The soldier came knocking upon the queen's door; he said, "I am not fighting for you anymore."[Lock]

[thrillofthekill]

This is not a situation that Vincent really wants to be in. This is every time he's come running to stop Romana from doing something he wanted to believe she'd regret later dialed up to two hundred. A good captain wouldn't question the motives and morality of his general. A good captain would stand and take it just as he's been doing, but he

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[of_rageandruin]

It's hard for a psychic to miss the distress and anger and grief that came with Martin and Alma's return to the basement, and the general sense of Vincent's mind isn't that much more encouraging. She's at the door a half-second after he knocks, pulling it open and meeting Vincent's eyes. "What happened?" That seems to be the question more and more often these days. What happened, what went wrong...

[thrillofthekill]

Vincent stands ramrod straight and delivers the appropriate response in a practiced militarial monotone. He's never done that before, which is enough to raise warning flags, but his actual thoughts are as guarded as he can get them.

"Harkness knew about the attack and warned 'em. It was a slaughter. Thirteen died and only two got out alive and one of 'em's sure to Fall if she's not kept under observation. Harkness says they won't retaliate." He pointedly forgets to mention the part about collecting the dead and leaves it out of his thoughts too for no reason other than having an archangel inside the building right now might send her into a frenzy- he's not really sure what might set her off about this, honestly.

He gives her a look, a serious What now? look. If she decides not to retaliate, then this can all be over. If not... Well, it's only just beginning.

[of_rageandruin]

Romana lets out a slow breath, closing her eyes for just a second. She's old, and she's been on the losing side of battles before, but she just... wasn't expecting it this time. Harkness. Of course it's Harkness. Bad enough when he was swaggering around the hotel as if it were his command, but now thirteen of her angels are dead and it's because of him...

This has gone on long enough. She may not be able to kill Harkness, but she can take out every other major threat in this city and then find a way to deal with him when he has no one left on his side. "I want your angels ready to go by morning and we'll move on the demons. I'm ending this." She's tired of Chicago, tired of this stalemate. Tomorrow, it's going to be over.

[thrillofthekill]

This is it. The moment he really didn't want this situation to come to and yet always knew it would. His heart seizes up his chest and he plants his feet firmly on the ground, clencing his fists and tilting his head upward- not defiant, but adamant. This is his opinion and he's sticking to it.

He's about to destroy one of the best things he ever had going for him with a single word, all because he just can't see things her way anymore.

"No."