EXSILIUM - contact.

[hostage]

UNIT№409



_“ Hey, it's me. Wait for the thing. _”

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[controlledvariable]

[With a bitter edge:] Saul can.

[He managed to keep it from her, that the kid he helped poison was Jesse's.]

[hostage]

[Wryly:]

Trouble in paradise.

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Don't.

[She wants to sound angry, but it's more like she's pleading.]

[hostage]

Why'd you say you were sorry?

[controlledvariable]

[That confuses her a little. It doesn't help that she already feels like she's drowning, but for a moment all she can do is blink at him.]

'Cause I am. I'm sorry about what happened, and I'm sorry for not getting it sooner.

[She's sorry for all the awful things she's thought about Jesse.]

[hostage]

Nobody wanted you to get it.

[controlledvariable]

[No, she guesses they didn't, and for a moment all she can manage is to hang her head, arms still wrapped around herself, looking somewhere between ashamed and apologetic.]

Okay. Sorry.

[Why did she even come here?]

I'll go, I just-- I wanted to say that, to apologize.

[A brief glance at Jesse, before she heads back to the door.]

[hostage]

[Nah, he's stepping in front of the door.]

[controlledvariable]

[Fine.

Okay, fine. She stops where she is and tells herself again that she could take Jesse down if she has to, that she doesn't need to be nervous.

It doesn't actually help.]

Jesse.

[He needs to say something or let her go.]

[hostage]

Saul's the only person I got left.

[Judging from the way she's looking at him, a threat doesn't really need to accompany that statement. Then again, he didn't meant to be threatening in the first place. It's a plea of his own.]

[controlledvariable]

[Oh.

She actually manages to calm down a little, now that she knows what's going on with him, where his thoughts are.]

What do you think I'm gonna do?

[It's a genuine question.

She doesn't know the answer, though.]

[hostage]

The same as whatever you were planning to do to Mr. White.

[And he doesn't know what that is. He only intuits that there were a lot of people previously planning to do something, and now that their target is gone, maybe the attention will simply shift to someone new.]

'cause you think they're the same, right? Working together, on the same team.

[controlledvariable]

I wasn't planning anything.

[She means that; she would have stepped in if she thought it was necessary, but she was trusting Saul, and by extension Jesse, to keep the situation under control.

And the question just surprises her.]

No, God, I don't-- [Now that she feels on more even ground, it's easier to talk.] I think he was, and I think he's a selfish piece of shit, and I don't know what he'll do if Walter comes back, but I don't think they're the same.

[She's still furious at Saul, for what he did, for keeping it from her and telling her loved her instead. But she doesn't think he's like Walter.]

[hostage]

Good.

[His shoulders ease subtly in relief. Really, what was he planning to do if she laid a heroic speech on him?]

Saul couldn't control what happened. And I made sure he paid for it.

He's real sorry now.

[There's such a darkness to that final statement.]

[controlledvariable]

[As soon as Jesse says that, she seems to forget that she's mad at Saul, that she shouldn't care.]

What did you do?

[hostage]

That's between him and me. Like all of this shoulda been.

[controlledvariable]

[She nearly lashes out. It might be visible in the way her shoulders tense, how her hands clench into fists at her sides, but to get a hold on her anger before she actually does anything.

Wasn't she thinking about hurting Saul herself, when she first heard this revelation? Didn't she already hurt him, during the fight in the hallway? But reminding herself of that only barely takes the edge off how worried she is for him, how protective she feels.

She doesn't know what to do, what to think, how to cope with this it all and she can't find any response to Jesse beyond her silent, barely contained anger.]

[hostage]

[Yes, exactly what he was looking for. That's a look that pleases him more than all the pity in the world. He stares at her for a good, long moment in return, his lips twitching into a smirk, and then he moves with languid steps out of the doorway to let her pass... if she wants to.]

[controlledvariable]

[It's the smirk that finally clues her in, confusion mixing with anger until it clears into understanding.]

What's wrong with you people?!

[All of them. They're all manipulative assholes and she's so sick of being played.]

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Like as a group or individually?

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Both. Jesus.

[But she's not done.]

All I've done since day one is try to help you, like I was asked to and maybe I haven't done a great job of that, maybe you just hate me for getting involved, but I don't think I deserve this. I respected your decision when you asked me to leave Walter for you, I kept my distance, and I kept my silence and I tried to help how I could. And all I've got in return is being scared and lied to and manipulated.

[There's anger there, but hurt, too, and something like confusion. She seems like someone who's barely out of their teenage years, because she is, for all that she tries to keep Batgirl strong, she's still young.]

Is it me, or is this what everyone gets when they deal with you people?

[hostage]

Nah, nah, nah. Don't make it out like you were worried about me, like you did me some big favor. I never asked for you or anybody else to get all up in my business. I never wanted help. And you didn't keep your silence, either, 'cause you were talking with Sonya - and who knows who else, right? I got no reason to believe a word of your bullshit.

[controlledvariable]

Saul asked me! And I was. [Worried about him, she means, and she doesn't understand how he doesn't realize that, because even though so much of this was about helping Saul, she really was trying to help Jesse, too.]

Do you even realize the effect you have on people?

[hostage]

Effect? Like the everybody I know gets hurt or killed effect? Yeah, I kinda noticed. Hence my advice - that nobody ever wants to take seriously - to just stay the fuck away from me.

[controlledvariable]

That's not the part I meant! [She pauses, then, taken aback by the realization that she just said that out loud. It's one to think it, it's another to shout it in Jesse's face mid-argument, and she can't help feeling bad about that.] Sorry.

[She's still angry, but it's dulled for a moment.]