Gaius had Babette returned to her gaol following that bitter conclusion. He had a feeling there was more, much more to know, but after speaking of that much she looked exhausted. Severa later confirmed that she didn't think the woman had slept the night previous, as she had never shifted from her kneel. Finding her to not be a threat, at least in the immediate present, he had the magnetic locks disabled on her cuffs.
She would never admit it, but Babette felt a surge of relief when the cuffs released her arms from being pinned behind her. She was proud, much too proud if her shisho had any opinion of it, but it was who she was, and with that pride came stubbornness, and she was not going to change. Obediently she returned to that small room, where they activated the magitek field after she'd crossed the threshold of the metal frame. Alone for a moment, she rotated her shoulders and stretched, thankful once again for the freedom.
They would undoubtedly bring her food now that she had spoken to that Garlean. A blanket and sack of hay had been left for her as bedding already. Just as she thought that perhaps they would be foolish enough to leave her unattended, the annoying Hyur with the lust for her blades entered the room. She frowned as she saw him, the only part of her ears that still stood straight, flattening against her skull.
He will be the first to die...she thought with resolve. Although in truth, if he posed no threat to her, she would not act upon her thoughts. Simply thinking it brought her peace and a satisfied smirk more akin to that of a feline than her leporidae appearance. He lowered the magitek field for a second, tossed a small rucksack towards her and raised it again. His movements were lazy; she could've easily overcome him and escaped in that amount of time. Storing this information for later, she crouched and peered into the rucksack, finding a leather flask, an apple, and hardtack inside. As predicted, she thought with satisfaction.
As she settled on the floor to eat, she gazed around her gaol. It was a crumbling home, the rough stucco of the walls crumbling and showing brick beneath. The ceiling was in surprisingly good shape, although weather beaten and stained with rot. One small window sat on the side of the room with her, the glass broken but the iron pane still holding fast. The magitek field, shaped like a large cube, blocked the window, quelling any ideas of escape.
As she bit into the apple, a wave of nausea overcame her, and she covered her mouth. The Hyur was once again pawing her weapons, this time tossing one in the air and catching it, somehow managing to grab it's handle each time, and seemed to not notice her. Babette fought the urge to retch, and grasped for the leather flask. She drank deeply, willing the feeling to pass. For a fleeting moment she wondered if she'd been poisoned, but logic put it's foot down firmly; she was having a visceral reaction to the long-buried memories she'd brought forth.
It annoyed her that she'd talked so openly, and for so long. But it was him, and although it had only been once in her life, he'd left such a profound impact upon her that she couldn't help herself. It was sickening to think he was harboring the Black Wolf somewhere in his camp, but she knew she didn't mishear them speaking in the city. They had said Baelsar, and in all her travels, she never knew another to bear that name. So to find out what they knew, she would play along. If the Black Wolf lived, she knew many who would gladly welcome that information...if she chose to share it. She clenched the apple so hard it began to break from the pressure, and she took a breath to compose herself.
Perhaps she would dispose of the Legatus herself. The man who did nothing and let others suffer. The man who could've stopped her mother from...
Babette stamped out those thoughts before another wave of nausea hit her. She knew she would likely have to revisit them soon, surely he would want her to speak with him again. He was interrogating her after all, and she had not yet entertained the questions he really wanted answered.
Giving up on eating the apple, Babette stowed it back in the rucksack. She took another long drink from the leather flask, and then this too was stowed away. Seeing that nothing else could be done in her current situation, she scooted across the floor to the blanket, wrapped it around her tightly, and laid on the hay sack to finally sleep.
The next day, Babette was restless. She had started her day waking from a mashup of nightmarish images, leaving her feeling as if she'd had little to no sleep even though she'd clearly slept through the night. Then her guard, (whom she heard rather than saw, as they were outside of the small house) changed shifts with the damned Highlander. He entered the house, lowered the barrier briefly and tossed her another rucksack with her breakfast. It's contents were identical to the day before.
He settled back at the small table in the corner of the room, and took out a sharpening stone. Her daggers were strapped to a belt he wore across his chest, and he removed one to inspect it's edge, and then began to gently slide it across the stone. She watched as he got the blade to a bite he was satisfied with, (which was not difficult as she always kept them sharpened) and then moved to the next. She rolled her eyes at the desire written across his face as he ran a hand over the hilt of the dagger. She finished her rations facing away from him, finding a crumbling section of wall far more interesting to watch.
After eating, she stood, stretched, and began pacing. It had to be close to noon, judging by the sky outside of the window. She was growing impatient; why hadn't they come for her yet? If she had to spend much longer in the same room with that Highlander, she felt as if she would show her hand early, if only to leave the man with one of the blades he coveted deep in his gut. By the kami, he had just begun whispering to them!
