A/N: Work is done and I finally got some writing time - hooray! I've been seriously worn out, so hopefully this makes some kind of sense. It's the last serious chapter for a bit; the next one should be much lighter and will have the resolution of this arc with some Liz/Patty/Kiddo bonding time.
I've been wanting to do another Liz/Lord Death chapter and now I have the perfect excuse. One of my little headcanons is that Liz is one of the few people Lord Death really talks to about personal things (even more so than with Sid and Spirit), so I had a chance to develop the beginning of that relationship here. Thanks so much to everyone for being kind enough to read, review and follow - big hugs for all of you! I've left individual responses at the end.
She'd made a mistake. Instead of grabbing her bag and running for it, she'd let Patty go to her room to wash Kid's blood off and put on some clothes. Liz had paused to replace her own stained robe with jeans and a t-shirt, but she hadn't moved fast enough; Nadine appeared and blocked her bedroom door before she could leave. She damned herself for getting so soft that she'd broken her own biggest rule: don't get separated.
And now it was too late. With Lord Death standing between her and the opened door, Liz had no way of defending herself. Worse yet, she had no way of defending her sister. Why had she ever brought Patty to this place? Simple greed, and look where it had gotten them. You didn't maim the son of one of the world's most powerful beings and get away scot free. There would to be a price to pay and it was going to be a big one.
"Please don't hurt Patty! It was all my fault. I wasn't watching her. Please-" she blurted at the exact same moment that he said, "I'm sorry."
"Wait...what? Why are you sorry?" now she was confused, as well as scared.
Lord Death took a step toward her and Liz skittered backwards, clutching her satchel to her chest. He dropped his arms to his sides and looked so utterly worn down that Liz loosened her grip on the bag. But only a little; maybe this was a ploy to get her guard down.
"Did you...is Patty okay?" she asked, barely able to get her voice above a whisper.
Death's head snapped up and Liz took another reflexive step back. Her terrified eyes broke his heart. To see a child so frightened of him was horrifying.
"She's fine. I apologized for scaring her." a wan smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, "She said she'd forgive me if I let her eat a whole can of whipped cream. I told her she could have two."
Liz gave up trying to keep the quiver out of her voice "So you're not going to...you're not mad at us?"
"Why would I be mad at you? None of this was your fault. I'm sorry I didn't warn you. He hasn't gotten really bad in a while and-" he stopped abruptly when she started to cry. Well, crying wasn't really the word. It was more like an explosion. Death could see her soul vibrating under the force of her emotions and wondered wildly what to do. Should he hug her, or would that be inappropriate? He absolutely zero experience in comforting teenaged girls. Zero.
Liz hated herself for being so weak, but all her pent-up adrenaline and fear had to go somewhere. Her bag fell on the floor with a loud clank as she clapped her hands over her face, ashamed of letting him see her break down. She hadn't cried this way in a very long time. Not since she learned that hunger, or fright or pain couldn't be stopped by her tears. That there were too many freaks out there who thrived on them.
Then she felt a strong arm around her; felt a caring hand rest on her damp hair, and she lost it completely. Feeling like the accumulated stress of her entire life was pouring out all at once, Liz returned Lord Death's hug, grateful to have someone to hang on to.
She cried until the she was weak in the knees, and when they finally buckled he guided her over to her new blue armchair so she could finish her hysterics in comfort. He knelt beside her, not saying a word. Not telling her to shush, or that everything would be okay. None of the stupid shit adults were supposed to say. He held her until she sobbed herself out, and when she finally lifted her face, he leaned in and clumsily patted at it with his handkerchief.
"I messed up your suit" she said in a small voice. He glanced down at his damp, mascara-streaked jacket and told her it could be cleaned. And if not, there were dozens of others just like it in his closet.
"Don't tell anybody I cried, okay?" Liz took the handkerchief from him and blew her nose, "Patty doesn't like it when I get upset. She gets scared."
Lord Death gave her a little smile, "Don't worry, I won't tell anybody and Patty is downstairs, so she didn't hear you."
"What's she doing down there?" panic prickled down Liz' spine, "She might run away!"
"No, she's fine. Nadine took her downstairs when I came in here."
"Why did you bring Nadine up anyway? To carve us up if things didn't go your way?" Liz was only half joking, and he knew it.
"She was watching your door in case you tried to take off while I was with Patty. I figured of all the people in the house she's the only one scary enough to stop you." Lord Death's smile finally reached his eyes.
Liz bit her lip for a moment and finally worked up the courage to ask, "Is Kid okay?"
"He's asleep right now." Lord Death neatly sidestepped her question, or so he thought. Liz was too sharp for him, though.
"So you don't know if he's okay?"
"Physically, he's fine. Reapers are almost impossible to kill; we can bounce back from just about anything in no time. Emotionally...well, it might take a while for him to calm down."
