Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

At the mention and clear dig at John about pretending to not know sign, Kay had to smile in amusement. She may not be fluent like John was, but she had picked up enough through Cliff and Cal on Attil to get a decent enough idea of what was being said via sign. She still recalled her promise to herself to make more of an effort to learn sign more as well as she knew it would be beneficial for her to know. Seeing Noah pause she knew he was realising something even if she couldn't 100% know what for certain, but she guessed it was something to do with John and him signing to the boy. Her suspicions of her guess only growing when she caught Noah asking if John had stopped being an asshole which not only made Singh snort in amusement, but also Kay. John also signing that he was an arsehole for life just amused Kay more, knowing that would no doubt be the truest word he'll ever speak in his lifetime. She then noted how John changed back to just talking normally and guessed it was because one of the rest of them in the room not being fluent enough in sign, though she couldn't say for certain which one he was thinking of.

With Singh's question, she let John explain how Cliff was sort of a daughter in law in a very round about manner, and that in all fairness to Cal and Cliff they didn't even know any of their group existed when they got engaged. She let the men talk about between the two of them about the wedding of Cal and Cliff and when she herself was brought into the conversation, she nodded in agreement. "I can back him up on that, we were actually invited and didn't just crash the wedding. We were fully prepared to not be involved, but we couldn't say no when we got invited and John even proved himself useful with the preparations, as did all of us who were there." She spoke up as Singh just shook his head in his hands. "I can also agree with John that even before we appeared into their lives, their jobs meant they were living a life far from white picket fences and calm and peace" she added. "but they're incredible people, pretty sure neither of us would have dealt with this-" lightly patting her fingertips on her stomach, "if it wasn't for Cliff" she commented in musing.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Noah's eyebrows rose in surprise at John's explanation and Kay's elaboration. It wasn't at all what he'd been expecting. Part of him, a bigger part than he'd care to admit (and the part of him that wanted both John's approval and affection) had been hoping he had been the reason John had learned to speak sign language. It stung to learn he wasn't the reason, that there was somebody else, somebody more important that John was willing to learn sign for. But the hurt was quickly overtaken by curiosity. A deaf doctor and a military badass? These women sounded awesome, like characters out of an action movie or something.

Singh dropped his hands as his own eyebrows raised surprise and almost admiration. These two did not sound like the usual sort of people John associated with. "They sound like quite the pair" "they're a bloody force to be reckoned with that's what they are." With his head clearing and mood improving, it was just starting to sink in for John the sheer level of power Cal and Cliff had displayed during the battle with the pack. He knew a driadic elemental bond became even more powerful when there was a romantic connection involved, but Cal and Cliff's was something else. They were brutally efficient and hadn't held back.

Nat meanwhile gave a sharp bark of a laugh. "Sorry" she said, not sounding particularly apologetic, I'm nae laughin' at them, these women sound fucking brilliant, I'm laughin' at the idea of John helpin' oot by doing flower arrangements at the weddin'." Singh chuckled and Noah smirked, while John gave a long roll of his eyes, not offended in the slightest, it was a good burn. "Oh ha, ha, ha... you're a bleedin' comedian Nat."

It was only when Kay stroked her belly that Noah realised she was pregnant and heavily so. His eyes darted back and forth between John and Kay, his thoughts clearly written all over his face. He didn't look entirely happy with the revelation and his sullen expression didn't change when John signed [that kid is mine, but the rest is..... complicated]. Noah crossed his arms over his chest and tipped his head so that the hood of his ratty red hoodie fell forwards over his head.

 

[MzHyde]

The reactions from Noah and Singh were to a certain extent what Kay was expecting. She had only known this new group of people very very briefly, but something told her from what Singh had previously mentioned about their connections to John, that neither thought of John as the sort of person to know people like Cal or Cliff, let alone be considered helpful. She nodded in agreement as John said that the wedded couple were a force to be reckoned with. They really were in so many ways but the way those two fought side by side in the final battle in particular was something Kay was certain she would never forget in her lifetime. "They really are, something that is definitely unforgettable" she agreed, whilst internally adding 'I've never known a bond like theirs. The way they fight in sync with each other? It's truly breathtaking and something I can only hope to be anywhere near that with John'.

Her thoughts were broken rapidly however when Nat started laughing which made her look at the woman with curiosity. She listened to the explanation of why Nat was laughing and it all suddenly fell into place, even bringing a small chuckle to her own lips. "Oh as if he'd go  that far. Nah, he stuck with the manly heavy lifting" she teased back, showing that she could happily rip into John just as much as Nat could, but without coming across as she was trying too hard to 'fit in'. It wouldn't have been the first time she made some kind remark at John's expense, and vice versa. It was because of the joking around, she hadn't even noticed that Noah hadn't taken note of the fact she was pregnant until he seemed to and dart his eyes between herself and John a few times. The look of unhappiness and sullen expression on his face was probably the first unhappy reaction she had witnessed to news of their child coming into the world. She watched as John signed to him the confirmation that it was his kid, but things weren't as simple as it could be.

Seeing Noah look down and his hood cover his face as he folded his arms across his chest made the earlier smile on Kay's lips fade. She didn't think the idea of John having a kid (or another one if one were to count Elliott as his first), would upset someone so much. "what's wrong Noah?" She asked, even though she was expecting him to not answer her in the slightest. She just didn't want to upset the kid the first she ever met him. If he was looking up she would have signed 'im sorry if I upset you'.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The abrupt way Noah shrugged away almost threw John off balance, there was a force behind it that he hadn't been expecting. The hood blocked most of the young man's face from John's view, obscuring his eyes- Noah's most expressive feature. But the tension in Noah's jaw betrayed the anger the young man was feeling. Something had clearly gotten under his skin, though John couldn't see for the life of him what it could be. The usual things that got Noah this riled up were racist attitudes, slander against his family and people being dismissive of him because he was mute. But as far as John could see, none of those things had occurred.

Noah ignored Kay's question, but his fingers cured into fists against his side, never a good sign, Noah was a hot-head and there had been times back in the old days when John had had to physically restrain Noah to stop him taking a swing at somebody who'd pissed him off. As loathe as John or Singh was to admit it, spending so much time with the gangs had made Noah into a bit of a thug and despite his scrawny frame, he could give quite a beating

"Noah, talk to me, what's going on in that head of yours." There was a note of almost pleading in John's voice. He'd come so close to losing Noah to a demon, he didn't want to lose him for some mundane human reason. Noah unclenched one hand and slowly raised it up, raising his middle finger skywards, a very clear message. John held up his hands in an 'okay I surrender' sort of gesture. Pushing wouldn't do any good. It hurt though- in a different to the way he'd been hurting over Elliott's death- to have Noah spurn him and turn away shortly after John had saved the boy's life.

Noah turned to Singh [I want to leave, get me out of here]. The detective gave a single nod in response and Noah practically jumped off the couch in his eagerness to leave. He hadn't quite recovered from the blow to the head and stumbled as he got to his feet, throwing out his arms to catch himself. John instinctively moved to try and catch Noah, to stop him from hurting himself but the young man moved away. he turned and regarded John with a critical gaze. With his back to the others, ensuring only John could see he signed something, then stalked out before John could give an answer, stopping only to grab the bloodstained bat, slamming the door behind him.

John stared at the door for a few seconds longer than necessary, an unmistakeable sadness in his eyes. He turned to Singh "keep an eye on him yeah?" The DI nodded, tiredly. "I always do". The two men shook hands and parted ways. Nat had by then got to her feet and limped over. She punched John in the shoulder, with a little too much force for it to be a chummy gesture. "Told ya so" she smirked before becoming serious again "Noah'll get over it give him time and space. A few steps down The House's front staircase she paused and called over shoulder "come 'round the pub sometime when ye've got yer head on straight, first round's on me" she called over her shoulder. "I own half the bleeding pub Nat!" John yelled at Nat's retreating figure as he leaned in the doorway watching them leave.

