theresalwayshope | 33) will i ever hear your voice again? the darkness is like an old friend...

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33) will i ever hear your voice again? the darkness is like an old friend...

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[When Allison returns to the Barge, she's happier than she's ever been. Paris was a perfect vacation, she's loaded down with new clothes, shoes, food, and souvenirs...and she's spent several days of her week in a luxurious borrowed bed with Isaac wrapped around her like a blanket.

She goes looking for her people, but they don't all show up right away. She waits to check on people as they seem to pop back in clusters, scans the network, and settles in to the task of unpacking, tending her animals...she has plenty to keep her busy.

As the hours wear on, however, she feels a growing sense of...something. She can't put her finger on it, but there's something that's just not right.

She sleeps on it. The trip was fun, but exhausting in a good way. Sliding into a new satin sleep shirt she got at a boutique in Paris, she curls up in bed with Brownie tucked against her back and Duchess curled against her chest.

It's the perfect end to a perfect trip.

In the morning, she walks the ship looking for the pack. Every scent she finds without a problem, every heartbeat, every voice...all but one.

She's not ready for what she finds when she reaches Isaac's cabin.

There's no announcement. No message on the network, no text to those that know and love him.

Mid morning, the only word that anyone gets about Isaac's departure is the soul-shattering howl of a werewolf in mourning.

She's a nonentity on the ship that day. For a while, at least, Allison stays huddled in the corner of Isaac's abandoned cabin, sobbing openly. Later, if no one's found her there, she will flee down to Zero, where she can be found tucked into the furthest corner of the farmost cell with the door standing open. She'll no longer be weeping openly, but as she stares at the nearest wall, tears continue to spill silently from her eyes as she tries to make the open wound in her chest start healing.

Duke is gone, and she's coped. Zane is gone, and she had Duchess to hold onto, to make that loss easier to bear.

Isaac, however, is gone...she can feel that he's gone, and she can't bear it because she let him in so much further than she had before she arrived on the Barge.

Forgetting life with him is so much harder. It hurts that much more to carve him out of herself...to believe in a world without his constant, comforting warmth until she gets her deal and she can go home.

She has to stitch that hole back up and eliminate everything he gave to her here...because it's the only way she's going to be able to keep going without him.]

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[Allison says nothing as they leave the cabin. It's hard, but she lets Cold propel her along. Without thinking, she sticks close to his side, cleaving to the animal comfort of another warm body within reach...the strength of his fingers, the steady thump of his heartbeat, and even the icy stillness he carries with him.

When they get to the pub door, Allison fumbles in her pocket with her free hand for her phone, which doubles as her warden item. Tapping it to the door, she finally, reluctantly releases Cold's hand to turn the knob and admit them both inside.]

The, uh...the last warden that ran the pub kept some good stuff around. [Her voice catches on the words as she thinks of Duke, her eyes welling anew as she quietly shuffles behind the bar, trying to move and act instead of thinking and feeling.]

What are you drinking?

[Strange to say, but it feels natural leading another around, even though he's coming to understand that he's the prisoner and she the warden. Cold's always been a take-charge kind of guy, and used to corralling emotional people back into place. If he can do it with greedy thieves and pyromaniacs, he can do it with her.

He's not thrilled about the hand-holding - the need for a sterner reputation worries him about others seeing and taking advantage - but he puts up with it, deciding the benefits outweigh the risks for now. At the opening of the pub door, he lets her go and moves inside]

Just beer; cold.

[He won't drink heavily while still trying to figure things out]

Nice place you've got here.

It's just part of the ship...but Duke used to run it.

[Her voice is still wet with tears, but as she focuses on moving...the act of moving to the fridge under the counter, pulling out a cold longneck, finding the bottle opener...the tears stand unshed in her eyes now, only occasionally spilling free to be furiously wiped away with the back of her hand.]

Duke Crocker, he, uhm...he used to be a warden here. He was gone before you got here. [Unable to find the bottle opener and swallowing an irrational surge of frustration that would only lead to more tears, she finally extends her claws, punctures the cap, and pops it off before she slides the bottle over to him.]

He used to run a bar and grill back home, though, so he took operating this place seriously. I took over for him to make sure it was...taken care of.

[For a second, she just stands there, then finally folds her arms along the edge of the bar and leans against it across from Cold.]

I--since he left, I--[She cuts herself off as she feels the promise of tears again.

Hurts. Alone.

Thread the needle. Stick to the plan. You need a plan.

Taking a deep breath as she lets her gaze drop for a moment, she waits until she's steady again before she regards Cold anew.]

Did you leave anyone behind at home?

[He sits himself at the bar in front of Allison, folding his arms and watching her struggle with opening the bottle. He looks a bit strange, wearing a full winter parka in the middle of May, but damned if he's taking it off. He sees the tears, but doesn't comment; Cold knows he wouldn't want some stranger commenting on his weaknesses, obvious though they might be.

