This is a long one. Doing my best to not replicate the tv word for word/scene for scene but there's some things that I feel need to remain.
Thanks for all the reviews and feedback! They really help motivate me to push these chapters out more for y'all. :)
Cassidy had been sitting at the apartment for a while now. He might has well have been alone, because the few times he'd knocked on Dennis's door, he just yelled in french to him and never bothered opening the door.
He'd made a pretty good dent in the tobacco stash he'd just gotten from the little market down the road a couple hours ago. As if he expected all three of them to pull up any second, Cassidy watched off the little balcony down at the road. To his delight, he saw a car that was unmistakably Tulip's pull down the road.
It was a good sign - a great sign, and he already felt so much better just at the sight of Tulip's car. In Cassidy's mind, pretty soon, the four of them would be on this very balcony sharing many of the bottles of whiskey that Cassidy had invested in earlier.
As the front door opened, Cassidy waited on the other side, his face dropping at the sight of Tulip walking in with, not Jesse and Lily, but a child no older than 12. "Tulip! Been worried s-!" Cassidy said enthusiastic at first - the sight of her alive and safe a huge relief, until he noticed the look on her face show how truly pissed she was, causing his tone of voice to trail downward mid sentence, "Sick about ye..." He finished flatly, "Who's this?" He asked, looking at the young girl in front of Tulip, who's hands rested on the child's shoulders.
"This," Tulip started, stepping all the way into the apartment as she kicked the door closed behind them, "Is my step daughter, Allie." With his eyebrows raising in shock at the statement, Cassidy stared at Tulip with his face completely dropped, before he stuttered down at the girl, "H-Hi, Allie." Cassidy said sweetly with a smile. Allie pressed her lips into a forced smile, her face not hiding the fact she was clearly not amused.
"This is Cassidy." Tulip said to Allie, "Why's he wearing sunglasses inside?" Allie asked judgmentally. Cassidy stood upright as Tulip answered, "Cause that's just Cassidy. He's a jokster - a real hoot." She explained in a flat tone, "Are ya hungry?" She asked the girl.
With her face straight and her head shaking Allie said, "No." Simply. "Ok," Tulip sighed with a smile that was a true endeavor to bare, "Then... Cassdy I'm sure can find you somethin' to keep ya occupied - he knows a lot about fun. Don't ya, Cass?" With an obvious struggle to the filter he had on, Cassidy cackled, "Ha, haaa! Sure do!"
"Hmm.." Allie hummed objectively, clearly seeing through both of their facades of happiness, "C'mon," Tulip urged her as she patted her on the back, "Cass, buddy, wanna show her in the living room?" "Yea," Cassidy said side eyeing Tulip as he was suspicious of the obviously-forced, sweet tone to her voice, "Right here." He pushed Allie lightly on the back into the room as the girl looked at Dennis sleeping, her face clearly mortified at the conditions of living compared to what she was used to, "Oh!" Cassidy perked up with enthusiasm, "I jus' got Dennis this game system." He said with a smile, pointing at it and watching as Allie, unimpressed, looked from him to the gaming system on the shelf in front of the television. "Knock yerself out." He pointed at Dennis, who was snoring on the arm chair, "'Es not usin' it right now." With a smile, Cassidy backed up, closing the double doors between the living room and kitchen.
With a sigh, he spoke quietly, "So, were's Jess n'Lil?" And as he turned to look at Tulip, instead of a simple answer, he saw her fist flying straight to his face, cracking him in the nose. Cassidy fell back against the floor with a thud as he groaned, clenching onto his face.
"You told him!?" Tulip screamed, "Damn it, Cassidy!" She swore, her jaw clenched as she paced back into the middle of the kitchen, getting herself away from him before she followed her impulse to kick him in the gut. Cassidy blindly reached a hand out to the floor beside him, grabbing hold of his shades that had been knocked off of him and sliding them back on as he laid back against the floor.
With another groan, Cassidy sat up, still sitting on the ground as he looked up at Tulip, his double vision focusing back to one again, "Jaysis." He whispered, his hands on his nose muffling his voice. Moving his hands from his face, he looked at the blood covering them, a trail dripping down from his nose to his chin, "Tulip." Cassidy whined, his eyebrow furrowed as he looked up at her, "I was really worried about ye." "Oh, please!" Tulip closed her eyes and crossed her arms, "Cassidy you swore to me that you wouldn't say anythin'. I thought I could trust you!" Her tone was wavering between pissed and hurt.
