#jerrie

“You live in squalor, boy.  You couldn’t even make this place look presentable?” Royal Dillon berated his son, who looked ready to explode.

“Yes, well, when the building’s full of unexpected guests, things do tend to get chaotic,” Roscoe growled back.  Josh Mardon had been running amok, full of excited energy due to all the people and the tension of the situation, and everyone had to dodge his localized little weather events.

“Why is that child creating rain clouds and hail?” Rosa Dillon winced, huddling closer to her husband and carefully keeping her hair neat.  “This place is a zoo.”

Chasing after Josh was an excellent reason to get away from them, so Roscoe hurried off with a mumbled excuse and went in search of Lisa.  He eventually found her with Len in an isolated room upstairs, and he was horrified to see she was in tears.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” he asked worriedly as she covered her face, and Len did his best to block her for privacy.

“She doesn’t like being trapped with our dad, and she doesn’t want anyone to see her cry.  Not even you,” Len said curtly.  Years of being punished for tears had left it a sensitive subject for both siblings, and they tended to revert to old childhood dynamics in the presence of their father.

“Okay,” Roscoe said, stepping back.  It was a bit hurtful that she didn’t want him near, but he understood the sensitivity of the subject and tried not to take it personally.  “He was drinking in the kitchen last I saw, but I will throw him outside if you would prefer that.”

Lisa chuckled softly despite everything, knowing it was a completely serious and entirely literal offer.  “Maybe later, baby.  I just need a moment to collect myself and figure out what to do next…what the hell was Mick thinking bringing him here?”

“Bleeding heart who always wants to see the best in people,” Len muttered under his breath.  “Probably thinks we’ll all have a teary reunion or be sad if something happened to the fucker.  His parents loved him, he doesn’t get it.”

“Things are a disaster downstairs, but maybe someone will kill somebody else,” Roscoe shrugged.  “Hopefully my father is at the top of the list.”

Lisa scooted to one side to make room, and rubbed at her eyes to dry them.  “All right, if you’re punning then you must be stressed.  Sit down and let the others take care of things for a while, and hopefully one of the assholes does get themselves killed.”

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Jerrie was huddled against her big brother’s shoulder, covering her ears against the ambient racket surrounding them.  “Why’s it so loud?”

Digger was arguing with a drunken man wearing an undershirt, who Hartley presumed was the Snart siblings’ father.  He could see an uncanny resemblance between Len and the older man, and it was awkward because he knew about the family’s history of abuse.

“Too many people, and everyone’s scared, honey,” was all he said, gently rocking her back and forth as he spoke.

“Those men are vile,” Osgood Rathaway spat angrily as he watched the squabble, disgusted by the people he was forced to share space with.  “We never should have left the estate, the panic room there is very well stocked.”

“There are more people to protect you here, Dad,” Hartley replied in a neutral tone.  He wasn’t in the mood for an argument, but he’d already had enough of his parents’ behaviour.

“I should have brought my jewellery with me…but I suppose one of the thieves here might take it,” Rachel lamented softly, resigned to her situation.

A well-dressed couple entered the room, seeking shelter from one of Josh Mardon’s storms, and looked startled when they noticed the Rathaways.  They whispered to each other and hurried over with broad smiles.

“Osgood Rathaway…what an honour, sir!” the man said as he extended his hand.  “It’s a relief to encounter such rarified people as yourselves in this awful place.”

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Osgood asked coldly, and the other couple looked taken aback by his overtly hostile tone.  He did not shake anyone’s hand.

“I’m Royal Dillon, and this is my wife, Rosa.  My employer does business with one of your companies.”

“How nice for you,” Osgood replied, turning away.  As far as he was concerned, the conversation was over, and Hartley let out a heavy but silent breath as the Dillons walked away.

“I don’t like them either, but you really should be more polite, Dad.”

“Why?  I won’t see any of these people again.  And I despise social climbers.”

At that, the building suddenly shook violently, knocking some people off their feet.

“What was that?” Rachel wailed as Hartley helped her up and kept a tight grip on Jerrie.

“I don’t know, but I can hear something out front,” Hartley said grimly.  He began ushering his family and the other confused civilians to a room at the back of the warehouse, and they encountered the Snart siblings and Roscoe coming downstairs to investigate.

“There are multiple creatures out front, and some are attacking the building,” Hartley told Len quietly, who nodded, and they continued herding everyone to the back room while Len formulated a plan.

The building shook again, and a few pieces of the ceiling collapsed.

