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Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

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While the woman taunted Jay, the wolves began to herd the bus passengers. They slunk forwards and snarled their way right through the middle of the group of passengers, using their bulk and a series of threatening growls, snarls and in one case a swipe of claws to force the innocents away from Elliott and his extended family. There was initial resistance and reluctance, particularly from the bus driver but that quickly disappeared when one of the wolves lunged forwards with a snarl and pounced. The didn't actually land on the passenger, their paws touched ground barely a few centimetres in front of them, but the sight of a massive, muscular wolf leaping towards them, claws out, fangs bared, had the passenger scrambling backwards in shock. The other passengers quickly copped on and staggered away from Elliott's group. Three of the wolves stayed near the other passengers, watching them with dark eyes, but the rest quickly reformed the circle around Elliott and resumed their predatory stalking. Elliott's group was clearly their target.

Seeing the colour drain so quickly from Jay's face, the others' hearts plummeted further into the ground. The assassin didn't shock or scare easily and for her to blanch to the shade of a piece of paper, it told them that things had moved well and truly into the 'we're utterly fucked' category. The woman's words weren't just getting under Jay's skin, they were cutting right to the bone. Every word chosen by the Astras alpha was deliberate, designed both to taunt, hurt and rattle Jay. And it was working. The phrase 'little blue haired bird' had more meaning for her than just being a poetic way of alluding to Rinaa, it was phrase she hadn't heard since the very early part of her childhood. It was something Jay's mother had called her when she was very young. Jay hadn't even been sure if her brother remembered those childhood endearments until one night when the twins were drunk and Jack had turned the conversation wistfully towards how life could have been different and how, if he (or Jay) ever became a parent, he'd want to use those same pet names their parents had. That was the first time Jay had realised that despite all her brother's charm and willingness to flirt with anybody (or even

Jay adjusted her grip on her blades, raising them up ever so slight, knuckles turning whiter as she did so. She knew she was being played and didn't like it one bit. The accusation that Rinaa- or worse some alternate form of Jay herself- had not just stolen the blade, but converted it into this weapon of immense power. It was all kinds of reckless, stupidly dangerous and went against everything they'd tried to do. What was the point of keeping it out of Dakkon's hands if it was going to end up in the hands of some crazed half-mutated Astras. The way the wolf-woman twirled the blade, carelessly and effortlessly told Jay two things- firstly; her taunter was an experienced swordswoman and secondly, whatever problem there had been with the balance and weighting of the blade had now been fixed. Even if it hadn't been delivered in such a deliberately cutting way, the allusion to Rinaa would have been enough to put Jay on edge. She hated how things had ended with the daughter she never fully got to know or understand, hated not knowing whether the girl had lived or died, whether any amends had been made, whether she'd died alone, or with people who cared. The uncertainty in Fia's tone wasn't helping either. Was creating a soulsword something Rinaa would do? Would she deliberately create a weapon that could destroy the father she'd never known? Was it some kind of 'fuck you' from beyond the grave, or was it more?

The woman's response to Fia's words was a derisive snort and a roll of her eyes. The final straw for Jay. When she spoke, the assassin's tone was simmering with anger. "And how the FUCK would you know this? What on this planet, or any other makes you a reliable source about Rinaa?" The woman gave a fanged smirk. "Because I know more than any of you combined. I know everything" as the woman spoke her eyes turned amber and her voice deepened to a more animalistic snarl. "I saw everything. I was in her head, the other half she tried so desperately to barter with to supress and to control. You have NO idea what she'd do" Sykes continued "that kid would.... will set the whole world burning to get what she wants and to set things right." The wolf, now fully in control, locked eyes with Elliott, who'd been standing there mute the entire time, watching with a horrorstruck expression. "That disguise may be clever enough to fool those with eyes, but you cannot hide your scent from me."
 
The way the wolves stalked, pounced and growled at the other passengers put Kay and Fia on edge even more, as well as seeing that the others were all having their hearts sinking as they all saw the realisation of how screwed they were in Jay's face. All they both wanted to do was help the innocent people but they knew if they so much as shifted their weight on their feet, it was incredibly likely that the wolves wouldn't hesitate to stop them in their tracks just on principle or for the sadistic joy of it. Kay was also terrified that Fia would say or do something reckless that would effect her unborn self, even though she did have faith in her daughter, she also wasn't blind to Fia's stubborn need to help others and try and do the right thing. She was still very much learning what Fia's boundaries were and where she drew the line on her battles. Because of that, she was also scared that something would cause her unborn daughter would get hurt, as well as the big main issue of this could be the moment they might lose Elliott, something neither of the women wanted to think about, but it was incredibly difficult to not not think about.

They both watched as the woman twirled the soul sword, both coming tot he conclusion that she was itching to use it on at least one of their group, the one person none of them wanted to lose....Elliott. They could both tell that Jay was getting as much as information from this woman as possible just by studying the woman's body language and movements, something that Fia was taught to do but in this moment she was letting her emotions, and her curiosities of this woman was overtake her mind. She really didn't want what she witnessed in Rinaa's timeline to be what she was now witnessing but there was just something niggling at her mind that told her this was that plan and she absolutely hated it. The scoff and roll of eyes from the woman was just that next piece of confirmation to Fia that her fears were becoming reality. Jay's sharp tongued questions wasn't entirely surprising to either Kay or Fia, but it was the woman's reply that really felt like a knife in their hearts and brains that seemed to unlock the truth completely and make all the pieces fit together, giving them the answer they really wouldn't like.

"....Sykes" Kay gasped as her realisation came out in an audible manner. They didn't come face to face with Sykes often, but they all experienced how sharp tongued the wolf was and how much she particularly disliked Fia and Kay, which meant if any of their group had any hope in having either Fia or Kay as their secret weapon to get out of this situation and having the advantage, they were now solely wrong...oh so very very wrong. John may have seen first hand how much Sykes and Rinaa cowered at the phoenix fire on the ship to Attil, but now Sykes wasn't connected to Rinaa, Kay was convinced she may not be so scared this time round whilst she had the soul sword in her grasp. Fia couldn't even speak her reactions to the realisation, finding she was pushed into silence at everything being said, all she could do out of instinct was step ever so closer to Elliott.
 
Both Cal and Cliff took unconscious steps backwards when Sykes took control of the body. Those amber eyes were the last thing anybody wanted to see. They'd well and truly lost lost whatever advantage they had- Sykes didn't just know what Fia and Kay were, she'd seen everything Rinaa had. Chances were the wolf knew more about what the women were capable of then the phoenixes themselves. The ball was in the wolf's court now which was a thought that chilled past the bones and right down to the soul. Cliff wasn't a superstitious woman by nature, placing her faith in her training and the belief that there was a goodness in most people. But standing there next to the ruined bus as the wolves prowled around them, looking at the wolf-monster in a person's body Cliff found herself raising her trembling hands (she was still experiencing the after-effects of her earlier flashbacks) to her chest, her fingers making the shapes of the 'ward away evil' hand-sigils of the religion she grew up with.

Chas let out a gasp of horror, he was already feeling woozy after being thrown around the bus and he staggered backwards, nearly falling over one of the wolves which snapped out at him, fangs going right through the fabric of his jacket and embedding themselves in the flesh beneath. Chas let out a yell of pain and yanked his arm towards himself. The wolf relented it's grip, but as Chas cradled his injured arm in his working right arm the wolf's tongue flicked out and licked the blood, tasting it. There was a satisfaction in it's eyes, it liked what it was tasting and had only given up the arm because it's leader wasn't finished yet. While John swore viciously at the sight of the horridly familiar amber eyes "Bollocks!" Jay didn't say anything, (though the look in her eyes became even more murderous).

Now under the full scrutiny of Sykes' amber eyes, Elliott was trying not to wither or flinch. Things were going so spectacularly wrong, but he still didn't want to show any kind of weakness in front of the wolf, no matter how blatantly obvious it was to Sykes that this whole spectacle had caught them all by surprise. "It wasn't meant to disguise me from you." He replied, pulling off the blond wig with a surprising amount of bravado for somebody in the middle of a wolf-pack. "Never fuckin' mind that." John waved his hands in Elliott direction indicating that his son should be staying as far away as possible from the wolf. "I thought we were bloody rid a' you what with the kid being dead" his tone was accusatory and John spat the word 'dead', making it perfectly clear he blamed Sykes entirely for Rinaa being dead. Seeing Sykes in another body, Rinaa being dead was the only logical conclusion he could come up with.

"I'm not that easy to kill." The wolf replied with a cruel smirk. "Though speaking of easy to kill.... that reminds me...." Sykes twirled the soulsword idly in her left hand, reaching with her other into a slender pouch on her belt. She pulled out a small object and held outwards. The group has to shuffle closer to get a proper look. Lying in Syke's palm was a small, leather-bound notebook, the perfect size to fit in a pocket. But it wasn't any old notebook, it was a sketchbook, Elliott's sketchbook, the one he'd given to Rinaa. It had been scuffed and well worn when he gave it to her- filled with random quick drawings of sights and objects that had inspired him, including a few sketches of Jay that he'd drawn when the assassin wasn't looking. Now however it was splattered with blood, relatively fresh blood too.
 
The moment Kay said the name of their attacker, she knew the realisation then hit everyone else, judging by the reactions and words that were either said verbally like John, or through their eyes like with Cliff and Jay. Kay could see that Elliott was trying so hard not to flinch or show any kind of terror in front of Sykes and the other Astras wolves, but deep down something told her he was absolutely shitting himself just like the rest of them were. When CHas stumbled backwards and got bit by one of the other wolves, her head quickly turned round and went wide eyed, every part of her wanting to help him but she was too terrified of the wolves and what they could easily do to her, knowing she was by far the weakest link of the group due to her situation. As soon as she watched how the wolf snapped at Chas, she looked back at Sykes as Elliott made his own remark back at Sykes, impressed that he could show as uch bravado as he was in their current situation.

When John spoke up about assuming they got rid of Sykes when Rinaa supposedly died, Fia glanced at her father then very quickly down at the ground, knowing full well she knew exactly how Sykes survived and that Rinaa survived at least long enough for it all to happen. She knew how the soul sword got made even though she didn't stick around for the entire moment. It was during this whole realisation of who was standing before them that she realised Sykes would no doubt have known Fia was there, in Rinaa's timeline. She just had to hope that Sykes wouldn't say anything just to be spiteful. She looked back up when Sykes replied to John, with a cruel smirk appearing on her face and it sent shivers down Fia's back. The moment however Sykes pulled out the all too familiar mini pad that she recognised as the one Elliott gave Rinaa to use, and seeing it splattered with what she could only imagine was Rinaa's blood, she gasped and held her hand to her mouth.

