Keep focusing on your task and keep that man alive.
[ It's snapped, more intimidation than pure Dominate, but it has the desired effect. In turn, she swivels Jon around by the arm so he's looking at her instead. ]
Hey. Enough. He's almost done. Don't make him lose focus, okay? Just a little longer.
[ She sounds like she's telling Wuffles to calm down when Hawke's making dinner. The irony isn't lost on her that Jon is staring down his next meal. ]
I'm not doing anything. [It's a grouse, but Jon does keep his eyes turned away from the surgeon who seems to be working as slowly as humanly possible. Perhaps because he doesn't want to deal with what comes after. He looks up sharply after a few minutes, though, looking to the lift. There's another crackle of static on the tape recorder.]
[ She stares right back at Jon for a moment, like a mother might to a child that's insisting he's not touching his sibling because his hand is an inch away from them. But Jon does as she asks and she turns back to the other man, waiting, until Jon perks up again. Ava's eyes go to the lift.
Fuck.
Turning, she takes Jon by the arm and tugs him. ]
Go, get in the corner over there, behind the other curtain. Crouch down.
[ And to the other man, she goes and clamps her arm down on his shoulder until he turns to her, and she bores her gaze into him as if looking at him will kill him, and she hisses: ]
Don't tell him about us. We aren't here. And if you say anything, I'll rip your fucking throat out with my fingers. Got it?
[ He swallows, trembling a moment, and then turns his eyes to his work. Ava goes to join Jon if he's gone to hide. If he hasn't, he's getting dragged. ]
[Jon does as he's told. Though he finds a place to crouch so that he can peer through a gap in the curtain hopefully without being seen. He wants to watch Ava and their surgeon. When he hears her threaten him, thought, there's a part of the Archivist that's... well, when she's directing it at other people, seeing Ava do that makes his heart beat a little faster with something other than fear. Maybe the danger of it is what's attractive? That's probably it.
Ava comes over and manages to get to her cover just as the doors ding and a portly looking melanistic man strolls out.
"Hey, Aamir. You got the goods, man?" He sounds far too jovial.
"Yeah. Um... I'm finished." Aamir grabs a cooler and plasters a smile onto his face as he offers it over. "Everything went smoothly. You should send Wes and Jules down here to take Mr. Fischer back upstairs. Soon. Really soon."
Tom huffs. "I'll let 'em know. Might be 20, though. Mrs. Kelso's acting up again."
Aamir's all but sweating as he nods. "Okay. See you on break."
And just like that Tom heads back over to the lift. As soon as the doors close, Jon is up and breaking from cover is Ava doesn't stop him. His eyes are fixed on Aamir. He does, at least, check with her.]
[ Might be twenty. Might be less. She's going to budget five to ten minutes at most, because they'll need to get into the lift before they come down...or they'll need time to hide again. When Tom leaves, Ava steps out, eyeing Aamir carefully. The smell of blood is still prevalent, still strong.
Slowly, she turns back to Jon.
Aamir looks between them. "Please, I don't know what you want but I can't--"
Ava's attention swivels, predatory, back to Aamir. ]
Tell him exactly what he wants to know. Then you'll go home and everything will be fine.
[ Or so she says.
She glances towards Jon and sighs. ]
Yeah, go for it. Make it quick. Five, maybe ten minutes.
[There's no mistaking the hunger in the Archivist's gaze for what it is. He's not thinking about consequences right now, just the knowledge, just being able to sort out if this is the Flesh at work and if they can stop it. Save people like Mr. Fischer from trading more and more of themselves away. There's a louder crackle of static over the recorder.]
What is this place and how did you get- [Oh, no. No. He needs this. This is important. Jon can feel his stomach turning, can taste the iron building at the back of his throat. He needs to get it out quickly.] How did you get involved with it?
[He then proceeds to vomit fresh blood all over the floor in front of him as he doubles over in pain.]
