—chapter eight, or...

❛ badass background music required. ❜  

JULY 14th, 2014.

"LOOK AT US, KID."

Ellis glanced at her, confusion shining in his large brown eyes. "At what, exactly?"

"No, just — look at all this." Elodie gestured around to the large apartment around them, still garnering a weird look from her little brother. "I just mean...who would'a thought it would be us, living like kings out here? Champions of the world?"

"Champions?"

"Okay, well maybe not that high yet, but we're getting there! With your brain and my bar, I mean we've basically taken on it all! And soon we'll be like, living luxury...we'll have a house, before you know it! A real ass one too!"

Ellis snorted. His hand dug back into his popcorn bucket, throwing a handful of buttery pieces into his mouth and pausing to chew for a second before responding. "I merwan," he swallowed roughly, making his sister cringe, "I guess so. Definitely nicer than dad's old place."

"Anything's better than dad's old place, dude."

"Sure, but—"

"—I get your point," she interrupted with a grin. "But it's only going to get better from here on out. With the bar actually going through, I mean...we might get to a point of suburban life, before the year goes out. Yeah?"

"Are you going to start driving a minivan, too?"

Elodie threw her head back in a chuckle. "Gross. Not that kinda suburban. More like, I'm gonna dye my hair bright blue and like, pierce myself up like Diego to scare our loser neighbours."

"That would...definitely be something."

They laughed together quietly for a moment before Elodie sobered down again. She elbowed her brother gently, "for real though, bud. Life's going to be good for us, okay? I'm going to make sure of it."

"Life is good right now."

"Sure, but it's going to stay that way. And it'll get better. None of the past stuff. We're a team now, and no matter what we're gonna stick this all out together. Okay?"

Ellis rolled his eyes, smiling gently at his sister's rare earnesty. "I believe you, don't worry."

"I just want you to know that I mean it, though. Together, we're unstoppable now, and that's never gonna change. I mean," she flipped her hair back off her shoulder, "I'm going to have a legit college degree soon, so who knows what we can accomplish?!"

"Okay, Einstein."

"Don't rip on my genius, you're just jealous I'm actually going to be a college grad before you."

"Oh, I'm so sorry — don't let me stop you in your invention of like, the next super vaccine or something."

Elodie scrunched up her nose. "Gross. That's more your jig, I'll stick with my bar."

"You do that."

She nudged him again. "But the rest of it. I mean it, you get it? Just us, unstoppable."

Ellis grinned loopily at her again, blinking the shag of hair out of his vision. "And what about your super boyfriend?"

"Oh, yeah, well — he's great too, but he ain't family."

"Yet."

She shied away from his jab at the ring on her finger, kicking him away with the leg once draped over him. "Stop making this a joke! I'm being serious, jerk."

"I know you are," he giggled back, "but I always know it. You don't have to remind me!"

Elodie paused, "wait, really?"

"Yeah?"

"You really think that?"

Ellis shrugged. "Yeah. It's always you and me. Always going to be you and me."

NOVEMBER 16th, 1963.

SHE PULLED AT HER FACE, frowning as no matter what she tried, it still showed the darkness of the night before, the strain of merely existing that her skin took on so easily. She tried her best to freshen up, but all she had seemed to manage was to make the problem worse.

Elodie yawned. Usually sleep was a mere luxury and she didn't crave it so deeply, but that morning her tormented night pulled at every muscle possibly. She felt aches in places she didn't even know could ache. That must be the punishment for catching a mere ten minutes in a shallow bathtub, and she supposed she deserved it — but that didn't mean she liked it one bit.

"You made your bed," she gritted out, rolling back her shoulders with a quiet humph. "Gotta lay in it now, jackass."

She pulled away from the mirror and tugged on her heels, choosing the most comfortable ones for her own sake. Then, clenching her jaw (and fists), Elodie made the daring choice to march all the way across her tiny room to the connecting door, and rapped three times.

"Ellis?"

