A/N: Whew, exams are finally over! Thank you for being patient with me, now let's quickly get on with the story, shall we?

"I should go home", Cordelia said. Misty's insides cringed at the words. Two things were true these days: These words always came too soon and they always hurt too much. The word home most of all.

"But you've only been here a couple hours."

The sleepovers had stopped. Not that she was surprised, but it still hurt. They were going backwards. Hank was gaining on the battlefield and she couldn't do anything, because she had promised to keep it sober, as Cordelia had put it. Even though she knew neither of them wanted it.

The tormented look on the other woman's face made Misty want to swallow her words again. Cordelia whispered the apology that had become her answer to almost everything. She rose from the bed and went for her jacket. She fidgeted with it and Misty waited for the words she could see her struggling with.

"I'm still undecided. I'm sorry." She looked up. "Would it be better if I wasn't here in the meantime?"

Misty shook her head and got up to stand beside her. She figured hugs were okay and wrapped her arms around Cordelia's frame. Cordelia didn't object. "It's never better if you ain't here", Misty told her.

A vague smile ghosted across Cordelia's lips before it disappeared. Cordelia leaned forward and rested her head on Misty's shoulder. Misty snuck her arms tighter around her body and coaxed her closer. She felt like a boiling kettle with its lit screwed shut. All her feelings were only getting stronger with each touch, but she wasn't allowed to release what she felt anymore. The simple motion of Cordelia's hand fisting into her dress made her feel like she could burst any minute.

As if sensing just this, Cordelia gently freed herself of Misty's embrace. Their eyes met for a second, but she didn't linger. The lingering was the worst.

"I'll see you in a couple of days", she said with a tired voice.

"Can't you come tomorrow? Now that you can't stay the night anymore?" She felt like a child bargaining for an extra hour of playtime, but she couldn't bring herself to stop.

"I don't know, Misty. It's like a cold war at home and it gets worse every time I'm away."

That should tell you something, Misty wanted to say, but she didn't. She let her eyes speak instead and Cordelia drew an agonized sigh.

"You're pushing me."

"Sorry. Day after tomorrow?"

Cordelia nodded. Her hand found Misty's and their fingers entwined for a few breathless seconds before they let go. Misty could feel the space around her vibrating with tension just a moment before it died and blew away in the chill of the wind.

Cordelia turned and left. She always looked around for Nick, before she left Misty's doorstep, but Nick was hiding in the bushes halfway down towards the river tonight. It took more than a few human footsteps to disturb him. Misty watched her leave down the path back to the city. She could see the pain lingering in Cordelia's body even from here. The way she hugged her arms around herself to cover the ache in her chest. Misty knew of this feeling.

Only when the figure disappeared in the dark, did Misty turn around. She didn't go inside, but wandered around her garden, gazing at what she could in the dark. She was too upset to sit. Maybe later she would go inside, listen to Stevie and gaze at the ceiling or try to dream herself away. But not yet. The air cooled her down and she needed that.

She heard steps. Misty knew within an instant that it wasn't Cordelia and she spun around to spot the intruder. A figure came walking towards her. It stopped when it caught her staring, but then proceeded to walk into her garden. The light from her shack caught the silhouette and revealed features of a young man. He looked at her with disgust in his eyes.

"You really are as damned as they say", he said with a voice that carried the same accent hers did. Only the loathing was new.

"Who're you?" Misty stood up tall, kept her eyes on the stranger. As her eyes adjusted to him, she thought he looked familiar.

"What has that poor, confused woman done to deserve the curse you've put on her?" The drawl in his voice was thicker than her own, she noticed. He had to be from her home town.

"I haven't cursed no one. Go away."

His eyes flashed in the light. They were the same blue as hers.

"Of course she's cursed", he spat. "No one could love you without bein' under the influence of somethin', demon."

She ignored his words. "You're the priest's son, ain't you?" The look in his eyes made her want to back away, but she knew the rules of nature. The first to show sign of weakness loses.

He sneered. "I am. I'm here to finish what my father couldn't do and trust me, witch, I've been lookin' forward to it."

"You're crazy", Misty told him. Her lips curled back over her teeth in a snarl.

To her surprise he laughed. Then he drew a knife from his clothes and pointed it at her. It reflected the light from the shack. "I'm crazy? No, witch, I ain't. You must get that from your crazy dead mama, 'cause as far as I know all you got from my father was your looks. I've waited a long time to cut our likeness out of you."

"What?" All her thoughts stopped. Misty could barely comprehend what she heard, let alone form a defense.