“We gotta evacuate.  Let’s take people out the back door, while Dillon and Mardon hold the line at the front to cover their escape,” Len told the others. 

“As long as someone takes Josh!” Mark replied tersely, glancing uneasily at his mother having a panic attack at the other end of the room.  Hartley was calming her with his flute, but it looked like most of the civilians were on the edge of a frightened breakdown even despite the music.

“I’ll carry him,” Lisa said, and Mark trusted her enough to agree.  She could fight to keep Josh safe, whereas his mother would probably be a wreck throughout the crisis.  And the other non-Rogues were complete unknowns to him.

Len briefed the others on the plan and the larger group prepared to move out through the building’s rear exit, while Mark and Roscoe readied themselves to attack from the front.

“Don’t screw up, boy.  Make me proud,” Royal Dillon warned his son on the way out, and Roscoe visibly bristled but opted to channel his anger towards the enemy.

“You are always an inspiration, Father,” was all he said snidely in parting, and Lisa cast him a sympathetic look and blew a kiss as she picked up Josh.  She and Len refused to look at or speak to their father, who was attempting to goad his son into an argument despite the stress of the situation.

“You engage them directly, and I’ll keep them back and distracted with the weather,” Mark told his colleague, who nodded.  Something large was attempting to break down the front door, and then some shadowy creature suddenly crashed through a window, showering the area with glass.

Roscoe spun off like a shot as storm clouds gathered out front, and the skies opened up on the strange creatures which had gathered in the area.  Some of the demons hung back, intimidated by the lightning bolts and heavy rain, while others tried to enter the building and Roscoe drove them away.  He spun at any creature who tried to get past him, bowling them over and punching at them as much as he could.

Mark couldn’t fully let loose with violent weather because the Rogues and their families were still in the area, and he didn’t want anyone to be caught in a tornado or some hurricane-force winds, but he used localized attacks to strike at the monsters.  Eventually the demons began to overwhelm them with sheer numbers, and Roscoe resorted to a telekinetic barrier to keep them back.

“Maybe we should retreat, maybe the others have gotten to safety by now,” Mark suggested as he saw his comrade tiring.  He shot a bolt of lightning into a group of creatures, celebrating as they scattered.

“We’re supposed to wait until Cold’s signal,” Roscoe said through gritted teeth, feeling each blow against his barrier.  His knees were beginning to buckle under the strain and he knew he wouldn’t last much longer, but it was still surprising when the barrier abruptly shattered and a group of creatures ran at them.

Mark grimaced and shot more lightning at them, which struck down one, but the rest kept coming.  One swiped viciously at him with its claws, leaving a nasty wound on his arm.

“You’ll have to do better than that,” Roscoe snarled at two creatures which cornered him, and spun at one to knock it into a wall, but he was clearly moving more sluggishly than before.

Suddenly Mark’s phone rang with two quick rings.  “It’s Cold!  Let’s get out of here!” Mark announced, and he swept up them both with some winds to get them out of the line of fire.  Finally away from the demons, the two men rushed to the previously established rendezvous point and collapsed in front of their friends and families.

Lisa hurried over to Roscoe, whose parents stood back to watch calmly, while Mark was surprised that his mother ran to him and began fussing over his wound.

“Ma..?” Mark asked in confusion.  Usually she wanted little to do with him, having always openly favoured Clyde, and she’d cared for Josh under the stipulation that Mark wasn’t involved in his son’s life.

“You saved us,” she told him through tears, and he began to choke up a bit himself.  He wasn’t accustomed to receiving love or approval from either of his parents, and it was a strange but very welcome feeling.

“You both did good,” Len said to Roscoe as Lisa placed a cold pack against the goose egg beginning to form on his forehead, and she slightly unzipped his costume to loosen it somewhat around his throat.

“Thanks,” he replied, sweaty and exhausted, and his father walked over and nodded curtly at him.

“You performed adequately, but you look like a mess,” Royal said with some disapproval, and Lisa jumped to her feet immediately.

“Get the hell out of my sight if you’re going to act like an asshole!  Go downstairs, go outside with the monsters, I don’t care!  Just get out!” she shouted at him, and then pointed at her own father.  “That goes for you too.  I don’t want to look at you.”

“You heard her,” Len replied firmly, gesturing at Lawrence Snart and the Dillons, and the three of them went elsewhere in the building despite some very angry words.

“Nice work,” Roscoe told Lisa with a tired smile, and she was smiling now too.

“We make a good team,” she said proudly.  “You and me, and all of us as a group.  We kicked ass today.”