 

[MzHyde]

Seeing the way Noah completely pushed John away in a blink of an eye was almost like emotional whiplash. She never expected her and John saying the baby was his would have set someone off quite in the manner it obviously done to Noah. Because she didn't know Noah like John and Nat particularly did, she couldn't figure out why that news would have upset Noah so much either, yet it seemed looking at John's hurt and baffled facial expression not even John could fully figure it out. Not only that, but the reaction to her asking Noah if he was okay totally threw her off guard, and to a certain point did make her feel a little uneasy about her safety but trusted that the other adults in the room would know how to stop Noah if he did suddenly become violent for whatever reason proved to be the trigger. Instead of asking again what was wrong, she remained quiet and let John take charge of the situation, noting the pleading tone in his voice which she wasn't sure she ever heard from him before. Not to this extent at any rate, and she thought with that tone used anyone would open up to John, she certainly would, and had done when he asked to know what was going on. But Noah didn't, and Kay was convinced that that clenched fist would suddenly go straight into John's face as response, especially when the hand lifted but all he got was the kid's middle finger.

She knew by the look on John's face that gesture had to hurt him, especially after everything John and the other two did to save the kid. She watched as Noah shot up off the couch and walked away from John, albeit in a wobbly manner, still feeling utterly confused by what had just prevailed. Things were finally giving them a moment of lightness in these dark moments and now it was back to feeling doom and gloom. She watched on as Noah signed something for only John's eyes to read before storming out, the sound of the front door slamming making her ever so slightly flinch. Seeing the hurt in John's eyes upset Kay as she hated seeing him feeling this way, she just hoped this wouldn't be an extra thing he'd shut her out of, and on top of that she felt slightly guilty for possibly causing the mood swing in Noah, so all she did was follow the others toward the front door, giving a simple silent gesture of goodbye to Singh as Nat have John the punch to the arm.

The only time she sort of smirked after this whole dramatic exit was when Nat said about getting John a drink on her and John's reply. Walking up to his side, she watched the three of them retreat and sighed. "I'm sorry if any of that was partly my doing" she told John honestly. "How bad was what Noah signed to you?" She then asked after a few seconds of being quiet again, curious to what was said, but also not wanting to fully pry. Yet she knew it had to hit John hard judging by the look of sadness that came onto his face.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The House//somewhere in Scotland//present day
John was aware of Kay coming up beside him, but didn't turn to acknowledge her presence. His eyes remained focused on the three retreating figures carefully making their was across the construction site. With her injured foot Nat was the slowest, while Noah had streaked off ahead, a his red hoodie like a beacon amongst the browns and greys of the rubble. John made a non-committal noise when Kay apologised for whatever it was she might have done to annoy Noah and cause such a sudden shift in the boy's mood. John had been half-hoping that Kay might have seen something he didn't, that somehow in the space of barely twenty minutes she'd managed to get enough of a read on Noah to see what had upset him so much.

John gave a slow, sad sigh, but didn't immediately answer, his gaze still fixed on the retreating Noah. There was something in that gaze, not just worry, some other deep emotion Kay couldn't quite interpret. It was only when Noah rounded a half-finished building and vanished from view that looked away. With another sigh he shut The House's door and leaned against the wall. He didn't look at Kay when he spoke. "It's far from the worst thing I've had slung at me, but from him....." John trailed off and shrugged "I knew that he had quite the mouth- doesn't matter a toss that he's mute- but Hells... that's probably the angriest I've ever seen him at me." John shook his head "an' I made him revive my corpse once... CPR not magic." John ran a hand through his hair which was streaked with dust and blood. "He's got a good heart that kid, but a shitty lot in life".

---

Chas' house//present day
Chas shook his head in disbelief as the small hologram projection blinked out. He raked his eyes over the pages and printouts on the table. Renee and Trish were similarly stunned. It was one thing Cal and Cliff claiming Elliott was alive, it was another thing to see the proof of it. He swore, and shook his head again. "Bloody Hells... my God..... what...... how...". Cliff nodded slowly, then softly spoke "we didn't believe it at first either. We couldn't. Thought it was just some elaborate ruse, that the messages were fakes or some kind of sick joke. But when they kept arriving, when the photos came...,,." "We didn't just want to knows, we had to know for sure" Cal continued "even if it hurt like hell, it would give some closure". "With Zan unconscious and the only co-conspirator we know of dead.... We need to see Elliott's body and for that" "you need John." The women nodded in unison. "I doubt he's left The House so in theory I should be able to ring him or Kay. Whether they'll pick up is another matter entirely."

 

[MzHyde]

The house

After the days of them not even seeing each other, Kay wasn't in the least bit surprised that John didn't turn around initially to acknowledge her presence beside him. She could tell how much the kid meant to him from all of his many reactions to Noah's state and reactions to what was spoken about. She also wasn't surprised that his initial reply to her was a non committal noise rather than an actual response, which lead her to just letting him take his time in replying to her if he so wished to, and so when he did, she felt glad he wasn't shutting her out again. Letting him speak, she listened to his words carefully, finding it sad that whatever he said wasn't the worst thing he had flung at him verbally even if it wasn't entirely surprising to her either. She knew he had enemies and had no doubt crossed a lot of very angry people, but that didn't stop her seeing how much Noah's words cut deep for John. The only surprising thing she found in his words was how he made Noah revive his corpse by CPR and not magic. Yet she could easily believe that Noah was a good kid deep down, she saw that glimmer of it when he clung to John for safety initially, and when he panicked at his appearance, clearly scared that he seriously hurt or killed people.

"That I can believe. That he's a good kid deep down. I just....I can't help but feel his mood change was because of our kid? But if course, I don't know him like you do, so I can't see why he'd be angry over it" she said cautiously, making sure she got her guess out clearly but also wanting to make sure she picked her words carefully. "What did he say to you? But if you don't wanna tell me, that's okay too. I just...I just wanna be someone you can talk to, that's all" she then said to him. "I've missed you John..." She then said slightly quieter but still loud enough for him to hear as she looked down due to her admitting how these last few days have made her feel, without saying 'I'm terrified more and more each day because I'm convinced it's coming closer to the day of my labor' and she didn't even know that Cal and Cliff were on Earth and at Chas', that their lives were soon going to take a more positive turn. Especially after having in these days tried calling Chas for a voice to speak to, but only ever getting his voicemail each and every time.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The House//somewhere in Scotland//present day
John's response was another shrug. "Dunno, could be.... I guess" he didn't sound particularly convinced. Noah had grown up as an only child with a single mother, but unless that had given him some kind of grudge against babies who'd have both parents, John couldn't see why Kay's pregnancy would have caused such anger. There had to be a deeper issue. He considered it for a few moments before adding "though he was still coming round after a wallop to the head, so who knows what that shook lose. Might've remembered that I was the one who hit him round the head to knock him out." Although Kay tried to hide it, John saw the shock cross her face. He rolled his eyes slightly "it wasn't like what you're thinking. I would have wanted him unconscious for it anyway, exorcisms are painful as Hells for the person who the demon is being ripped out of- those bastards don't go down without a fight. The only reason I hit him was because the demon was making him talk." John shuddered at the memory. "Puppeteering and manipulation like that bloody pisses me off at the best of times, but cos it was Noah, it was worse. Kid's got a personal reason for not speaking, his own weird way of honouring his mother an' for that demon to use him like that. We all saw fucking red."

