AN: I must interrupt to apologize for my late update. The length should make up for it. Since my muse has returned to me, hopefully my updates will be more frequent.
Graverobber stood in the alley against a brick wall, deep in thought. He was truly in love with two women now, and they were truly in love with him as well as each other. He couldn't remember exactly how it had happened because it had happened far too fast. He knew now, though, that his hard work at trying to remain as inhumane and incompassionate as he could had slipped down the drain. He should have sensed it coming, after helping his kid out so much in one day. True, the first time had been to save his own skin as well. Selfishness saved his neck on that one, but the others, along with helping Mag, went completely excuseless. He had gone soft at a rapid pace, rapid enough that he was soft enough to not be angry with the fact that he was soft. He was almost lightheartedly welcoming the old feelings of humanity back into his blood, into his heart. He noticed how he no longer looked at women as potential sex objects anymore, but with total uninterest, or in rare cases, respect. Amber was a different story, and he was glad she would be dead by the next day.
Coming to the resolution that he still needed to earn a living, he set out to a graveyard. The graveyard he'd met Shilo in, to be more precise. His thoughts circulated around her and her condition. He remembered what he'd heard her father say through Mag's holo-communicator the previous night. He had said if she went too long without her medicine she would die. If that ever happened, Graverobber knew he'd be very sad. If he lost either one of them, the wound would be hard to patch.
Arriving at the graveyard, he shook his head to clear his mind. He couldn't be sentimental while doing his job, because if he were, he could no longer do the job. Not able to let that happen, he built up his wall against his emotions as he approached the first tombstone.
_ _
Amber hadn't exactly been easy to find. What was harder that that was Nathan had to look for her while remaining out of sight. She had changed her looks so many damn times he barely recognized her.
Once he'd spotted her from his hiding spot, all it took was a glance at the eyes to know it was her. After pouncing on her, knocking her to the pavement, the first thing he did was rip off her holo-communicator and smashed it. He couldn't have her trying to call her father for help. This is for Mag, you selfish little brat! His thoughts were a combination of Nathan and Repo Man.
Placing a large hand over her mouth to stifle her screaming, he pulled a scalpel from his bag with the other.
Amber's eyes widened in fear, giving him the perfect opportunity to do his task. He dug the scalpel into her left eye. It was smooth, quicker than he'd thought it would be. The sounds were sickening as he scooped the eye from her socket. Through his other hand, he could feel the vibrations of her scream.
The scalpel was dug into Amber's chest next, to kill her and shut her up for good. He hacked away until she went limp beneath him and the scalpel was stained crimson.
Deed being done, he then popped the second eye from its socket. He pocketed them and abandoned Amber's body. He would return home briefly to wash his Repo Man outfit. He knew Mag and Shilo wouldn't want to see him in it. He needed to change as well. Afterwards he would take 'Mag's' eyes to Rotti.
_ _
Upon entering his bedroom, he noticed Mag wasn't there. She must be staying with Shilo tonight. It was better that she hadn't been the room to see him, anyway. He took off one rubber glove and held it in his gloved hand carefully. He grabbed a clean outfit and smock before heading down the stairs to his hidden lair.
After changing, he hung the Repo Man outfit on a clothesline and hosed it off.
_ _
The eyes on Rotti's desk stared at nothing. "Happy now?" Nathan questioned. The hurt came easily to his voice. "She was Marni's best friend." His voice was a whisper. It was all the more convincing that he'd actually done the job this way.
"Extremely." Rotti's intimidation was greatly lowered by a sudden coughing fit. After it was over he dismissed, "I have no new assignments. You may go."
Nathan wasted no time in leaving. He wanted to see his family again, let Mag know it was okay to relax. Of course she would need to be extremely careful not to be seen by anyone, but that was a small price to pay to be alive and with the people she loves.
Of course, the two were probably asleep so the news would wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow - that was a day Mag would be thankfully able to see. A weight lifted from his heart as he thought he might be able to sleep in peace that night.
_ _
Time had slowed Shilo's and Mag's tears to a stop. They laid on the bed, Shilo's head resting under Mag's chin, Mag stroking the hair of Shilo's wig.
