I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark, living in a powderkeg and giving off sparks.

[hesourhostage]

In a Main Gauche sunroom, Andrew Wells is sitting upside down in a chair with his camera, rewatching old footage and snickering to himself. One of these days he's going to find some way to invest in a laptop and some video editing software and actually get this documentary off the ground

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[stillaboyscout]

Vaughn's been looking for Bianca all day, and has only now found her. He's tired- he's still only half-healed up, but he feels like he needs to talk to her, after the abuse he's endured, both from himself and from one Julian Sark.

"You're a difficult woman to find," he says, out of breath after climbing a bunch of stairs. Jesus, Vaughn, getting out of shape? He looks at her curiously for a moment. "Are you all right?"

[asoultosave]

It should probably not be mentioned that the cigar she's smoking was the one that Sark bribed her with, which is good enough that she's considering finding out where he got it and throwing herself at that person for another.

She felt him coming, so when he arrives, she gives him a onceover. "Jesus, kid, don't give yourself a heart attack." She twitches her wings and then turns back to the Chicago skyline. "I just like bein' up here." Not a lie. She really does. "And you should be restin', not runnin' up flights of stairs, chasin' me down. Who's lookin' after who here?"

[stillaboyscout]

Vaughn frowns for a second. "I'm fine," he insits. "They let me out of the infirmiry. Clean bill of health and everything. I'm ready to get back into action." He quickly closes his mouth. He's not about to let Bianca know about his plans (plans that, for his sake, the narration hopes never come to fruition.)

"Besides," he continues, "I have a right to look after you too. I'm the one who gets you into situations where you could be hurt. Now if you're hurting and it's not my fault, I have the right to know about it." Because he'll feel guilty if she doesn't. Poor baby.

[asoultosave]

Bianca looks at him for a long time and then cackles. "Kid, I have never seen anyone with a moral compass who points that due north in my entire life." Well, if she knew about certain things, she'd understand that it has pointed south, but all she knows is that aside from picking fights with blond kids in parks, he's a fucking saint.

"A guardian angel doesn't need a guardian angel, Skippy, but thanks for the sentiment, and I ain't hurtin'. It's a family thing."

Because that explains everything.

[stillaboyscout]

"Thank you?" he asks. "I mean, I suppose that's something of a compliment..." He shakes his head. Yes. He's the perfect Boy Scout, always right on track, always doing the right thing.

It kills him to know he's lying by omission when he doesn't say anything, but it would hurt even more to tell her, so for now he's keeping silent.

"It doesn't mean you don't need to talk about it," he pushes. He can see something's not right, and it upsets him. He protects people. It's what he does, dammit.

[asoultosave]

On some level, guardians can sense when their wards aren't telling them something- it's an emotional thing. When your ward is upset or angry or hurt, you feel it, and when they're hiding something you just know, but until she thinks it's going to be a threat to his life, she won't pry

[stillaboyscout]

Vaughn nods slowly, processing the information. The names are unfamiliar- who the hell are the Barnams?- but he gets the general gist of it.

"I'm sorry," he says. "That you're saddled with me. I mean, even though you wouldn't want to stay there..." He pauses, trying to find the right words. "If you wanted to visit, I'd be willing to go along."

Not that he thinks she would, but still.

[asoultosave]

"Kid, it has nothin' to do with havin' a ward," she shakes her head. "I haven't had a ward in a hundred years and I haven't been home in that length of time either." She pauses, considering this. "Okay, you know those women who go home to the family reunions and everyone's always so happy to see them, but then everyone always finds some way to work the fact that she doesn't have a husband into the conversation? That is me with my family, only except for the whole husband thing, I gotta deal with them telling me how it's such a shame, I was born a guardian."

She takes another moment to smoke her cigar. Oh sweet Cubans.

"I think my brothers would kill you if I brought you home... Not intentionally, but there are seven of them and they're all kinda violent."

[stillaboyscout]

Vaughn pauses. He never really had much of a family- only his mom, mostly, and he wasn't particularly close to her. He was too busy idolizing his father, too busy trying to be an agency man ever since the moment he heard his father was dead. So to think about family pressures...

"I'm sorry. I mean... the fact that you have a ward now wouldn't change anything? You're not a failure in any way, and I know that you know that. Bianca..." It's the first time he's really said her name. He lets out a sigh, not sure what else to say. "Who cares what they think? You saved my life. More than once." He's struggling to find the right words to convey his thoughts, but there are none. He lets out another sigh.

"I'd be very careful around your brothers," he says finally. "And I promise not to be killed." He pauses. "In general," he finishes lamely.

[asoultosave]

All Bianca can do is smile at him. She's met other guardian angels and their wards and usually the relationships are strained at best or else it's the guardian angel trying to make the ward happy, not the other way.

"Vaughn." That might be the first time she's ever said his name, and she says it in a tone that's a bit more gentle than she normally uses. "You ain't gotta impress no one, you know? Just stay out of trouble. That's all a ward and a guardian angel have to be." She shrugs. "But that ain't gonna stop you from comin' at me like a kid who just wants to please his mommy, but really, kiddo, don't try so hard. I ain't gonna fault you for it. I bet Ariel loves that little shit she's got for a ward and dollars to canolis he's not nearly as sweet to her as you are to me."

She looks at her cigar fondly. "Kid's got damn fine taste in cigars though."

[stillaboyscout]

Vaughn squirms uncomfortably. He can't seem to find words to tell her how it is his fault, she should fault him because he was stupid. This hurts more than Sark rubbing it in. She saved his life, and all he can do to repay her is stay out of trouble? That seems more than a little unbalanced to him, and he likes things to be right and just and fair. Bad people should pay and good people shouldn't get hurt. She's a good person and he hurt her. And it's not right.

"I..." He's still failing at the whole finding words thing. He lets out a heavy sigh, giving up. "So that's all?" he asks simply. "I... try not to get into trouble and when I do you come in and save my ass?" He pauses. "What if you die?" he asks. "Saving me. What... it hurts?" It hurts now, having her save him. Because he knows he's not going to stop getting into trouble. Trouble seems to just find him.

He looks up suddenly at her with the mention of Sark. "You talked to him?" He does a double-take. "He gave you a CIGAR?"