#vtrystane

     There was a sound of disgust as Kalrien flipped through the pages of notes and  information she had on the man called Jace. There was pitifully little to go on. The  lack of information was beginning to wear on her patience--how did a man avoid the attention of the authorities for so long? What's more, how could he live separate from the rest of society. a man who didn't exist in any records? 

     "This is getting me nowhere." The file hit the coffee table with a definitive slap and Kalrien stood to her feet. She paced the length of her living room, arms crossed, clad  in little more than a button-up shirt that was clearly not meant to fit her. "He must have a place of residence, and he's spoken of employment before, but how can that be  possible if he doesn't technically exist? It would all have to be completely under the  radar, and that would take far too much work to even be worth the effort unless he had something to hide." She shook her head in annoyance, speaking aloud more for her  benefit than anything else. 

     If they could trail him she doubted it would be difficult to arrest him for something like fraud, but her gut instinct (and the two bullets in her side) told her that there was far  more to the man than fraud. 

     There was something terrible and terrifying about realising that you couldn't stomach      the thought of losing someone. After Kalrien had done some tests to gauge the extent      of Vic's abilities, the main conclusions Kalrien reached were these:

                                1. Vic Trystane could be killed.                                 2. No matter how she had tried to will herself, she wouldn't be able                                     to kill him.

That brought an entirely new wave of conclusions. If she couldn't kill him, he was going to catch her. That would hurt him, if he'd been given no cause to hate her. This was the entire reason she had kept herself from forming attachments in the first place--emotions were messy things, awful and chaotic. She hadn't been equipped to deal with them, so she could see only one solution:

                                                             pull away before it was too late. She was going to              lose him either way, so it might as well be now, when she could still make a clean              break (hopefully) and leave minimal damage. If he learned to hate her now, it               would be so much easier to distance himself once he found out the truth.

     In the past week or so, she'd been quieter, distant. She didn't have to pretend anything; between the stress of work and the hits she was planning, it didn't take much effort to ali- enate herself from people, submerging herself in her work instead of paying attention to the people around her. It should have been just as easy when the words finally came out of her mouth, but every syllable felt like a bullet that ricocheted and struck her, too.

    Eliane walked into the precinct early on the morning after the confrontation in Northern Park, trying to keep her hands from shaking. She'd had a frightful amount of trouble trying to sleep last night, and had a feeling her countenance displayed every bit of her fatigue. A large part of her thought that she did not want to be in the police station again, but she knew she needed to let someone official know what happened.

    Thankfully, she didn't see Kalrien around, only Vic. She didn't think she could deal with Kalrien this morning. Yes, Vic had let the interrogation happen, but he'd at least seemed remorseful that it had been needed. She could understand doing something he thought was distasteful in the name of what was needed. Kalrien hadn't seemed to care.

     When she flinched at the contact of his hand on her waist, she knew      she'd made a mistake. Still, it was better to mention it than to let him      draw his own conclusions. Besides, if he asked about it, it wasn't as if      she could hide it forever, anyway.

"Sorry about that," she said once they left the café. "It wasn't because I didn't want you to-- you know. I might've injured myself the other day and didn't want to mention it."

            Vic, too, wasted no time in greetings, instead he stepped beside the blonde and into her apartment, looking around fleetingly to make sure they were alone. It wasn't the kind of conversation that he wanted to have in front of Leiven, and definitely not the kind that he wanted to have in front of some stranger. It was only once he was satisfied that they were, in fact, alone that he turned back to face her. She had an expectant look on her face, both brows had risen in obvious confusion to the sudden visit -- it was a look he was familiar with, actually.

            “ I think you should stay with your mother for a little while. ” He started, breaking their mutual silence. The words only made her brows raise higher. “ Take some time off work. ”

            “ For how long...? ”

            “ I don't know. ”

            “ I don't understand... ”

            “ Just take Leiven and get out of town for a little while, lay low. ”

            “ Why? ” She queried, crossing her arms; if there was one thing Tessa Linden didn't like in life, it was being told what to do.

            Vic sighed. “ I can't--- ”

            “ Tell me. ” She scoffed, finishing his line. “ Tell me what? You can't tell me why you want me to leave here? Or you can't tell me why you just showed up at my house, out of breath, looking like you're ready to murder someone, and wanting me to stay with my mother of all people? You can't tell me anything? I-- why am I not surprised. ”

            She shook her head, turning away from him to walk into the kitchen. Vic followed after.

