#agent specter

“wait there, please. i’ll be with you shortly.”

merlin shuddered at the sensation of her voice being so near his ear when she was nowhere in sight, adjacent to the tune of her office door clicking shut behind them. “glad we have a more tangible communication system. y’ think we should be worried?”

harry made a beeline for the bookshelves on the far wall. he was fascinated by these titles, how ancient they looked. merlin, of course, stayed a respectful distance away. harry spoke over his shoulder, “lilith’s tone wasn’t nervous. i’m sure everything is fine--” and he turned, his mouth open to continue, but was interrupted by lilith strolling in, with two training agents in tow.

merlin recognized simon immediately from photos seraphim had sent him--they hadn’t been properly introduced just yet. and the other one--lydia, he remembered, the budding necromancer training under succubus with one of the strongest northern accents he’d heard in his life.

seraphim hadn’t exactly been overly enthusiastic at the idea of being a mentor, but merlin suspected that had less to do with the simon-shaped responsibility and more to do with what john had left in his wake.

harry smiled, “i see we have company.” and softer, he asked: “where did you two come from?”

both of them were holding rabbits. lydia’s was sleek, black, with lop ears. the fur looked like smoke and velvet at once. the one simon had gently held against his chest was cream-colored, with a nose that seemed to vibrate from near-constant twitching.

but that wasn’t the only thing lydia and simon had in common.

they both looked pale and terrified. harry was taken a bit aback when he saw tears gathering in the corners of lydia’s eyes. and lilith, lilith just beamed. but it was an--odd smile. harry couldn’t quite decipher her expression. “... yes. about that.” she had one hand on each of the trainee’s shoulders.

merlin frowned. he felt fear scrape its fingernail up the back of his neck. “... lilith?”

“well, simon, would y--no,” they’d both tried to pivot and leave but lilith’s grip didn’t break and she forcefully turned them. “simon.” the way she said his name ripped all other choice but obedience away from him, but then she sighed, and it was almost like she was swallowing a laugh. “simon. ... lydia. do you know who these men are?”

“yes ma’am.” simon answered, polite, soft. lydia just nodded and swallowed.

“then you should know that you don’t need to be so frightened.” lilith’s voice gentled. she pointedly met merlin’s eyes, then harry’s. “simon, would you like to explain to the quartermaster what happened?”

simon looked at lilith once, his face pleading, but she just lifted her brows. no mercy to be found.

so.

he took a deep breath, his eyes flickering to the ground as he took one step towards merlin.

“morgan and rae were havin’ us practice mirrortalk.” he began, looking up. he watched their faces before he explain, “it’s uh, kinda like writin’ backwards on purpose. we were practicin’ simple runes, and being able to essentially write them in reverse. it’s a useful thing to know when you gotta work, but you really, really need to hide what you’re doing.” the rabbit stretched up and brushed its nose against his chin. “anyway, what h--”

“it my fault!” lydia burst out, taking a brisk step to simon’s side. “it--it was my fault.” she brushed at her eyes. “i got--i got a part backwards, and then there was this weird crackling noise almost--almost like it was tin foil--”

simon reached out, putting a hand on her bicep. “no, it was my fault. you asked me if it looked right, and i kinda didn’t really look at it--”

“i still should have been more careful.”

“no, no, i should ha--”

“but simon it’s not--”

“enough.” lilith interrupted, but her tone was less stern than it was touched. “you are both still students. and merlin, he’s over training for all of the kingsman candidates, do you think he’s never seen someone make a mistake?“ merlin broke into an easy smile as she spoke, and looked at him. she continued, “one that we can in fact fix, i will add, vida and caroline are already researching the solution. i’m sure they’ll find it soon.” she brushed a hand over lydia’s hair. “dry your eyes. apologize.”

a chorus of “we’re sorry”s and “we are so sorry”s came out in a waterfall. harry chuffed once, grinning.

“it’s--it’s quite alright. but, if i may ask--i don’t understand, what exactly does this have to do with rae and morgan?”

a hush.

simon and lydia locked eyes, then took deep breaths... just before sort of pushing the rabbits into their arms.

harry looked at merlin, who just stared back at harry, brows furrowed. a beat passed before merlin carefully shifted the rabbit upwards into his hands. “... morgan?”

her ears perked, and he felt a tiny boop on his nose. the slight tickle of whiskers.

that was when harry craned his neck, trying to see down at the dark bundle now flattening herself happily against his tie. “... ah. i see.”

they were too busy inspecting their partners to see simon and lydia visibly cringe at the sounds that were floating into the office at increasing then decreasing volume.

