hydrokinetics | Don't think you're more than this, or above all this [W6, Monday Afternoon]

[She stops in her tracks, staring at him in clear alarm.]

...Tell me what happened. Something must have happened.

[He's probably still walking, shoulders tight and tense.]

Of course it did. Something always happens in this fucking place. But answer the question. Do you trust the rest of them?

[She sighs harshly before continuing to walk, looking at him once she catches up.]

If I answer, are you going to tell me what the hell is up?

[He's staring ahead, but there's a short nod once he's sure nobody else is around.]

Yeah. Sure. [Of course he trusts Natalie. That doesn't mean he isn't terrified now that he's backed himself into a corner.]

I trust you to be thinking of everyone's well being but your own. I trust Milla to be strong, I trust Jason to be there for me, I trust Shinnosuke to be pragmatic, and I trust Noctis to be almost too good sometimes.

[A sigh.]

So yeah, I do. We make a pretty good group, I guess.

[...how many times in this game is Natalie going to see him completely defeated? His shoulders slump and he looks at his feet instead, nodding. He's satisfied with that answer.] I can agree with all of those, I think.

...did you know that now that we know Dr. Lecter's the Deputy, we know all of the roles and players in this game? We're a good team that way, figuring stuff out like that. [Yeah. A real fucking good team. Sure.] It'll be easier now that we don't have to do guesswork.

[She pauses for a moment.]

Percy, you realize we don't know the—

[Oh.]

...Holy shit.

[There's a very long pause.]

Yeah. [His voice is small, but firm.] …you can punch me if you want. [He'd say she could kill him, but he's not sure how well that'd go over.]

I don't want to punch you.

[She pauses, uncertain how to move forward.]

...When Sara was talking about why she accepted the Bandit thing, she said the Sheriff was threatening her with a bunch of awful shit. Did he do that to you?

[There's a low sigh. Okay...this...isn't as horrible? It's awful, naturally, but.]

...Hal said if I didn't accept the job and if I said anything, Annabeth and I would be disqualified and never get back home. [A bitter sort of chuckle follows.] A lot of good that did, huh? Pretty sure he doesn't even care now since he's giving me information to help you guys.

[A pause.] That's how I'm getting my information, by the way. My merit. The Coal Miner job.

Edited 2017-02-21 00:38 (UTC)

So, the people who have been going missing... Some of them were you?

[She doesn't sound accusatory; just recalibrating what she knows about him.]

[A quick, sort of jerky nod.]

I didn't kill Ocelot. That was Nisha. Nisha killed Diego, too. That's the real reason his horse was in my room. "Parting gift" or whatever. Wish she kept her mouth shut that there was a second miner, but I guess Hal would have said it anyway.

[...] They asked to die, Natalie. [This is the hard part.] When Hal dropped them into the mines with me, they didn't mind dying. They figured being straight-forward was almost a relief, both of them. They were happy to die, so I made it quick and as painless as I could.

[And it's been destroying him anyway.] Still counts, according to Hal.

[She chews on her lip, and then shakes her head.]

...They would have died if it were anyone else but you, too, and they might not have decided to make it as fast as you did.

Awesome. I'm a better person because I fight and kill fast. [But he gets her point and nods again.] You really think people like Damian, Milla and Noctis will listen to that reasoning? Or that Jason won't be pissed and Shinnosuke will ever trust me again? I may have been fast and they may have asked for it, but I still murdered people. Or. A person and a grim reaper. That was a weird conversation.

That's what I worry about. [A lull.] I think everyone on Hal's list is gone though. I'm going to ask. If his list is clear, my job is done for now.

No, you are because you don't have to do it that way, but you do anyways. [She chews on her lip.] I think Shinnosuke, Jason and Noctis will get it. Probably Milla, too. Damian might be too high and mighty for it, though. And I'm not going to ask about the grim reaper thing.

That job is done, but your overall job isn't, Percy.

...when I was in Tartarus with Annabeth. [A pause.] I told you about the Arai, right? I don't know if I ever explained what they are. Curse demons, pretty much. You kill one, they inflict a curse someone put upon you. I've...killed a lot of monsters, Natalie. I just never thought about the fact that they probably felt something, too, not until I was bleeding everywhere and dying from gorgon poisoning. I still fought them all to get them away from Annabeth. I'm going to fight here, too, to make sure all of us get out of here alive. But I don't have to do it the way I did back there. Maybe I'll tell everyone else. Maybe I won't. It might...not be a bad idea? Especially since Hal confirmed I'll never be a Bandit this way. I'm going to ask why.

[He knows she's right, but he lowers his gaze again.] I know it's not. And I'll figure something out, I'm just...tired. That night off was kind of nice. [It's a joke. It's a shitty, shitty joke about how he took time for himself right after Annabeth's trial.]

Sorry, anyway. [Brushing that aside.] So now you know, and now you know why I'm going to talk to Hal and see what other information I can get from him before Thursday. Do you think we should tell the others about Dr. Lecter yet or wait to see what else we can find out?

[She nods.]

Whether you tell everyone else is up to you. That's your decision. But... I'm glad that you trusted me enough to tell me.

You could even take another night off if you wanted. Shocking, I know. [And then she sighs, thinking.] ...I think we should wait. I'm worried about Jason doing something stupid if he knows. I think he's going to be pretty likely to agree with us that we shouldn't wait for Damian to kill him, so...

[She's gotta do something stupid before Percy or Jason have the chance??]

It didn't seem fair not to tell you when you trusted me with your role and everything else, too. [That's all. Simply put. But he shakes his head.]

I'm going back to my room for a while when I get to the hotel. Hal sent me to kill Okabe really early this morning and then I talked to Will and wrote a letter to Annabeth. I haven't slept since Saturday. [So. There's that.] I think we should wait, too. Jason's impulsive and reckless just like the rest of us but on a worse scale. If we're doing this, we're doing stuff together and we're going in with a solid plan.

[So no, Natalie??? Don't do this by yourself???]

...Jesus, dude. Yeah, please take a nap, holy shit.

[She nods.]

You think if we all ganged up on them we could take them?

[It's not funny, but there's a half smile on her lips regardless.]

Yeah, I am. After I talk to Hal.

[But there's a noise of amusement, even if he's uneasy by that.]

It's a thought. But we should be careful. We still don't know just how much Dr. Lecter knows about us. If we know about him, he could easily know about us, too. Hal's told me plenty because of my job. Chances are if Dr. Lecter knows the questions to ask he might know, too.

[Everything is Hal's fault.]

[She purses her lips.]

If he knows about us, if he knows about Damian, we have to be really careful, yeah. I could see Will hurting Damian if anything happened to Hannibal.

[He makes a face.]

I don't know about Will. I think Will might be a lesser problem when it comes to Damian? If anything...you saw how he went after Eliot. He might go after whoever goes after Dr. Lecter, and we know that isn't Damian.

That's true. So I guess we just have to make sure we can subdue him somehow, right? Make sure he doesn't hurt anyone who hurts Hannibal or anyone who gets in his way.

Yeah. That's what I think, too. If we keep an eye on Will's behavior and plot out what to do about Dr. Lecter we might be safe and get out of here without hurting any of us.

And then if we get rid of Ash... We might actually have a group where nobody is willing to kill anybody else. It could be over in a few weeks.

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