to remain the good one. Yet Scott's words were making it incredibly difficult. He was tarnishing her and her mother the wrong brush, talking at her as if she was the alternate when in her timeline her mother was the furthest from the confrontational type. She was over protective sure, but not confrontational and certainly not to the psychopathic levels like this world's Kay was. Her mother would never go after kids especially, even if this Kay would and did. She was certain for a start that her father would bring Kay down to a calm level before she got anywhere near that angry enough to cause harm to someone if it wasn't for defence. Before she decided to come back at him with anything, Kurt spoke up to admit it was his doing with the runes and explained much more calmly than Scott was talking to her about how it came to that decision. It was a decision she could understand and gave Kurt a nod, "makes sense. I'm sorry this John didn't help you or anyone else for that matter, and I can understand why you chose to do it anyway. You're just lucky it didn't backfire on you and her massively. It's clear you did it for the right reasons" she spoke to him more calmly back.

She then turned back to Scott, eyes narrowing once again, "as for you asshole. This world's Kay and Fia may be utterly fucked up in the head and cross lines that are beyond sickening, but not every timeline version is and I'm certainly not! I'm not the bad guy here! Whether you wanna pull your bloody head out your arse long enough to see that or not! By all means, go for that psycho bitch girl and HER mother, I don't give a shit but I won't stand here and let you treat me the way you all are! The sooner I leave this shit show the better because I'm here to do Rinaa a favour and to save MY brother! He may be your friend but he's my brother and I will do ANYTHING to keep him safe, even putting up with you! My kind's ancestors may have been ruthless but I know my family are not like that! Even if you did once save Kay in this timeline this version of you? Is a real piece of shit!" she practically spat at him, waving her hand up and down toward him at the last statement. She knew deep down if she didn't stop soon it would be even harder to hold back her anger and she would come closer and closer to being either killed or beaten the utter crap out of, yet there was that part of her that felt the need to drive home she was her own being and not the girl they knew and if that meant being beaten up then so be it.
 
Kirk gave a sort of nod at Fia's words before turning his attention back to Rinaa, pulling the final strap tight across her chest and reaching to the side for the set of special electrodes that would be applied across her torso. Throughout the process of being strapped into the chair Rinaa hadn't stopped coughing, if anything the coughing ahs gotten worse. She was bringing up a mixture of phlegm and blood, her whole body convulsing like she was having a seizure. The only good news about her visibly deteriorating situation was that blood flow from her nose had slowed and the straps had all held firm against her violent fitting. When the fit stopped she slumped into the chair, a sheen of sweat starting to appear across her exposed torso. Her head was pounding and it took her a few minutes to realise it was due to the yelling of Fia and Scott. Summoning up what strength she had left she called out. "Shut it and have some respect! Both of you! I'm literally dying over here! Fia, stop rising to the bait, you're supposed to be able to act better than a screaming hot head. You're really not helping ANY argument, nor proving yourself. Scott just.... be quiet. You're still grieving those who died in the bombing and you aren't thinking straight because of it. Just let it go for now, he wouldn't want that and you know it."

It was in that moment of silent after Rinaa's outburst that the lift doors slid open and the others walked on. Jay and Quin came out first, half dragging, half pushing a third person along with them. The person was dressed in a prison issue jumpsuit and lace-less shoes, their hair was a long, dark brown mop, hanging lankly and obscuring their face from view. Their hands and legs were thoroughly shackled, with both regular metal cuffs and chains and meta-human dampners. Visible around their neck was a power dampening collar. "You two, move out of the way." Jay told Scott and Fia. The vampire happily obeyed, stepping backwards towards the desk as Jay gave the shackled person a hard shove in the back, sending them sprawling across the open space of floor. Quin took hold of one end of the shackles and began looping them through a metal ring on the floor. There were five rings in total welded to metal plates on the floor. This had clearly been done for the specific purpose of securing the prisoner down, and by the time Quin, Scott had Jay had finished securing the person down, they were unable to move. From their kneeling position on the floor the prisoner glared at the two assassins with burning yellow eyes. They clearly wanted to yell obscenities at the pair, but were prevented from doing so by the thick gag over their mouth.

Kane and Toby were the next to exit the lift, pushing a gurney with what appeared to be some kind of metal sarcophagus on top of it. Both siblings were wearing heavy duty ski-gloves, the box had clearly been in some kind of industrial freezer. There was a thin layer of crystalline ice over the whole box, which was slowly melting onto the floor. It was considerably bigger in all dimensions than a regular coffin and had various tubes and wirings running off it. The twins came after them, pushing another gurney, with a differently shaped sarcophagus on top of it, also covered in a thin outer layer of ice. This box however was considerably wider and taller and had been secured with reinforced bands of thick metal. The twins were visibly struggling with the weight of it. "Doc, where do you want these too?" Kirk tipped his head to one side and considered. "The wolf on the left and Cynthia on the right I think."
 
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When Rinaa lectured her and Scott, Fia looked over at the girl and actually did back down. Sighing she knew Rinaa was right, this verbal punching match was doing no one any good, it certainly wasn't helping her as it was playing havoc with her evergrowing phoenix abilities and blood. "Sorry Rii..." she apologised to her wholeheartedly. She didn't want to be the cause of more problems for Rinaa at all, even if she felt justified in her words and was making valid points, she also knew Rinaa was right as well, and she had to back off or things would get incredibly ugly incredibly fast. She had to feel lucky in some ways that it was Scott she was having the heated verbal fight with and not Jay or Quin, knowing she wouldn't even be alive if it the women she was arguing with. Despite apologising to Rinaa, she wasn't going to apologise to Scott for anything she said and she damn well knew Scott wouldn't apologise for his words to her, so in her mind she saw no point in apologising to him. Hearing that Scott lost his partner in the bombing in this timeline however, she did feel the tiniest bit sorry for him as she knew what grieving did to people, but she wasn't going to say that to his face. Especially as her sympathy for his loss was outshined by her anger towards his words to her.

