Writing Vortex

“So is this one of our standard check in, here’s the new patrol schedule kind of meeting?” Adam and Rebecca both nod. “Good, cause I’d like to add one other thing to the agenda to discuss.”

The team all raise their eyebrows a moment, Rebecca composing herself first, “Unusual, but I’ll allow it. What is it you wish to discuss?”

Clio clears her throat and sucks in a deep breath, “I want to take some days off from training.” She folds her hands on the table, finger nails chipping away at the dark plum polish. “It’s vital that I go.”

Adam’s brow furrows, “Is this something you’d plan on doing even if we said no?”

She chews on her lip before looking up with a sheepish smile and shrug, “Yeah….I’d rather not do that though, but I will if I have to.”

“What is it that’s so vital to you,” Nat asks, hands hesitating as they reach for hers.

“I-. I want to see my mom,” she says softly, “My foster mom technically but you get the idea.”

Rebecca nods, “I see you took the time to look into her.”

“Well figured that since I’m no longer on the run from the Agency and it’s relatively quiet, now’s the best time as any to go and see her.” Clio focuses back on her hands chipping away at the polish once again. Her mind wanders as she puts a plan in motion in her head knowing it was probably pointless from-.

“I see no issue with you going,” Rebecca says, making Clio gasp. “You’re correct that now is as good a time as any to see her.” The small frown that pulls on Rebecca’s lips finishes the rest of her thought, the part Clio can’t say out loud, that this may be the last chance she could get to see her.

“You think it wise for her to go by herself? What of her safety?” Adam says, crossing his arms.

“I’ll go with her,” Nat says, putting a hand on her shoulder, “And considering all she’s faced so far I’m sure we will be just fine.”

His jaw tightens, “I expect check ins-.”

Clio rolls her eyes, letting her head fall back with a groan, “No. I am not dealing with your check in schedule. If you want as many as I think you’re wanting then you may as well come with us.”

“She has a point you know,” Farah says, “cause if you end up doing that it means I will have less time to enjoy wherever it is Clio grew up.”

“Why’s that?” Clio asks.

“Cause I’d have to answer them since Natkins couldn’t handle that much usage with her phone.” The older vampire lets out a sigh with a small nod of her head.

“Since when did you plan on joining them?”

“Just now when you mentioned checking in.”

Nat frowns, “I don’t think Clio has enough room on her bike for the two of us. And I doubt you want to take an SUV.” Clio gives a nod, tapping her nose.

Adam lets out a heavy sigh, running a hand down his face, “Fine. I will join Clio and Nat but no one else.” Farah lets out a groan, “This town is still a priority of ours, it will be on you and Mason to keep watch while we’re gone.”

“Whatever.” Farah grumbles, crossing her arms as she settles further into the seat.

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“Woah! This place is huge!” Farah says with wide eyes. The rest of the team look over the three story white house with sky blue trim, surrounded by a wrap around porch and flower beds. The lawn still a lush green and trimmed to perfection, the indents showing off the ghosts of toys and an old wooden swing set, with white stones leading from the white picket fence to the front door. “You lived here?”

“For a while, yeah. There was a bit of a gap where I lived with my dad.” Clio gives a shrug making her way inside, “But even he agreed this always was my home.”

“Didn’t you live in a foster home?” Mason says looking around the area with narrowed eyes, “Meaning we should be seeing kids or at least hearing them.”

“I thought you’d be glad for the lack of kids,” Clio says with a quick laugh. “It is a bit strange though. Granted she is 95, possible she slowed down on them.” 

The door opens before they’ve made it to the porch, a stocky woman with sand colored skin and raven black hair dressed in a floral print wrap dress covered by an apron waves them in. They give a shrug and shuffle inside.

[...]

She purses her lips, eyes narrowing farther, “Oh, right. Lacey and Katherine decorated their whole room with vampires.” She lets out a sigh, shaking her head, “Still don’t understand how they found it romantic.”

Clio smiles, starting to walk into her mother’s line of sight, “Would you have preferred them to fawn over werewolves instead?” 

Louiza’s eyes grow wide, misting as Clio chuckles. “Clio? Is that really you sweetheart?” Tears start to fall as she reaches out towards her, Clio quickly embracing the old woman. “You came home. I missed you so much babygirl.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t come back sooner.”

She pulls away, “Or write, called, sent one of those emails, or what do they call it when you see a person on a computer?”

“FaceTime, mom.”

“Yes, that. You had me worried all these years. Last we heard from you was a postcard from that little Northeastern town.”

“I ended up staying there, actually.”

“I just needed a bit of a break is all. I asked around the mall and it was suggested I try to not wear it for periods of time to make the pain lessen.”

“Sounds counterproductive,” she says with a shrug grabbing a sandwich, “but whatever works for you I guess.”

Drifter rolls her eyes putting the arm back on, mumbling, “Not like I got much to lose at this point.” Marie watches closely, once again studying the various warframe pieces, question burning on her tongue. “What’s on your mind, Marie?”

“Hm? Oh, no it’s nothing.”