Anchored Hearts:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

Grace and Choice:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

Puppy Love:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

//Happiest of days to the lovely @missredherring

Louise woke to savory and sweet scents wafting from the kitchen. Barely awake, she softly made her way to the source and was greeted by welcoming sight of Joe, shirtless and trying to flip an omelette onto a plate.

“Oh hey-“ he said with a lazy grin. “You’re just in time.”

“Oh?” She kissed his cheek and slid into a chair as he placed a plate in front of her.

“Yup. You’ve been working so hard lately I wanted to surprise you with a lazy morning in.”

“Well let me just dig in here and then we can go back upstairs and be lazy together.” She teased as she bit into the first bite. Joe chuckled to himself and shook his head.

“You don’t even remember what day it is do you?”

“...Thursday?”

“You really have been working too hard Lou. You don’t even remember it’s your birthday.”

Louise coughed in surprise at that. Pulling out her phone showed an influx of text messages all wishing her a happy birthday.

“Wow I really did lose track. I thought it wasn’t until next week.”

“It’s okay darlin’.” Joe said, wrapping his arms around her from behind and leaning forward to steal a bite. “I know how important this all is to you. So while you work yourself senseless, I’ll be right behind you to make you breakfast and remind you of what day it is and-“

“Eat my food?”

“Hey now! Im the one who made it, so it’s ‘our’ food.”

“Well I don’t think I’m hungry anymore.” She said coyly, leaning back into his arms and making herself comfortable.

(Yo Delilah is the shit I love that song and also I love you)

“Delilah”:

Now the sun is up and I'm going blind(Holding on for your call)Another drink just to pass the time(I can never say no)

The night had started out simple enough.  Lou asking Succubus if she wanted to go out for drinks so they could talk and let loose, put the ghosts and cultists and boyfriends on the shelf for a moment so that Specter could just breathe.  A chance encounter with some old fellow Occult enthusiasts that she used to associate herself with had plunged her back into a detached state of self and she needed to get out of it.  And who better to pull her back in than the agent who pulled souls back into their bodies?  Succubus had tried not to pry at first but after a few drinks the necromancer sensed an underling issue.

“It was years ago, before Roanoke, just a group that investigated ghosts and hauntings.  I thought the head investigator really liked me, or he pretended to anyway, I was the only one who could interact with the entities and get any activity to happen worthy of being recorded.  After awhile I felt like I was invading their privacy by recording them and I told the group that I was going to leave.”

“They throw a fit and he break up with you?”

“They tried binding me to servitude with one of my own sigils.  It was terrifying, I still get nightmares.  And now their here investigating the old salt mines out on 54.”

“They tried binding you?  Lou that doesn’t just go away even a shitty binding can still feel like a chain.  That’s so fucked up.”

“I know.  I keep trying to let it go, but I felt so betrayed and used.  It’s hard to forget and forgive something like that.”

“Oh, honey forgiveness isn’t the only option.  Come on, let’s go break that chain.”

It's a different kind of dangerAnd the bells are ringing outAnd I'm calling for my motherAs I pull the pillars down

Maybe it was the alcohol or just how suffocatingly dark the salt mines were but getting there and finding the group had been a blur to Specter.  Seeing them bringing back a rage that felt so alien to her.  And after they had terrified the group into a small pocket cavern Clementine turned to Specter with a hungry smile.

“You could have asked anyone to go out with tonight, but you didn’t.  You asked me because you wanted someone who wasn’t going to give you some bullshit spiel about how important life is and how “good” it feels to forgive.  If you want me to bring them back after then I will, but they don’t deserve your forgiveness, Lou, they deserve your fury.  So give it to them.”

The scientist looked at the girl speaking softly to her sister of sorts. It had been 3 months since they opened the upside down, 2 months 3 weeks since the 18 year old looking girl came running through the portal. 2 months and 3 weeks of being there for the experiments and catching her up and learning about the upside down trying to find out how she survived.

' Tonight we are getting you out of here. You know that agent I told you about? He said he would help me but once I get you outside of here we have to run okay?' the Raven haired girl nodded and held the others sleeve. She whispered, '... Scared...' the taller woman smiled nodding. ' I know but I'll protect you.' she got up to go back to her lab work.

That night the bigger woman came to the room and brought her out which to the guards wasn't unusual. She walked past them like it was nothing. The pale girl held onto woman's sleeve and followed. Once outside the lab coat was quickly removed and they started running. Guards coming after and shooting at them. The Raven haired girl held a hand out blood coming from her nose and mouth as black smokey like tentacles emerged from the ground almost like a fence.

