Unexpected Consequences (Peregrine & Kaisaan)

[Kaisaan]

Gabrielle, in some far corner of her mind, knew what was happening. She understood perfectly why she was reacting the way she was, her therapist's voice in her her head, warning about PTSD, about the triggers, how family could be hard to face after what had happened to her, how she should expect anxiety, explaining how to ease back into normal life. She could hear it all now, knew it like she was reading a script.

Except Gabrielle had never had a normal life. A good one, when she was younger especially, sure, but not normal. Never that. She had not tried to immerse herself back into civilian life, but had immediately rejoined the army, determined not to acknowledge what had happened at all. And she'd avoided those who might remind her, might draw her mind down those paths again. That her brothers did such things was not their fault. Gabrielle was just so determined that they not find out, that seeing them only heightened the fear that they would and their questions.....it had all led to this.

To a panic she couldn't control, a fear that only fed into itself....and then there was calm. Safety and Gabrielle pressed close into the warmth that was very suddenly offered, both physically and inward. Her body curled into David, face buried in his chest and her mind relaxed into the protection his power offered, the panic receding like the tide going out, the fear hanging on a little tighter, but bit by bit being coaxed away by the patience of David's golden light, leaving the blue of her power stable, the silver of her mind shaky, weak, but far more centered.

The setting outside her mind was far from that.

Coinn had stood immediately upon sensing something wrong with his sister, his power springing to his command, heat gathering in his hands, but Alex had moved slightly before his sibling, checking his twin as he watched David draw Gabrielle in. He didn't know what was happening, what had distressed his little sister, but.....the man beside her seemed to have it well under control and while Alex wasn't sure he liked that fact, he wasn't going to focus on it right now. Not when Gabrielle looked that pale and seemed to be drawing some stability from the unknown male.

The decision to not interfere proved even wiser as that familiar noise started to buzz around the room and for a long moment the twins thought it their sister, nervous that she seemed so out of it that she might threaten them with harm.....and then they realized it came from DAVID.....and that changed everything.

Suddenly the sound was far more ominous, unfamiliar and strange, causing Alex to take a step back and Coinn to slowly release his hold in his power, letting it settle reluctantly as the twins glanced at each other, unsure. Males....were not Banshees. It was impossible, but they KNEW that sound, intimately, and that it came from David....while Gabrielle was distressed was....alarming to say the least.

Neither twin said anything, knowing better than to try. Words would not placate a Banshee - or apparently someone channeling one? - and they merely kept themselves still, calm, their powers to themselves. It was the easiest way to show they were not a threat as they waited for the situation to calm...but when they did, there would be a great deal many questions they'd want answered!

 

[Peregrine]

As the two men settled, powers held carefully within control, and did their best to look as generally non-threatening as was humanly possible, David relaxed somewhat. The noise faded from within the room, but he still felt it there, just below the surface, ready to rear up again should either of them even twitch incorrectly. Time seemed to crawl by with all the speed of a snail, and no one moved.

David's mind was divided. Or, perhaps more accurately, it felt like it was in two places at once. His eyes watched Gabrielle's brothers, the ones who had, unconsciously or not, caused her so much distress. He waited for them to make a wrong move, holding them in place with a tension that he knew didn't belong to him, but he didn't mind using. Right now Gabrielle didn't need them, didn't want them, and he would not let them interfere. But, at the same time he knew he was devoting what felt like his complete attention to watching her brothers, David was watching and doing his best to help Gabrielle. His power moved within her mind, slowly unwinding the little, tangled knots of fear that made her heart hammer so quickly and her hands shake, all the while never digging into what it was that had caused her so much fear. He somehow knew that she didn't want him to know, knew that this might very well be exactly the thing she was trying so hard to hide from him. He wished she would tell him, even as he knew she wouldn't. It wasn't as though he had shared everything that had transpired within the Facility with her, either. There were some things that were simply better left in the past.

So he did just that. He moved among her, offering a gentle touch here, a brush there, nothing hasty or rushed or heavy handed, just enough to let her know he was there, and do what little he could to help. It certainly wasn't enough to change whatever was at the root of Gabrielle's fear, but it was enough to help smooth over the moment, and help her start stabilizing, and get ready to enter back into the world, whenever it was she felt prepared to handle it. He would stay just like this until she was, eyes locked onto her brothers to hold them in place with the quiet threat filling the room, power near her, touching her, brushing her, comfortably winding in and among her.

The very world seemed to hold its breath, stopping in its ceaseless turning and hurtling through the depths of space to wait for Gabrielle to open her eyes again.

 

[Kaisaan]

Gabrielle didn't want to open her eyes again. To rejoin the world and all its pressing needs, questions and demands. For just a brief moment in time, the world had been....kind, filled with laughter and light, had been all around and yet entirely separate, holding nothing but David. His rarely heard laughter, easy smiles, curious mind and deep, but quiet voice. He had been at the center of her universe and yet never overwhelming, calm and comforting, and yet so exhilarating that she could never be tired or bored of it. The world had been...welcoming and now it was just the world again, as it had always been and Gabrielle understood it, on a logical level, of course she did, but....something within her could not accept it, did not want to. It wanted the impossible peace and happiness back. It wanted to be there again so badly it ached and the Banshee wondered, in some remote, quiet place within her mind, where even David could not yet see....if such was what being in love felt like.

It was a thought only for herself, not even a wisp of it reaching the outside, reaching David's knowing power and she kept it inside. Safe. Secure from the rest of her mind that would have grasped it, tried to study it, working itself into a panicked frenzy until it ripped the idea to shreds, unable to accept, unable to believe. She kept it safe from herself and she kept David safe from it.

To love him, if she did love him, would only put him in danger.

From her, for she wasn't ready to love. From himself, for even if he was ready, even if he did, he could not protect her, could not help her. To love one who could not properly love back would only hurt them both.

But it was a thought and it was kept safe, patient to wait and instead of proceeding forward, it was another thought that did, a more appropriate one of the situation.

She needed to open her eyes. She needed to face this all too familiar world once more and help David navigate. He would only tolerate it on his own for so long and she was meant to protect him, to guide him, not the other way around. For him, she needed to open her eyes.

And for David....Gabrielle found she could, her lashes slowly fluttering open, her mind slowly rising to the surface, still somehow staying close to David as she did, her power shivering up against his own, but she came back to the world that awaited. Dirty-blond hair was sticking her to her cheeks, evidence of silent tears and Gabrielle slowly reached up, turning her face out of David's chest to wipe them away, her aqua eyes not looking to her brothers, but up at the man who let her stay so close, who held her now even as his mind did within. In that moment, looking up at David's fierce, warning eyes, still directed at her brothers....she saw who he could become. Not the scared, timid creature the Facility had made, but the man lying beneath it all and that brief glimpse, so needed, gave her a grain of courage back and Gabrielle took a deep breath as his power slowly took that courage and breathed life into it, nurturing it before handing it back to her as if presenting a gift and the Banshee nearly smiled for no reason at all as she released her breath, feeling stable once more.

Ready to face the world, to face the questions.

Aqua eyes left David's face to look back to Coinn and Alex, both waiting anxiously for their sister, and Gabrielle slowly stepped away from David....but she didn't release his hand, wanting connection between them. Needing him in a way she couldn't yet explain to herself but knew to be true. She'd needed him ever since the moment their eyes had connected in that Facility and time hadn't changed that desire, nor did she think it ever would. Somehow the thought didn't alarm her.

"Gabby?"

The voice drew her wandering attention back to the situation at hand, to Alex and the Banshee gave a slight smile, not open and free like the one she'd given David, but reassuring all the same. "I'm all right. I just...a lot has happened. Sometimes I don't.....handle it well."

The twins glanced at each other, then back at their sister and it was Coinn who spoke, somehow managing to take a....well, not a delicate approach for he would never be capable of that, but considerate at least. "Does it 'av anythin' ter do wi' yisser status av M.I.A. four years ago?"

Gabrielle blinked, startled and her hand involuntarily tightened around David's. "H-how did you know about that?"

Alex answered the question, taking a softer tone than his twin would have. "We don't nu much aboyt it, Riel. De army cud only tell us yer were missin' an' den, whaen yer came back, they claimed they weren't at liberty ter tell us waaat 'ad 'appened, only dat yer were alive an' on Medical Leave, seein' a therapist. They said ye'd git in contact whaen yer were able."

"We never 'eard anythin' from yer." Coinn chimed in, his narrowed eyes fierce, clearly unhappy. "An' den we 'eard yer were dead. An' nigh you're 'ere, alive. Waaat de 'ell is 'eadin' on?"