Cassidy scrunched his face as he pulled his top half up, still sitting on the floor and wiping his arm across his face again, "Y'could've responded t'my many calls or texts, huh!?" Cassidy countered, as Tulip shook her head furiously, "No, I owe nothing to you!" She yelled down at him on the ground, "I don't have to respond to anyone, Cassidy, let alone you." She pointed a finger sternly at him as she spat her words out his direction, "And now, my boyfriend's got my husband, who I was just simply tryin' to divorce, hanging up in a torture room as he does God only knows to him!" Tulip's voice cracked at the end as her fury took a brief pause.
Although her face was still hard, her eyes watered. "Husband?" Cassidy said before he huffed, "I'm sorry." He said, raising his brow and holding his hands out, "Fer hearin' about yer husband bein' hung up n'all that. Not sorry fer tellin' Jesse," He clarified, to which she couldn't help but laugh, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms as she stuck a hip out. "I was worried sick about ye." He whined, "Yer me good friend, Tulip." His tender words caused her face to instinctively soften a noticeable amount. She held her chin high as her eyes looked down at him sitting pathetically on the floor. He sniffled, the blood streaming from his nose lessening, "I thought y'were in trouble! Jus' wanted t'know y'were alright." He whined, "N'Lily n'Jess both didn't seem t'give a rats arse about ye." He groaned.
With a sharp exhale, and her blood pressure decreasing slightly, she rolled her head back. Her big brown eyes moved from up towards the ceiling back down at Cassidy as she dropped her head and blinked at him. Unraveling her crossed arms, she walked up to him, holding her hand out and yanking him up from the ground.
"They didn't care, cos they both knew I wasn't in any trouble." "Y'weren't?" Cassidy asked, standing on his feet. "With Viktor?" Tulip asked, her back to him as she walked towards the counter, "No." She stated, snagging a mickey of whiskey sitting on the counter. "Jesse's got 'im tied up y'said?" Cassidy asked. "Yep." She said, lifting the bottle to her mouth. "Where's Lily, then?" He asked. As Tulip gulped a fair share of whiskey, she moved the bottle from her mouth with an exhale, "She's there, too." "Where?" Cassidy asked. "The torture room. Helpin' Jess."
Cassidy scrunched his face, "Wot!?" He reveled. "Well," Tulip raised her brows, swinging the mickey towards him, "Not her fault, entirely. Jesse used that fuckin' thing inside of him to get me to leave and practically threatened to kick Lily out himself if she didn't help him." Tulip took a big swig from the mickey, "Mm" She hummed with the bottle in her mouth as she raised her brows. Wincing, she moved the bottle to her side, "I hated that thing before - but now - I really hate it." With his mouth wide open, Cassidy blinked a few times before turning to the kitchen table.
He snatched his coat hanging on one of the chairs and walked to the door. "Hey!" Tulip said with her brows scrunched together, "Where do you think you're goin!?" "This has blown way outta proportion." Cassidy stated, "Torture room. Husband. Tied up." He groaned, gathering himself to leave. Tulip leaned towards him and stuck a hip out as she scoffed with a grin, "Who's fault's that." With his tone genuine, Cassidy reached a hand out to Tulip, "That's why I'm goin', alright?" "Well, what are ya gonna say!?" Tulip asked curiously. "I got it." Cassidy assured softly, "Trust me." He smiled at her as the door closed between them, leaving Tulip to laugh hopelessly into the bottle of whiskey.
Both Jesse and Lily had been upstairs in the room they'd found Tulip in with Viktor for a grueling hour. Jesse hadn't said a word and Lily had given up on trying to get him to. All she could think of was Viktor hanging from his torso downstairs, surely near his end by now, and she'd be as guilty of his death as Jesse was, since she helped him hoist him up there herself. Tulip would be as mad and unforgiving to her as she would be to Jesse if she didn't find a way to compromise with her brother and get him to .
She stared briefly at the once beautiful bed, now torn apart from her ripping it apart earlier. She'd torn off a strip of the fitted sheet to replace her blood drenched blouse that wrapped around her arm, tying the strip of fabric over her raw wound. Finally, it had clotted, as she noted the red blotch seeping through the fabric tied around her arm not growing any larger.
Her glance went back on her brother, who hadn't said a word the past hour, just staring at the wedding photo of Tulip and Viktor, which was no doubt disturbing to her as well.
