The next morning Ava woke up in an empty bed. She sat up and heard Bauble barking. She got up, got dressed, and made the bed before walking out to the living room.
"Good morning sunshine." The Outsider said tired and monotone. "There's coffee on the stove, and Bauble has been taken out." He looked up from the newspaper to give Ava a smile.
"When did you get up?" She asked with a yawn.
"Bauble came into your room an hour ago. Damn dog bit my fingers." He sat the newspaper down. "It was hard getting you off of me with out waking you up." He laughed.
"Ugh, I need some coffee." She groaned pouring a cup.
"Did you have any nightmares last night?" He asked as she sat down at the table. She heard the concern in his voice and smiled.
"Shockingly no, I've had them every night for two straight weeks." She sighed and picked up an apple. "It was probably the fact that I didn't fall asleep alone with my thoughts." She mumbled before biting into the apple.
"My nightmares were…" He paused. "Not as bad either. Still there, but that's what 4000 years of witnessing the worst, most twisted parts of humanity does to a man." He stared at Ava from across the table.
"What?" She asked slowly.
"I thought you'd want to talk about last night." He said.
"We slept in the same bed together, it's not that big of a deal." She said as she started to blush.
"No, not that." He said trying to hold a laugh. "Before then, about the letter, and impending trial." He noticed her demeanor change.
"Oh, I um…" She paused. The outsider touched her arm trying to draw her back to present. She pulled away. "I need to go for a walk. Alone. I'll be back later." She got up put Bauble on her leash and took her out the door.
After walking for the streets of Karnaca for an hour Ava and Bauble made their way towards James's office. She walked through the building but stopped before outside the briefing room.
"So in summary, your main objective is to clear any and all heretical artifacts from the Royal Conservatory." She listened to James address Haskil's squad about their new assignment. "We want to get it back open and operational again. We also need to keep in mind that there are people that want to get back into their homes and businesses in the area. It is our job to give Duke Attano the all clear to reopen. Do you understand the parameters of your current assignment?" He asked.
"Yes, sir." They all said in unison.
"Good, you report to your new post tomorrow, many of you will be put up in apartments near the Royal Conservatory. Get some rest, this is a place unlike anything many of you have ever seen." He paused as he saw Ava outside the briefing room. "Dismissed." He said with authority.
Ava stood and smiled at the Overseers filing out of the room, all in plain clothes without their uniforms. Many of the men she recognized from when she lived in Dunwall. Some stopped to pet Bauble and say hi to Ava but eventually they all left leaving her to follow James and Haskil into his office.
"Hey Ava what's up?" Haskil asked as she closed the door to the office.
"I did something stupid." She burst out as soon as the door was closed.
"Yes! I won the bet! You and Nathaniel owe me 100 coins!" Haskil said excitedly pointing at James as he moved from side to side.
"What bet?" Ava ask with a scowl.
"Um… what bet?" Haskil laughed nervously. "I was joking, I would never bet on things you do in your life. I would never bet on anything!" He rambled on.
"What. Fucking. Bet." Ava repeated as she slammed her fist onto James's desk.
"Heh, well we were all in on a bet about how long it would take for you to sleep with the Outsider. Haskil guessed you'd cave last night." James said sheepishly.
"You ass!" Ava punched Haskil in the chest. "What did you and Nate guess?" She turned to face James.
"I said three days, Nate said one month" He said low with his head down.
"Unbelievable." She let out an annoyed sigh. "We didn't have sex last night you assholes. Why would you think that?" She asked calming down.
"Ava we shared an apartment with Oscar, for fucks sake my bedroom and his shared a wall." Haskil laughed.
"I was in a relationship with Oscar for 5 years you shit. He has been staying with me for less than 48 hours." She said raising her voice.
"Ok, well if you guys didn't have sex, what did you do that was stupid?" James spoke up.
"I slept with the Outsider." She said sitting back down and letting out a sigh.
"What?" They both asked at the same time.
"He came to my room to say goodnight and I kind of asked him to come in and sit with me, you know, distract me. And he was so nice and then he kissed my cheek when he got up to leave." She paused and looked up at the guys. "I asked him to stay with me and we fell asleep. Kind of cuddling." She looked at the floor. "And I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about actually sleeping with him." She admitted in a whisper.
"Well if you wait at least three days I'll cut you in on the profit" James joked from behind his desk.
"I'll try but I feel so weak to his charm when he's being sweet." She joked back realizing she was half serious. "Having been alone for the past two years has not helped my decision making skills." She groaned. "I really can't complain though, I've put no effort into my personal life since Oscar died." She sighed and looked out the window.
"Sorry about the wager." James said after a pause. "We won't do it again, and if you want to talk about that or anything else we're always here." He finished.
"Except for now." Haskil standing up looking at the clock. "We have to meet Cardoza at the Royal Conservatory in an hour, and we should at least be professional. For now."
"Yeah it's just a few people left getting things in order for Haskil and his squad to take over." James said standing as well.
