For once, Theo found himself not dreading spending time with his father. He felt nervous, but that was because he was pretty sure things would go bad if he figured out Theo would be giving the info to a rival Cape group. It was actually perfect he'd be visiting today because Kaiser was going to call a meeting with all his Capes. Part of it, he knew, was a memorial for Victor and Othala while the rest was likely a planning session. Leave it to Kaiser to use deaths to preach the hate.
It would be at his house, so he wouldn't have to ask or anything. In fact, Kaiser fully expected him to put on a suit and stand with him while he spoke about how good people and soldiers Victor and Othala were. With Oni Lee dead and Bakuda and Lung in the worst hell hole of human design, there weren't many people he could blame. Word of the destruction of the Merchants had already made the rounds meaning his only scapegoats were the Espada and Coil. With their stunts on Thursday, the former was the most likely option.
With Nessa and Jessica staying over, getting ready was kind of a hassle. Hiding his tattoo was difficult, especially with them just rushing in and out of every room in the house trying to get themselves together. He had to put up with a few jokes from the twins about having his towel up so high and even had to lock his door to make sure they didn't see while he was drying off. He didn't unlock it until he already had his shirt and pants on, at which point Jessica started barging in every few minutes seemingly just to annoy him.
It was a bit before lunch when everyone started showing up, all dressed in black to honor their fallen teammates and friends. Usually something like this wouldn't happen until over a week after someone had died, but being the CEO of Medhall kind of makes getting cremation arrangements easy. And Kaiser always got his Capes cremated after they died to avoid anyone like the Faerie Queen ever getting their hands on their powers. It was a paranoid at best, but it was one of the few things that had been around since Allfather that Kaiser kept, even going as far as to make them specialized urns with his powers.
He watched silently as the Capes filed in and took places in the living room facing the pictures Kaiser had set up. Theo was facing everyone since he was standing slightly behind his father. Once everyone had made it in, Kaiser started speaking.
"Friends, we gather today to honor the loss of our dear friends Frederick and Adelaide. Taken from us all too soon by Asian swine. But, now is a time for mourning. We will discuss our retribution later. For now, I'd like to hear from our dear Tammi to start."
Theo tuned them out, nodding along with what the others did and doing his best to look somber. It wasn't that he really hated them, at least, not as much as he hated his father and Hookwolf and the more hardcore members of the Empire, but he wasn't very fond of most of the people he had to associate with. He could pretend to care for long enough to not seem insensitive, but that would be the best they could get out of him.
When the time finally came for food, Theo waited with his father since "Guests are to get theirs first", which was probably the most correct thing to come out of the mans mouth in days. After finally being able to grab his own plate and half participating in the conversations he didn't want to he noticed Tammi sneak off, finally no longer being crowded by people. He ignored it because he didn't really want to talk to her and she didn't seem to want to talk. Unfortunately, Jessica also noticed and elbowed him in the arm.
"If you don't go after her I will make your life hell for the next three weekends you're over here." She threatened.
"She doesn't look like she want's to talk to anyone right now." He argued.
"Which is exactly why you should!" She whisper-yelled. "Go comfort her and maybe she won't be so harsh around you anymore."
"I don't want to be a bother. She left because she wants to be alone."
"You boys are so dense." Jessica groaned. "Go after her, now, or else."
"Or else what?"
"I'll format your laptop."
"Jesus Christ, okay, God damn, relax Satan." Theo said, dropping his plate on the table.
The house wasn't a very large despite Kaiser having the money to live in a much bigger one, but he either preferred the simple-ish two story 4 bedroom or it was a cover. Either way, finding Tammi wasn't a difficult task. She was in the bathroom with the door cracked, wiping her face after apparently letting some tears out.
"How are you holding up?" He asked, back against the wall faced away from the door.
"I don't want to talk, Theo." She said, though it didn't have any of her usual bite.
"I figured, but Jess threatened me to come talk to you."
"Of course you'd have to be threatened to come find me." She scoffed.
"You just said you didn't want to talk."
"You men are hopeless." She sighed.
"I thought you didn't like me."
"I don't."
"Then why do you care if I come after you or not?"
"Because it's the gentleman thing to do, asshole. We're supposed to be getting to know each other and you don't even chase after me when you know I'm in distress."
"To be honest, I'm not interested in dating at the moment. The only reason we even spend any time together is because my father makes us. You obviously don't like me, and I'm only humoring him. This would probably go a lot smoother if we started off trying to be friends, you know."
"What are you gay or something?" She opened the door and gave him an appraising look. "What teenage boy isn't interested in dating? Especially a girl that looks like me?"
"That's quite the big ego you have." He said.
