Charlie Emerson

Ana waited expectantly for the dramatic sigh, her shoulders relaxing when it came. She could understand why Charlie was reluctant to be center stage, but this was about Karen. It was about what she needed now. Ana was already going over the optics in her head, the fallout, the questions that would follow. Karen needed time and patience, and minimum judgement. Involving Charlie - shining a spotlight on him - wasn't going to do anything to minimise press but that's the way it had to be. "Thank you," she nodded.

"Wait, hold on... you're telling me Faith kicked Danny's arse in training and I missed it?" @havensdalestarters

"That is the word in the halls, but you would have to ask Callie to see it for yourself. I don't think anyone but the eye in the sky bore witness."

Karen had quit smoking ages ago... and that was why she was hiding outside, away from the twinkling fairy lights and roaring fire pits, where no one could see her. Because this one didn't count. And she could not face Krys' shit eat grinning about it. So, when she heard a noise behind her, she almost stumbled trying to waft the smoke away from her. Should she eat the evidence? No, that's unhinged. Don't do that. Damn it, she was totally busted.

Charlie had been watching her from the shadows of the ballroom, waiting for his moment to get her alone. He was starting to think that maybe she had given up smoking, when he noticed her sneaking out the back. With a smirk on his lips, Charlie followed her, but by the time he reached the gardens, some insignificant gnat had approached her–he couldn't have that.

"Dare I say... Tequila?" @havensdalestarters

"How many have you had if you're willing to have a drink with me?"

Ana held her ground as Charlie turned back around so fast, she almost felt a breeze. It was clear he didn't agree, but she was already putting the pieces together. Why had Karen stayed locked away with him? Why hadn't she come out sooner? Ana knew the answer, in her heart of hearts. There were so many reasons why they had agreed not to bring Karen back. Ana's own unsteady hands were one of them.

Charlie watched her with a brow so furrowed, a normal human would've had a pounding headache. He had been there for her since she came back, but that was secret, behind closed doors. They weren't made for anything other than dark corners, and surely Ana knew this. 'If you're her Chuck'. What was that even supposed to mean? Her words settled over him as he acknowledged that her personal experience probably gave her better insight into how Karen was feeling than he could ever figure out on his own. Had he not already promised he would be there by her side? What benefit could there be for him to be the one saying it?

Analese remembered when they brought Charlie in. Well, when he surrendered himself to the Resistance. They had debated unchaining him for weeks on end. Ultimately, the decision had been left with Karen. They had a history, that much Analese knew. Hunters and vampires, they could never escape each other. They were intrinsically linked from the very beginning. Everything had changed after last November, and whether he liked it or not, Charlie had become a part of the team. He was responsible. She watched as he started towards the door, and she contemplated letting him go. Before he could leave, though, she said, "Wait... You should tell them. I'll call it, and once you've said your piece, I can take over, but I think you should be the one."

Charlie hesitated at the door, turning his head so fast that a human would've probably snapped their neck. She was being serious. For a moment, he thought he would have turned to find out that she was making a joke–she couldn't possibly want him to be responsible for something as important as this–but Ana had never looked more serious. "Me? Do you really think that's a good idea?" Even if people let him talk, and even if they listened to him, would any of them believe him when he said he had nothing to do with her resurrection? Would they hate him for keeping her a secret for so long? Why did that thought bother him? "Ana... I don't think any of them should know I was involved."

As he looked back at her, brow furrowed, she realised that his answer might be 'no'. She wasn't ready to face why the very idea of that made her hollowed out chest ache. The reasons behind Charlie's devotion to her now hadn't mattered to her. Whether he pulled her out of that grave because he had to - because he was obligated to - hadn't crossed her mind. Something she had said to him before that night... 'You keep them alive. If it comes down to it, keep them alive'. Maybe he was just keeping a promise. Her increasingly spiralling thoughts were stopped in their tracks when he nodded. An undeniable sense of relief washed over her. After tonight, everything would change.

Since the school. Ana's mind was racing as she put the pieces together, thinking several steps ahead on how to handle this. How should they tell everyone? Karen's family. There would be questions - too many questions - and Analese would have to field those. She barely had time to react to the idea that Charlie had been hiding Karen McReid in his room all this time. The implications were far too complicated to untangle right now. "Adjusting," she repeated, pressing her fingertips together. She closed her eyes for a moment, remembering a time when she was running through the woods, dirt under her fingernails. Wild eyed, terrified. Alive, again. Not right, not here. She shook her head, forcing herself back into the present moment. "That's something, at least. Thank you," she said suddenly, looking up at him, "For looking after her."

