#risingjay

The drive back down from Canada was filled with questions, but most weren't from Mari this time. On the contrary, she was as cagey about Jack as she was with Viper or her parents.

It wasn't Mitch's first rodeo. Something lurked in the background of their story that he needed to know. Mari wouldn't be so reluctant to talk to him otherwise. Worse than that, the usual tactics he used with Mari weren't working. Distracting her with different topics to drop her guard yielded little. Offering her an extra gemstone - it wasn't a secret that she squirrelled a few away to keep for herself - didn't work, either.

Those were the most surefire way to get her to talk. That she resisted a bribe even after several minutes of thinking about it meant either Jack was that important to her or she was scared. Both, even.

What finally went somewhere was Mitch pointing out that if this Vincent wasn't just a threat to her in Canada. She ran into Jack back in the States, after all. If Mitch knew nothing about the situation, there was no way he could help solve it.

That got him the only significant details Mari shared: Vincent might be dead, and Mari might have been around when it happened. She mentioned something about leaving him on a sandbar in a snowstorm, which would be about the only way Mitch could see her killing somebody.

Dead bodies didn't bother her at all, but god forbid she pull the trigger. He never understood it.

This revelation changed the situation, though. He remembered Mari mentioning that she and Jack got off on the wrong foot, but was the relationship really all right now? If Mari helped kill his brother, Jack might be resentful. It was possible Jack helped her get Vincent in the water, assuming she was telling the truth at all. Mitch didn't think she could pull that off by herself like she claimed. He couldn't see Jack having the spine to kill anybody directly, either. Letting his brother freeze to death, though? Empathy would likely shut that one down.

A couple of beers were enough to get Mari to leave Mitch alone with Jack. She had been roped into a game of darts by a couple of men who didn't know who they were hitting on. It gave Mitch an opening to bother Jack about this brother thing, though. While Mari's dart bounced off the wall across the room, Mitch popped a question he hoped was shocking enough to get an answer.

What Jack gave him was more information than Mitch expected. Mari hadn't said anything about Vincent's personality outside of the context of herself. The ending of Jack's words is what bothered Mitch.

((continued from here @risingjay))

Jack heard her cough and gasp, but hardly noticed over how cold the air was and his struggle to resist shivering- to remain functional.  He gave in as she clung on to him, holding on tighter as his body tensed from the cold and shivers raked him.

At the other end of the rope, Simon looked on the pitiful scene with disdain, but did not hesitate to pull them both onto shore- removing the rope from Jack’s ankle and throwing it to the side.

“Jack,” Simon started as he knelt down next to them, removing his own gloves. “Let go.”  Simon grabbed Jack’s arm to pull him off of Shojo.  Jack did as he was told and moved to sit up. “You’re soaked!”  Simon exclaimed to him, feeling the sleeve of Jack’s ice frosted sweater.  “Get this off and put your coat back on.”

Leaving Jack to fumble through the snow, back to his snowmobile for his coat, Simon turned to Shojo.  He took off his beanie and put it on her head as a start to try and warm her up, and then placed a hand on the side of her neck. “Hey- can you hear me?”

-------

Shojo was only aware of every other moment, tip toeing in and out of consciousness. Was she still under water? She felt colder. But there was someone talking to her. She didn’t recognize him. 

Her pulse was weak beneath her cold skin and her whole body was shivering. It was clearly a struggle for her to keep her eyes open. Hypothermia had begun to set in. 

@risingjay

“Yeah, Art, I hear ya,” Raylan said into his phone, resisting the urge to roll his eyes as the Chief Deputy, his boss, relayed what had just come through the wire about some small-time fugitive that had been seen down Harlan. “I’ll take care of it. Tell Tim he’ll have to buy the coffee today, I was supposed to bring it with me.” The U.S. Marshal hung up his phone as he reached his vehicle, sliding into the black town car with as much grace as he could muster this early in the morning.  He’d had a rough start, having slept past his alarm- twice- and now a pit stop on the way into the office was cutting even more into his time to work the Drew Thompson case.  The engine roared to life as the Deputy pulled out of the parking lot, pointing the nose of the car towards the holler he’d grown up in.  It was too early for this shit. Thirty minutes Raylan later found himself in the condiments isle, a suit jacket pulled on to cover his gun and badge, watching the young man just down the isle from him as he pulled a couple a couple items off the shelf. He checked the photo that his boss had sent him on his phone, and glanced back up the the individual. It could be his guy, but it was har to tell from the side.

Mari ground her teeth. Devin was infuriating sometimes, that was for sure. "For once in your life, admit that you are up against something bigger than you!"

She was in a bind here. She made it pretty clear now that she knew something he didn't. It hadn't been her intention; she wasn't aiming to be an informant for his various cases. As much as she steered clear of his business....

This time was different. She recognized names he pursued before, but she never cared until now. Of all the people Devin could be focused on, he picked one of the dangerous ones. She doubted a meeting would end as well for Devin as it had for her.

Besides, last she checked, Danny had a daughter who knew nothing about her dad's line of work. God forbid she let Devin tear a family apart like that.

That was about the response she expected. She wasn't a therapist by a long shot - she hated therapy herself, the few times she'd been forced to visit a therapist - but that was one of the few things she actually did take away from that particular pain in the ass.

Mari shoved her hands in her pockets, not really wanting to go into detail, but knowing that 'I just know' wouldn't fly. "You're not the only one that's gone through some messed up shit," she answered carefully.

He seemed to have gone through it a lot longer than her, but still.

Mari raised an eyebrow as she watched Devin set up a telescope, of all things. She could see the sky just fine without one, as far as she was concerned. "Don't ask me. I don't know anything about it." She had used a telescope a couple of times as a kid, but she could never aim it where she wanted to. Eventually, she decided it was unnecessary for her.

@risingjay

@risingjay Thanks for asking!

1. who does your muse hate?

This one is difficult.  She doesn’t really hate people.  I guess in her own canon, Corey is the closest you’ll get to that.  She’d cry if Corey was gone, but only because that gang would fall to pieces without him.  Viper is still a complicated subject for her, but she comes in as a close second.

2. how does your muse handle grief?

Bottle it up and let it fester until it becomes a disorder.

20. what is something your muse wants to tell others, but is too afraid to?

She wants to trust people again, but it makes her anxious.  She doesn’t have anything specific to say, but it’s more that she wants someone to share her secrets, fears, and inner thoughts with.  Her hang up is that she’s afraid once someone knows she likes them that much, they’re going to use it against her again, so she keeps very personal things to herself.