In a flash, quite literally, Max was gone – off to join Chloe and Victoria, and to show her new-found powers. It was honestly touching, to see just how gleeful she was, finding peace and power within herself. Lilith released her hold on Kate and stepped back with a satisfied, proud look. "You did good, Marsh." Slowly, she lowered herself back to rest against a crusty old washing machine. "Hey, look uh... The truth is, I don't really need you to give me a pep talk like you did Maxine over there."
Kate leaned up against an equally broken dryer next to her and watched the others continue to go at it, sometimes fighting, sometimes looking more like they were just playing games. Frankly Kate didn't mind either way. "So then...?"
"Jefferson shot this body full of whatever bullshit he's been using to keep himself going. So I'll be running tank for our little party here. Theoretically the two of us could duke it out forever and never really stop. You, Kate? I know you're worried about your role." Ugh, that hit a little too hard, a bit too close to home. Lilith was a little too smart for her own good. "You're not the leader, you're not the support structure. You're the heart, little one."
"Little one?"
She laughed and gave a shrug. "Sorry, some of me is rather old. All the sass and bitterness builds up over time."
Kate's arm crossed over her chest as she stared at the surrounding garbage. Garbage... Everyone else looked like powerhouses and beautiful angels, but Kate felt a bit... garbage-y. Maybe what Victoria had said the previous day was true. Perhaps she wasn't much use to the group after all. "So I'm the Ma-Ti then?"
"In your defense, he's the one who got to be friends with that cool monkey. And you've got Alice." Kate shot her a frown that hopefully spoke to all the disappointment she was feeling with this chat. It wasn't nearly as uplifting as she wanted. "Okay okay, in all seriousness... Kate, do you know what a prophet does?"
"They predict the future?"
Lilith clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "Come on now, you're better than that. No, more often than not, a prophet's job is to see the present moment as it is. That's what you do, what you continue to do. Your tea reading was a fun hobby, but from the moment all this chaos began, you've never predicted the future, you've been connected to the present in a way that no one else can be. The future and the past, Max has those on lockdown. We need you grounded in the present. I thought calling you our heart might be more sentimental, but if you prefer, I'd say you're the core." A gentle hand rested against Kate's shoulder, squeezing slightly. "I'm going to go join the melee before everyone gets tired. Just... Take your time. The asshole isn't showing up for his beatdown until hours from now."
And now it was just her. Kate, alone, with all her worries and fears. Hugging herself, she moved away from all the junk and refuse, and found a grassy spot to sit in and a tree to rest against. Her eyes closed only to shoot open a moment later when she heard the sound of something approaching. It was the cruelest thought she'd had in a while, but she desperately hoped it wouldn't be her girlfriend – or really anyone else. She wasn't ready for humanity just yet.
But her hopes were validated as she turned to see the spectral deer she'd first noticed days before. That first day, it had been merely an observer, keeping an eye on the four of them as events unfolded. But now it was here alongside her, investigating, getting close. Kate watched as it began to shift, body shrinking, ears elongating, and it slid with a certain fluidity into her lap. And now the spectral deer was a ghostly rabbit, and it all felt a bit too pointed. But then again so had a lot of the things that happened the last few days. With trepidation Kate let her hand travel against it and found that it wasn't entirely incorporeal. Her hand actually met resistance and she felt fur below her finger tips. It certainly didn't seem to mind, and something about this quiet peaceful moment before things went off the rails spoke to her on a deep level.
"Is it true, little guy? I mean, here I am sitting around and petting you when I should be... I-I don't know, planning or helping or something! But at the same time, I'm petting a ghost that just shapeshifted from a doe to a bunny, which not a lot of people can say. I-I guess I do have a way of seeing things, but... I also get so exhausted and snarky and sarcastic. I don't want anyone wasting their time protecting me when they could be fixing things." The witch huffed and hit the ground with her free hand, grateful that this rabbit was far more peaceful than poor jumpy Alice. "And do I actually know what I'm going to do about this storm? No, I have no clue, just some stupid idea that probably won't even work!"
Her head slumped against the tree and she stared up into its branches, looking at the leaves that had already started changing color. "I know I'm not actually garbage, but I'm damn sure not a prophet either. I'm just... me..." With her eyes staring upward, she didn't notice the creature beginning to shift again, but she did feel the lack of furry texturing, a more general sort of amorphousness. Finally she glanced down in time to see the hazy, warm light start winding its way up her arm to spread out through her chest. Her mind blurred out slightly and...
Chloe watched as Max did another trick for her, flitting back and forth across the entire junkyard with that same smile she remembered from five years before. And just for a little while, it's like no time has passed. They're just pirates playing at some dumb, stupid game. Only now it's not a game, and Max really is some kind of time traveling wizard, and she really did get scratched by Frank Bowers and became infected with lysol-antagonism or whatever Kate had called it. And Rachel really did decide to permanently possess some freakish monster and became a whole new person. And it sucked and when Jefferson showed up she was going to channel every ounce of her rage into pummeling that asshole into mush. And maybe, finally, when this was all over, she would tell Max just how important she was rather than just eyeing her constantly and fucking her like a monster. Maybe.
There was a kind of calm peace and serenity flowing through Kate at that moment as she began to rise to her feet. "Lycanthropy, Chloe, it's called Lycanthropy..." she whispered It didn't hurt any longer. Was this part of what Lilith had been trying to tell her?