Charlie's brows knit together for the hundredth time that evening as Ana thanked him for looking after Karen. It hadn't even been something that was a choice for him–he wasn't looking for a 'thank you' and he wasn't quite sure what to do with it. His head nodded almost imperceptibly before he shifted uncomfortably beneath her gaze. That was his job done, at least. Obviously, he would be at Karen's side when she revealed herself to the team, but after that, he could revert back to his regularly scheduled programming of being the local annoyance.

Ana felt her balance shift, catching herself before she could stumble too far, as Charlie's words sunk in. 'She's back'. 'It wasn't me'. Her head was swimming, her heart suddenly hammering. Ana had clawed her way back from the dead, too. She wouldn't have wished it on her worst enemy. There was a reason so many bloodline hunters went down swinging. A reason so many bloodline hunters would rather drive a stake through their own hearts than... "When?" she heard herself ask, but her thoughts were racing. Why? Who? She saw the truth of Charlie's words - god, even Charlie - in his eyes. And the anger. It couldn't have been one of them, could it? They. Had. Agreed. Even Danny. "Where-... How is she?"

Charlie's mouth was uncharacteristically closed at her question. He had known that he shouldn't have waited so long to tell someone, but he had kept it to himself at Karen's request–and okay, he also didn't want anyone else to know. "Since the school imploded." Honestly, the incident at the school had barely registered with him, but he had been mildly grateful for the distraction that night.

Ana almost laughed at how nervous he was being all of a sudden, but it quickly died on the tip of her tongue. Her previously raised brows furrowed, and slowly - so slowly - she felt her blood run cold. Ana had thought about Karen every day since last November, she felt her absence everywhere. They had agreed, though. Goddamn it, they had agreed. She realised she was shaking her head then, the idea growing in the back of her mind while she was stood frozen. She was too scared to say it, to ask the question. "Charlie..."

Charlie's eyes lifted and there was something in them akin to pain–and rage. Back when Karen had been killed, they had been in agreement to never bring her back, no matter how much they wanted to. What was dead, should stay dead, and she wouldn't have wanted it. She didn't want this. "It wasn't me." His head shook as he willed her to believe him. Charlie wasn't an honest man and he was very rarely serious, but Ana had to know that he never would have done this. "I don't know who–... but she's back."

Ana listened intently to his answer, nodding at his assessment. She agreed, doubting that Engel would let the dome go without a fight. The unchecked power he - and all supernaturals - had under it, was too good to let slide. Nature finds a way, right? The scales have to balance. "Yeah, I think you're right there. Makes 'em a real trio of bastards," she sighed. It might be their downfall, too. Three agendas, three goals. Three weaknesses. She was about to say as much when he lowered his voice. She quirked a brow, but it seemed serious, which was wildly out of character for Charlie Emerson. Ana glanced at the cameras in the main room, nodding at him. "Of course," she said, leading them through the door off-side from the main boardroom and her desk. Ana gently closed the door behind Charlie with no idea what he was going to say next. "What's going on?"

Charlie followed closely behind Ana as she moved towards her office. There were more than a few eyes turned in their direction, but most people turned back to bigger priorities when he caught their eye. The door closed behind him and, despite not needing to, he felt like he couldn't breathe. "Right. Okay." How was one supposed to confess that they had been hiding one of the previously deceased leaders of the resistance in their bedroom? "So, you remember Karen."

"So you were always like this then," Faith reasoned after he'd responded, finding no solace in his answer. If Piper didn't create demons then perhaps she simply collected them, and if that was the case, why did she qualify to make the cut? "And William?" She settled her mug into the microwave, setting the timer and letting the loud, steady hum fill the room. She waited for the minutes to pass with her back to the counter, but every second felt like ten. Her fingers were gripping on the edge of the worktop as if it was the only thing keeping her there while she asked Charlie questions she knew she didn't want the answers to, but she needed them nevertheless. She was impatient. Irrational. Obsessed. There was still a minute and a half to go. "And all the others," she had no idea how many, "what does she see in you?"

