stilljustandrew | (no subject)

(no subject)

It's been dark for hours when they get to the empty warehouse. Andrew's visibly on edge, looking into the shadows and trying to stare in all directions at once, until Jonathan finds the unbolted door that let him out the first time and lets them both in now.

"We're gonna need some light," he says in an undertone as Jonathan closes the door behind them.

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"You're as bad as she is," Cia says sullenly. "I thought she had such great potential after she masterminded that strike two years ago, and then I couldn't get her to even make a wish. Not even after I got her talking about the murderer! I mean, come on!"

"Wait," says Andrew, eyes widening. "Wait, hold on a microt. You were trying to get him ... to make a wish against her ..." Pointing from her to Jonathan, and then in the vague direction of Elsewhere. "... because you couldn't get her to make a wish?"

Jonathan stares at her, eyes narrowing.

"You tried to use me against one of my own girls because she wouldn't play your game? Also, I know your kind have rules."

"Ooh," she says sardonically, "my kind. Nice, Levinson."

"Justice demons," Andrew puts in, his voice hard. "You do have rules, though, isn't that right?"

"No making wishes for yourself," Jonathan backs him up. "And, I'm willing to bet, no tricking someone into making a wish for your benefit."

"What?" Cia says indignantly. "It was so not for my benefit! She deserved it."

"Because she wouldn't make a wish," he says flatly. "And you wanted to punish her. That's gotta be breaking a rule somewhere."

She makes a scoffing sound, and starts to advance slowly. "Whatever. Is that what you called me here for?"

"No," he says almost cheerfully. "We called you here because you're going to reverse what you did."

"Oh yeah?" she says brightly, and keeps moving toward him. "You think?"

"I think you shouldn't underestimate us," is the calm response. "Either of us."

"Uh, and possibly more importantly," Andrew puts in, "I think D'Hoffryn might not share your, um, cavalier attitude about the rules."

She stops, and stares at him.

"You're bluffing."

"Maybe we are, maybe we're not," Jonathan says, giving her a level stare. "You going to take that chance, or do what we want?"

She gives Jonathan a look composed of irritation over poorly-hidden wariness. "How do you even know D'Hoffryn?"

"We don't," Andrew says. "But, uh ... apparently he knows me."

He digs into his pocket, and comes up with a battered notebook. It's open to a page with a fairly recognizeable sigil drawn on it, and a certain incantation below.

"We could call him right now and ask him what he thinks," he offers, falsely bright. "I'm sure he won't mind."

"Seems to me you've got three choices," Jonathan says matter-of-factly. "You can undo the wish voluntarily. Or we can take that shiny bracelet by force and make you human. Or we can call D'Hoffryn and rat you out. So what's it going to be, Cia?"

Her mouth drops open. "How did y -- who says the bracelet's my power source?"

"I knew you have to keep it with you," he informs her. "And actually, it was a guess, but you just told me."

Another stare, and then her mouth snaps shut into a tight hard line of fury.

"Not very good at watching your words, are you," he observes rhetorically. "It's up to you where we go from here."

She glares from him to Andrew -- and suddenly smirks.

"Interesting choice of words. Maybe it should be up to you where we go from here, Levinson. After all, you've got the most to lose."

"What do you mean?" he asks warily, eyeing her.

"You know what never happened in this reality?" She takes another step toward him, still smirking. "You getting brought back to life by some wanna-Power-that-Be. Guess what that means."