[ Aamir looks shaken, terribly, horribly frightened as Jon approaches. Even Ava's assurances only extend to her; despite knowing he has to answer to the Archivist, he looks petrified at the idea. And just as Jon asks him--
Well, suddenly, Jon is throwing up. And it's blood. Ava stumbles back a step as if she's been struck in the face, staring at Jon, bewildered and terrified for him. ]
Jon?! Jon, what's-- Oh, fuck.
[ What's happening to him? Is he hurt? What's--
Oh. That's blood. Fresh blood. It fills her senses and the hunger that has been clawing at her stomach since the restaurant starts to tear itself through her, and all she can think about is blood. Vitae. Food. Satiation from the howling Beast that claws up her throat. It howls and she is suddenly so still, so very still, staring at Jon for too long a moment. ]
[ The world narrows in scope. There is blood. There is food. There are three heartbeats in the room.
Jon is covered in fresh blood, his mouth stained and tainted with it. Aamir's gloved hands are covered with it. Her thoughts are a haze of wanting, of a desire to hunt or feed, and there is nothing here except for prey. She is the predator; she is the monster; she is the killer.
Softly, growing in volume, Ava snarls. Aamir begins to shake, even if he doesn't move, and he is compelled to answer the Archivist. He is compelled to give his story, even warbled and terrified as he watches the woman in front of him swivel her head to his direction, her pupils blown wide, her stare unblinking.
"I-I took this job because I needed the money. Came here about a year ago. They... I wanted to be a surgeon but there were no positions. I have a license; I have my degree. I wanted to do the work. So they have me down here...c-cutting up the people who come to pay their debts." His legs are trembling. "I'm very good at it. I sew them up. Tom does the paperwork, makes them sign on the dotted line, like some kind of devil or demon.
"Me, I just... I'm just the butcher. But I'm the best here. Who else could do what I do, with minimal equipment? The restaurant pays us good money for the meat. For the pieces. But we also give some of them to the patients upstairs. Organ donors. It's all fresh."
Ava's breath comes in a faint rattle, like death itself.
"Oh God, oh-- Oh fuck, what is she? Is she... Look, I just-- Please, let me go. Please!!"
He would be delicious. He has a degree and blood on his hands and no one would miss him, would they? No one would miss him at all.
But the Archivist-- Her gaze falls on Jon once more, a slow breath drawn in, the smell of blood fresh and sweet to her senses. The Archivist knows more. Sees more. Has so much more to give. She could bite him and he wouldn't die, and maybe then she'd finally Know too. Maybe she'd Know about the Beholding. He's right there. He's right there, and so close.
Ava steps forward, reaches out, and takes Jon by the shoulder. ]
[ Ava's grip on Jon's arm is like a vise. Her growl is a rattle close to his ear as she leans in close, her eyes drawn to the smear of viscera on his lips. She looks deeply into his eyes until she can see the sharpened focus of fear. Quietly, she rumbles: ]
Get. Away. From. Me.
[ And with that grip, she shoves Jon towards the lift as she rounds on the surgeon himself, who looks like he might die of terror just by looking at her. With a smooth movement, with the grace of an acrobat or a dancer, Ava leaps upon the man backs him into the wall. She clings to him like a spider and sinks her teeth into his throat. He barely has time to shout before he's lost to the intensity and bliss of her bite, and the scream becomes a curdled, whimpered moan as he sinks down onto the floor with her still attached. ]
[It hadn't occurred to him until the moment when he's coughing, spitting, trying to wipe trails of blood from his mouth that he has a vampire with him. It's made abundantly clear just how much of a problem that is when he looks up and sees Ava staring at him... and then at Aamir.
Jon can't help his own gaze sharpening on the man as he gives his Statement. Pitiful though it might be, it's a lead to this Tom. Perhaps something of the Web is actually at work? The Web aiding the Flesh?