He saw it and he grinned with taunt.

"That's right, you didn't know. I didn't either until a month ago. But don't think that'll buy you any mercy from me, demon. A bastard child of the devil ain't no family of mine."

"Stop sayin' that! What do you mean? The priest is my father? That means… You're my brother? How come Mama never told me that?" She tried with all her strength to keep the vulnerable shiver out of her voice, but to no use. The shock was too consuming. How could she not have seen it? She had seen this man before. She had never talked to him and his disgusted looks had been one of the reasons she didn't want to stay a second after her mama's death, but family? All this time.

"She never would've. It was one of the conditions for bringin' you home, that no one ever knew. Your weak ol' mama was afraid to say anythin', so she kept her mouth shut. I just thought you should know how much you've infested my life, before I end you."

Misty charged forward with a roar, before she could take a moment to think. It was too much. The sudden attack caused the man to jump backwards and the swing of his little blade only grazed her arm. She barely noticed the pain. Her roar turned to a scream as she pushed him away.

"Get out!" She screamed. But a cloud had fallen over his eyes, a mask of hatred she had seen so many times in her life. He clenched his teeth and lunged at her. The blade missed but he knocked her over and landed on top of her.

"Die witch", he hissed at her before lunging the knife at her again. She screamed and kicked and knocked the knife out of its course. Instead of penetrating her throat, it jammed into the top of her shoulder and she screamed out in pain.

The next cry came from him. Suddenly he was off in a rush and Misty scrambled into a crouch to locate him. She heard him first, screaming in a frenzy of agony and panic. He was already halfway down the path to the river. At his feet were Nick. The alligator tore at his leg and dragged him across the surface of earth. Where the light shone, she could see the dirt turn dark and wet. She stared at the scene, motionless, and his shrill, panicked voice rang in her ears. He was wailing, begging for her to stop her servant. Nick was no servant, but a word from her might stop him.

Misty said nothing. She watched as the alligator dragged her brother to a violent death feast at the river. She trembled, tears came to her eyes, but she never called to stop it.

O0O

Fuck it all. That's how he wanted to take it. Fuck them both. Leave and never look back. But he couldn't. He didn't really want to either, that was the problem. The agony of the betrayal still ached inside him. It pounded like a second, rotten heart in his chest and it sped up every time he so much as looked at her, but he still couldn't leave her.

They had barely spoken since the confession. They had agreed to stay together at the house until they had sorted things out – Hank didn't remember whose idea it was, he only knew that the part of him that wanted to never look back wasn't dominant enough to make him do it. How could he leave her? It felt like he had spent half his life trying to earn her. In reality it was only six years ago that he started trying, but it felt like a lifetime.

He tried to hold on to the fact that she didn't want to leave either. There was a moment, when they sat down to talk, where he had thought she would move out right then and into Misty's shack here in the woods. He had anticipated those words, but they never came.

Hank couldn't believe this would be the end. It wouldn't be, if he had any say in it. You're a miserable idiot, Hank, he thought at himself. An idiot who couldn't leave his wife, when he had every reason to. His father would never let him hear the end of this. Hank dreaded the look on his face, when he found out. He would soon enough; he always had a talent for that.

Hank marched through the forest. It had to be here somewhere.

He hadn't told Cordelia where he was going. This didn't concern her.

As he marched on, the memories began pressing on. He didn't want them to, but fearing the end of his relationship made him think of the beginning. He had never doubted that she could be trusted. The issue was always the other way around. He had to work for ages just to earn this privilege. Cordelia didn't trust easily, but he did. Fucking irony that was.

When he first started talking to Cordelia, it hadn't taken Hank more than an afternoon to learn that she had been hurt before. By who she wouldn't say, but the cut went deep, no doubt. It lingered in her every movement, evident in the way she carried herself. Like everyone was out to torment her. He saw how she held back, restrained herself, even later on when he knew she wanted to let go. It had been his stupid mission to get some information out of her, but as the stupid cliché of an idiot he was, he had fallen in love with her instead. His own mission had been to get her to open up to him. Not for his father's sake, but for his own. For her own.

And it took months just to get within an arms length of her. It took four fucking dates before she even let him kiss her. He was the joke around his friends all the while for having such a poor grasp on women. And honestly he did, but neither knew how special this one was. She was always ready to push him away, always trying to make him change his mind. It made him want to try harder.

He approached her at a college party one time around their fifth date. This party was the one that stood out most clear in his memory.

