Summary: Elyza and Alicia fluff and healing between the two of them about what type of killing is right or wrong. A lot of ranch fluff, mentions of Charlie.
Boots hit the ground with a thump. Alicia tromps back into the ranch, slamming the car door behind her. Madison rounds on her almost immediately, cornering her against the truck. "You could've died out there!"
Nick ambles over at a leisurely pace and stops at the safe distance of a few feet away from the mother and daughter, hands shoved into his back pockets as he stands, hunched over in the sun. A girl peeks out from behind him and then runs forward as she sees Troy hopping off the truck. She clutches a book to her chest as Troy appraises her. "Where'd you get that, Charlie?"
She glances up not so subtly at Nick, who gives a kind smile. "Ohhh", Troy nods in understanding and his face splits into a sickening big, leering grin as he waves at Nick. Nick seems to fight the urge to recoil, not completely succeeding on the visual end.
Meanwhile, a brooding face is all that Madison gets back from Alicia, a storm brewing in the green eyes. The turmoil, weight, and weight that makes her shoulders droop. Elyza frowns, eyes glued to the back of the brunette as they all hop out of the truck. "Here", she murmurs, shoving her stolen gun at Lindsay before running off to follow the girl.
Cursing can be heard as Lindsay fumbles with the weapon in surprise. Elyza falls into a jog after her girl. Her boots scruff on the stones and dirt, kicking up behind her. The girl ahead storms forward. She follows the girl until something catches her eye, stopping her in her tracks.
The group left behind is quiet under the glare of Madison, her mouth set in a thin line of dissatisfaction. They break off, some taking weapons back to storage, others heading for the medical building. Magna is about to alleviate Lindsay from some of her burden when a storm of asian fury descends upon her. The wiry woman can't help but sigh heavily. She knows very well what is coming. It would be the same argument continued.
Eleanor walks back into the room, "I talked with the militia and I agree with them. For our sake we really should hold back and not engage." The stark white bandage on her head makes Magna want to reach out and touch it, just to make sure she's okay underneath.
"But what about Elyza and Lindsay? They're clearly threatening them, and we know where they are",Magna answers, looking up from the little book she had been reading since she'd managed to find it stuffed into the back of the storage bunker like sad waste. Magna really has no idea why she's so bothered with this notion. She didn't owe anyone anything. The world had shown her that most of humanity was about as awful as they seemed. Twice, if you counted her other life.
Yet this time it was different because she knew the ones in danger were good. Good like all the children before they're tainted by the world. It wasn't right. Unfortunately she also knows the woman. There's no way she's giving in.
Eleanor plops on the not-so-comfortable cot that Magna is situated on as well. "At the risk of the lives of everyone here?"
Magna doesn't answer and just turns to look out the window. There's no arguing with Eleanor.
"I thought we had an agreement",Yumiko says, seemingly attempting to be as non-accusing as possible.
Magna glares at her from the steps she's sitting on outside a trailer. "No, you made an agreement." She's not going to say she was wrong, she's not going to apologize for a promise she didn't make, for a decision that just saved two people. It was right, just like killing the man that went after her cousin was right.
Yumiko makes an exasperated face and sighs, tromping forward to sit down next to Magna. The strip of metal that serves as a stair groans underneath her weight from rust. "Look, when shit hits the fan, somebody's gotta step up and put up a compromise. I decided with the Otto's on the compromise after listening to what everybody has to say, their fears-"
"And then you do what you were gonna do anyway", Magna answers, nodding condescendingly with a scowl. She knows this woman inside and out, and she knows she's pressing all of Yumiko's buttons as she lets the words slip out. It had never bothered Magna before in this life. She knew that people weren't inherently good, and she had accepted that in her last life, and this one.
Her partner's nostrils flare, and Magna knows she's struggling to keep her temper tame. "Where the hell is all this coming from?" Despite the fire and anger behind it all, her eyes still look at Yumiko softly, as if trying desperately to understand. It makes Magna's heart ache, because she wants to explain, but there is no way to explain seeing a person from your past life and being inspired by that.
She clenches her jaw, as if that'll shield her from Yumiko's piercing gaze. Finally she looks back at the woman and simply says sharply, "You're not my lawyer anymore." It is the simple truth. Yumiko doesn't speak for her and she is her own person. She doesn't truly need to explain herself to Yumiko any more than Yumiko needs to defend her. Saving Ra- the person now known as Lindsay could not have been a mistake. Magna refuses to believe it was.
She storms off until she's at the edge of the property, looking over the expanse of the hills past the fencing. There's something calm and serene that she never really grasped, but here it is. First it was jail then waitressing and then an apocalypse. Life had never been slow and calming like this scenery. Of course there was something else that calmed her. Set up in a tent about ten feet away was Lindsay, wearing a welding mask and blowtorching together something. The continuous sound of the fire clicking on and off adds to the calmingness, despite being out of rhythm.