"you're a goddamned monster" she whispered in her shock, having wished that Rinaa would somehow survive her fate even though she knew deep down it wasn't ever to be. But the way Sykes was revelling in showing them the pad just made her sick to her stomach. Kay reached her hand out and placed it on Fia's arm, a silent signal to tell her to keep her mouth shut, as she really didn't want to risk Fia getting hurt out of principal as they all knew how much Sykes detested Fia in particular. She wouldn't put it past Sykes to just either go for Fia herself now she didn't have Rinaa to stop her or have one of the many other Astras wolves go for her. "Fia don't..." Kay told her.
 
It was their morbid curiosity over what was in Sykes' hand that caused the others to step forwards. Seeing the bloodstained notebook lying in the wolf-woman's palm, Chas- like Fia- let out a strangled gasp, his good arm going to his mouth in shock. Cal and Cliff could only stare in horror. Cal knew the pad well, it had bene the one Elliott had been drawing in while imprisoned in his cell. The sketches in that book had been the first artwork of her brother's Cal had ever seen. It had been in response to John's words that Sykes had produced the notebook, and while he wanted to keep a straight face, act like he wasn't affected by the bloodstained book in front of him, John found he couldn't. "You're sick, showin' that off like some kind a' trophy" he spat.

Fia's shocked, strangled-sounding whisper didn't shock or even offend Sykes in the slightest. The wolf instead grinned, the lips of her borrowed body pulling back to reveal blood-stained fangs. "That...." declared the wolf "was never something up for debate." She then, with a careless flick of her wrist, tossed the notebook over to the group. It landed on the muddy ground near John's feet. "You on the other hand firebird.... are a liar" the wolf continued, her amber eyes boring into the teenager. "You knew this blade had been stolen, you saw that this blade had been stolen and yet.... You Didn't Say A Thing. Misplaced loyalty to a dead girl...." she shrugged, not bothering to finish the sentence. "I would say it's commendable, but I really don't give a shit."

It was these words that cracked Elliott's stony façade. Up until now he'd been managing to hold the wolf's gaze and keep his outwards expression stony, giving very little away. It was like his and Jay's roles had been reversed- each taunt from the wolf was pushing Jay's buttons, prodding some open emotional wound, while Elliott remained extremely outwardly stoic, almost uncharacteristically so. But the mention of Fia knowing about the sword broke whatever inner courage he had. He backed away from Fia, moving towards the wolves. And he wasn't the only one, John found himself stepping backwards too. Fia's face had been all the proof he needed. "You bloody knew about this? And you said nothing?" he seethed.
 
Fia wanted to bend down and grab the notebook that landed at John's feet but she felt like if she so much as took her eyes off of Sykes for a split second she would regret it. So she remained where she was. What she never calculated for was for Sykes to rat her out to the group and call her a list whilst also letting them all know she knew about the sword being stolen. It was only made worse when Sykes said it in such a way that made her family step away from her, to see the wide eyed hurt eyes stricken across her face as she tried to find words to make her case worthy of them hearing it. It hurt like hell to see Elliott and John in particular step away from her like she was the monster. Even Kay stepped slightly back in surprise at what she just heard, but it was John and Elliott doing the action that hurt the most. "it....its not what you think..." she stammered, trying so hard not to let the build of tears fall down her face as she looked at her family. "just...hear me out, please.." she pleaded with them, hating the tone her father was using against her, the words 'dad please' fighting to escape her lips but she manages to keep them escaping somehow. "she made me swear not to say anything... I had no choice she told me it would make sure the plan to save Ell would work....I didn't want to lie.... Ell, you know I love you.... I would never do anything to get you hurt... Please believe me!" she begged her family.

"plan? What plan?" Kay asked, wanting to believe Fia but with the emotions so high and erratic right now, she didn't know if she could believe her future daughter just yet. "It's so secret I don't even know it! I've told you everything I know, I swear to you all that's the truth! I would never betray you guys! Surely you know me well enough to know that" Fia said, which at that point her first set of tears fell down her face as she looked at all their faces, trying to see any kind of signs that they were believing her. She then wiped her face and glared at Sykes, "you're really determined to ruin our lives aren't you?! You hate us that much that you'd try and rip us apart for your own sick game of twisting the whole truth?!" she spat, her emotions starting to take over her own control of her growing phoenix abilities. Kay could see a blade a flames growing in Fia's grip as she confronted Sykes recklessly. "Fia stop!" Kay told her, urgency in her tone, feeling so torn on what to do or how to react to everyone. The stress and fear causing her to get pains in her womb that she was currently ignoring. Yet Fia didn't listen to her mother, she felt like Sykes was succeeding in making her whole family turn against her, despite everything she had done before this to prove she would do anything for them.

She couldn't lose her father or brother, or Hell's, even her mother. She couldn't bare the idea of the people she was so intensely close to just turning against her and possibly disowning her as their sister and daughter, she couldn't even see straight in this moment to think that they probably wouldn't disown her for this. Not even the voice in her head could talk her down as she went to rush Sykes, deciding that if she was going to lose her family then she could at least shoe them she would rather die trying to save them than be disowned by them. "FIA NO!" Kay shouted at her daughter, stretching her arm out and stepping forward to try and stop her. Little did she think or compute that she could be in serious harms way by doing so, she just felt the need to save her and John's daughter so the future timeline didn't screw up even more than it probably was.
 
Even Chas took a slight step back, which was saying something- out of the group he, Kay and Cliff would be the ones most likely to be level headed and actually hear the teenager out. But this had shocked him to the core. He knew how devoted Fia was to her brother and the idea that she would enable anybody to hurt him made no sense and for a brief moment he wondered if Fia had been replaced by some kind of imposter. Fia's opening words were a bad choice, they sounded far too much like a denial "In what bloody way could it NOT be what we're all fuckin' thinking!?!? You knew this thing" he waved an arm violently in the direction of the sword, too angry to even call it by it's proper name "had been bloody taken!! It's not gonna just able ta' kill him! It'll bloody tear his soul out and consume it!!" He yelled back, fury blazing in his eyes. Fia might be his blood, but Elliott had been his for longer and there was nobody who was going to stop John Constantine from protecting his son, no matter what the cost.

Elliott didn't say anything in response to Fia's pleading, just stared, seemingly more at Sykes than at his sibling, though that could just have been a trick of the low light. As Fia pleaded John just crossed his arms, face stony. While Kay chose to question the word 'plan', John's response was a disbelieving , derisive snort. This was all they bloody needed, another secret plot. Zan had been doing all kinds of plotting in the background and he was in hospital with a bullet hole through his head. There was no way of backing up this claim that Rinaa was involved either, Rinaa was dead (and when she'd been alive she evaded answering questioning). It was Fia's word against the wolf's. Sykes was a psychopath and Fia had just been proven to be a liar. It was Cal who spoke. She'd only just got her brother back after twelve years, she did not want to lose him again. The was hurt on her face and in her tone, she felt betrayed. Fia claimed to love Elliott as much as she did, yet had let her father's sword be taken. "You took this sword, you betrayed Dan's trust, my trust, all our trusts. It was hidden for a reason. We kept it from Dakkon for a reason. My dad" a very slight tremor came into her voice, it had been well over a decade since she last called Zan her Dad in an affectionate way "refused to know anything about it's true location for a reason! How on Attil can we know you're telling the truth now when you've lied to us and betrayed us??"

There were nods of agreement from the assembled group, even Cliff who was looking considerably more alert. The shock of Fia's actions had temporarily forced all thoughts of her own trauma from her mind. The wolf meanwhile just smirked, once again basking in sick pleasure at the chaos and discord she was sewing amongst the group. It wasn't necessary to play mind games with them out to call out Fia like that. All she had to do was fulfil her end of the bargain. Rinaa reunited Sykes with her other half, the girl who could truly control the wolf and in return Sykes was to wield the blade and kill one particular target. As Fia rushed towards her the wolf held her ground. The previous fear she'd shown when faced with fire was gone, though something did flash in the eyes of the assembled wolves as the sight of the flaming blades.

Given the fury they were being wielded with, Fia's fire-blades should have gone clean through the wolf-woman's neck, slicing it open and rendering her dead there and then. But they didn't make it as far as her flesh, they were stopped in mid-air as a glimmering force-field materialised around the woman's body. Over her regular armour appeared a set of magical armour and around her neck a faint glow could be seen. Elliott's hand went to his neck, feeling for the leather cord that his armour charm was attached to. But there was nothing to be felt there, the armour charm Elliott always wore around his neck (whose partner usually hung around Jay's) was gone. Stolen, seemingly by Rinaa (somebody else taking it and giving it to Sykes was an even more terrifying thought than his rogue daughter stealing it). John swore viciously, while Chas let out a horrified gasp, followed by a pained gasp as he accidentally raised his injured hand to his mouth in shock.

"I came prepared" the wolf-woman growled, then took advantage of Fia's momentary shock to launch her own vicious attack- her left-hand (the sword-wielding one) lashed upwards, driving the pommel of the sword right into Fia's nose with a sickening crunch. She then pivoted on her heel and delivered a powerful kick to Fia's stomach. As she moved the amber in her eyes faded and was partially replaced by the grey. The body's true inhabitant may have taken some kind of control, but the look in their eyes was no less murderous. Flipping the sword into a fighting grip she tipped back her head and let out a blood curdling howl. At their alpha's signal the pack launched themselves forwards at the group, claws out, teeth gnashing.
 
Seeing her father look at her with such distain and disgust absolutely killed Fia inside. She knew in that very moment, at his words and the look he was giving her that she could never feel any worse than this. The pain, guilt and sorrow in her eyes was undeniable, as she shook her head evr so slightly at his words, her eyes glossing over from the tears that were now falling down her face. "D--John please..." she begged, a daughter just wanting her father to hear her out. It was these heightened emotions and what Cal said to her afterwards, that were making her want to rip Syke's throat out. Sykes had single handedly made her family want nothing to do with her and almost be fearful of her thinking she had betrayed them all, which wasn't her intention in the slightest. "I didn't take it Cal! I didn't know it was to be used or stolen before it was too late, before I got shoved out! Please Cal! I haven't betrayed you! She's getting into your heads! Please..." She pleaded before she turned her focus and hurt onto Sykes.

Launching at Sykes was a dangerous move and a stupid one but in that very moment she didn't know any better. She just wanted to prove to the group she was still on their side. She noticed Syke's fear of her fire had suddenly vanished for the most part but she refused to let that stop her attack, that was until her attack hit the forcefield, making her stumble backwards in surprise as she realised that Sykes was wearing Elliott armour charm. "H-how...?" she stammered in a breathy whisper, stepping back one single step but that step gave Sykes the space to make her own attack back. Next thing Fia knew, she felt the pommel of the sword come down full force onto her nose, instantly breaking it and making her shout out in pain, her fire blades vanishing in the process as she went to steady herself. But before she could fully steady herself, she felt a kick to her abdomin makingher fly backwards and onto the floor curling up in pain, coughing up blood in the process. She couldn't focus on the howl that Sykes let out as she tried to look up at her family, in the hopes that someone, any of them would at least help her, even if it was only to gain answers out of her and not screw up the timeline anymore.