It was a sunny day, the air that blew in tinted with a warmth that was rare for the region. She froze as she passed the window, now taking notice at what lay outside of it. The house where she had been questioned, the place that was clearly his quarters, was closer than she'd noticed the day prior. (She took a moment to chide herself on letting something a simple as weariness, cloud her powers of observation. Honestly she was trained better than this...) Seated in that splintering chair outside of his quarters, his back facing her, was the Garlean. He lacked a shirt, but his arms and torso were wrapped in tight bandages, clearly hiding old scars from view. A ragged towel was flung over one of his shoulders.
Despite knowing he was an older man, his back was broad and muscular, and his deeply tanned skin showing no signs of his age. He had a mirror propped up on a jutting brick just outside of the rotting door frame, a bowl of water between his feet, and a razor in his hand, carefully shaving the night's stubble from his chin. Her breath hitched in her chest as she watched him, and she couldn't look away. He caught sight of her in his mirror, and angled it to see her clearer before turning slightly in the chair to look at her, his face unreadable. Babette ducked out of sight in a hurry, her face burning and heart racing. She slapped her cheeks a few times before dropping to the ground and doing a lazy somersault into a handstand against one of the walls. Focus! Now was not the time or place for such fanciful sentiments to be creeping upon her!
She shut her eyes in meditation. Spending long minutes in a handstand, once a harsh torture when she was training, was cathartic for her now, the focus she needed to keep her body straight and arms locked helping to drive any other thoughts from her head. She didn't know how long she spent in her handstand, it felt as if the sun had moved a few ilms across the sky before she gently lowered herself to the ground. The back of her neck pressed into the dirt floor first, as her legs folded over her torso and came to rest on the ground above her head. She rolled into a kneel from that position, and sat up, looking at the wall in a daze.
Babette was startled from her blank stare by the sound of someone clearing their throat. The Duskwight they called Valdeaulin stood in the room with her now, not bothering to mask the dislike for her in his expression. This one knew she'd come to end the Black Wolf, she could see it writ in every ilm of his being, from his stance to the narrowed eyes. Understanding why he'd come, Babette stood and obediently bent her arms behind her back, the deactivated metal cuffs clinking softly as they touched. Valdeaulin lowered the magitek field and activated the magnetic lock on the cuffs once more, and Babette let out an involuntary pained breath as her shoulders protested at being returned to the cramped position.
Once again she found herself escorted to the shack and seated in the chair, which was once again placed before the desk, in the middle of the room. As before, the (fully dressed) Garlean leaned against the desk casually. His pose was more relaxed than the day prior, and now leaned part of his weight onto his bandaged left hand. Their eyes met briefly again as she settled, and she quickly looked away. Her heart's pace was sent fluttering for a moment, and she had to gain control lest her face light up in a blush once more.
"You look as if you're more rested today." the Garlean said with some satisfaction. Babette continued averting her eyes, and shrugged off his compliment.
"I was feeling rather rested, until your Highlander companion came in to watch me." she said sourly, "he's taken to speaking in honeyed tones to my blades." her mouth was set in a thin line, and she glanced in the direction of the gaol house. The Garlean made a strange noise as if biting off a laugh. He cleared his throat a moment later.
"Yes...he is rather...different. A loyal comrade all the same, despite his...ah...interests." he said, his voice wavering slightly. He cleared his throat again. "So, shall we continue from where we left off yesterday?" he inclined head in a questioning motion. Babette bit her lip, unsure if she wanted to dive into what came next in her life. It would surely reveal all to him, and she wasn't sure if she wanted her ideal shattered by how he would react. Taking her pensive silence as a refusal to speak, he politely added "...or have we reached the end of what you are willing to divulge?"
Babette took a deep breath and sat up as straight as she could, lifting her chin in an indignant way. She would take the leap. She'd come this far already, and now that she'd had some proper rest, she felt prepared enough for what may come after. She met his gaze this time, his eyes were a pale, sandy sort of brown, she noticed, and subtly twitched in masked surprise that she would finally look at him without flinching.
"We received no repercussion," she began, picking up where she'd left off, as requested, "it was as if for once, the Garlean superiors knew that one of their own was in the wrong. The incident with the cadet was never spoken of, we were never punished, and for a long time, we didn't see him." She lowered her eyelids and glanced off to the side, her expression a strange saddened one.
"It's no secret what the whole of the world thinks of Viera. We are some of the last of the races to integrate into the world, as most are still so deeply tied to the traditions of the Green Word. Even now with Viera spread all over the world, our men are never seen, unless one is a Vieran woman desiring children. Our appearance elicits a primitive response in all races; after all, when one looks like prey it is difficult for the hunter to not become hungry."