"Coinn-"

"He's right, Alex." Gabrielle's voice only shook somewhat, her power curled tightly against David's, drawing stability from the contact. She was unsure she'd be able to talk, much less face her brothers without his nearness and she realized she was relying on him heavily, but couldn't keep herself from doing so. "I should have told you, the family, what was happening. I...I will explain now...if you will let me."

Both twins were quiet for a moment before both nodded and Gabrielle looked back at David, voice quiet. "You don't have to stay...if you don't want to." This wasn't his problem and she knew her brothers could be forceful. If he wanted to remain separate from this, she'd let him...even if the thought of letting go of his hand was....difficult.

--

Does it have anything to do with your status of M.I.A. four years ago?

We don't know much about it, Riel. The army could only tell us you were missing and then, when you came back, they claimed they weren't at liberty to tell us what had happened, only that you were alive and on Medical Leave, seeing a therapist. They said you'd get in contact when you were able.

We never heard anything from you.

And then we heard you were dead. And now you're here, alive. What the hell is going on?

 

[Peregrine]

As Gabrielle's fortitude began to return, so too did David's confidence, although battle-readiness might have been a more accurate word, fade. He curled in towards her, for a moment finding himself as unwilling to relinquish her as she had been to turn away from him. But when she stirred David's hands naturally moved away from her shoulders, even though she didn't release his fingers. He stepped backwards slightly, hiding half of his body behind her and making a point not to look at Gabrielle's brothers. He didn't want to know what they were thinking, or how they were going to act. He didn't think they were going to do anything, but he feared they would all the same. He didn't know what Gabrielle would do if they acted. He didn't know what he would do.

It was an unparalleled relief, though, that the two men only had eyes for Gabrielle in that moment. All of their questions were directed towards her, and were about her. David knew they hadn't forgotten him, hadn't forgotten the threat he had made unconsciously or otherwise, but they were more worried about Gabrielle than they were about him. At least right now.

He was distracted from his cowardly musings again by the feel of Gabrielle's power shaking against him. He looked up suddenly eyes latching once more onto the two brothers. In the face of her fear, however carefully controlled, all David's concerns seemed so mild. So unnecessary. This was Gabrielle's family, and it wasn't an enemy she could fight. Well, if she couldn't, he would simply have to do it for her. If he had to. How he hoped he wouldn't have to.

So much for courage.

All the same, when Gabrielle turned to David and offered to let him go, he didn't move, only clung tighter to her hand and gave one brief, brisk head shake no. He didn't know exactly what was going to happen now, but he knew that there was no way he was going to be leaving Gabrielle alone with her brothers. They didn't seem much like brothers to him right now. In his mind, brothers were supposed to be strong and protective, not pushy, and certainly not things that provoked fear in their little sister. Couldn't they tell what they were doing? Why couldn't they just leave her alone? Leave them alone.

Such was not their fortune. David kept half of his body carefully hidden behind Gabrielle as they moved over to one of the couches, almost close enough to trip her up. He could feel the space in between their hands starting to get sweaty, in some combination from both of their nerves about this situation, but neither of them made a move to let go. Coinn and Alex each took a seat facing Gabrielle, and there wasn't really any more hiding for David. Only the fact that both men only really had eyes for their sister in that moment kept him calm, but he knew his turn would come soon enough.

For now, though, he turned his attention to Gabrielle as well.

 

[Kaisaan]

She'd never liked the feeling of eyes on her and Gabrielle disliked it just as much now, but she didn't protest, didn't shift, didn't do anything but perhaps lean her shoulder against David's just a little more, a bit of pressure to center her to the here and now. She would need that - to be held fast to the ground, to be balanced and reminded that she was in this room, with people she could trust.....people who wouldn't hurt her. It was that last thought that sent a shiver down her spine, that made Gabrielle take a deep if quiet breath because she knew she'd struggle with that thought the most much as she didn't want to. When she finally felt she might be able to look her brothers in the eye and not panic again, the Banshee did so, noting that they were watching her just as closely as she'd felt.

"I...." Gabrielle bit her lip, searching for the words, realizing she didn't have them. "I don't know where to start." she admitted softly and Coinn glanced to David, obviously having a very specific topic he would have loved to start with, but Alex beat his brother to speaking, knowing his twin far too well and his sister the same. That would NOT be a good topic to approach this situation with - not with how close Gabrielle wanted to David, not with how the male in question had reacted to their sister's distress. No, something a bit more neutral would be best....if that existed at the moment.

"Why don't you tell us why you were reported dead by the army." The younger twin suggested gently and Gabrielle seemed to breathe just a little easier, though, she was sure David's heartbeat sped up several notches. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, reminding him to trust her and then proceeded to tell her brothers what had happened....albeit in a much more censored version. She told them David had saved her life on her mission, but not how, how they'd fled the Facility, but not necessarily why. She made it clear that David was extremely important to the Russian Government, but not what his powers could do - only that they were valuable and her brothers had already seen a taste of it. They didn't find it hard to believe that he'd be wanted. Relating about their time with the small family and then their trip to the safe-house in general terms, Gabrielle hesitated over their time in Haven.

"We went to the Russian-based Haven then. It was the safest place for us at the time."

Just the mention of the name made her brothers cringe, Coinn's glare expected, but even Alex's eyes snapped fire. His voice was very carefully controlled, tight and within it was something exceptionally dangerous. The elder twin might have been the fire-wielder, but when Alex temper snapped, it was far more explosive than his already-temperamental brother. His anger was not aimed at Gabrielle, though, even if the next word out of his mouth was her name.

"Gabrielle, wus Thomas dare?"

The Banshee looked away. "It was the safest place for us at the time, Alex."

"Feck, Riel! Yer nu waaat dat langer wants from yer! 'Tis fierce for yer ter be raun 'imself!" Gabrielle flinched at the tone of her brother's voice, but there was no fear within her, nothing for David's power to latch on to and find reason to strike out. It was just reaction on Gabrielle's part and Coinn, of the two, saw it first, his expression changing from borderline rage to concern in an instant.

"Gabby?"

When his sister's aqua eyes rose to his pale blue, Coinn felt a twinge of unease for the pain lurking deep within her gaze. It wasn't a look he was used to, not from his baby sister. His voice turned very gentle, capturing Alex's attention, too, dampening the younger twin's anger. "Gabby, did he 'urt yer?"

Gabrielle shook her head and then stopped because the truth was far different, but she didn't know how to explain that without explaining everything else, everything from before David. She wouldn't lie to her brothers, though, and changed the shake to a slow, jerking nod. "He...hit me. David stopped him" It was truth....just not the whole story of it and it made the twins clench their fists as it was, but when their eyes moved to David, it was with far less suspicion and far more respect....and friendly interest. From everything Gabrielle had told them, David had been nothing but good for her, protecting her, loyal. There was no surer way to win their approval.

Alex was the first to speak, studying David carefully, once again wondering just who the man was to his sister, but far less inclined to be so harsh in his judgement this time around. "Tanks. 'E's been tryin' ter control Gabrielle even before she moved away. 'E's why she 'ad ter go ter America. Yer 'av our gratitude for lookin' oyt for our sister."

Coinn gave a nod, his words more a growl than anything, but not unfriendly all the same. "Oi do 'ope yer put de langer into de groun', David. Man's not worth de air he breathes."

--

Fuck, Riel! You know what that bastard wants from you! It's dangerous for you to be around him!

Thank you. He's been trying to control Gabrielle even before she moved away. He's why she had to go to America. You have our gratitude for looking out for our sister.

I do hope you put the bastard into the ground, David. Man's not worth the air he breathes.

 

[Peregrine]

Alex's anger might not have been directed at David, might not have been directed at anyone in the room, but David flinched far, far worse at the man's outburst than Gabrielle did. His knees snapped up to his chest defensively, and it was only Gabrielle's hand entwined with his that kept him from wrapping both hands around his legs and folding his head into a protected ball. Instead his eyes traced the threads of his jeans, back and forth, back and forth, across his knees. It kept him mostly calm.

It had come as a surprise to David how little Gabrielle's tale of the Facility, and the events that had followed right after, bothered him. He couldn't help but remember that moment in the little house with the family he would never see again, and the way that even a mention of the fact that he had healed her had sent him into his internal safe spot. Now, of course, there was no hiding his power. He had learned that in Haven, and even here his first instinct had been to threaten these men with power when Gabrielle had crumpled. No, there was no point in trying to hide who he was, what he was. At least to an extent. So he had listened patiently, still avoiding looking in anyone's eyes. Even Gabrielle's.