She got no response, which wasn't that surprising. But when knocking again, then again yielded nothing, Elodie tried the doorknob, gently opening the door to look into her brother's room.

"Ellis?" she murmured, looking about as though he would be hiding under something. But nothing but a well kept room met her eyes. "Okay..."

She turned to leave, only to stop and pull forward to his desk. It was always the messiest area of his room, piled up with schoolwork and notes and whatever else the boy had going on, but that day, something new caught her eye. Something shiny.

"What the..." 

She didn't know what she was looking at. And while that was common with Ellis' work, none of the notes scribbled across the scattered papers looked school related - or even in a language his private school would mandate. The symbols were large and unlike any she had ever seen before, arcane and fancy, practically floating off the page to gloat at her unintelligence. And around them were drawings of more unfamiliar objects, well sculpted designs of what could be anything — buildings, worlds, weapons...

"What are you doing?"

Elodie whirled around to see Ellis standing in his bedroom door, staring right back at her. His eyes were wide and puppy-like, waiting for her to have an adverse reaction to the papers in her hands...like they weren't anything he should have at all.

"Uh..." she stammered, glancing down at the drawings again. "Wh-what are these?"

"Homework." In a couple long strides he was across the room and pulling the pages from her hands, stuffing them into a drawer. "It's nothing."

"Ellis, those don't look like any kind of homework that school would give you."

"It's just for fun," he threw back, still stuffing papers away. "Don't worry about it."

"That's a whole other language that — I'm not even sure that's a real language. This is crazy stuff! Of course I'm going to worry!"

"It's nothing, I just told you!"

"It's more than nothing! This is serious and if, if Livingston sees any of this—"

"—he won't!"

"How do you know that?!"

"I'm careful," Ellis retorted. It was clear he really didn't have good excuses or comebacks to fuel his defense; his entire lie rested on never having to tell it in the first place. Elodie knew her brother too well to trust him. "And, besides — it's not even that big of a deal."

She scoffed, waving the papers she still held in the air. "No big deal? Ellis, these are insane. You look like you're building a machine that not even our time could begin to understand. And these symbols? This is a whole new language and one I've never seen you use before. And I know for a fact that your school isn't teaching this bullshit."

"I'm allowed to have personal projects."

"Sure, hobbies are great! I encourage you to pursue whatever normal, safe, human hobbies your little heart wants. But things like this with..." she glanced down again, frowning at the complicated designs that she couldn't comprehend. There was something eerie about it, she didn't know why but it unnerved her, seeing the fancy lettering and harsh lines illustrating some sort of secret invention. "These sorts of things can be dangerous, whatever it is. And especially considering where we are in the world right now. Don't you get that?"

"Of course I do. I'm not an idiot."

"I know you're not," she huffed. The pages fluttered down to the ground from her hand; Elodie didn't even notice. "But I also know that getting narrow-minded can get you killed. Or worse. And I know you probably don't even want to talk to me right now, but—"

Ellis sucked in a sharp breath at that. "Elodie, I didn't mean that."

"But," she continued, ignoring the way her heart panged, "as your current guardian, I need to protect you. And guide you, so you don't get yourself hurt. So whatever this is, I need...you don't have to tell me, I know you don't want to, but you have to stop it. Before it gets too much."

"They're...they're just drawings."

"But it's never just drawings with you! You and I both know that!"

They did. Too many times had Elodie found Ellis hellbent on completing his next project, moving too fast from mere ideas into forcing them to fruition -- and then being completely devastated when something didn't work out. His tunnel vision would consume his entire mind until all he could do was one thing. It was a habit they had worked on well in their previous timeline, but lost in the sixties, well...

"I'll be careful," Ellis mumbled. "But Livingston won't find anything."

"You can't guarantee that."

"Yes, I can."

"How?!"

He didn't respond to that, and simply remained stone-faced.

Elodie sighed. She folded her hands in front of her, biting back the urge to smooth the wild strands of hair falling across his forehead. "I suppose you're old enough to keep your secrets secret. And...um, make sure you're ready for school then."