It was then that she saw her worst nightmares coming true all over again, her family coming under attack. "Please get Kay and Ell out of here...." she sobbed in an almost prayer to herself as she tried to get up to remain in the fight but a wolf stopped her, learing over her snarling. All she could do was lay there, curled up, bloody and watch her family be attacked. "not like this....please...not like this" she cried through the pain coursing through her body and head. Kay tried to stop Fia from being attacked but she just wasn't quick enough and instead she witnessed her future daughter get beat down like a rag doll. The way she was laying on the floor reminded her of the possible future moment she saw in the dream walk of Fia dead, sprawled out on top of a car. Next thing she knew the wolves were unleashed onto their whole gang and she felt a wolf's mouth and teeth clench down onto her arm that she had out stretched to try and get to Fia.

The pain was unbelievable as she screamed out in pain, trying to yank the wolf off her arm whilst trying to keep hers and John's baby safe at the same time. She felt Fee give her a boost of strength as her eyes flickered gold, making her get her arm free but not without injury. She grabbed ahold of her bloody arm, stepping backwards to try and remain close to the others but it seemed it just spurred said wolf on more as it lunged for her again, she instantly cowered to protect her unborn child, but in the process it meant her face got slashed by a claw. "Kay!" Fia cried out, managing to get up to her knees and look passed the wolf that was blocking her way. Fia then lunged forward to try and get passed the wolf and to her mother's aid, but the wofl just head butted her back onto the floor.
 
Cal was the first to react when the wolves pounced. Removing her arm from around Cliff's waist, she drew her hands up in front of herself. Her eyes glowed as wave of fire blasted out from her hands, forming a protective wall separating her and Cliff from the wolves. At the sight of the fire one of the wolves stopped dead in it's tracks, but the other continued right forwards, it's powerful muscular legs propelling it right through the curtain of fire. Cal let out a scream- firstly in shock, but quickly morphing into an anger-filled battle cry- as the wolf hurtled towards her and her wife, patches of it's fur were on fire. She let out another blast of fire- this time in the form of a fire-ball which hit the wolf straight in the chest. It let out a howl of pain, but lunged forwards anyway, claws drawn, teeth bared, aiming for Cal's throat. At the same time as Cal launched another fire-ball the second wolf ran around the edge of the wall and lunged at Cliff. The doctor, now in a battle mindset reacted quickly, a jagged spike of ice about the length of her forearm materialising between her two hands. She lunged forwards, avoiding the wolf's claws and with both hands thrust the spike upwards like a dagger, forcing it up through the wolf's jaw. It was luck, moreso than skill that meant her ice-spike avoided hard-jawbone, instead slicing through the fleshy part of the lower jaw, then the tongue, before smashing through the lower section of the skull casing. Her eyes glowed and the spike rapidly grew, bursting out of the wolf's head, spraying brains and blood. She let the corpse fall to one side, quickly glancing at Cal to see if her wife was alright. Cal gave a nod, a flaming chain forming between her hands as an ice shield began to grow around Cliff's left arm and another, jagged ice-blade grew in Cliff's right hand. Side by side they turned to face the next onslaught.

Seeing Fia fall backwards to the ground and seeing the armour glow around Sykes' form, Jay made her choice. She ripped the armour charm from around her own neck, snapping the leather cord in the process. She shoved it at Elliott "Take it, I got this!" she yelled, then launched her own attack on the wolf-woman. Her twin long daggers collided in mid-air with the sword- a rookie error. With both of Jay's arms out-stretched it was all too easy for the wolf-woman to pull the sword away and pirouette to the side. The sudden loss of support sent the assassin sprawling to the ground. Jay recovered quickly, rolling to the side and narrowly avoiding the vicious kick aimed at her ribs, the claws of the wolf-woman just barely missing her back. She then sprung back to her feet, blades drawn once again. The two women lunged at each other, eyes narrowed, blades clashing against each other as they fought for dominance.

The wolf that had bitten Chas' arm earlier had clearly acquired a taste for the cabbie's flesh, before the howl of his alpha had finished the wolf launched himself at Chas once again. Chas knew it was the same wolf, he caught a glimpse of the white stripe across it's snout a few seconds before the wolf pounced, knocking him right down. The weight and the momentum of the wolf landing on his chest sent both skidding across the muddy ground. Chas tried to haul himself to his feet, but with his dominant arm already injured, he wasn't quick enough. The wolf rolled back onto it's feet easily and pounced again, this time pinning him to the ground. Already pinned down and with one arm out of operation Chas knew there was no way he could flip the wolf like he normally would in this kind of fight. He'd just have to make do- balling up his working hand into a fist and tried to punch the wolf's throat. But the angle was awkward and he missed. The wolf snarled then chomped down on his shoulder. Chas felt the bone break and let out a blood-curdling scream of pain. "AAARRRRGH!!"

Hearing the cry of pain Cliff's head snapped right around, her blade and shield quivering as her concentration was lost. "DON'T!" the cabbie yelled, seeing in Cliff's face that she was about to run over and help him. "SHIELD THE OTHERS! I CAN....." His cry was cut off by another shout of pain as the wolf raked it's claws across his chest. With both arms now disabled Chas did the only thing he could-he began to kick began kicking upwards. The bulk of the wolf blocked his view, but he got lucky, a strong kick hitting the wolf right in the stomach. The wolf let out a loud yelp of pain as the steel-capped boot rammed into his stomach. But after that one good shot Chas' luck ended. His attacker shook itself out before flipping back onto his feet and snarling at one of the other wolves, a smaller, meaner looking animal that had been herding away the innocents. Had he not been fighting for his life Chas would have taken more notice of the fact that none of the other people on the bus were being attacked by the wolves, only John's extended family). But the cabbie's luck had run out. Two wolves was two much for him. His wild kicks were futile, one wolf gnawed through his neck while the other slashed open Chas' stomach with it's claws. Chas' body spasmed and twitched as the wolves bit down, before eventually falling still.

John, like Kay, also let out a yell as Fia was brought to the ground by Sykes' vicious blow. He began to run forwards, raising his hands to start making magic sigils, only to be thrown to the ground and knocked aside by the wolf lunging for Kay. John's head cracked hard against the ground, the force of the impact re-opening the jagged gash on his forehead as well as briefly knocking him unconscious. Coming around a few seconds later the first thing John saw was his best friend's body being torn apart by the wolves. Instinctively he jerked his body away from the horrific sight, then slumped as the sudden motion caused a blinding jolt of pain shot through his skull. Gritting his teeth John braced his palms against the ground and, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head, scrambled unsteadily to his feet. The blood was starting to flow down his face now, running over and into his left eye, blurring his vision on that side. But his right eye took in clearly the chaos of the battle- he saw his daughter under siege by wolves, seemingly unable to do anything but lie there and take the abuse, Jay and Sykes battling in a blur of blades and brutal kicks, Kay backing unsteadily away from a wolf, face slashed open, one arm limp by her side, Cal and Cliff wielding their respective elemental weapons and Elliott..... nowhere to be seen.

"Bollocks!!" He swung his head around, trying to catch a glimpse of his adoptive sons dark hair, but saw nothing. It was seeing the wolf go for a second shot at Kay spurred John into action. Kay was pregnant, mythical creature or not she shouldn't be anywhere near at this late stage of her pregnancy. Fighting against Attil's magic-preventing wards and the throbbing pain in his head he summoned an orb of glowing magical energy between his hands and hurled it at the wolf. With only one eye fully working he'd lost his depth perception and instead of hitting the wolf square in the side, it blazed across it's back. The wolf howled in pain, turning it's head towards John, who shot another blast of energy at it, this time it burned a brilliant magnesium white, blinding it momentarily. John took the opportunity and ran forwards, grabbing Kay's good arm and dragging her roughly (far more roughly than he'd usually treat her) towards Cal and Cliff- the only ones who seemed to be able to fight the wolves properly- Cliff's ice shield was proving surprising strong against the Astras' claws. "You two keep her shielded! Last thing we need is anythin' happening to the unborn one" John yelled. Cliff gave a nod, the shield on her arm growing into a full blown wall curving around her and Kay. John meanwhile turned towards battlefield again. "I'm gonna try get Ell and the kid!" he yelled.
 
It was in this moment Fia hated being the way she was. She had her violin crossbow sure, but she didn't bring any of her bolts with her to actually use it, not that she felt it would be of any use anyway as she couldn't get far enough away to be able to use it well enough. Not only that, her emotions were far too heightened and scared for the others, as well as herself knowing her time line's John and Kay wouldn't live with themselves if she died in this time, if it didn't screw things up anymore than they already were thanks to Sykes. 'if only I could use my magic properly' she thought to herself as she watched the chaos unfolding in front of her, seeing her godfather being torn to shreds by two wolves in front of her was a sight she never wanted to witness in her lifetime. She hated that under any other conflict she could hold her own against her opponent, but now she was seeing her mother getting attacked whilst trying to keep her unborn self safe, her father being hit and knocked down whilst being in the way of getting to her mother, her trainer and someone she considered like a sister in law battling Sykes, her brother....shit! Where was Elliott?! She couldn't see him anywhere and that panicked her more. Then there was Cal and Cliff somehow holding their own against the other wolves. She felt useless, hopeless and helpless, like she couldn't do a thing to be of any help to her family and it tore her apart mentally. The hope she had that she could convince her family she wasn't a part of this attack was the fact not only Kay yelled out for her moments ago, but so did John.

As she saw John come to after being knocked out for a few seconds, she refused to stay down. She quickly but solely focused on letting her phoenix abilities to be the main force for her next lot of defence as she pushed the wolf back with a bolt of flames, making the wolf stagger back with annoyance, pain and self defence. She had to stay alive, she had to prove herself to the ones she loved dearly. Using this window of opening, she unsteadily and shakily managed to get into a partial squatting position so she could be ready for the next attack. She only just saw John snap back into the situation when she noticed him roughly grab Kay's good arm and drag her to Cal and Cliff to get behind the protection wall or ice. One thing has gone right so far, for that she was thankful.