No, what was really bothering him now was having Coinn and Alex's eyes locked on him. They weren't angry, weren't threatening, but they were still scrutinizing and he didn't like it. He tried to tell himself to relax, that it didn't matter, that they wouldn't do anything to him as long as Gabrielle was around, and even if they tried they wouldn't be able to hurt him anyways. The logical thoughts did little to actually calm him, and his eyes flicked away again when an attempt at a covert peek in their direction resulted in direct eye contact with one of the brothers.

It took David several moments to realize that they were speaking to him now, and he only realized it because one of them, Coinn he believed, actually said his name. He looked up in surprise, momentarily making eye contact. What did they want from him? It was almost impossibly hard for him to understand them with the thick accent that marred their voices. He was able to pick up the gist of the message, though. Gabrielle's brothers hated Thomas as much as David did, and it looked as though they hated him for the same reason. David had guessed there was history between the man and Gabrielle, and apparently that history was no more positive in the past than it had been in present day.

Now... Now Thomas wanted David, too. Perhaps he wanted David even more than he wanted Gabrielle. David thought back to that moment, when the man had been defenseless under the force of Gabrielle's power. Coinn was probably right. Thomas should be dead. But David had given that decision to Gabrielle. He trusted her judgement, and even if Thomas didn't deserve to live, Gabrielle certainly didn't deserve to kill him.

Only after a stretching silence began to fill the room did David realize that Alex and Coinn were expecting an answer from him. Had he missed a question, something they wanted to know? No, they just wanted more information about Thomas' fate. David shook his head back and forth slightly. No. Not dead. Maybe he should be, but he wasn't.

 

[Kaisaan]

David's delayed answer seemed to satisfy the twins' need to know about Thomas' fate even if they didn't like the outcome and almost as one they turned away from the shy man who seemed highly unlikely to speak to them at all, friendly overtures or not. They didn't mind, for now, as Gabrielle was their true focus and the fact that their sister was so quiet, so withdrawn bothered them. Where was their Ceann fiáin? Their Wild One, the little terror who had kept them constantly on their toes as children? The little sister with fly-away hair they were always chasing after, playing pranks on, protecting from the stupid village boys far too infatuated and far too common for the firecracker that was Gabrielle? Where was the girl they'd sent to America with heavy hearts? The young woman who'd come to visit them, a proud member of the United States Army? This was not the same creature, this somber, quiet, wounded thing before them.

It puzzled the twins and it hurt to see what had become of their sibling, to not understand how it had come about.

"So yer lef 'Aven, dat much is obvious, but why not cum 'um, Riel? Why not tell us yer lived?" Alex's tone was earnest, wanting to understand and Gabrielle felt her will crumbling at hearing it, the walls threatening to be stripped away, something she was terrified of in the same way David was of being noticed, of being the center of everyone's attention. It wasn't something they couldn't overcome, but it was difficult, unpleasant and the Banshee very much did not want to. Somehow she knew she didn't have much of a choice.

"I just needed some time. I...needed to figure out what....how to tell you."

"Tell us waaat, Gabby? You've 'ardly towl us anythin' at al'." Coinn pointed out, his eyes narrowed, trying to solve the puzzle with the limited pieces given and Gabrielle rubbed her free hand, her palm across her jeans, nervous, that same panic threatening to strangle her. Her power sought David's immediately, without hesitation, shaking so hard it almost hurt in a physical way, but the Banshee kept her mind her own, knowing her shields were not strong enough to keep David from the hurt that lurked so deep inside, the memories she'd not wanted him to see, to experience, to know. She didn't want her brothers to know either, but....they were not going to stop, too worried, caring too much and she wouldn't be able to resist them forever.

"Riel, jist tell us."

Alex said the words softly, a coax for speech of her own and Gabrielle would have curled her nails into her palms if she'd known she could get away with it. The pain would have helped to clear her clouded, heavy mind, might have driven the rising memories away. She didn't want to remember. She didn't want to speak. She blurted the words anyway....some of them. Not enough.

"I was captured!"

The twins blinked, startled. "Waaat?" She wasn't even sure which one of them asked, her eyes closing, body tense, radiating stress. Gabrielle spoke carefully. Too carefully as if the words were glass that might shatter if she said them too loud.....or was she made of glass instead?

"When I was M.I.A.. I was captured on a mission. They held me for nine months before I was rescued, by Haven. I spent three months with them before going back to the army."

The silence was heavy, far too heavy before Alex spoke, looking like he might rise, might come to his sister. "Riel-"

"Don't." Gabrielle had opened her eyes and was now rising to a stand, somehow still managing to keep a hold of David's hand. She hadn't let go at all during everything. "I don't want to talk about it. What I want is to go into the kitchen and finish breakfast. I want you both to find your old rooms, unpack and come down those stairs like this conversation never happened. That's what I want."

"Gabby..."

Aqua eyes closed again, struggling for composure. "Just....don't. Please."

The twins watched her then, feeling as if a blow of air might knock their sister over and their eyes moved from her to David, to the hand-hold between them and finally they both rose, Coinn simply leaving the room and then the house, the door nearly slamming behind him, making Gabrielle jump slightly. Alex was quieter in his departure, laying a hand on the Banshee's shoulder before departing as well. He had a twin to calm and they had things to move into the house. They'd accept Gabrielle's terms for the time being. Neither had wish to press for answers anymore today.

--

So you left Haven, that much is obvious, but why not come home, Riel? Why not tell us you lived?

 

[Peregrine]

David felt his heart hammering against his chest, and for one moment he didn't know where the panic was coming from. He grabbed it, trying to still it, but it continued to hammer wildly within his chest. A moment later he felt Gabrielle's power grab onto him, squeezing as though she was hanging over the edge of a precipice, and her grip on him was the only thing that kept her from falling off. Maybe that was more true than he realized.

For a moment, David thought he couldn't breathe. He didn't know how Gabrielle could focus right now, could think, could do anything through the pressure of the emotions that were swelling up inside her. He wanted to grab it, to still it, but Gabrielle didn't even seem to notice his quiet attempt to get her permission to act, and there was no way he would ever do something as invasive as trying to change what she was feeling without her permission. She was too focused on her brothers, and her fear, to notice anything else.

Her brothers. He knew it wasn't really their fault Gabrielle was like this now. There was something hiding within Gabrielle that she wanted to keep secret, and their presence was simply forcing it out of her. But David felt his frustration beginning to build against them anyways. It might not be their fault that Gabrielle had unhappy memories hiding within her, but it was definitely their fault for forcing her to confront them in such a manner, for letting them claw and rip their way out of her instead of allowing her to release them slowly, gently, and without suffering. He blamed them for that, even if he knew Gabrielle didn't, and even if they thought they were only trying to help.

In that moment, as Gabrielle's fright mounted, David felt calm assurance building within him again. He didn't know what he was going to do quite yet, but he would protect Gabrielle from the thoughtless actions of her siblings. It didn't matter what they believed they were doing, it only mattered what they were doing, and what they were doing was hurting their sister. Hurting Gabrielle. He had to...

But he waited too long. Just as he was about to move, about to act, about to jump to his feet and tuck Gabrielle behind him and drive her brothers out onto the porch where they couldn't pin her with those eyes and force her to confront things she wasn't ready to share, the demon that had been ripping its way around her gut finally clawed its way up her throat and burst out of her mouth.

David slumped next to her, eyes dropping once more and shoulders curling back in. This time it wasn't to protect himself, though, but rather an admission of defeat. He'd forced Gabrielle to handle it through his inaction. Even though she didn't want to, even though he could feel the tension radiating from everyone in the room, he hadn't done anything to protect her. He'd waited too long, thought about it too long. He kept his fingers twined with hers as she stood, but some of the strength had left his grip. It was now just enough to make sure that his hand wouldn't slip out of her grasp.

He didn't look back up again until he heard the door out of the house slam. When that happened, he got to his feet slowly. They'd be back, and David knew they wouldn't leave Gabrielle alone, no matter what she asked of them. This was just stalling.

He allowed her to pull him into the kitchen by his fingers. Their breakfast had long since grown cold on the stove, as well as burned to the bottom of the pan. David carefully extracted his had from Gabrielle. They didn't have much time until Coinn and Alex came back, and if he was going to do anything he couldn't hesitate any longer.

He didn't move away. Instead, he stepped up behind her, looping his arms under hers and pulling her back against his chest. It was only at that moment that David realized exactly how much shorter Gabrielle was than him. Her strength had always made her seem so huge in his eyes, but in truth he stood a good half a head over her. He carefully tucked his chin over her shoulder, drawing her in even closer. There was no way for him to protect her completely from her memories. Coinn and Alex were going to come back, and Gabrielle was not going to feel she had any choice but to tell them what had happened.