He doesn't get too long to ponder on it by the end, though, because Ava is gripping him hard enough that Jon can't help a sound of pain. And she's growling, and leaning in, and his mind flashes to that day with Daisy, with Mike Crew carelessly murdered beside him, a dull knife pressed to his own throat. Ava's teeth won't be dull, though.
His pulse thrums a rabbit's pace as he stares silently, terror gripping him. And then she's bodily shoving him halfway across the morgue to the lift. Jon staggers with the force and whips around as Aamir starts to scream. She'd told him to leave, but he can't. He can't leave when he has to bear witness to this. His throat is tight. But that man's is tighter. He's going to die.
Aamir is going to die tonight and maybe that would be right, but-]
Ava, stop! [Jon shouts it. Then, because he doesn't have any better 'weapon' to use against the vampire... he tries to compel her.] What are you doing, Ava? Answer me. Right now, right here, what are you doing?
[ The blood is sweet and good on her tongue, warm as it slides down her throat. She's monitoring his heart rate even as the Beast howls in triumph deep within her chest. Ava's control is only just, a thread that's plucked over and over and close to snapping if she doesn't get what she wants. This abates that need just a little but she's well aware that she'll need more. Jon will go and she'll find her way back up, and everything will--
She hears her name only distantly until Jon compels her, and then she's wincing, whimpering into Aamir's neck, pulling her mouth away to gasp painfully, the sound wet with blood that drips from her mouth.
Whipping her head around, she sees Jon there, and her gaze is dark and predatory. She is being denied her meal and he's hurting her. ]
I'm eating, Jonathan Sims, and I told you to get away from me.
[ Those last words are not only thrumming tightly with Dominate but also being shouted into his head, trying to get him to actually go while her meal is fresh, while she can glut herself on this man, or she's going to turn on him. ]
Guh! [He's forced to take a step back toward the lift, and he almost raises a hand to call for it when he stops himself. He's now sporting a splitting headache of his own.]
Promise me you won't kill him. Are you going to kill him?
[Without Ava's fangs in his neck, there's a bit of a lag for Aamir, but he does start to stir. "What's going... on?" Speech slurred. "Hey... you?" He's trying to sound solicitous, clearly still high on whatever toxin is in the vampire's bite.]
[ That hurts even worse, and Ava almost loses focus on her task. The Beast is screaming and she feels as if she's going to unravel at any moment into a bloodlust she won't be able to stop. Her fingers dig into Aamir's shoulders and she shoves him down again, hissing. He doesn't stir much, doesn't even seem bothered, too lulled by the Kiss. There's a searing pain in her head. ]
No! No, fuck, no, I'm not!
[ What is she doing? What is she doing? It hurts to think, everything hurts, she just wants Jon to go away so she can eat but this... This isn't right.
Ava tries to rouse herself, tries to hold off the Beast, and Jon will have a good look at her simply looming over Aamir as she struggles with the desire to feed, the want to tear into him, and some other raw panic that's trying to force her to let him go. Her shoulders are shuddering and she bends down to lick the wound closed, her hand going over the man's mouth. Her gaze is on his own. ]
You won't remember this. None of it. You were here doing your job and no one else was here.
[ Aamir goes rigid, eyes wide, staring at her...and all fight slips away as she works her magic and her power into him, the hunger still terrible in her stomach. Do this right, get out of here, get away from Jon--
Don't kill. Don't kill. Don't.
Like a heartbeat, over and over, even as her body rebels and she starts to tremble. Just...hold out. Hold on. ]
[This is such a mess. They still need to talk to Tom, but now he's covered in blood and she's apparently desperate for it and- And this is a hospital. There must be blood bags somewhere, right? Or...?
Jon hastily jabs the button for the lift and it's almost a minute of tense silence before it dings.]
Come on, Ava. Come on. He needs time to set back up or people might get suspicious when they get here.