John had hoped by being deliberately vague about what Noah said, Kay would just drop it and move on. John couldn't see past the curiosity to the concern behind her question and so shook his head. "I'd rather not, it's nothing you need to be worrying about anyway. 'snot the first time one o' the kids in my life has been pissed off at me. I'll get over it, as will he."

John heard Kay's soft confession, but didn't respond, didn't know how to start responding. Being honest would mean saying he hadn't missed, had barely even thought about her and even less about the unborn Fia. The only person on his mind had been Elliott, poor dead Elliott. So when his phone suddenly rang, breaking the silence before it could get awkward, John let out an internal sigh of relief and pulled it from his pocket.

Chas' house//present day
"Chas?" John's voice came through, surprised but not slurred. The cabbie nearly dropped the phone and Renee's eyebrows jumped upwards. Neither had expected John to answer so quickly and sounding so sober. Hopefully a good sign. "Honestly wasn't expectin' you to answer first time mate." "Yeah well... there was a thing with Noah. Nat basically yelled the ear off of me and dragged me out of The House to help her and Singh track him down." "My God... is he alright?!" Another dead child was the last thing John needed on his conscience. Chas had only met Noah once, but it had been clear to him that John was very protective of the boy, more than he usually was with kids that happened to wander into his world of magic. "Could have been a lot worse, he's a bit shaken up, a bit bloody, no doubt is going to go through all the usual post-demonic possession mental mess, but he's in one piece." "Christ John. Are you with him now?" There was a long pause before John sighed "no..... he's pissed off with me and I don't for the life of me know why. Stormed out of The House in a right mood. He's with Nat and Singh though, they'll look after him" Chas didn't miss the edge in John's voice, it was obvious he wanted to be the one there looking after Noah.

"At least he's got somebody, but still poor kid." "Yeah................. so why exactly are you callin'? I'm guessing it's not just a check in to see I'm still alive." "Ah... well that's more complicated......... Kay there with you?" There was the sound of shuffling and a click as John put the phone on speaker. "How are you holding up Kay?"

 

[MzHyde]

John's shrug showed Kay he didn't quite believe her theory to be true but it was all she could think of to account for it. Unlike John, Kay thought that Noah only ever an only child with one parent was precisely a valid catalyst for his behaviour, considering to her, it seemed Noah did see John has some kind of parental figure and maybe there was a threat seen there, but she couldn't say for certain as she didn't know the kid like John did. So she just took John's word and left it at what he said. Though she did find herself being shocked when he gave his added information to back up his disagreement of her theory, and clearly that shock was visible on her face as John went on to explain that it wasn't for nefarious reasons that he knocked Noah out. The story of why he had to do such an action made her stomach do backflips out of uneasy mental images. The idea of being fully possessed like that, being used as a puppet to be incredibly spiteful, or using some poor sod to seriously fight their loved ones so not to let go of its host made Kay even more determined not to be caught by a damn demon. "Understandable you'd all see red for that. I may not know Noah like you three do but, that's just sick...even for demons. Makes it yet another reason why I don't wanna be caught by one again or the little one be caught by one" she told him truthfully.

John shaking his head and refusing to say what Noah said to him wasn't much of a shock to Kay. She somehow had a feeling he wouldn't discuss it and she knew deep down she never should have asked, but her curiousity and concern for what was said got the better of her. Yet she respected John's wishes despite that and just gave a nod to show she would drop the subject and not speak of it again before she gave her confession. Another thing she said she wasn't expecting John to react or respond to. In fact she was expecting him to remain silent on the subject, she never thought for a moment that in his grief he would have given a single moment to her or their unborn child. She knew just from the signs she saw around The House that his thoughts were on one person and one person only- Elliott. Hells, she wished she could have taken back her confession and never have said it in the first place. But truth be told, it wasn't just his company she had been missing, it was just hearing his voice, just seeing him around in eyesight, the little things. It's why she was appreciating and cherishing the here and now so greatly.

She snapped out of her thoughts when John's phone started ringing and let him answer it, sweeping some loose hair behind her ear to try and forget about what she said to him. 'good to know Chas is still very much alive and now able to talk to people' she couldn't help thinking as she could only hear John's side of the conversation, wondering how well Chas knew Noah. She wasn't expecting the call needing to involve her so when John put it on speaker, she snapped herself more into the situation mentally when Cliff's voice coming through the speaker surprised her greatly. "Cliff?! I-Im fine, think it's etching closer to due date, not gonna lie....but I'm okay, albeit sore back, feet and being kicked relentlessly. Enough about me, what are you doing with Chas? What's going on?" She replied, surprised to hear such a welcomed voice again.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The House//somewhere in Scotland and Chas' House//both present day
John almost dropped the phone in shock when he heard Cliff's voice come out of it. He stared uncomprehendingly at the device in his hands as Kay gave her answer. Cliff, out of habit gave a slow nod in response to Kay's complaints. Pregnancies weren't her area, but before the trial had started Cliff had grilled her colleagues who worked on the maternity wards for advice. She wanted all the knowledge and advice she could get. Upon learning that Chas had the entire book of Kay's line in his head she'd even tried questioning him in the hope she's ask a question specific enough to release some of the knowledge, but she'd had no luck. "Okay, that all sounds very normal, nothing to worry about. But since the due date is so up in the air, please do me a favour- if you feel or experience anything out of the ordinary, no matter how small, please let me know."

"It's not just Cliff, Cal's also here John." John's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Chas....." he asked cautiously "what planet are you on right now?" "Still on Earth mate, don't worry I haven't been abducted by aliens... yet." There were twin snorts in the background that John recognised as belonging to Renee and Trish. "Cal and Cliff.... well......they've found something." Chas' voice was soft. "You're probably not gonna believe it, I didn't at first, but the proof is solid John. It's fucking solid." "We came as fast as we could- Chas had the beacon, that's how we found him. Owain portalled us here and we banged on the door until Trish let us in." Cal added. "Okay cute story, but what the bleeding Hells did you find out?! Spit it out!" John asked, both mystified and annoyed by why everybody was skirting around it. "It's easier if you see if for yourself, trust me mate. You'll want to be sitting down for this."

A few seconds later The House materialised in Chas' garden, the door swinging itself open. Chas ran in followed by Cal and Cliff who was clutching a set of paper files and a flat disk-shape device. Both women looked exhausted. Cliff's hair was greasy and hung in clumps- she clearly hadn't washed it in a while. Cal smelled of ash and burnt fabric. The ends of her hoodie sleeves were blackened and singed. Their eyes on the other hand were glowing with life and in Cal's case, her emotional state preventing her from keeping her powers properly under control. Cliff looked John up and down, a look of disapproval passing over her face at his sorry state and the smell of alcohol wafting off him. Chas was more subtle in his judgements, but John knew him well enough to know he was experiencing the exact same thought process as the doctor.

