Edited 4/18/2021

As always I don't own Digimon. I don't own Seven Devils it is from Florence + The Machine

"Holy water cannot help you down
Hours and armies couldn't keep me out
I don't want your money
I don't want your crowd
See I have to burn
Your kingdom down"

Mimi's apartment was like something out of a magazine. She had a condo on the Miami coast, with an open floor plan that made it look even larger than it was. All the furniture was neutral, with pastel pink and blue pillows and blankets as accents. She had a large sectional, two accent chairs, and a large wooden coffee table. Her kitchen was the focal point, no surprise there, it was warm with light brown cabinets and a cream countertop. Windows practically lined the walls giving an ocean view most people would never experience. Stairs led up to a loft that separated into four bedrooms.

We arrived early that afternoon and gave her a rundown of what had been happening. Once John and Colin made it there, we separated off, ate, showered, and rested a bit. She had someone coming over later who she thought could help us, and wanted to give everyone some time to wind down from the chaos of that morning.

She had held onto Kari for a while, like a mother after being separated from a child, apologizing profusely for not telling her all the 'stories' she knew. She was too tired to say anything except that it was okay. She needed some rest so I suggested she lay down for a bit before we shared any more bombshells of information, and that's when we all split.

Matt, Sora, Kari, and I coupled off into two separate rooms and the guys shared the last extra. While everyone was getting acclimated, Mimi finished cooking. She had been preparing soup when we got there, even with all the heaviness hanging over us she happily chopped away at her counter insisting we would all feel better after a real meal.

She was different, more settled, yet still the excitable, bubbly, and happy girl we had all known growing up. Sora helped her in the kitchen as they caught up, every once in a while collapsing dramatically over the counter in a fit of laughter. Matt tried to sleep on the sectional but he gave in and joined Sora after Mimi's excited squealing, every five minutes, made it impossible to get any rest. His face showed the usual aloof annoyance but he was equally engaged in the conversation, I could tell, the way his shoulders relaxed and his jaw unclenched, he'd missed her as much as the rest of us had. There was a lightness that Mimi carried with her, and we all needed it. The guys passed out upstairs for a bit, but after about an hour John came down and joined them. He was excitable but I hadn't noticed before that his energy level was, extraordinarily, close to hers, the two of them got into an animated conversation about restaurants back in New York.

I took Matt's place on the couch, actively listening to everything around me without being a participant. I was exhausted, but at the same time couldn't relax enough to rest. It was like my mind was on a loop, the images of the past few days replaying over, and over again. I noticed Matt send worried glances my way every little bit, but I tried to avoid his gaze, he didn't need to be worrying about me right now.

I turned on my phone for the first time in a few hours, after following Kari's lead earlier and shutting it off. I had forty-five missed phone calls, eighty percent of them were unknown callers, probably reporters. The rest were a combination of Tai and, surprisingly to me, my mother. I had sixteen messages from Tai, begging me to call him, Kari to call him, asking for any answers at all. Every message was harder to read than the last. I needed to talk to her later about contacting him, I knew my brother and Sora probably had similar messages as well, he shouldn't be left in the dark at this point, it wasn't fair.

I switched to a messaging app I used for my friends back in Japan, and it was a similar story.

I clicked on Davis's name.

What the hell is going on?

Is she okay?

Are you okay?

What can I do?

He didn't question the truth and was only worried about us, it made me missed him more than I already did. Rarely do you find a friend so willing to do absolutely anything for you at the drop of a hat. He could be a hothead and react too quickly, but right now I could have used some of that energy since all I felt was paralyzed. I responded, saying that we were holding up and I would reach out as soon as I could.

I shut my phone for a few minutes, content to ignore everyone else, but those two phone calls were eating away at me. The two from my mother. Two missed calls and no messages.

I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the irritation that was growing until I couldn't help myself anymore. I headed wordlessly out onto the balcony and hit the send button. It only rang once before she picked up.

"TK?"

"Who else would be calling from my phone?" There was a pause on the other end, she decided to ignore my irritated sarcasm.

"Is she okay?"

"Suddenly, you care about her wellbeing?" I scoffed, turning around and leaning against the railing, seeing that was a mistake as everyone was looking at me from inside. I rolled my eyes and turned back out towards the ocean, privacy was hard to come by.

