Pull the pin on that grenade you cuddle [Locked]

Dec 01, 2008 14:08

April is in one of the lounge-type rooms on the third floor of the Kashtta Tower very pointedly not pacing. She's trying very hard not to let any emotions slip out into the area, so that she won't be influencing anyone else, but it's difficult. Someone downstairs is calm, and she's trying to pick that up as much as possible, but it's not working ( Read more... )

april, jack bristow

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girlorgun December 1 2008, 21:13:13 UTC
"You make assumptions about why I care about people," she says, making no move to strike him again and giving no indication that she really really wants to.

Actually, what she really really wants to do is slit his throat. Well. That's what Kali wants, at any rate. "Believe me when I say, Mr. Bristow, that I have been played with and manipulated enough for five lifetimes, and I am quite adept at realising when someone is even considering doing so. It comes with the territory, you see. There is nothing Julian can do that I could not match or surpass, and I would not let some random passer-by manipulate me into deep caring." Just keep not killing him. That's the key. "He has never asked for my affection. Despite the fact that he has grown accustomed to it, he has only recently begun actively desiring that affection. This is nothing of his doing and everything of my own."

Her eyes narrow a bit. She is ice. No, more than that, she is stone. You would have to exert significant effort to move her now. "He is my family, Mr. Bristow. Surely you can comprehend why your threats and insinuations and assumptions would upset me."

So easy. God, she hasn't felt rage this focused and fierce since Kostya died, and that was years back. And then, she didn't have to restrain herself.

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stopdropanddie December 1 2008, 21:42:37 UTC
There are many things that Jack's good at and listening with no expression or emotional tells has become one of them, even when all he wants to do is snap his own outrage and cut in. He did it with Sloane to keep up appearances and he'll do it with her, because he's not entirely sure what will happen if he doesn't, and doesn't that just disturb him? That he's faced with someone he can't insinuate the movements of.

Sark didn't manipulate her. Okay, he can accept that. What's inconceivable is how much this woman would go to defend him, not when all he's ever known of Sark before he had him collared and leashed in that other universe was tainted with bloodshed and an inability to care about anything other himself and given what he heard from Lang, it seems caring only about himself is still a great factor here.

"And this affection, this familial bond you have with him... How far does that extend? You're willing to defend him, but how far would he go to do the same? People might have died because of his selfishness and are you willing to defend that?" And oh, he hears those insinuations and he has to take a step back, holding his own anger back, but he can't actually bring himself to say anything else, mostly because he's almost vaguely made a hypocrite of himself.

He'd do a hell of a lot for Sydney, kill for her, die for her, and if he really thought about it, it's not completely wrong to assume that if someone had the same problems with his daughter that he has with Sark, he'd be right there in her shoes, but actually admitting that, when the person April's defending isn't worth protecting in his eyes... Well, it's rather difficult.

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girlorgun December 1 2008, 22:02:16 UTC
"He was told he would be killed the next morning if he did not prove himself useful," she says. "Whatever you might think of him, he is still practically a child, as far as his age goes, and that terrified him. He suggested that harming or killing Dmitri and then leaving her for Torchwood would send a message. Jo--" She cuts herself off, trying and (mostly) succeeding to keep her voice even and emotionless when discussing these things that hold such deep emotion for her. "Thane decided a more fitting way of sending that message would be to kill me and thus shatter Julian, and then send him back to Torchwood."

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. "It was not, perhaps, the right thing to do, but he is young and he was frightened, for his sake and mine." Deep breaths. "And it was only for the love of me that he involved himself at all. So yes, I am willing to defend it." Her eyes flash a bit. "As for being worth protecting, I know how you feel. I would feel the same if someone were pleading for you. A father who manipulates and programs his own daughter, a young, trusting child... that is a person not worth protecting, Mr. Bristow."

Keep talking, keep going, we don't like him here, he smells purple. Make him into pies for us.

She shuts her eyes briefly, trying to force her mind to keep its stability, willing it not to slip a bit. She can't afford to be hearing voices during this conversation.

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stopdropanddie December 1 2008, 22:52:34 UTC
Jack scoffs, which is probably not the best thing to do in this situation. Sark might very well be a very young man, but he wouldn't make the mistake of assuming that he doesn't understand that his actions have consequences- it's just that he doesn't give a damn about those consequences. "That same child has killed countless people for profit. His criminal record in nine years is more expansive than the records of men who have dedicated their whole lives to that sort of life. I doubt you need me to tell you that, however."

It's so hard to get his head around that concept- that Sark would willingly put himself in harm's way for another person. Even the one who was on his team didn't strike him as the self-sacrificing type and he avoided any scenario where Sark might have had to prove himself one.

And then she has to hit on Sydney and oh that's a nerve he doesn't want poked at. Psychics. They cause problems. "Let's not insinuate that you know anything about my motivations behind what I did to my daughter. I had only the best of intentions- I was protecting her from being used the same way I was. Maybe this wasn't the most sound of choices, and I have often regretted bringing her into this life, but that doesn't change the fact that I was looking out for her benefit. When has Julian Sark ever done anything that wasn't for his own benefit? He may have decided that coming to your rescue was a brave move, but if he had even a shred of humanity, he wouldn't have let fear motivate him and had someone else sacrificed in his place. I would die for my daughter- would he die for you?"

Jack is rapidly starting to wonder if he's getting into a situation that's going to get him killed and he's paying far too much attention to April's movements, like he's just waiting for an attack.

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girlorgun December 1 2008, 23:37:39 UTC
April can feel herself slipping, falling away from a perfectly sane and rational state of mind to a much less stable and rational one. The only upside to this is that Kali doesn't much seel to like that part of her, or something to that effect, because she tends to display violent tendencies less when she's not at her full mental capabilities. Or, at least, that's how it's usually been in the past.

"I... I don't..." Keep a hold on it, don't falter. He has a point, and so does she, if she can just... "I've killed more people than you have, Mr. Bristow, for my own enjoyment, no profit involved, simply because I was told to. And... And you can't..."

Shit. No. No ghosts in the walls, not now not now not now. I'm busy.

She doesn't feel her mouth moving, while she's squeezing her eyes shut, trying to ward out the faint voices she can hear, pushing at the edge of her perception. She doesn't realise she's actually said that out loud.

Why is it always so sudden, this descent?

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stopdropanddie December 2 2008, 01:07:00 UTC
And what does he even have to say to that? This isn't a woman subtlely threatening him any longer... This is what appears to be an mentally unstable girl coming apart at the seams, and... Well, now he just feels awkward and uncomfortable and the whole situation has gone completely out of his level of predictability. It was easier when she was rational and sane and providing actual arguments, but... Now... Now he's not actually sure what he's supposed to do. Almost anything he could say just seems like a dickish thing to say, and while he's never been all that concerned with coming off as a dick... That just seems like an EPICLY WRONG thing to do in this circumstance.

And oh if he keeps thinking about this, he's going to be a hedgehog all over this girl and he doesn't want to be in a weak position with someone who looked, prior to this moment, like she might want to kill him. He really doesn't want to be that vulnerable period, but getting into an argument and turning into a hedgehog in the middle of it... Is not recommended in any circumstance.

"I'm not going to kill him," he says finally. It's... The best assurance he can make right now and it's true anyway. "If he can prove that he's less of a worthless wretch than what I know him as, then I'll even consider letting up on him." What precisely that means is anyone's guess. "But I'm not going to be fooled by this... Act of contrition he seems to be pervading. What he did was inexcusable and he will pay for it one way or another."

And... That's really all he can say to that.

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