 | ShatterStorm Productions
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| ShatterStorm Productions
|
Primary Character(s): Rachel Corrigan
Secondary Influences: "Show Me The Way" by Styx
Disclaimers: See Index page for full disclaimer info
++ Rachel ++
"So, Dace approached me with an interesting proposition earlier today," Alex says casually, handing me a cup of tea.
Feeling my eyebrows raising up toward my hairline, I force myself to take a sip of the spiced tea before I meet her gaze. Any time Dace is mentioned, my life becomes just that little bit more complicated. Somehow, I doubt this time will be any different. I take the time to set my cup on the table, one hand still wrapped around it for warmth. "Oh? What kind of proposition?" I ask in as even a tone as I can muster. If this has anything to do with sex, I'll be taking matters into my own hands.
"She and Monica have been discussing the ramifications of dealing with Alexis Barnes."
Interesting opening volley, but I'm still not sure where this is going to go. I only sense that sex isn't going to be involved, so the big blonde is safe for the time being.
"They've been considering trying out some new cognitive theories with her, trying to see what they can do to help the human side come out a little more than the cat."
"So why come to you?" I ask when she pauses for a moment. "I mean, if she'd wanted a psychiatrist's opinion, wouldn't it be better to come to me? I may not get along with Dace, but I can be professional with her and help out where I'm needed."
She chuckles and shakes her head, those long glossy curls shaking distractingly. "Not quite what they had in mind, actually, but I'm sure they'd welcome the help if you offered it. No, Dace was wanting to test a theory that she and Monica have come up with regarding Alexis. They want to see how she reacts around other Sentinels and Guides."
"So far, this isn't sounding out of the ordinary, Alex," I reply evenly, about ready to throttle my wife for being so damned vague. "But if this is all it is, why is Dace making special requests of you?" Alex hesitates and worries at her lower lip for a moment. "Alex?"
"Dace wants to see how Alexis reacts to Rose." The words come tumbling out of her mouth suddenly, as if she can't get rid of them fast enough. And she won't meet my eyes. And then her words actually register in my brain.
"She wants to what? No! No god damned way, Alex!"
"Take it easy, Rachel," she soothes. "I told her I'd have to talk with you before making any decisions. But give it a conscious thought, okay? One or both of us will be there with Rose, and Dace will be there, as well. It's not like we're just throwing Rose into the room with Alexis and walking away."
I shake my head and push away from the table. "No, this ends now. I don't care what bond she thinks exists between my daughter and her twins. This is going too damned far. She has gone too far."
"Rachel!" Alex calls out, but I ignore her as I head out to find the tall blonde that thrust herself into our lives with disruption after disruption. I storm out of our bungalow and head for the main building. I know Alex would be following me, but she can't leave Rose alone. Not finding Dace in the kitchen, I stop for a moment and take stock of my surroundings and my family. I try to remember what I've gathered of Dace's schedule to determine her location.
"Rachel? Is something wrong?"
Catherine. Of course. I take a deep breath and turn to face her. "Where's your mate?"
Catherine blinks, but points in the direction behind me. "Out in the gazebo with Kat, the last I knew. Why?"
"She and I have a score to settle," I reply, taking off for the small gazebo Dace had built for my family. How dare she try to pull my family apart, away from me? How dare she?
The garden had been created before we moved to Las Vegas, but the gazebo added specifically for our family. Dace had said it was a concession to all we'd had to give up in San Francisco to move here. I often wonder why we did this in the first place. Because some stranger shows up, snatches my wife and infant daughter from the evil clutches of the Dark Side, and has some mysterious bond to my daughter that deals with her own infant children. As I enter the garden, I can hear their voices, low with intensity and laughter.
Rounding the corner to come upon the gazebo, I see Kat sitting in Dace's lap, the blonde's head close to my daughter's, her arms wrapped possessively around Kat's waist. And my daughter is squirming in her lap. I see red. That's really all there is to it; this red haze washes over my vision and I can feel the crackle of energy along my spine, like a lightning storm is imminent.
"Stay away from my daughter!" I growl at her, hands moving toward her unconsciously.
"Mom! No!"
I barely hear Kat's voice, but don't stop my advancing on the tall blonde. "I don't care who you think you are, lady, but you stay the hell away from my family. You got it? Leave us alone!"
The words leave my lips and Dace suddenly jerks backwards through the gazebo wall and the fencing behind it. Kat's face in front of mine jolts me from my staring at the body-sized hole in the fence, and it's then I hear Catherine and Alex calling out my and Dace's names. I back away from Kat, looking down at my hands in confusion and sickening guilt.
"Mom? Mom, say something."
"Go home, Katherine," I say in a low, even tone. "Take Alex and your sister and go home. I'll be there when I've finished my conversation with Dace."
"Mom!" she whines.
"Now, Katherine! And you are never to be alone with that woman again, do you hear me?"