Kay wanted nothing more than to let Fee take control of her body and get into the fight, but her mind was too scared of being in the battle full stop when she was so pregnant. 'how could this go so wrong?' she thought to herself as she tried to defend herself from the oncoming next attack, only to feel John grabbing her good arm and dragging her to Cliff's ice wall after quickly shielding her eyes from the bright light John had managed to summon to disorientated the wolf that was determined to have a piece of her. She felt the blood falling down her face and down her bad arm, droplets dripping off her fingertips. The dragging hurt but not nearly as much as her injuries did and she knew why John was being the way he was. She knew if this was any other situation he wouldn't be nearly as rough with her, but desperate times caused for desperate measures. This was most definitely a desperate time. Hearing him yell what he did about not needing anything to happen to unborn Fia told her so much, even if she couldn't instantly realise she was even thinking it with so much going on around them.

It was difficult enough to see Chas dead on the ground, a second time she had witnessed it but it didn't make it any less horrific to see. She was just thankful that Chas could come back from his death, like she could but she didn't think her baby would be so lucky if she herself did die. She didn't want to go through that extra grief or put Jack hn through it either. It would be hard enough to deal with if they lose their teenage daughter in this fight. Hell, for all she knew if Fia died in this fight, it could cause her to have a miscarriage. She stayed behind the wall of ice that curved round her as she watched on wide eyed and scared shitless at John telling them he was going to try and get Elliott and Fia, even if he suddenly went from using Fia's name to calling her 'the kid' like they all did with Rinaa. 'get our girl' she thought before responding to John verbally, "I'll keep an eye out for Ell, get to Fia!" she called her out to him, desperation to get Fia back to them in her eyes. She knew they didn't trust Fia right now, but they needed her alive for the sake of the timeline and for answers.

'Fee I know your trying to protect unborn Fia, but please help the healing of me... I can't be useless in this fight' she begged inside her head, hoping Fee would be be able to help. "Protecting the child is of upmost importance Kay!" Fee replied back in a frantic but still ethereal tone, 'I don't care! I need to help my family!' Kay thought back in frustration at Fee, "And John would no doubt kill me if I let you fight" Fee retorted. If Fee was a visible being to all and to Kay, Kay would have no problem verbally tearing Fee a new asshole but she couldn't and knew until her phoenix side was ready to start healing her, she was out of the fight. So all she could do was watch and hope that John succeeded in bringing back both Fia and Elliott. She looked around frantically trying to spot Elliott as she figured if she couldn't help by fighting, then she would damn well help in trying to locate Elliott.

Fia kept fighting as best she could, but in her state her phoenix flame wasn't proving consistent in the slightest. Some flames were strong and true to finding her target, others just sparked out and missed entirely. Her hands were shaking, like the majority of her body at this stage as she could feel her body bruising as she fought for her life and her family's lives. Her own vision going from in focus to blurry and spotty from the previous headbutt, as well being convinced she could feel blood from when Sykes hit her with the pommel of the soul sword and the snapping of wolf teeth. She wanted nothing more than to cry out 'dad' and she kbew she was close to doing so more than once, but she still kept up the ruse that John wasn't her dad as the fight continued.
 
It was Jay who drew first blood in the fight against Sykes, one of her daggers slashing open the wolf-woman's cheek. The magic armour was good protection against blows and blasts (particularly magical ones) but Jay knew from experience that if she hit the armour with a blade at the right angle it would go through to the skin beneath. Sykes' dark tongue darted out, tasting the blood and a smirk grew over her face as she lashed back at Jay with renewed vigour, her blade chopping a large chunk from Jay's hair ponytail the assassin only just managing to snap her head out of the way of the blade. Jay spun and swung her own daggers. Their blades slammed against each other as the two parried and pirouetted. Whoever Sykes' body had been before she'd been bonded with the wolf, there was no deny she was a highly proficient swordswoman- her form was stunning, her footwork flawless and under any other circumstances Jay would have been scrutinising her movements appreciatively, looking for anything she could learn from the wolf-woman's swordswomanship. But now was not the time for appreciating, now was a fight for her life (and in a way a fight for the lives of the others too, by engaging Sykes in combat Jay was ensuring that nobody else in their group (especially not Elliott) would be fighting the alpha).

When forming a small shield on Cliff's arm the ice had been an opaque white but as it grew sideways and upwards to form a circular barrier wall it became more transparent, allowing the dark shapes of the wolves to be seen by those inside. Cal and Cliff locked eyes, then a few seconds later broke eye contact. They'd clearly used their elemental bond to communicate and make a plan. Cliff indicated for Kay to come closer to her while positioned Cal made her way to the one opening in the circular boundary wall, swinging their fiery chain between her two hands. She'd managed to blast a good few of the wolves with fireballs earlier, so they were warier, but undeterred in their desire to obey their alpha and attack. While three of the pack lunged from all angles at Cal, looking for weaknesses in her defence, two of the wolves began looking for weaknesses in the ice-wall itself. Taking a run-up they ran straight at the walls. There was a loud thud as their heads connected with the wall, the ice juddered under the force of the impact, but didn't shatter. Pulling Kay closer to her (being significantly more gentle than John had been earlier) Cliff gritted her teeth and concentrated on making the wall thicker. The new ice grew outwards with a loud crackling sound. The wolves backed up again and took another run-up, this time, landing on the wall, their claws scraping down the ice, tearing gashes into it.

John barely heard Kay's parting words as he exited the ice barrier. His eyes swept over the battlefield, Fia was on her feet now and putting up some kind of fight, but her aim was wonky and her flames inconsistent. She was flagging and the wolves around her knew it. Squinting as best he could through his blood-clouded eye John created some fire of his own and flung it at the wolves near Fia. His aim was better this time, managing to properly hit two of the wolves, setting one of them alight. "KID!" he yelled. "Get the bloody Hells over here and behind that bloody ice wall!" He ordered, gesturing towards the wall where Cal was standing guard, using her fiery chain to slash at the legs of the wolves. There was no room for argument in his tone, if Fia couldn't fight properly than in his mind there was no reason for her to be on the battlefield. Cal and Cliff were the only ones (in his mind) capable of simultaneously fighting the wolves off and protecting those around them.

It was as he was materialising a flaming rope of his own (with the intention of copying Cal's strategy to disable the wolves) that John finally caught sight of Elliott. Instead of being in the main fray of the battle-field where they'd all started, Elliott had somehow managed to make his way to the far side of the battle-field and was now close to the wreckage of the bus. His hair was smoking slightly (presumably as a result of the many fiery sparks and embers flying around the battlefield), there were some cuts on his face and a large gash in sleeve of the leather jacket, but overall compared to most of the others (and to John himself), he was faring extremely well against the wolves. He wasn't using his magic to fight, instead wielding a piece of what looked like metal piping in each hand. The ends of the pipe were jagged and sharp from where they'd been torn apart as the bus crashed off the road. Elliott was switching fluidly between using the jagged ends like a blade to cut and slash and the wolves and using sturdy middle section like a bo staff to block the wolves' claws as they lunged at him. John had never seen Elliott fight like this before- his adoptive son had always used magic or martial arts when on Earth (as strong as his MindWalking abilities were, they were in no way practical as a fighting tool, with his mind elsewhere it left Elliott's body defenceless)- or, more precisely (and more worryingly), he'd only seen Elliott fight like this once. That had been when he sparred against Jay in the secret bunker under AJ's restaurant. And it had resulted in Elliott being well and truly bested, thrown to the ground and against the ropes of the ring in all kinds of ways, and, even with the magical armour he'd been left bruised and tender. This style of fighting- rapidly switching between offensive and defensive with the one weapon- John always associated with warriors like Wonder Woman or assassins like Sara Lance and Jay, not his adoptive son. But Elliott was wielding those pieces of pipe like a master, keeping the wolves at bay and even across the battlefield John could see the strength behind the blows he was delivering to the Astras.

"ELL!" he yelled across the battle field, using magic to amplify his voice. "Get over here!" The sound of John shouting distracted Jay momentarily, her head turning slightly to look at him. Sykes saw her eyes flick away and made her move, a brutal slash across Jay's face followed by a powerful kick to her unprotected stomach. Jay felt at least two of her ribs crack under the blow as she fell backwards, left shoulder smashing into the ground. From across the battlefield Elliott screamed in anguish "JAY!" as the wolves pounced on the assassin, claws drawn.
 
With Cliff's gesture, Kay didn't complain in the slightest at being told to come closer to her and Cal to be more behind the barrier of ice. She got closer to feel more behind the wall as she saw Cliff making it larger and more curved as best she could, whilst Cal focused on also having Cliff's other side. The feel of another pyromancer of sorta near her was of a little relief to her, even though she couldn't focus or truly acknowledge that relief. Yet it was making her feel a lot more protected being so close to fire than Fee was able to give her right now. The wolves lunging at the ice wall with loud thuds made her flinch, fearful for how long they would actually be safe behind a wall of ice, but she wasn't going to ask Cliff and risk distracting her at all. She trusted Cliff greatly, even more so right now in this situation and as she pulled her closer to her, far more gently than John had earlier. An action she wasn't going to protest against in the slightest as she gladly got closer to Cliff, but not in the way of the woman needing to focus. She keptoojing around at the same time for Elliott with great effort to not dart her eyes back toward Fia and John in the process. There were too many people in this fight she cared about and was terrified of losing.

Fia saw John coming for her and using the same tactics as Cal amongst his fighting to get the wolves off of her enough for her to stagger, clutching her abdomin toward John, in the direction of the ice wall. "don't need to tell me twice!" she yelled back at him, even though she wanted nothing more than to be part of the fight. She knew however that she was useless in said fight right now. Sykes had made her compromised with the initial blow, and the wolves just made sure she was out of the fight, even if she wasn't entirely out of life. She knew that tone of his all too well and knew he wasn't to be argued with, something she had learned from an early age, even if it was rare that he ever felt the need to use said tone on her. She got closer to John, coughing as she did so, spitting blood onto the ground then continued to pass him toward the ice wall. Any other day and situation she would have remibded him she loved him and she was sorry, but now wasn't the time. Instead she just flashed him a look that said a thousand things from apologies to 'if we survive this, don't give up on me' to 'I love you dad'. In a look that said so much, it lasted a mere couple of seconds as she reached the ice wall and got behind it, wanting nothing more than to cuddle into her mother but she just didn't know if she would even be welcome to right now.

By the time Kay had spotted Elliott, John already had and managed to shout up to him making her see his fighting style and wondering how the hell he got all the way back to the bus and such without any of them noticing. Fia just sighed with relief seeing Elliott still alive and very much fighting with strength she only wished she had right now. She hated being this weak and incapable of proving herself. They barely noticed what had happened to Jay until they heard Elliott shout out her name with great fear, to which they then saw Jay get pounced on by wolves. Both of them going wide eyed and wanting to help but knew neither could. They just hoped that Elliott and John could help the assassin, neither wanting to lose her from their group. It was bad enough that they had temporarily lost Chas. "Jay come on... Please get up" Fia begged quietly, more out of a self plea and reaction than with the intention of the words reaching anywhere near the woman. Kay however did hear the words and without even thinking of her actions, she used her good arm and pulled her kid into her side to hug her and keep her close safely. She knew how much Fia admired Jay and she knew it had to be hard for the teenager to see Jay be bested, even for a moment. To Fia, Jay was invincible, a true inspiration and warrior, so it was clear this had to be eating Fia up inside and she couldn't help feel the teenager's emotions and guilt like this was all her fault.

