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Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

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The walk through to the safe house was done in silence for both Fia and Kay. The sight of seeing John carry Elliott's body was gut wrenching to the two of them, it was just yet another moment that was bringing it all home to them that Elliott truly was gone. Neither could barely watch as John placed his body on the table and covered his body with the trenchcoat when they reached the safe house. It was just far too difficult to witness so all they could do was sit on chairs they were near and wait for the help to arrive that Cliff called.

Kay felt awkward being the first to be seen to because she was pregnant but she understood it and knew that Cliff wouldn't rest until she was, so she kept her thoughts to herself and just let the help see to her. Hearing that everything was okay with foetal Fia was of great relief to her as it was for Cliff, as like Cliff the last thing she wanted was have John lose a second child in one day, if at all. She knew she herself would be absolutely devastated if she lost Fia, despite still every now and then having to remind herself that this was even happening to her. But it was the idea of John having to go through two loses of children that she couldn't bare the most. Fia was now his only child, one of, if not THE last symbol of hope to prove to him he was a good man deep down. She refused to let him lose that, putting those feelings way above her own and seeing Cliff visibly slump with relief when the all okay was given just raised her own relief, with a nod of thanks to the midwife. She then let the nurse tend to her wounds with little wincing as much as possible as the dirt and debris got removed from her gashes. "thank you" she mumbled in the all too familiar defeated tone that their whole group was expressing. With her gashes seen to, she could feel Fee from within helping in healing her to a certain extent, whilst also letting Kay know she too was feeling Elliott's death and wished to just remain disconnected emotionally for a while. The way Fee was reacting was surprising to Kay and a bit disconcerting as they had never been disconnected in any way before, so having their connected all but muted felt strange for her.

With Fia, she welcomed the help from the male nurse in helping her heal correctly. As she felt the warming sensation course through her abdomin to heal her ribs, she closed her eyes to just concentrate on her breathing and keep herself as calm as possible whilst he worked, not surprised to hear that she had fragments dangerously close to her lungs, but it still worried her that Sykes came so close to possibly killing her, which she had no doubts would have affected her unborn self and then created a hell of a lot more questions than the two nurses could get answers for. It scared her that she could have died or could die if just one slip up happened in healing her, with the feeling that her family hated her. She knew if that she died seeing hatred in her family's eyes for her she would rather die alone. Thankfully, those thoughts didn't need to be thought about for long as she felt herself be fully healed, to which she too gave her thanks and gratitude, just as Kay had moments ago. All she felt now was stiffness in her muscles and the after ache which she was used to and knew would subside soon enough, but if she had her way she would have rather be left with that feeling as a reminder for the night.

Kay and Fia felt glad that John was accepting the help and getting splinted up and seen to, it was a start in their eyes but neither felt surprised that he was insisting the scar from this night remained and not healed. It also was of no surprise that Jay refused the help for the majority of her injuries and how it took Cliff to speak up for the medical experts to agree to Jay see to her injuries herself. Cal was also the other person they were particularly concerned about, next to John. Seeing the level of shock Cal had sunk into was absolutely devastating to see and neither could fully comprehend what she was going through the most, knowing that she had her brother back in her life for a matter of a couple of weeks or a little over, only to have him ripped from her all over again. The only way Kay could try and understand was to envision if Elliott was Sam and that was unbareable to comprehend. She didn't know what to do or say as everyone got seen to, she just sat there, slumped in the chair, hands wrapped round her bump protectively but lightly, unable to have the energy to put any real force into her actions. Fia wanted to speak, she wanted to apologise all over again for her part in what transpired, even though she felt like an utter pawn in everything. She still thought she was doing right by her brother, by all of them, but right now it just felt like Rinaa's family used her to be the fall guy for all of this. One last 'fuck you' to her, even though she wasn't their Fia. Yet she also didn't want to speak whilst the medics were around, and something told her if she kept quiet, someone, probably John would no doubt start verbally tearing into her anyway when they could gather their voice.

The only other thing she knew was that she wasn't going to be welcome here for much longer and with everything that has happened, she had to go back to her time to see if anything had changed. If by some sheer miracle Elliott was still in her life there? She would be going straight to him and hugging him incredibly tightly.
 
The bathroom was down the end of a sort of hallway, Jay pulled the door shut behind her, locking it carefully. Placing the medical kit on the edge of the sink she locked eyes with her reflection in the mirror. The harsh bathroom lighting made her injuries look worse. Jay closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to dislodge the images of the battle from her mind, the images of Elliott's body falling to the ground as the sword was ripped from his back. But they wouldn't budge, it was like they were burned onto the back of her eyelids. With a frustrated yell she lashed out at the medical kit, slapping it hard with her splinted hand. Pain shot through the tormented joint and she bent over, cradling her injured hand in her still working one, hissing out a curse as she did so. Not wanting her cursing to draw the attention of the others she covered her mouth with her working arm and began cursing and yelling into that. She cursed everyone and everything she could think of- the universe, Sykes, Fia, fate, whatever deity was fucking with them, the League for handing Elliott over..... but most of all she cursed herself. Cursed herself for failing to protect Elliott, for not being able to save her brother, for letting Rinaa just walk away, for all manner of things As she paced her shoulders began to shake, in anger and in sorrow. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, but never fell. As the tremors overcame her she slumped to the ground.

Aside from the nurse and paramedic finishing up cleaning, bandaging and stitching wounds, nobody in the main room moved a muscle, all too tired, too shocked or too caught up in their own racing thoughts to do anything apart from slump with their head in their hands. Even Owain stayed still, not moving from the kitchen chair he'd commandeered (and moved away what he hoped was a respectful distance away from Elliott's body, he wasn't family, so he felt he had no right to sit closest to the body). His eyes flicked between his laptop and his phone as each new update came in, every so often glancing up to see how the group- Cal and Cliff in particular- were doing. All in the room were clearly suffering, but Cal.... he'd seen her in some rough places during the years, but nothing, nothing even remotely close to how she was in that moment. Part of his heart broke as he looked at her, to see somebody who was usually so determined, so passionate, so stubborn, so alive, reduced to a mute, unmoving figured curled up and crying silently..... there wasn't words to describe how awful it was.

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It would be almost a full hour before Jay made her way back to the main room, wounds cleaned out and disinfected. Now that she'd removed her ruined boots she was no longer limping. A piece of absorbent gauze was stuck to her chin with medical tape covering where all the skin had been scraped off her chin. Her arms had been so covered in small scratches and gashes that it had been easier to wrap her arms up to her elbows in bandages instead of put a plaster over each individual cut she'd wrapped them to the elbows in bandages. Visible through the gashes in her t-shirt were the bandages covering the stitches across her stomach. It wasn't her finish stitch work, and Jay had cursed herself through her teeth as she sewed herself back together- both for getting injured in the first place and for being too damn stubborn to accept any help from the paramedic.

She sagged sideways against the doorway for support- all the adrenaline and furious energy she'd shown on the battlefield was gone. She was exhausted and not bothering to hide it. Her eyes echoed that change of mentality, they were no longer the black of battle-induced fury, instead they were a dull, flat, utterly-defeated grey. "You two" Jay's tone was hoarse and rough, all the screaming had left her throat ragged and raw. The nurse and paramedic looked up, knowing she could only be talking to them. "You didn't happen to bring along anything for cutting hair did you?" The two glanced at each other, visibly confused by her request. With a sigh, Jay turned around and lifted up a chunk of hair at the back of her head to reveal a second place where her hair had been roughly ripped from her scalp.

Seeing how red and inflamed the scalp around the wound was the two winced internally. The paramedic reached over to her bag, dug around in one of the side pockets then pulled out a tool with a mechanised serrated blade. "Will this do? It's an emergency tool for cutting clothing or anything caught in debris when time is....." Jay cut her off her explanation with a nod "that'll do. One of you'll have to cut it all off. At this angle, I'd probably cut open my own neck." There was no humour in her voice, this wasn't gallows humour, it was Jay stating what she saw as a fact.

The razor gave out a high pitched whine that made all in the room- bar Cliff- wince. The paramedic flashed an apologetic look at the group before turning her attention to Jay's hair. Clumps of hair matted with blood and mud fell to the floor as Jay's head was trimmed. The sides were shaved right down, while the hair on top was kept slightly longer so it could be sculpted back into a sort of quiff.

With the nurse and paramedic satisfied that everybody's injuries were taken care to the best of their abilities, they said their goodbyes to Cliff, both hugging her tightly before heading back through one of Owain's rifts. Owain also left, explaining to Cliff that he didn't want to intrude any more on their grief than they already had, but if there was anything, anything at all he could do, to let him know immediately. After Owain's rift closed their was deathly silence. Then

"Well what THE FUCK are we supposed to do now?"
 
In the hour that it took Jay to gather herself to be able to stitch herself up and exert some of the aggression and grief she had been bottling up in the bathroom, neither Kay or Fia moved in the main, just like the others in their group. Fia's thoughts never strayed from the pattern of thoughts that were running through her head and in her heart. Kay's thoughts remained on grieving Elliott, her mind blank to everything else that was around her, she just about heard the faint sounds of Jay's outbursts in the bathroom, but she made no outward sign she heard it. She couldn't even think about how Fia must be feeling or what she was possibly thinking. It was only when Jay reappeared bandaged and stitched up did Kay even look up from the floor. Seeing the state of Jay brought home just had bad Jay really had it and it made Kay feel a wave of more sadness all over again as it brought back memories of just how brutal Jay went on Sykes. Seeing Jay then lift her hair to show the paramedics just how severe the damage in her hair/scalp was made Kay sigh in sympathy. She could easily imagine how much that must have hurt or how much the lingering pain must be as her head deals with the physical trauma it endured. She then looked back down as Jay got the help she needed, glad that Jay was asking for the aid for it and not trying to insist on doing it herself, like her other injuries.

