#chrislydia

Chris is up late working on business when Lydia interrupts for something a little more personal.

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Lydia wasn’t expected. She was a thunderstorm coming in and surrounding him, whipping up chaos in his life and only contemplating the possible destruction after the fact. He’d never thought about—not once—any of this when she was younger, when all she was to him was his daughter’s best friend. The girl who Peter Hale bit and psychologically tortured. The woman who ended Peter Hale’s life.

“I just want to know why you’re pretending you don’t have the cure,” Lydia asks, breezily, and Chris stops.You don’t know what you’re talking about - no, too defensive. What are you talking about? “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Chris says.Lydia rolls her eyes. “About three years ago you switched you switched your recombination efforts. Which is weird, because you were coming off a very promising few months.”“Initially, yes,” Chris says. Throat dry. “But the results became increasingly unstable.”“Then why aren’t the results there? Why didn’t you try to stabilize the reaction? You only make an abrupt about-face when something isn’t working, not when something is, regardless of the complications.” Lydia’s facial expression might be called… pity. “The most logical explanation is that you found the cure years ago, but you don’t want Allison to know. You don’t want anyone to know.”There’s a terrible pounding behind Chris’s eyes. It’s not that he hasn’t imagined this moment. It’s not that he doesn’t have a contingency plan. Being as rich and well-regarded as the Argent family means there are plenty of strings to be pulled. And this city never, ever has enough corpses.Lydia’s face softens, slightly. “She’s not the only one with Marni’s Disorder. You know that.”Something in Chris’s heart clenches; popular theory says it’s his heart, but Chris isn’t so sure. “I know.” He has the blood of thousands on his hands, he barely thinks about the dozens this might have saved. Not often, anyway. “She’s safer in here than out there.” He pauses. “We should continue this conversation in my study.”“I hope you’re not planning anything untoward,” Lydia says, seemingly unconcerned. “You know I’m too intelligent to have come to you without a backup in place.”This time, Chris’s smile has a touch of genuine humor.