Feeling Fia's emotions so strongly from holding her was overwhelming. It was the first time she felt the bond between her and Fia have any kind of effect or work which made it a harsh reminder that yes, this was her and John's kid and she was worth saving to keep alive. It was a punch in the gut if she was honest but with so much going on, it was just another thing to be overwhelmed with. She also watched on all around her as Cal and Cliff continued to effectively hold off the wolves and John still being out in the open precariously. "come on John... Get Ell and get back here.... I can't lose you" she muttered under her breath, trying to keep her emotions in check, but finding it more and more difficult to do the longer she had contact touch with Fia. But there ass no way in this fight she was going to let go of her kid.
 
John caught the look Fia flashed him as she made her way past him towards the ice-shelter. It said a thousand things, far too many for him to take in at once, though in the following days John would find himself analysing his daughter's expression over and over again in his mind. John's answering look was much plainer- if, when, the battle was over, a serious verbal bollocking was the very least she could expect. With Fia heading towards (relative) safety his head turned towards the main battlefield, and more importantly, towards Elliott.

Cal moved aside, letting Fia into the sanctuary of the ice shelter. Even with Cal standing as a flaming guardian near the entrance it was noticeably colder inside the walls. All the heat energy was being sucked up by Cliff as she concentrated on maintaining and rebuilding of the ice-walls. The walls tapered inwards, ending in a series large jagged spikes- not a closed-over roof. Her eyes were blazing blue as she monitored the wolves through the ice. Cliff's glowing blue eyes briefly flicked towards Fia as she entered, then went right back to following the wolves movements through the ice. She and the wolves were locked in a battle of wills- the wolves were using their claws to tear chunks out of the ice while Cliff using her powers to build back up the ice they destroyed. "How long can you keep holding them off like this?" Cal asked through their bond. "Not as long as I'd like" the doctor admitted "if any more of wolves start slashing at the walls, I'll have to change tactics. Forming so much ice, it's making the temperature drop and if lowers too far it WILL get dangerous for you three.... Kay and the baby... I'd rather not risk it, but at the same time....." "Killing the wolves would make things MUCH easier?" "Exactly, if I could fly up and spear them from above with a hail of ice daggers... it would make things much easier AND give us a chance to get Kay out of the fight altogether."

The wolf landed right on Jay's chest, claws easily shredding through the leather of her jacket, it's weight forcing out what little air still remained in her chest. The stench of blood, guts and musky animal sweat was overwhelming and Jay couldn't stop herself from gagging at the scent, bile rising to the back of her throat. This particular wolf's muzzle was reddened with blood- Chas' blood from when it had torn open the cabbie's guts. As Jay's hands scrabbled against the churned up mud, feeling around for the distinctive leather wrapping around her knives' handles, the wolf drew back it's claws, ripping shreds out of her t-shirt. Jay's fingers touched metal and she grabbed it, wrapping her fingers firmly around the blade, ignoring the bite of pain as the knife sliced into them. As the wolf slammed it's claws down Jay rolled to the side and jabbed the blade into it's side. The wolf let out a howl of pain, turning and swiping one large paw at Jay, who ducked, the claws only skimming off her arm as she threw herself to the side, reaching for the second blade. Jay grabbed it, then, with a battle-cry, launched herself at the wolf. The two rolled and wrestled, grappling with each other, the wolf swiping out with it's claws while Jay lashed out with her daggers as well as slamming her feet and knees into the wolf's underbelly.

Giving the wolf nearest to him another brutal wallop with his makeshift pipe weapon Elliott raced forwards with the intent of helping Jay, John did the same, but not before forming a magical shield on his own, lest any wolves try and pounce on him in a similar fashion. But as Elliott and John set their sights on Jay, Sykes set her sights on Elliott. The wolf-woman raced forwards, moving across the battlefield with incredible speed, coming up alongside Elliott and grabbing him roughly by the hair, yanking him around so they were both facing the petrified crowd of passengers from the bus, who were penned in by the other wolves of the pack. The sudden motion caught him by surprise, making him drop the pipes and fall to his knees. The words Sykes shouted at the crowd were lost to John and the others, but whatever speech she made, it didn't last long. Elliott struggled hard to get up, but the way the wolf-woman was gripping onto him made it impossible.

In one fluid motion, Sykes raised the sword then stabbed it clean through Elliott's back, the blade passing right through his heart and emerging bloody out of the front of the leather jacket.

"NOOOO! ELLIOTT" John screamed in anguish, running towards his adoptive son. As the sword came out of Elliott there was a blinding flash of light which ballooned rapidly outwards, accompanied by a shockwave, that knocked all to the ground.
 
Fia understood the look John gave her back all too well. It may have been very rare for her to be in trouble this much with her parents, particularly John, but that didn't mean she couldn't read that look. She figured that he'd want to verbally tear into her when they got out of this situation because right now, other than Sykes they were seeing her as the next public enemy. If she was truly honest with her own thoughts, she was surprised he even came back for her to get her to any sort of safety and not just left her to die on the field. Her heart and head were so torn in two as when it first came out, she wanted to run, just like she was used to doing but she also desperately wanted to try and clear her name and get her reasons and motives out in the open. Mostly though, she wanted to help all she could to try and get Elliott out of here and rid them and the innocent bystanders of the immediate threat. She just wanted to help everyone and having her so sorely injured right now made her frustrated she couldn't help. Behind the ice wall, she was thankful for having her mother's arm round her as the temperature change instantly hit her. She tried not to shiver as it just caused more pain in her abdomin, she was certain she had broken something or had some kind of internal bleeding which was making her wonder how the hell she was even still conscious. Glancing at Cal and Cliff, she could tell they were talking through their bond, she recognised the body language from the odd times she had witnessed them doing this in her timeline, and the times she had witnessed her parents just look at each other and know what each other were thinking even if it wasn't due to the bond, it was still a similar thing in her eyes.

"please say you two got some kind of idea of a plan!" she practically begged, as she also tried to focus on seeing if her phoenix side could start healing any injuries she had, but without knowing exactly what she had, it was proving futile. It was then as she finished speaking, she noticed the wolf that was on top of Jay, beginning to rip her to shreds, her eyes going wide in shock and mostly fear that she was witnessing another person she admired so much possibly die in front of her. The words 'please no' being mouthed from her as she covered her mouth with her free hand that was hugging her mother and in turn her other self. So when Jay managed to get the upper hand and get out from the wolf, she let out a small sigh of relief then let her eyes scan the battlefield and focus onto Elliott and her dad. What she saw happen next was her worst nightmare, it was like it all happened in a horrendous slow motion sequence but I fact was so quick, she watched as Sykes laid her eyes on Elliott and go for him, grabbing him and successfully make him unable to break free.

Fia wasn't the only one who was watching the whole thing unfold, Kay was also looking on with absolute horror and already shaking her head, not wanting what was no doubt about to happen, to actually happen. Watching the sword raise and then strike through Elliott from behind both Fia and Kay went wide eyed, covering their mouths in shock as tears bubbled up and flowed down their cheeks, John's shout ringing through their ears and repeating like an echo in their minds as they just watched Elliott die in front of them. "Ell no!!" Fia screamed through tears practically in unison with Kay. They barely had a moment to process what they just watched when the blinding light that escaped with the sword's exit of Elliott's body made them cover their eyes and then find themselves being knocked to the ground. Fia even by this point had completely forgotten how she had done a full body scan of Elliott only this morning and send it to Rinaa, that this may have been all part of the plan, that it may not even be actually Elliott that they just witnessed die in front of them. She couldn't even process anything she just saw, all she saw was her brother dying and a part of her mind knew that it was more than possible she would get part of the blame for this happening.

Kay without realising had let go of Fia during the whole situation, even before they got knocked to the ground, some part of her seeming to hold Fia partly to blame without her mind even computing that was what she was thinking. She also kept thinking how this was going to destroy John mentally and their lives were going to take a very strained moment, a time of their lives that would no doubt leave her to deal with a lot of things alone. "not... Ell.... No... This can't be happening...." Kay mumbled to herself as she cried for the guy.
 
Cliff was the only one of the group still alive that didn't see Sykes deliver the killing blow to Elliott. But she felt it, felt every second of it through her bond with Cal. Her mind was flooded with her wife's shock, anger and sorrow. There was only one possible thing that could cause her wife that much emotional pain- losing the brother she has so recently regained. Usually sharing emotional pain over the bond lessened it, but that wasn't the case this time, if anything, sharing made their individual emotions stronger. Not only did they have their own feelings, they felt each other's emotions so acutely it might as well have been their own. Both women let out screams of anguish, Cal collapsing to her knees, her entire body lighting up in flames as she lost control over her powers. Cliff launched herself skywards, jets of freezing air bursting out of her hands and propelling her up and above the ice shield-wall. Up in the sky with a bird's eye view of the battlefield, Cliff let out another scream, this time a primal scream of rage at the sheer unfairness of it all. She may not have known Elliott like Cal did, but she'd grown to love him and respect him for the person he was. The wolves had taken him from her, so this was her payback. She let go of her restraint, losing her cool in a way only Cal had ever seen before. Jagged shards of ice shot out of her body, raining down in all directions on the wolves below. Her anger fueled the formation of the icy knives and they quickly grew in size, morphing from dagger size to serrated spikes over half the length of her arm. As they fell they gained speed, ripping through the wolves fur, flesh and in some case bones as they fell. The wolves howled in pain, some tried to run, but it was useless. By the time Cliff's scream ended and she fell back down to the ground all the wolves were either dead, or impaled and immobilised by icy stakes, bleeding out onto the muddy ground.