With everyone seen to and the paramedics leaving, Kay and Fia let themselves slump even more into their chairs if that was even possible. At Jay's question, Kay didn't have an answer, as much as she wished she did. She wished she could click her fingers and make it all be reversed and stop it from happening but she couldn't, despite all the abilities her kind had, changing the fate of others was not one of them. "I wish I had an answer for that question..." she said back. "is there even anything we can do now? Shit has got so far out of our hands and advantage" she added, hating that she, the one who usually has some kind of hope or can find a way forward in anything, couldn't come up with an answer this time round. The unusual defeatest tone in her mother didn't go amiss on Fia, which just broke her even more. As infuriating as she found her mother in her time, she knew that Kay ALWAYS found a way out of the dark times and brought a sense of hope to her family, she was always able to have a sense of positivity and keep everyone on the up. So hearing Kay not have that anymore made it hit home even further just how truly fucked they were.

"I think.... I think I should go back to my time...." Fia eventually said sadly, she didn't want to announce it in the way she did but she didn't know how to say it any other way. She knew it would initially come across as she was running away from everything, but in her head she knew she had to check the state of her time now this situation occurred. She had to know if her time was anything like Rinaa's. "I need to know if this has changed my time..." she added, whilst thinking 'its not like any of you will want me around anymore anyway'. She also hoped her additions would make it sound less like she was doing a runner. Kay looked up at Fia and she felt torn on how to react to the news, on one hand she saw sense in her kid's logic, on the other she didn't want to openly agree with Fia incase it angered the group and made her look like she was taking sides, something she most certainly wasn't doing. So instead she found herself looking around the group trying to see if she could find any kind of reaction on their faces to Fia's words. Slowly but surely Kay did land her eyes back on Fia, finding her voice finally, "Fia...running away isn't the answer" she said to her, "I'm not running away, this is bigger than us, I need to know if it's affected my time, I've been away for long enough and well... I think it's just best if I leave, this...this is for you guys to grieve, not me.... I know most of you don't want me here anyway...and I wanna try and do right by every one of you... You're still my family" Fia tried to counter, but when the words came out of her mouth, she wished she stopped much earlier on in the reply to Kay.
 
Jay's harshly voiced question elicited no visible response from Cal, she was so mentally far from her surroundings that she hadn't even registered Owain- who Cliff knew she thought of as a firm friend despite their rocky start- leaving. "No idea....." Chas mumbled, lacking the energy to vocalise the rest of his thoughts. Out of the group he was the only one not to have seen (or felt through their partner's bond) Elliott's death. He couldn't stop thinking that maybe if he hadn't died so early in the battle he could have taken the blade through the heart instead of Elliott- everybody safe in the knowledge that he could come back to life. The other thoughts overwhelming him were how on Earth he was going to break the news to his wife and daughter. Elliott was the brother Trish never had, the two had remained thick as thieves even as Elliott's visits became less frequent and Renee had always put her dislikes and harsh feelings towards John aside when Elliott was involved. She'd been the one to teach him to cook after one of John's disastrous attempts had nearly resulted in his flat being burned to the ground. It would utterly break their hearts to hear that Elliott hadn't just died, but had been murdered.

John was about to give some answer along the lines of 'I don't have a fuckin' clue where to go next, but leavin' this bloody planet and getting black-out drunk is soundin' like a bloody excellent plan ta me right now' when Kay spoke up. The defeat audible in her tone matched how defeated he felt. It didn't strike him as being particularly out of the ordinary behaviour, he didn't know Kay like Fia did and therefore didn't realise just how out of character it was for her to be unable to see any light in their current situation. In fact, had she tried to find any kind of positive in the cruel way Elliott had been ripped from life, it would have been Kay he'd have verbally torn into, not Fia. "We've been playing for bloody fools and there's not a fucking thing we can do about it." John declared darkly, to which Jay nodded her agreement. Without Elliott, all their hope had vanished.

Fia's comment felt like it came out of nowhere to Cliff and Chas, whose expressions both morphed to shock. "What! Why?" Chas stuttered while both Jay and John's eyes narrowed in anger. Had Cal been in her right mind, she would have remembered how, during one of their catch-ups in the prison cell, Elliott had remarked that Jay and John were quite similar at times. The only reason they didn't say anything and let Kay speak first was that they were too furious to speak.

John and Jay gave a derisive snorts, not for one second believing Fia when she said she wasn't running away. In both their mind she was legging at away from this nightmare as fast as she could. She was the only one with a way out and here she was, Elliott not dead even two hours, wanting to ditch them all and go back to her time where everybody was alive and all was sunshine, rainbows and happiness. John couldn't give a toss whether today's events had affected Fia's timeline, it didn't change a damn thing for him, Elliott would still be dead here regardless of what Fia's timeline was like. But it was Fia declaring that this whole mess was not something for her to grieve that sent John right off the deep end. Fia had idolised this time's Elliott, finding every excuse to be around him- that much was obvious to anybody with eyes, so to hear Fia declare her dead brother wasn't worth grieving for, it was like she was stabbing John through his already broken heart.

"What the fuck do you mean this isn't for you to grieve? That's your bloody brother lying there!" John gestured angrily towards the table behind him where Elliott's body lay. "He's not even cold and you're already spitting on his bloody memory?! How the Hells can you have the arrogance to stand there and saying all that 'we're still family' crap, when you don't even think you should grieve him? He's the one that bloody holds this group together! If that's how bloody little you think of him, then you're right, you should get the fuck out of this time because you have NO place here"
 
The moment John and Jay glared at her as if it would kill her right there and then, Fia's regret for saying as much as she did just got emphasised to a greater level. Then came the barrage of scolding from John, the scolding that she was expecting but found expecting it didn't make it hurt any less. Yet again her words had failed her and she put her foot right in it, wishing she could take back everything she said. Tears pricked at her face then started falling down her cheeks as she let John rip into her in a way she had never experienced from her father before. Sure, she had been told off before but nothing on this scale and for the most part as she had alluded to before, it was usually Kay who did the scolding. John was always the one to defend her, she grew up being his girl, an utter daddy's girl and now she felt like anything but that. "I.... I didn't mean it like that.... I am grieving him, the whole bloody universe knows I'm grieving him. I love him just as much as any of you.... You all know I think the world of him. I just meant.... I just meant that he's not MY Elliott, I thought... I thought you all wouldn't want me grieving him... You all blame me for this anyway...." she tried to explain in a better way than she did before, whilst her voice was shaking and cracking as she forced the words out of her mouth. She could barely look at Elliott's body on the table for fear of just completely crumbling more than she already had.

"dad I know you don't care about my time right now, I... I don't blame you for that either. But I am trying to think of everything, this death will most certainly have some impact on my time and I don't want this pain and a broken family for this Fia-" she tried saying again, gesturing at Kay's bump with her hand, in an attempt to remind everyone she wasn't just thinking about herself. "I would NEVER spit on Ell's memory. I would never do that to any of you. I just want you all to know I got p-played just as much as you all did. What little I got told? I was told it would keep Elliott alive and safe...." she added. Kay couldn't help but look down at her stomach when Fia gestured toward it, the hard reality that they had to try and keep this family together for the little one hitting her mind like a ton of bricks. It made her wrap her arm round it protectively, tears softly dropping from her eyes as she realised for the first time properly that this Fia won't ever know how amazing her big brother was and that broke her heart more than anything. "Fia you have every right to grieve Ell..." she said to her, not knowing what else she could possibly say but Fia just shook her head, "you're probably the only one that thinks so right now.... Mum if I stay, it'll continue the rift, I know as well as you do that they all blame me at least in part for this and that hurts more than I can say. It doesn't matter what I tell you all, it won't be believed, not entirely. Besides, let's face it, you all aren't gonna stay here on Attil for much longer anyway... ". Fia's words hurt Kay, to her it seemed that no one blamed her as much as Fia was blaming herself in this moment.

Fia stood up, cheeks and eyes red from her crying. She walked over to Elliott's body, shaking visibly as she did so as she lifted her hand to just pull back John's coat just enough to see Elliott's face. The sobbing growing as she stroked his hair, leaned down and kissed his head before covering him again. "I'm so sorry brother...." she whispered to him before stepping away. She then turned to the group again but mainly John, "I know you'll be thinking you don't owe me anything.... But please, don't shut out the little one when she comes into the world, she's innocent in this and deserves the love and protection you gave Ell. She's going to need her dad more than you know right now...." she requested on behalf of her unborn self. She waited just long enough for her words to reach John and the others before shakily grabbing her bag and turning for the exit, heading out of the safe house. With a shrug of her shoulders, she summoned her phoenix wings and before she could bottle it, she lifted herself into the air to find somewhere private to leave quietly, crying and blaming herself for everything. In the end she found a rooftop she could land safely, aiming for it she soared down, landing on her feet with a mini hop and a skip.

She used this moment to wipe her eyes (to no avail) and take one more look behind her toward where the group would be then looked forward once more. Opening her bag, she pulled out the book she used to get here to remind herself of the steps, reading through it then putting it back in her bag, slinging it onto her back. Closing her eyes, taking a deep shaky breath in then exhaling she spoke the words in the book, unlike the way she came, she used her hands rather her stele to create the portal. In her case the signature gold sparking flame circle appeared and hesitantly, she walked through, dreading what she was going to be returning to.....
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Fia's words had no effect on John. In later days when drinking to block out the grief, he'd regret what he said, but now, he was so consumed by anger, there was nothing Fia could say that would make him less angry. Even the tears rolling down her cheeks did nothing to stop the rage within him. His face made it quite clear he didn't believe a single word she said. She'd betrayed them, broken their trust, broken his trust and a price had been paid in the most brutal way possible. Fia using the term 'Dad' made his face twist with distaste. In his mind Fia had lost any right to use that word to him. Dad was the last word he wanted to be hearing right now, even though Elliott had never once called him that (it had always been John), the mere reminder of fatherhood brought forwards a surge of memories of Elliott, which only increased his rage and grief as it struck him once again that he'd never be able to live those moments with Elliott again.