She sighed, "TK stop, your father and I have both received phone calls from Tai and his mother wondering if we'd heard from you. They are a mess over this." She stopped, I heard her clicking away at her computer, and slam her hand against the keyboard. "Damnit TK, of course, I care. I always cared. I made a mistake. I'm sorry. I always loved Kari I just – obviously loved you more."

We let the silence hang there. I was still so angry with her, but with everything going on I realized how young I felt, how much I wished there was an adult to fix everything. She'd been overprotective but trusted us when we were children and understood that sometimes we needed to take large risks to win battles. It wasn't often I longed for any sort of parental figure, growing up the way we did. Matt and I were self-sufficient, but this, it was just so different from anything we'd faced.

Thinking about everything was getting me worked up and I knew I was about to crack. I felt my chest getting tight and it was hard to breathe. I'd been holding in the stress as much as I could, trying to take care of Kari, but I was nearing my own edge.

"I don't know what to do," I was trying to hold myself together but choked out a sob. I bit the inside of my cheek trying to remain calm.

"Tell me everything."

And then I did, I let the words spill out of my mouth faster than I could focus on them. I gave Kari's story to the person I trusted the most and the least. I had to stop at some points, gather myself, but by the time I finished I'd calmed down, anger at Michael replaced my distress over the situation. I conveniently left out the threats the police made against me, I didn't need her worrying about that right now.

"So, Mimi is going to help her find a lawyer?"

"I think so, she has someone coming over soon but we aren't sure who this person is."

"How are you?"

"Tired, angry for her. I just want him to go away for this, but we don't know how to make that happen when he seems to be able to get away with just about anything."

"Didn't Mimi say that she knew some stories about him?"

"Yea, but who knows what that means."

I could hear her chewing the bottom of her pen, and typing on her computer.

"Will you tell me if you learn anything else? Maybe I can help, try and access records or something. I have a few stateside contacts that could try and do some digging, see if there are other buried stories?"

I let her question hang between us. She was good at her job, it was why she wasn't home a lot when I was a kid, but I wasn't sure if Kari would want her digging around in this, "I don't know what she would say to me if she knew I was talking to you. She might get angry, she could pull away-"

"She might want to know who you are talking to and why you are trying to keep secrets from her?"

I turned around and saw Kari standing behind me, she must have snuck out onto the balcony at some point during the conversation, but I had no idea how much she had heard. She held out her hand wordlessly for the phone, I figured she thought it was Tai.

"Kar, listen it's not who you-"

"Can I please have the phone?" Her eyes bore into mine, and her jaw was clenched with her mouth in a firm line, as her foot tapped impatiently onto the ground. I handed it to her while my mother was asking questions and trying to figure out what was going on, on my end.

"Hello?" Her eyes widened a bit when she heard my mother's voice, before glaring daggers in my direction.

I mouthed, "I'm sorry," but she turned away from me, listening intently to whatever my mother was saying. I gripped onto the handrail and bit onto the inside of my cheek again, I was. So. Fucking. Stupid. She was going to hate me for sure after this. I betrayed her trust to the last person she probably ever wanted to hear from again. I was an idiot, how the hell were we ever supposed to be together when she would hate my mother forever. What kind of life were we suppose to lead, never seeing my family? My thoughts spiraled, way the fuck out there, while I chewed onto the inside of my cheek until the metallic taste of blood entered my mouth. "Shit," I muttered under my breath.

I looked down when I felt her pulling one of my hands off the railing into her own. I looked down and she was still on the phone but her gaze had softened.

"Yea, okay, we'll call back with anything else," Kari said back over the line, before disconnecting.

She let the phone fall away from her ear and gave me a once-over, concern flooding her eyes in the place of anger.

"Can you look ten percent less like you are going to jump over this railing?"

I looked down at my feet, ashamed. "I'm sorry." I was still gripping the railing with my free hand tightly. I tried to calm down a bit but was having no luck. I looked down at her desperately. "We need help. I don't know how to keep you safe from any of this, and I just, I lost it."

"Everyone know's now anyway. The only reason I haven't called my brother is that I don't know what to say." She rubbed circles on the back of my hand with her thumb. "I thought it was him on the phone. Your mom is, obviously not my favorite person ever, but I also told you I didn't want you to hate her, you can always talk to her but can you just tell me before you share anything else."