Lou and Joe- The twins as a rule work together on gifts, and doubley so when it came to Lou and Joe. Together they made a set of matching cologne/perfume (something that was lovely individually but when paired with the other created a wonderful aromatic experience), matching flower-crowns (because it’s funny when Lou makes Joe wear his), and of course- matching sweaters

So I’ve had some free time between school and work and I’ve been thinking about the relationships between Annabelle and the other agents. I think I got everybody, but please tell me if I forgot anyone.

Lilith :  Lilith is not the kind of person who dotes on and coddles people. That is quite possibly the only thing about her that Annabelle doesn’t like. Other than that, Lilith is very patient and calm while helping her learn the ins and outs of society. She’s also the only person that has heard Annabelle’s voice. Annabelle feels safe around Lilith and has no problem talking to her. That might have to do with Lilith being the first person she actually met in Roanoke. She may have accidentally called her mom once, too. Since she doesn’t really remember her childhood, Lilith is the closest thing to a mother she’s ever had.

Seraphim :  Seraphim is nice, she really is. It’s just... She’s a witch. Annabelle has a dark, bad history with witches and just doesn’t like being around them for too long. She tries to see past the fact that she’s a witch, honestly. It’s just really hard for her to ignore that fact when it’s kind of why she’s a part of Roanoke. The only time when Annabelle was fine around Seraphim was when Seraphim had hand churned ice cream for a society party later that day. It was a family recipe. That lead to Annabelle being a bit more comfortable around her.

Succubus :  She’s very intrigued by Succubus. All the tattoos, how freely she expresses herself, it’s stuff she’s not used to. The people she was used to... Well, you stayed quiet unless you wanted something to happen to you. There is a part of her that wants to stay away from Succubus, but another that wants to stay and learn from her. Succubus is one of the best fighters that Roanoke has and Annabelle, well... She isn’t. There’s so much that Succubus could teach her about so many things, but Annabelle thinks that’s not going to happen any time soon.

Houdini :  Annabelle and Houdini have a very... Strained professional relationship. There was a slight incident on a mission that Annabelle went on with another Roanoke member and a few members from Statesmen, one being Agent Whiskey, and a few things... Happened. Needless to say, Houdini always keeps a close eye on Annabelle. They are both always throwing looks at the other and Houdini has sworn up and down that she’s heard her muttering about her ever so softly. Something about how she doesn’t change who she is when dealing with problems and not pretending to be somebody’s dead wife? Lilith is really the only one who does anything about it. But, if the moment ever arose, Annabelle would not hesitate to help Houdini.

Lycan :  Annabelle, for the most part, likes Lycan. She thinks that she makes an excellent art subject and enjoys drawing her. The one thing that throws her off is that around the full moon, she behaves differently and she doesn’t know why, but she doesn’t like being around her during those times. Any other point in time? Annabelle likes her... And her stuff. Lycan just has a lot of cool, shiny things that she’s acquired throughout the years and Annabelle just wants to know what they are. Maybe paint a picture of them. She always give the stuff back. Normally.

Scribe : The Scribe doesn’t really talk much, nor does she like noise down in the archives. Annabelle doesn’t really talk and is known for not making any sound. So the two get along swimmingly. Annabelle likes reading about the history of the society and past missions, trying to see if there has ever been anybody like her in the society before. Scribe may have been taken by a small bout of pity for the girl, not knowing who she is or where she comes from. Whenever she has a few moments of free time, she’ll occasionally look for information on her based on what little information she already knew. Nothing has been found yet.

Sprite :  Annabelle actually doesn’t know Sprite all that well. Since she works mainly in interrogation, there really is no need for her to have weapons. They live on opposite sides of the mansion, they’re never awake at the same time, the only way that they really know that the other exists is that Sprite keeps leaving notes for ice cream flavor orders in the kitchen and they always get filled out.

Seance : The both of them are very quiet individuals, well Seance is at first, and Annabelle doesn’t mind that. It’s not like Annabelle is going to do any talking. The only thing that Annabelle doesn’t like about her is that she just randomly summons ghosts and their rooms are not that far apart from each other. She can feel it when they enter this realm and it puts her on edge for at least an hour (and may be the cause of some of her sleepless nights). Seance also introduced her to some of the manor cats. Annabelle has never really been around cats before so she’s very tentative around them, but Seance loves watching her learn how to interact with the cats. 