She turned to leave, only to pause, frozen, as a tiny voice called her name. It was so soft, merely three squeaks of a sad voice. She almost missed it completely.

But still, Elodie's hand stilled on the doorknob and waited for her brother to speak again.

"I...about what I said...last night..." his voice hitched and shuddered. "I was just...angry...and worried."

"I know, Ellis."

"I shouldn't have said all that. I didn't mean it."

She forced herself to inhale a breath, though her lungs burned and choked on the oxygen, trying their best to expel any chance at life from her body. "Well. I know you meant some of it."

"No, I really—"

"—it's okay," she choked out. It really didn't feel okay, but she couldn't take another fight. And even just thinking about the way he glared at her, the way he spat those vile words her way... "I'm sorry for doing that to you. I should have been more honest with you and trusted you. I know that now. And...we can talk about this later."

He shuffled behind her. She wanted to look, wanted to read his expression and understand what was going on behind those sweet brown eyes. But her body remained frozen onto the doorknob and she couldn't make herself look, forced instead to carry on with her back to her brother.

"I'm sorry."

She nodded stiffly. "Me too."

The spell that had left her motionless finally undid, and her hand twisted and pushed open the door. 

"YOU CAN'T JUST SHOW UP HERE, ASSHOLE."

Five Hargreeves didn't give any sign that he heard her. She knew he did, because there was no way he couldn't in such close proximity. But Elodie also knew from what little information Diego had fed her about his siblings, that his little (oldest?) brother had a knack for ignoring what he didn't want to hear.

She could admire that about him, if it didn't put her job and life in jeopardy.

The boy glanced up and gave her a quick once-over. He smirked wanly, "you look like shit."

"Really? Thanks. I wanted to look the part for when you came barging in again."

He clicked his tongue. "Weren't you the one who agreed to our deal?"

"Yeah, but not in front of my boss."

Five didn't seem interested in an argument. Maybe he thought victory was too simple -- or, more probable, she was too simple to argue with. 

"I'm cashing in your help now."

"Would the word 'please' kill you? Ever?"

The boy shrugged, still smiling thinly. "I don't care enough to find out. Are you busy right now?"

"I'm always busy. Work never stops 'round here."

"Well, now you're on your break."

Elodie scoffed. Her hands found her hips, nails digging into the thin fabric holding her in. "You think I get breaks, dude? I barely have a pot to piss in, and here y'are, talking about breaks!"

"I don't care what you do, get, or have. All I care about is the fact that," his eyes flitted up to the big clock behind her, "we're wasting time. Valuable seconds have been wasted, because you had to assume I care about you so much more than I do."

What she really wanted to do (like, really, really wanted) was to flip the kid off and walk the other way. She was already in a bitter mood and his condescending attitude wasn't helping. Leaving him alone with only his wits would make her day and would probably save her a little more mental strength to make it through the night.

But, unfortunately, they had made a deal. And even more unfortunate? Elodie desperately needed Five on her side, which meant she couldn't push his buttons they way she really, really wanted to.

"What do you need from me?"

"Your 'boss'," he sneered the title like it was a joke. She supposed it sort of was, "has something of value to me. I need you to get it for me."

"What?"

"It's not important. And — actually, you know what. No. I'm doing having you do this."

Elodie baulked. "You agreed that we'd do this together!"

"We still are, idiot. But there's no point in sending you to look for what I need, you're too slow and too loud to pull this off." Five smirked. "You'll be my distraction."

"I...okay."

The boy cocked his head, frowning at her. "That's it? Just okay?"

"Well, you're not going into his office to get like, nuclear codes or anything, right?"

"Please. No."

"Then I'll trust your judgement, and distract Livingston. You're a dumbass, but you're a smart dumbass. Might as well help you save us."

Five huffed. "You really think you've got a right to call me the dumb one?"

"What's that mean?"