I looked away from her, afraid of her response to my next question, ashamed I even needed to ask, and hating how vulnerable I felt, "You don't hate me?"

She tugged on my hand, trying to have me turn back to face her but I held firm, not wanting her to see how weak I was.

"TK how am I ever suppose to hate you? Seriously?" She pulled a little harder and I budged, turning towards her, but looked down at my feet. "Are you even hearing what I'm telling you? I'm not mad."

I felt so embarrassed, jumping to the most extreme conclusion, annoyed with myself for being more dramatic in my head than I needed to be.

"I'm sorry," I met her eyes then, confused at what in the world she was possibly sorry for. "She told me if we can get her any leads to let her know."

I turned away again, gently releasing my hand from her grasp, and holding back onto the railing.

"Hey, I forgave her a long time ago, okay? I'm sorry if I overreacted when I came out here. I'm just on edge. I shouldn't have been so harsh."

She poked me in the side, it surprised me, causing me to loosen my grip on the railing. She used that moment to edge under my arm and move between myself, and the metal bars.

"What are you doing?" I tried not to smile, willing myself to be miserable, but she put her arms around my waist and buried her head into my chest.

A collection of muffled, mumbles, came from her, "I can't understand you," I gave up my misery, and let out a small laugh.

She peaked up, and I eased back so she had some more room. "It's nothing." She quickly pulled out my phone and scrolled a bit before clicking the screen, holding the phone to her ear before I had a chance to pry further.

I heard a woman answer the phone, "Mom?" Kari replied, with a shaky breath. Tears brimmed and clouded, her chestnut-colored eyes. "Wait. What?!" They were quickly blinked away, and she stared at me, open-mouthed, as she listened to her mother on the other end of the phone for the next few minutes.

"I can't believe him, he never changes, always just living by the whim of his impulses," She grumbled, as we closed the balcony door behind us. I looked up to see everyone staring at us expectantly.

We looked at each other, silently asking the other to respond. "Tai is – Izzy?!" Kari's irritation drained, replaced with genuine happiness at the sight of our old friend.

He must have been walking in right when we did. I'd seen him a few months prior to leaving for America but I hadn't realized he would be here, Mimi hadn't said anything to us. Her arm was wrapped around his waist, and he looked comfortable around her in a way I hadn't seen before. Maybe they finally figured it out. Normally he was nervous, and fidgety, in her presence. The only time he ever second-guessed the words that came out of his mouth was when they were directed at her.

"Kari, TK, I'm glad to be able to see you both. I'm just sorry it's under these circumstances. You were saying something about Tai?" I almost let out a laugh, Izzy was always so direct, zero fluff. It's funny the way Mimi and him were so different in their delivery, but really, neither of them had any filter.

"Oh, yea." She huffed again, focused once more on her brother. "He's apparently coming to the States."

"Wait, coming here? Now?" Mimi looked around as if to say she was out of space.

"No. I mean, I'm not sure. My mom said that he was coming to find me since no one was returning any calls. It could be any stop coming up, she wasn't sure exactly where he was flying into." She threw her hands up in defeat.

"Is this, like, a really bad thing?" Colin, walked around the counter with an entire plate of cookies in his hand, while the other held one that he, gleefully, popped into his mouth.

Everyone in the room turned towards him with various looks of disapproval covering their features, "What, you guys want some?"

"No, honey, you keep eating," Sora rolled her eyes as he either, missed, or ignored her patronizing tone, and continued to munch away.

Kari rubbed her temples for a moment, choosing to ignore his obliviousness, "I mean, he just doesn't really think things through all the way sometimes. I honestly don't know if he's coming to look for me, or coming for Michael."

"He'll come for you. I don't think he just runs looking for trouble anymore." Sora's statement didn't seem to ease Kari's mind.

"I mean, when it comes to anything related to Kari he's never been clear-headed. I wouldn't rule out any possibilities." Izzy was more accurate as always. Tai had a way of letting all logic go out the window when it came to protecting his sister.

"What about you?" Matt questioned, sending me a look of concern. Distracting everyone from the thought of Tai for a moment.

"Mom," I said waving him off when he looked like he was about to speak again. "It's fine."

We were interrupted by a knock at Mimi's door.