Specter :  Specter is by far, in Annabelle’s opinion, the nicest agent. She and Lilith are really the only people she is fully comfortable around. Specter is the one that helps her try to fit in with society when they have to go out on a shopping trip or just to go and have some fun. Annabelle and Specter, to the rest of the society, seem like an odd pair. Specter is very touch centered and Annabelle is not. The first time they all saw Specs touch her, even though she was wearing her standard full coverage outfit, and Annabelle didn’t flinch or lash out and push her away, they were shocked. Annabelle sometimes feels like Specter is truly the only friend that she has in the society.

Ondine : Annabelle and Ondine get along really well. Since Annabelle spends a lot of time around Lilith, she also spends time around Ondine. They both share some similarities with liking sweets and similar music. Annabelle loves learning about mermaids from her and can just listen to her talk about them for hours. Occasionally the two of them can be seen walking around the lakes near the manor with Ondine talking and Annabelle just listening. 

Arizona :  Annabelle loves being off of the ground. Since joining Roanoke, she has quickly made it a habit to take a trip up in the air (by plane or helicopter) at least once a week. She especially loves it when Ari agrees to go either in the early morning or evening, you know, sunrise and sunset. In return, Annabelle always keeps a tub of their favorite ice cream in stock. She also doesn’t mind the little aerial stunts they try to pull off since it lets her get amazing videos on her camera. Arizona is also one of the only agents to have heard Annabelle laugh. It was quiet, but they still heard it.

Raziel :  Annabelle and Raziel work together a lot. Raz tries her best to help Annabelle control her empathic powers, but she can only be in the same room as her for about five minutes before Annabelle’s emotions overwhelm her. Annabelle has gotten better at controlling her emotions because of her, simply because she wants to be able to be around someone like her. Raz swears up and down that she’s heard her speak, but nobody believes her. (Except for Lilith who gives her a knowing wink when Annabelle and Raziel are together.)

Cherub : Annabelle has always seen Cherub around, but doesn’t really interacted with her. The first time she did, it was when she was first brought to Roanoke and taken straight to the infirmary. After that, she hasn’t really seen much of her. There is the odd occasion when she is roaming around at night and she finds her in the kitchen late at night with a tub of ice cream, sometimes crying. She doesn’t stay in the area long, since the emotions will effect her, but she tries her best to give her some positive energy/thoughts and makes a mental note to buy her some more ice cream.

Rougarou :  Rougarou has a tendency to go into a very protective mode when around Annabelle, and she isn’t really bothered by it. Annabelle loves her cooking since she normally makes very spicy dishes. She also learned the hard way not to take anything from her room. Let’s just say that taking something from a voodoo practitioner was not the best idea if one likes to sleep soundly. Other than that instance, Annabelle and Rougarou get along fine.

Sentinel :  Sentinel is a very quiet man. Annabelle is a very quiet woman. The two could sit together in silence for hours on end. For Annabelle, he just has a very calming presence. She can’t place her finger on why exactly, but he does. Sentinel is the only agent that can really get her to eat, besides agent Rougarou. There is just something about the way he prepares a brisket that makes her mouth water. He is also the only agent to ever hear her speak at a normally volume and and he’s never told anybody. Not even Lilith.

Zed :  Zed is the only person who Annabelle cannot read. It irritates her, but intrigues her. She used to be very upset about this and would not talk to them. Then one day some of the dogs around the manor would not leave her alone and they managed to help her out. Zed is also doing something that nobody thought of doing. They are teaching Annabelle American Sign Language so that she can communicate without having to write everything down. Statesmen has been working on some tech that allows for ASL to be translated instantly so everybody would be able to understand her. Zed’s also trying to get her to not be terrified of dogs. We’ll see how that goes.

Elfin : Annabelle cannot be around him. He’s just too touchy. He always wants to get really close to her and try and charm her or something and she just doesn’t get it. She hates it when she does have to go out on a reconnaissance mission because she’s normally paired up with him since the two of them together look harmless and can basically get in anywhere. Lilith has told her to try and speak to him, to tell him some basic ground rules, but Annabelle knows that’s never going to happen. And she’ll never admit to this, but if he really wanted to get close to her, all he’d have to do is share his candy. She would have just tried to swipe some from his poorly conceived hiding spot, but people have warned her not to take anything from him. Something about unknown consequences?  

Nova :  Annabelle is fascinated with Nova and her little Martian buddy Sam. She’s already very curious about things on Earth, but things not from Earth? You have all of her attention. She loves making Sam move around the container and really wants to see if he has any thoughts, but every time she tries to open the container, Nova stops her. Annabelle also loves listening to Nova talk about the stars and constellations. She had no idea that there were pictures in the sky and now, when she is up late at night, she can be found out on the roof looking up at the stars.