[ For a terrible, tense several moments, it looks like she hasn't heard him, or she's too paralyzed with indecision to move. But at last, she forces herself to her feet and stumbles to the lift, brushing past Jon so she can get herself into the furthest corner and far away from him, practically facing the wall like an animal that knows it's done wrong.
The hunger is still eating away at her. She puts her face in her hands, tries to cover her nose, and doesn't look at him. If she doesn't look, if she doesn't smell it--
But she knows it's there. Jon's covered in blood and she's so hungry. ]
[But Tom! If she could hold out just a little longer. Just a little bit longer. But this is his fault, and looking at her, looking at the way she's shoving herself into the corner and not looking at him, Jon knows better than to press. He'll come back later.
Unless...]
Would it help? My blood. Could you...?
[He's pressing the button for the lobby as he asks and staying well away, but if they can stay and get answers, that's what he so desperately wants.]
[ Jon will just be terrified of her forever at that point. She's already put a fucking scar on his back. She can't bite him too. She'll just... Maybe she can find a blood bag. Maybe she can just hold off while he does whatever he's going to do--
But she's so hungry. ]
I... I can't. You'll... You'll just get tired. It won't-- [ It'll wear him out and they only have a few hours, and she can't make this worse on him. Ava takes a slow breath, trying to quiet her panic. ] I'll... I'll be fine. I can do this. I had...some.
[ She's going to need more. They both know it. She just hopes she'll last long enough for him to do whatever he's going to do. ]
[It's almost painful, but Jon thinks about what Hawke or Martin would say was appropriate. And him wandering about with blood all over him and Ava craving blood... isn't. It dings at the lobby and there are a pair of men with a gurney waiting. The one on the left stares at Jon for a long moment.
"What the hell? Are you okay?"]
Y-yes, I'm fine. I-hemophiliac. I'm a hemophiliac.
[The man looks to his companion in confusion, then to Ava.
"Did you... come up?"]
No! No, we came down. We're leaving. [The men eye them with deep suspicion as Jon tries to grab Ava's arm and drag her out of the lift with him, around the hospital. One of them, a large albino, tries to grab Jon or Ava if he slips by.
"Not when you're bleeding like that. We can get you admitted."]
[ Slowly, she turns around when the door starts to open, and is stricken to see there are others. They're pulling a gurney. They're likely heading down. They're going to see. They'll know.
It's too easy to move her only because it's Jon, and Ava's gone full flight-or-fight at this point to do anything but follow him. It's a little like back when they first met, the barely-concealed terror that she's done something wrong and is going to be caught.
One of them reaches for her and it's a mistake. She turns, whips around, grips the man's arm before he can touch her. Ava's gaze bores into his own. ]
We don't need your help.
[ "Miss, your friend is bleeding, we just want to be sure--"
The recorder hisses with static. Ava's voice drops low and soft and deadly as she stares at both men. ]
Leave us alone. There's nothing wrong here.
[ Both of them seem to snap to attention and she lets him go, allowing them to enter into the lift past them, close the door, and head down. Ava watches them go, then turns back to Jon. ]
...They're going to find out. We need to go. Or you need to find your man.
[Jon can feel the Eye's pull, the gut instinct that tells him to go further into the hospital, over to the break room, to find Tom. But looking at Ava, at the terror glazing her eyes.]
We'll come back.
[Once more it's difficult. It's insanely difficult to turn away to hurry to the front and out the door. Jon is breathing heavily, fighting down fear and his own hunger. He has to focus on actually heading them toward the doors to Duplicity, as well. Thankfully, with how they look, no one accosts them on the journey back.]
Go find blood once we're back. I'll... contact you later.
[ With that, Ava lapses into silence, letting Jon essentially lead her back without kicking up any kind of fuss. She doesn't look at anyone, doesn't even look at him, and doesn't breathe, all on purpose. Because if she looks at someone, she isn't going to see them as a person; she's going to see them as food, and she is going to want to drink.