With the lift door opening, she turned round on her spot and watched Quin and Jay bringing out their prisoner, wondering who this person was and what they had to deserve this kind of treatment. She definitely got the feeling they did something bad, judging by the amount of restraints and the clothing attire, but that didn't mean she was any less curious. She moved out of the way when she and Scott were ordered to, making two or three large steps sideways to get out of the way as she watched them secure the prisoner to the floor with the restraints and chains, before looking back at the lift once more to see the gurney that was being pushed in with the sarcophagus ontop, looking like some weird contraption from a sci fi movie or similar. She noticed how it had clearly been stored in some industrial freezer, judging by the sheet of crystalized ice on the top of both as she then noticed a second one being wheeled into the room, but looking like it might collapse the gurney at any moment, let alone the twins struggling to wheel the damn thing. She for once, remained quiet once again and just listened as she watched on, wondering what they were going to be doing with this girl. Then it hit her, was she going to be their lab rat and be used as a new host for the wolf that was in Rinaa? She wasn't sure but she was also not going to risk asking.
 
Rinaa let out a sigh of relief when her words struck home and the two backed off, Fia with a verbal apology and Scott with one of his looks that conveyed more apology than his words every could. This was one of the reasons she'd been so against involving Fia in the heist, her 'cousin' ending up in the same room as the people who were like family to her was inevitable. Everybody in the room was volatile and on edge- this plan was in a whole new category of risky, well beyond 'suicidally dangerous'- and tensions were already high. Throwing somebody who wore the same face as the person her family had united in hate against into this highly emotional mix was never going to end well. There was always going to be snide remarks and casually delivered insults, this was the way they always talked about the two phoenix, they weren't going to break the habit of a lifetime just because of the presence of an alternate who none of them really trusted. Rinaa could only be thankful that neither Jay nor Quin had been around when Fia called everybody in the room toxic. That would well and truly have sent them over the edge, no doubt the two would kill her, gag her and bind her in iron and then chuck her through the portal for 'Max' to deal with. She hadn't expected it to be Scott that escalated things, he was usually the one person who remained scarily calm and quiet throughout. The fact he was this riled up, really made it clear just how much the events of the last week were affecting him- the bomb had smashed into the safehouse where Scott's rag-tag band of Downworlder rejects had been staying and set it ablaze, only four out of the twenty five had survived.

The twins couldn't help but groan when Kirk said their sarcophagus was to go on the left hand side of Rinaa. The left may have been the side closest to them, but the box was incredibly heavy and the gurney was making ominous groaning noises like it would collapse any minute. It was Scott who helped them, using his enhanced vampiric strength to help the twins heave the sarcophagus over. With the aid of special jacks the two boxes were lowered onto the ground. The crystalline ice coating was brushed away. The smaller of the boxes had a full front panel made of reinforced glass, while the monster box only had a single viewing porthole. "Looks like the wolf really does have a type." Kirk remarked, indicating the smaller of the two sarcophagi as the contents inside were revealed. Inside was a woman in her early twenties, her athletic frame clad only in shorts and a kind of sports bra. Her hair was black, her skin tanned, her cheekbones high and defined. She'd been frozen mid struggle, clawed hands and feet pounding against the coffin door as she was sealed in, face set in a snarl which revealed large, wolfish fangs, her pointed ears drawn back in anger. There was blood smeared across her face, as well as her torso and legs.

"Cynthia WAS the original one to be bonded with Sykes." Jay replied, not quite matter-of-factly but with a definite edge of 'we've had this discussion before' to her tone. "It would fit that the rogue wolf soul.. or whatever exactly it is that was transferred into Leah was looking for a replacement that looked just like their old master and other half when the two were separated and frozen. It certainly fits the pattern of the previous victims we know about- predominantly female, but always black haired and extremely physically fit." "I know, but that doesn't make it any less weird to see." The man-bat replied.

A collective tensing went through the room when the ice was scraped away from the viewing porthole of the second box. Inside, in all it's glory, was the instantly recognisable form of an Astras wolf. Far bigger than a normal wolf, or a normal human, it's muscular frame covered in inky black fur, studded with white flecks. It's expression was also in a snarl, it too had been resisting being put in the box, it's claws were bloodied, as were the fangs in it's mouth. Sticking out in a line along it's back, looking almost like spines were tranquiliser darts. With the ice now removed large claw marks could be seen in the casing of the box, slashing deep into the metal.
 
From where she stood, Fia could only see partially who and what was in the two sarcophaguses. It was enough however to get the idea, even though she couldn't see it properly. So when a remark was made about the girl inside one of them, she was internally thankful that it got a thorough and well described answer even if it wasn't for her benefit at all. She found the comments interesting about this Cynthia girl but now that Jay and Quin were in the room, she firmly kept her mouth shut on making any kind of remarks. She made a promise via an apology to Rinaa to stop any remarks so she was going to keep to it no matter what, wanting to make a point that if Rinaa told her to do something, she would take said order or reuqest seriously. She could only imagine how Jay and Quin could react if she said one thing too close to the nerve with them, knowing that she was already lucky the two women weren't in the room when she had her slanging match with Scott. She also couldn't help but keep hoping that she wouldn't have this kind of shouting match with the Scott in her timeline, or whatever one would happen with this plan succeeding. She didn't even want to think 'if' it succeeded as it failing was too painful to think about, so for her own sanity she had to keep thinking 'when' instead.

As the second porthole was scraped of all it's ice layer and the contents were revealed to be a literal Astras wolf, she thought back to when she almost had a face to face run in with Sykes on Cliff's homeland and on Attil and now she could see the full feral look of an Astras wolf, was damn well glad she didn't come face to face with Sykes. She could tell from the position it was frozen in that it tried all it could to get out of the chamber to no avail and she did not want to think of the scenario if it ever got thawed out and released. Part of her wanted to ask what they were going to do with the two sarcophaguses but she knew she wouldn't be responded to or told to shut the hell up, so she kept her curiousities to herself, instead just kept trying to look at what was happening, whilst also keeping an eye on Rinaa at the same time silently. 'Whatever they're going to do to you Rii please be okay. I know this basically your death coming up but please...just hold on that bit longer' she thought to herself worriedly, not wanting to head back to Attil and have Rinaa's dead body seared into her brain. If she could at least make it back seeing Rinaa sort of alive in her mind then she would be able to pretend to go about her day as if she hadn't done this crazy height in another timeline.
 