After a while, she flips the mask up and examines her handy work before placing it down on the table. Then she swivels to face Magna on the stool that she is perched upon with a raised brow, "Alright. Nobody ever just sits around a mechanic. What do you want?" It is a good question because even Magna isn't quite sure why she's here and what she wants. She doesn't want comfort, or reassurance. It's just that being in this spot is calming… and it just happens to be near where Lindsay was working. "You don't own the grass I'm standing on, the Otto's do", Magna answers with a small frown.
Lindsay doesn't budge. She's not buying it at all. Why did she go to the genius of all people? Of course Lindsay could read her.
-0-
Alicia stares at the wall and angrily fiddles with a bullet shell. She frowns, glaring at it. Unlike Lexa, meditating never really helped her. Perhaps because it was the 21st century. Or maybe just because she didn't have commanders in her head and the iron discipline that the commander had. Yet, the similarities were so great between them. After all they were both just two young girls who had to take the lives of others.
The squeaky hinge of the flimsy screen door behind her creaks open and the floorboard squeaks in protest as it supports the weight of one foot and then another. Mentally bracing herself for a confrontation, Alicia's scowl deepens. Her body tenses, coiling like a spring as the footfalls get closer. Please don't come here, please don't come here her thoughts repeat, as if that will whoever it is away. She's a killer. Lexa was a warrior, a warlord, but really that was just another fancy word for a killer right?
When arms snake around her, she fumbles, grasping for the knife before she realizes that she recognizes the warm embrace of her lover. "Elyza, don't scare me like that", she murmurs, not quite tearing her eyes away from the wall.
The woman in question rests her chin on the girl's shoulder. "I know you heard me." Then she brings her hand into Alicia's range of vision, hand holding a single, tiny flower. "I was trying to get you a whole bouquet, but then I kind of got interrupted by Taqa."
Alicia plucks the purple flower delicately from Elyza's hand. "So that's how they got you. I was wondering how they possibly got to badass motorcycle riding Elyza Lex."
"Hey don't you dare look at me like that, I can still save your ass any day", Elyza answers as if she's offended, although Alicia can hear the smile in her voice.
Despite the chaos within her, Alicia can't help but smile. "Really? But you're picking flowers. I think you're going soft."
She feels Elyza burrowing her face into the junction of her neck and shoulder, as if Alicia could see if she blushed. "I just wanted to really properly ask you out on a date. We never got a chance to…" Elyza trails off, the implication to their other life hanging in the air.
It strikes Alicia. It's not like she hasn't been chased after by somebody before. Matt was always sweet to her. Yet it's different coming from Elyza, who's obviously never had a chance at romantics. She's probably never even had a chance at a proper romantic relationship. Alicia turns around in the blonde's arms so she can see her face and smiles gently. She doubts she looks good, covered in grime and blood, but her smile is from her heart. "Of course I'll go on a date with you."
Elyza shakes her head, hair bobbing as she shakes her head, pointing at Alicia's leg. "I'll only take you on one if you let me patch you up."
The blood has had time to drip and now it has left a trail all the way down her leg into her boot. Now that part of it is dried, it leaves a sticky, almost itchy feeling. As if magically, once Alicia lets herself think about it, the wound starts to sting as well. Still she has to roll her eyes at how insistent Elyza is. She extends her leg and displays the wound for Elyza, and the woman pulls a small medical kit from behind her to begin disinfecting the wound.
Her touch is tender and careful, despite the sting of the disinfectant. As Elyza wraps the bandage around Alicia's leg, she brings her eyes up to meet Alicia's. The ocean that is those eyes overwhelms her. A beautiful blue sparkling like the waves on the sunniest day.
"This is kind of nostalgic. Why am I always the one patching you up?"Elyza asks, her lips quirk up into an amused expression.
Alicia rolls her eyes, "Yeah we're just missing fancy nightgowns. We've always been like this. You've always been the healer and I've been the killer." Elyza's smile fades into a somber face of understanding. She glances down to make sure she's wrapped Alicia's hand correctly before slipping her palm gently into the green eyed girl's.
"I've killed too",Elyza answers softly, eyes still glued to how their hands are intertwined. "We bear it so they don't have to. That doesn't make us any less human, of any less worth."
Alicia looks doubtful, opening her mouth to make a noise of protest when Elyza looks up. Those blue eyes piercing into her soul stops her in her tracks. She sighs and her shoulders sag, "I had to. I had to get you back. Somebody had to make that decision and go forward with it, and I don't regret it either."
Elyza smiles a little. "Me either, 'hun. Now I get more time with you and to take you out on a date." She leans forward and pecks the younger girl's forehead.
"This better be one amazing date if you're talking it up so much", Alicia warns, a warmth filling her tone and expression.
The blond mocks being offended, "Is that a challenge? I'll show you such a great time that you won't ever think of anyone else again. Not that there is anyone else around here for you to think about." She can't keep the grin off her face though as Alicia smiles back as brightly.
"I don't know about that, Jake's kind of a looker", Alicia answers, barely able to keep from bursting into laughter.
Elyza looks seriously offended at being compared to Jake at all. "No way!" she declares as she leans forward and starts assaulting Alicia with tickles. Alicia thrashes playfully, trying to get her off or get her back, and they both end up in an entangled, playful, ticklish mess that eventually tumbles off the bed.