Jay glared at Fia as she made her way over to Elliott's body, following the teenagers every move with her predatory gaze. John on the other hand didn't even turn his head to look at her. Fia's whispered apology could be heard by everybody in the silent room.

As Fia replaced the trench coat Jay grabbed Fia's bag and roughly thrust it towards the teenager. She wasn't doing it to be polite or helpful, her face made that quite clear- she wanted Fia gone as quickly as possible. Her voice was quiet but her tone was sharp and no-nonsense "don't EVER come back here."

John gave no reply to her final plea, no visible reaction to Kay cradling her bump tighter. At this moment unborn Fia was the very last thing on his mind.

Fia's time

Fia rematerialized in her bedroom in John's flat. The door was still locked and everything looked just as she'd left it- in the state of semi-disarray she like to say was organised chaos. It was late evening (according to the alarm clock). If Fia was to take out her phone and check it she'd see immediately that not only had all the spyware deleted itself, every photo she'd taken while on Attil had been wiped as well.

There was a loud hubbub of noise coming from the main area of the apartment. Heading in, it would quickly become apparent why. It seemed like her entire extended family were all squashed into John's apartment place at that moment. Heads looked up at her arrivals, but the conversations didn't fully stop. Trish was there chatting to John, while Renee could just about be seen moving around in the cluttered kitchen. It looked like every singe pot and pan in the house had been brought out for the occasion. Cal and Cliff were also there, their visits were a rarity in any timeline due to the sheer distance between Attil and Earth. The apartment at a glance looked the same, same couches, chairs, kitchen table, kitchen units.... same layout. There was still a distinct lack of personal photos in the main room- John clearly still paranoid about one of the League snooping around his flat and trying to use his family against him in order to recruit him against his will. But looking closer- there were differences- while the artwork on display was still a mixture of Kay and Elliott's, the pieces weren't the same ones that had been hanging when Fia had left.

But the art wasn't all that was changed. Leaning over Jay's shoulder to get a better look at the files in her hands was a man. A man who Fia had never seen before and who was most decidedly not Elliott. But with dark blue hair, tanned skin and familiar silver eyes, there was only one person he could possibly be. And he wasn't the only new face in the room. Sitting in Leah's usual chair was a woman who wasn't the Leah Fia had grown up with, or the Rinaa who she'd had the misfortune to meet. This person had a much squarer face, pale grey eyes and very dark brown hair tied back in a stubby ponytail. She was slightly taller and broader across the shoulders too. Perching on the arm of the chair next to her, his legs dangling over the side of the couch, was a familiar face- the blue-haired dark skinned boy who'd called himself 'Max'- grinning in amusement at something not-Leah was saying.

But Elliott was nowhere to be seen.
 
THE SAFE HOUSE

Kay wished that she could have the gull to stand up for Fia, but she didn't. She just sat there and let Jay and John treat her so harshly as she said her goodbyes to her brother. Seeing Jay shove Fia's bag into her hands roughly wasn't entirely surprising but even Kay felt the hurt that Fia must be feeling at that, especially with the words being said. She even got a slight bubble of anger appear in herself as she felt Jay had no right to tell her daughter what to do, but yet again, she didn't have the gull to say anything. All she could do was sit there and just watch it all unfold, watching as Fia took her bag from Jay and headed to the door, where she exited full of emotion and grief. For a split second she felt exactly what Fia felt and it was overwhelming, it was more powerful than the linked emotions she was feeling with John through their bond. By the time she had the gull to get up and go after Fia, Fia was gone, just a blip flying in the air. Sighing, she leaned against the wall for a moment as she took in the movement of her baby, realising thst just maybe, she shouldn't have gotten up so soon. "they'll come round baby girl...." she whispered into the wind and to her unborn Fia. The idea of them coming round and when Fia was actually born, not shutting her out was the only hope she had right now. She knew Elliott wouldn't want them to do that, she saw for herself how much Elliott grew to like Fia, just as Fia adored him, they all saw it. She may not have known Elliott for as long as the others, but she liked to think she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't want John and Jay in particular to rid themselves of Fia, particularly the one yet to come into the world.

She did eventually come back into the sage house and sat back down when she gathered her thoughts and emotions, knowing if she was going to be in a room full of energized emotion, she had to be put together herself mentally. She even had to bite her tongue to stop herself from making some kind of remark, knowing it wasn't going to help anyone. She sat back down where she was sat before and decided to truly think about what she was going to say before she opened her mouth. She thought about what Fia said at one part, 'none of you are going to stay on Attil much longer anyway'. Those words hit hard as she knew it was true, but did everyone really want to leave before giving Elliott a proper burial? She doubted it greatly. "I hate that these words are coming out of my mouth but... We're gonna have to discuss what to do with Elliott and where us Earth lot go from here..." she said cautiously.

FIA'S TIME/2035

When Fia found herself back in her bedroom, she looked around quickly, eyes darting everywhere to see if anything had changed, which to her light relief, nothing had. She still had her organised chaos that her parents constantly moaned at her to tidy up was there. She put her bag down as she perched on the edge of her bed as she took her boots off and jacket, just to make it look more like she hadn't been out of the apartment. Sat where she was, she put her head in her hands to try and gather herself. Her heart hurt in ways she didn't think was possible, Hell's, it felt like losing Elliott hurt even more than when she lost her mother for all that time. Taking a few deep breaths to control her emotions, knowing if she didn't get ahold of them soon enough her parents would get alerted to how she was feeling through the family bond. She managed to stop crying and wipe her face of the tears, tidied up her face as best she could before she checked her phone and did indeed find that what was once on there was now deleted. It broke her heart seeing all the photos she took gone, but she knew deep down it had to be this way.

It was only then that she became aware of the commotion and noise coming from the main room, making her stand up and walk out of her room to see absolutely everyone was there. Everyone except one. She looked around, seeing that there were seemingly three new people around, one she knew-'Max', the guy whose real name she didn't even know but was family, then there was clearly Jay's twin brother. He looked far too much like Jay to have figured out his identity. Then there was the girl-it wasn't her Leah, or the Rinaa she knew. She could only assume it was another version of Leah, something she would have to figure out secretly. She saw the artwork of Elliott's and her mother's had changed, it all felt so familiar but so different. She knew she had to walk further into the room and be socialable but she was too busy taking in the similarities and differences that were surrounding her. Moments later, her legs remembered how to work and she walked further in and over to everyone, standing next to where Kay was sitting, "you alright baby girl?" Kay asked her, looking at her daughter's face, seeing her cheeks were still tinted pink and her eyes looked glossed over slightly. In just those four words Fia knew that even Kay was different, she hadn't been called baby girl in such a long time, it was always 'kiddo' before she left for Attil seventeen years in the past.

"I'm fine mum, honest, just tired..." Fia lied convincingly, giving her mother a small reassuring smile, but to Fia, it felt so forced and faked. "okay" Kay replied, stroking her daughter's cheek and looking back at the group to continue talking with them all, whilst Fia took in everything around her. She took in how it seemed everyone managed to move on from Elliott's death and remain together. A small glimpse of hope that his death wouldn't fracture the family like Rinaa experienced. She certainly didn't feel any different which she took a good sign, but nothing was overpowering her feeling of loss for her brother. She enjoyed being the little sister, she didn't want to be an only child, the idea of being such a thing made her feel incredibly lonely.
 
John let out a deep sigh at Kay's words, one of sadness, not annoyance, but didn't immediately respond, unable to gather his thoughts enough to begin. Chas also let out a sigh "personally? I just want to go home..... this whole thing" he waved a hand vaguely at the room around him "is a mess." He shook his head in disbelief and as another sob welled up in his throat he ran his hands up and over his face. There was no point trying to hide the tears, his face, like everyone else's was tear stained, but Chas feared that if he started full on sobbing, he'd set everybody else off. "Christ.. I'm gonna have to tell Renee.... and Trish. Oh God... Trish" he put his head further into his hands. "How on Earth do I tell her the guy she thinks of as her brother is dead?"

John just shook his head and slumped further into his chair, he had no answer to Chas' question. How did you even begin that conversation? He'd have to Cheryl and she'd in turn have to tell his niece. John couldn't stomach the thought, his guts twisted and he felt physically sick at the notion. He'd been the source of so much worry for his sister over the years- ending up in hospital beaten black and blue, breaking down to the point of being committed to a mental asylum, the excessive drinking and drugs to numb the pain, the demons and Downworlders that followed in his wake out for his blood- she didn't need to deal with any more of his shit. Even in his angry, raw, grief-stricken state he knew Cheryl wouldn't blame him for Elliott dying, but John blamed himself and that was just as bad.

"We also need to decide what to do with this" Jay gestured to her side where John, for the first time since arriving in the safe house, noticed that the sword was stuck through a loop on the side of her belt. The blood slowly drying and turning to crust on the blade was mostly Elliott's, with some of Jay's mixed in. "How the buggerin' fuck can you stand to have that thing so close to you?" he asked, venomously emphasising the word 'thing'. "If it's at my side then I know it's not out there, being used to kill more people I care about." "I say we destroy this thing or if we can't do that then at the very LEAST lock it up somewhere nobody can EVER get at it again. A vault in The House, some hidden chamber with a million ward runes.... any-fucking-where that isn't just lying underneath underneath a slab in a bloody floor. As for..." her voice cracked slightly and she swallowed, "as for Ell.... that's not my call."

"He should go back to Earth" Cliff's voice was soft, but in the quiet of the room easily heard. She had one arm wrapped protectively around Cal who was still lying limp and spaced out on the couch beside her. John's eyes widened in surprise. John would have have been lying out of his arse if he said he didn't want to bury Elliott on Earth, but in his mind Cal had an equal- if not greater because she was blood- say in what happened. He had lost Elliott once, but Cal had lost her brother twice and had every right to want to keep him near. His face asked the question his mouth wouldn't- 'are you sure?' Cliff gave a single nod "I'm speaking for both of us right now. Cal would want him to go home- we all know for him that was Earth, not Attil."