His eyes narrowed a fraction, considering whether or not he wanted to open up to someone that was microwaving her fucking tea. However, if Piper was taking an interest in her... Well, she was important to Danny, and he had promised Karen he would look out for him; by extension, didn't that include Faith too? "No." Charlie eventually said, still internally fighting with his decision. At the mention of William, he scoffed. "William wishes Piper had turned him." With the hum of the microwave and the clock counting down, it was becoming increasingly impossible to ignore the heinous act occurring in front of him–they had an electric kettle!

A ghost of a smile tugged at the edges of her lips at his retort. She wasn't ready to fight back, but she hung on his words. She imagined what she might say back before, when she was still herself. When she was alive. Was she alive? Her eyes closed, and she felt exhaustion seep back into her bones. Karen would stand by her decision, even if it made her heart ache. Even if the idea of stepping outside this room made her stomach turn. Charlie lifted her head back up, their eyes meeting again as she was pulled back into the present.

Okay. After all this time with it just being the two of them–having her all to himself–they were really going to tell everyone that she was back. On the one hand, Charlie knew that they couldn't keep this up–his late night trips to the kitchens were becoming too suspicious and Karen couldn't stay locked up in one room–but on the other, he knew that whatever they had right now would change. It might be nice to get his bed back, but he wasn't sure how he felt about the idea of coming in here and not having her scent wrapped around everything.

"It's truly devastating, I know," she sighed deeply. A moment of silence for her best cups of coffee to date... Ana looked back up at him when he spoke, nodding in response. She was no stranger to working with vampires, and in these stranger times, having Charlie so close to the inner circle wasn't even surprising anymore. "That's right. Honestly? I'm not sure. I mean, it's either getting stronger or it's coming down. I'm leaning towards the latter - nothing lasts forever, right? And Amara thinks that Engel has an agenda, which makes me think any magical shit going on, can be traced back to the top." Ana canted her head then, asking, "What do you think?"

"Right..." He agreed, drifting off a little as he stared at the screens. Ana's words were sinking in, being slowly processed, but they were secondary to the real reason he had come over here. Charlie was about to change the subject, but then she asked him... for his opinion? His eyebrow couldn't be stopped from shooting up as he turned back to her. "I think that everything that happens, happens because those Three will it. If the dome's coming down, either Engel doesn't have enough power to hold it, or he wants it down too." The former was unlikely. "I wouldn't be surprised if they all had their own agendas." Letting that thought hang there for a moment, he lowered his voice and added, "Can I speak to you...? In private?"

Karen shook her head, breathing out a laugh at his words, "Maybe you think too highly of me." Before, it might have sounded teasing or challenging. Now, it held a little too much honestly to feel comfortable. He reached out to brush the hair from her face, and she didn't flinch. No, she felt comforted by it. His hand on her face, reminding her to be present. To be here. Because she was here. 'Karen McReid died', the words rang in her ears, but they were exactly what she needed to hear. Karen listened to him intently, searching his eyes for answers she wasn't ready to receive. When he laughed, his intentions were clear. He wouldn't let them. For her, he would... What would he do for her? "You are." On her side, the truth of it was undeniable.

"Or maybe you don't think of yourself highly enough." He retorted, not shying away from the challenge like she was. Charlie hated how defeated she sounded; she was stronger than this and he would damn well make sure she remembered that. No matter who this new version of her was, or would become, there wasn't a world in which this woman was weak. He watched her looking at him, searching for something in his eyes that he wasn't sure he could give, but he would fucking try. For her, he would try.

Ana was used to Charlie Emerson by now, and therefore hardly reacted to his sudden appearance at her side. The arm nudge was a nice touch, though. Better than wearing a bell. "Early reports would suggest that the dome sent out some kind of magical shockwave. Whatever happened, it started there and worked inwards. It literally shook," she summarised, gesturing at her half-working screen. "The moon's out, we've got damage reports from every sector, rubble blocking the exits. And my favourite mug is in pieces."

Charlie pouted dramatically, "Not your favourite mug." As if that was their biggest problem. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, but it didn't have time to grow as he turned his attention to the monitors. It wasn't looking good. "It's never done anything like this before, right? Why is it suddenly doing something now?"