hi, in shooting stars what would grian's reaction be to the watchers recapturing him? Would he immediately try and escape? Would the watchers let him escape or would he be stuck with them for a really long period of time? Would they want him to continue being a hero, even though he has clearly sided with villains? Sorry if this is spoilers for something you already have planned 😭
no worries!!! no spoilers, technically (but that's only because I haven't decided where to go next with the story lmao - I've been a bit busy over the past few weeks, both with personal stuff and with BAAS lol :D so if this turns up at some point don't be surprised, whether that be in the story itself or in an au fic bc this could definitely be an interesting thing to explore even if it doesn't end up be where I'm going with the series!!! please forgive me for not knowing what's happening in my own series can you tell that I never intended to write more than one fic? :P)
I think that the Watchers would probably stop Grian from going out in public for a long time. they'd need to "rehabilitate" him before they could allow him to be around anyone else. if they didn't, they'd have to worry about him running away again, but if they're intentional about the training they give him when they get him back, they'll make sure he never attempts to escape, again.
at this point, once they've "rehabilitated" (conditioned) him to stay, they'd allow him to return to a more public-facing role. at this point, he'd get the chance to be a hero again, which would mean he'd interact with the Lifers. they'd be horrified at what happened to him, especially because they never expected to see him again (at this point it's probably been months since they've seen him). they'd try to convince him to come with them - maybe promising him protection, maybe suggesting that they fake his death - but Grian would refuse out of fear and from the conditioning that the Watchers did. it would truly be like torture.
the Watchers would never give him a chance to escape again. even if he was physically able to, and was given the freedom and ability to escape, the conditioning would kick in and stop him. Grian's story, here, would only end in one of two ways: either he'd stay with the Watchers forever until they inevitably push him so hard that he breaks, or the Lifers (probably Impulse - Scar would have been the one to do it, but he'd have been too horribly convinced that they'd be able to save him, and Impulse would have to do it in the end) would take pity on him and put him out of his misery.
thank you so much for the ask!!!! <3