stilljustandrew (
stilljustandrew) wrote2018-04-08 10:19 pm
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[reverse darkest timeline au: you stay here]
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.
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.
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After a moment, he blows out a breath and gingerly touches his head. Pretty tender.
"You seem angry."
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She balls up her fist and pounds on the shield again. This time, there might be a slight tremor in the energy.
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"Who are you?"
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"I'm Nita Callahan, Matt. Can't you tell?"
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"Whatever you are, it's not human."
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She flattens her palm against the shield.
"Let me out."
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"Let me out before I break something."
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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."
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"Don't you dare--"
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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.
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Lurching forward--not really in front of the shield spell, but not not in front of it--he calls, "There's something controlling her!"
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"You idiot," she hisses. "I'll bite off her tongue!"
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"And if you do anything of the kind, vetà„la," she says, "how do you plan to stop me from eating you?"
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"If I take down the shield," he says in a rush, "can you knock her out?"
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"Do it."
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The golden gleam around Nita disappears.
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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.
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Then to Nita.
"I'm sorry. I don't know how it happened."
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"I'm fine," he says. "It didn't get a really good shot at me before I trapped--them."
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She studies the unconscious Nita.
"Matt, do you know how to pull one of these out without harming the one they're riding?"
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He was going to ask her the same thing.
"I can figure it out. Or talk to someone who knows. But for that I'd need time, and books, and--the bar. Basically."
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"Would it be safe to bring them there?"
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