"As I said yesterday, mother and I never saw any fellow Viera in our district of the city. As such, we would be the only ones that many of our neighbors would ever see in their lifetime. Mother was not blind to the lust in the eyes of the men, and even in some of the women, although she did well in feigning ignorance of it. Oh but she saw it clearly, and like all prey, no matter how strong of a warrior they could be, she was frightened. Not for herself, but for me, afraid that someone would snatch me easily from her arms again and do more than bend my ears. Frightened that someone would harm father in an attempt to lay claim to her. Frightened that everything we'd built since arriving in the city would be taken away, simply because father was a Hyur with an exotic wife and child."
Babette's expression darkened as she continued, her eyes half-closed as she replayed her own memories in her mind. "It was the year that I turned ten and two. There was a military procession that made it's way through our district on it's way out, celebrating a conquest, or something to do with the Emperor, I care not to remember. The Black Wolf was passing through with the procession, riding on a fancy magitek barge overlooking his unit as they marched ahead of him. The Elezen that had heckled us marched in his unit now, a cadet no longer. I knew it was him at first sight, for he had a bandage wrapped around his head, showing from under his helmet, which hid his own deformity from view."
"As they passed us, he caught notice of me glaring at him from where I stood in the crowd, grasping mother's hand. Then, he noticed mother, who was blankly watching the soldiers around him, completely missing his presence. He nudged a pair of his comrades next to him, motioning to us. They moved away from the procession, snatched mother and pushed her into the crowd."
"I panicked. No one even gave a motion of noticing or even caring about what had just happened. In my desperation I looked to the passing Black Wolf; surely he would notice that some of his own unit had dropped rank to commit a crime!" Babette's voice had become rough with emotion, and she began to tremble. Gaius said nothing, his expression a blank mask.
"But all he did was watch them as they dragged mother away. He sent no one after the insubordinate soldiers. He did not call out to draw them back. He just stood there, that damned Legatus helmet suppressing the humanity he had, if he ever had any."
"When I saw no one else would help, and I knew father was busy working in the magitek factory and could not be summoned, I raced after them. Determined to save her myself, I..."
In her memories, the scene shockingly clear despite years of trying to forget, Babette raced after the men, shouting at them to let her mother go. Thunder rumbled ominously in the sky overhead, drowning out her mother's protests as she was dragged between storage facilities outside of the magitek factory. With a surprising burst of speed, Babette darted forward and latched on to one of the former cadet's friends, and sunk her teeth into the part of his arm that was not protected by armor, near his elbow. The soldier cried out in pain and surprise, and began punching her unceremoniously on the head. Babette released him after he grabbed her by her ears, crying out as he swung her around by them. Her mother shouted at him to stop, her voice becoming muffled as the Elezen and his other friend attempted to cover her mouth. Babette was backhanded harshly across the face, her head snapping to the side and body going limp immediately. Her mother cried out in despair as she was dropped to the ground, the soldier spitting towards her crumpled form before joining his friends.
In the present, Babette's voice had become little more than a whisper, her breath catching somewhere in her chest, "As I lost consciousness I heard...mother had thought the blow had killed me...and in that moment...she gave up.."
She was silent for a long stretch of time, her breath quickening. Gaius did nothing to encourage her to continue or to stop, his expression still unreadable. When she spoke again, a darkness had crept into her tone, and any despair that had been creeping into her expression was now replaced with a heavy-lidded passiveness that was almost frightening to behold.
"When I came to, it was raining heavily. Near me was the small dagger mother usually kept hidden on her person for protection and utility use. The rain had washed most of it away, but there was a thin line of blood drawing a trail from it towards..." she swallowed, her jaw steeled. "...it was unrecognizable at first, just a lump of pink, but there was so much blood, spread all across the cobblestone, the rain only pushing it around into feathered patterns..." In her memories she remembered her eyes following that trail of blood to her mother, laying on the ground. Her clothing was soaked through from the rain, and in utter disarray. Her head was turned away from Babette, but the limpness of her arms and legs, the lack of breath and the white pallor of her skin said all she needed to know.
"Mother was...she'd cut out her..." Babette shook her head as if to rid herself of the trauma, and her voice came stronger after that, although still shaking.
In her memories she saw the Elezen seated against the wall of the factory they were behind, a yellow lamp adhered to the side of the building illuminating the maniacal grin he had on his face. His clothes were unfastened, his jacket and pants unbuttoned, scratches on his face and chest telling the horrible truth of what had happened while Babette had been unconscious.
"That depraved son of a bitch was still there, as if without a care in the world, admiring all that he'd brought to happen. Satisfied as if some great justice had been served."