"Figure it out, dumbass," he sneered, and turned on his heel. He began to stomp up the long hallway, knees rising high and loafers slamming down angrily against the carpet. He looked like a little kid — hell, he looked like Ellis. 

Man, it was going to be a long day.

"Here's the plan."

"Why do you get to make the plan?"

"Cause I'm the only smart one," he scowled, cutting her off before she could retort again. "You drag him out. I snap in. I get what I need, I'll let you know I'm done, and there. Is that simple enough for you?"

"Lose the fucking attitude, pipsqueak. You don't get to sass me when you can't even grow facial hairs yet."

"My God, you're infuriating." Five didn't wait around for her rebuttal. He just stomped off again, expecting her to follow.

Which she did, of course, with no sense of enthuse.

"Did you do what I asked?"

"Hm?"

"The list," he snipped back to her, quieter as they neared Livingston's office. "Did you work on it?"

Elodie felt a swell of pride bubble in her chest, quite unlike herself. "I did, actually. The notes are on my desk, in my room."

"Alright."

"Why did you need all that stuff, anyway?" It hadn't seemed important; they were questions on certain figures of economic power in and around Texas in the past five years, advisors and secretaries of state and the like. Stuff around Livingston, anything she could have picked up in her time around the man. Elodie hadn't understood most of it. She had ploughed through the homework anyways, however, scribbling down whatever she could find, post bathtub soak and fight with Ellis. Wasn't like she had much else to do.

"I'll take it after."

"What was it for?"

"That's not important."

"Five."

He paused and whirled around to her, a determined glint in his eyes. "I'll need as much time as you can spare. You got a distraction in mind?"

"Uh..." Elodie racked her brain for something that would work, anything from poor behaviour, to Ellis, to aliens to whatever else could possibly work. Five waited impatiently as she pondered, thinking for several seconds before nodding. "Yeah. Sure. I got it."

"You sure? Because this really can't go wrong."

"I'm sure," she promised. Elodie pushed past Five (who didn't really look convinced) and knocked on her boss' door. When he welcomed her in, she spared only a glance to the boy/man, grinning wearily, before heading in.

Richard Livingston did not look pleased to see Elodie, though to be fair, he rarely did when his work was interrupted. He gave her a quick one-over. "What seems to be the problem here, Miss Cruise?"

"You know I would never bother you if it wasn't important, Sir."

He raised a salt-and-pepper brow warily.

"But there is an issue with the pipes, and I...well, at first I was sure it was nothing, but then they just wouldn't stop, uh...well, they're overheating. Tremendously. And I know you're probably better at gaging the situation then me, so I figured I'd ask your advice on what to do? Or who to call?"

Livingston frowned and took off his glasses, placing them neatly on his papers. "Are you sure? You're certain there's an issue?"

"Absolutely, sir. Only boiling water comes out of the faucets, and I-I was going to go down to the basement, but I'm..." Elodie pretended to look ashamed and wrung her hands. "I'm afraid I know very little about sophisticated machines, you see."

"Of course," he nodded, looking almost pleased at her admission. "Well...is the groundskeeper around?"

"Frank left at two. And the chef isn't booked to be here 'til five."

Livingston gave a small humph, then a sigh. "Well, I...this won't take long, will it?"

"It shouldn't, no. I just, well I would hate for there to be some sort of pipe accident. Those things can really devastate a house, right? N-no that I'd know," she added, and it might had been overkill, had his eyes not gleamed with joy at her admitted stupidity, "but I guess I figured you'd know!"

Reluctantly, her boss followed her lead, leaving his office completely open for anyone to flash in and out of. And Elodie made careful sure to stall as long as she could — she complimented, she simpered, she nearly blew the entire house up, heating up the pipe as best as she could, and Livingston seemed to buy it all. Even when the steam got too much and she pretended to get lost, which was truly dehumanizing, her plan worked. Or at least, it bought time, nearly half an hour.

"You'll be able to show the man where to go when he comes, right Miss Cruise?"