But maybe, before that conversation began, David could do something to help. Maybe he could help her let her demons go, rather than having them forced out of her. Maybe he could make it painless.

Gabrielle? He reached out to her in that strange, silent, wordless communication that he normally used when they were twined together. They're going to come back. And they'll... Can I help? Will you let me help first?

 

[Kaisaan]

Gabrielle could admit to three separate moments of blind panic, each different than the other, each dealt with differently as well, all in the span of a few moments.

The first came as they entered the kitchen and she took in the state of their food. The panic that came washing over her skin was silly, of course it was, but as Gabrielle stared at the ruined breakfast, the only thing that kept running circles in her thoughts was that her excuse for being here, her escape from her brothers' questions was gone. There was no food to continue cooking, barely even a clean-up and Gabrielle wanted to panic, but the feeling washed away just as soon as it had come, an overwhelmed defeat following....and then David's hand left her own.

The Banshee's eyes snapped away from the burned pan, the ruined meal and to the male she'd been keeping such a careful grip upon, the need within her surging forward, after him in a flare of blind panic so strong she nearly whimpered. Gabrielle forcefully pushed it down, shoved it back, berating herself for the reaction. David was allowed to leave, allowed to separate himself from her problems. She would not force them on him....anymore than she'd already done. Telling herself such, her power shivering and shaking within her, just as badly as her body wanted to, her mind in fragmented pieces, futilely trying to find something to latch on to now that she felt David wanted space, Gabrielle started to move for the now dirty dishes. She needed something to do, something to focus on, something-

And then the third wave of panic hit, so different and strange from the others that it stole her breath even as her back came in contact with David's chest. His arms wrapped securely around her waist, keeping her close, his breath ghosting against her cheek as she was cocooned within his hold, like a jigsaw piece finding its place within the puzzle, completely and perfectly fitted. It was like nothing Gabrielle had ever felt before - it was like being within David's mind, only her body was warming with his heat and her skin flared with goosebumps to feel his heartbeat against her back, so much calmer than her own erratic rate. She froze, for just a moment so uncertain, so unsure of what to think that her mind blanked, her ability to breathe in question, her body caught somewhere between never moving again and tearing itself out of this comforting embrace that could only be so much more than that.

And then David said her name, her full name, like he always did and Gabrielle felt every fear drain away in that small moment, at the sound of his voice, the touch of his spirit against her own.

The Banshee's body nearly melted into his, the tension leaving as her hands rose, covering his own and Gabrielle leaned her head against his, drawing as close as she could, eyes closing as an instinct older than even her power directed her actions. Her mind sank into the tapping power asking for entrance and for the first time she could ever recall since she was a child - and this was far different than even that - Gabrielle released all that she was to another.

David had asked and Gabrielle answered, without words, but with consent. Because she didn't want to hide anymore. What the touch of his power alone had been unable to assure her of - that he wouldn't leave, that she wouldn't have failed him if she told him - his touch added had confirmed. David could have her and once she was his, he would not give her up.

So Gabrielle gave him what he asked for.

I was on a mission four years ago, the leader of my squad, when we were ambushed. They killed two of my unit, but they weren't after the others. They were Gifted, they wanted me and they got me. I tried to fight, but they were always careful to keep me drugged, to make sure I was too fogged to direct my power as they transported me. I think I ended up in North Korea when they finally stopped, but I am not sure even now. They kept me underground, always in the dark, in the cold. I tried, at first, to understand what they wanted with me, but they never said, never explained. They only hurt me. They knew what I was, somehow they did and they knew how to do it, how to make me scream and beg.

-

The world exploded into pain, fiery tongues that licked at her nerves and streaks of agony that caused her body to cry out for relief. Her vision blotched red, blood that ran into her eyes, stinging, unimportant as she thrashed within her restraints, seeking escape, any escape from the torture that came from the figures that stood like dark wraiths around her. Gabrielle screamed as the electricity raced through her yet again, convulsing until it was pulled away and she was allowed, briefly, to breathe, sobbing for every shred of air that entered her burning lungs.

"S-st-stop....st-stop..." The words were barely there, hoarse, raw, desperate and one of the shadowy figures above her responded without the least bit of passion of any kind, whether of anger or pleasure, readying the electricity once more. Calm and steady, practiced.

"Make me, Banshee."

The pain made her vision go white yet again as Gabrielle shrieked.

-

They tortured me, sometimes for days, sometimes not for weeks, but they always came back. They drugged me when I thought maybe I could fight, but over time I was too weak to even try. I know they were monitoring me, any time my power rose or fell. They took my blood, worked me over with agony to make me react. I don't know what they thought to accomplish. All I knew was I wanted to die.

-

Hurt. Every breath hurt. Every shift of her body sending a new flood of agony across her nerves. Somehow her frame had not adapted, was no more able to stand the pain now than it had been five months before. It was always new, always foreign, always effective. Her body cried out at the new abuse and yet old wounds ached in sharp protest to weight upon them, to being ignored and Gabrielle simply wanted to curl so tightly into herself that nothing could make her unfold again. To wrap a wall so tight around herself that no one would be able to stab at the soft, vulnerable part of her inside ever again.

It was a futile wish, nothing but the desperate plea of a scared little girl.

Her cell door opened and the Banshee tried to make herself small against the wall, some part of her almost convinced that if she got small enough, she could disappear into the floor and they wouldn't find her. Rough hands on her body, lifting her, broke that helpless spell and Gabrielle gave a hoarse sob, her struggles weak, useless as she was brought into the room she hated and feared so very much.

The Banshee didn't plead, didn't speak. It was useless and she'd long grown mute to true words, only the pained sobs and whimpers coming now as she closed her eyes and prayed for it all to end. And then there were only the screams as the electricity arced through her body once more.

-

They had me for nine months before Haven rescued me. I don't know how they found me, though, they said it was coincidence. They told me one of their own had been taken and they'd found me there, too. Their own person was fine, only having gotten a beating, rescued early. I was much worse off. Death came to me often in those first two months of recovery, but each time I would not let Him take me. I don't know why I fought so hard when I had only wished for His presence when I was in that place, but I lived.

 

[Peregrine]

David entered quietly, carefully, willingly, into the dark places of Gabrielle's mind she had kept locked away for so long. He entered there, twined with Gabrielle, hand in hand, neither leading nor following, but moving together. They ventured forward, no quicker than she was ready for, but not slowly, either. Not hesitantly.

David didn't try and do anything to the pain within Gabrielle, not in the way he might have with fear. Even if he could have done something about the memories, about the physical traces of that torture that still lingered within her body even though all the scars were gone, that wasn't what he was here for. He wasn't here to erase Gabrielle's demons, he was here to help her face them, and, if he could, help her then let them go, so that they didn't need to weigh on her soul anymore. What he could help her do, though, was to face these memories without fear. Without fear of the memories themselves, these nightmare figures that haunted her dreams, but also without fear of what those around her might think of her when she finally let them take a peek into what she considered the worst part of her. He took everything she gave him, every memory, every moment of self-hatred and disgust, quietly, politely, but completely. He listened to her story without judging her, without making assumptions, or trying to analyze what she meant, or find a way to fix it. He simply listened.

Even though he knew this moment was about Gabrielle, about helping her release her monsters, he couldn't help but look at her story and compare it to his, in those silent moments when they walked through the dark spaces between thoughts and memories. Gabrielle might have worried that David had judged her for her weakness, but how could he, when he had done the same thing for fifteen years. He knew that impotency, knew it so well it felt like a fist to the solar plexus to see it here inside of her. He knew that fear, that pain, that desperation. He also knew what it was to be unable to act on it.

Nine months. What he would have given to have his captivity, his torture, only last for nine months. But, no, this was neither the time nor the place for such considerations. There was no undoing the past for either of them. There was simply facing it and moving forward.

I'm right here, Gabrielle. He didn't tell her that it was okay, or that this would make it all better. He didn't know that. But he knew she needed this. That was all that mattered, and he was here for her. Let's keep going.

Somewhere in the middle of these memories, as they worked their way through Gabrielle's torment, Coinn and Alex returned with their belongings. They both halted at the doorway at the sight of Gabrielle, limp in David's arms. A part of David's power, unconsciously directed as his mind kept itself fully immersed in Gabrielle's story, moved out to the indefinite line that separated kitchen and living room. In that silent moment of perfect freedom it grabbed energy from everywhere, from the pilot flame in the stove, and the electricity humming through the walls, and the wind racing by outside the building, and the very heat of the air, to create a perfect wall of separation. It was not a weave of power, something that could be sensed by the gifted. It was like the perfect pane of glass, as undetectable as it was impenetrable. No sound or stray drifts of power would cross that threshold. Should either brother try and disobey their sister's request and enter into the kitchen they would find themselves stopped. Not roughly, like running into something, but gently, like the transition between waking and sleeping. They wouldn't notice they had slowed until they stopped.