There was a moment of silence as all stared through the viewing portal the wolf, everybody caught somewhere between the curiosity-driven desire to lean over and get a better look and the self preservation instincts telling them to step back. This wolf was more than just a killer and they doubted that their combined skills would be able to keep if off for long. Nothing in the room looked like it could contain the wolf either, should it break free from the sarcophagus. Bringing this wolf here, to Kane's building, was an incredibly dangerous (and potentially foolish) risk. If the wolf broke out before they had managed to reattach it to it's anchor, it would slaughter everybody it came across in a fit of psychopathic rage. The last thing this wolf's body remembered was being showed against it's will into a cryo-freezer by the scientists that had tortured it. It was a proof of both the determination instilled by love and the recklessness love induced that they were willing to attempt to save Rinaa's life by playing with a fire they couldn't possibly control.. As they looked at the Astras wolf both Jay and Quin took stock of their weapons, their hands making sure all were within easy reach.

"We are so fucked if this goes wrong" Overwatch 1 remarked, hobbling back over on his crutches to join the others staring at the wolf. Nobody bothered to contradict him, the young man was saying what they were all thinking. "So... where do you want this portal then?" he asked, a tinge of nervousness entering his voice for the first time. Over the comms he'd been cool, calm and collected, but the reality of what they were about to do was clearly kicking in, making him pale under his tan skin. "Not near our prisoner, I don't trust them not to try anything, even if they are bolted to the ground." A muffled noise that might have been supposed to be 'fuck you' came from underneath the gag, though Jay ignored it. "And not near the wolf either, last thing we need is the sword skewering the cryo-freezing mechanism and breaking it. So I think over there?" Jay looked at Quin as she indicated. The other woman gave a firm nod of approval.

"Okay" Overwatch 1 took in a deep breath to steady himself. "In that case can everybody move out of the way and stay quiet? This is going to require a lot of concentration. If I get this open, nobody try go through, or throw people through until I give the signal. I don't know how stable this portal will be or how long it will stay open for- if it will even stay open." "Hey" Rinaa called out from her position strapped down in the chair "you got this." The scepticism that flashed over her friend's face made her repeat it again, this time with more emphasis. "YOU got this." "I got this" he repeated with a nod and a nervous smile, then reached out a hand, which Rinaa squeezed firmly. He then moved away from the group, passing his crutches to Kane to hold. He pulled on the gloves, then put on the glasses, careful to make sure they didn't tangle in his hair. Taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders he planted his body into a steady stance (or as steady as a stance could be when one foot was encased in plaster). The coloured strips lit up blue as the gloves and glasses activated.

For the first few minutes there was nothing. Time seemed to drag on as they waited for something, anything. Overwatch tried a series of different hand positions and gestures to see if this would have any effect, but still nothing. With a frustrated sigh, he pushed the glasses up on his forehead. "Right, time for plan B. It's clearly not gonna work if I can still HEAR you guys shuffling and sighing so frustratedly." He reached over and grabbed a pair of noise cancelling headphones and his phone. Pressing play on the track, he jammed the headphones over his ears and slid the glasses back down. For the first half of the track he did nothing, just stood there and let his breathing level out. It was as the song his the chorus for the second time that he made his move, taking in one deep breath, then clenching his fists, he flipped his hands around, snapping his curled fingers open, pushing outwards with his palms. In front of his palms a blue swirling vortex appeared with a pop that reverberated through the ears of all assembled. At first the breach was a small, a vortex no bigger than a tennis ball hovering in the air in front of him, but gradually it grew and warped outwards until it was oval shape and as tall as a person. A few seconds later an object flew out of the breach, shooting past Overwatch 1, who had moved himself to one side of the breach. The object slid across the floor for a few metres before stopping just in front of the assassins. Bending down Jay carefully pulled back the leather cloth wrapping, revealing a sword made of dark metal with distinctive carvings along it's blade and handle, the blood of it's last victim still crusted on it.
 
As Overwatch 1 spoke what they were all thinking, Fia found herself internally agreeing with him as she too was thinking it. She really didn't want to be in the room if that wolf got free and went on a confused rampage on them all. She may be able to come back from death but she would rather not due for the first time in a different timeline to her own and by an Astras Wolf, let alone in front of so many people that hated her guts because of her face who would no doubt all enjoy seeing her die, even temporarily before they too got on the wrong side of the damn animal. She continued to just observe as it was discussed where the portal should be opened in the room, noting how nervous Overwatch 1 seemed to be all of a sudden, compared to his earlier confident tone over the comms. At Jay's words she couldn't help but glance down at the prisoner on the ground, seeing her attempt a 'fuck you' behind the gag which made her discreetly smirk for a split second and then got rid of said smirk before anyone in this group could see it. She may not know this woman but if she hated Jay as much as she herself did in this moment then she was alright to her. She stayed put where she was as she was the furthest away already from everyone, just wanting to try and avoid any more conflict.

She glanced at Rinaa when she replied to Overwatch 1 about how he had this in the bag, even if he was feeling a bit apprehensive about it. She continued to observe as Overwatch then activated his glasses and gloves and started to try and open the portal to no avail, acutely aware of everyone in the room muttering in hushed whispers about either the lack of portal opening or how much Overwatch was concentrating, which clearly was putting the guy off kilter. An observation that was proven correct when Overwatch complained and told them all to shut up, before trying again and this time slowly something began to happen. She was used to seeing how portals opened via her methods or Rinaa's methods, but never in the way that this guy was using so she was with curiosity. As the portal got bigger, she saw the sword fly out of it and land in front of Jay's feet, making her look down at it, even when Jay picked it up and instantly recognised it. It was THE blade that harmed her brother all those years ago, or so she thought it was. It looked far too similar for her own comfort and wondered what the next moves were going to be now they had such a blade. She was also waiting for the inevitable booting back to Attil's present time which she was equally looking forward to going back to and dreading as she was certain they would be rough with her and not let her just step through on her own accord.
 
