[reverse darkest timeline au: you stay here]

[stilljustandrew]

The thing about a road trip is: you need roads.

No one's been maintaining this particular stretch of highway for years, which means there are places where they have to maneuver slowly around pitted and cracked surfaces, around fallen trees, around the abandoned wreckage of less fortunate cars. One such heap looks a little too deliberate, according to Kali, and they go back to detour wide around that one for fear of ambush.

There's an enclave somewhere around here, she says, calls itself Nowhere Special. Human, which doesn't mean friendly; there's every chance the ambush was theirs. Or of some enemy camp looking to take over their territory.

It's late afternoon, somewhere between misty and drizzly, when they pull up to the long-abandoned gas station.

Comments

[semicharmed]

The shield hits the door hard; Matt, inside it, lands only slightly softer.

He's winded, shocked, the engine rumbling thunder-loud in his ears. All he can think to do is lunge for the key in the ignition and wrench it out.

[nita_callahan]

The car sputters into silence. Nita gives him another overpowered shove.

"You couldn't listen, huh?" she snaps. "This could've been easy."

[semicharmed]

This time, Matt's shoulder connects hard with the window, and he hears and feels the smack of his skull hitting.

"What could have been easy?" he demands, trying to ignore the painful reverb. "What do you want?"

Generally, Matt tries to be a good listener. But he doesn't wait to see if Nita's going to respond. His shield drops; a moment later, the same golden glow appears around her.

[nita_callahan]

Nita opens her mouth to respond.

But then the shield spell pops up around her, and her eyes widen in shock and anger.

"Oh, you fucking little sneak--"

She slaps her open palm against the inside of the spell, to no perceptible effect.

[semicharmed]

Matt watches her, attuned to the shield's energy.

After a moment, he blows out a breath and gingerly touches his head. Pretty tender.

"You seem angry."

[nita_callahan]

"You seem shreddable."

She balls up her fist and pounds on the shield again. This time, there might be a slight tremor in the energy.

[semicharmed]

His eyebrows arch.

"Who are you?"

[nita_callahan]

Her lip curls, and she sits back for a moment, staring him down.

"I'm Nita Callahan, Matt. Can't you tell?"

[semicharmed]

Matt's eyes narrow.

"Whatever you are, it's not human."

[nita_callahan]

"Oh, what's it mean to be human, anyway."

She flattens her palm against the shield.

"Let me out."

[semicharmed]

"Sure," he says. "Let Nita go."

[nita_callahan]

She smiles at him.

"Let me out before I break something."

[semicharmed]

Matt glowers.

And, trying not to look away from her, he turns his palm to face up and musters a small, bright, breathless flame. He reaches into his pocket for Kali's hair.

Into the fire it goes.

"Kali," he murmurs, "I'm sorry--this is an emergency."

[nita_callahan]

Nita's eyes widen in alarm, then narrow.

"Don't you dare--"

[forewarned_is]

The entire car shakes, bobbing low on its front tires, regaining balance after a sudden addition of weight.

Kali is on the hood of the car, crouched on one foot, one knee, and one hand braced between them. Her other hand is gripping a golden trident, held low out to one side; her eyes take in the area in a single swift glance before settling on Nita, through the windshield.

Her lip curls back, baring very white teeth.

[semicharmed]

Matt doesn't gasp. But he does let out kind of a shuddery exhalation as the flame in his hand goes out.

Lurching forward--not really in front of the shield spell, but not not in front of it--he calls, "There's something controlling her!"

[nita_callahan]

Nita jerks back against the seat, trying to wedge herself into a corner.

"You idiot," she hisses. "I'll bite off her tongue!"

[forewarned_is]

The very edge of Kali's mouth curls into a sliver of terrible smile.

"And if you do anything of the kind, vetāla," she says, "how do you plan to stop me from eating you?"

[semicharmed]

Matt could swear he tastes his own heart's blood on his tongue.

"If I take down the shield," he says in a rush, "can you knock her out?"

[forewarned_is]

Kali doesn't take her eyes off the demon in Nita's body.

"Do it."

[semicharmed]

As soon as the words are out, Matt lets out a breath--



The golden gleam around Nita disappears.

[nita_callahan]

Nita lunges for the door.

[forewarned_is]

And the car shakes again as Kali leaps off the hood to land on the other side of that door, to wrench it open with her right hand -- with both right hands --

One left hand shoots out to seize the demon by the throat, the other to strike, hard and precisely, across the temple.

She releases her grasp as soon as she's sure the temple blow has done its work.

[semicharmed]

Matt spills out of the driver's side, steady but wild-eyed. His eyes flicker to Kali's arms.

Then to Nita.



"I'm sorry. I don't know how it happened."

[forewarned_is]

"They can strike very quickly," Kali says, quiet; not exactly gentle, except in comparison to how she was speaking a moment earlier. "Are you all right?"