"WELL? What is it?" John asked demanded impatiently. Cal, Cliff and Chas exchanged looks before the doctor took a deep breath and passed over a sheaf of pages to John. Each page contained a blown-up photo, time, date and location stamped. Every single date was after the battle on Attil. Most were candid shots and all showed Elliott, very much alive, doing seemingly mundane things. Drawing, running, walking, reading, sitting eating suspiciously eyeing up a person just out of frame. The only exception was the very last photo, it had no location only a date- before the battle- and showed, not one but two Elliotts standing side by side. One had a scar running over his left eye, the other did not. The implication was clear, one was a fake. "We're almost certain Elliott's alive and we know where he is."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay listened to Cliff's reply, still not fully comprehending that she was actually talking to the woman again finally. Hearing her put on her 'doctor voice' as she pleaded with Kay to let her know if something didn't feel right was to say the least, a welcomed thing. She didn't think she would ever be thankful for a doctor nagging her about things, but in this instance she was. It even brought a small but genuine smile to her face. "I will Cliff, I promise" she reassured her, hoping it would be enough to move the conversation along onto why Chas was even calling in the first place. Luckily, it seemed it was as Chas instantly moved the topic along by confirming that not only Cliff was there, but so was Cal. It didn't even occur to her that Chas couldn't be on Earth until John cautiously asked the man, but she figured if Chas had of left the planet, surely he would have left some kind of warning to both of them, especially John. So Chas confirming he was still very much on Earth in his own quirky way was of some relief and yet no surprise at the same time.

Chas then saying that the girls found something that they'd probably want to sit down to hear made her raise an eyebrow, especially as it took him skirting around the subject and John demanding it out of him to even say that much to them both. She felt The House move a bit before seeing it open its front door and where it had landed. It was only then she realised this was the first time she had even gotten a glimpse of Chas' home in any manner. It looked like such a typical family home, something she hadn't experienced in so long, but if any thoughts were to creep in of jealousy or sadness about it, they were instantly wiped out by Cal and Cliff rushing inside toward them both and Chas following on in behind. She watched as Cliff looked John up and down in disapproval at his state and smell, which made her cover her mouth as she smirked slightly, even though she was hardly in a tidy or clean state herself. She took note of Cal and Cliff's appearances when she knew she could stop smirking at them judging John so much. She saw how worn Cal's clothes looked, knowing she had easily been wearing it in the forge if the singed cuffs were anything to go by, but the alertness in their eyes told her whatever it was they needed to tell herself and John, it was huge news.

When the pages were eventually handed over to John, she stepped up closer to him so she could also look at what he was being handed. Seeing Elliott in the photos she couldn't believe her eyes, almost thinking these were just old ones but then she spotted dates and locations on them and it was then she realised they weren't old photos. They were new photos. Look of disbelief was written all over her face as she tried to compute what it was she was truly looking at. Seeing Elliott just walking around or drawing and such in the photos was a gut wrencher to her heart. Then the real hard hitting photo was handed over, the one with two Elliotts in it, making her take a closer look at it. "He's alive?! Where do you think he is?" She asked, shocked and wanting to grab onto this hope with both arms but was also afraid to incase the girls were wrong. "Can you be sure it's not this...this fake Elliott?" She then asked, tapping the last photo with the two in it. She noticed how one didn't have the scar, and the Elliott John buried very much did have the scar from what he could remember of Elliott's corpse.

 

[_gallifrog_]

At first John didn't understand the significance of what he was seeing. Seeing Elliott so gloriously alive sent a pang of loss and hurt through him. Why were Cal and Cliff showing him these, why were they yanking open a wound that was barely even closed? They couldn't be this cruel could they? It was then that John the dates. He blinked, then stared uncomprehendingly at the pages in his hands. They were new photos, they were taken after Elliott had been slain before their eyes on that battlefield. He let out a strangled noise, half-gasp, half-sob, then sunk onto the couch before his legs could give way as the implication slammed into him. Now seated he flicked through the photos, this time taking note of the times and dates. He stopped at the last one, the two Elliotts standing side by side. The one with the scar, their Elliott, his Elliott had an expression of deep on his face while the unscarred doppelganger had a grim expression. "What?.... How?.... How is this even possible?" he stuttered. He looked up at the two women. "Where did you even get these?"

"They were sent to me anonymously. The first one came about two days after you left. A photo and a message- everything you saw was a lie." Cliff passed over a second lot of pages, showing screenshots of a text message conversation. "I thought it was some kind of sick prank, tried to block the number but they kept coming through. Tried to tell the sender to fuck off, but the messages bounced back. Whoever was sending these was keeping the communication one way. Each time a different photo and a message saying that it had been a hoax and/or Elliott was alive. I couldn't deal with it, refused to look at the photos so..." "I looked into it behind Cal's back. Officially that number sending the messages? It doesn't exist. I checked with a lot of people. It's not registered to anybody or any corporation for that matter. Which was a flag, it didn't validate anything, didn't make those photos true, but it certainly made me pay more attention."

"And then this arrived." Cliff held up a sleek metal disk with a series of buttons on the top. "Remember the dead man's switch Zan had set up?" John nodded slowly, not sure where this was going. "Turns out that it did more than releasing his files and evidence of the corruption and treasonous conduct of the government. He also had this sent to me. We would have gotten it sooner, but there was a minor strike in Attil's post system and the package was delayed". She shook her head in disbelief "a fucking postal strike of all things stopped us from getting Dad's message sooner. We would have been saved a whole lot of grief if that strike just hadn't happened". Flames started to flicker around her hands as the anger welled up inside her. Cliff reached over and laid a hand on her wife's shoulder, squeezing it hard. The glow of Cal's eyes faded and the flames slowly died out. She nodded her thanks and Cliff gave a small smile in response before setting the disk on the table.

Cal pressed one of the buttons and the device whirred into life, beams activating and meshing together to form a holographic image of the head and shoulders of Zan. The hologram was made of blue light which only emphasised the dark shadows under his eyes. Even in this exhausted state he looked better than he had lying on the hospital bed strapped up to various machines. "Cal, daughter, if you're watching this then the failsafe was triggered and I'm dead. I can only hope that this messages arrives to you before the first of the month as that's the day selected to fake your brother's death. As you may or may not know a hit was put out on your brother, I'm not sure by who exactly, but somebody high up in government would be my guess. The killers won't stop until somebody succeeds. So your brother must die, or at least appear to die. The two other spook agents I was working with, they came up with a plan. It sounds crazy, and requires a lot of skill to pull off, and these two haven't gone wrong yet. Your brother deserves to live, needs to live. If there's a way to save him, I'm going to take it. And short of throwing myself in front of every weapon sent his way... I can see no other option."

"There exists a highly classified, artificially synthesised compound which rewrites a person's DNA, essentially turning them into somebody else. This compound will be used to turn an agent- a volunteer- into an exact genetic duplicate of your brother. At some time on the first this duplicate will be swapped out for your brother. The duplicate will find themselves caught up in some kind of battle or confrontation where they will be killed, brutally probably, but more important... publicly. That's the real genius of the plan. If the world know he's dead, if the world sees it happen, then the other assassins will see it too and stand down. Meanwhile the real Elliott will be smuggled away and off world to a safe house. Since you are watching this..... it means I was never able to tell you any of this in person as I was killed before I got the chance. Or that my associates, who I have still not actually met, decided not to tell you beforehand to ensure that the reactions and grief of you, your family and your brother's found family would be entirely genuine. I don't agree with them that that should be the way. You deserve to know, you all deserve to know, so regardless, this disk will make it to you, along with the exact location of the safe house and other information about it." Zan's face turned mournful and Cal pressed the stop button, cutting the hologram before he could say anything more. "The next bit isn't important" she said softly.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay sat down next to John, running her hand through her tied up hair as she tried to let everything she was witnessing sink in, before lowering her arm once more. It seemed so incomprehensible to her that Elliott could actually be alive, part of her still was thinking that it was the fake Elliott they were seeing in the photos of him doing mundane things, she didn't want to let herself to hope almost incase she ended up hurt all over again. Judging by John's reaction she guessed that that'd be his feeling over this as well once he could start truly acknowledging what he was being shown. She let John ask his versions of the questions she was asking before listening to Cliff and Cal explain how it all started with texts. The mere mention of the fact that every one of Cal's replies kept bouncing back and not sending to this mysterious sender wasn't all that shocking to Kay, but it was sure as hell mind baffling. Why would someone do that kind of thing, knowing it would no doubt frustrate Cal to no end, as well as hurt her all the more?