With a deep breath, Lily closed her eyes. Exhaustion was creeping up very quickly and the blood loss definitely didn't help. Part of her wanted to get past this grueling waiting as Jesse had a silent mental breakdown, but the other part of her wished they'd stay in this moment forever, as tense as it was, in fear of how terrible things would be after Tulip would find out they'd let Viktor die.
Hearing a creek at the door, Lily felt her stomach drop in panic at who or what they would have to face on the other side. As if he was made of stone, Jesse hadn't even flinched from his position. When it was Cassidy's face that peaked in with a grin, Lily sighed in relief, and leaned back again.
"Cassidy." She huffed, her voice hoarse as she cleared her throat, "Scared the shit out of me."
When Cassidy walked into the room, it was like hitting a wall. The tension in the air was so thick, you could cut a knife with it if you'd tried. "What happened?" Cassidy asked, glancing only for a brief second towards Jesse, who's back remained to him, before his eyes glued to Lily, "You alright?" He asked quietly as he noted their filthy and torn clothing, along with the scattered bruises, cuts and trails of dried blood all over them.
Lily swallowed, her eyes low as she hardly glanced at him and nodded feebly. She remained leaning against the bedside table beside Jesse, her arms crossed as she ran her hand through her hair. Cassidy didn't have to ask to know the crusted blood covering her was all hers, he felt himself swallow a lump in his throat as he took a careful step back, sitting on the bed.
"Long day, eh?" Cassidy said softly, his eyes catching Lily's one boot, torn practically in half before he looked up at Jesse.
After Cassidy talking for several minutes to seemingly himself, there was a staleness to the air. Suddenly, a foreign sound filled the room as Lily looked up at her brother with wide eyes as he finally spoke for the first time, "Can I ask you something, Cassidy?" His voice was hoarse and unfamiliar.
"O'course." Cassidy said softly, "That's why I'm 'ere."
"After lyin' to me all this time." Jesse began, still staring at the wedding photo in his hand, "Since Dallas. Probably since Annville, Hell, the Casino. What makes you think I'd believe anything you say to me right now?"
Lily blinked at her brother, his body and eyes not wavering from place of staring at the wedding photo of Viktor and Tulip. Cassidy huffed at their side, still sitting on the bed as he dropped his head, rubbing the back of his neck, "I didn't mean t'hide anythin' from ye, padre." Cassidy said sincerely, looking up at him with apologetic eyes.
"Lie to my face?" Jesse rasped sourly, staring with blank eyes towards the picture frame in his hands, "Go behind my back?" He was talking so quietly it was getting hard to hear him, "Now you're here to be a friend. To be the hero and talk me outta doin' this."
Cassidy shook his head, "Not t'be one t'make excuses, mate, but in this particular situation, I was put between a rock n'a hard place-" Jesse cut Cassidy off, finally moving both his body and his eyes for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, "You didn't answer my question." Jesse said in a tone matching his eyes - detached from emotion.
Right beside her, Lily felt Jesse's blank front turn offensive, causing her heart to skip a beat in worry of what his impulse was telling him to do as she studied his face intently. To her other side, Lily looked as Cassidy stood up to his feet, as his soft and supportive front switched off to mirror Jesse's offensive one, "Well maybe y'should remind me, then?" Cassidy challenged in a way that, as she struggled not to show it, made Lily very nervous.
Lily pushed herself off the nightstand she had been leaning against, worried that the two of them were about to break into a full out brawl the tensity was so strong between them, "Guys..." She said lightly, holding her hands up loosely as if she could ever stand as a barrier between them if they did decide to let fists fly.
"Why would I trust you? Why would anyone trust you?" Jesse hissed a little louder. Lily turned her head to him slowly, her face and tone of voice the same calm, "Jess." She murmured softly, feeling Jesse begin to push against her hand.
With Cassidy and Jesse not breaking eye contact, Jesse began spitting hurtful words at him, raising the level of tensity even higher, "You're just a lying, fornicating, useless-" Lily's brow narrowed as she tilted her head, her brothers cruel words twisting her heart strings for how they must've made Cassidy feel, "Jesse." She said sterner, turning her back to Cassidy and facing Jesse completely, a movement to which caused Jesse to push harder against her as he continued, "Junkie, vampire, blood-suckin' piece of shit-"
Lily stepped closer to her brother, "Jesse Custer!" She yelled, pushing him back, "That is enough." Her voice almost sounded like his as she pushed him harder. He tore his eyes from Cassidy standing behind her to his sister, his heart racing with rage and his face going red as he panted like a wild animal, "You're upset." Lily said carefully, keeping her tone as serious as possible, "That's fine. But Cassidy has nothing to do with your relationship with Tulip. Don't blame him for-" "I don't trust anything he says." Jesse spat, pointing a finger to Cassidy, "And I have a pretty hard time believin' you didn't know anythin', either!" Jesse said, moving his finger to point accusingly at Lily.