Jon manages to get them back to Duplicity's doors, past the checkpoint, and back into the city. The numbers on their wrists disappear. They get through the final set of doors and back into Duplicity, and Jon can likely feel the tremor in her.
She slips her arm out of his grip, pulling away at last. ]
I'm sorry.
[ That's all she feels she ever has to say, these days. ]
Contact me later.
[ And she immediately starts walking in the opposite direction, knowing if she stays, she'll hurt him, and she doesn't want to do that again. ]
[It's not until the next night that Jon contacts her.]
I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you last night. I went back on my own today. Tom Gillen has some sort of power to persuade people. It's not entirely natural. He said he's always been good at it, manipulation. But there was a course at the university he took on negotiation that changed everything. There was a professor who captured his attention, pulled him in, became his mentor. Eleanor Beals. I've already checked and she's no longer on staff there. She may be aligned with the Web. Something to be aware of if you go there again.
[ It takes a bit for her to respond but, eventually, she does. ]
It's not your fault. I should have had better control.
[ Which she's still muddling through but at least no one was hurt besides Aamir. She found a few more people that night who were willing to let her bite them, and no one died. It's hard to think of that as the best outcome, but... ]
She might also be dead. We don't know. I can do follow up on her and see what I find. Do you want me to deal with Tom?
[Is this what Elias had Daisy doing? A pet attack dog for the Institute to deal with any problems that can't just be left alone and observed? It makes his skin crawl.]
I want you to do whatever you think is best with the information you have, Ava. I'm not going to ask or order you to deal with someone.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2019-09-14 09:46 pm (UTC)[ It's snapped, more intimidation than pure Dominate, but it has the desired effect. In turn, she swivels Jon around by the arm so he's looking at her instead. ]
Hey. Enough. He's almost done. Don't make him lose focus, okay? Just a little longer.
[ She sounds like she's telling Wuffles to calm down when Hawke's making dinner. The irony isn't lost on her that Jon is staring down his next meal. ]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-14 10:07 pm (UTC)Tom's coming for the lung.
["Thank fuck," the surgeon mutters.]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-14 10:13 pm (UTC)Fuck.
Turning, she takes Jon by the arm and tugs him. ]
Go, get in the corner over there, behind the other curtain. Crouch down.
[ And to the other man, she goes and clamps her arm down on his shoulder until he turns to her, and she bores her gaze into him as if looking at him will kill him, and she hisses: ]
Don't tell him about us. We aren't here. And if you say anything, I'll rip your fucking throat out with my fingers. Got it?
[ He swallows, trembling a moment, and then turns his eyes to his work. Ava goes to join Jon if he's gone to hide. If he hasn't, he's getting dragged. ]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-14 10:46 pm (UTC)Ava comes over and manages to get to her cover just as the doors ding and a portly looking melanistic man strolls out.
"Hey, Aamir. You got the goods, man?" He sounds far too jovial.
"Yeah. Um... I'm finished." Aamir grabs a cooler and plasters a smile onto his face as he offers it over. "Everything went smoothly. You should send Wes and Jules down here to take Mr. Fischer back upstairs. Soon. Really soon."
Tom huffs. "I'll let 'em know. Might be 20, though. Mrs. Kelso's acting up again."
Aamir's all but sweating as he nods. "Okay. See you on break."
And just like that Tom heads back over to the lift. As soon as the doors close, Jon is up and breaking from cover is Ava doesn't stop him. His eyes are fixed on Aamir. He does, at least, check with her.]
Can I ask him now?
no subject
Date: 2019-09-15 02:33 am (UTC)Slowly, she turns back to Jon.
Aamir looks between them. "Please, I don't know what you want but I can't--"
Ava's attention swivels, predatory, back to Aamir. ]
Tell him exactly what he wants to know. Then you'll go home and everything will be fine.
[ Or so she says.