 

[Kaisaan]

Under David's steadfast assurance and calm voice, Gabrielle moved forward again, the fear unable to touch her with his presence swirling around, keeping it at bay. The memories were like scenes from a horror movie, gruesome and terrifying, but also as if they were happening to someone else, not affecting her at all. They were difficult to watch, but David's hand was in her own, his power curled around and within hers, and she was safe from the past that had hurt her so very much. Knowing that, knowing she was secure in his arms, Gabrielle did as he asked.

My mind was damaged badly and I didn't see Haven as helpers but another kind of captor. Maybe they were. I was so crazed with fear and paranoia that I couldn't have recognized a friend if I had one. And Thomas certainly was not one. He was there, during my recovery, trying to make me talk, encouraging me to train again, to trust him.

He scared me and he always told me I couldn't leave yet when I expressed desire to, saying I wasn't stable enough. In the end I panicked and I tried to leave anyway. They tried to stop me and I killed twenty-three people in my escape from them. There were innocents among them, but I couldn't recognize that. I only saw enemies.

-

Blood.

There was so much blood. So many screams and they echoed in her ears, compounding upon each other, heightening her panic and fear, her power swirling beyond her control, intent on destroying any threat, granting death to all without discrimination. All life was attacked, taken in and extinguished, given over to Death who so faithfully waited, devouring all the Banshee delivered.

She needed to get out!

A hand touched her, just in passing, one of many that day only making contact on accident in a desire to escape her and Gabrielle lashed out without thought with a screech. The young woman didn't even have time to scream, dropping to the ground, dead and her unborn child with her. Gabrielle saw them, somehow she did, but their deaths didn't register, would not do so until she was far from this place.

Then she would recall what she'd done, understand it. Then she would know the monster she'd become, but now.....for now escape was all that mattered as she made her made dash for the surface, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake.

-

I spent three months in Haven before getting away and when I did, I went back to America, to my apartment. I tried to take care of myself, but I couldn't. I saw an enemy in every face and danger where there was none. I was scared to sleep, scared to go anywhere and I turned to Averien to make sure I didn't have to be vulnerable. It worked, for just a little while and I contacted my father to let him know I was all right. He checked up on me regularly after that, but I only got worse.

I'd nearly killed myself with the drug before he stopped it and weaned me off of it. He got me to a therapist after that and the army took care of the rest, medical bills and evaluations after they realized I was no longer M.I.A.. I recovered after a year and was reinstated back with my unit. It was only a short time later that I was assigned the mission to the Facility.

I lost my unit there. I failed them again, but I found you.

She had found him and Gabrielle could not regret that. The very thought that in some version of the future she wasn't here, with him, close and warm and safe, was unthinkable to the Banshee and her arms tightened about his own, her face turning, nose nuzzling into his neck without thought at all. She was completely unaware of her brothers, that they watched, David's shield doing its work well.

Coinn looked like he wanted to move forward, to say something, rather surprise and unsure by the affection his sister was displaying for someone they did not know, but Alex set a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. The younger twin could not sense David's power, of course, but he could see something was happening nonetheless, something important.

They'd already caused their sister distress today. Let this David see if he could mend some of it.

 

[Peregrine]

Her story finished slowly, poignantly, but it was not completed with the same distressed apathy David had shown when he had finally revealed a part of his own story to Gabrielle in the training room of Haven. No, this was a natural release, a true sharing of her past, not done through force or fear. He certainly couldn't blame her for her past. Not when it felt so similar to his own. They were both wounded beasts. Blood stained both of their souls. The only difference was Gabrielle's sin had been born through action, while David's had originated from inaction.

It's okay, Gabrielle. He whispered faintly. I know it doesn't feel like it, I know it might never feel like it, but it is okay. No pasts are clean. Mine is just as marred as yours.

He pulled her gently, away from her own dark memories, and they walked in the other direction, towards David's own memories, his own torment. As much as he didn't want to think about it, he knew he needed to. For Gabrielle. Maybe, if she saw everything that rested deep inside of him, maybe if she still considered him light, good, then she would finally be able to forgive herself for her own mistakes.

Dahnov found me in a hospital. I was... I was the only survivor of an unexplained and unclaimed bombing of an American base just on the border of Russia. It was where I'd been born, where my little sister was born, where my mother and father lived. It was where they all died, too.

-

The shaking didn't wake him in time. It wasn't until the first piece of the roof caved in that David finally shot up in his bed, panting, a scream of terror balanced on the edge of his lips. He rolled off the edge of his bed, just as his mother had drilled into him, and crawled underneath his bed, waiting for one of his parents to come, to find him. It was only when he heard the scream from his little sister in the next room over that he vacated his hiding spot. Anastasia was still so small for her age, and he loved her so much. He would do anything for her, even brave the ruins of a house being bombed.

She lay collapsed in the middle of the floor, and he didn't see the pool of blood around her. She flopped limply as he vigorously shook her shoulder, before he finally succeeded in rolling her over. She flopped onto her back, arms bent into an unnatural position, glassy eyes staring towards the sky and a streak of blood on the side of her head. "Asya. Asya!" He couldn't breathe, couldn't think, and it didn't even occur to him to run as more of the house fell around him.

-

A rescue team found me. They thought I was going to die any minute, that it was a miracle I was still alive. But I didn't die. Eventually they moved me out of the ruins of the base, took me to a hospital. No one thought I would be able to survive, but that was my gift. I couldn't manifest it, but as long as I wasn't actively killed by something, as long as I wasn't dead, I would take energy from the world around me, and live, and slowly heal. I did heal. The blow to my head. My shattered spine. Word of the my "miracle" began to spread, and that's when Dahnov heard of me. It was a small matter for him to come collect me once I woke. I didn't have any family anymore. Those were always his favorite kind of children.

-

David thought the Facility, as he had been told to call it, felt a lot like a hospital. When he asked the tall, lean, dark haired man sitting next to him why he was being moved to a new hospital the man simply smiled and said that this was a place that would be better suited to caring for him. There were other children there, ten or twelve of them, some older, some younger. David didn't understand why they were so quiet. His friends had never been this quiet. His little sister certainly had never been so quiet. He asked when he'd get to see them again, his family. He had been sad when they hadn't been there in the hospital with him. The doctor gave him a sidelong look, and he was not yet astute enough to see the sorrow that lingered in the gaze. Quite soon, I'm sure, he said.

-

For a time I lived with the other children. It didn't take me very long to figure out this was not the kind of place I wanted to be. Each of the children would go away for a little while, and when they came back they would feel... odd. There would be a strange light to their eyes. Sometimes they wouldn't be able to walk in a straight line anymore. Sometimes their power (I wonder why I never considered it odd that none of the children there were normal, when I had never even known I had a gift before) would escape their control, and would roar through the Facility, wild and strong and impossible to control. Sometimes that strength would kill them. We, the other children, would always try and help when something like that happened. It was all we could do. I think we all dreamed of escape, but we all knew it was impossible. Those who tried came back just long enough for us to see what Dahnov's power had done to them.

Dahnov never had much interest in me, in the beginning. I think he collected me because he could, more than because he had any specific desire to do something with me. He focused most of his attention on the children with abilities that could attack, could harm. Fire was his favorite in particular, but any elemental ability earned his attention. I was too passive for his tastes. My power never activated unless I was wounded. But eventually he came up with a new use for me. That's when I finally learned exactly what his power could do.

-

David had never seen Dahnov more mad than he had been that day. The sound of breaking glass was the first thing to herald it. Dahnov never broke anything. He was careful and cool and meticulous. No one would ever even dream of applying the word clumsy to him. We all knew what had happened, and cowered in the back of the white cell. It had been Kazir, an Arabic child with the ability to control fire. Dahnov's experiments on him had been going well. Very well. Kazir had shown us what Dahnov had done only a couple days before, how he could fill an entire room with fire without even breaking a sweat, how he could turn that fire into hellbeasts, who would roam unbidden, completing his will. He had been so excited, so willing. He hadn't seen what had happened when Dahnov failed. We tried to warn him. He wouldn't listen. He was too excited, dreaming of the day he'd be able to show his older brother, his hated older brother who had always mocked him and looked down on him, what he could do. Now he would never come back.