Jay fully unwrapped the blade, letting it roll off the leather cloth and land on the floor. It was, without question, THE blade that had scarred Elliott. There was simply no other sword out there like it. As Dan had stressed on a number of occasions, this blade was not just unique, but a sort of anomaly. Blacksmiths didn't tend to make functional swords out of dark metals. It could be done, but nobody ever wanted it as they preferred the aesthetic of the shinier, brighter metals. He'd also said that while forging the blade it felt like he hadn't been fully in control. It was like the blade existed as some abstract idea and had taken control of his body to make it. Even then the blacksmith said there was something incomplete about the blade. All blades, Dan said, had personalities, but this one was somehow unfinished, like it was waiting for someone or something. They knew now, thanks to Dakkon's interest that the blade could be turned into a soulsword or mindsword, but Dan still felt that out there somewhere was the sword's intended wielder, the one who could name it and claim it. There had been many musings over the years in Fia's timeline, mainly by Jay and Dan when they got together (though occasionally John would give some input) over who the sword's intended wielder was.

"Here's hoping Dan never finds out we had this stolen." Jay remarked, before picking up the blade. She didn't touch the sword directly, instead using the leather cloth as a sort of glove to prevent her bare skin from touching the metal of the blade. Quin walked over to the bound prisoner in the centre of the room, one hand undoing the dampening collar, which fell to the ground, landing with a metallic clunk. Quin then grabbed a large chunk of the prisoner's long hair and used it to yank their head violently backwards exposing their throat. The prisoner let out another muffled curse from underneath the gag.

Jay gestured with the sword towards the bound prisoner, "this, for those who don't know, is the serial murderer and mind destroyer who labels themselves Axl. They're a Mindwalker, like Elliott was" there was a slight wobble in her tone as she said the name of her dead lover, but it was quickly replaced by anger hatred for the person bound on the floor. "Only this one used their powers to break into people's minds and ransack their memories. Sometimes they used what they found there for blackmail purposes. But usually Axl just played ever-increasing mindgames withes the victim, driving them slowly insane, using this insanity as a cover to steal their money or anything else of value. The victims were then manipulated into committing suicide or were left with their minds so horrifically scrambled they couldn't even function at all. There's over forty victims we know of. In other words, don't mourn this asshole, this death is too light of a punishment." Then, with one smooth stroke, Jay plunged the sword right into the bound prisoner's heart. Jay twisted the blade as she drew it out, then twirled it around in her hand and in the same fluid stroke, slit Axl's throat open. The long slit Jay had made across the neck looked like a strange parody of a mouth. The dark-red blood ran onto the outstretched blade, flowing through the intricate carvings as if they'd been designed for this exact purpose. When the blood reached the crossbar of the blade it stopped, it didn't drip off, instead it seemed to sink into the blade which started to glow a very faint blue- the same colour Elliott's eyes glowed when he MindWalked, and the same colour as Axl's eyes were now glowing. Axl had tried to jerk away from the blade, but the combination of the taught chains, and Quin's firm hand yanking their head back made all movement impossible. As the glow in Axl's eyes dimmed and finally extinguished the glow of the blade increased. The areas of the decorative carvings glowed the brightest, a blue so pale it was almost white. When the blood stopped flowing, Quin let the head drop and stepped to one side, leaving the corpse still chained and suspended in it's kneeling position.
 
As the wrapping carefully came off the blade, Fia could see bit by bit even more that she was right in thinking it was blade in question. She knew it had to be it as she hadn't seen any blade like it in her life, let alone very recently. The more of it that got revealed, the more the past conversations about it came flooding through her head about what Dan had said about it in particular, how it was clearly waiting for it's true owner which was something she could fully believe considering the world she was brought up in. Yet the horror of what said blade was used for never failed to break passed everything else she had been told about it, including hte musings of who it could be intended for. She also remembered about why Dakkon wanted this blade, which made her start looking at the sight in front of her in a whole new light. It didn't take much for her to put all the pieces together and figure out that they were going to sacrifice the prisoner that was bound to the floor.

She couldn't help but find it curious that Jay mentioned about having the blade stolen to do this and decided there and then she would not be telling Dan or anyone for that matter, for the sake of keeping this plan to work flawlessly (or as flawlessly as possible) and because she didn't want something to effect the timelines and one of the many Jay's in the universes came after her and killed her on principle. Watching as she used the leather cloth to hold the sword, she watched as Quin walked over and roughly yanked the prisoner's head back to expose their neck greatly, making her realise just how this was going to go.

She listened as Jay began speaking about the prisoner whilst also directing said sword toward the prisoner at the same time. The moment Jay mentioned that the prisoner was a MindWalker she remembered more vividly about Dakkon mentioning how to turn the sword into a soul sword, it would need a power as great as Elliott's to do it. The wobble in Jay's tone as Elliott's name left her lips was noticable to Fia, as she continued to listen about what this prisoner used their ability for. It made her blood boil, her hands snaking their way to her back jeans pockets where she partially put them inside and also partially balled them up into fists as for someone to use such an amazing ability such as MindWalking in such a horrific and sigusting manner was just unthinkable to her. It was an abuse of power, as well as a complete disrespect to said ability. No one had a right to have such a gift if they were going to use it in such a way. Then she watched, unable to turn her head away as Jay plunged the sword into Axl before removing it with a twist and slashing their neck. The complete brutality and swiftness of the ritualistic kill was equally sickening to Fia and fascinating, but she didn't let any of her opinions on it show on her face.

She watched on as the sword began to glow a matching hue to Axl's eyes, only for the eyes to dull down and the sword glow brighter. She could only imagine how John would have been reacting if he was in her position and here with her or in her place. Remainign silent as always, she watched as Quin let the body just go limp in its restraints. There was something haunting about the body remaining in a kneeling position yet completely dead. SHe also guessed that with this ritual done, or almost done, it wouldn't be much longer until she was booted back to Attil.
 
Everybody in the room had known what was coming, known that they were going to be witnessing an execution. Jay was only explaining Axl's crimes for the benefits of her friends. It was her way of reassuring those like the twins, Toby, Overwatch 1 and to an extent Kane (those who didn't like to kill unless there was no other option), that killing Axl was a necessary evil in order to save Elliott's life and more importantly explaining that Axl completely deserved this death. The prisoner's crimes were horrific, and the disapproval and sheer disgust showed on the faces of all assembled. Most in the room had known Elliott personally and had seen his MindWalking in action, those who hand't known Elliott alive clearly knew enough to understand just how horrific an abuse of such a rare and beautiful gift it was. The room was in unanimous agreement that a power like Elliott's should not ever be used to torture people and destroy their lives. But still the swift brutality of the execution took them by surprise. The first strike through the chest elicited a series of muffled gasps. The room fell deathly silent as Axl bled out before them.