Sykes pulled yanked the blade roughly out of Elliott's back, at the same time planting her foot square on his lower back, sending his body sprawling to the ground in front of her. Looping the sword into her belt she turned and without a even the slightest backwards glance began to walk away. John ran forwards, ignoring the retreating figure of Sykes, instead, falling to the ground by Elliott's body, almost throwing himself at it in his desperation to get there- mud splattering all over his trousers and trench coat as he did so- desperately wanting to do something, anything that would bring Elliott back. John's fingers scrabbled frantically at Elliott's neck and wrists, feeling for a pulse that he knew deep in his heart wasn't there. He rolled Elliott over, pulling his son's still-warm body into his arms. Elliott's right eyes was open and unfocused, the other was a splattered mess of blood viscous fluid. By some cruel twist of fate a blow during the battle had sliced open Elliott's face, right along the line of his scar, destroying his left eye in it's entirety. "Oh gods... Christ..... Satan, not Ell, not Ell, please" John choked out, running a hand down Elliott's ruined face. "Come back to us Ell, come back to me." His voice broke on the last word as he pulled Elliott's unresponsive body closer to him

At the sight of John cradling Elliott's body in his arms, the first tears starting to flow down his face, something inside of Jay snapped. The wolf she'd be grappling with was dead, skewered by Cliff's deadly hail of ice daggers. She pulled herself to her feet, ignoring the pain all over her body-
her arms were slashed and scratched, blood was streaming from one nostril, her skin of her elbows were scraped away and bloody (as was her chin), her t-shirt had been torn to tatters by the wolf's claws, blood ran from the three deep parallel gashes across her lower left ribcage, soaking into her trousers (which also bore claw slashes from the wolf scrabbling on top of her, it was only the thick weave of the denim that had prevented her legs from being badly scratched). A large chunk of her hair had been torn out in the fight too, exposing her scalp. There was blood around her mouth, like she'd been tearing at the wolf with her teeth. Jay looked like she shouldn't be able to stand, let alone launching into a sprint towards the retreating figure of Sykes. Jay's eyes narrowed, snapping from dark grey to black. With a snarl she threw herself at Sykes, sending the wolf woman sprawling to the ground. Jay clambered on top of the woman, using her legs and body weight to pin down the wolf-woman's arms and legs, before reaching and ripping the armour charm from around the wolf-woman's neck, tossing it to one side. With a yell that could only be described as animalistic, Jay curled her hands into fists and began to rain blow after blow down on Sykes' body, the first punch shattered her nose- vengeance for breaking Fia's in a similarly brutal fashion. Each punch was fueled by rage and a killers smile- dark and vindictive- grew across Jay's face as she felt bone break under her blows. It didn't matter that Jay's own knuckles were getting torn open in the process, her focus purely on exacting as much pain as possible onto Sykes.
 
Out of pure instinct, both Kay and Fia shielded themselves as Cliff flew up into the air and started raining ice shards of varying styles down on the wolves. When they could see they weren't going to be accidentally hit by any means, they stood up properly again, rather than remaining hunched over. They looked all round them as the carnage unfolded around them, seeing the wolves being killed or heavily maimed so badly, they knew they'd probably die soon, even if they did get to escape. Cliff's war cry scream pierced through their ears and they both knew that a great deal of her reaction was from Cal's grieve of losing her brother. They felt relieved when it was over but that didn't stop their pain as they saw John rushing to Elliott's side after Sykes just yanked the sword out of his body, simply walking away like it was nothing. Hearing and seeing John cradle Elliott's body tore the two of them a part. Fia wanted nothing more than to do the same but she just felt like she'd be pushed away from Elliott by John if she did.

Kay, like Cliff, hadn't known Elliott for long but the guy had grown on her rapidly once she managed get round him. Hell, she had already told John that if he was his kid, then he was hers too, that she would be there for Elliott just the same as John was. She loved Elliott dearly, he was just as much her family as John and Chas were, or Fia will be. Her mind found it so difficult to accept Ell was gone, right in front of their eyes. She prayed to whatever or whoever would listen to bring him back for them, for John. The whole surrounding area and bystanders just seemed to blink out of existence to her as she felt like it all just faded into a muted slowed down background. "why Ell....? He doesn't deserve this..." she whispered to herself as she felt tears stream down her cheeks. She felt Fia grip onto her as she too sobbed, watching what was happening in front of her as she barely acknowledged Jay running after Sykes.

Fia on the other hand did watch as Jay caught up to Sykes and punched her repeatedly and so hard, she just knew Sykes would get several broken bones, including her nose in the same manner that Fia herself got her nose broken. She hoped that Jay would kill Sykes, when she usually would be against killing anyone unless it was incredibly necessary. But this time, she was full of hatred, pain physically and mentally and grieve that she just wanted Sykes dead and nothing else to her would have sufficed. She just wished she had the energy and strength to make the kill herself. She was now struggling to stay upright and knew if she wasn't clinging to her mother, she would no doubt be on the floor on her knees. It was moments later when she became aware that Kay was walking them both closer to where John and Elliott were, but made sure not to get too close just in case John told them to move back. Yet she knew Kay wasn't going to leave John to be alone completely right now either. Not only that, she guessed it was Kay's way of seeing for herself that this wasn't some horrible nightmare and Elliott really was dead.
 
John didn't register Kay and Fia as they picked their way across the battlefield towards him, nor did he register the sound of Chas being violently a few feet away. He was numb to everything around him, all his attention was on Elliott's body- the weight of it in his arms, the stillness of it, the feeling of the warmth gradually leaving it. he'd seen dead bodies before, held dead bodies in his arms before, but this time was different, everything was different. Elliott had been, for so many years, the one good thing in his life. Elliott had become everything John knew he could never be- selfless, loyal, brave, somebody who didn't screw over strangers (or more importantly his friends) then discard them like they were nothing, somebody whose presence didn't bring death and distress to everybody they got involved with, good-hearted with a moral compass that always looked for a way to do the right thing for everybody (as opposed to what was right for him), somebody who wasn't jaded and cynical. Cradling Elliott's body in his arms, John realised he'd never actually said any of this out loud to Elliott- to Chas, to his sister, to Renee, Hells even to Kay a woman he barely knew he'd said how Elliott was a better man than he could ever be, but he'd never said it to Elliott. staring into his son's face, all John could think was that it should be him the universe had taken, not Elliott.

Chas returned to life with a juddering gasp, air rushing back into his lungs. Coming back after dying was never easy for him, but this death had been particularly painful and violent. Until his body healed, his consciousness was left in what he'd once termed 'a limbo filled with nothing but the repeated pain of whatever caused my most recent death'. Whenever his body had healed his consciousness was just rudely plopped back into his body with no warning. Chas lay in the mud for a few moments, until his ragged breathing was mostly under control, then slowly opened his eyes. Initially everything was blurry, the smoke from the battlefield irritating his eyes, but when they finally cleared, the sight before him had Chas turn his head to one side and be violently sick. He was close enough to see the brutal way in which Elliott's face had been split open, close enough to see that Elliott's chest was stained with blood in a way that suggested only a blade through the heart, close enough to see the tears on John's face. Chas didn't want to believe that Elliott was dead, didn't want to believe that their futures had been doomed to ones of death, hurt, toxic manipulation and a fractured family. But Elliott was gone, not just dead eviscerated by the sword they'd tried so desperately to keep out of the wrong hands. when he'd finished vomiting he looked over again at the sight of Elliott lying in John's arms, the way John was pulling the body close for an embrace, a hug that would never again be returned.

Cliff and Cal picked their way across the battlefield towards Elliott's body, both exhausted and streaked with mud and blood. Cal collapsed to her knees on the other side of the body while Cliff stood behind her, desperately wanting to comfort her wife, but physically unable to do so. Cal's hair and hands were still on fire, the flames swelling with each sob Cal let out, her tears evaporating as soon as they hit her still-hot skin. Cliff wanted desperately to pull her wife into an embrace, to hold her as she fell to pieces, but the risk of Cliff herself being burned was too great. So instead she stood as close as the heat radiating off Cal's skin would allow her and let the tears fall, each droplet turning to ice as it trickled down her face.

Chas was the first to make a move to touch John, stepping up and laying a hand gently on his mate's shoulder. John instinctively shrugged it off "Oh John, mate....." Chas choked out, his throat closing up as looked at Elliott's body. His three words conveyed everything- an apology, a sincere condolence to John, an expression of his own sorrow and heartbreak (Elliott was in many ways the son he never had, Trish loved him like an older brother and Renee had loved Elliott too, in spite of her dislike of John), a curse at the bloody unfairness of it all- and more. When he placed his hand on John shoulder the second time, John didn't shrug it away. Chas bowed his head and bit down on his lip, (to muffle the juddering sobbing noises he always made whenever he properly cried), as the first tears of many starting to roll down his face.

The fury of Jay's fists was fast reducing Sykes' face to a bloody pulp. Her punches had knocked out some of the wolf woman's teeth, but it was one particularly powerful blow- delivered at the right angle due to sheer luck, not skill- that shattered the wolf-woman's jaw, causing her to cry out in agony. Feeling the crunch of bone breaking under her fist, Jay's let out what could only be described as a pleased chuckle. Gripping Sykes' now-ruined face firmly in one hand she harshly twisted it around to admire her handiwork. Already blood was beginning to pool around area of broken bone. "I" Jay snarled, tone filled with venom "am going to ENJOY ruining you." The language she spoke wasn't English or Attili, but a crude version of a canine language she'd only partially managed to pick up. She drew her fist even further for the next blow, slamming it into the same spot, shattering new fragments off the already broken bone (her own metacarpal bone breaking in the process). The wolf woman bucked and struggled under Jay's weight, trying to get free. There was a panic (and a distinct look of fear) in her eyes that hadn't been there at any other point in the battle. Jay just grinned her killer's grin and shook her head, reaching for the soulsword, pulling it from the scabbard loop on the woman's armour. She ran the very tip of the blade down Sykes' face, revelling in how easily it sliced through Sykes' skin, Elliott's blood mixing with the wolf's as she cut. Shifting to get a better angle, Jay raised the sword, planning to swing it down and slash open the woman's armour. But Sykes wasn't out of the fight just yet, she had one last trick up her sleeve and by re-adjusting her weight, Jay had given Skyes just enough wiggle room to work an arm lose and stab at a small grey box attached to her belt. Sykes disintegrated into a swirl of nothingness beneath Jay. The assassin blinked in disbelief as her prey vanished. "COWARD!" She yelled at the spot where Sykes used to be, before plunging the sword into the ground with a roar of fury. She'd intended to draw out Sykes death, inflicting as much pain as possible on the wolf woman in retaliation for taking Elliott from her. She slumped against the sword, cursing and shaking, but not because she was crying- Jay was too filled with rage at the bloody unfairness of it all to cry- she was shaking with anger, adrenaline coursing through her body like venom.

She slowly hauled herself to her feet, pulled the sword out of the ground then limped her way over to the group, joining the others in the ragged circle around John and Elliott. Blood dripped slowly from her ruined knuckles, running down the blade of the soulsword
 
As Chas resurrected, Fia couldn't help but look over, ready to go to help him if she thought he would need it, but then she remembered how even he looked at her when Sykes threw in the verbal curveball. She was thankful that he still had lives left to be able to come to life again, but the way he stepped away from her like the others did earlier made her stay behind John, beside Kay. She felt her body and phoenix essence slowly trying to heal her wounds, her ribs giving her great discomfort, even more so than when they were just broken as she tried to hide the grimacing and wincing from showing on her face, but failing to do so. With the pain of her body trying to heal without the aid of her magic and the overwhelming grief she was feeling for losing her brother before her unborn self could even meet him, she didn't know how much more she could take. Seeing her father in such a state also was absolutely mentally wrecking her, unable to feel like when they were all in private she would no doubt get some of the blame for this whole shit show. The tears didn't stop falling down her cheeks, nor did they stop on Kay's face either, but both felt slight relief that it was Chas who was coming over and attempting to get through to John by of way of a hand on the shoulder. They winced when his hand got shrugged off, having expected this kind of reaction from John, no matter who it was that tried to offer some kind of sympathy for him.