"I'm happy I got to help you see more of your mother." Her voice was full of affection.
"I'm so glad you could. It was almost hard to believe the baby she was carrying was me, even when she said my name. Hearing her voice was. . .it's something I'll always treasure."
"As it should be." Mag kissed the top of her head. "Do you see how much like her you are now?"
"I see that she loved you just as much as I do."
Mag hadn't seen that, and now that she was aware, she was surprised she hadn't.
"When she was crying, when she was falling in love with Dad, she thought you'd be angry with her because she thought you loved her."
Mag realized with a sudden pang of overwhelming sadness that she had. Although her love hadn't touched the physical boundary, she had loved her. Marni had loved her as well. It made sense now. Her last memory of her was now clear. She wasn't just saying she loved her as a friend, she loved her more than that.
She let out a gasp as she realized she was making up for lost time in the present by loving Shilo. The love she felt for her was an extension of the love she'd felt for Marni.
Shilo looked up curiously, getting a close up of the side of her face.
"I did love her. . .I just didn't see it."
"I'm sure if she were alive you would have the same kind of relationship you, Graverobber, and I have. If I could change history, that's what I would have wnated to happen."
Mag pulled back for a good view of Shilo's face. She placed a hand on her cheek. "I like things just the way they are. With you." She kissed her gently. She was afraid that by admitting she'd loved Marni, Shilo thought she would have been happier with her. "My past love for her doesn't change my current love for you, I hope you know that." She didn't want Shilo to be hurt. She kissed Shilo again. She could taste her mixed emotions.
"I just want to sleep now, Maggie." She curled into her.
"Tell me I haven't hurt you first - it was the last thing I intended." Mag was worried.
Shilo looked up to her. "You helped me, Maggie. You could never hurt me." Her voice had wavered. "I just miss Mom now. You don't need to worry, just get some sleep. You deserve it." That said, she curled herself into Mag again and dozed off.
Mag fixed her eyes to the ceiling, not really looking. She could feel Shilo breathe against her. She was trying to get rid of her growing paranoia about what Shilo had said and that she might not have meant it. "I do love you, Shilo." It was spoken subconsciously. She forced her thoughts elsewhere.
_ _
Graverobber extracted a vial full of Zydrate from what must have been the twentieth corpse of the night. There were plenty more bodies left to rob the Zydrate from. The amount of burials doubled each day. Moving to the next grave, Graverobber vaguely wondered if people even bothered holding funerals anymore. He rarely saw people mourning their beloved deceased as it was. That was better for his sake, however.
The extraction of Zydrate was quick indeed; in no longer than another twenty minutes he had one hundred fifty vials in his posession. He figured that should last for a couple days. Creeping into the depths of the night, away from the graveyard, Graverobber allowed his thoughts to travel back to his loves.
His loves - he'd been connecting them to the word 'love' a lot, lately. He couldn't recall in hindsight if he'd ever voiced the expression 'I love you' directly to the both of them. Even if he had, he thought he should say it again for good measure. He briefly wondered when it was that the transition from hard-shelled graverobber to fairy tale prince occured, but he simply couldn't bring himself to care. He supposed underneath all the dirt and rubble he was a decent, loving man and only practiced rashness to match his surrounding world. He certainly hadn't been born in a compassionate era. Besides, Shilo and Mag were the only ones to see his emotional side, for lack of a better word. He kept up with his rude demeanor around anyone and everyone else.
Thinking about them gave Graverobber a sense of longing. He couldn't recall when he'd actually missed someone last, especially when it had only been a few short hours since he'd seen them, but nonetheless he found himself missing Shilo and Mag. Other than that, he couldn't help other than to wonder about the success of his idea to trick Rotti. He would hate for anything to have gone wrong. He imagined he couldn't be as nervous as Mag, whose life would be on the line if Rotti ever caught on to the scheme.
Glancing down at his wrist, at his long-forgotten holo-communicator, a feeling that resembled hope struck him. Or maybe it was inspiration. He hadn't experienced enough positive feelings lately to decipher them immediately. Whatever the feeling, it was the force behind his decision to the test the holo-communicator out. It may have been older than most, caked with dirt, and possibly contained a dead battery - but it was worth a shot.