With the deed now done Jay looked down at the newly formed sword in her hands. The carvings were still glowing slightly, casting an almost ethereal light over the blade. It was both an incredibly beautiful and incredibly dangerous sight. A slight smile curved at the corner of Jay's lips. It wasn't one of happiness, this was a much more predatory expression. Taking a few steps back from Axl's unmoving corpse she twirled the blade around in her hand, before making as series of feints, jabs and parries, clearly testing the weight and the balance of the blade. Her movements were graceful and fluid. Quin watched on, approval written all over her face (how much of it was approval of Jay's technique and how much of it was appreciation of how attractive she found her partner when wielding a blade was another matter).

It was Overwatch 1 who interrupted Jay's display with an awkward cough-slash-clearing of his throat. "Ah... the breach is stable, but I won't be able to hold it open for much longer." His tone was slightly strained with pain and a few drops of blood of blood could be seen slowly dripping out of his nostril and running down his face. "Yeah, we can chuck her back now." Jay nodded, slipping the sword into the sheath attached to her belt. "She's overstayed her welcome FAR too long- not that there ever really was one in the first place." She then turned to Fia, eyes narrowing and gestured at the swirling blue portal. "You heard the man- LEAVE." The last word was delivered an icy tone leaving no room for questioning. The threat was implicit, if Fia didn't move herself Jay would be more than happy to literally throw her through. As it happened she did just that anyway. As Fia faced the portal and took the final step to head through one of Quin's legs shot out of nowhere, tripping Fia over. This was followed by a firm kick from Jay, landing right in the centre of Fia's back. jays's boot slammed into Fia sending her flying through the portal and causing her to uncontrollably skid a couple of metres across the roof on the other side. The portal blinked closed a few seconds later.
 
Fia continued watching Jay with the sword as part of her just didn't trust this version of Jay near her with any visible weapons. She didn't think the woman would actually do anything as she didn't have a just cause (luckily for her) as she never heard what FIa previously said about them all to Scott. Yet she knew Jay was more than capable of killing her on principle, even if it was a kill that meant she would come back to life again and no doubt in immense pain and lots of screaming. She watched Jay sheath the sword on her belt after staring it soft glow and her little moment of showing off with it as she tested the balance, which Fia felt was for show sake as surely this Jay would have felt the balace of this sword before and knew what it was like to handle in such a manner. Quin's looks of being impressed at what Jay was doing or how she looked whilst weilding the weapon made her roll her eyes, unable to stop herself from doing as such even if she tried.

She wanted to go back as much as the lot of them wanted her gone, so when Overwatch 1 commented about having the portal stable but it wouldn't be for much longer, she sighed with relief internally. Jay's venomous tone in her reply was of no surprise whatsoever, she knew that the woman would take any opportunity she could whilst she could to make any kind of dig at her. She glared back at Jay when the woman glared at her, showing her that she wasn't going to let her be intimidated by her. "Fine by me" she said back just as icy and began to walk toward the portal when Quin tripped her up purposely, making her lose her balance and double over about to hit the floor when she felt Jay's foot on her back and kick her right through. 'petty bitches!' she thought to herself, feeling the pain from the kick in her spine as she skidded out the other side, onto the roof where 'Max' was and onto her knees on the floor.

"Fucks sake!" she cursed, wincing as she placed one of her hands on her back as she got off her knees and sat on the floor normally to check she didn't scuff up her jeans too much. "you help them and you literally get the boot for it...." she complained, before looking up at 'Max', "man it's nice to see a friendly face again" she said to him before sighing.
 
'Max' leapt backwards out of the way when Fia flew out of the portal and skidded across the floor, something small and metallic dropping out of his hands and onto the ground. It took him all of two seconds to figure out why she'd come sprawling through the vortex in such an undignified manner as opposed to just walking through it. The complaint Fia muttered in a dark tone under her breath just confirmed matters- the alternates of Rinaa's timeline had not been happy to have the person they perceived to be one of their greatest enemies and the root of almost everything that had gone wrong with their lives working with them. 'Max' gave a slight smile at being called a friendly face- it was a welcome change from earlier where she didn't have the slightest clue who he was or what history they shared together. Rinaa had warned 'Max' that this Fia didn't know him, but he hadn't realised how much it would hurt to be looked at blankly by somebody he'd known most of his life

This smile was replaced quickly by an apologetic look. "Maybe not my smartest idea to send you back... but the next time you see Lee, Leah...whatever it is you call her, you'll be standing over her body and won't even know it's her. If you're anything like the Fia I know, I know you'd want closure on all this." He made his way closer to her, then leaned against the wall around the edge of the flat-topped roof. It was still dark out, despite Fia spending the bones of a day in Rinaa's timeline, no more than forty minutes had passed on Attil. Their corner of the roof was illuminated by torchlight, the torch in question propped on the wall to allow it's beam to spread over the greatest angle. "The behaviour of the Jay on the other side, I've never met her, but I know enough to say that without Elliott's influence... or the influence of my father for that matter to stabilise her, she happily lets the darkness consume her alive. Ell and my Dad... they.. I don't know how to explain it really.. they..... keep her on the better side of the assassin's moral compass."

He gave a sigh, silver eyes flicking upwards towards the dark sky before back down to Fia. "Sorry about not offering a hand up, but they're not exactly in full working order." He held up his palms so Fia could see them. The flesh was raw and blistered, like it had been burned. Melted into his dark brown skin were bits of fabric- leather from his gloves and bits of cloth from the long sleeved polo-neck style garment he was wearing. Some of the fabric pieces had been picked out leaving raw painful looking patches, which oozed clear liquid.
 
Fia may have only known about 'Max' for forty minutes in grand total but she really was glad to see him after what she had just endured. She didn't regret helping Rinaa in the slightest, far from it. In fact she was more than glad she could help her, but how the others treated her, though understandable to some extent, still hurt her in more ways than she let any of them know. It also made her hate that timeline's Fia so much more which she didn't think was even possible. She had thought many times over in that short time at Kane's how she wished it wouldn't cause such a cataclysmic consequence to punch the living shit out of that Fia. That girl didn't deserve her namesake or face in her eyes and she wished she could have found out she had a different name to her. So having 'Max' actually smile at her genuinely and be glad to see her was a much needed sense of relief. She just hoped that whatever changes happen in her timeline if it's hers that wins out, she gets to have a version of him in her life.