She continued to listen to the two women talk and explain, noting how the news of a postal strike was what delayed absolutely everything and made Cal so angry. This was something she could totally understand out of everything they were being told, anger at postal delays was the one thing so far she could actually wrap her head around. With Cal soon calmed by Cliff, she watched as they showed her and John the metal disk, watched as Cal pressed a button and an holographic Zan popped into their view and started explaining absolutely everything. How Elliott's death needed to be faked and how it was faked. It was so much to take in, especially hearing that whoever was the one that concocted the plan decided to not let them all in on the plan. Though she could deep down see why a genuine reaction to his death by them all would make sense, it also made her incredibly angry that they weren't trusted to be in on the plan. Yet unlike Cal, she somehow managed to let her own pyrotechnic abilities show themselves through her anger. Seeing how Zan seemed so mournful over them not knowing until now told Kay so much about the man. She couldn't believe still how this was the same man for years John absolutely hated, but grew to respect to a certain degree.

When Cal leaned over and turned it off before Zan could disclose where Elliott was, it made Kay blink a couple of rapid blinks then look up at the women and Chas. "So? Where is he? Where's Ell?" She asked again, knowing she had asked them this moments ago. "Please tell us you're going to get him and bring him home?" She added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John didn't know what to think when the Zan's holographic head materialised in front of him and after listening through he had even less of an idea. To say his feelings were conflicted was an understatement. The relief he felt at hearing that Elliott was alive, that it had all been one big, elaborate hoax.... he doubted there were words to describe it. But the fact it was Zan telling them this soured the moment a bit for Zan. He didn't know what to make of Elliott's birth father any more. It had all been so much easier when Zan had been a villain to hate and not a victim with a mess of a past and complex motivations. John found himself wincing at when Zan mentioned using himself as a living shield to keep Elliott safe, Zan had done just that, ensuring Elliott was still alive for this crazy plan to be enacted on him.

As Zan continued speaking, it was anger that took over him. The thought that these people who'd concocted the whole plan to save Elliott didn't want them- Elliott's actual family- knowing about it, were willing to mess with their hearts and mind and bring them to such horrific mental lows all so that their pain would look genuine to outsiders?It was just despicable and filled him with boiling rage. That logic- at least in his opinion- was pure shite. "Those bastards! Those bloody fucking bastards! Genuine pain my fucking arse, they just didn't want us involved in case we tried to stop them because of how crazy this fucking plan was!" Nobody responded, but it was clear by the look in Cal's eyes that she agreed with him.

Before anybody else could answer Kay's question, John jumped in, his tone filled with determination. "Of course we're gonna go get him back." Now that he knew Elliott was alive, there was no way he was going to waste another minute not actively trying to get to his son. "There's just one other thing......" Cal started awkwardly. "Oh don't tell me it's some shite like we can't get to the planet or it's orbitin' a black hole or it's toxic to humans or it's too bleeding far away." John snapped, suddenly angry. There couldn't shouldn't be a but to this, Elliott was alive, they knew exactly where he was, all they needed to do was get him. Cal and Cliff knew a guy who could open a portal to anywhere for fucks sake. Where was the bleedin' complication in that? Cliff held up a hand and cut him off. Her tone was soft but firm "it's not any of those things, we can get to Elliot pretty easily, we know EXACTLY where he is after all. It's Jay that's the issue." "Jay??" John scrunched his face in incomprehension. "She deserves in on this too mate. The thing is that none of us can find her, she cut all contact with us and with AJ's crew. The universe is a big place mate and she's a trained assassin, she could be anywhere in it and let's face it, we" he gestured at himself, Kay, Cal and Cliff "don't even know where to bloody start looking."

Understanding dawned on John's face as he beat Chas to the punchline "but I can." he smirked. Seeing the blank look on the womens' faces he explained. "It's a quirk of The House's magic, when you enter the building of your own free will, it's like you sign a contract with it and whoever owns it at the time. This means when the owner wants to, they can pull that person back into The House at their whim- so long as their not inside a magic ward of course. Hells I'm pretty sure The House can cut out the middleman and just summon people like that anyway. Long story short, I can find Jay"

 

[MzHyde]

John's anger was beyond justifiable in Kay's eyes. Hells, she herself was angry over not being in on the plan. She would like to think that if they had been told, even if they disagreed with the plan initially, they would have gone alone with it. She was sure that even if they knew it was fake, they would have been able to make their reactions believable enough to fool everyone who witnessed the brutal murder. It would have been hard enough to see anyone die in Elliott's place as no innocent soul should be killed in her opinion, but at least it would have saved all this pain and suffering that they all went through, that John and Cal went went through. Like the others she didn't say anything to John's outburst, just internally agreed with him like Cal clearly was judging by her facial expression.

It also didn't surprise her that John was the first one to reply to her question, she knew he'd instantly say they were grabbing him and bringing Elliott home, even if the question was more aimed at Cal and Cliff. No one expected John to say anything other than 'yes we're going after Elliott', Kay was no exception in that regard but she wasn't expecting Cal to say there was one other thing they haven't told the two of them yet. Her eyebrow rose as if to say 'now what?' wondering what possibly could be the catch to getting one of their own back from wherever they were. She went to open her mouth to say 'and what's that exactly?' but before she could even say the first word, John spouted off a load of scenarios to why they couldn't go after Elliott in quick succession. None of them seemed appealing in the slightest or things that meant she could also go along with them, let alone the rest of them going. She watched on as Cliff held up her hand to silence John and started to explain what the issue is but Cliff mentioning Jay just made her all the more confused. That was until Chas explained further why Cliff mentioned Jay, then showing that neither he, Cal, Cliff or herself would even know how to find someone like Jay. She remembered how Jay made it perfectly clear that day she left Attil before the rest of them, that she wasn't to be looked for and she was going off the grid.

Unlike John, she still was slightly confused by what Chas was trying to imply, so when John had a look of understanding on his face, Kay looked across at him and listened to him finally speak up, explaining how The House could find anyone whose willingly stepped into it at any stage. She knew The House was an incredible being all of its own accord, but she never realised it could also do such an act as summon someone into it. She didn't know whether to be unnerved by that information or feel somewhat relieved by it incase she was ever to go missing, not that she had any plans to. Luckily for her, even if she did feel unnerved, it didn't overpower the feeling of safety The House gave her. "Just gotta hope she doesn't go berserk by being ripped from where she is, to here with us." She commented as she could easily imagine Jay throwing one hell of a bitch fit before everything got explained to her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The House
John stood up and shook out his hands. He pressed his fingertips together and concentrated. Dark, almost purplish sparks flickered around them. The House let out a creaky groan and the lights dimmed briefly. When they turned back on, standing a few feet apart from the group, facing in the opposite direction was a figure dressed entirely in black stealth gear.

---

Jay
Jay looked at the trembling figure below her and a small, cruel smirk curled at the edge of her lips. She could see the panic in his eyes as he struggled against the ropes tying him to the chair. Lying on the floor, blood slowly seeping into the luxurious carpet were his bodyguards. Some had had their throats cut, one she'd stabbed through the heart with a shortsword and another she'd simply snapped their neck with a satisfying crunch. She was dressed head to toe in black stealth gear. Around her waist was a utility belt of burglary tools, including the scissors she'd used to cut the wires of the security system- it had been pitifully easy to disable- and the spiked pads she'd strapped onto her gloves and boots to help her climb up the sheer wall. Strapped to one leg was a selection of daggers, to the other, two handguns. The spare cartridges were in her utility belt. Attached to the back of her suit were two sword holsters and above them a backpack containing her other supplies. Her nose and lower face were covered by a mask. The only colour was her quiff of blue hair and the small splatters of bright red blood on her suit. It was a fearsome look.