Trying all the different buttons, he finally found the one he wanted. When prompted with, 'State the name of who you wish to be connected to.' Graverobber decided it would be Mag. "Blind Mag." He was again greeted by the mechanical voice in its programmed response to the request, 'Due to the popularity of this user we ask you to state your name.' He knew he couldn't just say 'Graverobber' and even if he wanted to use it, she wouldn't recognize his name. He decided to use a code name, thinking she'd recognize his voice. "The Savior."
_ _
Mag jumped when she heard a voice, only to realize it was her holo-communicator. She hadn't fallen asleep, but the room had been dead silent until that moment. It took her a second to register what it was saying. 'Incoming call from - The Savior. Do you wish to accept?' 'The Savior' was said in Graverobber's voice. Graverobber? She was briefly confused due to her disorientation. "Yes," she answered quietly. She slipped away very carefully out of Shilo's bed. She snuck out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. She sat on the toilet. "You do have a concept of what time it is, don't you?" Although she had not slept, her voice was groggy.
Graverobber was pleased to hear the sound of her voice as he leaned against the wall of his alley. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to know you're alright."
"Shilo's sleeping, you're lucky you didn't wake her." What he;d said just then dawned on her. "Why wouldn't I be alright?"
"If the plan went wrong. . .oh, never mind. I'm just watching my imagination cook up strange ideas. And why are you so sure my waking her would be unwelcome?"
"Because she stopped nearly in the middle of a conversation with me because she wanted to sleep. That's why."
"Did I wake you?"
"No. Haven't went to sleep."
That predictably stirred Graverobber's curiousity. "Why not?"
"Too busy trying not to think. Could you not ask about what it is I'm referring to? I don't want to talk about it, either."
"Whatever you want." Graverobber had learned the hard way that you couldn't get a woman to tell you something they didn't want to tell you without paying a price.
Mag sighed and then yawned. "Well, I should go try to salvage sleep for what's left of the night."
"That would do you good." Graverobber had originally been going to stop there, but in an instant decided to come out with it. "I love you. You and Shilo. I wanted you to know."
Despite the general crappiness Mag was feeling, the statement brought a smile to her face. "I love you, too. I'll see what I can do about seeing you tomorrow. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Mag." The call had served his purpose. He squished his worry down of something going wrong, pacifying it with the knowledge that Mag, as well as Shilo, was safe.
Mag snuck back to Shilo's room as silently as she could. She laid back down on the bed and attempted sleep. She tossed and turned. In the end she wound up in her original position, on her back, and broke down. Her mind was not giving her the peace to do anything else.
If she were going to cry, which she already was, she wanted to do it silently. She was denied of that wish. As hard as she tried, she couldn't keep her sobs silent. The best she could do was muffle her mouth with her hands, and even that didn't help much. Her body shook involuntarily with the sobs. The tears streamed down her face with a speed so fast it was impossible to tell where one tear ended and another began.
Her thoughts were not only focused on Marni and Shilo, but Nathan as well. She had almost been hiding her relationships from him and she suddenly felt very guilty. It was all she could do not to scream his name.
It was wonderous as to how Shilo had remained asleep until that point. She woke and immediately felt a lump in her throat at the sight of Mag so hysterical. Compelled by the need to comfort her, she hoisted her into a sitting position. "Maggie, Maggie - please." She thought it was because of what she'd said earlier, which part of it was. She hugged her. "Please don't cry. I don't want you to be upset." She placed her hand on her cheek to wipe away her tears, but they were flooding so fast that the tears that were wiped away were replaced by fresh ones in a second.
Neither noticed when the door to Shilo's bedroom opened. Nor did they hear footsteps until Nathan was standing next to the bed. "What's wrong?" He had heard her from his room. It sounded like she had been tortured. Either having a reposession over her head scared her deeply, or she had become even more frail with her emotions over the years, perhaps both. He didn't bother waiting for an answer before taking her into his arms.