She nodded dutifully, though her eyes were no longer trained on Livingston. No, she was craning her neck as far as she could without being suspicious, trying to see if she could spot Five anywhere. 

"Perfect. Tell them to send the bill, I'll process it by Monday. Shouldn't be much," he frowned, taking a seat at his desk. "Is that all then, Miss Cruise?"

"Yes sir. I'll — I'll go now, to...I'll make sure no damage was done. See ya, Livingston." 

Elodie didn't even notice how she dropped the 'sir', not until it was too late and the office door was already slammed shut. But it didn't matter. She raced down the hall, searching for the boy, eager to see if the plan had worked.

She almost missed him, but caught him running down the opposite way. She cursed but followed suit, toddling alone in her heels and trying to ignore the ache building in her poor, cramped toes.

"Five? Five!"

He paused, turning back to stare at her. A ghost of a smile licked up his cheeks. "Thought you wanted to keep this quiet, eh?"

"Oh. I, uh..." She slowed to a stop barely a feet away from him, heaving harsh breaths back into her lungs. "Right. Whatever. Did it work? You got it?"

He nodded slightly. "Nice improvisation. Smart, using your skills to your advantage."

"Ha. Thanks." Elodie hadn't expected a compliment from the asshole, but she'd take it nonetheless. "Figured it was the best bet, the only thing I could control...I considered just blowing the pipes up, but...yeah. Whatever. At least you got what you needed, right?"

Five's left hand moved at his side, and she finally noticed it was clutching onto some sort of small, white package. "Yes."

"What is it?"

"Nothing you need to worry about. Or you'd understand."

"I-hey!"

Five smirked and turned from her. "Goodbye, Miss Cruise. I'll be in touch."

"Wait, that's it?"

He didn't respond. 

"You're just gonna go?"

No answer.

"I — Five?"

"What do you want?"

"I need an answer."

He stiffened and to her surprise, stopped in his tracks, but he did not turn around.

"I know you're not just here out of the goodness of your heart. And while my help could be useful, you would probably be okay without it, I'm sure. So..." she hesitated, wringing her hands behind her back, "why are you really here? With me?"

Though small and slight, there was a great weight that rested on the not-a-boy's shoulders. It wasn't hard to see, even several feet away. His feet dragged and the dark circles revealed as he turned back to her spoke a tale of a man long worn out and weary from a journey no one really knew. Hell if she could say what he'd seen or done; the only things she knew about him was a name and whispers of the shit he'd gone through.

But staring him down from across the hall, Elodie felt like she could know Five Hargreeves. In the sort of way, she almost knew herself.

"So you are a little smarter than him," he sneered, but there was no malice behind the statement. He took a step towards her. "And you're right. I probably could avoid using you at all. Could have left you here to rot in 1963, you and your son—"

"—brother—"

"—semantics," Five waved. "But I...you're intriguing, Elodie. Not many people intrigue me, past how proving how stupid humanity can be. But you do."

The corners of her lips dragged down. "That a compliment, or an insult?"

"It's a fact."

"With what bias?"

Once more he sneered, that time with a little more fire. "Don't play mind games, you're no good at them."

"Fine. Then be straight with me, fucker, or I'll incinerate your schoolboy bones."

"Ah! That's what's interesting about you." Five moved closer, undeterred by the way her hands flew forward, each slightly glowing. "Your threats have no backbones. You're trying to be scary, but you have no basis for the threats. And you have no clue what lies behind them. You could say whatever you wanted and not really know if it was possible."

Elodie cocked her head, "I-I don't know what you mean."

"Your pyromaniac qualities are party tricks, because you know nothing about the capabilities." He waved his hand in the air, gesticulating to nothing in particular. "You don't know what you could really do. I bet you probably didn't even know what you were doing with the pipes or if you could stop until you did it."

"That's not fair. I—"

"You seem to know nothing about what you could actually accomplish. I mean, what's the worst thing you've ever done, kid?"