Satisfied that she wasn't too beaten up from skidding along the rooftop floor, she sighed and gently pulled her hands to her back and massaged the sore spot with a slight wince. She listened to Max speak, apologising for convincing Rinaa to take her along which made her shake her head before nodding at the closure remark. "I definitely want closure to all of this. Rinaa is my friend, even if that lot don't wanna believe it. If next time I see her means I won't know who she is, then so be it, but closure is closure. No matter the cost." she replied to him as he made his way closer to her and leaned against the wall beside her. She continued to listen to him explain about that Jay, nodding in understanding and agreement having seen for herself just how dark that Jay was. "She's definitely let it consume her alright. It's sad to see as she's such a polar opposite of this Jay in this world right now and the Jay I know. I consider my Jay almost like an older sister and always know I'm safe around her, but that Jay? I fear for my life around her" she replied truthfully.

She gave a small sigh and smile as Max apologised for not giving her a helping hand after looking back down at her, a smile that soon disappeared from her face when he showed her his hands along with his explanation. "shit, I'm sorry, what happened? If you don't mind me asking" she said to him, as she pulled herself back onto her feet, looking at his hands and the burns. She couldn't imagine just how frustrating it must be to have serious burns on the hands. She also didn't want him to dredge up any painful memories or similar if he didn't want to, so as she always did, she left it up to him (or whoever she asked a question to) to choose whether or not to tell her. What she didn't know was that his Fia was pretty much the same way with him and anyone else.
 
'Max' gave a sympathetic nod, hearing the annoyance in Fia's tone s she spoke about how she did care for Rinaa as a friend and the frustration at how nobody in he other timeline could see it or, more precisely, accept it. He couldn't help but feel a harsh stab of guilt over sending Fia there. He'd been the one arguing she should go, but now, seeing the state- both emotionally and physically- that she was in after coming back, he could understand why Rinaa had argued so vehemently against it. The fact Fia said she did get a sort of closure made him feel slightly better, but only slightly. He gave a deeper, sadder sigh as Fia explained how dark Jay had become in that timeline. "Jay's a really important person in my life as well. I know she has my back, would fight for me and would be there to pull me out of whatever shitstorm I accidentally unleash, but I can never just forget she's a trained assassin, it's always in the back of my mind. I've seen her train, fight and hunt with the Isogrii, she's a killer and a damn, damn good one at that. But the Jay in my time and yours, she cares and lets that guide. The Jay you unfortunately had to see? That's the Jay who doesn't give a shit, whose out for blood and will get in, whatever the cost to herself. The one who would laugh and let the world burn up around her to get vengeance. The one that even her own people fear." He let out a sigh. "But should all go right, neither of us will ever have to see a Jay consumed by that darkness and on the hunt for revenge again."

'Max' gave a sort of smile, recognising the type of open question was putting to him. He knew the strategy well- leave an opening and let the other person give as much information as they are comfortable with. "Don't be sorry about it. It was a rookie balls-up on my part. When I was stealing it I accidentally touched" he gave a name in another language. Upon seeing the lack of recognition on Fia's face 'Max' made a small 'huh' noise of surprise and changed his explanation "the blade that Dan forged, the one which scarred Elliott. That blade is special, there's something in the alloy of the metal, or maybe even in the.... soul?.. the aura? of the blade itself which really doesn't react well to time-travellers or to being yanked out of it's correct place in space and time. It quite literally burned my hands, which was why I threw it through the breach portal fully wrapped in that leather cloth."

'Max' flexed his fingers, which caused some of the clear pus to drip onto the ground. The wounds were fresh. He looked at the state of his palms with an expression more of annoyance than pain before continuing. "It looks bad and stings a LOT, but I'll be okay though, no need to unnecessarily worry about me. So long as I pick out all the bits of fabric, swab away all this pus-like stuff and keep the raw skin sterile.... I doubt I'll be left with any scars from it. It didn't burn deep enough for any nerve damage- temporary or permanent. I have similar healing powers to my father, so my hands won't be out of commission for very long."
 
When Fia said what she did about Jay, she didn't want Max to feel guilty for his part in getting her to go to Rinaa's timeline. That wasn't her intention in the slightest as she would have done all she could to have convinced Rinaa to let her help even without Max. She also was of the mindset that if she didn't want to help and risk going over there, then she would have simply refused. She did it because she wanted to be of help to Rinaa as she knew she had the skill set to be of help, which considering she found the first hidden laptop that as of great use to them all, she was glad she went. She listened to what Max was saying about the Jay in his timeline, making it sounds very much like the Jay she knew also, which was of some comfort in a way as it told her that there was just many nice Jay's as there were abhorrent ones, even with the knowledge of her assassin skills. She briefly went wide eyed when he said about how even Jay's own people feared her in Rinaa's timeline, even though it was partly unsurprising from what she had witnessed twice now. "Hopefully you're right Max.....hopefully you're right" she said.

Seeing him smile at her open question, it made her think that the way she would be thoughtful toward the person she was asking for a story, he was all too used to it, that his Fia asked in the same way which was also of a relief to her. She was so glad to know that there was another nice version of herself as well. As he explained, she looked at him blankly not understanding the word he used, but the moment he said it was because of the sword in English, she made an 'ohh' expression, it finally clicking into place what he was talking about. She found it interesting that it didn't seem to react well to people like themselves who time travelled or being yanked out of place which made sense why Jay held it with the leather cloth in Rinaa's timeline. "huh... Now it makes sense why it came through so haphazardly" she smiled, slightly amused, but not at what it did to Max's hands. She watched as he flexed his fingers, the burning puss dripping onto the ground as he did so, feeling glad she didn't have such a weak stomach in this moment. Noting his annoyance at his hands, she let him continue speaking before replying once again. "that's good, I'm glad you'll be alright" she told him honestly.