She couldn't say anything, she kept her face flat. It was obvious Jesse was beyond heartbroken. He was emotionally unstable. The only person in the world he trusted, the love of his life, had sideswiped him in a way that left him completely devastated, and this was his own unique way of showing it. If he couldn't trust the one person he'd trust with everything he was, how could he trust anyone else?
From behind Lily, Cassidy spoke, his consoling and soft tone had twisted into a rough and raw growl, "Yer right, Jesse." He said woefully, "I warn people o'that all th'time but most time's they just don't believe me."
Lily felt like a stranger was talking as she turned herself around, opening up to be able to look at Cassidy again. His voice so stranger, she had to look at him to make sure it was till him that stood behind her. Her hardened face dropped as she listened to his variation of voice. His ghastly eyes were stuck to Jesse, apparent hurt inside of them, "I'm all those things n'more. Wotever's in th'recipe fer the world's largest prick, I've got it." He owned in miserable confidence. His self-pity made Lily even more sad for him and she wondered if that was what his motive was as she caught her brow furrowing."Greedy?" He continued, "Ya. Self obsessed? You bet. Jealous?" He fluttered his eyes dramatically, "Y'know wot, though, padre?" He asked deviously, "That's gotta be the big difference between us two."
Lily was surprised to only hear Jesse's deep breath from his side as he listened to Cassidy, "Cause, see," Cassidy continued, in a split second his hurt eyes hardening into a glare so sinister it sent a chill down both Lily and Jesse's spine, "If I was in yer situation" He bared his teeth as he hissed through them angrily, "-if some muppet had 'is hands on my girl-" He paused, and Lily felt her throat go dry and her brow narrow as she tried to understand his angle, "I'm not ashamed to admit it - I wouldn't be very restrained at all."
In both confusion and betrayal, Lily stared at Cassidy. He'd known Jesse was in a very vulnerable state. Saying something that practically persuaded him into following his aggressive instincts was just plain malicious - it was almost as if Cassidy wanted him to fuck things up. Both Lily and Jesse stared at Cassidy, not knowing what to say.
"I'm not 'ere t'tell y'wot t'do or t'be a hero. I'm 'ere t'let yew know that no matter wot y'end up doin' that I am wit'ye, padre." Cassidy said simply, straightening his mouth.
Hesitant to react, Lily felt conflicted with emotions. Afraid to add anything to the whirlwind of emotions, Lily swallowed the lump in her throat. She breathed in sharply as she turned to her brother to perform damage control, "Jess-" Lily started, before he interrupted her, "You should leave now." Jesse said flatly to Lily, "I have to do this on my own." His tone was impassive, worrying Lily greatly. "No." She said, stepping in front of him as she lowered her head to try and get him to look in her eyes, "Jesse, you don't have to do anything alone." "Lily," Jesse inhaled sharply, finally looking at her. His eyes were cold and unfamiliar, "The Word may not work on you - but it sure as Hell works on Cassidy." He stared at her with a glare of detachment, "Don't make me put Cassidy in another rock and hard place," He mocked Cassidy's words, "-and have him drag your ass out of here."
Biting her lip with a huff, she shifted her eyes to the window. Feeling both Cassidy and Jesse stare at her, she didn't move. Her arms were crossed and she held her breath for a moment, thinking carefully how to deal with this. She couldn't leave him, especially not after Cassidy's words of so-called-wisdom, "No." Lily finally said, stepping slowly towards him, "Jesse, I'm not leaving you. If you do this-" Jesse looked to Cassidy speaking in the blood curdling tone with no delay or interest of hearing his sister out, "Get her out of here."
Lily glanced at Cassidy, who unwillingly began walking towards her. She looked back to Jesse, doing her best to move away from Cassidy as he approached her, "Tulip will never forgive you." Her voice cracked slightly as she did her best to influence her brother out of the sinister advise Cassidy had just dropped, "She said so herself-" She side eyed Cassidy as she jumped over the bed to get away from him, "You two weren't even together when they met. Tulip said all day today they were working on the divorce. Just let her finish it and be done with all of this." Lily begged.