He takes the offered beer with a nod, not commentating on the claw situation]

Thanks.

[He takes a sip, eyeing Allison over the bottom rim before setting it back down]

Don't explain it if you don't want to.

[For the first time, he's able to cooly evaluate his missing rogues. Mick and Lisa - were they all right? Did they get away in time?]

Couple of people. Hoping they might come around to break me out, but they've got their own problems.

[And he doesn't want to see his kid sister in any prison]

Still. Long as they stick together and they're smart, they'll do just fine.

[He hopes.]

The only way to get out is to graduate. [She doesn't say it with any sort of judgment, without the intent of discouraging him from doing something potentially harmful. It's fact, nothing more...she's in too much pain to let herself be too connected to feeling, and his advice is helping.

She's a warden. He's an inmate. Being harder, being colder...it's at least more comfortable, if not a solution.]

You're here because you died, Cold. In your world...graduation gives you a second chance. To go back home, like nothing ever happened, look after your people...if you want to get back to them safely, you need to work the system.

Funny. I don't remember dying. This isn't some line you just tell all the new guys in order to make them behave, is it?

[His eyebrows go up, a little playfully. Snart sips from his drink]

And I bet you want me to give up my evil ways. Stop robbing people, stop lying, stop all my criminal exploits all at once, go cold turkey.

[That actually earns a look from Allison, the first real emotion besides pain she's shown since he found her: she huffs and raises an eyebrow at him.]

I once helped my friends steal evidence in a federal homicide from an armored car, along with fifty thousand dollars that belonged to the yakuza. If robbery's your thing? Yeah, it's wrong, but I'm totally not judging.

...but lying? Yeah, less of that would probably be good. And if you hurt people...that's cold turkey, right there.

[He gives a slow tilt of his head at Allison, reevaluating her. Damn; girl's got some skill]

Sounds like a lot of fun to me. Wouldn't take you for the type, though, unless it was done out of protection for them. That's more your style, isn't it?

Can't hurt them much; no powers, no weapons. I'm as human as the next guy.

[Allison can't hold his gaze as he asks about the why of her crime, because he's right: she did it to protect Stiles. The evidence against her father was important, too, but without the Shugendo scroll, they never would have known how to kill the Nogitsune...and she understood that her father's freedom was secondary to that.

Not for Stiles, but for everyone.

And thinking about her friends, her pack...it stirs feelings that will only leave her on the floor and helpless again, so instead she considers his observation, rolling her eyes skyward for a second as she tips her head.

For the first time, she smiles. Just a little, but it's there.]

It was a little fun.

Anyway, human means nothing. A human with the right skills can be just as dangerous as any powered person. So...[She motions that she's watching him, but it's mild, with no real threat in it.

She's reasonably sure he's sharp enough to be dangerous, and he is an inmate. Still...she can't help it: she trusts him.]

[Cold gives a smile back, pleased to note that even good little warden girls liked to rob armored cars. Might be hope for this one yet.

And so much for downplaying his threat level - looks like just because he was human doesn't mean he's going to be overlooked.

He takes another sip of his beer]

You're right about that. But I don't believe in hurting people for no reason or benefit. Has to be a point to it all.

[And there it was: more likely than not, the thing that would set him on the path to graduation. For the moment, Allison lets it quietly slip by, but saves it for later.

She can't think about that right now: helping him, helping anyone, and immediately she feels guilty thinking of Tig.

Instead of commenting directly, she just manages a wan smile.]

Something tells me you'll find a shower in your cabin before you know it. [Her little smile grows as she ducks her head and shrugs.] Warden cabins have a private full bath, inmates have to use the communal showers. If you wake up one day with a full bath in your cabin? Means you've graduated.

[He's already opening his mouth by the time Allison mentions shower to question it, but closes it again with a nod, looking a little perplexed]

So no medal or certificate, then. I get a bathroom all to myself.

Lucky me.

[It's worlds away from a genuine laugh, but a soft huff and another quirk of a smile emerge without her permission as she shakes her head.]

Tip of the iceberg, Cold. You graduate, you can be a warden. The Admiral's someone who can give people literally anything they want. Bring people back from the dead, give you riches, even give you a brand new life. All you have to do is graduate an inmate the way someone will graduate you.

[In spite of her misery, she can't help but see the opportunity to drive home her point...so she does, holding his gaze.]

It's a simple plan: work the system, graduate, make a deal, get yourself an inmate...and start planning for their reform.

[At least she's not still crying. Cold has a rather dry sense of humor, but sometimes it does some good to diffuse a volatile situation

He gives a bit of a grin, something lighting up in his eyes.]

You're trying to tempt me into behaving myself.

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33) will i ever hear your voice again? the darkness is like an old friend...

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