"She showed me her memories of Mom after she got her eyes. I think reliving them after so long has uncovered old wounds." Shilo stated. Of course, that was only part of what she believed the problem to be.
Mag had weakly curled herself into Nathan. She cried into his shoulder. She couldn't talk if she'd wanted to. She was a wreck. Her arms were loosely wrapped around him.
"Come on, Mag." Nathan would do nearly anything to calm her. He lifted her off the bed.
Shilo hopped up and threw her arms around the both of them. She stood on tiptoe to kiss Mag's cheek while in her father's arms. "Feel better." A lone tear streaked down her cheek. "Take care of her, Dad." The look she gave him was enough to make anyone listen. She watched as he carried Mag out of her room. As she got back into bed, alone, she vowed to make Mag feel happy and nothing less the next day.
_ _
Nathan sat Mag down on his bed and took her hands, caressing them with his thumbs softly. Her shaking was sending vibrations to his hands and throughout his body. Deciding to try a new technique, he sat next to her on the bed and held her. "If you're worried about the reposession, it's over, my darling. Rotti took the bait. He believed I really had your eyes." He felt Mag shake her head, as if she were trying to tell him that wasn't what she was upset about. He kissed her temple, "I love you." It was scarcely audible, he'd almost been afraid to admit it. It only seemed to make Mag cry harder. Although it had been a stab at his ego, he couldn't take Mag's not responding personally.
His hands made their way to her shoulders. They were tense under the material of Marni's old dress. He began to gently massage them, and her muscles relaxed beneath his fingers. Time slipped on and Mag's cries slowed. They became soft whimpers before stopping altogether. She turned her head to face him.
"Do you feel better now?" He had gently propped her chin up.
Mag kissed him. She still felt bad, but she had cried herself out. The kiss poured all her passion, all her love for Nathan. She kissed him as if there would truly be no tomorrow. She broke away and turned to put her forehead against him. "I love you, too. Very, very much. You are one of the three people I told you I was in love with. You always have been and you always will be. I'm sorry I caused such a scene -"
"Shilo told me you revisited memories of Marni. If I had your eyes and the ability to do that, I'd be hysterical as well. You lost your best friend and you're hurting. You don't need to apologize for your tears. I'll always be here for you when you need me." Again, he was ignoring the fact that she was involved with two outher people. It helped his illusion.
Mag kissed him again, just to feel him. At the moment she needed him, no one else. Just her and her Nathan. She closed her eyes and suddenly she was two decades younger, in the arms of her Nate in a beautiful darkness. She placed her hand on his cheek, taking the time to trace the familiar patterns of his skin. She saw him now, the way she had seen him while she was blind. Pulling back, she nuzzled into his chest. "Thank you for letting me back in, Nathan. If it weren't for you - I'd have nowhere to hide." Eyes still closed, she wrapped her arms around him tightly.
"Some part of me still had to have loved you deep inside for all these years. I hadn't known it, but now I'm really glad you worked your way back into my life." Having not needed eye contact in the past, he caressed her cheek gently, knowing she was listening. "Are you okay now?"
Mag took a deep breath. "If it's not talked about, I will be."
"I'm sorry, my Magdalene."
Mag gasped. It had been a very long time since she'd heard her real name. She kissed him again, needing to feel closer to him. There was years of lost time to be made up. She felt Nathan's hands drop to her waist.
Neither of them were completely clueless as to what they were doing, but they weren't entirely alert either. They knew they felt consumed by love; they felt their need to express it in ways no words could do. No thoughts of what possible consequences their actions could bring in the future entered their minds. They knew only of emotions and what they felt would properly express the love that they shared.
Nathan's back hit the bed softly, the kiss still going. It was passionate. It hadn't taken long for his pants to no longer be comfortable. Without breaking contact with his Magdalene, he removed the discomforting article of clothing.
Mag still had her eyes closed. She soon rolled to her back, bringing Nathan on top of her as she went. She kissed his neck softly. Her hands slid under his shirt, roaming around his chest. Logic and reason were out the window, all that mattered was what felt good where.