There was a little song bouncing around in Max's head as she swished everywhere and anywhere at her leisure, no longer tied down by pain and confusion. Whatever Kate had done, whatever magic she had summoned, it worked. She finally understood the gift she'd been given – it was just that, a gift, not a curse. And she was able to enjoy it, and use it to the full extent that her imagination could pull off. She would never be able to hit as hard as the others, and she would be dead if she got struck by anything more dangerous than a light tap. But with careful precision and a few choice words, she could keep Jeffershit distracted long enough for the others to wreck his ass. Then it was just a matter of stopping an entire storm and she could spend some proper alone time with Chloe. With any luck, she could get a repeat of the night they broke into Blackwell. That had been... breathtaking.
It had been one thing to simply see events as her companions saw them, to experience their moments and memories. But now she was in their heads, understanding them more in mere moments than she had through any of their other interactions. Kate began to hum along to the song Max had been singing to herself.
Lilith watched everything going on with an amused smile. The lovebirds focusing more on their flirtatious playtime than doing any actual training. The way Victoria stomped her foot, hollering at them to get their act together. Kate off in her own little world, looking so adorable and peaceful. In truth, it was actually quite easy to believe that they were both teenage girls and also the heroes trying to save this town at the same time. You could see it if you were careful, and Lilith was observant as hell. Rachel's spirit had been concerned by the chorus of voices that greeted her when she first merged, but they were swiftly learning to act together as one. One girl's intelligence, another's wit, another's fashion sense, another's courage. It was hardly a perfect union, but no committee was perfect. Well, if blondie wanted an actual practice fight, she would give her one.
Kate reached up and ran her fingers through her messy tangled hair and smiled to herself. To be present in herself while still seeing the world from so many other viewpoints. It was confusing and frightening the first time. Now, it provided her with a sense of wholeness, the same feeling one got stargazing, a shocking realization of your smallness in the face of an infinite universe.
Victoria liked the swift and satisfying back-and-forth of trading blows and catching punches with Lilith. She needed this, a moment to just unleash and distract herself from that gnawing darkness – the realization that she actually was a bloodsucking creature of the night. She'd managed to avoid it so far, and she hoped to at least finish the rest of this bullshit week before she had to face it. Throwing her all into this moment helped distract her. The solid thud of fist meeting palm, the pleasant feedback that reverberated down her arm. But eventually she tired and called for a break, turning to look at Kate. Poor Kate, wonderful Kate, beautiful Kate. A wave of guilt washed over her as she remembered what she'd said the day before. She had practically called her girlfriend useless! What kind of terrible person did that?
Kate grinned and ran, closing the gap between herself and Victoria, wrapping her up in a tight hug. Only after she'd latched onto her did she realize that it probably seemed out of nowhere. But finally understanding herself, understanding those around her, it was freeing. "Come here..." She took Victoria's hand and pulled her over toward the ragged little clubhouse. "There's something I want you to do, Tori." Maybe she was being a little dramatic considering how hard Victoria was trying to avoid her vampirism, but at the same time, it had been almost 24 hours since Nathan bit her. She would need a pick-me-up before Jefferson showed up. "I want you to drink my blood..."
She expected that her girlfriend would look guilty or worried, or straight-up refuse to do it. Instead, she pulled away her sunglasses and moved the hood from her head, then leaned in and sunk her teeth into Kate's neck without a second thought. She was so desperate and hungry, Kate should have expected it, but it still hit her hard. Her eyes shut tight and she latched onto Victoria's hoodie, whimpering pathetically. Something about this was a million times more intimate than their private moments in bed. Lucky for Victoria, this meant she had a willing victim for as long as she wished. They would make it through this together.
Victoria finally pulled away, and Kate could tell how reluctantly she did so. She was still learning, and if she wasn't careful she might have drained her. She felt weak, but not to the point that she would be unable to help the others. And looking up at the blonde as she wiped a little bit of stray blood from the corner of her mouth, the effect she'd had was more than worth it. "Oh, Katie... You are... How do you do it?"
The witch fiddled with her hair, looking aside as she rested herself on one of the torn-up car seats. "Do what?"
Her Tori just sort of motioned grandly to Kate. "This whole... thing you do. The visions, the pain, helping Max unlock her powers, casually acting as though Lilith isn't the weirdest thing you've ever seen... Looking after me..." Slowly she joined Kate on the awkward seat and nestled against her. "I can barely take care of myself sometimes. When I'm not leaning on you, it's poor Taylor and Courtney picking up my slack..."
Kate hugged her tightly and allowed the quiet moment to settle over them. "There was something I knew a long time ago, and then this pretty blonde wanted me to read her fortune and I kinda forgot it. You have to step back and see the world for what it is. You're not the main character, you're not the hero. It's an ensemble cast. So I'm trying to do my part to look after everyone. Buuuuut... I'm also selfish sometimes, and I want to lavish a little extra love on my girlfriend." She let loose a little giggle and ran her fingers appreciatively through Victoria's pixie cut. "Speaking of selfish, you won't judge me if I hide like a little babby tonight, right?"
"I would be angrier if you tried to join in. I won't stand for anything happening to you!" It was nice to hear that, and it allowed Kate to relax a little bit.
Lilith huffed. First she lost Chloe to her little time-hopping waif, and now her other sparring partner was off making out with her girlfriend. What in the hell were they doing here, because it clearly wasn't training anymore!
Whoops, Kate hopped up, pulling Victoria with her. "C'mon, Lilith is getting pissed..."
Right on cue, she heard shouting from outside. "Oi! I thought we were prepping for a doomsday battle, not flitting around like a bunch of nymphs! Come on, people, let's do this!" Victoria looked at Kate with slightly widened eyes but the look quickly softened as it dawned on her that Kate being able to predict someone getting angry was hardly the weirdest thing they'd seen lately. "Ah, I see someone finally got her shit together." Lilith noted the pair of marks on Kate's neck and grinned, causing the witch to blush. "In more ways than one. Come on, I think it's time for a tactical planning meeting."