Replacing the shortsword she pulled out a small, wickedly sharp blade and ran it underneath the man's chin, forcing him to look up and into her cold, dead eyes. "You" she said in a low hiss "are going to tell me everything you know on the hit put on Qui'Za'Lott and his father Zan'Pak'Lott." The man whimpered in fear as she pressed the knife into his neck, drawing forth a trickle of blood. "If you don't, I will draw it out of you one cut at a time and you will die in agony. Scream all you like, nobody will hear you.... I've taken care of the other guards"

It was then that Jay felt the pull, somebody, no something was reaching inside her and grabbing her. She gritted her teeth, trying to fight whatever it was. But the force yanked and suddenly she found herself somewhere entirely different.

---

Jay released very quickly what had happened and where it was. Elliott had let slip this particular detail of The House one night back on Attil. She gave a slight sigh, wiped the dagger clean on her sleeve and re-sheathed it. Slowly she turned to face the others and regarded them with a slow, cold, analytical gaze. Her eyes and forehead were the only parts of her head visible. "I thought I told you all not to come after me" her tone was hard, her voice giving no indication whether or not she was pleased to see them. Her eyes were equally hard, a dark lifeless grey in colour.

"Things have changed." Cal told her firmly. This was no time for beating about the bush, this version of Jay clearly didn't care for pleasantries. "We think Elliott's alive." Jay's facial expression didn't change, nor did her tone. "Can you prove it?" "Yes, we can." Cal replied firmly, indicating the pages and the holographic device on the table. Jay scrutinised the images and messages in silence. She lingered longer on the picture with the two Elliotts than any other photo, but her face gave none of her thoughts away. The only outwards reaction she gave was a slight raising of her eyebrow in after Zan's failsafe message but thatwas because Cal cut it off early, not because of surprise or shock at it's contents. "The rest is a personal message, for me, nothing to do with Elliott" Cal explained her tone defensive. Jay gave a curt nod and listened through it again before turning her attention to the other papers Cliff had brought with her, which consisted of research into the planet and facility where they were told Elliott was.

Jay reached her verdict. "There's only one course of action. We need to dig up the body."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay like the others, watched John as he stood up and shook his hands out to prepare for summoning Jay to The House. When he started the spell to do so, she looked around as the lights flickered and at the purple sparks that escaped John's hands before seeing the lights go from dim to bright again. It took her a few seconds to register that there was a figure back facing them in the room, but when it did register she knew from the stance, and shape that it was Jay. Stealth gear or not, she knew what John did worked and it would be Jay, the last member of their weird group to be reunited with them- with the exception of Elliott. She watched as Jay slowly turned to face them all and instead of some of normal-ish greeting that she was far from expecting out of the woman, they got the curt comment that she was most definitely expecting from Jay. The woman's tone and general demeanour told Kay that they clearly interrupted something she considered important but not if Kay was happy to see them or not, yet Kay assumed Jay was far from happy about seeing them.

She let Cal and Cliff take control of talking to Jay, knowing out of all of them it was those two who would get jay to listen to what they had to say to her, as well as the evidence to hand over. Even though Jay's tone was curt and abrupt, obviously just wanting Cal to get to the point, Kay was relieved to see her alive and seemingly well, at least, what could be considered well when it came to Jay. She remained silent as Jay got her chance to scrutinise the evidence of Elliott being alive, including the holographic message from Zan. The image of Zan not being any easier to watch even a second time. It was also of no surprise that Jay found it curious that Cal cut the last bit of the message from Zan off, knowing that Jay was the kind of person that wouldn't let that action just go without explanation, even just by a simple facial expression.

Waiting for Jay to finish going through the rest of the papers and evidence was almost excruciating. It made Kay slightly restless and impatient but she knew Jay had every right to take her time on studying the papers properly- just as they did. As Jay eventually started to speak, she naively thought Jay's sentence was going to be the same as rheirs- 'we have to go get Elliott' so when Jay said they have to go see who they buried, it brought a new fact into Kay's head. "That's a good point...if Ell is alive, then who did John bury? Who did we actually mourn?" She spoke up, realising she never once gave that a thought as she was far too focused on wanting Elliott back home with them all.

 

[_gallifrog_]

---

Fifteen minutes later John, Jay and Cal threw their shovels to one side. Between them they'd removed all the earth from the grave and flung it into a large pile to one side of the pit. The spot John had chosen to bury Elliott was scenic and also deserted. He'd had no intention of burying Elliott in the Constantine family plot where his mother and stillborn brother were buried and even less intention of burying Elliott in the separate plot where John had arranged for his father's remains to be buried. So instead he'd picked a spot in the wilds of the country, somewhere he'd never been before and thus had no negative associations with, far enough from civilisation that nobody would notice the disturbed soil and call the authorities.

Lying at the bottom of the grave, now beginning to decompose, was the body. Chas gagged at the smell of rot, bile rising in his throat, Cal and Cliff grimaced at the smell and John turned away from the grisly sight of the corpse. Even knowing it might not be Elliott lying there didn't allay the horror and disgust he felt upon seeing the decaying corpse of his adopted son. Jay was seemingly the only one unaffected by the grisly sight (though she had chosen to keep the mask on- as well as all her weapons- while she dug so it was hard to actually read her face). Jay pulled off her climbing gloves and swapped them out for surgical plastic gloves which she snapped on, then crouched down by the body.

The first thing that struck her was the leather jacket. She ran her hand over the front panel, then carefully pulled the jacket open to inspect the inside. "This isn't the jacket- there's no bullet hole and it doesn't feel like real leather either." She turned her attention to the brutal slash across the his face next. The sword blow had destroyed the eye and had cut right along the scarline, ripping the tissue apart (Jay knew exactly where it ran, she'd traced it tenderly during one of her more intimate moments alone with Elliott. She was going to have to look elsewhere for definitive proof that this wasn't Elliott

She unsheathed one of the knives on her leg, took a deep breath, then gripped the end of the blood stained t-shirt and cut it open to reveal the corpse's torso. There was a gasp from John above "those aren't Elliott's tattoos, those kanji characters are completely wrong" with the end of his shovel he indicated the four characters tattooed vertically under the left side of Elliott's ribcage. Chas crouched down, fighting back the vomit, forcing himself to get a better look. "I can't see the scar from when I stitched him up." "Neither can I" Jay replied, standing up. "Body's a fake. I say we burn it."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay had tagged along knowing she would be safe with all of them around, even though she figured it was alot less safe being outside on Earth than it was on Attil. She needed to see for herself that the body wasn't Elliott and not just be told it, yet by the time they got there and had finished digging the body up Kay found herself quickly covering her mouth and nose with her hand and turning her head away due to the smell of rotting flesh that was beginning to become apparent. It made her stomach churn and like Chas, she wanted to vomit but refused to incase they told her to go back inside The House. To try and not focus on the smell, she focused on the surroundings and how tranquil of a place it was that John chose for who he believed was Elliott. She let Jay take control of the examination of the body gladly, just letting her take her time before only half turning her head back when she heard Jay speak. The fact that they completely missed the fact it wasn't even Elliott's actual jacket, or more to the point, Zan's old jacket didn't surprise Kay. With everything that went down and through their group grief it was no wonder they'd miss such a detail such as the missing bullet hole or that it wasn't real leather.

