Pack all your bags and lock all your doors, clear out the cities and pray for your little lives...

[of_rageandruin]

The basement lobby is full of archangels, most of them armed to the teeth. These are archangels moving to war, and not just a small operation with fifteen mostly-kids against a group of humans. These are archangels on the hunt, out for demon blood, and while there's the unmistakable feeling of unease in the air after last night, no one's willing to

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[radiantsoldier]

Elena's thinking to herself that at least the nice thing about semiautomatics is that depth perception isn't quite so much of an issue.

She's nervous, practically vibrating with tension. Everything's wrong. Romana shot Vince. Vince. That's... It shouldn't be possible. So fucked up.

But she's following orders because it's all she's got left, because she fuckin' owes Romana. Owes her for everything in her whole life, so to hell with everything else.

She just wishes she didn't feel so goddamn sick.

[of_rageandruin]

Romana locates Elena before long - it's not easy, in the chaos, but Romana's good at finding her kids when she needs them. She touches her arm lightly to get her attention. "Elena." She takes a moment to scan her thoughts. Nothing unexpected. Not all of it exactly good, but expected nevertheless.

[radiantsoldier]

Ay, Dios...

The moment she notices Romana, Elena straightens up, standing at attention. This is what Romana's been getting her ready for for the past three years. She won't fuck it up. "Ma'am."

She's not going to think about how wrong things are in front of a First. It's wrong, and disrespectful, and Romana knows what she's doing. She has to. Por favor, dígame algo que hará todo bien, she thinks. Pleads. Please, tell me something that'll make everything all right.

[of_rageandruin]

Romana keeps her hand on her arm, comfort through contact. It's the best she can do right now. "I need you to do something for me. It means you won't get to come along, but I don't trust anyone else to manage it."

Which is actually true - after the disaster with Torchwood, she's not throwing this sort of thing off on just anyone. This plan also has the benefit of upping Elena's chances of survival; Romana doesn't particularly want to pull her into all-out war when she still hasn't adjusted to the lack of depth perception.

[radiantsoldier]

Elena can't help the sense of disappointment. She's getting left, again, because she--

She's not going to think about the fear gas, or the complete clusterfuck that was Torchwood, or whether she could've made any difference if she was there.

"I..." She glances at Romana. The contact helps. It helps a lot.

"What do you need me to do?"

[of_rageandruin]

Romana's lips twitch into a smile. Good girl.

"Elashte has a friend called the Doctor. He's not human, and he's dangerous. I need you to kill him." She hands Elena a file with her free hand - she had Robin put it together last night, and it contains pictures of the Doctor and Charlie, addresses, all the information they have. "All the information you need is here, and I know you'll be able to track him down. Alright?"

[radiantsoldier]

Okay. She can do this. He's on the same side as the demons, and he's dangerous. He's not human, not an angel. That puts him on the list of people she can take out, no problem. Right.

Elena nods and takes the file. "Yes, ma'am."

She'll remove the threat at hand, kill the Doctor, prove she's capable of fighting with the big kids, and then...

And then everything has to be all right. Has to. Once they do what they came to, the world will make sense.

[of_rageandruin]

Romana nods, still smiling gently, reassuringly, and the hand on Elena's arm reaches up to brush her cheek fondly. "I'll see you when it's done." She doesn't say good luck, never does, because that implies the possibility of failure. She trusts Elena.

And then she turns away in a rustle of feathers, moving back through the lobby with an air of calm command. It's almost time.