Fia's time/2035
Unlike the time she'd just left, there was no oppressive, overpowering sense of sadness to be felt in the room. Everybody looked happy and relaxed, all chatting away about something or another. John was laughing, genuinely laughing, at something Trish had said. With the stress of the trial
John had looked up when Fia entered the room, relieved that his daughter had finally appeared. He was too far across the room to see the slight redness in her eyes and by some miracle none of her grief over seeing a past Elliott had transmitted down their family bond. But from his perspective Fia had taken a surprisingly long time to come out of her room and join the gathering, especially given that it was her who had insisted they hold this massive gathering in John's place as opposed to Chas' which had garden everybody could spill out into. He was going to give some teasing remark about her not showing up to her own event, but seeing that Kay had everything in hand (and still feeling nothing amiss over the bond), he turned back to Trish.

'Max' on the other hand had no qualms with loudly making a point. "So now that Fia's FINALLY here, does that mean we can actually EAT?" 'Max' asked in a theatric tone- he wasn't really annoyed at Fia's late appearance. "Or shall I just continue to sit here, surrounded by smells of amazing food and starve." As he said the word 'starve' he fake swooned against the sofa. The response was a collective eyeroll from all in the room, his dramatics were nothing new, 'Max' loved to act the showman, often in as over-the-top a way as possible. Jay and her brother exchanged looks of 'here we go again' while not-Leah smirked. "OR darling brother" she drawled, "you could actually learn to cook instead of just surviving on sandwiches, microwaved leftovers and those weird fancy coffee concoction thingies that are extremely overpriced."

'Max' turned to face not Leah, a teasing remark on the tip of his tongue. But what would have been a back and forth teasing session was cut short by the arrival of the first dishes of food, carried out by Sam (who somehow always ended up getting roped into carrying put food whenever there was a gathering of any size). As the food was carried out by Sam and Renee everybody else squashed in around the table dragging and carrying over whatever they intended to sit on as they ate. "Jeez, we got enough here for an entire bloody army!" John declared, seeing not just his serving dishes, but some of the other's crockery on the table too.

And then, carrying the last platter in his arms, with a proud grin stretching from ear to ear, Elliott walked out of the kitchen. "I'm more worried about there not being enough!"
 
Kay's feelings on everything echoed Chas' feelings. Like him, she wanted to go home which considering she never felt safe on Earth said a lot to her. Right now the idea of being on Earth on house arrest in The House was more comforting and appealing than being here with memories and emotional pain of the fight and Elliott's murder. She felt so much sympathy for Chas in having to explain what happened to Elliott to Trish and Renee. She may not have ever met the two, but not she would want to tell those two of the news, it was hard enough to witness Fia's reaction to Elliott's death, and here Chas was having to go home knowing he would have witness that initial reaction all over again. "I wish I had the answer to that Chas, I really do, but I agree with your former comment, I wanna go home too" she told him, seeing John slump further into his chair, making her just want to hold him but she still didn't know if she should. Jay's comment made her look over to the woman and then down to the sword that was holstered to her side. She couldn't understand why Jay had it still either, but when John asked the Sam question making Jay give her answer, it suddenly made sense and she could understand Jay's reasoning. "sounds like the best plan to me. Having it somewhere no-one can get to it is the best plan, but if it can be destroyed that's even better in my opinion" she replied just before Cliff said the one thing that surprised her greatly.

She was convinced that Cal and Cliff would want Elliott to stay behind on Attil, she never would have thought either of them would tell the rest of them that Elliott should be coming back to Earth with them. Her surprise however couldn't have possibly been matched to the surprise that was on John's face, causing Cliff to further explain the reasoning for her decision. "then he'll come back with us, I'm sure there'll be a way of letting you both know where he's buried so if you ever need to do the journey to Earth, you can visit" she commented. To her it was only fair that they knew where he would finally be laid to rest and that was if they didn't come with the rest of them to Earth.

Fia's time/2035

Seeing her father so genuinely happy and laughing felt like complete whiplash to Fia after having just been on the receiving end of his wrath toward her in the past. But she was glad he was genuinely laughing and happy at the same time, she didn't want to witness his grief or emotional breakdowns again after now having witnessed it twice. She caught his eye when he looked up at her entering the room and she could see the relief in his eyes and knew instantly that her not showing up clearly got him and possibly Kay concerned for her. She was just glad that seeing her mother talk to her seemed to be enough for him to not ask her what was going on with her as well. But then 'Max' chimed up to make a teasing remark about her and his hunger making her roll her eyes. Normally she would have poked her tongue out or made some kind of unimpressed facial impression but she just wasn't in the mood right now to do more than the eyeroll. She couldn't even really react to the comment by not-Leah of 'darling brother' and about his lack of cooking skills.

Seeing her aunt Sam appear carrying out food made her thankful that what went on in the past didn't take away her aunt as she loved her to pieces. She started to walk over with everyone else, fully intending on taking her usual seat by her parents when the smells and looks of the food made her think of Elliott all over again, especially with the amount of food that was made. 'mind you are being far too cruel to me right now...' she thought to herself when the next moment made her freeze in her spot as she saw Elliott walking out with more food and very much alive and happy-just as she remembered him to be in this time of hers. "you're alive" she muttered to herself in shock and relief before rushing over, giving him time to put the food dish down and wrapping her arms tightly round him, hugging him tightly, burying her head in his chest as she tried to not burst into tears all over again. She didn't even think about how it must have looked to everyone else, she didn't care for that split second, all she cared about was being able to still hold her brother and feel his heart actually beating.

Kay looked at John confused at their daughter's actions before looking back at Fia and Elliott, wondering what was going on with Fia. "Fia? Everything alright?" she asked, thinking how her daughter's reaction seemed like someone who had to just seen a ghost or something. Fia could barely bring herself to pull away from Elliott as she took in his familiar smell, his frame and most importantly, his heart beat and breath. He was alive! She couldn't understand it, she saw him die, so how was it he was very much still alive here and now? Whatever the reasoning, she was beyond thankful to anything and everything that made it happen. With her thoughts of thanks to the universe and any and every diety, she pulled herself away from him and tried to compose herself so she could finally answer the question asked to her and see all the confused looks she was getting by everyone. "I-I'm fine.. I just had a night terror after falling asleep reading that's all...Ell died in it...." she said, weaving a tiny bit of truth into her lie as she tucked the lose strands of hair behind her hair to make it believable, knowing it would only make some of the family tease her over it.

Yet she also knew Elliott, John and Kay all knew she can have nights of night terrors and has done ever since she was a kid, so she figured it was the most plausible lie to use in front of everyone. She would rather go through teasing than try and explain to everyone what the truth was and what she did.
 
John shook his head slowly in disbelief, struggling to comprehend Cliff's softly spoken words. It made complete sense- Earth had been where Elliott had spent his formative teenage years, where he'd flourished, where his friends were- yet at the same time, it was so utterly unbelievable to him that Cliff would just let him have this, have Elliott buried back on Earth without any kind of fight or protest. He really didn't know what to say in response, just nodded, hoping that Cliff would understand he was too choked up to do anything else. He nodded once again at Kay's comment, of course he'd tell them where they buried Elliott, once he figured out where the Hells he should go. The Constantine family plot where his mother and twin were buried wasn't an option (his father he'd put in a different cemetery entirely)- there was one spot left in that plot and he'd earmarked it for himself.

A few moments silence passed before John broke it, casting a look at the sword hanging by Jay's side. "I'm in favour of bloody destroyin' it. The blasted thing's too much of a danger ta be left in one piece." "Dan should know how- he made it after all" there was a sharp accusation in her tone. In Jay's mind Dan was partly responsible for Elliott's death- he had made the sword and hidden it in a place so insecure (and in hindsight so obvious) it had been stolen from right under their noses by one of their own. His sloppiness was one reason they were now paying the worst price. Cliff gave a hopeless shrug, she may have spent years watching Cal, Dan and Simeon (but mainly Cal) work, but she hadn't taken in anything of it.

The room fell silent once again. Then... Cal's lips moved, muttering something too quietly for anybody to hear. Cliff shifted to face her wife again, gesturing with her free hand at her hearing aid-less ears, indicating Cal should repeat it. Cal lifted her head and looked towards the others. Her eyes, now open, had lost all their usual golden lustre. They were dead and dull, a look John recognised from his own eyes back in Ravenscar. Her tone was a flat monotone. "It should have been destroyed years ago when I had the chance. I won't be making that mistake again." Her piece delivered, she closed her eyes again and slumped right back into her thoughts.

Fia's timeline/2035
For Elliott Fia's forceful hug came from nowhere, he was still in the middle of straightening up when Fia wrapped her arms around him. Her momentum still knocked him off balance and he staggered sideways slightly, nearly, but not quite falling onto the table He was about to chide Fia for it, but one look down at his sister and the way she was burying right into him had him pause and rethink. His eyes flicked towards John who gave a confused shrug, worry written all over his face. This wasn't normal behaviour for Fia. Something was wrong, he didn't need to be linked into the family bond to see that.

All eyes in the room were on Fia as Elliott wrapped his arms around her, the room was unconsciously, collectively holding their breath. Nobody had any idea what was going on, least of all Fia's parents. Fia was naturally a huggy, touchy-feely person, but right now what she was doing....? It wasn't just her everyday way of showing affection towards her brother, it looked to all like she was clinging on for dear life. Elliott rubbed Fia's back gently, like he'd done when he was babysitting her as a kid and she'd had a nightmare vivid enough she'd come and seek him out for comfort. "Hey, hey, it's alright, it's alright" he murmured softly, despite having no idea what 'it' was. John recognised the action too. It had been a number years since Elliott had last had to do it, so to see him doing it now sent a chill through him. It was then he chose to speak up, ask the question everybody was thinking, opening his mouth at the same time as Kay in. Whereas Kay chose to ask if everything was alright, John (even all these years later) was much blunter with his phrasing, though his tone was purely concern, no hints of scorn. "Kid.. what's wrong? You look like you've seen a bleedin' ghost."