It didn't surprise either of them that Chas felt he could try again, but it did surprise Kay that this time John didn't shrug his best friend off, instead accepted the action. It didn't surprise Fia however as she felt she knew them better than Kay currently did, she had seen for herself this whole scenario of John losing it and Chas being there to console him when Kay in her time went missing and it was looking hopeless to ever finding her. The only difference this time was what she did in coming back hopefully meant he wouldn't have to experience this grief twice in his life now. Not that that meant much in this very second, but she didn't want her father to experience this ever again. Neither of them paid any attention to Jay's onslaught onto Sykes, they were too swallowed up with the grief they were feeling and witnessing around them with Elliott. Both kept wishing and wishing that they'd wake up and this was all one horrific joint nightmare they were having somehow. It was only when Jay screamed at the top of her voice 'coward' that they looked up toward where the woman was, seeing that Sykes had somehow got away and Jay was now pulling herself onto her feet and back to them.

The sight of Jay wasn't one they wanted to see in the slightest but it told them she had managed to dish out one hell of an attack onto Sykes finally and even though the wolf-woman got away, it wasn't without injury. Kay's face had started to heal, albeit much slower than when she wasn't pregnant, but she could still feel the knitting together of her skin. "we have to move.... We can't stay here..." she finally spoke up, her voice breaking between the tears that had fallen for Elliott. She didn't want to say it, but she knew they couldn't stay in full of everyone around either.
 
There was no initial response to Kay's words. Everybody heard her but they were either too choked up or too overwhelmed by their own thoughts of self-loathing, blame, grief and fury to even construct any kind of reply. As awful a sight it was, nobody could bring themselves to look away from Elliott's body, lying lifeless in his adoptive father's arms. It wasn't just John feeling like it was their fault Elliott was dead. Cal was having very similar thoughts. As soon as she'd heard that her brother was returning to Attil in military custody, she'd sworn to do whatever it took to keep him safe, out of trouble and most importantly, alive. As the sobs overtook Cal, the flames on her body gradually spluttered out. Losing Elliott the last time had been painful, but this time, seeing him ripped away before her eyes, it was a whole other level of pain. The last time she'd at least been able to persuade herself that her brother was maybe still alive and take comfort in that fact while her own life so spectacularly fell apart. Cliff fell to the ground beside her, wrapping her arms firmly around her trembling wife.

Jay was the only one of the group not crying, her eyes may still have been black and empty, but the raw expression on the rest of her face said it all as she glanced up to fix Kay with a look. "Where does one even GO after this?" she asked, no actual malice in her tone, just defeat. Her eyes then narrowed at the sight of something behind Kay's shoulder, her face once again clouding with anger. "I don't fucking believe it" she swore, storming towards the crowd of bystanders. "What is it?" Chas called after her, briefly tearing his eyes away from John and Elliott. "Somebody was fucking FILMING!" Jay called over her shoulder.

Battered, bloody, with a face like thunder and the sword that had just killed Elliott strapped into her belt, the other bus passengers cowered away as Jay drew near and grabbed the phone out of the onlooker-in-question's hand. Jay fixed the man with a glare that didn't suggest murder, but promised it (and that it would be slow and painful) before glancing down at the screen. She didn't want to watch her partner being stabbed, she still wasn't over the horrific experience that had been watching her twin get blown to pieces, but something on the video caught her eye. After a few moments she stormed back to the group who were still huddled around Elliott and John. "The wolf's gone and made this shit political!" she scowled at them. "What?" Cliff's faces screwed up in incomprehension. "The bitch's words to those crowd of fucking USELESS bystanders over there?" Jay waved angrily in the direction of the other bus passengers. "She said she did it because of the trial, to make a FUCKING political point for the OTHER BLOODY SIDE!"
 
Kay didn't think that Jay's tone was aggressive or malicious in any manner, and she too, didn't have a clue where they should go for privacy but what she did know they couldn't just stay in the middle of the area they were in, gaining more and more of an audience. It wasn't right for Elliott's memory in her mind, and they all deserved privacy in this horrific moment. She did get the tone of utter defeat in Jay's tone however as it seemed to echo in all of their tones if any of them did manage to get words out of their mouths. She was about to reply to Jay with her thoughts that weren't in the least helpful, when Jay seemed to look over her shoulder, making her turn slightly to look behind her, back to Jay and then followed Jay with her eyes as she watched Jay walk passed them all and to the by standers where she then noticed that someone was actually filming the whole thing. It seemed that even on Attil there were people who had absolutely no decorum during sensitive matters whatsoever. It made her sick on Earth when people would film or photograph incidents, angered her greatly when stories would come up of people doing exactly thus, or if she witnessed it herself whilst on the streets, she even involved herself on a couple of times which got her into fights that nearly killed her. Out of everything she had witnessed on Attil, she never once would have thought this kind of act would be one of them, but it seemed this particular bystander was proving her wrong. She was sure that if Jay hadn't noticed first and already storming over, she no doubt would have, confiscated the phone, instantly smashed it and at least punched the person in the face.

So when Jay only glared at the person in question and just stole the phone she had to give credit to the other woman for being a lot more reserved in her choices (if it was even such a thing in this moment) than she ever could have been. She watched Jay watching the video as she walked back to their group and said the next few words that mentally knocked her for six even more than she already was. She felt utterly speechless and didn't know how to speak her reaction to the information. Fia was completely dumbstruck at this next thing, she felt like no one in the area was even letting them grieve properly without ruining that as well, and not just the bystanders, but Sykes as well and she wasn't even around them anymore. "that fucking BITCH" she cursed before wincing from the pain in her ribs, leaning more into Kay as she did so, even if it was all the more uncomfortable for Kay. "can you just destroy the video? Like delete it and smash the phone or something?" Kay asked, hoping that it would be that easy, but something in her heart told her it wouldn't be that simple. Yet that didn't mean she couldn't hope it would be, just for once in their lives. Fia couldn't help but also think they weren't going to get an answer none of them liked to Kay's question, but also hoped they'd get an answer they did like. She just wanted them to have one thing that put them at an advantage on something. "Also is there not a safe house or somewhere we can discuss this and get Ell to a private place? It's not right everyone is gawking at him like this..." Fia then added, her voice breaking as she said Elliott's name and describing how everyone was looking on them all.
 
When Jay angrily declared that somebody had been filming Elliott's death- not just standing there a helpless bystander, but filming the whole thing for some sick pleasure- John didn't, couldn't say anything in response. For a brief moment his anger towards the bystander was greater than the raging fury he felt towards the wolf-person who'd so cruelly and callously taken his son away from him (never mind the strife and discord Sykes had caused in Rinaa's timeline and the way she'd mocked, taunted and bullied Fia in this one). John lifted his head, looking away from Elliott and shot a glare as murderous as Jay's in the direction of the bystander the assassin was thundering towards.

Jay's next declaration was another kick in their collective guts. "What? Why!?‽" Chas spluttered, hand flying to his mouth. Even with a concussion he knew that making Elliott's death political would only add to the media frenzy Zan had created by making his carefully collected and collated files public barely a few days earlier and create a shitstorm of unimaginable magnitude. "Because" John replied, his throat already raw from the crying "that wolf is...." he (literally) spat out each of the next words, putting all the venom he could muster into the insults "a FUCKING PSYCOPATHIC MONSTER, and wants to make our lives a misery in as many ways as possible." Jay gave a firm nod of agreement, tipped her head to one side and spat out a large, blood-streaked blob of spittle.

"I can destroy it, I WILL destroy it." Jay swore. "But that" she cursed viciously in her native tongue "Sykes played us like a FUCKING VIOLIN" the choice of instrument was deliberate- Jay had not forgiven Fia for what had come to light earlier. "Before she....." Jay suddenly choked up, unable to say the words 'killed Elliott', instead swallowing hard, shaking her head in pain and rephrasing "before she made it political, she ordered them to upload it as soon as....... she was done. While I was pounding the wolf-bitch's face IN, it was going out to the media. I'm sorry...." she shook her head, tears glittering at the corner of her eyes but not falling "it's already out, we can't stop it."

The group fell silent digesting this new, horrific piece of information. Cal's eyes flashed amber and her hair began to smoke as the anger coursed through her, but this time Cliff was able to use her cryokinesis to prevent her wife bursting into flames again. There was nobody however who could stop John from slamming his bunched fist against a nearby rock in anger. "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" he screamed, ignoring the shattering of his middle metacarpal bone. There was nothing anybody could do but watch as the grief over took him. Trying to stop him was only asking to be punched and Chas shook his head at the wide-eyed Kay and Fia.

When John eventually calmed and slumped down, tears still streaking down his face, Cliff tentatively spoke up. "He shouldn't be lying here I agree" as she spoke she rubbed circles on Cal's shoulders. "Our place is out of the question for so many reasons. Owain should be able to arrange a safe house...... but we need a doctor too or a healer, I'm in no fit state to competently look at my own wounds, let alone anybody else's."
 
John's words made both Fia and Kay flinch ever so slightly from the level of venom that was in the tone and delivery, but neither were surprised by it either. They both felt that same level of anger, of venom toward Sykes and the by stander who filmed it all but neither had the energy to fully show it. They were hurting mentally and physically too much to let it all out. Yet both knew deep down that the moment they were alone or in the quiet and in private it would no doubt all spill out there and then with no end in sight. Kay also couldn't help but think the sooner their time now on Attil ended, the better. She suddenly didn't want to be on this planet anymore if it all it was going to do was bring this horrific night to the front of her mind. Seeing John in such a way was just making it so much worse for her as she wanted nothing more than to make things right, to be able to bring Elliott back to him and she knew it wasn't doable. With Jay then replying to her question about destroying the video, but bringing more bad news to the metaphorical table, Kay wished on top of every other wish she had, that she hadn't of asked what she did. It was however Jay's choice of words-or more precisely, her choice of instrument that struck Kay the most. More than that, it struck Fia like a ton of bricks, bringing forward yet again the immense guilt the teenager was feeling that this was partly her fault. Fia flinched at the words and cowered into Kay all the more, looking down at the ground as she seriously started to debate if she should just walk away from the group and leave them alone before finding somewhere private to go back to her own time. She felt like the group hated her as much as they hated Sykes in this moment-especially Jay.