She gritted her teeth, but the memories still came — flashes of screaming, of protests, of the horrible smell of burning flesh and watching it fall from the body like sheets of paper peeling from bones, watching as people turned to corpses turned to skeletons at her hand, and all the while laughter, screeching from the rafters as she burned, furiously and without a single bit of hesitation.

"I've done more than you'd think."

"But?"

"I-what do you know? About me?" she asked shakily. Her hands had become fists, trembling by her sides. "Do you know something I don't?"

"Hm...nothing concrete. You're an elusive creature."

"Don't patronize me."

He chuckled bitterly. "It's easy to. You're still that scared little girl who can't control the burn, aren't you?" He took a step closer, staring up at her. "The one who doesn't know her own strength. The one that daddy dearest wants to control, but he never could. Honestly, he was stupid too, to think he could. Fire's way too wild to control."

Five couldn't know shit about her. Not really. He was just a boy when he left the Academy to wander the apocalypse alone, right? And she was thousands of miles away, unaware of their existence until she fled and he was already just a memory hanging on the wall. Still, his words, carefully poised to stab at her conscience with needle-sharp accuracy, hit too deep to ignore. He forced her to play along.

"Don't tell me we met," Elodie muttered. "Because if we had, before...I'm sorry. It was never personal."

She didn't miss the way his eyes slightly narrowed at the word 'personal', but the slip of character left as fast as it came. "No. But I heard about you from a friend. The 'phoenix-woman with fire for hands, the one who was to claim the world for the flames'." His nose crinkled. "She always liked poetics. Fairytales."

"Who?" she barked. Her mind raced — a woman was a strange one. The only females she had known as a girl was her mother and the ornery Grandmother, and her mother had left too late, to know Five. Even if she had, poetry was never her style.

"You wouldn't know her. She..." his lip curled, "you wouldn't ever know her. She's unimportant."

"Well, that's not—"

"—she's not important," he repeated, and the fire that came with the words scared even Elodie a little. Like poking a bear with nothing but bare hands and whiskey for brains. "And I'm not interested in wasting any more time on this conversation. Thank you for using up my valuable minutes on this."

"Wait. This person, who said I was to, uh, claim the world or some shit. Did...did I?"

Five rolled his eyes, but there was a nervous energy about him. He was unraveling. "That's a horribly idiotic question."

"Then I'll be plain," Elodie spat. "Did I do what she said I would? Claim the world?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Not in her timeline, anyways." His thin upper lip raised more. "I don't have the time to explain this to you. It wouldn't matter, anyways. I don't know enough to fill in the gaps, and I don't think I care."

"Please," she muttered, though the word came out shaky and unsure. "You're desperate for answers, I'm sure of it, it's the kinda guy you are. You want to know what I'm made of, don't you? It's why you're still here, 'entertaining' me."

"Can you blame me? You're a fascinating little thing."

"I don't think I'm half as interesting as you say I am."

Five glanced her over, still frowning. "I guess only time will tell."

"What does that mean?"

"I have to go." He ignored her question. "Just a warning, though — don't let Benjamin Bayard see too much of the truth. He may seem plain and as boring as they come, but he's witted enough to latch onto an idea and run with it. And fast."

Elodie stepped forward; he took three back, grinning like a cat as he did. "What the fu—"

But he was gone before she could finish the curse, whisking into air like he had never been there.

"There you are!"

She whirled around to see Benjamin jogging her way, smiling breezily and waving. Even in his undone blazer and the smallest curl of hair bouncing upon his forehead he was a picture; a sunshine boy who looked like he could do nothing wrong, ever.

Five's words nagged at the back of her mind. Don't let Benjamin Bayard see too much. But what could he possibly know?

"I was looking everywhere for you," he cried, grabbing her hand in his. He was always careful about their intimacy, like he'd been born in the 1800s rather than a century later. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yes, just fine. I — are you okay?"

He nodded with a smile, though he barely seemed to hear her. "Were you just talking to someone?"