She glances towards Jon and sighs. ]
Yeah, go for it. Make it quick. Five, maybe ten minutes.
cw: vomiting blood
Date: 2019-09-15 03:00 am (UTC)What is this place and how did you get- [Oh, no. No. He needs this. This is important. Jon can feel his stomach turning, can taste the iron building at the back of his throat. He needs to get it out quickly.] How did you get involved with it?
[He then proceeds to vomit fresh blood all over the floor in front of him as he doubles over in pain.]
1/2
Date: 2019-09-15 03:29 am (UTC)Well, suddenly, Jon is throwing up. And it's blood. Ava stumbles back a step as if she's been struck in the face, staring at Jon, bewildered and terrified for him. ]
Jon?! Jon, what's-- Oh, fuck.
[ What's happening to him? Is he hurt? What's--
Oh. That's blood. Fresh blood. It fills her senses and the hunger that has been clawing at her stomach since the restaurant starts to tear itself through her, and all she can think about is blood. Vitae. Food. Satiation from the howling Beast that claws up her throat. It howls and she is suddenly so still, so very still, staring at Jon for too long a moment. ]
2/3 i lied
Date: 2019-09-15 03:48 am (UTC)Jon is covered in fresh blood, his mouth stained and tainted with it. Aamir's gloved hands are covered with it. Her thoughts are a haze of wanting, of a desire to hunt or feed, and there is nothing here except for prey. She is the predator; she is the monster; she is the killer.
Softly, growing in volume, Ava snarls. Aamir begins to shake, even if he doesn't move, and he is compelled to answer the Archivist. He is compelled to give his story, even warbled and terrified as he watches the woman in front of him swivel her head to his direction, her pupils blown wide, her stare unblinking.
"I-I took this job because I needed the money. Came here about a year ago. They... I wanted to be a surgeon but there were no positions. I have a license; I have my degree. I wanted to do the work. So they have me down here...c-cutting up the people who come to pay their debts." His legs are trembling. "I'm very good at it. I sew them up. Tom does the paperwork, makes them sign on the dotted line, like some kind of devil or demon.
"Me, I just... I'm just the butcher. But I'm the best here. Who else could do what I do, with minimal equipment? The restaurant pays us good money for the meat. For the pieces. But we also give some of them to the patients upstairs. Organ donors. It's all fresh."
Ava's breath comes in a faint rattle, like death itself.
"Oh God, oh-- Oh fuck, what is she? Is she... Look, I just-- Please, let me go. Please!!"
He would be delicious. He has a degree and blood on his hands and no one would miss him, would they? No one would miss him at all.
But the Archivist-- Her gaze falls on Jon once more, a slow breath drawn in, the smell of blood fresh and sweet to her senses. The Archivist knows more. Sees more. Has so much more to give. She could bite him and he wouldn't die, and maybe then she'd finally Know too. Maybe she'd Know about the Beholding. He's right there. He's right there, and so close.
Ava steps forward, reaches out, and takes Jon by the shoulder. ]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-15 03:55 am (UTC)Get. Away. From. Me.
[ And with that grip, she shoves Jon towards the lift as she rounds on the surgeon himself, who looks like he might die of terror just by looking at her. With a smooth movement, with the grace of an acrobat or a dancer, Ava leaps upon the man backs him into the wall. She clings to him like a spider and sinks her teeth into his throat. He barely has time to shout before he's lost to the intensity and bliss of her bite, and the scream becomes a curdled, whimpered moan as he sinks down onto the floor with her still attached. ]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-15 04:15 am (UTC)Jon can't help his own gaze sharpening on the man as he gives his Statement. Pitiful though it might be, it's a lead to this Tom. Perhaps something of the Web is actually at work? The Web aiding the Flesh?
He doesn't get too long to ponder on it by the end, though, because Ava is gripping him hard enough that Jon can't help a sound of pain. And she's growling, and leaning in, and his mind flashes to that day with Daisy, with Mike Crew carelessly murdered beside him, a dull knife pressed to his own throat. Ava's teeth won't be dull, though.