"Has he always been like this?" Liz asked, wondering how Lord Death had stood the shenanigans for years. Every time Kid went off she wanted to kick him in the head for being so spoiled that piddly crap like crooked curtains could ruin his day.
"He's always been high-strung, but things got... serious after we lost his mother two years ago."
Losing a mother, Liz knew from experience, wasn't all that bad. "Even if he really loved her, he ought to be used to the idea by now. Maybe you should take him to a shrink or something."
Death rubbed his temples, trying to ward off the headache beginning to pound beneath them.
"It's not that easy. Kid's got to take over for me some day, which will only be harder for him if there are doubts about his sanity." he looked grim, "I'm hoping he can get past what happened, but it was brutal, and he was only ten."
Liz leapt to her feet, "Wait, wait, wait! Two years ago... so he's twelve? He's the same age as Patty? He acts so grown up when he's not having fits...I thought he was just really fucking short." she shrieked, looking aghast.
"He is short. And he's always been a little mature for his age-"
She cut him off, "A little? He wears a suit and reads newspapers, for crissakes."
"Kid's grown up too fast, but there was no help for it." He knew he sounded defensive, but his nerves were about frayed through.
She had no intention of letting him off the hook, "Well, there should be some help for it! I don't even think he owns a pair of jeans and he's probably never played a video game in his life. His room looks like a forty year old man lives in it. What the hell is wrong in this house?"
Death inhaled sharply, and before he could stop himself, the truth came out.
"What's wrong with this house is that my wife tried to cut our son's soul right out of his body in it!"
Liz' heart lurched and her stomach went along for the ride.
"What?" she gasped, feeling guilty, horrified and petty in equal measures. It had never occurred to her that money couldn't prevent bad things from happening. But apparently they could happen, and did, and the man in front of her looked as if he was about to have a nervous breakdown in spite of all his wealth.
"She didn't do it on purpose," he said shakily, "There was a witch...a spell. Sophie was never very strong. The madness seeped right in, and living here, so close to the school, made everything worse. She thought...she thought she could protect Kid if she hid his soul away."
"Here, you better sit down." Liz urged, pulling at his arm and gesturing at the blue chair. He sat and she crouched near his knee, not sure what to do next. Hesitantly she put out her hand and patted his, trying to comfort him the way he'd comforted her earlier. It seemed to work because he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"I had to stop her," he muttered, more to the ceiling than to the girl beside him, "There was blood everywhere. All over her white dress, and that mess in the shower reminded Kid of it. It's the worst trigger he has. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, taking her away from him. Taking her away from myself. "
"Sounds like you loved her a lot." Liz said, getting up and walking across the room to fetch her satchel. He looked at her tiredly.
"I still do. Nothing works quite right without her. Kid and I have muddled through, but I'm too...distracted to be a really good father."
There was a bottle of whiskey in the bottom of the satchel and Liz cracked it open.
"Here," she said, offering it to him, "I think you need some of this."
"I thought we agreed you weren't going to drink anymore." he said sternly.
"I haven't. You just saw me open it! It was in case Patty and I had to leave. If we ever have to go back, I'll need it."
He leaned over and gripped the bottle, keeping his eyes on hers.
"I want you to listen to me. Really listen. You will never have to go back. You can leave this house any time you want; you're not prisoners here. But you will always have money, and a roof over your head and people to take care of you if you need them. Do you understand me? You don't need the cash, or the Faberge egg, or the silver, or anything else you have in that sack to protect you."
Liz' eyes went wide. "You knew I had them all along?" she yelped. So much for him being distracted and not noticing stuff. She furtively tried to remember everything else she'd done when she thought he wasn't looking.
"Yes, and you're welcome to them if they make you feel safe, but don't need them. I won't let anything happen to you and Patty. You're part of this family now, for what it's worth."
"It's worth a lot," Liz told him solemnly, releasing her hold on the whiskey bottle, "It's worth everything."
******************************************************************************************************************************************RESPONSES!
densekohai - Here's part two! There will be some more, albeit lighter, wrap up in the next chapter. As you said, such a big change in Liz' and Patty's relationship with Kid needs some time to develop!
Zoeyangel - Love your writing, love your comments...you're just all-around awesome :) I'm so glad you decided to do a sequel to "Black and White Roses"!
SempiternalDreamer - I really have to get used to your new user name! Poor Kid has had it rough, but at least he's going to start getting help from Liz and Patty. Now that Liz sees him as a little brother, she's going to start big sister-ing him. They already fight kind of like siblings, but now he'll get a little mothering, too. Loving "Silent Envy" and "Heroes of Madness" and am so looking forward to what you have in store for us this summer!
REDEADED - Once again you've pulled my ass from the fire, my friend. Thanks for helping me get moving. I've been so wiped out that I didn't think I'd ever make this chapter work, so thanks for all your words of encouragement before and after con!
Wordfiend - We made it through the last week of school. Now for a summer of fun, anime, KiMa writing and (hopefully) fewer rogue porch turtles!