Shit. "Um...no, just myself. Lost in thought."

"You sounded a little angry."

"There's been some issues with the pipes here," she replied easily, matching his grin with one of her own. "Made me a little mad, nothing bad. I have twenty minutes of break, left, if you want to..."

Ben offered her his arm and gestured forward with the other. "Lead the way, my dear."

Elodie looped their limbs together and led him forward, almost the same way they had just come. Only a few steps in, however, Ben barely starting his first train of thought, she felt something poke at the side of her hip. Frowning, she patted the dress pocket with her free hand before slipping it in to feel what it was.

Paper. Paper that had definitely not been there before. It felt small, maybe just one crumpled slip of paper. Torn edges tickled her fingertips.

PAPERS FLEW EVERYWHERE, CASCADING LIKE HEAVY SNOWFLAKES to the ground and covering it in black and white. Yet still the boy kept going, throwing them around like they were nothing as he frantically searched.

"It's -- it's gotta be here," he panted, ripping the drawer out of its holder and shaking it out. None of the pages seemed to be what he wanted and he groaned, throwing the wood aside in frustration. "It has to be here. It has to!"

"Ellis, you must calm yourself."

"No, I-I can't, he has to — I know its here!"

Behind his shoulders stood the tall, blue and silver woman, watching him scramble with no expression. 

"It is not here. You would know if it was."

"I just misplaced it."

"You are not of that sort. You know it is gone."

"But -- no!" he fell to his knees, ripping at his hair as he stared at the mess around him. Dozens of papers had scattered across the room, coating the bed, clothing neatly piled around, and any space it could possible occupy. There was writing crammed into every corner of the pages, so small that it was a marvel he could even do so. But none of them were right.

"It must have been him," Ellis decided, dropping his hands from his hair. "Richard. He — he took it from me. Or, or he found it, or..."

"What about your sister?"

He shook his head. "No. It wasn't her."

"Why not? She lied to you, did she not? Does that not ruin your trust in her?"

"No. No! Don't say that."

The woman frowned, tilting her head like she was trying to understand his point. Like it was not even plausible, to her. "I cannot understand your trust in her. She betrayed you. There is so much you do not know about her, some monstrous secret buried under her skin, and you—"

"—she's not the problem," Ellis interrupted, if only to cut She off from her tirade. Because maybe the words hit too hard, too close, and maybe he wanted to believe She too much. He couldn't do that right then. "I know it's him. He's too eager. Too curious."

"Maybe you are right."

"So we have to get it back, and stop him before it's too late!"

"No."

Ellis paused, mid-step. His foot landed with a dull 'thud' against the carpet, less of the planned stomp and more of an awkward child. "Why not? That's top-secret! You said—!"

"I know what I said," She said carefully. "But believe me, Ellis, we do not have to worry about him. Not for long."

"He'll destroy everything we worked for!"

"No, he won't. I won't let him."

"I-I—" Ellis sighed. He swiped a hand down his face, dragging his youthful features into twisted, aging ones. "I just don't want him to ruin this."

She stepped forward. She towered over him, which was a feat, considering he had grown quite tall in teenagehood. Her solemn eyes bored into his, tracing the human desires swirling inside. In return, he tried to read a single thing happening in hers.

But, like always, he got nothing.

"You do not have to worry, Ellis." Her lips curled back and shiny, white teeth bared. It almost looked like a smile. If lionesses could smile. "Everything will be okay. I will ensure it so. And,"

her hand curled behind her back. Ellis couldn't see what she was reaching for, just that he knew it was one of the many mysteries his strange friend kept from him. If he angled himself right, maybe he could sneak a glance, but she hung too tall and too powerful over him. It could be anything.

"Those who stand in our way," She continued, still hiding her left hand, "will be dealt with, as necessary."

Writing Ellis is a struggle at times. I don't know how to write children ever. And Ellis is a special case, so it's especially hard. :/

Thank you for reading this; let me know what you thought.