His pulse thrums a rabbit's pace as he stares silently, terror gripping him. And then she's bodily shoving him halfway across the morgue to the lift. Jon staggers with the force and whips around as Aamir starts to scream. She'd told him to leave, but he can't. He can't leave when he has to bear witness to this. His throat is tight. But that man's is tighter. He's going to die.
Aamir is going to die tonight and maybe that would be right, but-]
Ava, stop! [Jon shouts it. Then, because he doesn't have any better 'weapon' to use against the vampire... he tries to compel her.] What are you doing, Ava? Answer me. Right now, right here, what are you doing?
no subject
Date: 2019-09-15 04:27 am (UTC)She hears her name only distantly until Jon compels her, and then she's wincing, whimpering into Aamir's neck, pulling her mouth away to gasp painfully, the sound wet with blood that drips from her mouth.
Whipping her head around, she sees Jon there, and her gaze is dark and predatory. She is being denied her meal and he's hurting her. ]
I'm eating, Jonathan Sims, and I told you to get away from me.
[ Those last words are not only thrumming tightly with Dominate but also being shouted into his head, trying to get him to actually go while her meal is fresh, while she can glut herself on this man, or she's going to turn on him. ]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-15 04:32 am (UTC)Promise me you won't kill him. Are you going to kill him?
[Without Ava's fangs in his neck, there's a bit of a lag for Aamir, but he does start to stir. "What's going... on?" Speech slurred. "Hey... you?" He's trying to sound solicitous, clearly still high on whatever toxin is in the vampire's bite.]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-15 04:43 am (UTC)No! No, fuck, no, I'm not!
[ What is she doing? What is she doing? It hurts to think, everything hurts, she just wants Jon to go away so she can eat but this... This isn't right.
Ava tries to rouse herself, tries to hold off the Beast, and Jon will have a good look at her simply looming over Aamir as she struggles with the desire to feed, the want to tear into him, and some other raw panic that's trying to force her to let him go. Her shoulders are shuddering and she bends down to lick the wound closed, her hand going over the man's mouth. Her gaze is on his own. ]
You won't remember this. None of it. You were here doing your job and no one else was here.
[ Aamir goes rigid, eyes wide, staring at her...and all fight slips away as she works her magic and her power into him, the hunger still terrible in her stomach. Do this right, get out of here, get away from Jon--
Don't kill. Don't kill. Don't.
Like a heartbeat, over and over, even as her body rebels and she starts to tremble. Just...hold out. Hold on. ]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-15 04:47 am (UTC)Jon hastily jabs the button for the lift and it's almost a minute of tense silence before it dings.]
Come on, Ava. Come on. He needs time to set back up or people might get suspicious when they get here.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-15 04:52 am (UTC)The hunger is still eating away at her. She puts her face in her hands, tries to cover her nose, and doesn't look at him. If she doesn't look, if she doesn't smell it--
But she knows it's there. Jon's covered in blood and she's so hungry. ]
Let's go. I need... I can't be here.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-15 04:56 am (UTC)Unless...]
Would it help? My blood. Could you...?
[He's pressing the button for the lobby as he asks and staying well away, but if they can stay and get answers, that's what he so desperately wants.]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-15 05:05 am (UTC)[ Jon will just be terrified of her forever at that point. She's already put a fucking scar on his back. She can't bite him too. She'll just... Maybe she can find a blood bag. Maybe she can just hold off while he does whatever he's going to do--
But she's so hungry. ]
I... I can't. You'll... You'll just get tired. It won't-- [ It'll wear him out and they only have a few hours, and she can't make this worse on him. Ava takes a slow breath, trying to quiet her panic. ] I'll... I'll be fine. I can do this. I had...some.