Another heated kiss and Marni's old dress was on the floor. The line between foreplay and intercourse had majorly blurred. Intercourse alone hadn't been the best part, but knowing who had brought the 'O' was.
The afterglow wasn't spent in a tired tangle of bodies, but very much like how they'd began. Sweet kisses filled with pure love. Gentle touches and caresses. Thee was no worry or regret, there was happiness and joy. They had been together, they were together, and that was what mattered.
Sleep transitioned in at least an hour later, slipping in seamlessly along the cracks.
_ _
Pavi ran into Rotti's office. "Father!" He was move frantic than usual.
"What is it, boy?" Rotti felt only slight curiousity as he raised an eyebrow and clasped his hands together, resting them on his desk, watching his son.
"Amber never came home." He was out of breath.
"What?" His voice was eerily calm.
"Amber. After the Zydrate Support Meeting - she hasn't come home!"
"I'll send out a search for her," stated Rotti. His large hand moved to rest on the backside of the corded phone. "Thank you, son."
"Dad," His voice was tight, constricted as if he were going to cry. "They'd better find her." He was worried about his sister. As much as the Largos didn't show it, they were a family and they did care about each other.
"She will return, Pavi." He spoke through a hacking cough.
"Are you alright, Dad?" Concern was evident in his voice.
Unable to speak, Rotti nodded through his coughing fit and waved him off. When the man had gone and his coughing had died down, he reached for the phone to alert his workers of his daughter's disappearance.
_ _
Shilo paced the floor, biting her nails. She had heard them, she knew what they'd done. She wanted to see Graverobber; so many thoughts were whirling through her mind. What if Mag was still in danger? What would she do if anything happened to her? She wanted to confide in Graverobber, she trusted him. She wanted to talk to him alone, since Mag was preoccupied with her father anyway.
She was still dressed, she was awake, why not leave then? Mag would keep her father distracted enough so he wouldn't know she'd gone. That settled it, her decision was made. She shut off all the lights in the room and snuck out. She crept silently through the hall and down the stairs. The front door was mercifully silent as she opened it. She turned back, looking at the stairs as if she could see into her father's room, and continued on her way.
Outside it was eerily dark. The moon and the stars offered very little light, and everything seemed to be hidden in shadows.
Shilo inched away from the house, getting butterflies in her stomach due to nerves and longing. What would happen once she got to Graverobber? Would he be with a client, or would ha be awaiting her arrival? She wondered if confessing her thoughts would worry him.
Being outside when it was that dark was scary. It reminded her of the moments in old horror movies when you know something bad is about to happen. She tried shaking the thoughts away, which was hard since she couldn't recall the direction to go to Graverobber's alley when it was so dark. If only she had a flashlight with her.
Continuing forward, Shilo placed one hesitant foot in front of the other. She glanced behind her shoulder again, and the house was nowhere in sight. When she looked forward she suddenly felt disoriented. That was when she realized she had no idea where she was. Her heart pounded and hse felt the pressure of tears behind her eyes. Out of all things that could have happened, getting lost was the least expected.
She wanted her Dad. She wanted Mag and Graverobber. She just wanted to be somewhere familiar, with someone familiar so her sense of safety and security would return to her.
Looking every which way, Shilo felt utterly helpless. Hope was lost.
_ _
"It has been an hour since I sent the search party!" Rotti screamed into the phone, his face tomato red. "Why hasn't she been found?!"
"Calm down, Mr. Largo. Amber will be home safe and sound before the night is out, we promise."
"She'd better!" He was far from calm. "Or you'll have me to answer to!" His voice was menacing. He slammed the phone down and looked up to see Luigi standing before his desk. "What now?" he hissed. His hands pressed down on the desk as he leaned on them casually.
"Amber was talking about getting another fucking surgery before the fucking Zydrate Support meeting. She wanted to make it a fucking surprise for you but I fucking think that you should fucking know!"
Rotti's eyebrows raised high as he tried to count how many times the word 'fucking' had just been said. "And?"
"She was going to get fucking duplicates of Mag's fucking eyes because she was fucking jealous and wanted to fucking take over as the fucking Voice of fucking GeneCo."