“You won’t know if something is inappropriate to ask unless you ask it.” Operator says, “No one here is gonna yell at you if it is.”

“True. I was merely wondering what made you choose the pieces that make up your arm.”

Drifter hands a plate to Lyon, “I don’t know, I didn’t pick them.”

“You didn’t?”

She shakes her head, everyone else looking up with mild curiosity. “I remember passing out after the fight with Ballas and when I woke up my arm was already attached.” She flexes her hand, “The K-. Er, Operator put it together.”

Everyone looks at her as she leans back picking away at the crust of her sandwich. “I collected warframe parts.” She looks up meeting various furrowed brows, “Oh not like that. Not in some creepy way. It was in case we came across any other Tenno that could use them to fix their frames. I spent hours laying them out trying to make some kind of aesthetically pleasing design, since I didn’t put much thought into the shoulder.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were screaming, withering in pain, and losing too much blood, I just kind of reached into the box and pulled something that would work to stop the bleeding. Thought it would be temporary but kinda got burnt in and embedded because of the infestation. We may not get infected but that doesn’t stop it from acting all weird.” She sighs, “If I could go back I’d pick something different.”

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

“Mhm. So we didn’t have any friends our age, until we got to the Zariman and they had no choice essentially. Couldn’t fully tell you why we decided to sit with him during lunch but I do remember asking Palladium why he wasn’t talking back to us.”

“‘Well Sibby have you tried to stop talking? Give him a chance to respond.’” Everyone laughs, Drifter giving a playful shake of her head, “That part I remember, and we were so stumped by that answer.”

“Such sound advice on wasted breath,” Lyon says with a hint of a smile.

The two of them roll their eyes in unison, “Smartass.” 

He and Drifter laugh softly as she lightly elbows him and he kisses her temple putting an arm around her. Marie glances over at young Operator, snickering when she sees her almost playfully gagging at the display of affection. “Anyway,” she says, making them look away from one another, “it wasn’t our fault he just didn’t have much to say to us. Besides we still didn’t have a ton of friends on the Zariman, but he was there. Even after, though much more distantly, until one day he was just gone.” She leans back in her chair sighing, “Just sucks I couldn’t remember all of that when I-.” She shakes her head, gathering her things, “Anyway, that’s the main reason you have that shoulder piece. Maybe it was fate or something all things considered.”

“Where are you going?” Marie asks, floating to stop the young woman from leaving, “Don’t you want to eat with us?”

“Nah, I brought it for you guys.” She says with a smile, “And a bit too tired to bear witness to the love birds and keep my mouth shut.”

She laughs as she walks out of the room, Marie following behind once the others are busy making plates. “Wait, Siberite, one more thing, s'il te plaît?” Siberite turns to face her, “Does it really upset you still for your elder self to be with Lyon? I was told it was part of the reason you both nearly had a falling out.”

“And what of your family?” Ava asks with a small tilt of her head, “What was it like with Agent Ruicknar as a parent?”

Chance shrugs his shoulders, “She was around enough. Left me with gramps essentially.”

“I see. What else can you tell me about them?”

“My family?” She nods, Chance rubbing the back of his neck, the feel of the raised scar making him look straight ahead. “It’s a bit….complicated. Rebecca isn’t really my mom, she’s my step mom I guess. But she came later in life, when I was about five then married dad when I was seven I think. Nothin’ fancy, just a courthouse thing.” He laughs, shaking his head and resting his arms on his knees. “Then again dad wasn’t technically my ‘real’ dad either. I was adopted.”

“Adopted? Was your father married before that? I doubt many would allow a single father to adopt just out of the blue.”

“That’s where it gets complicated. My birth mom was one of his students. Really smart, lot of potential, which he saw, but he also saw she was heading down a dangerous path. So he decided to try and help her.”

“But it did not work, I assume?”

He taps his nose, “Yep. Got addicted and one day came back pregnant, she tried really hard to get better, was sober for a bit too. Then….I don’t know, guess she found being a mom too hard, cause she left when I was three months old. Only a note saying she was sorry.” Ava frowns watching as his gaze gets farther away, thumbs pressing into the palms of his hands. “Any other sane person would have called CPS but not him, he decided to keep me.”

“He loved you….”

He smiles, “Yeah he did. Was easy enough with the courts, he was listed in the hospital notes and medical forms as secondary contact, judge gave temporary custody. They would have to try and find my mother to get her to waive parental rights, which was not an easy thing. Fast forward three years and she just came back. Wanted to start fresh.” Chance sighs, shoulders dropping, “There was a part of us that hoped maybe we could be a family of some kind, but few months later she suffered from what they called drug induced paranoid psychosis. Dad had gone to work while she watched me, only to come home to find her pinning me face down with a scalpel running down my neck. She claimed there was some chip in my head, was trying to get it out to protect me, but all she left me was this.” He turns his back to Ava lifting his brown curls to reveal the three inch scar. Ava gently reaches out to brush her fingers down it.

“She….she did this to you?”