Jesse didn't have any patience or heart to listen to any more. He glared at Cassidy and yelled louder, "I said get her out of here. Now!" Lily's eyes flashed to Cassidy, who felt his stomach drop, unable to control himself as in an instant he leaped at her with great force due to Jesse's urging command.
When he got his hands on her, she was shoved into an obviously expensive, antique armoire that was against the wall. With a groan, Lily winced at the forceful impact, the armoire's wooden front now baring a large crack in it. As Jesse watched, his face furrowed a slight moment, "Don't hurt her." He added for good measure, realizing Lily's stubbornness mixed with Cassidy's unintentional strength may be a deathly combination.
"I didn't mean to." Cassidy murmured regretfully, looking at her scrunched up face as she groaned again. His heart ached, wishing so badly he wasn't subjected to be in this position. Quickly, Cassidy reefed her arms, pulling her into him and lifting her over his shoulder. "Jesse!" She yelled, raising her head up to look at her brother, who was she was getting further and further away from as Cassidy headed for the door. With a grunt, Lily whipped her head back towards Cassidy, "Put me down!" She yelled at him as she squirmed, "Do you hear me?!" Lily yelled the loudest he'd heard her voice at him while she clawed and kicked, clenching her jaw as her tone of yelling was both full of betrayal and fury, "Proinsias Cassidy - you put me down right now!" Of course, her yelling and demanding, regardless of using his full name, had no response from Cassidy - other than his groaning in frustration that he had no control over himself.
As they approached the door of the bedroom, Lily looked back up towards her brother. A desperate look in her eyes as the door frame came into sight. Reaching her hands out she clenched onto the door frame, "Jesse!" Feeling the resistance, Cassidy hardly had to put in any extra strength to yank her grip off as he continued pacing down the hallway.
Over his shoulder, Cassidy felt her kicking and punching as he listened to her scream the rest of the dreadful walk out of the house - her voice echoing throughout the hallways. When he kicked open the front door and they walked outside, the tone of her yelling flattened drastically, no longer having the acoustics of the giant house to carry her voice.
From the bedroom upstairs Jesse watched out the window as Cassidy, with Lily kicking and screaming over his shoulder, tried to get her into Tulip's car. When Cassidy placed her down off his shoulder to put her into the passenger side of the car, she wiggled free, "Lily!" Jesse heard Cassidy yell, groaning in frustration as he ran up to her. She felt his arm wrap around her waist behind her as she slid back into his chest. Cassidy felt her fold a bit in his arms, "You know I can't help this." He groaned in her ear.
With a choppy breath, Lily stared up at the bedroom, looking up at her brother for a moment. There she stood, all tattered and bruised - literally shedding blood, sweat and tears to help her brother with this situation and he just had her dragged out like this. She felt a wave of frustration and fury all over again. She began kicking and screaming trying desperately to get closer to the house again as Cassidy easily swept her up, bringing her back to the car.
Jesse watched as Cassidy placed her down and grabbed both of her shoulders while her back was pressed against the passenger's side of Tulip's car, giving her a shake. Jesse couldn't hear what they were saying - but he wondered.
With a grave stare, Lily looked up at Cassidy, "If Jesse kills Viktor because of your ignorant choice of words back there.." She bared her teeth and pointed a finger up towards the bedroom Jesse was standing in. She paused there a moment, searching his eyes for something, "If he listens to your influence Cassidy - Tulip's going to leave him, and, trust me, Cassidy - I'm never going to forgive you." She promised.
He mirrored her aggression, baring his teeth right back, "That up there?" He pointed an arm back at the house, one hand still pressed her back on her shoulder as his eyes didn't waver from staring into hers, "That was me." He snarled, "Bein' honest. Get used to it cos I'm not lyin' or hidin' anything anymore. It's jus' done a world o'harm more than anythin'!"
Without anything to say, Lily stared up at him a moment, her face still hard as she finally turned to Tulip's car, getting into the passenger seat and closing the door. With a quick glance, Cassidy looked up to Jesse in the window before getting into the drivers side to take Lily back to the apartment to face Tulip. With a choppy exhale, Lily closed her eyes as her shoulders dropped - hurt that after everything that they'd gone through today, she'd have to tell Tulip she failed.
