Abandoned Subway Tunnels, Los Angeles, Saturday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

"Stealth said that this place is a kind of refuge for homeless people who didn't want to shelter up on the surface," Banzai said, leading the way through the subway tunnels. "They're really good at policing their own; making it safe for women and families to stay down here. No drugs, no violence, that kind of thing. Isn't perfect, but pretty damn

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[not_every_mage]

"I'm not looking for trouble," Anders said mildly as he glanced around the tunnel. "... People live here? Really?"

He had never liked closed spaces. They made him feel trapped, and the idea there might be zombies in this one didn't make him like it any better.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Beats living up on the street, or in a car, or staying in an abusive relationship because you don't have anywhere else to go," Banzai replied. "Or even in a lot of homeless shelters. Those places range from the decent to the brutal. Down here, they've at least managed to build a community that keeps them safe."

She peered into the gloom, trying to get a glimpse of--anything, really.

"Can you make a light?" she asked him. "Like, make your staff glow or something?"

[not_every_mage]

Anders nodded along. "I just don't like tight spaces," he said, by way of explanation. "But you're right. There are worse things in the world than tunnels."

He peered into the gloom himself, hoping someone had left a torch or some fuel of any description somewhere to make this easier. He saw nothing. "Not exactly, but how's this?"

He twisted his fingers in the air, drawing forth a wisp of veilfire that floated a few feet above their heads. It was dim and blue, but it made things slightly less gloomy for the moment.

[spin_kick_snap]

"It's fine," Banzai replied. "Thanks."

Normally after that kind of admission, she would have offered Anders her hand, at least for a few minutes. Just long enough for a quick squeeze, a silent I'm here, you're not alone. Today, she shoved her hands into her pockets and turned back to view their surroundings in the additional light. "Stealth gave me a passcode to use when we meet up with their sentries. Something to let them know we're friendlies, not officials and not looking to make any trouble. We should be just about at the edge of their range, so expect to be met by someone at any minute."

[not_every_mage]

Anders noticed the official chill in her tone and wasn't sure if she was still angry with him, or if it was just that this was serious business. He nodded and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"And what happens then?" he asked. "Will they ask me anything?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Doubtful," Kathy said. "Nothing official, anyway. We're just checking in on them because no one's heard from them in a few days. Stealth wants us to warn them about zombies, even if we don't use the actual word--" people had a tendency to not take them seriously after the z-word was trotted out, go figure "--so they might have questions about what to be on the lookout for, but otherwise it should just be a quick trip in and out. A diplomacy mission, far from any danger."

Did that sound bitter? Oops, that might have sounded bitter.

[not_every_mage]

Ah. So she was angry. Good to know. Anders kicked a pebble and let it skitter off into the dark.

"Then I'll just hang back," he said. "Be a living torch. Jump in if you need help, not that I'm saying you will, since obviously you can take care of yourself and all."

Bitterness was catching.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Where was that belief in me yesterday?" Banzai asked. "Or is your confidence in me in inverse proportion to your concern that I want to bang Nick?"

Really? Now? You were going to wrangle about this now? C'mon, kids.

[not_every_mage]

"At least get it right," Anders sniped. "I think he wants to bang you, not the other way around. And I don't want to talk about that arsehole, anyhow."

He wasn't going to wrangle! Much!

"And are you really saying that if I don't instantly support whatever ridiculous thing you want to do, I don't believe in you? It's not all or nothing, Kathy."

[spin_kick_snap]

"What the hell do you care if he wants to sleep with me if you know that I'm not interested back?" she hissed, because clearly, this was the best place and time for this conversation. Yesterday's engulfing hurt had been pushed aside in favor of anger and simmering resentment. "And wanting to save my city isn't ridiculous! Neither is wanting to protect my family! And, sorry, did you or did you not say I could take care of myself. Oh right--you were being sarcastic!"

He thought she was as useless as Dante did. That hurt.

[not_every_mage]

Anders listened with hurt eyes.

"I can't talk to you," he said, because he was painfully tired of fighting with Kathy. "You're seeing everything I do in the worst possible way, and I don't feel like it. If you ever want to talk to me and not to whoever you're talking to right now, let me know."

[spin_kick_snap]

"If I ever feel like I know you, or you know me, maybe I will," she said. "Because whoever you became when you came to fetch me isn't the guy that I--" She shut her mouth and shook her head. "Forget it."

And then she was stalking forward to catch up with Dante. Her feelings for him, at least, were far less complicated. She was just furious at him.

Of course, because nothing ever could go smoothly, the sentries turned out to be zombies, filling the tunnel with the sounds of teeth chattering. Dante took the three of them out with ease, but Banzai was determined to continue forward, kneeling down to pick the lock that would let them in.

[not_every_mage]

Anders hung back until it was clear, staff at the ready, before catching up with Kathy at the lock.

"Sorry I'm not living up to the Anders in your head," he said caustically, tossing his hair over his shoulder. "What would he say about your complete determination to throw your life away? I'm sure it's incredibly moving."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh, nothing much," Banzai said as she fiddled with the pins inside the tumbler. "Mostly because he doesn't think I'm going to throw my life away. He has this weird belief in me--I think they call it trust?"

She went quiet for a moment, focusing on the lock. And when she spoke again, her voice was very, very quiet.

"And even if he doesn't trust me to know what I'm doing, he knows the best way to help doesn't involve tearing me to shreds."

He didn't sound like her father when she spoke to her.

[not_every_mage]

"I do trust you," Anders said, just as softly. If Kathy was talking to him like she didn't loathe everything about him, he'd do the same for her.

"I don't know, maybe I'm being stupid. It just seems to me like there's a big difference between a few thugs in Baltimore and whatever we have on the island, and an army of zombies. You're acting like it's all the same, and it isn't, and that scares me. And when I get scared, I get sarcastic. But that doesn't mean I suddenly hate you or think everything you're saying is silly or -- whatever you're hearing."

[spin_kick_snap]

"No, instead you just let Dante gut me and used that to bend me over a barrel and demand I kidnap my family instead," Banzai reminded. "You'll have to explain to me how that's better. I ran off in tears and what did you do besides increase my minibar tab?"

She wanted to hear that he'd bitched at Dante for being so cruel. She would have paid good money to hear that he'd done anything of the sort. But from the way they'd acted, she was pretty sure all he'd done was agree.

It would be a long time until the phrase Saturday morning cartoon did anything but burn.

The lock clicked as the last pin got pushed. Banzai rose, and tried to open the door. It started to move, then got caught on something. "Did they build a barricade?" she asked. "Maybe that's why we can't hear anything." She stepped aside next to Anders, figuring that Dante was the best chance to shoulder the door open. "We're coming in!" she called. "We're here to help!"