In her memories she slowly pushed herself up to a crouch, her hand wrapping around the hilt of her mother's dagger. Her eyes were large and unblinking and her teeth bared like some untamed thing. The Elezen smirked and pulled out a handgonne, his crazed smile only growing wider as he released the safety and aimed the weapon, one handed, at her.
"He had been waiting to kill me..." Babette's labored breathing suddenly calmed, and she met Gaius' eyes, "But then..."
The curved edge of a gunblade came up underneath the Elezen's chin, shocking him but not enough to cause him to drop his handgonne. Both Babette and the Elezen followed the long blade to he whom held it. It was the Garlean that stood in front of her now, his hair slick and uniform sodden with rain as if he'd been outside for a long time. He was much younger then, but the unreadable expression was the same as now, as was the commanding presence his voice held.
"You've done enough." the Garlean said, his voice low and full of disgust. The Elezen sputtered in protest, astonished that this man would admonish him instead of support his deeds. Taking the moment of distraction as her own, Babette launched herself at the Elezen, shouting out a wild cry of rage. Despite the Garlean's blade pressing harder into the bottom of his chin, splitting the skin and causing blood to flow, the Elezen's finger squeezed the trigger of his handgonne. Perhaps due to the circumstances, Babette displayed surprising deftness, and dropped ungracefully to the ground, her arms and legs splayed like a crouching spider. The iron slug flew over her head and into the brick of a wall behind her. With another shout she propelled herself the last few fulm to the Elezen, the blade striking and coming to rest all the way to the hilt in his soft abdomen. Adrenaline gave her strength to keep pushing, the blade cutting upwards until the bottom of his rib cage halted it's journey. There were no death throes. The Elezen's eyes rolled up into his head as his hand dropped, gonne clattering heavily to the cobblestone. He drifted over to the side slightly, but remained upright even after his soul had fled.
Babette released the dagger, her hands surprisingly steady for what she'd just done, and stood. Without another thought to the deceased soldier, she turned back towards her mother and fell to her knees heavily, her arms limp at her sides. A painful lump formed all at once in her throat, and she threw her head back in a heart-wrenching keen. When she let the name of her mother pass into her cries, the long arms of the Garlean suddenly circled around her, pulling her close to his chest in a protective, comforting motion. He stroked her hair and turned her away from the sight of everything before her, trying to drive the memory of it away. He was tense, his arms so taut with rage that he shook.
"My own countrymen...participating in senseless acts of brutality, even in our home..." he murmured. "I'm sorry it had to come to this, girl...I truly am." he curled around her small frame, his hand heavy upon her head. Babette, who was shocked at first, pressed into the hug he had caught her in, and continued to weep her grief into his jacket.
Back in the present, Babette had only relayed a portion of the story, and now sat silently, her eyes half closed, tears dripping down her cheeks. Gaius didn't need to hear her recall this part; he remembered this day. Keeping up the appearance of a strong Legatus was his priority then, and had said nothing when he saw the men of his unit break from the procession. But as soon as they reached the end of the parade, he shed his Legatus armor and hurried back along the route, trying to find where the men had taken the poor Vieran woman.
He had arrived too late, and the child was left to suffer for it. How many more times must the past return, to remind me of my transgressions? he thought, Must I atone personally to everyone I have wronged? He pushed away from the desk, and moved towards her. Yet...this one I feel is different somehow... He placed a hand on her head, startling her. She looked up at him, her expression yearning. His own never changing, he slid his hand down the side of her face in the shadow of a caress, and came to rest his forefinger underneath chin, holding it.
"It does not do for a shinobi to wear her feelings so openly for her captor to see..." he said, his voice low and gentle. His thumb wiped a tear that had traveled towards her chin, and a blush sprang up on her face. She seemed to regain her senses then, and she jerked her head away from him, standing up so quickly her chair tipped and clattered to the ground behind her. He seemed satisfied that this pulled her from her despair, and smirked as she tried to cover up her silent confession with a defiant, angry expression.
"I think that's enough. I want to return to my gaol." Babette said, her voice rough. She trembled, and Gaius got the intense feeling that she wanted to be embraced right then. That won't do.., he warned himself. He nodded and motioned to the door.
Much to her annoyance, Valdeaulin came through the door, and took her gently by her arm. Although the distrust was still clear in his gaze towards her, there was pity there now, as well. Babette wordlessly fired a glare back at him, one that said she needed no pity from him. He shut his eyes against it, and quietly led her back to her gaol, unlocked her cuffs, and activated the field once she was past the cube's frame.
Once she was alone, Babette buried her face in her blanket and heaved great sobs; crying until exhausted. And then, blessed, dreamless sleep claimed her.