Fia's explanation had Elliott and John exchanging awkward glances. "So maybe goin' the other day and explainin' the story of how Elliott's death was faked all those years ago wasn't me best idea."
 
Kay knew it would take quite a bit of figuring out on where they should lay Elliott to rest. She knew John would want somewhere worthy of Elliott, and most importantly, somewhere he considered safe where he could never be disturbed. Elliott deserved to lay somewhere peaceful and private in her eyes and she knew when that conversation got had, John would agree with her sentiments. It didn't occur to her straight away but later on she would eventually think of where she had a tombstone and empty grave for her biological mother. Set in a private area that she had access to and was her mother's favourite place to sit and enjoy the viewpoint that looked out on all of London. For most people it didn't seem all that spectacular, but to her mother it was special and relaxing. Somewhere that Elliott would have appreciated she would come to realise, knowing how much he loved landscapes. She would suggest it later on, but for now she was too pre-occupied in grieving and worrying about John and the sword's next stop.

As John spoke up again after their discussions, she looked over at him and nodded that destroying definitely seemed the best course of action, as she previously expressed. She also agreed with Jay that if anyone knew how to destroy such an weapon it would be Dan. The slight but sharp accusatory tone in Jay's voice didn't go amiss on Kay, making her see the reality that Jay even partially blamed Dan for Elliott's death. Something that no doubt Dan would end up doing himself without Jay's input. Cal suddenly speaking up made her then turn to look at her, seeing the state she was in just broke her heart to see. Seeing all life just seeming to have been zapped from Cal was an utterly haunting sight to see and like it did for John, it reminded her of herself but from when she was much much younger. It just took her a long while before everything that happened to her caught up to her emotionally, and it was when she had moved to Seattle when it all got ontop of her and she became a shell of the girl Sam and her parents knew her to be. She certainly recognised the lifeless dull tone of her voice, Cal's words still making one hell of a point and impact on Kay. "then it gets taken to Dan to be destroyed" she said back as Cal closed her eyes again and slumped back into her previous position. "once destroyed we go home as I can't see any of us wanting to leave here until we know its been destroyed once and for all." she then added as she glanced round at everyone in the room, rapidly having the horrible realisation of how quickly their group had declined in numbers for one reason or another.

Fia's time/2035

Hearing Elliott tell her it was alright was something for a while Fia didn't think she would ever hear again. She wished she could just tell them all the truth, tell them she was there that fateful day but she knew it would no doubt break down the walls in everyone's heads and cause some kind of drastic rip in time even more. Even more than that wish however, she wished to just forget everything she witnessed and enjoy having this new timeline of hers. For now she was doing all she could to not break down into a sobbing mess having Elliott hold her and rub her back and talk to her comfortingly.

Luckily for her own sanity she did manage to keep it together, at least enough to answer not only Kay's question but her father's question. A question that didn't have hatred or scorn in the tone, but the tone she was more used to-one of concern and worry for her. John's response after awkward glances being exchanged between himself and Elliott made Fia get more information about this altered timeline of hers and he wouldn't even know it. Yet it was a tidbit of information she could easily play off without coming across as suspicious. "ya think?" Sam spoke up teasingly back at John, making Kay look at her sister with a 'don't start' feigned annoyed look. "it's not your fault dad..." Fia spoke up, reluctantly letting go of Elliott (but not before she gave him a tight squeezing hug) and walking over to her dad, hugging him to show she meant what she was saying. "I thought it didn't affect me, I guess reading a horror book just triggered it all off in my sleep... I'm sorry for worrying you all" she told him. "I guess it's time you keep away from the horror fiction for a while baby girl" Kay said, rubbing Fia's back as she was standing next to John when Fia came over to him. The last thing she wanted was for more triggers to befall onto their daughter when they all already had the constant worry someone or something would come for Fia. She also was convinced that after a good couple of months without any night terrors that Fia was over them, but if what Fia said was true, and she had no reason to doubt their daughter, it would seem she was very much wrong about her assumption.

"guess that means Edgar Allen Poe literature off the study list then?" Sam commented.
 
The others simply nodded at Cal's words, unable to think of anything to say. There was nothing they could say that would bring Elliott back. All the usual reassurances of how 'it will be okay', 'you'll get through this together', 'this isn't the end', 'it won't always hurt this much' or 'he's in a better place now' held no meaning or impact. Already fractures were emerging in their group. Cal was retreating into herself, John no doubt would be doing the same soon, Cliff was fast becoming overwhelmed by worry for her wife, Jay hovering dangerous on the line between collapse and explosion while Chas and Kay...... they were sort of just existing, numb and disbelieving in the middle of it all.

Jay let out a tired scoff at Kay's words. "Home? Where the fuck is that supposed to be?" she muttered under her breath in her own language before ripping the sword from her belt and stabbing it down into the coffee table. The blade didn't break, merely embedded into the wood. "This" she cursed viciously at the blade "thing has ruined it all. I need a drink. Or a smoke."

Fia's time/2035
"She was gonna find out at some point" John replied with a shrug, well used to Sam's teasing tone after all the years. Neither he, Sam nor anybody else in the room could deny Fia's tenacity when it came to finding out the things the family tried to keep from her. Be it the simple things like birthday presents and surprise visits, or the more serious things like the story behind Elliott's scar, Jay's aversion to people touching her, the abuse John and Cheryl had been subjected to as kids, the darkness in her mother's past, the world of darkness John inhabited..... the list went on. But the one to remain the most firmly guarded secret was just what exactly had happened when John, Kay, Chas and Jay went to Attil to get Elliott back. Conversation changed direction or stopped entirely whenever the topic came up around the kids. In this changed timeline however, that story had been told, and quite recently going on John and Elliott's glances.

"Maybe I should be asking for my copy of Misery back?" not-Leah remarked, her English slightly accented English as she joined in Sam's joke "Stephen King's stuff is twisted at the best of times."

Cal meanwhile waited until Fia had finished hugging Elliott to shoot a pointed look at her brother. "While we're on the subject, you should talk to him you know." Elliott pulled a face of distaste as he headed towards his seat at the table. "I've said it before Cal, that's NOT happening" he shook his head.
 
Jay's scoff couldn't go unnoticed on Kay, even if she didn't know what she said, it was clear it was of some kind of disgust to what she said. It wasn't surprising but it did make Kay feel even more deflated than she already felt as it made her feel like she said something incredibly wrong. If she had known Jay had said where is home, Kay would have in some part, agreed with her. She after all, didn't have a home to call her own for the longest time and she wasn't even sure if she could call John's apartment or The House her home in the same way John could. Things may be moving quick for the two of them but there was still that part of her that felt like a stranger in his home, a guest. Sure, John had opened his home out to her in some way so she was safe from the demon attack weeks ago, but could she really call his home her own yet? She truly didn't know, but the one thing she did know was that his apartment and The House was the damn closest thing she had to a home that she would ever get.

When Jay pulled the blade out of its sheath and stabbed it right through the table, she couldn't stop the slight flinch that came over her as she heard Jay speak once more, except this time she didn't know what else to say but she did wish right now that she could also bury her sadness in a bottle of alcohol if only it wasn't for her current state. Instead she found herself glancing over at John to keep an eye on his depleting mental state, knowing it wouldn't be long before she and Chas had John in the same level of grief as Cal. She then looked back down and sighed heavily, trying to gather her thoughts as she knew none of them would fully want to risk leaving the safe house right this moment just for a drink, which meant Jay would have to either somehow get someone they trusted to bring what they wanted or find something in the safe house. "well I don't know about you but I'm in no hurry to leave here right now" she finally spoke up again.

Fia's time/2035

Kay and Sam both smirked and shrugged at John's quip back, knowing he had a point. Fia would have found out sooner or later. Both women were certain that they'd never met a more tenacious and determined teenager to get information out of someone if she thought they were holding back. Fia was most certainly like her parents in that respect. "you got a point there" Sam replied as she watched Fia hug her father. Fia was still internally making notes in her head of the changes to the timeline she had left behind, luckily the quipping behaviour between her dad and aunt hadn't changed and that was of relief to her, but the obvious clue the news of Elliott's death being faked was only recent news was new to her. As the other spoke of not letting her read horror fiction for a little while if it was going to trigger night terrors came about, Fia stood to John's side, between both him and Kay and continued to lay her head on his shoulder, hugging onto his arm as she always did in these moments.

She noted how not-Leah's accent was different to the one she was used to hearing and she knew if she didn't do something to integrate into this new slightly altered time, it would completely and utterly knock her over mentally each and every time. She rolled her eyes at the remark, hoping the Fia they all seemed to have been with this whole time would have reacted the same time. "oh ha ha" she said sarcastically, "but might be for the best..." she then added. "I think you're right, but right now there's food getting cold on the table so let's forget about that bad nap you had and eat yeah?" Kay commented to Fia, getting a nod in response from the teenager. So she let go of John and headed to her usual seat at the table where she methodically always sat, no matter how many people were over as Cal and Elliott were mentioning someone but not by name. "who?" she couldn't help but ask, gently but in her usual manner inserting herself into the conversation.

She had to know what else had changed, even if it meant she had to play it carefully to not come across as being weird and 'forgetful', or at least, in the eyes of her family.
 
Cliff found herself instinctively shifting away from Jay as the woman ripped the sword from the loop in her belt. She had no idea what was going through the assassin's mind, Jay had snapped on the battlefield- her battered body and fractured hand were testimony to that- and it was unclear to Cliff just how stable Jay was in this moment. In Cliff's mind it was as likely for Jay to try and snap the sword into pieces with her bare hands as it was for her to turn around and murder somebody with it. Elliott was barely dead a few hours and already, without his calming influence, Jay was slipping right back into her old ways, back into the dark, ruthless persona she'd become when the feud with her brother and her adoptive sister drove her away from her life with the Isogrii and towards her years as a terrifying mercenary.

