WARNINGS: mentions of stalking, unhappy childhoods, kidnapping and murder.
4 (III).
On the taxi, Vanya looks at Lear and feels her heart painfully throb inside her chest.
Paradoxically, she hadn't felt all that pain or guilt when more than sixteen years prior she ended their relationship...maybe because her Father had blamed the Girls for Ben's death and Five's disappearance, and Vanya had been so naive to believe him…or maybe the story between her and Lear never did matter that much in the first place, and Vanya is now feeling in an uproar because it's been too long since she last took her medicines. Who's to say.
Lear has grown into a stunningly beautiful woman, Vanya can't help but consider, despite her efforts not to. All the four of the Girls have, but it's with Lear that Vanya has been close the most. She still vividly remembers how it used to make her feel, to intertwine fingers with hers, to blush under Lear's palm as it tenderly cupped her cheek only a moment away from a kiss.
She had been one of the best things that ever happened to her, Lear, the only truly positive presence throughout her teenage years. Vanya had only realized it once her Father's oppressive figure had stopped influencing her views and she had managed to form a few of her own. To be near the other woman, her blue eyes and her self-confident yet kind smile, is now making her feel like a complete idiot for having thrown away what they have been. Even though she's currently in love with someone else.
"Are you okay?" the object of her thoughts asks serenely when they're far from the bar.
"Why is everyone asking me, today? Is it for a candid camera or something?" Vanya counters, sounding a tad accusatory as she frowns. Lear looks at her, confused.
"What? No! Who do you mean by 'everyone', anyway?".
"Marb-".
"Lola".
"Yes! Sorry. She…she asked as well, this morning".
Vanya throws a glance at the taxi driver, hoping with all her might he hasn't noticed her slip-up: since he keeps humming and looking ahead, the two women sigh in relief.
"Well, I didn't mean to be intrusive...you just seemed troubled, that's all" Lear offers, sounding genuinely worried.
"That's because I was thinking about how...how I broke up with you" the last of the Hargreeves finds the courage to admit then, and immediately Lear's face falls.
"…oh".
They've finally reached Vanya's house, and she finds herself searching for Lear's hand. The blond has kept silent for the rest of the ride, looking out of the window; an exchange of glances and Vanya knows Lear agrees to get off the taxi with her. So she pays the fare - all of it - and a moment later they're both standing on the strangely deserted sidewalk although it not being that late at night.
"I'm so sorry for what I did, Lear. Please, believe me! It was deplorable of me to write that letter full of mean things and have it delivered to you. You didn't deserve that" Vanya says immediately, almost hastily. In front of her, the other woman doesn't seem to be uncomfortable, but it's still clear she'd rather talk about anything else. She doesn't even bother to protest the use of her real name.
"You were beyond yourself with grief, your brother had just died" goes Lear, eyes downcast, hoping to exhaust the topic and move on. Sadly, she knows that's not going to happen: Vanya evidently needs closure for what has been left on hold between them, otherwise she wouldn't have made sure to be alone with her. And probably, it's something she needs herself.
"True, but that's no valid excuse for what I did! Please don't excuse me regardless. I let my Father tell me what to think and feel, and you got caught in the middle. This not only pains me, but makes me feel ashamed of myself as well" Vanya counters with urgency. Lear shakes her head and replies in the sweetest tone she's capable of.
"It's old business, Vanya, don't be so hard on yourself".
"How was the trial?" the younger woman asks in a strangled voice, then. A moment passes before the other decides to answer.
"Easy. Your father used to be a very unfair man, in some respects, so testifying against him in court came naturally. The real problems were the ignominy and alienation that followed".
When their eyes meet, Lear reads utter confusion in those of Vanya. Of course Hargreeves made sure to keep his prized children in the dark about the scandal that swept him up!
"After a couple of hearings, your father blackmailed our families. So we decided to end the cause asking the court to make him donate substantial sums of money to orphanages and structures housing indigent minors, as a fine, as well as obtaining restrictive orders that prevented him from approaching us ever again".