"Don't waste your time on me, Hank", she told him then. "I'm in no mood. Just move on please, I'll only bore you."

"All right", Hank remember he said as he sat down beside her. "Try. Bore me. But I don't think you can."

That was the thing about her. She was quiet, she was withdrawn, but she was never boring. She had a way of making everything sound interesting, only she didn't see that herself. He shared his beer with her, coaxed her to talk, and by the time she was pouring out all the secrets about her horror of a maid – the ones Hank's father had ordered him to get – he didn't really care about anything but making her smile. He succeeded occasionally and on this night, he even made her laugh. It made him feel like a fucking hero. On this night, he was the smoothest he had ever been. He inched closer, when he dared, coaxed her hand into his, responded to her words in a way that made her lean into him instead of away. All this without a bucket of alcohol in his system, which was unusual. She didn't scare him like the rest of them did. The fright that pounded within his body was manageable and when he finally kissed her, she didn't pull away. That night she let him sleep beside her, so long as he promised not to push her. He didn't. He knew he was in for a shitload of mockery from the guys for once again avoiding getting laid, but he didn't care, because he got to lie with his arm around her all night.

And now this blessed memory only made him feel stupid.

Even after that, it still took months before he learned the name of the one who had hurt her so badly, she shut the whole world out. He had sometimes dared wishing this childhood friend would come back and undo the damage. Hank barked out a bitter laugh at the thought. He regretted that wish now. He had never thought the day would come, where he would have to ask this person to leave Cordelia alone again.

Finally, he reached the meadow. Cordelia had talked about the path to Misty's shack before it all went to shit and with some effort, he located the source of his pain.

He couldn't see if she was home. The daylight made it impossible to tell, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to try. It had taken him all week to muster up enough courage to do this and now it was time to get it all out.

He stepped up to the door and knocked.

There was ruffling coming from inside and his rotten heart started pounding again.

The door opened and infamous childhood friend mistress appeared. The first thing he noticed was that hair, Cordelia always talked about. Blonde and wild, just as she had described it. Her blue eyes were locked on his and they had the same sort of wildness in them. The was something else about her, an aura of a power of sorts, which Hank couldn't place.

Shit, he thought. She's hot.

Gorgeous women scared him. It always felt like they knew some secret about him, or had some cruel inside joke hanging over his head and he felt tongue-tied just looking at them. Cordelia was different, because her massive insecurities made it easy to get through. She didn't have a joke on him and Hank didn't need to tear down that wall hot women raises around themselves, because Cordelia did it all by herself. But this one, her wall was strong like nothing he'd ever experienced and for a moment he didn't know what to say. Her hostile gaze had him petrified.

"Hank", she said. The way she said his name, like a snarl of some animal – there was nothing endearing about her voice to Hank's mind – terrified him even more. How the hell did Cordelia even manage to talk to this woman?

He took in a breath, willed himself to pull his shit together and complete what he had come here to do.

"So you're Misty?" Of course she is, idiot, how many Cajun's do you think live in a small shack in the swamp?

He noticed that her hand fisted just before she crossed her arms over her chest and she proceeded to stare him down.

"Yeah. What do you want?"

"What I- I just want you to acknowledge that I exist! That I'm a real person you're hurting!"

For a second her eyes widened and he couldn't tell if it was shock from his sudden outburst or his words themselves. When she answered, her voice was plain, but he could feel the anger simmering beneath it, probably not unlike the way he himself had spoken for the entire week:

"You don't think I know that? I'm painfully aware of you, don't you worry 'bout that."

Hank hadn't exactly pictured a duel, but this trembling calm confused him even more. The realization that he was having a conversation with his wife's mistress, instead of yelling at her and telling her off, infuriated him.

"But you're… Well stop it!"

"It's not up to me."

"You're fucking the love of my life!"

"I'd say the same to you." She left her doorway and walked out to him. She was just as tall as him, maybe even an inch taller. The sunlight made her hair look even crazier. The anger in her gaze and the snarl in her voice made him take an involuntary step back. "And don't think that little piece of metal-", she looked at his hand, "-gives you any kinda claim. It's all up to her."

"I don't want you near her", Hank finally blurted out. He had lost what lilttle authority he came in here with, the moment he took that step back, but he would go down fighting if it came to it. "As far as I'm concerned you had your chance and you blew it. She's my wife!"

"I don't care", Misty snarled. Hank opened and closed his mouth. How was he supposed to argue with this woman? How was he supposed to break down her wall and defeat her, when all he had done so far was making pathetic scratches in the stone? He was still trying to figure out how to respond, when something else caught his attention. To his right, down in the grass a few feet ahead came an alligator. Hank gasped and stepped further back.