The tears wouldn't stop falling down her face as she took in the fact they couldn't stop the video from fully getting out to anyone and everyone. Yet it was John's angry screaming of profanities repeatedly, and him punching the nearest rock that made them both indeed go wide eyed and flinch yet again. Like Chas, they wanted to console John, be there for and with him but with the way he was, and Chas' head shake toward them both, both knew it was safer to stay back, their hearts shattering for him. Kay then looked up at Cliff as she spoke up, albeit tentatively with her agreement they can't leave Elliott just laying here. "makes a lot of sense" she simply replied, knowing if she was in any other state, between her and Fia they probably could help in healing everyone, but Fia was sure none of them would trust her to do so and Kay knew Fee and herself had enough of a struggling healing her without compromising the pregnancy. "I wish I could help with the latter part...but I don't think I can, I'm healing slower myself as it is" Kay then added. "and none of you trust me right now...." Fia mumbled, her voice cracking between the tears. Deep down she wanted to ask them if she should go just go, or just suggest she goes her separate way to them all, but part of her didn't want to run away this time, no matter how tempting it was. She knew her dad had some choice words for her, choice words that would utterly destroy her to hear but words he wouldn't let her go away without hearing. Kay heard Fia's words and she couldn't deny that they were hesitant to trust anything that came out of Fia's mouth in this moment, but the way her future daughter was clinging onto her arm she didn't know if she had the heart to shrug her off and say 'well can you blame us?', she was attempting to be the calming barrier between the group and Fia, even though she was siding more with the group in her emotional mindset.

Kay was torn, on one hand she wanted to rid herself of Fia in some ways, but on the other hand she wanted to protect Fia because she couldn't just disown the teenager that was her daughter. Fia had been taunted, bullied, and thrown in the deep end by Sykes ever since she arrived here, she had clearly been put in a difficult situation at some point over the soul sword's location, and now she was having her family turning on her. All after having a difficult upbringing with her version of Kay in her time and almost losing her mother. The girl hadn't had it easy by any means, and thanks to Sykes, it was now worse. So with all this in Kay's mind, she felt like mentally she was being pulled in two different directions.
 
When Cliff mentioned wounds Chas couldn't help but instinctively look down at his own body. Even after multiple deaths he was still shocked (and if he was being honest- slightly terrified) by the fact that every time he came back, no matter how brutal or bloody the death his body was fresh and fully healed. His clothes were still torn to shreds and blood-stained, but compared to the others (Jay in particular) he looked like he'd just walked off the cover of a fashion magazine. "Have you got... I don't know... colleagues you could call on short notice?" Cliff gave a slow nod, already considering her options. "Yes, there is" she replied, pulling out her phone -which had amazingly survived the battle in one piece- with her free hand, the other tightly wrapped around her wife. Cal's sobbing had subsided, but the tears were still streaking down her face as she knelt. "Some of them would be on shift now... so I'll have to find somebody who is off clock at the moment..." her voice trailed off, eyes narrowing in focus as she brought up a copy of the shift rota for that night.

Fia's mournful remark might as well have been an aside to herself for all the attention the others paid to it. Kay was the only one who outwardly responded to it. Fia's emotional state was the least of John or Jay's worries at that moment, Cal was barely aware of the conversation flowing around her, Cliff too focused on her search and Chas just at a loss for what to do, his eyes welling with tears as he looked back at Elliott's body.

"I won't be healing anybody either" Jay added with a sigh. The word 'won't' as opposed to 'can't' had John's head snapping up to glare at her. He didn't care about getting himself healed, but if there was a way to somehow bring Elliott back, then he'd bloody take it. Yet here was Jay, dismissing a way for seemingly no reason, it made his blood boil, she'd cared for Elliottt, that was obvious to anybody with eyes- so why was she holding out! "What the bleedin' Hells is that supposed ta mean?" he snapped, any patience he might normally have shown loooong since vanished. "It means the healing powers Don't Fucking Work!" With the amount of control I have over them they're more likely to make it WORSE and open up wounds instead of healing them..." She gave a dark laugh, "the only way to make them work reliably, was to get ELL to boost it with some weird magic-MindWalk voodoo combo thing!" Exasperated, she pushed one hand up and through her bedraggled locks, the blood oozing from her ruined knuckles, streaking her hair and forehead red. "it's not like they were even my powers in the first place!"
 
After Kay and Fia said what they did, they didn't find much more to say after that. Both were trying so hard not to just gawk at Elliott's body as they both k ew the floods of tears would only get worse than they already were. They weren't vocal in their crying, but like Cal, the tears were still flowing, particularly with Fia. It was tearing her apart as each and every minute passed for them all. She was now utterly terrified of going back to her timeline I case things had changed there and there was no Elliott in her life, but she also felt like maybe her timeline was the only place she could be right now where she wouldn't be hated or judged so poorly. 'if only I could tell them all what else I had to do....if only I knew the full plan to be give some hope...if only I could figure out if this was all some smoke and mirrors situation.... If only...' she couldn't stop thinking over and over again in her head. She and Kay barely heard what Cliff was saying to Chas, the world feeling like they were in some awful sound proofed bubble. It took Jay's words about her refusal to heal and John snapping all over again for them to yet again break out of their heads and acknowledge what was going on around them. "now isn't the time for us to be arguing amongst each other. This isn't going to help anyone" Kay tried to reason with them both, making Fia let go of her as she spoke. Right now her focus needed to be on Jay and John. "we're all hurting right now....but picking fights, picking arguments with each other is not going to fix anything. It's not going to take away the hurt or heal our wounds...." she said softly but firmly, making it clear she was not going to take any kind of comebacks to her words.

"John when we're somewhere safer and more private, I swear to you...when I heal up better, if I can I will do all I can to help, Hell's, I'll see if Fee knows anything to fix this but I can't can't right now" she swore to him a promise she fully intended to keep. For all she knew, Fee did have some kind of knowledge that could help them all out, even Elliott, but after the fight this was not the exact moment to figure that out and get any answers. She did however also feel well aware that there was just as much chance Fee had no answers to give them hope and it would be a dead end. Hearing what her mother was saying just broke Fia's heart all the more as from what she had learned in her time, knowing her parents knew a lot more about the phoenix kind by her teenage years, that it was a pointless endeavour and wouldn't bring anything up. Kay and herself could be reborn themselves, but bringing someone else back was just impossible. She knew without the use of dark magic and a lazarus pit, there was no way Elliott could be brought back, and even then it was a highly risky option. Despite all this knowledge she had, she knew her mother would do anything to give her father some kind of hope and road to try, even if it was a fruitless endeavour. She knew Kay would do absolutely anything for John, try anything because of her loyalty to him, even from what she had seen in this time.

"Jay we get it okay, but we all do, but emotions are running high right now. No one is holding anything against you for not using your healing ability on anyone" she added, again her tone being sympathetic to Jay but to anyone else she made it very clear that no one was to contradict her. Fia didn't speak up but she did agree with her mother's words. Now wasn't the time to break apart from each other, they needed each other whether any of them wanted to admit it or not, and even though she personally wanted nothing more than to do a runner and see if 'Max' was still around or not, just to be around anyone who wasn't so incredibly angry at her.
 
John's last clear memory was of lifting Elliott's body into his arms and walking through the jagged rift Owain had opened in space, and into the safe-house on the other side. Time slowed as each step of that horrible walk was burned into his mind. Elliott's muddied and bloodied hair was scratchy against his hands and Elliott's limp body was like a deadweight in his hands, dragging him down both literally and metaphorically. But John wouldn't let anybody help him. Everything had come full circle. The first time John had held Elliott was when he'd carried the thirteen year old's unconscious form from the ruins of the building into which his ship had crashed and towards somewhere safer. Now, holding Elliott for the last time, he was also carrying his son in his arms to somewhere safer.

On the other side John carefully laid Elliott down on the kitchen table, laying him in as natural a position as he could manage. Tears trickling down his face, he pushed Elliott hair back from his face, closed the one intact eye and then, slowly, deliberately took off his trench coat and laid it over Elliott's body, covering his face from view. He then collapsed into one of the armchairs, where he said nothing, just stuck his head in his hands and began raking them through his hair.

-----------------------------------------------------

Cliff's two colleagues- one dressed a baggy jumper and sweatpants head shaved smooth, the other still dressed in their work clothes- bulkier gear with the Attili word for 'paramedic' emblazoned in big letters across the back of her jacket- arrived a short while later. Th amazement at the sheer power needed to create the spatial rift they'd just passed through vanished as soon as they saw the state of everybody in the cabin. The visible injuries were awful to look at, but it was the expressions of deep despair and grief that made their hearts break. They'd seen grieving families before, but this was something else. There was a conference with Cliff in slightly stilted sign language before the two set about their work swiftly and professionally, occasionally speaking in soft tones to each other, all too aware of the heavy atmosphere in the room.

Kay, being pregnant, was the first to get attention. Knowing they wouldn't have access to a full suite of hospital instruments at short notice Cliff had called in a colleague who had both healing powers of their own and proper midwife/pre-birth training to see if the unborn Fia was alright. Losing two of John's children in one day wasn't a risk she was willing to take. Cliff visibly slumped over with relief when he confirmed all was fine with the foetal Fia. The attention was then turned towards Kay's wounds. The nurse was evidently happy that Kay's healing factor was up to the job so he concentrated on removing fragments of dirt and debris from the various gashes before sterilising each of them.

Fia's broken ribs were another matter however. With her body so overrun by all the emotions of that day (in particular the self-loathing and the overwhelming belief that not only did her family hate her, they blamed her for Elliott's death and wanted nothing more than for her to leave), her natural healing ability was struggling to knit the bones back together. A warm tingling sensation spread out from the man's hand and across Fia's ribcage as the healing energy flowed. He repaired them slowly and methodically, aware that one of the broken fragments was dangerously close to her lungs.

Meanwhile Cal and Cliff's injuries were worse than they looked, there was plenty of blood, but no organ damage or internal bleeding, the real worry was shock. Cal hadn't spoken a word since witnessing her brother's death, she'd walked through the rift an autopilot and was lying limp on the couch, awake, but completely unresponsive to anything going on around her. Even through the bond Cliff was struggling to reach her. John's broken finger was splinted up, the gash on his forehead closed with a combination of surgical glue and butterfly strips while the slash across his ribs was stitched up. John wanted to keep the scar- a permanent reminder of how he'd failed to save his son. Jay was the only one who refused help. She'd let the paramedic splint up her own fractured finger and make sure there was no internal bleeding, but refused any other help. The woman looked at Cliff for guidance who just shook her head and signed "let her do it herself- she's touch averse at the best of times." Jay took one of the medical kits with a nod, eased herself up onto her feet and limped into another room.
 
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