Vanya nods, at that, and Lear assumes that at least that part of the story isn't new to her.
"How was it possible for Dad to blackmail you?". "He managed to dug up some awful history about Marben's family. No one knows how he did it, but it was at that point we decided to back off: he knew too much about too personal things that no one wanted to see make the papers" offers the older woman, in a straightforward, concise tone she hopes will make it clear she's not inclined to elaborate.
"This keeps making no sense…" is Vanya's confused comment. "Why did my Father even start to stalk you girls?".
"Did you ever ask him?" Lear scoffs, giving her a contemptuous, ugly smirk. The last of the Hargreeves just shakes her head, shrugging a shoulder and generally looking at a loss, so the blond woman sighs and lets the bitterness slip away. "Well, we...think he believed Marben had powers".
"Does she?" Vanya breathes, incredulously so. Lear already has the lie on the tip of her tongue.
"No".
She's only silent for a moment, so as to make it clear that the interlude is over, and fervently hoping not to seem too eager to leave it behind, she resumes the main topic.
"Anyway, your father's supporters targeted us for a while, after that. They were - and still are - numerous, the most dangerous of which own several newspapers across the world. At the first rustle of checks they seized the opportunity to sell us as interested in nothing more than money…so they made up every sort of bullshit about us, over the years, and fed them to the public. That's when we started with the fake names".
Vanya looks genuinely confused.
"But after I wrote the book about my Father's secrets-".
"We kept using and changing them for other reasons. At first, it was a matter of carrying on school in incognito, later…it became a necessity. For work".
Unexpectedly, Vanya bursts out laughing. Sincerely so, and it would be a pleasant sound to hear, if only Lear could figure what there is to laugh about.
"I didn't know appearing in some video clips and in a couple of photo shoots required a stage name!" Hargreeves Number Seven giggles, but when her dark eyes find the other woman's blue ones, laughter and smiles die down. "…I'm missing something, am I not?".
"Something quite big, indeed. And I'm not talking about a dick, you know that interests me little or nothing". This time, Vanya's laugh sounds a little scandalized.
"But wait, I read somewhere you got married, in Vegas, to that famous actor who pla-".
"Yeah, forget about that. It's already over and it should have never happened in the first place" Lear cuts her off, with a voice as cold and sharp as glass shards.
"…all right" Vanya tentatively acquiesces, taken aback from the other's sudden hostility.
"I can't truly tell you everything, but…look at how I'm dressed". At Lear's invitation, Vanya's eyes slide over her nurse outfit. "You think someone who poses for photoshoots would put on scrubs for kicks?".
"You're not a model" the younger woman whispers, understanding dawning onto her delicate features.
"Neither a nurse…I mean, I have the certifications to be a nurse, but that's not my real job".
"Do I need to worry?".
Lear shrugs.
"I know all this mystery doesn't really work in my favor, but I can assure you I'm one of the good guys".
Vanya nods, then takes a step back once again.
"So how did you girls get by…after the scandal?".
"Holding each other up. We were practically raised as a family, and we make a great team. Luckily, with our real families' help we were able to prevent the denigration from hurting us too much". Then, as if occurring to her only at that moment, Lear adds "Your book helped too".
"You and…Lola are actually the firsts not to be mean, about it" Vanya says, looking down; with a hint of bitterness, Lear realizes she's believing it without trouble. "I…I never really wanted to buy what my Father said about you girls. I did it, at first, because the people I was most close with were no longer there and I felt lost...then I realized that my Father didn't care to provide us neither comfort nor safety, but only to point out how those who had listened to you and challenged him had ended badly". The estranged Hargreeves shrugs, as if wanting to shake off the unpleasant memory. "It was another low blow. But made me comprehend he wasn't to be trusted ever again. And automatically I started asking myself questions. It was my rebirth".