John's eyes lit up at Jay's suggestion and not in a good way. Numbing the pain with alcohol (to the point where he wouldn't need to think anymore) sounded like the only good course of action. The same logic applied for nicotine. Had John been more in his right mind he would have remembered the brief conversation where Jay's past as a smoker came back. Her eagerness to smoke again was as sure sign as anything that her mental state was fast imploding. "Agreed" he replied, not to Kay's comments about staying in the safe-house, but Jay's proposal. "There's bound to be booze somewhere in this bloody place- rich toffs always have a stash."

It didn't take Jay long to find it. There was beer in the fridge, but she went straight for the stronger stuff, twisting off the cap and not even bothering with a glass, downing it straight from the bottle.

Fia's time/2035
Fia's gamble paid off, not-Leah didn't sense anything amiss, giving an amused smirk in response as she hopped up from the armchair and made her way to the table with the others. She pulled up a spare chair, not next to Elliott or to Jay, but next to 'Max' instead. While 'Max' was the spitting image of Jay's brother- and by extension Jay herself- (only with much darker skin than the twins), not-Leah bore no familial resemblance to them. Her features could be described as Attilian, high cheekbones and dark hair, but her squarer face didn't match Cal or Elliott either. She was just as comfortable in the room as everybody else, rolling her eyes fondly at 'Max's' declarations of how great the food smelled.

At Fia's question Elliott and Cal exchanged looks, then responded in unison. "Zan." "Our birth father." John groaned at the mention "not this bloody 'talk to Zan' thing again. You've been doing this for years!" The venom with which John's past self had spoken every time Zan had been mentioned was gone, this John was more annoyed by the mention of this stalemate discussion than of Elliott's birth father. "Because they're as stubborn as each other and both convinced they're right." Cliff replied to which Jay nodded her agreement. "It's not going to happen." Elliott repeated, about to give a reason before shaking his head, "it's just not."
 
The way John's eyes lit up darkly at the idea of drinking or smoking himself into sleep didn't sit well with Kay, even though she understood the appeal of such actions. It was the fact she knew it'd the rapid start of John falling down that slope and the start of the difficult road ahead for her and Chas to try and be there for him whilst hoping he comes back to them sooner rather than later. She felt equal amounts of worry for John and fear toward Jay with how she was falling off the emotional wagon now that her rock in Elliott was gone. With both these feelings and thoughts in her head, she just hoped that it wouldn't fracture the group even more than it already was as she still felt that pang of guilt for letting Fia go back to her time in such a brutal harsh way. Yet then she thought back to the original audio messages Elliott left them all that they listened to on the way to Attil, the requests he gave them all and it made her feel determined to not go back on that wordless promise she swore to keep for Elliott.

She glanced back up when Jay moved to the kitchen area even though she heard John said there was bound to be alcohol somewhere. She just couldn't bring herself to look up as he spoke, but did when Jay moved. She didn't know if it was the growing fear of Jay's mental state or the worry for her mental state that made her look up, but she did and saw how Jay managed to find plenty of booze to drown her sorrows. With the alcohol found, she just knew in her heart that it wouldn't be long before John no doubt joined Jay in drinking far too much with no care in the universe. She wanted the group back together in solidarity, she wanted Elliott back, she wanted Jay and John happy again, she wanted to go home (where ever that was for her) and she wanted to somehow fix everything but she couldn't have any of that in this moment and the longer it all sunk in as she witnessed the spiralling mood of the ones she cared about, it made her just want to sink into herself all over again whilst feeling borderline claustrophobic mentally.

Fia's time/2035

Fia couldn't stop making mental notes at the physical resemblance to Jay and her brother as she kept casually taking in the looks of 'Max' and comparing them to not-Leah. She found herself trying to figure out how they were related especially as not Leah called 'Max' her brother but there were no resemblance between them. This whole new family dynamic was going to be a new learning curve for her but if it meant she still had Elliott in her life then she would do her hardest to get used to it all. She snapped out of her thoughts during the talk between Elliott and Cal, enough to ask who they were talking about and when they both said in unison it was Zan she tried her hardest to not go wide eyed.
"he survived..." she muttered under her breath in realisation, for a split second not looking at anyone in particular but through people as she found out this bit of information. Quickly snapping out of her moment of realisation before it looked suspicious, she simply nodded at Elliott's clarification of who Zan was, as if she needed the clarification. Turning to her right side to John, she could tell from his comment that this conversation tired him greatly. She looked back toward Elliott and Cal as Elliott firmly said it wasn't going to happen. "surely after all these years it should just now be classed as a stalemate?" Fia shrugged as she grabbed some of the food to put on her plate, swiftly picking up her fork and tucking in. "it should but it won't with these two" Kay pointed out, "it hasn't so far so I doubt it'll ever be that and dropped. So how about a change of subject?" she added as she began eating.

"Sam how's things with Lara?" Kay asked, asking the first thing that came to her mind. "she's good, she says hi and that she hopes to make the next meet up. Which reminds me, you got that aqua and silver ring of mom's?" "yeah, it's in the box still, why?" "because I'm thinking of using it to propose to her" "it's about bloody time!" Kay smiled.
 
Now that the first bottle had been opened, John saw no need to wait, he wanted to get as numb as possible as quickly as possible. The longer he could put off letting the realisation that Elliott was truly dead sink in, the better. He didn't quite leap out of the chair- he was too battered for that- but there was an energy to him now. Like Jay, he went straight for drinking from the bottle. Chas looked up, saw John grabbing one of the beers and put his head in his hands. he wanted to stop John from self destructing, but he was so numb and exhausted himself he couldn't find the energy to speak up, let alone get up. Cal meanwhile just lay there on the couch, head resting against Cliff's lap. Somewhere, some vague place at the back of her mind, she could feel how worried Cliff was, how heartbroken, but it just wasn't getting through. Cal's head was swirling with thoughts, memories of past and present, things she'd said things she hadn't said...... It was overwhelming and all consuming.

As the night grew darker, John and Jay made their way outside onto the wooden decking around the cabin. Located in an isolated spot in a forest, the cabin-come-safehouse had a stunningly clear view of the skies and Attil's two moons (not that Jay or John cared enough to look up). No words passed between the two as John lit up a cigarette, then tossed the lighter, then the packet over to Jay. She stared at them for a moment, then looked up, grey eyes then flicking briefly towards Elliott's body, which she could just about see. She imagined the look of disappointment and disapproval he'd give her, for one brief moment considered not doing it, then scowled and lit up. Everybody she cared about was either dead, or hated her guts, there was nobody left who'd care enough to stop her from polluting her lungs. It had been years since she'd last smoked, and the hit of nicotine, combined with all the alcohol in her system, it was exactly the kind of brain numbing she needed.

Fia's time/2035
Cal let out a sigh at her brother's refusal and shook her head slightly. She hadn't really expected Elliott to have changed his mind, Fia's assertion was right- it was a stalemate, they'd been in one for years. But she wasn't willing to give up just yet. For her, sitting down and properly talking to her father, her actually listening to him and him giving his undivided attention when she talked... it had been as cathartic as it had been eye-opening. There'd been no need for lies any more and with the weight of the past gone, their relationship was the best it had ever been. She wanted the same for her brother, but he was staunchly refusing. She gave a nod when Kay suggested they more on, as did Elliott, a look of visible relief on his face.

The room burst into grins at Sam's declaration, particularly Cliff and Cal who practically started a round of applause, then in a rare moment of complete un-synchronisation ended up talking over each other trying to ask how and where Sam planned to propose. They'd been following the growing relationship between Sam and Lara with great interest. Kay wasn't the only one to say it was about bloody time, and even though the proposal hadn't even been made, let alone accepted, there were congratulations from all sides of the table. Jay's brother, with a mad grin on his face said something enthusiastically in his native language which Jay translated with a laugh. John also got in on the act, even though his own personal thoughts or marriage and being tied to somebody for life were well known, he could at least be happy for those who managed to get it right, or whose relationship didn't have some preordained/save an entire race pressures as the reason for it's entire existence. When the hubbub died down, not-Leah spoke up, a hesitant edge in her tone. "Ummm..... so I guess that means I finally get to meet her? Cos between being adopted so late, living mostly off-world and y'know....." she trailed off, not meeting anybody's eyes, the end of her sentence left unsaid, but clearly- judging by the looks on Elliott, Jay, 'Max' and Jack's faces- understood "I've never actually met her."
 
Seeing Chas put his head in his hands at the sight of John wasting no time to drown his sorrows in a bottle of alcohol made Kay see that it was more dire than she originally had worried about. It made her heart sink even more and the anxiety of what was to come in their lives grow even more also. Yet like Chas, she really didn't have the energy to say anything to John about it and felt even if she did have the energy, she probably would have gotten a verbal lashing in response, unlike possibly Chas. It felt like the heavy atmosphere was suffocating her but compared to when she tried to go after Fia which she failed at, she didn't have the mental and physical strength to get up off her chair and get some air, no matter how juch she wanted to. As the night went on and Jay and John went outside to smoke, Kay stayed where she was, slumped in the chair, tipping her head to one side where she held it up with her hand, elbow propped on the arm rest. She didn't have anything to say anymore as Jay and John continued to get drunk and smoke outside wordlessly and Cal remained as silent as she did when the realisation of Elliott's death came into focus.

Through the course of the evening as the time flew by them all without them truly realising how much time was passing, Kay had at some point fallen asleep in the position she found herself in. Head still being propped up by her left hand and her right still very juch lightly draped over her bump. Her sleep was far from peaceful and her eyes flickering under her eyelids showed that, yet she didn't wake once as she relived the battle in her dreams which just lead to her mi d filtering in via flickers and glimpses of her mother's death even though she had no idea how exactly the death happened and her own possessed father trying to kill her and John as he did all he could to keep him away from her. It was an emotionally pai ful sleep but her grief just wouldn't let her stay awake for the rest of the night, all she had to hope was that her pyrokenetic abilities wouldn't start acting up like they did back at John's apartment those weeks ago.