April was a publicist, in her late twenties, that Mimi met in college. They stayed friends when Mimi dropped out and choose to follow a culinary path, instead of a collegiate one. Mimi explained, that April worked at a large company for a while but broke off on her own about two years ago, mostly working with up-and-coming talent.

We introduced ourselves and she took a seat at the table with us. The guys gave us some space, Sora and Mimi stayed with me.

"I've heard so much about you both over the years. I'm sorry that it's like this that I'm finally meeting you all." She wasn't what I was expecting, she was a curvy, five-foot nothing, bombshell. She came in with a pair of classic black heels, probably six inches tall, wearing a fitted but professional-looking grey suit. She had a Bronx accent that made her sound too tough for her stature. Her hair was a mass of perfect black curls and her face was bare except for a dark burgundy lipstick. She had a sweet face, round almond-shaped hazel eyes, tan skin, a small nose that tilted up a bit at the end, and a friendly smile, showing off her perfectly white teeth. She was fierce, in appearance and attitude, I needed that.

I fidgeted, rolling, and unrolling a napkin in my hands, until I blurted out one of my larger fears, getting right to the point, "I have a little money but-"

She reached across the table and gently took my hand, forcing me to drop the napkin, giving it a small squeeze. "Kari, this isn't about money for me. You aren't the first woman he's tossed around," She let me go, and her hands flew in the air for emphasis. "Rumors have flown around for a while, but I think his family has always paid people off to keep their mouths shut. I'm honestly surprised they haven't reached out to you." She ended, pointing a finger at me before rolling her eyes. She was blunt, but it wasn't in a disrespectful way, maybe direct was a better word. She had a professionalism about her, but her expressions gave away what she was thinking easily. "People always try to pay off the survivor in cases like this, it's gross like money gets you your fucking blood back. I watched some shit go down at one of the first companies I worked for, these men in power think they can get away with anything." She tapped her, perfectly manicured, nails against the table to emphasize her words.

"I've actually had my phone off since the news broke," I explained. I never even thought about the possibility of them reaching out to me.

She told me it was probably a good move for the time. She started to explain what she does. She would reach out to the media, be my liaison, and give me statements to use if we get bombarded on the street like we did at the hotel this morning.

"I just need to know what kind of statement you are looking to send, are you planning to seek prosecution?"

Stillness washed over us, and three sets of eyes settled on me expectantly. I still hadn't made a decision about that. I wanted him to go away, and I wanted everyone to be safe from him, but I was horrified by what could happen to everyone if I did go up against him.

"I'm not sure yet. I think I need to talk to a lawyer first."

"Mimi, have ya called Monica yet?"

"I did, I think she was planning to call us tomorrow," April nodded, happy with that answer, her curls bounced around her head as she did.

She continued with her questions. "Ok, did you, or do you know the person who released the photos?"

"No, I never told anyone that they even existed," I thought for a moment. "Isn't it illegal that they were even released?"

"Technically yes, you could go after the hospital and police department, possibly file a lawsuit for releasing confidential information. If you were still currently with Michael that would be the route I would suggest, but being that you aren't with him, and don't want to look like you created this as a money trap I would suggest against it."

We all sat with that information for a moment. The amount of money I could be getting out of this was almost amusing to me. Michael, the hospital, and the police could all be giving me a payout but I wanted nothing to do with it. I couldn't imagine spending a penny of anything obtained from this, the idea of it felt filthy.

"I'm not looking for money," I said firmly.

"Okay, so what kind of statement are you looking to send? If you're planning on prosecution we can say the photos are legitimate and allow the police and hospital involved to confirm them being authentic. Michael and his people will probably argue that someone else injured you because as soon as you come out and say they are real he's going to go on the defense, but that's a problem for another day."

I tried to think carefully. Was I ready to be a victim? Was I ready for everything that would come next? Was I ready to possibly trash my career, something I'd seen happen to other women in the industry when things like this happened?

"I'm sorry. I'm so indecisive. I'm just not sure exactly what to say. I'm afraid to say, 'It's true, he did it,' because I'm not sure the legal path I'm going to take yet. I don't know if I'm ready to get dragged through the media and the court system." I grabbed the glass of wine Mimi had placed in front of me earlier and thought for a moment. "He kept my career on hold after I graduated. He's going to do what he can to make me look like a liar. I do know that I don't want to deny it and run away from this. I'm just trying to figure out how to keep my reputation intact."