Misty simply waved the creature away and said: "It's okay this time, Nick." The alligator stayed back and watched them from afar.

Hank couldn't get a word out. How the hell was he supposed to fight someone, who could give orders to alligators?

Misty turned to him again.

"Don't worry. I told him he couldn't eat you. It would make Delia unhappy." Her tone of voice didn't inspire the least bit of comfort. Her gaze turned dark in a way that frightened Hank much more than he wanted to admit. And what was this nicknaming? Like she was closer to her than he was.

Hank didn't know if he hated her or himself more in that moment. He felt like a coward, because after all his effort to come here and set it right, she had done nothing but shoot him down and he let her.

"I can be good enough for her", he told her. "I can. But you're ruining it for me."

"You've ruined it for yourself from what I hear. Go away now, I don't want you here. There's been enough intruders." She turned to leave, but seemed to change her mind.

"One more thing", she said. The simmer of anger built in her voice. "I saw her arm. If you ever hurt her like that again…" The anger flared up in her eyes like actual fire. "No, I won't feed you to the gators. I swear I'll end you myself."

Hank was frozen. He remembered Delphine's words: She's dangerous. Fiona said it was a lie, a part of her deceit, but he didn't think she would say that, if Misty had ever looked at Fiona this way. Cordelia said she was a healer and that wasn't something to fear, yet he did just that. He wanted to talk, to say anything of defense, but he couldn't get words over his tongue. She didn't wait for him to leave, but turned away from him and walked back to the house.

"You're a freak! You're taking Cordelia because there's no one else for you, how's that fair!"

She stopped. He regretted the words the second they were out. For a moment he was afraid she would turn around and rip his head off with her bare hands, but instead she went back into to the shack and slammed the door – but not before giving the alligator a look. It didn't move, but Hank wasn't about to find out just how far her control over the animal stretched. He backed out. Only when the trees consumed him again, did he dare turn his back and run away.

O0O

Cordelia rushed to get out the door that night. Her head spun with the horrific news Fiona had just told her. She felt vulnerable in an odd way, knowing the old, mad maid was somewhere in town, but while Fiona had ensured her, she was not a target, she was not the least bit comforted. Because she wasn't worried for herself. She didn't care, if she was a on the list or not, but she had a suspicion Misty was and that terrified her. Delphine never liked her.

Hank called her name as she went past the living room. They didn't spent much time in the same room these days. She stopped at the sound and waited for him to come out to her. He looked more tormented than ever today.

"Are you going to the swamp?" They didn't say the name, if they could avoid it. Cordelia refrained out of what little respect she had left to offer and Hank did so, she imagined, because the mere name made him too angry.

"Yes. I need to warn her about Delphine. She might try something. Delphine knows where she lives after all."

Hank nodded. None of them acknowledged that it was because of him she did so. Cordelia imagined, though, that this was the reason he didn't make a bigger fuss. Whatever thin tread of marriage that still held them together, weakened every time she went to Misty, but this felt like a free trip, because she had a concrete purpose for going.

"Cordelia…" He walked closer to her. She didn't move, but waited for whatever he meant to say. He didn't talk at first, but reached out for her, brushed his hands over her upper arms. It was the first time he had touched since he shoved her arm away in anger and the notion made her heart ache. He looked agonized now, but it was a different pain. When he looked up, she saw that it was regret. "I'm sorry I hurt you. Your arm. I shouldn't have done that."

"It's okay, Hank. I know you didn't mean to. You have every right to be angry with me."

"But that's just it. I don't want to be angry anymore. Please Cordelia, can we just find some way to get back to normal?" The tenderness of his voice cut into her. If only he had unleashed some devil at the disclosure of her betrayal, then she could have used it to make her choice. But the only devil Hank had, came from a bottle and he was dry as a bone right now.

She sighed and fought to keep eye contact.

"I'll try." She didn't know if it was a lie or not, but when he pulled her in, she clung to his embrace. Tears blurred her vision and in this moment, she wished for another black hole to disappear into. If only she could hide against Hank's neck and the darkness of her closed eyes could take her with it. But he loosened the embrace again and nothing was solved yet. She blinked her tears away.

"I have to go."

His lips were pressed together in an unreadable expression, but he nodded.

"See you later?" She offered.

"Yeah. See you later."