She then felt herself wanting to retch from the smell, so she turned away once more to take a breather to calm her system before only turning back round again when she heard Jay and John speak, making Chas also to turn round and confirm there was no scar on the body that Elliott indeed had. Her eyes followed Jay's movement as the woman stood up and confirmed this was indeed a fake Elliott. "It's only right to burn it, give the person whoever took on Ell's appearance a decent send off." She agreed, now feeling like whoever this was under the fake appearance died a true hero to save Elliott. She just felt bad they didn't know exactly who it was. 'then we can go get and being our boy home' she thought to herself. "I would offer to do the burning but if I'm honest I don't know how in control my fire will be right now." She admitted to the group, remembering about a passage she read about how Phoenixes could have their abilities go erratic under certain circumstances, pregnancy being one of them. So she took that as advice to not use them unless very much necessary just to place safe.

It was bad enough for having vivid dreams of seeing other places she had never been to before only to blink and be back surrounded by The House again. Dreams so vivid she wasn't even 100% certain they were just dreams but possibly a new power wanting to bloom within her and scared her enough to want to tell John but couldn't due to them separating through their grief and now with the news of Elliott being very much alive.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The graveside//Earth
It took a few moments for everybody to regain their composure after Jay had delivered her verdict. Cal had let out a loud sign of relief before collapsing into Cliff's arms. "He's alive, he's alive, oh my gods he's alive" she'd murmured as Cliff rubbed her back gently. Chas had slumped against one of the nearby trees, wide eyes, hands shaking too much to take out his phone and make the call to tell Trish and Renee Elliott was alive. The only thing John could think to do at that moment (aside from curse up a storm at all the divine beings he could think of) was to offer Jay a hand up out of the grave, which she accepted. The grave pit was deep, John had devoted an entire morning into digging it, his son deserved better than some shoddy, shallow grave.

Now over the initial shock, Cal straightened up and wrung out her hands. She nodded understandingly at Kay's words, she knew better than anybody in the group that elemental powers, especially fire based ones were linked and controlled by emotion. She'd lost control of her own flames both times she'd been grieving Elliott. At least this time she'd had both Dan and Cliff to help her through it. "I can do it" she told Kay as she stepped forwards to the pit. Her eyes glowed and from her hands shot a beam of white hot fire. So hot and powerful was it that it sent the body ablaze in seconds. The smell of the burning corpse and fake leather wasn't a pleasant one Jay stood at the very edge and threw her nitrile gloves in on top of the inferno. Too softly for any of the other to hear over the crackling of the blaze, she murmured a few words- a sort of prayer, a wish for swift passage to the afterlife the traditional parting words of her people. She had no idea whose body it was, but they had died to keep Elliott safe, they deserved a proper send off.

By unspoken agreement the five stood over the body until the fire burned out and there were only ashes left behind in the pit. It was on the tip of John's tongue to say there was an element of the Viking send off to this, but he could sense this wasn't the time and joined the other in shovelling the dirt back into the pit.

---

Elliott's location
Elliott stared listlessly out of the window, eyes unfocused. He was uneasy and worried. It had been well over a week and still nobody had come for him. The first few days he put down to them being cautious, not wanting to draw any more attention to themselves, so he'd spent that time relaxing. But as the days passed by and there was no sign of anybody, doubt began to eat away at the back of his mind. What if something had happened? What if something had gone horribly, horribly wrong? He'd have no way o knowing his phone had been smashed and his companion's devices were all password protected. He had no way of contacting anybody, no way of seeing if they'd been trying to contact him that way. No way of checking the news. What if nobody was coming to get him?

The rap of knuckles on the edge of the table jolted Elliott out of his thoughts. Looking up he saw his rescuer leaning against the doorway, a smile on his handsome face. "They're here and they seem to have brought a whole house with them." Elliott leapt out of his seat and ran out the doorway. Right there in the centre of the square was The House. It was as dilapidated and haunted looking as ever, but to Elliott, it was the most beautiful sight in the world as there in the doorway was his family.

 

[MzHyde]

The gravesite

It was such a hopeful and reassuring sight to see Cal truly get the confirmation sink in in her mind that her brother was alive. She couldn't help but give a soft smile at the sight of Cal drooping into Cliff's side as she mumbled the truth. The firmer this news stuck in her own mind, the more hope she felt that things would actually be okay for their family for once. John gets his son back, Cal gets her brother back, Elliott gets to see his half sibling grow up. The future was starting to look just that little bit brighter for a while and she wanted to grab ahold of it firmly in her hands and never let it go as she studied all the expressions on everyone's faces before looking back at Cal and seeing she understood where she was coming from about her power. Kay also felt glad that it was the one other person who had pyrotenic abilities from within them organically like herself who understood where she was coming from, not only that she was pretty sure Cliff would have lectured her if she risked burning the body herself and possibly went too far with it.

She watched on as Cal stepped up and lot the body up with the hottest of flame she could physically muster, a flame so hot that even she herself felt the heat as well as trying to hold her breath as she tried desperately not to let the smell of burning flesh and leather seep into her nostrils. She watched on as Jay threw in her gloves then said a prayer for the person who died in Elliott's place so Elliott could live. Like John, there was something about it all that felt so raw, old fashion and significant despite never having witnessed such a 'funeral' or send off in person before- only on TV or film. Yet there was just something about it that felt familiar still, almost like feeling it was reliving an old life or memory of the old phoenix ways. But also like John, she said nothing and let the others shovel the dirt back over the now burned body....

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

Elliott's Location

This was it, finally. John and The House had gotten them to where Elliott was hiding out. In the time they travelled there she took the moment to get a face cloth and wash the paint off of her face and hands as she knew it wouldn't take long at all and she would be done by the time they arrived, which she very much was. For some reason to her, she refused to see Elliott again covered in paint and wanted to be somewhat presentable. It was an irrational thought in her mind but one she had nonetheless. She also found herself wondering what Elliott was doing in this very moment, what he was thinking. Then they reached the location and wasted no time in standing in the doorway to wait for Elliott.

Seeing him appear in front of them, staring at The House and them all, looking healthy, alive...it was a lot to take in as she couldn't stop the smile from appearing on her face yet again and happy tears well up in her eyes. "He's really here" she gasped joyously. "John go get your boy" she told him, forcing herself not to say 'our boy' even if she would have meant it as a group thing and not just him and herself.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John hated cliches and would deny it to his dying day, but at the sight of Elliott alive and running towards them, his heart all but burst into song that's how filled with joy he became. He barely heard Kay's words, nor Cal's gasp as he started to step forwards only for his path to be blocked by Jay's arm. "What the bleedin' Hells are you doing?" he asked as Jay drew one of her handguns and aimed it right at the approaching Elliott. Chas gasped in shock while Cliff just stared mutely. "Have you gone insane? It's him, it's Elliott for Christs' sake!" "Jay what are you doing? That's my brother! He's alive!" called yelled, moving forwards, intending to yank the gun from Jay's arms. The steel in Jay's eyes made her pause. "I want to be fucking sure about this" the assassin said calmly taking a step forwards. At the sight of Jay pointing a gun at his head Elliott had stopped dead a look of hurt confusion all over his face. "Jay! Don't shoot, it's me!" "Prove it" she demanded, clicking the safety off "tell us something only he would know."