-

Normally Dahnov's colleagues were able to calm him down quickly after a failure. It wasn't until one of them screamed that we began to fear for ourselves. We had good reason. One by one, over the next couple days, everyone vanished. Everyone except me. He burned through them, desperate to try and recreate what he had done to Kazir. It was only when he got to me that he paused, and a new idea seemed to come to him. He took me, separated me from the others. Two months later, after meticulous care on his part, he had created another promising child. Another one who seemed close to having Dahnov's mutations to her power be permanent, who was about to tip over the edge. Her name was Sonya, she'd been there for six months, and I loved her.

-

The scientists came for him that day, lifting him kicking and screaming out of the little room where he had been sequestered. He didn't know what was going on, but he didn't like it. So he did his best to fight the larger, stronger men as they carried him down the hallway, into a room. Sonya was strapped to the table, her head firmly held in place with a strap, her blue eyes wide and terrified. She looked at him, and her lips formed his name. David. He tried to yell at her, to tell her to be strong, but he was slammed against another table, strapped down so that he could not move an inch, and left there. He couldn't see her anymore, but he could hear her ragged breathing. He could hear her trying to scream through the gag in her mouth. And then Dahnov was over him, standing with a knife in hand.

His power and his knife moved in tandem, slicing into David, even as he grabbed David's power and pulled it until it ripped. In the gap in his power, in the space of the wound that was drawing in energy to heal, Dahnov grabbed Sonya's power, and pulled, feeding it into the gap. David's power took it in willingly for the healing process, mingled it with his own, and for one moment he felt Sonya there, warm and bright. But then another cut was rent through his body, another piece of her power was torn away from her and fed to him. David lost track of time, lost track of what was happening, in the blur of pain and Sonya's screams. It continued until Sonya's light went out. And then everything was black.

-

Her power... it stayed with me. Dahnov tried to draw it out, tried to see if it had worked. He wanted it to work, so bad. For one month I got his exclusive attention, and he looked for any way to force me to release something, and studied me with his power, looking for any hint that Sonya still swelled there. I was young, I didn't understand what had happened. I thought she had come into me willingly, looking for protection. I thought, if I didn't let Dahnov see her, I'd be able to... spit her back out, and then she'd be there again. So I protected her. I didn't let him see her, didn't let him see any trace of her.

Dahnov didn't get mad. He knew he'd been going to lose her anyways. He knew that her power had gone into me, but he thought maybe it just hadn't been enough, that the traces had been too small for him to detect. Two weeks later, he did it again. And then again after that. If he could catch the child just before their power completely failed, he brought me in, forced their power into mine, and then would spend the next several days testing me.

After the tenth child, I began to realize that I wasn't protecting them, that it wasn't voluntary, and that they were gone. They had been killed, to put their power in me. And I swore I'd never let him win, I'd never let him see it could work. I never touched that power, except for once.

-

David was 17, long and thin and lanky with growth. He lay in the quiet room, and for the first time in years felt completely alone, completely unobserved. He thought of Sonya, the bright, wild-eyed child he had believed he loved. He thought of his belief, his foolish belief, that she had been stored safely inside of him. He wasn't even able to tell the powers inside him apart anymore. They had all blurred together, even that which he had once considered his own. All that was left was this monstrous amalgamation. He'd never touched it, never even so much as glanced at it, in fear that Dahnov might see it, might sense it, and that all this time, all his trials, all the deaths, would have been in vain.

But sorrow swelled within him, and he touched his own power gently, luring it out of hiding. And it grew, and grew. In that moment, his head thrown back, body arching under the strain, everything in the Facility felt so tiny. So immaterial. He could do something. He could do anything. He could...

The sound of booted feet on the hallway brought him back down, and he hurriedly shoved the power away. He couldn't let anyone see. He couldn't do anything.

-

I could have escaped then. I know I could have. But I didn't. And for nine more years the deaths piled up. Piled up on top of me. Piled up inside of me. And I did nothing. Even though I could have. Even though I should have.

That is what makes up this power that the people of Haven wanted to worship. The lives and abilities of mutilated, abused children.

David felt himself, his power, unconsciously starting to pull back from Gabrielle, as though now that she knew what it was, where it had come from, the feeling of being wrapped inside it would be as welcome as being wrapped in a blanket made of pus. But he stayed close, forcing himself to remain there. She had shared her darkest parts, and stayed for judgement. He could do the same.

 

[Kaisaan]

Gabrielle could not say there wasn't a part of her that was....relieved to hear about David's past, to know it was just as horrific as hers albeit in a different way. There was relief, she would admit that, but more than that there was an ache within the soldier, a desire to soothe the hurt that radiated from David and rather than shy away, she reached out to his power, to the man himself as he backed away, grabbing hold with patient, gentle persistence, drawing him back to her. Perhaps it was wrong, maybe she should have pulled back, kept distance between them. Any sane, wise person would have done so, but then....she deserved the very same reaction herself. Yet it was not a desperate need to be accepted, to justify her own actions by accepting his that urged Gabrielle's decisions onward, but a genuine care for David that had grown within her, unchecked, unassuming until this moment.

Now it was a fierce thing, but so incredibly considerate with him as the Banshee's power, her aura wrapped around him just as much as he did with her, the two becoming one as Gabrielle soothed the fear, the pain within the male with calm touches and warm surges of affection and understanding. And she did understand, he should know that now.

It wasn't just words, empty and well-meaning. Gabrielle did understand. Her victims, those she'd killed lingered with her, a jumbled mess within her spirit that she strove to ignore even as she was desperate to make up for their deaths, the crimes she'd committed. She understood what it was to regret your actions so deeply that it could cripple at times, what it was like to carry around the weight of the dead, the horrors of unspeakable acts. She knew and she didn't push David away upon hearing his confession, but drew nearer to him.

Gabrielle held him, just as he'd held her and she felt, for perhaps the first time, that there might be some hope at the end of all this. Perhaps she could face this.

Blue strands of power sidled up to gold, letting David's power play with her own as it would, accepting being pulled apart and put back together again, trusting anything the gold desired, whispering words of comfort in a language only two powers could understand. And Gabrielle spoke to David, to his aura with her own, gentle and soft, forgiving and fierce.

You will find no judgement from me, David. We all have our darkness, our mistakes. I have known something for a long time even as I have not dared to believe it until now, but I say it to you in sureness of its truth; our pasts do not have to define our futures, not if we don't let them, if we learn from them and strive for better.

Gabrielle, in the kitchen and in accordance with her next words, nuzzled into David's neck again, breathing him in. One hand rose from the ones wrapped around her waist, instinctively finding his neck, sliding into the hair at the nape, gently carding through it in a gesture both comforting and intimate in a way neither seemed truly conscious of just yet. The twins, still watching.....saw it for exactly what it was and wondered.

If you can forgive me then I can do the same for you, David, and perhaps if we help each other, we can learn to forgive ourselves. It was only a whisper before Gabrielle's presence curled close to David's, offering comfort, receiving it. Needing it. Needing him just as she'd understood since that first moment of meeting, the feeling only growing stronger and more sure the more time passed. If David suddenly decided he didn't want her anymore...Gabrielle didn't know what would happen, what she would do. It was a dangerous position to be in, but she hardly thought of the risks, only following the instinct that told her to stay close to David....but in a far more powerful way that those of Haven had felt. She didn't need to worship David's power, nor did she feel the need to play sycophant to him. It was something deeper, different that they shared and Gabrielle didn't feel threatened by the others who had come into David's power for a time, who'd become a part of the whole.

They'd left.

She hadn't and David's power hadn't made her like it had the others.

Gabrielle smiled inwardly, just a little at the thought, the darkness around seeming to lighten, to not appear so thick anymore, so suffocating. Perhaps now...she could begin healing. I am here, David. I will always be here and nothing will take me from you. I promise.

 

[Peregrine]

Learn to forgive themselves. It seemed like a wild idea, an utterly foreign concept, but a part of him desperately wanted to believe it was true. A part of him longed to be released from the torment of bearing the weight of his sin. A part of him said it would never happen.

But it didn't really matter in that moment. He didn't need to think so hard about it, to overanalyze it or dissect it. He didn't need to do anything right now, except stand there, and feel the warmth of Gabrielle pressed in tight against his chest, the humid tingling of her breath against his neck, the feel of her hand resting on the back of his head, and the presence of her power, circling around him, entwined with him. They were right here, in this moment, together, and it felt right. Unconsciously his power played with hers, polite and innocent in its actions, in motions that somehow felt more familiar than walking. More familiar, even, than breathing. In that moment, perhaps for the first time, they were truly together, nothing to hide, nothing to keep secret, nothin to withhold out of some fear of rejection, or worry about what it might mean. They were simply present, and together. For right now, that was enough.