[ She's going to need more. They both know it. She just hopes she'll last long enough for him to do whatever he's going to do. ]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-15 05:13 am (UTC)[It's almost painful, but Jon thinks about what Hawke or Martin would say was appropriate. And him wandering about with blood all over him and Ava craving blood... isn't. It dings at the lobby and there are a pair of men with a gurney waiting. The one on the left stares at Jon for a long moment.
"What the hell? Are you okay?"]
Y-yes, I'm fine. I-hemophiliac. I'm a hemophiliac.
[The man looks to his companion in confusion, then to Ava.
"Did you... come up?"]
No! No, we came down. We're leaving. [The men eye them with deep suspicion as Jon tries to grab Ava's arm and drag her out of the lift with him, around the hospital. One of them, a large albino, tries to grab Jon or Ava if he slips by.
"Not when you're bleeding like that. We can get you admitted."]
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Date: 2019-09-15 05:28 am (UTC)It's too easy to move her only because it's Jon, and Ava's gone full flight-or-fight at this point to do anything but follow him. It's a little like back when they first met, the barely-concealed terror that she's done something wrong and is going to be caught.
One of them reaches for her and it's a mistake. She turns, whips around, grips the man's arm before he can touch her. Ava's gaze bores into his own. ]
We don't need your help.
[ "Miss, your friend is bleeding, we just want to be sure--"
The recorder hisses with static. Ava's voice drops low and soft and deadly as she stares at both men. ]
Leave us alone. There's nothing wrong here.
[ Both of them seem to snap to attention and she lets him go, allowing them to enter into the lift past them, close the door, and head down. Ava watches them go, then turns back to Jon. ]
...They're going to find out. We need to go. Or you need to find your man.
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Date: 2019-09-15 05:33 am (UTC)We'll come back.
[Once more it's difficult. It's insanely difficult to turn away to hurry to the front and out the door. Jon is breathing heavily, fighting down fear and his own hunger. He has to focus on actually heading them toward the doors to Duplicity, as well. Thankfully, with how they look, no one accosts them on the journey back.]
Go find blood once we're back. I'll... contact you later.
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Date: 2019-09-15 05:44 am (UTC)Jon manages to get them back to Duplicity's doors, past the checkpoint, and back into the city. The numbers on their wrists disappear. They get through the final set of doors and back into Duplicity, and Jon can likely feel the tremor in her.
She slips her arm out of his grip, pulling away at last. ]
I'm sorry.
[ That's all she feels she ever has to say, these days. ]
Contact me later.
[ And she immediately starts walking in the opposite direction, knowing if she stays, she'll hurt him, and she doesn't want to do that again. ]
un: thearchivist; text
Date: 2019-09-15 01:43 pm (UTC)I'm sorry.
I shouldn't have pushed you last night.
I went back on my own today.
Tom Gillen has some sort of power to persuade people.
It's not entirely natural.
He said he's always been good at it, manipulation.
But there was a course at the university he took on negotiation that changed everything.
There was a professor who captured his attention, pulled him in, became his mentor.
Eleanor Beals.
I've already checked and she's no longer on staff there.
She may be aligned with the Web.
Something to be aware of if you go there again.
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Date: 2019-09-15 02:51 pm (UTC)It's not your fault.
I should have had better control.
[ Which she's still muddling through but at least no one was hurt besides Aamir. She found a few more people that night who were willing to let her bite them, and no one died. It's hard to think of that as the best outcome, but... ]
She might also be dead.
We don't know.
I can do follow up on her and see what I find.
Do you want me to deal with Tom?
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Date: 2019-09-15 02:56 pm (UTC)I want you to do whatever you think is best with the information you have, Ava.
I'm not going to ask or order you to deal with someone.
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Date: 2019-09-15 03:05 pm (UTC)I'll look in on him.
I'm curious as to the extent of what he can do.
But removing him would cause too many problems and might not even fix the issue.
[ They'd probably just find someone else to sign these people's lives away. ]
Doesn't mean I won't put the fear in him, though.
Fucking sicko.
That whole operation is fucked up.
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