She walked with heavy feet on the path to Misty's shack. It felt like there was a knot in her chest that constantly tightened and loosened at the same time. The anticipation of seeing Misty always brought shame with it now. She wondered if she would ever be rid of this feeling. The mess just kept growing. Her thighs were wrecked from all the troubles coursing through her mind.

But today was free, she reminded herself.

She knocked on the door and she heard the sound of Misty's chair rushing across the floor. She knew something was out of place even before Misty opened the door.

When they met face to face, the anger in Misty's every feature hit Cordelia so hard she immediately forgot what she came to say.

"What wrong?"

Misty snarled, perhaps not at her, but the knot in her chest tightened even so.

"I'll tell you what's wrong! I'm gettin' 'bout fed up with everythin'!" She went back into the house and Cordelia followed with small insecure steps, closed the door. "Hank came by this mornin'" – a surge of cold rushed through her system – "tryna scare me off, callin' me a freak and last night a half-brother, I didn't know I had, showed up to kill me, so I've had it!"

"What?" Misty walked back and forth in her tiny home, her wild eyes flashing and her teeth bared to growl out her frustrations. At Cordelia's reaction, she stopped for a moment and turned to face her. "What half-brother?"

"Some… witch hunter." She flung her arms around. "I don't know. He's the son of the priest. My father is the priest! Not the old one, who threw me out first, but the new one. No one ever told me! My mama didn't even dare tellin' me! And suddenly he's here sayin' all kinda horrible things and tryna kill me with a knife!" Her voice snapped and it broke Cordelia's heart. She rushed over to Misty and hugged her. Misty drew a violent breath against her shoulder. When she moved, Cordelia loosened her grip and cupped her face in her hands instead.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

Misty sniffled and blinked to clear the tears from her eyes. "He gave me a little cut, but it's healed up now. Nick saved me, dragged him to the river. I could've stopped him, Delia. He begged me, but I did nothin'. I just let him die. My brother." She sniffled again, but didn't catch the tears in time before they ran down her cheeks. Cordelia fought against her own and pulled Misty to her again.

"You didn't let him die, love. You let Nick save you. I'm so sorry this happened."

She could feel her nod and let go, when Misty signaled to. She dried her eyes with the back of her hand.

"They were supposed to be my family. I'm just so tired of bein' unwanted."

The knot tightened harder in Cordelia's chest. This one was meant for her too.

"Misty, I-"

"If you just told him, he wouldn't have come here." She had her voice under fragile control again and it was growing hard. So was her eyes. "I know you love him, but you know you and I don't work without each other. I'm sorry, but you can't have both."

The hardness made Cordelia feel like she was suffocating. This was a thousand times worse than the rare occasions, where they had fought as children, because every word Misty said was true and yet Cordelia remained frozen.

"I know, Misty, I know. Please give me some time to figure it out."

Misty took a small step back, every inch tightening the knot, smothering Cordelia from within. "You've had weeks now, Delia."

"I know, but I don't know how to do this. I can't just tell him to leave."

"Why can't you tell him?"

"He's my husband! I can't just lose the last six years of my life like that." She knew the moment she said it that it was the worst possible thing to say.

"But your husband can come here and call me all sorta things and that's okay?" The fury rose in her eyes with tears, built in every part of her body. Her eyes darted across the room and her hands fisted as if she was on the verge of throwing something.

"No of course not!" Cordelia felt the tears in her throat now. She could barely breathe. "Of course he can't! But I still don't know what to do. I don't know how to leave people, they always leave me! I love you, but I don't know how to do anything about it!"

"And what am I supposed to do with that?!" Misty shouted the words at her.

"I don't fucking know! I don't know, Misty!"

She was prepared for Misty to storm out, to scream at her, to throw something, but she didn't. She growled out her frustration and then she kissed her. It was a rough kiss, forceful and desperate. Misty slammed her against the wall and pinned her to it, grasping for something to hold onto. This kiss felt different. Wrong, forbidden. This was the first kiss that truly, consciously felt like cheating. And Cordelia couldn't stop. She moaned when she felt Misty's body press against her own, every space between them sealed. Misty's hands were always gentle with her, but tonight they held on so tight it almost hurt. The desperation flooded them both as one and Cordelia wondered, if the knot in her chest could tighten and loosen at the same time.

They broke the kiss again and panted into the small space between their mouths, foreheads resting against each other. Cordelia could feel that most of the rage had left Misty by now, but a fraction remained. A fraction of it never left.

When Misty spoke again, there was darkness mixed up in her husky voice.

"Please don't make me fight for you. 'Cause I think I'll kill him."