Of course, it could not last. Just like that peaceful time before her brothers had knocked on the door had come to an end, this moment eventually had to come to an end, too. But this time, David did not begrudge its passing. Their arrival may have shattered one sort of peace, but it had brought them to this moment. Now this moment would have to end as well, and they would move on to another. There was no safety in stagnation. As much as he might wish to stay, as they might wish to stay, in this moment, this sweet closeness, they couldn't.

He slowly became aware, consciously, of the brothers standing out in the living room, and as that happened the shield he had unconsciously created to protect the kitchen space began to dissipate. A gentle breeze wafted in through the door Coinn and Alex had left open, stirring the hem of David's shirt, and Gabrielle's hair. For a moment he lingered longer, his grip around Gabrielle tightening in a brief squeeze, before he began to release her. Gently, slowly, as his fingers untwined and slowly slipped from around her waist, his power began to delicately untangle from her own.

Your brothers... A part of him wanted to know what she was going to tell them, about him, about them, about everything, so that he could prepare for it. The desire trailed off only a few moments after it was realized, and he shook his head. There was no hiding anymore. Not after Haven. He would have to learn to accept it.

Of course, he knew this courage would fade, this strength of will and character that only ever seemed to arise from his nearness to Gabrielle, and then he might regret not knowing. Then he might fear not knowing, as much as he feared being known. But for right now they were still close, and he was still strong. So instead, he simply finished with: I think they are waiting.

 

[Kaisaan]

She didn't want to let him go, not her power and not her body, but at David's words, Gabrielle knew it was necessary and she came slowly back to herself, back to the present, back to sensations and noises, back to a world where David wasn't the sun and she the earth, circling happily around him, content to soak in the warmth he provided. The Banshee blinked slowly, letting her hand slip away from his hair, her head turning away from his scent and she felt keenly the absence of David's arms around her, almost a painful thing as his departing body left cold in its place, but she knew he wasn't truly gone, the power that still remained within her, replacing her missing pieces that clung to him, quietly soothing the sense of abandonment that sprang up, calming it down so that she could think again.

Think of her brothers who even now stood outside the kitchen, watching, trying to understand.

Gabrielle wasn't sure she could explain it to them in a way they would comprehend, knowing it herself in a more instinctual manner than anything else. Logically.....she couldn't have given a title to just what or who David was to her, but when they were wrapped up in each other as they'd been, such things didn't matter.

They still didn't....even as they soon would.

Aqua eyes turned to look at David even as Gabrielle's body twisted around and simply seeing him, seeing how calm he was settled her as well so that she smiled just a little before looking toward the twins who were only now entering the kitchen, sensing that now they could. They studied their sister first, Alex more than Coinn, the elder brother taking far more interest in David. It was rather clear that he felt protective of his sister as he came to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder, never looking away from the other male.

Coinn didn't speak, seeming very unable to decide on his words or the topic they would take, and it was Alex, much calmer of the two who broached conversation, his eyes flickering between Gabrielle and David equally. "We did not mean ter distress yer, Riel, nor yisser....friend. If yer wish not ter spake, we 'ill respect dat." He seemed to understand, in a way, that whatever had happened, they were at fault for it and such didn't sit well with Alex.

Gabrielle sighed, but shook herself out of the state she wanted to fall back into, with David, and instead forced herself back into the real world with all its complications. This time, though, she felt as if she might be able to face it, not nearly as skittish as she'd been upon first seeing her siblings. When she spoke this time, it was steadily, aiming to soothing her brothers' worry.

"I am all right now, Alex. I just wasn't prepared for all your questions. It has been difficult for me the past few years and I will tell you what you wish to know, I just needed to find some footing first and David has helped with that."

Coinn looked like he wanted to speak in that moment, his eyes still firmly on David, now narrowing just slightly, but Alex gave his brother a warning look, speaking again so that his twin would not. "We are glad ter 'ear it, wee sister. Coinn an' oi 'ill see ter our room an' den join yer for breakfast. Yer can explain things ter us den, al' roi?"

Gabrielle gave a nod, feeling some relief for the plan, that she would get a few more minutes to truly came back to herself and her blue-green eyes looked to Coinn, feeling his hand tighten on her shoulder. Her gaze seemed to break him out of his thoughts and he gave her a smile, strained though it was, before nodding and moving away as Alex did. He didn't look back to his sister, but did regard David once more, not quite hostile, but far from friendly, too. Guarded, weighing were more apt descriptions and Alex nudged him in the shoulder as they left, the brothers voices starting as they ascended the stairs, but the words lost to those in the kitchen.

The Banshee took a deep breath in their absence and released it slowly, looking to David with something between reassurance and....well, something almost shy. "Want to help me? We'll try not to burn it this time, yes?"

 

[Peregrine]

David felt his little bit of courage quickly withering under the weight of Coinn's look. He couldn't say he'd faced many looks like that in the past, if any, and he couldn't exactly figure out its significance, but he knew he didn't like being scrutinized now any more than he ever had in the past. His shoulders slumped back down, and he seemed to shrink in on himself, as though that might somehow protect him from attention. At only one point did he risk glancing up, as Alex and Coinn were making their way out of the kitchen, but his movement came just in time to catch Coinn's final moment of regard, and his eyes dropped again almost as soon as they had looked up.

He did not glance about, or respond to Gabrielle's gentle prompting, until the sound of their footsteps had vanished as they crested the top of the stairs. Finally, he did look up, letting out a short, relieved breath of his own. He nodded careful agreement, before making his way over to the fridge to collect a few more potatoes and eggs. Bringing them over to the counter he quietly considered the pile, before adding another potato and another two eggs to the collection. They were feeding four now, not two. Did that mean they'd need exactly double or....? He'd let Gabrielle figure out the specifics.

For a short while they cooked in silence, standing shoulder to shoulder near the stove, occasionally bumping together but mostly just standing in that quiet space of proximity that sent a tingle up his arm whenever she shifted slightly. He watched the egg white slowly darken in the pan as it absorbed the heat from the stove while trying to pay attention to dicing the potatoes, and wondered if Gabrielle was spending as much time as he was with his ears trained to the top of the stairs, waiting for the telltale signs that Gabrielle's brothers were returning, and silently dreading it at the same time.

After dumping one meticulously cubed potato into the pan, David turned to glance at Gabrielle. He stared at her quietly for a moment, watching the way a strand of hair curled along the edge of her cheek, before finally building up enough resolve to actually speak. "I don't..." he hesitated, turning back to the cutting board. It wasn't so much that he feared looking into Gabrielle's eyes as it was he thought he might get distracted in their depths, and choose not to say the words that were perched on the edge of his lips. "I don't think Coinn likes me very much," he finally managed.

 

[Kaisaan]

The silence would have been too loud, too overwhelming with anyone else, but not with David. It wasn't oppressing or stifling, but rather peaceful, soothing for the Banshee as she focused on cooking, and yet was constantly aware of the man beside her in a new kind of way that had yet to happen during their time together. It wasn't alarming, though....merely charged, like an electric current flowing through the air, around them and through them, connecting, but unseen. It sparked when they touched, when their eyes happened to catch for just a moment before looking away again and Gabrielle felt her stomach flop each time it occurred, but the sensation wasn't unpleasant.

Only new. Only different. Only unexpected.

She wasn't sure where it had come from - or did she already know and just wasn't ready to admit it? - but felt as if she was allowed to take a breath unhindered by the strong energy that encompassed her thoughts when David spoke. The spell broke and with it went some form of nervousness Gabrielle hadn't been aware she felt, released in the form of soft laughter at the male's observation. There was genuine amusement in the sound as well, and the Banshee slid a batch of the eggs off the pan and onto a plate before looking directly at David, watching him as he'd watched her.

"Coinn doesn't know you and that is where the problem stems from, not dislike of you."

Gabrielle reached out, stopping David's motion and she gently turned him more toward her, hand raising to palm his jawline, her thumb brushing soothingly against his cheek. He had helped to steady her and she would do the same now, aqua eyes holding his darker gaze with a smile in their depths. "My brother is only protective, both of them are, though Coinn is much more intense about it. He always has been. He doesn't want to see me hurt and as soon as he realizes you mean me no harm, he will relax. Just continue to be you and he'll come around. I promise he's not going to do anything stupid and he certainly is not going to hurt me, all right?"

The sound of approaching footsteps had the Banshee sliding her hand away from David, not quickly or rushed, but soon enough so that the twins didn't see it when they entered the kitchen again. Turning back to the stove, Gabrielle spoke over her shoulder. "Make yourselves useful and set the table."

Coinn snorted and Alex rolled his eyes, but went to the cabinet that held the plates. "Aye, ma."