Elliott panicked for a brief moment then nodded slowly. He could do this. Slowly he looked at each of them in turn. "Cal, when I was seven you accidentally burned off your eyebrows with your own pyrokinetic flame and had to go around wearing fake eyebrows until they grew back." A smile crept across Cal's face at the memory. "Our mother was furious" "yet Zan found the whole thing hilarious." Elliott continued. "Chas, the reason Trish doesn't like or even acknowledge her middle name is because I teased the Hells out of her for it when we were younger and took it too far, to the point she started crying." Cliff was next and trickier, he hadn't known her when he was a kid, he hadn't paid that much attention to her as a kid and they'd had very few one-on-one moments as adults. "Cliff, when we were on your home planet for the wedding I caught you snooping through one of my sketchbooks. You tried to deny it, but there were smudges of charcoal on your fingers from the pages I'd been experimenting on....... Kay that first proper day when I was around and John had fucked off and left you with me, telling me to teach you parkour I asked you a trick question about how I'd performed a certain move. It was a trick because you didn't know I was left handed and left-side dominant."

A deep breath, now it was time to face the two hardest people "John, a few weeks after my seventeenth birthday we both had a severe of food poisoning and spent far more time than I care to dwell on vomiting our guts out. We lied to Chas telling him it was you who cooked that day when actually it was me who cooked and I'd accidentally used the out of date meat." John smirked, then nodded. Until now nobody, not even his sister had known that truth, he and Elliott had vowed to keep it secret.Now for the hardest person, the one aiming a gun at his head. "Jay..... the first time you relented and came into a MindWalk, it barely lasted a minute. You only appeared as half a person, the half had been brutally chopped away and there was nothing inside the remaining half but a gaping void. You didn't speak to me for four days and it was another few months before you were willing to try again." Sensing Jay might need some further convincing, Elliott continued. "You also once walked the entire way back to AJ's place with a shard of glass embedded in your side from when somebody stabbed you. That was the day I found out not only that you had healing powers, but that they are incredibly temperamental and don't usually work properly without somebody who can amplify them."

Jay slowly lowered the gun, her hand shaking ever so slightly as she put back on the safety and slipped the gun back into her holster. She'd barely managed to get the words "it's him, he's real" out before everybody ran forwards, unable to restrain themselves any longer. Elliott was alive and real and theirs. In a matter of seconds Elliott found himself smothered in a giant group hug. Everybody was talking at once, tearfully effusing about how great it was to have him back, how they'd missed him and how much they loved him.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay was fully prepared to let John and Cal be ahead of them all when it came to going to Elliott and meeting him half way, yet when Jay firmly and abruptly stopped John dead in his tracks she became just as shocked as the rest of them. As far as she was concerned that was Elliott running toward them looking ecstatic to see his family again. So having Jay stop them from going to Elliott and then pull a gun out at Elliott was a real culture shock to Kay. She didn't see any point in also speaking her shock as John and Cal had it pretty covered in what they said, so instead she watched on nervously as it all unfolded and Jay demanded Elliott to tell them all something only they all knew with him. She listened to Elliott say a story from his and Cal's childhood, which to her would have been enough to convince her that this was really Elliott as she knew no one could know what happened during their childhood other than Cal and Elliott themselves. If Cal said the story happened, it happened in Kay's mind but he continued on and told something for each and every one of them, herself included. She listened to what he had to say about their first meeting, the memory making her smile as she got reminded of it vividly.

It was a day she couldn't forget because she knew he was purposely doing all he could to put her through her paces and to truly try and figure out if she was trustworthy or not. That memory made Kay all the more convinced and content that the Elliott standing in front of them all was the real deal. She listened to the memories told between him and John, the memory making her quietly chuckle and thinking that was not the least bit surprising for the two of them and no doubt, judging by the look on John's face, he would always remember that day just as fondly in a weird manner as Elliott clearly did. She then listened as Elliott worked extra hard to convince Jay, using the memories she had heard before before they were all happy Elliott was the real one and they all hurried over to him and hugged him tightly. Like the others, she happily expressed how glad she was to see him again and how much she missed and adored him. Elliott was a rock in their group, held them together more than he probably realised and Kay couldn't have been more happy to have him back where he belonged.....with them all.

"You're not go disappearing and near damn dying on us ever again Ell. Ever." She told him.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Being at the centre of the group hug, embraced on all sides by his family- biological and found- Elliott found himself almost overwhelmed by it. Everybody was talking at once, in English and in Attili and Elliott could only catch snatches of phrases 'good.. alive... my gods... thought you were dead.... bloody... see you... never.... come here....' He could feel the wetness of joyous tears but couldn't tell whose they were. They might even have been his own, he was just as choked up with emotion as everybody else was. The group hug eventually eased and Elliott found himself being passed from one set of arms to another for the individual hugs. Each of them pulled him into a tight, close embrace, needing to feel for themselves how truly alive Elliott was. And he was hugging them back just as tightly, to him it felt like a whole lifetime had passed since he'd last been with them.

Eventually everything calmed and everybody took a few steps back, allowing Elliott to properly look at them. He took in everything- Cal's burned cuffs, the circles around her and Cliff's eyes, the rumpled clothes and messy hair of Chas, the tiredeness and redness in Kay's eyes (as well as noticing with a shock how she looked even more heavily pregnant than the last time he'd seen her), the dirt on John's creased (clearly lived-in for a couple of days) clothes and the smell of alcohol and cigarettes that still lingered on him, Jay's new short haircut and outfit, as well as the splatters of blood on her clothing. "Bloody Hells kiddo." John started, only for Kay to beat him to the punch. A slight look of annoyance flickered across his face, he didn't want to sound like he was copying her- the person who'd arguably known him for the least amount of time out of all of them there-, what kind of message would that send to Elliott? "It's been a fucking shitty time for us and I never, ever want to bury a body that looks like yours ever again."

Elliott wanted to say it hadn't been his choice to leave them, that he hadn't known anything about the plan until after he'd been grabbed, that he would have told them everything if he'd had any possible was to do so, but knew that wasn't really what was being said. "I missed you all so much, it's.... I can't even begin to say what it's like to see you all again. It's been pretty awful just hanging around here waiting with nobody able to tell me anything about when you guys were coming or even if you were coming at all".

 

[MzHyde]

When Kay said what she did, she didn't mean to annoy John in the process of it. She didn't mean to take anything away from John, but she had found herself saying what she did before she even could think about what it was she was saying. It all just came blurting out of her mouth because she was thinking so many things all at once and was just so overjoyed that Elliott truly was back in their lives and more importantly, back in John's life. The earlier shock that had also come across Elliott's face by her advanced stage of pregnancy didn't go amiss either on her, which if she thought about it may have played some part in the blurting out of her demand for him to never leave them all again. Emotions were high with them all, and if she had properly noticed the annoyance on John's face, she would have given him a look of apology back. She let John speak, express his own facts of how things were for them all and how he never wanted to bury another body that looked like his, deciding to not butt into anything he was going to say this time round. She looked Elliott over as well as giving him her full attention when he replied to them both, feeling in her heart that he was telling the truth, that he wouldn't go out of his way to deceive them like that again, or even back then if he could have had the time to do things differently.

"If any of us had gotten any clue you were alive and here sooner than we did, we would have been here sooner. But that's an explanation for Cal to tell whenever you wanna hear it" she told him, knowing it was Cal and Cliff who first got the information and clues and how it was the Attilian postal service that put the delay on things, of all companies. "But why don't we all go back into The House and have that discussion in comfort? I think Ell, you deserve to be back in there and properly get to relax" she smiled as she gave her suggestion. She could only imagine how much Elliott would want to see familiar surroundings that The House would bring him, as well as some form of comfort emotionally for him to be back inside The House. She also imagined John would feel better about having his son back in a building that would actually keep him incredibly safe, there was also a slight bit of selfishness in her thinking as she hoped once they all got back into The House, brought Elliott home that John wouldn't be so distant anymore and she wouldn't be so lonely with so many people inside.