He nods, turning to face forward once more, “She lost all rights to me after that. Dad took out a restraining order and that was that. Went back to hanging out with him in the lab a lot, hearing his lectures, seeing the research he was doing, coming back here to see gramps, and just normal father son things.”

“And then he met Agent Ruicknar?”

Hayat slides the folder in front of himself, keeping Nate’s eyes from it as Ava stands behind him. There in black and white stands Cat dressed in casual wear in front of a man with dark hair, dressed in simple jeans and tshirt, hands held as Cat looks up at him with a look of wonder. Another photo of her handing something over to him, another of his fingers running down her cheek, all the while her face remains unchanged with its smile and adoration in her eyes. The photos begin to move among the team, Ava never fully taking her eyes off Nate, who’s jaw and fists begin to tighten as he looks over the two of them. Hayat glances down at the last two photos showing them embrace and kiss one another.

“Show me.” Hayat’s gaze snaps up to Nate, his face a mixture of anger and hurt. “Hiya, show me.”

“I don’t think-.”

The folder and its last two photos flash out of his hands and into Nate’s. The vampire’s face falls looking over them, eyes beginning to glisten. “No….”

Ava’s hand finds his shoulder, “Nate, we do not have the whole story.”

“Yeah, Natey, this can’t be her. Not really. She loves you.” Farah adds.

His hands shake, gripping the photo hard enough to begin tearing it in half, eyes starting to take on a golden hue. “Nate….,” Ava says softly, “We cannot jump to conclusions yet. Farah is right, the Catlina we know would never do this willingly.”

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“Agent Sewell!”

Nate turns hearing his name called, doing his best to keep the smile on his face when he sees Theo approaching him. While he understands the situation between Theo and Cat—and happy that she’s so far chosen to stay with him—it doesn’t stop the feelings of jealousy from rearing its head. “Ah, Theo, what can I help you with?” 

The young vampire looks up at him momentarily before dropping his gaze, rubbing the back of his neck. “I, uhm, came to thank you, for speaking on my behalf to not put me in prison. You didn’t have to—really didn’t have to—but I appreciate it nonetheless.”

“Oh,” Nate looks him over, watching the smile Theo had begin to fall, “I trust Cat and her judgement, and it didn’t seem right when you had little control over your actions.”

“Mostly,” Theo mumbles before shaking his head. “Neither here nor there though.” He takes a deep breath, “I also wanted to let you know that you don’t have to worry about me….and Cat getting back together.”

“Why would I-?”

“I don’t want you doubting her words, or thinking she’s just staying with you out of pity or something like that. Or that our soul bond is going to bring us back together.”

Nate stuffs his hands in his pockets, looking away. Theo was correct that those thoughts had and were still occurring to him. How could it not, given the information he had on soul bonds and how they worked. He had only promised to himself to enjoy whatever time she gave him before such magic forced them to part from one another. 

“Let’s first just get you a clean slate. If I’m gonna teach you eyeliner, I may as well teach you the rest of it.”

“I thought I did okay.”

“Hun, that blush is way too dark for your skin.” She says, wiping her face clean. 

“So, who are you tryin’ to impress?” Velimir asks her with a laugh in his voice.

“I’m not trying to impress anyone.” She responds with a huff, “I just like how it looks.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that,” Minerva says, holding various products against Siberite’s face, “Besides you should learn how to use it. Might come in handy for things other than just impressing someone that you like.”

“Which I don’t. Just to be clear.”

“Of course.”

“Okay, if you say so. Just find it a little suspicious that your older counterpart seemed to ask for a more in depth lesson when she started talkin’ just a little bit more about a certain someone in that sanctum of yours.”

Siberite rolls her eyes, “Ugh! I am nothing like her when it comes to who we like. I don’t even know why she likes him. He’s, admittedly, kind of lame. She dated Aoi and Arthur out here, and she goes and picks him. It's beyond me.”

The older couple hold back their laughter, Minerva asking, “Is there someone you would have preferred she ended up dating?”

“I mean, Marie’s really pretty.” Her brow furrows in thought for a moment. “Okay the pickings are slim but my point still stands.”

“Whatever you say darlin’. Now come closer so I can show you what to do.”

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“Who do you think it is?”

“Hmm, there’s that one girl that hangs around here now, she used to come shopping here during the summers. Has that dark brown hair with the green scrunchie.”

“Oh her. I think she said her name was Lana. What about you Velimir?”

“I think it's that one boy, Jeremy. The one that wears that black jean jacket.” The three women glance at one another before busting out into laughter. “Now why is that funny?”

“You don’t need to read minds to know that she only tolerates his lovesick eyes because he’ll do just about any of the chores Arthur gives her.” Eleanor says. “He’s also one of the few people that let her just talk.”

“You think she’d just be honest with him and tell him how she feels.”

“She has.” The three say in unison.

“He just holds out hope I guess.” Lettie says with a shake of her head.

“Well then who do you think it is?” He asks, leaning on the bar.

“I have a few ideas, but sort of depends on what the boyfriend of her older self looks like.”