The Banshee watched out of the corner of her eye how Coinn looked at David, studying, intense as she'd described him and then how Alex elbowed his twin for what had to have been the thousandth time in their life and the elder brother reoriented his focus to the silverware. Gabrielle smiled to herself and glanced at David, very purposefully bumping her shoulder against his own, her eyes promising everything would be all right before she turned back to the food, nearly done.

 

[Peregrine]

David met her gaze quietly, steadying himself in their familiar color, and told himself to relax. Gabrielle wouldn't lie to him, he knew that, and he quieted the niggling doubt that said there wasn't much difference between distrust and dislike. If she was that easy and confident in saying that Coinn's reaction to him wasn't something to worry about, and it would change soon enough, he would simply have to believe her. He held her eyes for a moment longer before nodding slightly. As soon as she released him, he turned back to the potatoes.

The reassurances Gabrielle had offered him didn't do much to make him more comfortable with the way Coinn's eyes immediately locked upon him again the moment the man entered the room, and how it seemed like, every time he glanced up, those intense eyes were pinned on him once more. He told himself not to look up, to just focus on the potatoes until it was time to sit down at the table, but even that didn't help. He could still feel the weight of the man's eyes, his suspicion, rooted on the top of his head, as though he'd be able to see inside David if he stared long enough.

Gabrielle's shoulder nudged against him, and he glanced up momentarily, trying to gather some confidence from the warm hue of her eyes. It didn't work perfectly, but it did give him the strength to not glance at Coinn again until they had finished cooking. By now the kitchen was full of the smell of eggs and potatoes, and it would have smelled remarkably appetizing if it wasn't for the nerves in his stomach. He wondered if he was going to be able to eat at all.

It was hard to release his knife, drop both it and the cutting board in the sink to be washed later, and follow Gabrielle over to the dining table. Both of Gabrielle's brothers were watching him. Well, him and Gabrielle. Maybe mostly her. But, standing so close together, it still felt as though all the weight of their eyes was on him. David tried to remind himself to relax. It didn't work.

He focused on his plate when he finally sat down as intensely as he'd focused on the potatoes before, not wanting to look up. This was going to be a very, very long meal. And who knew how long they'd stay after that.

 

[Kaisaan]

Everyone was seated rather quickly....and then no one seemed willing to move. The silence was not quite tense, but certainly nervous and Gabrielle looked at each male around the table before giving her eyes just the slightest of rolls and addressing her brothers with a raised brow. "Are you two going to get the food yourselves or do I need to spoon feed you?"

Her brothers blinked, startled and then both gave her a grin, identical expressions before they reached forward to start putting food on their plates. The ice was broken with the motion and Gabrielle smiled to herself before looking to David, reaching under the table to find his knee. She gave a gentle squeeze, enough to let him know she was there before starting to pull away, unsure if he'd want her contact to stay. Her gaze went back to her siblings, watching as they started to eat and instead of waiting for them to bring up the topic of conversation, she spoke before they could. It would be easier to direct the topics if she led with one from the beginning.

"How is mama?"

"Grievin'." Coinn didn't really spit the word out, but it was direct and he looked up from beneath his brows at his sister. "We got de news dat yer were dead jist two weeks ago. She didn't take it well an' den, jist a few days ago, Gramama said she felt a surge av power from dis place an' we dared ter 'ope. We wouldn't let mama cum, though. It wud 'av broken 'er if yer 'adn't been 'ere."

Gabrielle knew the words were not meant to hurt, but they did, causing a harsh ache in her chest. She'd known what keeping David safe had entailed, had known what she was risking when allowed the army to think she was dead, but being confronted with it...that was different. It was more real, difficult and she took a slow breath before nodding, picking at her food. She suddenly wasn't all that hungry either.

"I didn't...I didn't mean to hurt her or you, anyone. I just...needed to keep David safe."

Coinn opened his mouth to speak, but Alex silenced him with a touch on the arm, speaking instead and probably for good reason, far calmer of the two brothers and more stable in his emotions after finding out his sister was alive. "Riel, we nu dat yer 'ad a reason for waaat yer did, but we don't understan' it." The wordless question, plea even, for her to explain was present and Gabrielle glanced at David, knowing he was anything but comfortable. She wanted to reassure him that everything would all right, but truthfully felt nervous herself and when she looked back at her brothers, the Banshee took a breath and started to speak.

The story came haltingly at first, but then more easily as the memories came back and her tongue started to loosen. She told them most of what had happened - not every single detail, not every emotions, every moment shared with David and certainly nothing he'd revealed to her here in the kitchen - but she told them far more than she'd told anyone else.....including what David could do. It was a decision not made lightly, but if there was anyone they could trust, it was her brothers. She brought the story all the way up to the present and afterward there was more silence, but her brothers had finished their food and both were processing what they'd been told, Coinn's arms crossed and Alex with his elbows on the table, his hands clasped together. The elder twin was watching his sister and for once the younger was focused on David, but unlike Coinn, Alex's gaze was far less judgmental, piercing in its own way, but hardly unfriendly.

"Oi 'av never 'eard av a Gift dat powerful. It must weigh 'eavily on yer." He said nothing more, not yet and it was Coinn who filled the lack of his twin's continued words his eyes finally flickering to David, studying, but finally less calculating, perhaps softer. "Gabby is alive cos av yer. Me brah'der an' oi 'ill keep silent aboyt waaat we nu an' me family 'ill 'elp yer in any way we can. If Gabrielle says yer are worth protectin' den yer are an' we 'ill protect yer, too."

--

We got the news that you were dead just two weeks ago. She didn't take it well and then, just a few days ago, Gramama said she felt a surge of power from this place and we dared to hope. We wouldn't let mama come, though. It would have broken her if you hadn't been here.

Gabby is alive because of you. My brother and I will keep silent about what we know and my family will help you in any way we can. If Gabrielle says you are worth protecting then you are and we will protect you, too.

 

[Peregrine]

That moment, sitting there in the kitchen and not moving, not leaving, not begging Gabrielle with silent eyes to halt her story... their story... it very well might have been the hardest thing David ever had to do in his entire life. Later he would think back on it and realize that maybe it wasn't as difficult as it had felt in the moment. After all, it hadn't truly required anything other than simply sitting there. He didn't need to move, he didn't need to work. All he had to do was keep himself still, keep himself silent, close his eyes and try not to puke from the way his insides seemed to be crawling around his guts.

Yet, in the moment, doing nothing felt like the greatest challenge in the world. It felt as though he was betraying himself, betraying everything he had tried to protect for so long. Even sitting there, continually reminding himself that it was no longer a secret, that everyone in Haven had seen, had experienced, exactly what he was capable of, it still felt as though he was giving away some secret that was not meant to be shared. Maybe it had to do with the fact that it was being spoken aloud. At every point before this, the revelation had come from his actions. In those moments he had felt brave, felt ready to take on the world and anything that might turn against him. When that bravery had faded, he had been able to pretend that... what? It hadn't happened? Maybe.

But now it was all being laid out in front of him in plain words. And that was so, so much worse.

He focused on his food, finishing his plate long before either of the two members of the table. When it was empty he still continued to stare at the dirty disk, pushing scraps of slimy, half-melted cheese around with one of the tongs of his fork. He didn't look at anyone, didn't speak. More than a couple times he considered simply dropping away, and letting the conversation finish without him having to be there. He wasn't able to identify why he didn't make that choice. Maybe it was because he thought Gabrielle would be disappointed if that was his choice.

He knew she wanted him to get along with her brothers. They were, after all, her family. David, however, could not get Coinn's wild, intense look out of his head. Even now, although Gabrielle was speaking and both of their eyes should have been trained on her, David could still feel the weight of that gaze, a lingering shadow upon the crown of his head.

As much as he might try and distract himself, David noticed the instant Gabrielle finished speaking. He didn't lift his head, didn't move at all. To any other observers, it might appear that there was no change in him at all. But the tension inside of him still built as he waited for whatever was to come. Whatever these words, this truth would provoke.

Finally, the reaction came.

We will protect you, too.

In that moment he was suddenly and unexpectedly reminded of the past, and the dining room was no longer a room, but the front seats of a dark SUV. The faces in front of him no longer belonged to two young men, but rather to a short, wild, blonde haired woman, a face that then had meant nothing to him, but now was so intimately familiar. They would protect him, just like Gabrielle would. If they held to their promise half as well as she had, then David didn't have anything to worry about.

This time the smile that graced his face didn't flicker for an instant and then simply whither away. It lingered there for a moment, small but honest in its gratitude. "Thank you," David said, and he meant it. He still didn't know what the weight in Coinn's gaze signified, didn't know if he'd ever be able to bear the intensity of it, but he would try. "Thank you."