Title: Welcome to the Fold
Author: Janine
Fandom: Blade the Series
Pairing: Krista/Chase
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Summary: Continuation of "A Brave New World" … Krista arrives at Chase's new operation.
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Part 11
Six Hours Later…
Krista ran an agitated hand through her hair as she approached the room she and Chase had been shown to at the Saqqara villa. She had opted out of attending the meeting with the Saqqara purebloods with Chase after they had dropped their luggage off in the room. She knew that Chase needed to be in top form while dealing with them, and she was aware of the fact that she was, at the moment, a source of supreme irritation and distraction to the blonde. Besides, she needed some time on her own to think about what was happening and to try and figure out what she was feeling without Chase sitting or pacing or glaring a few meters away from her.
So, as Chase had gone to see the purebloods Krista had accepted one of the cars that was offered to them and had the driver take her into the city, where she had wandered for hours, allowing the smells, sounds and lights to wash over her and lull her into a mindless calm for a little while.
She hadn't really resolved anything on her little outing, but she was sure that the meeting with the purebloods was over and that Chase would need her in one capacity or another. However things might turn out, she was at the moment still Chase's second in command and her lover, and though she needed a little space she had no intention of forcing the blonde to fend for herself.
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Chase picked up the vase and flung it across the room with all of her might.
"Lying, fucking double crossing bastards!" Chase raged as she spun on her booted heel and picked up a gold candlestick holder, raising it above her head and bringing it down against the wall, again and again, and again until she had knocked a hole the size of the television set into it.
"Fuck you!" Chase screamed fangs barred as she turned towards the door throwing the candlestick holder at it, before turning around and yanking the comforter off of the bed and throwing it to the ground before kicking it, and then moving over to the desk sweeping everything off of it, and kicking the chair in front of it across the room as her hand reached for the handle of a nearby drawer, pulling it out of the cradle and flinging it across the room.
For fucking months she had been funneling those piss drinking cunts money and using her teams and her resources to take care of problems for them to build up trust and a spirit of co-operation between them. But the time for favors was supposed to have been coming to an end, and Saqqara was finally supposed to live up to its end of the deal. When she had been summoned to see them early her asshole had quivered knowing that it was almost certain she was going to get fucked over, but going into the meeting and hearing them demand one more job from her before they would consider moving on to the next part of their deal filled her with a deep rage so strong that she even surprised herself.
She knew the road to restoring Chthon would be difficult. She knew that she was going to have to do a lot of things that she would rather not have done, and she knew that she was going to have to kiss a lot of ass that she would have rather kicked. And she had been doing it because it was necessary, she had been doing it because she saw an end in sight because she believed that one day soon her dues would be paid, the contract would be signed and they could just fucking get on with it.
But standing there in that room, watching those well-dressed bastards lounge in their seats as they spoke to her like a goddamn servant she realized that's exactly what she was, and what she was always going to be. She was at their mercy, and she would always be at their mercy. What power she currently held, and may gain in the future was at their discretion. And for a moment she hated herself for her ambition because it had led her to betray Marcus and ruin his plans to annihilate every pureblood, and at that moment there was nothing that she wanted more to see all of those self-important windbags die horribly.
Standing there in front of them she truly comprehended for the first time that with all of their purebloods gone, that Chthon would never be more than an extremely well funded syndicate and that they would always be at the mercy of the other Houses.
Standing there in front of them she knew she would never be in the inner-circle, just eternally outside, guarding it, like a good little dog.
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Krista dodged the side quickly blinking as a lamp flew past her head and crashed against the wall opposite the door to their room.
"Were you aiming at me?" Krista asked moving inside the room, kicking the door shut behind her uncomfortable taking her eyes off of Chase until she got an answer.
"No," Chase responded kicking at the broken remnants of a small garbage basket morosely.
"What happened?" Krista asked moving further into the room now that Chase had at least stopped throwing things.
"Nothing," Chase hissed viciously. "Absolutely nothing. Everything is just going to go on like it was before. They never," she continued kicking hard at the garbage basket, "had any intention of following through with the plan as discussed. Chthon," she continued her eyes scanning the room as if looking for something else to destroy, "is dead. It died with Marcus and the destruction of the formula for the pureblood final solution," Chase finished her body slumping, almost seeming to collapse in on itself as she couldn't find anything to crush within reach.