"if we were anywhere but here I'd offer to help healing your hands, but obviously that's not possible here. I'm still pretty rusty at using my phoenix ability to heal so I rely on my mage healing ability to heal up at the moment" she smiled. "it's what I get for rebelling against what I am I guess" she scoffed chuckled.
 
'Max's' use of the sword's real name was out of habit. In his timeline (unlike in Fia's or Rinaa's) the rightful owner of the sword had been found and as was customary they'd named the blade. He could clearly see Fia's interest as he explained the way the blade reacted to time travellers and being displaced in time. It was a highly unusual behaviours for a sword (or any object for that matter). Usually only timeline sensitives would have been able to sense displacement, but this blade had that affect on everybody. In his timeline the mysteries of the sword were slowly being unravelled with the help of researching Attilian mythology, various ancient obscure Earth texts, Dan and Cal's knowledge of forging and blacksmithing and some trial and error on the part of the owner.

He grinned almost sheepishly when Fia commented on how haphazardly the sword had flown through the portal. "By the time I got the blade back here, I really just wanted it gone so I could start to clean and heal up my hands. I kind of just wrapped it the blade as best I could in the leather- really should have taken some kind of scabbard, that would have made life much easier- and threw it into the breach with no real finesse, hoping it wouldn't hit anybody on the other side. I figured they'd all be told to stay clear of the breach while it was being opened."

'Max' waved off Fia's apology about not being of much help. He did however, find it interesting that this Fia was less competent with her phoenix healing side, the Fia he knew had also gone through (and in a way was still going through) a phase of rebelling against and questioning her heritage, but healing was something she'd mastered very early on. John's disapproval at using magic to heal minor wounds might have had something to do with it. "Don't worry about it. You'll get there eventually and I'm more than capable of dealing with this. It's not the worst injury I've had to to heal." He pushed himself away from the wall and picked up the tweezers that were lying on the ground (he'd dropped them in surprise when Fia had came through the portal). With the aid of a small bottle of medical alcohol he sterilised them, gritted his teeth and slowly began to remove the pieces of clothing from his palms. The skin was gooey, and as he slowly pulled each piece out it stretched, looking disgustingly similar to the way the cheese topping of a pizza stretched. 'Max's face didn't show any sign of disgust, his silver eyes narrowed and darkened in concentration (just like Jay's did when focusing hard) and he set his jaw. He worked slowly and methodically, removing each piece and setting it to one side on the wall. When pulling out pieces lodged particularly deep he'd let out a hiss of pain through clenched teeth, but never let more than a slight grimace show on his face.
 
Fia didn't blame Max wanting to just get rid of the sword through the breach as soon as possible when it was burning his hands. She knew if she was the one who had to throw the sword through a breach and it was burning her in that way she would want to throw it as quickly as possible as well. In fact she was pretty sure anyone would have done it in the way Max did if they were in his position. "I really don't blame you and yeah it avoided everyone, landed at Jay's feet actually, where she proceeded to execute a prisoner, turning it into the soul sword and then show off with it before sheathing it into a scabbard on her belt." she replied, smirking slightly. There was an edge to her tone that showed how unimpressed she was at Jay testing the balance on the blade after turning it into a soul sword. She didn't like the idea of the sword becoming such a powerful weapon, even more so than it was already, in her eyes a soul sword should never be in existence but she also knew she had very little right to give any kind of opinion on this plan that was being had, a plan she knew very little about but was a part of.

She let him just wave off her apology for not being able to help him as well as the Fia in his timeline, but could tell he found her little tibbit of information interesting as well, which told her without anything actually being said that his Fia was a lot more competent in her phoenix abilities. For herself, it was a case it could be a bit hit or miss whether things went alright as she healed anything or not. Most times it went smoothly, but there were times when it went a bit haywire and she lost control of her ability. She still remembered when she was trying to activate her healing ability naturally and it wouldn't activate, causing instead for her to pass out and came very close but not quite to hitting her head on her desk in her room. When she came round her eyes were golden in hue as she tried to refocus and found the wound she was trying to heal, healed poorly for a long while before it managed to naturally heal itself better over time, but she was left with the scar she has on her side.

She listened to him say he was capable of dealing with worse than burned hands whilst giving her a sense of encouragement in that she would get better at dealing with her phoenix powers. She couldn't help but watch him partially as he picked up the tweezers that he previously dropped and began to peal off the shreds of fabric out of his wounds, only really hissing with pain at the deeper parts. She found it admirable that he could even hold the tweezers with his hands whilst they were in bad shape, even if he did say he's had worse than this before. Part of her wanted to offer to help to at least hold the alcohol bottle or even use the tweezers to carefully remove the shreds of fabric, but she figured he was the type to refuse the help and would rather do it himself. "if you want help, just ask okay?" she offered to him anyway, knowing it wouldn't be in her nature to not offer, even if it would possibly be refused. She knew at some point she would have fly back to the apartment, but she just wasn't ready to do so yet, almost glad that she had a reputation of nto wanting to get up in the mornings as it would prove incredibly useful in the morning as it wouldn't seem out of character for her if she was the last to wake up.
 
'Max's' fingertips had been burned like the rest of his hands, but thankfully there had been no fabric stuck in them and no blisters had formed. When he'd laid his hands on the exposed sword it hadn't just burned his palms, it had also caused his fingerprints to be melted away. His fingertips now consisted only of exposed, raw skin which was slightly tacky to the touch. Holding the tweezers and manipulating them so precisely was an immensely painful chore, but not an impossible once. As long as he gave his full concentration to the task and forced himself not to think about the pain, he could remove the pieces of fabric. He'd let the conversation with Fia drop so he could concentrate better.

Fia's offer of help came just after he'd finished removing the shreds from his right hand and was switching over the tweezers so he could begin with the other. She was right in thinking that 'Max' wasn't the type to accept help when he didn't need it. Fia would have no way of knowing it, but 'Max' was fiercely proud of his healing powers and as a kid hated hated people offering him help, taking it as an insult or slight against the level of control he had over his powers. He'd eventually learned such offers weren't meant to offend, but he still preferred to do things himself. He gave her a slight, fond, smile followed by a firm shake of his head. "Ah yes, the usual offer. No offence, but I'd rather do it on my own, my way."