"I should get back to my apartment too." She said standing up and grabbing baubles leash. "I kind of left mid conversation." She said with a nervous laugh.
"Alright, we'll talk later." James said as they walked out of his office.
"Have fun." Haskil said with a wink.
"Ass." Ava smiled.
Once Ava reached her apartment building she noticed Nathaniel and some guard coming out. The guards were holding boxes filled with all of her patient files. She looked to Nathaniel, eyes wide.
"What are you doing? What's going on Nate!?" She felt panicked and wanted to throw up.
"I'm so sorry A." He said with a sad look on his face. "We had no choice, people would have pulled funding we so desperately need."
"What do you mean? Why?" She wrung her hands.
"Someone sent the same letter James said you got last night to Dr. Hypatia." He looked around to see if anyone was watching. "This is from her." He whispered.
"Dr. Becker we need to get these files back to your office." One of the guards called from ten feet away.
"I have to go. Read that letter." He hugged her before walking away. She stood and watched as they walked away with her work, her livelihood.
She trudged up the stairs in the apartment building reading the letter Nathaniel gave her. She stopped to finish reading before opening the door. As she walked into the apartment found the Outsider sitting on the couch with a paper in his hands. He looked up as Bauble wandered over to him.
"Ava." He stood up. "There was nothing I could do, I'm sorry."
"What does that say?" She asked pointing at the letter he still held in his hand.
"It says that all your work and cases have been confiscated until this entire situation is figured out. And that you are not to practice privately as you worked as an extension of The Addermire Institute." He said offering the letter to her.
"No, I believe you. I can't read that right now." She took her jacket off and hung it in the closet. "If you need me I'll be crying in the shower." She sighed as she walked past him.
"No." He said with a raised voice, causing her to jump. "You're Ava Hedsworth! You don't just give up and feel sorry for yourself. You're to strong to let this bullshit get to you." He finished. She walked up to him.
"Everyone has a breaking point, O." She said looking up at him.
"No." He said grabbing her face in his hands. He leaned down closer to her. "I didn't, and you won't either." He looked into her eyes before letting go.
"You make it really for me to prove Haskil and James wrong." She smiled. "Let's leave this fucking city for a while. Its not like I have a job." She sighed.
"Yeah, alright. Where do you want to go?" He asked. "Wait what do you mean prove them wrong?" He asked.
"My family has an estate in a small town and hour outside of Karnaca. I got it when I reopened my grandparents will two years ago." She said. "And don't worry about that, I'll tell you later."
"Just unpacked my bag too." He smiled.
"We're going to make a stop first before we leave." She said, the spark returning to her eyes.
"Whatever you say." He said as he walked to his room to pack.
After they packed and got ready to leave they walked to the Royal Conservatory.
"Ok we're going to find James, Haskil and Cardoza, you take Bauble." She whispered as they reached the checkpoint.
"Hey, Ava." The Overseer said. "You don't need to sign in, there's only like 4 guys here not counting the new guy and the Vice Overseer. Can't wait to get a new post, all I did was checkpoint here." He groaned. "If you're looking for Vice Overseer Stovaski he's probably in the basement taking a final inventory." He added.
"Thanks, and good luck Thomas." She smiled walking through the checkpoint.
"Once we get in there I'm going to need you to check the basement for anyone, got it?" She asked as the walked the steps up into entrance.
"Yes." He responded.
They walked silently through the Royal Conservatory. It had an eerie feeling being so empty. Ava walked to the elevator and took the steps down and the Outsider and Bauble took the steps right inside the entrance.
"Ava?" James said surprised to see her. They were right outside the elevator and steps.
"All clear." The Outsider said standing behind everyone with his arms crossed. Cardoza looked at him with wide eyes.
"Good." Ava said as she walked down further into the room.
"What is going on here? This is the company you keep Vice Overseer?" Cardoza began, his gaze fixated on the outsider.
"Enough." Ava yelled, crossing the room towards him. "I've dealt with your type before." She got close. "I'm not scared of you or anything you and your minions will do to me." She said low and menacingly.
"Ava, stop." James said walking towards her afraid of what she may do.
"I will, I just came to say one thing to him." She said never breaking eye contact with Cardoza. "Look at my face, into my eyes. Remember this, because my face will be the last thing you see before you die. Not today, but soon." She sneered.
"What the shit, Ava?" Haskil asked after taking a deep breath.
"I'm leaving the city and going to my estate in Maros." She said cooly. "If I stay in this damn city I'm going to kill him." She added. "I mean it, if I see or hear him one more time I'm going to fucking kill him before the trial even starts. So, we are leaving for a few days while you get everything in order." She finished.
"Ok, I think that's best." James said while Haskil nodded. "But what happened?"
"I don't want to get into it, ask Nate." She sighed. She and the Outsider began walking away with Bauble close behind before she turned to say something. "I'm sorry things ended up like this." She frowned and walked away.