"Can you say a sentence without using some form of the word 'fuck'?" He sat down in his big chair, Lugigi's cleaner words finally sinking in. "She was going to get duplicates of Mag's eyes?" He paled.
Luigi nodded.
Rotti felt like he was going to be sick. "I sent a Repo Man to repossess Mag's eyes earlier today." He seemed to be floating outside of his body as he said it, he didn't want what he was thinking to be true.
"Fuck!"
"And he brought them to me."
"Fuck!"
"And he'd been reluctant to do the job."
"Fuck!"
Rotti met his son's eyes. "I think. . .your sister is dead."
"FUCK!" Luigi kicked the desk.
_ _
Rotti called the leader of the search party. "Stop the search."
"Why, sir? Has she returned?"
"No. She's dead." He hung up, then dialed another number. "Are you ready for your first assignment?"
"You mean I get the job, sir?" An excited young male voice spoke through the other end.
"Yes, you get the job. Don't worry about appearances tonight. Take Nathan Wallace out! Kill him by any means necessary - he is a traitor to GeneCo." He hung the phone up then, and left it there. He looked to his son who had remained in the room. "Bring his daughter to me."
Luigi firmly nodded, accepting the order. Without further hesitation, he bounded out of his father's office.
Moments later when Rotti was hacking up a storm, a thought occured to him. If Amber had duplicates of Mag's eyes, and Amber was now dead, then Mag was still alive. He closed his eyes when an unbearable pain washed over him. When he sharply exhaled, the breath was his last, and his body crumpled to the floor.
_ _
She was grabbed in the dark. "Hey! Let me go!" She struggled against her capture. The next thing she knew, she was on the dirt floor. "Your fucking father killed my fucking sister!"
Shilo thought she saw a flash just before she was hit with a wave of pain. It wasn't the same kind of pain she felt when she missed her medicine, either. Nor was it the type of pain she felt with sadness. This pain was physical. She felt as if she'd been ripped open. The waves came again and again.
"Amber is dead! Amber is fucking dead!" The man sounded like he was in tears.
Shilo didn't know whether or not she was crying. She was in too much pain to make a sound. Even if she hadn't forgotten her holo-communicator in her bedroom, it would serve no use or help to her. She was speechless and suffering agonizing pain.
Luigi drove the knife into the girl again and again. The girl was hardly putting up a fight, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that his sister was dead and it was all her fault, or at least, it was all her father's fault. "You fucking killed my sister! My sister is fucking dead and it's all your FUCKING FAULT!" He was stabbing relentlessly, incessantly. He was not letting up in the slightest. He would not stop until she was dead.
Shilo uttered one word, squeaked one tiny word out with her dying breath, "Mom?" Then she was gone.
Hot tears streaked down Luigi's cheeks. Damn it, what would his father think? There was no doubt he was going to be angry with him. He'd asked him to bring the girl to him, not to kill her. He hadn't been able to help it, though, The burning hatred he felt had been greater than what he'd ever felt before.
Trembling, Luigi sheathed his bloody knife. He stood and walked away, procrastinating his return home.
_ _
Pavi entered Rotti's office a second time. Not immediately seeing his fahter, he looked around curiously. "Dad?" After a couple more seconds of scanning the room he saw him, crumpled up on the floor between his desk and his chair. "Dad!" He rushed to him and moved him so that he lay on his back. He touched his neck. It was chillingly cold as he searched for a pulse. The pulse didn't come. He tore his hand away with a choked gasp. "Dad."
He felt broken. Though he and his siblings had jokingly planned this day to come, he had been unaware of the extent of pain that he would feel. He certainly hadn't anticipated being the one to find his Dad's body after he'd died. His eyes welled up with tears. Where was Luigi? Better yet, where was Amber? They needed to know about this, then they needed to work out who would take GeneCo, the three of them, together. Amber, he thought. Wherever you are, please, come home. I need you.
Then the first tear trickled, behind his stolen face. He squeezed his eyes shut, knowing no GENtern or amount of Zydrate would cure this pain. His father was dead, and there was nothing he could do to bring his back. With a voice soaked in sadness he whimpered, "I love you, Dad."