With that he proceeded to work on his left hand, which was by far the worst of the two. When he'd been stealing the sword from the secret compartment under the flagstones of Dan's forge, his left hand had been the one to touch the exposed blade first. The fragments were lodged deeper in this hand if the increased amount of pained hissing was anything to go by. With both hands now free of debris he set the tweezers to one side on the wall and picked up the bottle of medical alcohol once again. He flicked open the cap and placed it between his teeth so that by biting down he squeezed the bottle, causing the contents to spray over his raw hands. The expression on his face was one of agony as the medical alcohol burned his raw, blistered skin and as the pain lanced across his hands he let out a "ngg....aaAAAGH" of pain followed by a stream of curses in various non-English languages. He spat the bottle out, letting it land and roll a little across the roof before leaning against the wall, breathing heavily. Holding his hands out in front of him, palms facing upwards he concentrated. What happened next wasn't the typical knitting back together of skin, layer by layer that occurred when magic or meta powers were used to heal wounds. Instead his skin seemed to melt and bubble in reverse. The clear pus was sucked back into the blisters, which then flattened downwards, smoothing out into normal skin. In places where the skin had been melted or burned clear away, it warped and twisted backwards until it was normal, unblemished skin once again. 'Max's' fingerprints also returned in this manner. He turned to Fia with a smirk, holding up his now normal hands for her to see. "Look! Good as new!"
 
Seeing Max give her a fond smile before declining her offer of help didn't come too much of a surprise to her. She may not know him too well but he did give that whole vibe that he would refuse, yet she still felt she should at least offer anyway. "no offence taken, it wouldn't be me if I didn't offer anyway" she smiled back at him as he continued to remove what he could out of his hands. She did understand why he would want to do things himself, for a lot of things she was the same, but unlike a lot of people in her life, if she really did get offered help on certain things, she would accept it. Especially if it was something that was frustrating her to the point she would make a mistake and someone knew it, making them insist on helping for her own sake and their own sanity. Yet it would take a bit of persuading to let her accept help, but no where near as much persuasion as it would with others in her family. She continued to watch him work on his left hand just as well as he did on his right, and being left handed herself, she always wondered how someone could be efficient with their right hand. It was a strange curiosity she had, or at least, strange to her but it was one nonetheless.

She watched as he managed to use the medical rubbing alcohol bottle so well in his mouth as he cleaned his hands, albeit with a lot of pain in the process which even made her wince slightly whilst she easily imagined just how much that must hurt to have alcohol go onto raw skin like that. His next actions however were the most fascinating to her. Seeing how he healed his hands in the opposite way to most healing abilities made her unable to turn her eyes away from it as she watched everything seem to fall into itself and then knit itself back together, looking like he never had burns on his hands at all. She smiled broadly with the amazement in her eyes still very much visible. "that's seriously cool. Never seen someone heal in the reverse way before." she replied to him honestly. It made her wish all the more that when all this fixed itself and the right timeline won out, she would get to meet the 'Max' in that timeline and they could hang out so she could learn more about him. At this stage, she wanted to know more people and actually have a circle of friends when it came to herself and Max was most certainly one of those people she wished to know in the winning timeline. "so what's your next plan now? Where do you go from here? What with the sword being turned into a soul sword now and all." she asked him wondering if there was anymore of this great plan that involved him.
 
'Max' gave a proud grin back when Fia made it clear she was seriously impressed with the way his healing abilities worked. "Like I said, I have my father's healing abilities" he paused for a few seconds, weighing up whether or not he should explain his powers to Fia. The decision was reached quickly, he'd never see this version again, and she wouldn't remember ever meeting him once the timeline was shifted, so there was really no harm in telling. "I suppose that remark doesn't mean much to you since my father died in your timeline years before you were born. But basically, he's Isogrii as am I. A normal healer either creates new cells or gives enough energy to the damaged cells that they can rapidly reform and grow over. We however do it differently- our timeline related powers are very specific, allowing us to heal people by reversing the passage of time for body cells. We turn back time for individual damaged cells, reverting them to the healthy state they were before the injury. Do this with enough cells, you 'rewind' the whole injury, resetting the cells like there had never been damaged in the first place." With his newly healed fingers 'Max' made airquotes around the phrase 'rewind'. It wasn't quite the right term, but it was the best English word he could think of. He then gave a slight smirk, adding "Jay, for all her brains, never quite managed to get that" in a quieter tone- a private joke of some sort, clearly aimed at himself more than at Fia.

At Fia's next question he let out a long, slow breath. "To put it simply, a hell of a lot is going to happen next." Unlike most of John's extended family 'Max' hadn't picked up the habit of using 'Hells', something that would clearly mark him out as being from the part of the family that spent most of their time off-world. Ever since John had learned that there was more than one manifestation of Hell, he'd switched to using the plural and those around him (like Chas and Kay) ended up picking it up unconsciously. Elliott also used the plural, but Cal, Cliff and Jay never did. Rinaa (and Leah) switched between the two- having spent significant chunks of their lives on Earth and off Earth, they chose whether to use the singular to the plural on the basis of who they were talking to.

"At Leah's end, they're going to cut the tie between her and Sykes, and reconnect the soul bond between Sykes and her original mistress- the girl who the scientist's first bonded with the wolf and who, according to the notes we've found, is the only one able to properly control the wolf. Cynthia and Sykes are a dryadic pair, they've almost got a sort of hive mind, and by reuniting them we think it will stabilise the wolf. Whether or not Leah will...." 'Max' had to pause for a second to gather himself before he continued "survive this split is another matter entirely. The odds... well" he gave a sad shrug "they are far from in her favour. So we made a number of contingencies. Initially was supposed to be Zan who helped with the execution of the Attil-based side of the plan- it was after all he who figured out a deception that would be guaranteed to make those who put a price on Elliott's head back off- we simply improved upon his plan. But with Zan in hospital we have no choice but to bring in another player, that's Leah's job. The rest of the plan, I can't say too much on, the reactions of the others has to be genuine. I don't like the shit we'll have to put them through to sell the illusion, but like so much in this plan, it's the best idea of a shitty lot. What I can tell you is that there's three prongs, the first is saving my father's life, the second is making sure Elliott doesn't die at the divergence point and the third is damage control for all the lose ends that will be left behind after we erase ourselves from history."
 
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