"Screw him," April said, as I'd started to take a sip of my wine and almost choked on it. "I'm planning on slowly dragging him through the mud. Then, I'm gonna, metaphorically, twist his dick off and have him eat it. He'll never work again." Mimi was snickering.

"Don't you laugh at me. You know I'm serious," April tossed her pen at Mimi, playfully, "Shit, I'd burn his entire life to the ground if I could. Look, I know some other girls, who know some other girls, and I'm hoping I can get enough to come forward."

"You know for sure there are others?" I thought about what Kaci said a few weeks ago in the club.

"Guys like this don't just snap, there is always a pattern, it was never just you, honey," She reached out to me again, trying to give me this piece as a source of comfort, the knowledge that it wasn't just me.

"We will drag him the way women get dragged every single day when allegations come up. I'm sick of men in this town thinking they own it," She gave me a reassuring tap and leaned back again, grabbing her glass and emptying it quickly.

"What do you know about the others?" I asked. Mimi had yet to tell me any stories of her own.

"Not much yet, but I've heard too many whispers to believe there isn't any truth to them. Knocking around this girl, or that. I'm working on a few contacts. As soon as something comes up I'll let you know."

"How's everything going?" I heard TK's voice and turned around to see that Matt and him had joined us in the room. "You okay?" He placed his hands on my shoulders, gently massaging my tired muscles.

"Ah, is this the new boyfriend?" April gestured to TK suggestively, sending the two of us a wink. "Looks like you made a solid upgrade."

We both looked at each other and stammered a bit, not really sure of what to say, or how she knew about us.

"Oh, man you all really did drop off the face of the earth today, huh? It appears one of your crew blew you in." She replied, clicking on her phone and typing around for a moment before passing it to us.

"Bandmate confirms Kari has moved on," we scrolled through the horribly written article claiming that we were an official item.

"COLIN!" Matt's, sharp, angry voice echoed across the apartment.

"Yes," He happily trotted down the stairs, wiping cookie dust off his shirt, and humming one of their new songs to himself, "What's up?"

"Did you tell reporters that these two were together?" Matt asked, slowly, with irritation seeping from each word.

Colin, completely unfazed by Matt's overall attitude, replied, "Oh yea! I meant to tell you guys, total diversion! They asked if she was dating someone in the band and I was all, he's not in the band. Smart right!"

Everyone in the room, save for April, stared blankly back at him. She sat back, nibbling on the tip of her pen cap, enjoying the scene play out before her.

His face started to fall, "Wait, no? I mean, it's not like it's a total untruth..." He drifted off, realizing that we didn't think his idea was as great as he did.

"This isn't exactly a bad thing," April chimed in. "If Kari has moved on, and is in a new relationship, it looks a little less like a jilted lover who released photos on her own to create mayhem in the life of the guy who maybe dumped her. We can work with this if that is something you want."

I stared at the table avoiding everyone's eye contact. TK and I hadn't had any time to figure out what exactly was happening with us. Now it felt like some sort of story to be used in the press, it made us feel dirty and somehow less real.

"We haven't exactly." I paused and looked back at him, but he strangely avoided my eye contact.

"It's okay," She saved me from answering. If I was her I would have been annoyed with me at this point. I couldn't give her a straight answer for anything.

"I know this is all very difficult. I can make a statement that's essentially a non-statement. We confirm the photos are real and talk about how difficult reliving them has been for you. I also have an idea for your show that I'd like to run by you. You're a theater girl right?"

I wasn't sure where this was going but I said yes and waited for her to continue.

"Okay so, I loooove when an artist makes a statement with their music. It always feels very raw and passionate to me." A smirk appeared on her face like a schoolgirl about to let us in on a secret. "Have you heard this song," She slid her phone into my hands, it was a new song but the look on my face mirrored hers when I saw it. Our eyes met, she had that devious gleam in her's again.

"There will be press at the show after everything that's happened so I say you take this into your own hands, Livestream this song, coupled with what I'm going to release and I think it makes for a powerful moment."

I started playing the song.

"Hell yeah," Colin whispered, more to himself than anyone else. I met Matt's gaze, who gave me a nod in approval. I guess if I was going to send a message it may as well be blunt.