Fia's time/2035

Kay deep down wanted to openly agree with Cal but she knew the dinner table wasn't the time or place to do so which is why she decided a change of subject was by far the better choice. The declaration that Sam was finally going to ask Lara to marry her was something that Kay genuinely did think was about time. As the sister, she had to admit when Sam first met Lara she wasn't sure about the woman, she felt an insane amount of prootectiveness toward Sam despite them both being grown adults, but Lara managed to win her over and it wasn't long after that that she welcomed Lara with open arms. It also helped that people like Fia, John and anyone else in the group managed to convince her that Lara clearly was utterly smitten with Sam, as was Sam to Lara at one point. Everyone else's reactions of joy and congratulations made Sam beam widely that they were all so supportive of her decision to propose.

She honestly didn't know what she would have done if any of the group showed any sign of disagreeing with the choice, especially when it came to Kay as they didn't have their parents around anymore. With all the cheers and comments dying down, Sam looked at not-Leah and smiled softly at the girl's words. "of course it means that doll. You deserve to meet her as much as anyone in this room and I know she wants to meet you too." Sam replied to her, never once removing the smile from her lips. Sam cared about not-Leah meeting Lara just as much as she cared about wanting the rest of the family to meet her, it was only fair, especially if it turns out Lara accepts her proposal. She also meant it when she said Lara wanted to meet her just as much as she had been asked from Lara many a time if not-Leah was doing okay where she was and when she would be coming back as she'd like to meet the kid. "so when are you thinking if asking her?" Kay asked, unable to wait to ask. "in a couple of days if all goes well and I can figure out the perfect place. I don't wanna be cliche and go for the first place we met or had our first date" Sam explained, something Kay had to give her sister credit for, albeit a little bit surprised as Sam was most definitely the more hopeless romantic out the two of them.
 
Kay was the only one to get any form of sleep that night, troubled as it was. Cal's eyes were closed and her body almost motionless, but she wasn't asleep and she certainly wasn't dreaming. She was deep in the void of her thoughts, alone in a place nobody could reach her. Cliff felt herself being pushed away, being pushed out of er wife's mind, but she didn't fight it, she didn't have the energy to. The frenzy of battle, the spectacular loss of control of her powers, the first proper panic attack and traumatic flashback attack in years had all drained her and she slumped out the couch, her body numb as her mind screamed in emotional turmoil. She cried, tears streaming down her face, shoulders shaking, but made no sound as she did so.

Outside John and Jay were faring no better. Jay had started the night drinking like a fish, tossing back her head and downing as much as possible in one go, swallowing hard spirits like it was water, intent on getting as much in her system as possible, but as the night passed by she slowed and focused more on taking drags from the cigarette. The initial hit was disgusting, but not enough to stop her falling back into her old vice. By the small hours of the night the two were slumped on the ground, backs against the fence around the veranda, a pile of empty bottles to one side and a couple of stay cigarette butts lying in front of them. Thoroughly drunk, John found himself spacing out, only to be jolted back to reality by the sharp feeling of flames licking against his fingertips as the cigarette burnt away into embers.

Fia's time/2035
There was a visible look of relief on not-Leah's face when Sam confirmed that not only did she get to meet Lara, Lara was actively interested in meeting her. The realisation that she was the only one in the room who hadn't met Sam's partner was an uncomfortable one, reminding her of the times- not so long ago- when she'd been new to the family and it felt like every person mentioned in any conversation was somebody she was supposed to know years of lore about. "I'll look forwards to it" she replied, tone more normal. Max flashed her a grin "stop overthinking it Lex, you'll get on great with Lara, trust me" he declared, waving a hand as if to dismiss the very thought of Lara and not-Leah Alexis not getting along.

"First place you met is always a dodgy one" Cal agreed with a nod. "Particularly if you met in school like we did" Cliff added, before pulling a face "no matter how much you enjoyed school.... it's NOT a romantic place. At all." There were nods from around the table, particularly from Trish, Chas and Renee. "Imagine meeting in a building that was actually intact" Elliott smirked, making Jay roll her eyes while her brother sniggered. "You think that's bad?" Jack declared "try meeting the man of your dreams while in the middle of murdering somebody." "Oh be quiet you lot" Cliff replied her tone fond but firm "this isn't about you lot and your weird ways of meeting partners." She turned back to Sam "is there anywhere else you've considered, anywhere with some kind of significance for one or both of you?"
 
Asleep, Kay's mind replayed the whole fight to her. Putting her through the emotional anguish all over again, as if she was back there in front of by standers watching her new found family get hurt and killed. If anyone took any notice of her rough sleeping form, it would be clear her sleep was anything but peaceful, instead just being a means to an end to help her body physically recover more,no doubt an action that Fee herself made happen so they wouldn't have to worry about Kay's state any more than they already had. Her eyes under her eyelids flickered rapidly, her face showing the signs of distress but was clear her sleep was far too deep to be woken up from. It just had to be ridden out, no matter how much Kay in her dream state wished to wake up from the nightmare memory. Sparks of ember did flicker from her free hand, dancing round her fingertips as her fingers twitched in response to what she was dreaming, but luckily for the group, the sparks were far too small to really do any damage to the safe house, fizzing out just as quickly as they flickered into existence.

Unaware of what was going on in the waking world, she remained asleep and it was quite a while later when it was clear she wasn't going to settle did Fee do her usual tactic, just as when Kay was younger....she let one wing, the right side one, appear and wrap round Kay in a protective manner, like a comfort blanket in an attempt that it'll settle Kay just enough to stop any pyro abilities from getting any worse. The dancing embers in her fingertips soon after that stopped appearing and in her sleep her arm slid under the feathered wing. Due to her wing span, even just under one wing, Kay's frame looked so much smaller than it already was as she slept like that for the whole night.

Fia's time/2035

The look of relief on Alexis' face when she said Lara was just as eager to meet her, as she was Lara didn't go amiss on Sam. She felt glad that her words and 'Max' s' could bring some kind of relief to Alexis. "he's right, you two will get on just fine" she smiled at her before the conversation went on, making her look toward Cal and Cliff as they spoke their opinions on what she was saying about trying to find a place to propose. She had to agree the whole 'first meeting place could be dodgy if one wasn't careful and depending on where that first meeting place was. Luckily for Sam and Lara, they didn't meet at school or university like Cal and Cliff did. She met the woman much later in life, four years prior when Sam was out for a morning run in Hyde Park on her day off from teaching Fia normal school education. She was so engrossed in her music that was playing in her ears as she ran, she didn't notice a rock on the path, tripping right over it and if it wasn't for Lara seeing the spectacle in front of her, Sam would have gone face first onto the gravel path.

Sam listened to everyone talk about how they met their partners, smirking and chuckling, even if she did still find it a little unnerving how casually Jack spoke of his encounter with his partner. Having Cliff reel everyone in, she let out a soft fond chuckle. She gave the question a good think before eventually nodding, "the only place I can think of is the garden bar just off Hyde Park, we went to on our third date. It was her idea to go but it ended up being the perfect place, a good mix of cosy and casual. It was that night we both knew we had to be together" she explained, a smile full of love on her lips and in her eyes as she told the story. "judging by how your whole face is lighting up reminiscing about it, I'd say you your answer" Kay commented. "the fact you still remember that night like it was yesterday and clearly still brings you joy thinking about it, maybe there is the place you need to propose" she added, seeing her sister mull over what she was saying to her. "I guess you're right" Sam smiled again with a nod. "Well I think wherever you propose to Lara, it'll be special in its own right" Fia spoke up.
 
Fia's time/2035
When Sam admitted that there was indeed a place that sprung to mind Cal and Cliff couldn't help but lean forwards with avid interest. They'd heard the story (numerous times) of how Sam had taken falling head over heels very literally when it came to Lara. Initially they'd chuckled like the others, but as the relationship had blossomed between Sam and Lara had bloomed, they found the first meeting of the two increasingly cuter than they did funny. The sheer affection and fondness in her tone as she spoke of the garden bar told them all they needed to know. This bar was not just a place, it was the place. Kay's next words hit the proverbial nail on the head and they nodded their agreement. "We're with Kay on this" Cal declared, using her fork to gesture between herself and her wife. "You said it yourself, this bar was the place you knew she was the one for you, that sounds to me like an excellent place to propose AND an excellent opener for that proposal."

The attention of the room eventually moved away from Sam's intent to propose and towards the enormous spread of food on the table before them. Elliott and Renee always cooked up a storm together, but this time they'd well and truly outdone themselves. This was the first time in years they'd managed to get everybody together in the one room and that in and of itself was a cause for celebration. The conversation meandered between various topics and as the night grew later everybody spread out across the main space of John's flat, nobody in any particular hurry to leave, especially since Elliott had hinted earlier that there was, in addition to a small mountain of food, quite a few deserts on offer too.
 
Fia's time/2035

With Cal, Cliff and Kay all agreeing that it seemed she had her decision made without fully realising it, Sam smiled and nodded at all their words. She also couldn't help but think Fia's words were sweet as well and typical of her. "I guess so!" she smiled as she went back to eating her food with everyone else. For her these get to get hers were like nothing else and she didn't think her life could have gotten anymore colourful until she got reunited with her beloved sister and over time, learning there was more out there than she thought imaginable, let alone more to the Hale-Constantine family than she thought for many years. She still remembered the day Kay and John had to try and explain the truth about Fia, and why she was growing up so damn fast and her mind got completely blown, even if it did explain so well why Kay was trusting her to be Fia's homeschool teacher for normal subjects to give Fia some kind of normal upbringing. Something she fully agreed with at the time and grew to truly care about her niece as if she was her own. She contributed to the manner of varying conversations over dinner, enjoying being able to converse with absolutely everyone for once.