"I know I look good."
It's silent for a moment before Tammi moves to sit across the hall from him.
"You know you never answered my question." He said.
"I'm… Doing the best I can. I haven't been back to the house since… It would be hard knowing they were dead, but seeing it happen like that?" She shook her head. "I get nightmares about it. Seeing Adelaide just drop like a puppet with cut strings after Oni Lee stabbed her. I saw the knife come out the other side of her neck, Theo. It's lucky she didn't live longer than than a moment because it would have been worse having to see her drown in her own blood. And Frederick… It was a blink and you miss it moment. Oni Lee was there, he put something on his chest, the poof," She spread her hands like small explosions, "The top half of his body was just gone. No blood, no screaming, noting. There one moment and gone the next." She said quietly.
"Who are you staying with?"
"Melody. Her apartment is really spartan, but she helps me keep my mind of things by forcing me to go training with her." She was silent for a moment, her eyes glazing over slightly before she shook her head. "I think about it sometimes, at night when I'm trying to sleep. How close I came to dying with them. I freaked out and started spinning all the debris I picked up around me like a tornado. If it wasn't for the other Capes there I would have died just like them. Sometimes I feel like I should have."
"Hey!" Theo barked at her, snapping her eyes up to his. "Don't talk like that. You think they would be happy if your situations switched? You think things would really be better if you were gone too? What about Brad? The man looks at you like his own kid. You think he'd be okay with you dying with them? Instead of them? I really thought you were stronger than this, Tammi. If you can't live for yourself right now, do it for them. Live because they would've wanted you to be happy."
He only really meant about half of what he said. He always found himself in a similar situation as Kayden when it came to these people. He knew them and couldn't stop himself from caring, but they repulsed him on a level that made him sick. He didn't necessarily want them dead, but he didn't want them out and about in the world either. It left him in a tough spot but he knew enough to know he'd be happy to see them hauled off to the Birdcage.
Tammi was wide eyed as she started at him. He could see some of her thoughts play out on her face. Anger, sadness, respect, determination. He'd always been meek, so hearing him speak with such conviction probably triggered a new respect for him in her eyes.
"Yeah… Yeah, alright. You're right, Theo. I'll do it for them until I can keep going on my own." She put out a hand and he helped her to her feet. "You've gotten stronger. Those sessions with Brad and Melody are really showing. Now come on. I don't want to be late for the meeting."
Theo didn't follow her as he would've once, instead walking in front of her. He could tell Kaiser found the new dynamic to be a good one, but it was unlikely to last for long.
—
To his surprise, he was actually forced to sit in on the meeting while they planned their next moves. He was quiet through it all, taking in the information and retaining it the best he could to tell the others. When the meeting was over, he milled around a bit, having casual conversations with the group as they filed out but by bit. When it was only him, Max, Jessica, and Nessa left they started cleaning.
The waiting was the worst part. Lying in bed waiting for any noise or lack thereof from down the hall to signal he was free to leave. It wasn't until nearly eleven-thirty that he felt safe meeting up with the others, shooting them a message that he had urgent info for them. He was the first to Las Noches and waited patiently for everyone to file in over the course of about five minutes.
"So," Taylor yawned, walking in dressed in, he assumed, only a very oversized hoodie, "What have you got for us?"
"This had better be good, cause I just fell asleep." Lisa said, just behind her. She was in an oversized shirt and probably shorts.
"I'd been sleep for over an hour." Madison whined, her sleep mask pulled up to her forehead. She was dressed in frilly pink night clothes, a shirt and pants that looked either satin or silk.
"I was on a losing streak anyway." Alec shrugged, still dressed in the clothes he'd been wearing all day.
"We had a memorial for Victor and Othala today. Kaiser wants to do another but double it as a rally tomorrow. That night he's going to try to draw us out to force a fight. Pretty much every Empire Cape is going to be out in full force doing what they can to draw us out. As soon as the sun sets, we have to be on full alert across the city to stop them."
"Theo." Taylor said, getting everyone's attention. "I really appreciate you giving us the heads up on this. But did you have to call a meeting this late at night?"
"Uh…" He looked down at the table. "I guess I jumped the gun a little." He smiled sheepishly.
"I've got work at four in the morning, so, let's meet up for lunch tomorrow to discuss our plan of action."
"You got a job?" Madison asked.
"Yeah, at a donut shop off the boardwalk."
"Oh my gosh, I'll have to come visit you at work and see you in your apron!"
"You do that. I'm going back to bed."
The group all split off to go home. Despite getting the info to everyone he was still having trouble sleeping. He was anxious about how things would go the next day. He could only hope they could stop things from going too far south.