"What can I say...I'm glad at least something good came out of that awful business" Lear comments after a brief pause, sounding hoarse.
"I'm sorry, Lear, for everything. For what you girls had to go through, for the harm my family caused…and for giving up on us. I want you to know that I hold as a precious memory what we once shared. And that if I could go back, I wouldn't make the same mistake".
"Wow…thanks, Vanny" blows Lear, looking touched; Vanya is as well, hearing a nickname she's always loved, but by which no one has called for many years. "But…I fear that's precisely the problem. If we could. But we can't. And we're not the only ones to think so".
Once again, Vanya's eyes turn pained, and Lear knows her innuendo hasn't gone unnoticed; she leans down to chastely kiss Vanya's cheek, and the adorably flustered look she gets in exchange makes her heart flutter. Lear suffocates that tender feeling, reminding herself that it's been over for years, even though their love story's end mark has been written only now.
They softly exchange a goodbye and some awkward thanks, and then Vanya leaves. Lear watches her disappear behind her doorstep, before heading to a phone booth and call another taxi.
As she walks along the deserted street, she wipes away from her cheek a traitorous tear and thinks she's no longer sure she wants Marben and Five to see each other again: if taking a leap into the past, pretending for a few minutes to be a carefree and enamored teen again has been tough for her, she doesn't even dare to imagine what it might be like for Marben.
.oO°Oo.
In yet another part of town, Marben drives recklessly in search of 4535, Calhoun. The guilt is unbearable even if reason keeps reminding her she cannot leave her work to keep up with Klaus's poor choices or misfortune.
'What if it's too late?'.
'What if they took him elsewhere?'.
'Am I really risking everything for that fool's ungrateful hide?'.
Marben asks herself all these things, as she presses even more on the gas pedal. Unfortunately or quite the opposite, she doesn't need to reach the motel to find the answers she seeks.
"He escaped".
With a yelp, the blond woman jolts and swerves, avoiding at the last minute completely losing control of the car and falling off track. Eyes following the hand, the wrist, the arm that have reached out to help her straighten the steering wheel, Marben finds the quiet and sad figure of Detective Eudora Patch - a bloody hole on her cerulean-covered chest - sitting in the passenger seat which was empty, just a moment before.
"Diego's brother. He escaped" Patch repeats, once Marben has pulled over. The nurse just looks at her, heartbroken.
"But you couldn't". The ghost looks down and shakes her head no, gulping. "I'm sorry, Detective".
"Could you tell Diego this wasn't his fault? I know what he's like, he'll feel guilty".
"Then you also know he won't listen to me and torment himself anyway".
"Please, will you tell him? You two are close…that's why you never liked me. I used to be harsh on him".
The blond softens.
"Believe me, Detective, hadn't I known that we probably would have been very cool with each other. It's just...I tend to get protective. Or so I'm told".
"I can work with that" Patch acquiesces.
"Is there anything else I can do, for you?".
"Take care of him, okay? He thought I was the better suited one to do so, but I'm afraid…I let him down" asks the ghost, looking up at Marben with big, sorry eyes.
"I won't leave him alone" the nurse says, reaching out to grasp the ghost's hand and squeeze it. She's not sure what the Detective is asking of her, whether to help Diego through the mourning process or to be a better girlfriend than she has been - Marben supposes her protective nature can be misleading, at times; despite this, Patch keeps looking sad, but a tremble of her eyelids tells the nurse her touch is actually being perceived as comforting.
"Farewell, Patch".
"Bye, Lola".
Detective Patch turns towards the door, which is contoured by bright light beams sneaking under the rubber seals. She hesitates for a moment before grabbing the handle, then she pulls it, gets out of the car and lets herself be enveloped by the light. A moment later the door closes, the night is pitch black and desolate again, and the street's visible through the window.
With a trembling sigh, Marben blinks and her eyes go back to being normal. She starts the car again and inserts the blinker to get back on track.
She truly is too late.
A/N: Thank you for all your lovely support!
Love.