"You still have the coven, and the money. Even if the purebloods won't officially recognize it, Chthon still exists and you're in charge," Krista responded closing the small bit a space between herself and Chase, reaching out for the blonde's face and grasping it between her hands. "You don't need them." Chase growled low in her throat in response and shifted her gaze away from Krista. "Why is it so important to you to have their blessing?" Krista asked a few seconds later. "What do really you want?"
"Power," Chase growled her lips curling back as she spoke.
"You have power," Krista responded holding Chase's gaze. "It's something else."
"Position," Chase growled ripping her head out of Krista's hands. "Respect. I want to sit at the table, not to kneel beside it," she continued running a hand through her hair. "I'm just a well armed, well financed thug!" Chase practically screamed manic as she began to pace. "Everything I do is at their discretion; I'm still just a cog."
"You're not a cog," Krista responded her lip twitching a little though she beat down the urge to smile at Chase's temper tantrum. Although the blonde's reaction seemed overblown to her, she could see that Chase was genuinely distressed over the events of the meeting and she wouldn't make light of that.
"You," Chase started stepping back from Krista, knowing that she was being placated and hating it. "You have no idea what it is to be powerless. To be … owned," she continued looking away from Krista. "One hundred and fucking twenty-six years Krista and only number two," Chase raged spinning around to face the brunette once again. "And even then I was still his goddamn blood barista!"
Despite all the time that she had worked for him, and all that she had done for him, Marcus was still the one to decide what she did, what she was allowed to know about the plans, who she would work with, and in the end who she could fuck. She was number two, but it was a distant second place, barely above the rest of the pack and she felt it.
"I was never this, or never that," Chase continued waving her hand from side to side. "But this was supposed to end that, this was supposed to be freedom. But I'm still 'not'. I'm not a pureblood, I never will be … never free," Chase went on squeezing her eyes shut as if her words were causing her physical pain. "I'm going to be someone's bitch for eternity."
"You," Krista said her gaze intense and her words sharp. "Are no one's bitch," she continued passionately. "You've done more for yourself then the purebloods could ever dream of accomplishing on their own. They need you, Chase. They're pompous and exclusionary because it's all that they have," she continued reaching out for Chase again, taking her hand in her own. "They won't let you join the Country Club, so what? Fuck them. Build your own, build it better, charge them triple when they want to join," Krista continued brushing her thumb over Chase's cheek. "Or walk away," she went on her voice dropping to a whisper as she swayed towards Chase, resting her forehead against the blondes. "The council, inter-house politics, networking, the glass ceiling, just give it the finger and walk away. We could move; you could open a store or a salon and dress up thousands of people, I could become a private detective with an affinity for the night," Krista continued smiling a little, becoming a little excited as she spoke. "We can raid blood banks together on weekends, and use our military tactics to dominate at paintball. Just you and me, doing whatever we want, no purebloods, no orders, just life and whatever we want to do with ours."
Chase stared at Krista for a long moment unable to determine whether the brunette was joking or not, and how she felt about it if she wasn't. However, before the elder vampire was forced to formulate a response there was a tentative knock on the door – the debris outside of the room no doubt inspiring caution.
"What?" Chase yelled out peevishly, though there was actually a part of her that was somewhat relieved.
"The rest of the team just arrived," a man dressed all in black said as he stepped into the room. He was one of Chase's people, David. His team had been in Louisiana repossessing some possessions of Charlotte's for the coven war chest and Chase had called him telling them all to get the team to Miami before she and Krista had left Toronto anticipating that she might need the support.
"We'll be down in a minute to brief you," Chase responded before turning away from him.
"Team?" Krista asked when David was out of the room.
"Yeah," Chase responded her face darkening as she stepped back from Krista. "This bitch has at least one more Frisbee to fetch," she continued moving towards their luggage and unzipping it to take out their black strike team uniforms. The luggage had been thrown around the room as well, but it had fared much better than many other objects Chase had taken her rage out on.
Krista reached out catching the pair of black pants Chase tossed over her shoulder. She wanted to finish the conversation they had been having, but she knew with a team waiting outside to go on assignment that there was no way they would be able to finish it at the moment.
Krista sighed and began to change. Maybe it was better that they continue the conversation later. Chase was tense and emotional at the moment and though she had calmed down a bit at the end, it might be good for the blonde to do a little violence and let off a little steam.
In any case, Krista thought as she pulled her blank turtle neck over her head, she could certainly do with a little stress relief.
To be continued …