Dinner was, like always, absolutely delicious in Kay and Fia's minds. It never failed to please when Elliott and Renee cooked and Kay enjoyed for once not to be the one cooking or baking desserts, getting a well earned break from the kitchen. By the time they all meandered around the flat, Kay wasn't even sure she could fit a dessert in her stomach from all the food as she sat next to John, leaned into him slightly as she usually did. Fia found herself slipping in and out of concentration during the many topics spoken about as she sat with Alexis and 'Max' for the most part. She took in how the family dynamic was throughout the evening as she began to feel this version of her time line's conscious started to filter through her main conscious, making her begin to get a slight muzzy headache. She knew she couldn't go on with two lots of memories fighting for dominance and had to find a way of forgetting the main timeline she once knew. As she sat, she found herself placing her head in one hand, softly rubbing her temples hoping no one would notice, but she also knew there were too many people in the apartment for no one to notice. "how long you guys staying again?" she asked 'Max' and Alexis, deciding to word it in a way like she just forgot when she was actually trying to get information. She couldn't help but wonder if 'Max' was in the slightest bit aware of what went down and if he was the same one who helped her back on Attil. If he was, then maybe, just maybe, she would have someone help her with her memory situation, if not, she'd excuse herself from the group and find a way herself in her room, even if it would come across slightly rude.

She was just too worried about coming clean with everything to her parents to get help with her appearing problem. She wasn't sure for once how John and Kay would react to her truth of 'it wasn't a nightmare I had, I was there on Attil when Elliott died... I defied you both and time travelled back and kinda stayed longer than I probably should have and now I've got both time's memories in my head and need to wipe the now old one from my mind before I go insane'. She could usually tell how her parents would react to most things, but this was one she couldn't and she really didn't want to be on the receiving end of angry John again, it would have been too much for her.
 
Fia's time/2035
John was also full to bursting as he flopped down onto the couch, Kay quickly joining him. He didn't think it was possible for Elliott's cooking to get any better than it was, yet at every big gathering like this, it really felt like Elliott had managed to somehow kick it up another notch. "I swear his food gets better every time." John remarked as he watched Elliott from across the room. There was a pointed cough from across the room and John quickly amended his words "yours too Renee, yours too." Over the years since Fia had been born a good chunk of the distrust and hatred between John and Renee had gradually died out. They still didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things, but the hostility and vicious anger was a thing of the past.

'Max' grinned at Fia's question. "I'm here for the next couple of months at least- you lot" he indicated everybody in the room with a sweep of one arm "aren't getting rid of me so easily now that I've got a more permanent place to stay than Jay's couch. I still can't believe I got booted out of the spare room in favour of you" his tone was light and teasing as he nudged Alexis in the side. Alexis rolled her eyes in response "ya, ya, ya, if you wanted it so bad you should not have hyped up us being so like siblings to the point where I got adopted." "I didn't mean it like that" 'Max' replied, an edge of worry in his voice. Alexis snickered slightly "relax, I'm only messing, being here is..... it is much better."

Alexis then turned to Fia. "But to answer the question, I'm not entirely sure for how long I am staying here, I do not really have a plan yet. I want to visit Cal and Cliff, see some of planet Attil, I am long overdue a visit apparently. Kane also thinks he knows somebody who I might be interested in working with, I guess I will see how that goes." She shrugged before repeating "so ya, I don't really have a plan." Max then leaned over "oh by the way, while I remember.... that thing you ordered and had delivered to my place? It arrived the other day. I left it in your room, near the backpack you travel with all the times. I don't suppose you got a chance to look at it yet?" The way he looked at her there was a glimmer in his eyes, a pointed look. His use of 'times' in place of 'time' was deliberate, 'Max' had been on Attil with her in the past, it was his timeline that had won out. Not Fia's and certainly not Rinaa's.
 
Fia's time/2035

Kay chuckled and nodded her agreement at John's words, as she was about to say her agreement when Renee made her little cough to be included in the compliments. It was moments like this that just reminded Kay how far John and Renee had come when it came to the distrust and hatred for each other, glad that they could actually banter with each other and move forward. She didn't know if Fia coming into the world had anything to do with it or not but either way she was thankful that their family could be a lot more united than it was before Fia was in the world and even herself in John's life. "Renee, you and Ell are certainly a powerhouse in the kitchen, that's for sure. And I'm definitely thankful for the night off cooking" she smiled and chuckled lightly, doing what she always did and openly showed her appreciation for anything someone did, one thing that never changed with her. The whole environment felt so homely, more so than normal this evening to Kay with everyone here and getting along. Glancing round the room, she did notice Fia rubbing her temples as if she had a headache and wondered if her daughter really was alright, but she wasn't going to ruin the mood by bringing it up in this moment, instead she made a mental note to ask Fia later on when everyone was gone, or she would get either Elliott or John to talk to Fia as she knew Fia was a lot more open with them sometimes. Right now, she was too comfortable on the couch beside John, one hand on his thigh as she usually did and trying to ignore just how stuffed she truly felt.

Fia listened and nodded at 'Max' and his explanation of how long he'd be around. The idea of him being around for quite some time brought some kind of security to Fia in a strange manner as she felt like if he did help her on Attil, then maybe she wouldn't be so alone and when she did wipe her memories of her now old life, maybe she would be able to have someone with her to make sure she was safe. She smirked at the banter between him and Alexis before she turned to Fia and answered her question. She was about to make a quip about being glad she had two people around her age to hang out with for a little while when 'Max' leaned into her with a glint in his eyes that she recognised from when on Attil. She put full concentration on his wording and in that split second, she knew he was the one she met back in time. "ah great, thanks, and no I haven't yet but was going to later on when most people have gone" she replied, getting the hints that he was giving her. She gave him a look that conveyed her thanks as well as her thankfulness that he knew what she was going through and had made the preemptive move to help her adjust to this new timeline. "I might need your help with putting it together actually later if you're willing?" she then said, hoping it was casual enough to draw any suspicion from anyone overhearing, but enough of a clue that 'Max' would get it at the same time.

Not only did she want help to make sure nothing would go wrong with her memory wipe of her 'old' life, but she also wanted to know more about this timeline from 'Max' if she could so it would be so much easier to integrate into the life she was now living. She was also slightly terrified of doing it incase something did go wrong, especially as she didn't fully know what were the threats in this timeline and such.
 
The praise of his cooking brought a proud smile to Elliott's face, particularly Kay's use of 'powerhouse'. Elliott was proud of his cookery skills- almost as proud of them as he was of his artistic talents- and he could see that both had come on immensely thanks to the time he'd spent travelling and experiencing different cultures, sometimes on Earth, but mostly off world during the years he'd travelled with Jay and her brother. "It's a pleasure to cook for you all. It's a massive workload, don't get me wrong- I certainly couldn't make this volume of food every day- but for gatherings like these, everybody in one place" he gestured around the room "it's worth it."

If Alexis was confused about why Fia would be arranging to have parcels sent to 'Max's' place and not to the apartment Fia actually lived in, she didn't let it show. If anything she seemed disinterested by the entire thing, pulling out her phone and checking to see if she had any missed messages. 'Max' caught the look Fia gave him and gave her a tiny nod- little more than a dip of his chin- in confirmation. He was the one she'd met on Attil, the one who'd stolen The Sword and thrown it through the time portal to Rinaa's timeline. "That's fair" he replied with an easy grin that Fia would be quickly realising was his typical expression. The partial memories would emphasise this. 'Max' was laid back and easy going, having inherited his father Jack's personality. Jay was the harder, sterner sharper of the two, the one who acted cold and struck terror into people's hearts with a wordless glare, Jack was the silver-tongued charmer who used his looks to manipulate and wind people around his fingers.

"Sure I don't mind helping out." 'Max' continued. "I gotta admit, I'm really curious about what's in this package. You know how much of a wildcard she is." Another pointed look and hidden message. This was a package from beyond the grave. "I'm sleeping here tonight, just give me a shout whenever."
 
Fia's time/2035

Kay smiled as she listened to Elliott reply to her, as well as noticing how proud he was of what he achieved and how much her words to him clearly meant to him. She also always appreciated when others cooked and always had the mindset of give credit where credit was due. "couldn't agree more, it's so nice having everyone here together again. Fia really did have a good idea when she suggested this" she said back to him, before glancing over at the kids and smiling again as she saw 'Max' and Fia chatting whilst Alex is seemed to be pre occupied on her phone. Seeing Fia get closer and bonding more with 'Max' made her happy, knowing it would only do her the world of good to be interact with people more her age than constantly being around adults, even if Fia did enjoy the company and was used to being around adults the majority of the time.

Seeing 'Max' give her the knowing nod and big smile told her that she was right in assuming he was the very same 'Max' on Attil which brought another wave of relief to her mind. At his agreement to help her out later, she nodded at his words. "that I do, one reason why I'd like a second set of eyes on this project, knowing my luck she'll have incorporated some kind of prank on me or something" she replied, keeping up the whole casual wording for both their benefits. She was aware that her mother was every now and then looking over and if it looked like she was just casually bonding with 'Max' then the better it was for her in her eyes. "that's brilliant actually you're staying over for the night, I'll wait for most people to go, less interruptions that way and breaking our concentration and creative streak" she smiled.

Over the course of the evening the chats and conversations rarely stopped, Fia had at some point found room for dessert and devoured a good amount of it, proving once again when it came sweet food she really could have a bottomless pit of a stomach, no matter the timeline. As it got late, Sam said her goodbyes to everyone and was one of the first to leave to go back home, giving Kay a hug goodbye as she did and said to both Kay and John the schedule for Fia's lessons over the course of this next week and when she'll be over to teach Fia. When it got quieter, Fia excused herself from who was left to go to her room and check the supplies that 'Max' left in her room. Walking through the apartment, she went to her room and looked for what was left for her. It didn't take her long to find everything and checked to see if there was a note or instructions with it all.
 
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