            “ This is important, Tessa. ”

            “ I'd be a bit more inclined to believe you on that if I knew what this had to do with. I can't just leave town on a whim, Vic, I have responsibilities here. Leiven has school, he has that presentation coming up that means the world to him and I-- I've got my patients to take care of-- ” She paused, uncorking a bottle of wine that she was going to save. “ What's going on? ”

            “ Oh, your patients. Well, of course, can't leave them! Harmony forbid you have an excuse to think of yourself for once. ” 

            “ Excuse me? ”

            “ You-- ” He cut himself off, growing frustrated. “ Survivor's scars, do you have to make an argument over everything? I'm trying to tell you you're in danger and you don't even-- ”

            “ You're not telling me anything! You're just talking without saying anything -- as per usual. I mean, what is this? Talk to me, ” She sighed, exasperated. 

            “ Can't you just trust me on this? ” The look on her face prompted him speak again, and hastily. “ Okay, okay. I can't get into the specifics, Tessa, but-- you and Leiven aren't safe here right now. This case I'm working... names came up-- your name came up, Leiven's name came up, and I can't-- I can't lose you guys. Please. ”

            Her expression softened momentarily, and for a moment there Vic thought that would be the end of it. But, a crease between her brows formed, and she looked at him with renewed fervour. “ Our names specifically? My son's name came up in one of your cases and it was enough for you to come here, that's what you're telling me? What in damnation is going on here, Vic? ”

            “ I don't know, Tessa, you tell me! I mean, are you insane? Going to tend Eliane's injuries in the dead of the night, becoming some kind of medical call-girl!? You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into-- ”

            “ I'm doing my job! Do you think I just put band-aids on people for the money? Believe it or not, Vic, I actually want to help people. I don't want people to get hurt-- ”

            “ Dammit, Tessa. You know who her brother is! You told Kalrien you thought he was the one who did that to her, and you saw what he's capable of. What were you thinking? ” Tessa swallowed. Her scrutinizing glare remained on him, and while there were a hundred and one things she could have said just then, her throat was shut tight.

            “ He did it, didn't he? ” She didn't have to specify. Vic nodded, and she felt like someone had just given her a swift punch in the gut. Tessa shook her head. “ I'm not leaving. I-- I'm not gonna run. I can't do that, ”

            “ Please-- ”

            “ No. ” Her voice broke. “ You don't get to make my decisions for me, okay? This is my choice. He won't come within fifty feet of Leiven, I can promise you that, but I'm... I'm not going anywhere. I'm not running. That's not who I am, Vic, and you know that. ”

            His shoulders were hunched over, and Vic's eyes remained downcast. She was always a stubborn woman, and a part of him had to admire her for it. Tessa Linden, in Vic's opinion, had more spirit in her than half the EPD -- he just hoped that wouldn't be her downfall. He hoped that with everything he had.

            “ Do you still have the gun I gave you? ”

            “ Yeah. ”

            “ Let me show you how to use it. ”

                                                                    ≐

            Vic had left Tessa thirty minutes later with Hazekiller rounds and a kiss on the cheek. He didn't feel any better than he had when he arrived, in fact he was fairly certain he felt worse, but that was his own fault wasn't it? He'd failed in something to simple all because of his incompetence, and should anything happen to Tessa or Leiven or Eliza... it was his fault. But, it wouldn't come to that.

            It couldn't.

            He shouted out another farewell as he walked out her door, it closing with a soft 'click'. He turned to walk back down the hall, reaching in his pocket to send a quick text to Kalrien that he was returning, but was stilled suddenly when he saw a certain little boy sitting beside the door.

            “ I heard you guys shouting. ” Leiven started, looking up at the man; his voice was not accusing, but rather factual.

            “ Leiven, I'm... ” he swallowed, sitting down beside the child in the hallway. Vic ran a hand through his hair, resting his head in his hands. “ You shouldn't have had to hear that. ”       

            “ I can handle it. ”             “ I know you can, kid, but this is different. ”

            “ No, it's not. ” He sniffed, standing up.“ You're not here, okay? You don't know what it's like. Everyone always leaves, but I'm not gonna. We're all we've got, Vic. ”

            “ I'm sorry. ”

            “ No one's gonna hurt my mom, ” Leiven promised, “ I can take care of her. ”