"No!" she replies, crossing her arms over her chest. "You've got this all wrong, Mom!"
"Don't you sass me, Katherine Corrigan. Now go home!"
"Dace, no!" The sound of Catherine's strained cry pulls my concentration from my daughter just in time to see Dace in the air, aimed at me. I can see the flash of gold in her eyes; hear the low growl as she nearly crumples against her mate. There is death in those eyes, and if it wasn't for Catherine, it would have been my death.
I blink several times and force myself to breathe as I watch Catherine gently stroking and soothing her mate. Dace is crouched down on her heels, rocking back and forth, and whines like a wounded, angry cat. Her hands grip Catherine's hips tightly enough to pull the already tight material of her pants to its limits. The shorter woman curls over Dace, touching anywhere she can reach and murmuring softly. When Dace presses her face against Catherine's stomach, she's rewarded with a tight embrace.
Watching them, some of my anger and fear start to dissipate. Until I remember that this woman could very well have killed me if it weren't for Catherine. That woman is dangerous.
"Yes, she can be," Catherine replies suddenly, and I realize I've spoken that last thought. She meets my gaze with narrowed eyes. "And you'd better never forget that, Rachel Corrigan."
"I --"
"She's not dangerous!" Kat interrupts us, and I'm reminded that she's still here. "Don't you get it, Mom? You attacked her! You threw her through the fence wall. Of course, she's going to turn on you and try to defend herself. You'd do the same damned thing, wouldn't you?"
"Katherine," I growl out the warning.
"No! Listen to me, Mom! Don't play the shrink, don't play the mom, just listen to what I'm saying! Dace wasn't doing anything wrong when you showed up. She was helping me with my focus, of all things, and she tickled me by accident. It was nothing more than that. She's been trying to help me ignore outside distractions when I'm meditating and stuff."
"But it looked like--"
"Yeah, it looked like she was being pervy. She wasn't, Mom. Christ, you've judged her as a deviant since you first found out about what she does. She's not all sex and kink, Mom. There's a lot more than you want to see. Dace is one of the neatest, strongest people I've ever seen. And you're just too fucking stubborn to look past your safety net to experience life and have the life you're supposed to."
"Don't you swear at me, Katherine Corrigan!"
"Listen to me!" she screeches, face red with the effort and emotion. "You never listen to me, Mom. It's all about being your way and your expectations. And you have these blinders on that block out so much of what's going on around you. Remember that scary thing that looked like Connor seven years ago? The one that almost got us killed? You didn't listen to anyone about what it was, not even me, because you saw what you wanted to see. And that's all you ever see. I know our family history is pretty fucked up. I get it, Mom! You never let me forget it! But I'm not gonna run away from it like you do. I'm gonna do what I can to use it to help other people. Yeah, you don't like it, you don't trust it. But you know what? It's not gonna go away, no matter how much you ignore it. So you'd better get used to having it. At least acknowledge it." She pauses to take a breath, the sound hitching in her throat with the tears streaming down her face. "Do you realize what your pigheadedness is doing to me? To Alex? Rose? You're stifling us, Mom! How can you say you're doing what's best for us when you don't let us be who we are? Who we need to be?"
"That is enough!" The voice startles Kat from her tirade. As one, we turn to see Dana standing at the edge of the garden, a murderous look in her eyes. "I don't know what the hell's been going on up here, but it stops now. I've got a half-insane Sentinel downstairs who has been literally pulling out her hair and crying like a wounded animal. Do you not understand how sensitive she is?" And then she turns on me and my family. "Solve your shit, or you people can go the fuck home!"
"How's Alexis?" Dace asks softly, startling me once again with her concern for this broken woman they've been rehabilitating.
"Filled with enough tranqs to kill a small elephant. She's asleep, but still pretty upset. I'm heading back down there now." And with that, Dana turns on her heel and stalks off.
Dace nods to herself and glances at Catherine, who echoes her nod. Walking over to me, Dace narrows her gaze and stares at me. I'm unable to stop the very visceral flinch at that steady, hard regard. "She's right, Rachel," she says in a low, flat tone. "Deal with your shit so that we can work together, or take your family back to your safe fucking little cocoon in San Francisco. Just know that if you leave and take Rose, you'll be choosing Alexis' fate for my twin daughters. If your conscience can handle that, fucking good riddance."
Without giving me a chance to respond, Dace and Catherine leave, heading for the underground bunker where Alexis Barnes has been held. I stare after them for a long moment, internally seething at the anger aimed at me.
"Kitty?" Rose calls out tearfully, and I turn to see her struggling in Alex's arms. "Kitty!"
Just hearing the fear and uncertainty in her little voice sends a sharp pang of regret through my heart. I take in the looks on Alex and Kat's faces and realize they're just as upset as she is. Of course Kat's upset. She's been screaming at me, and her face is red with the effort, not to mention the tears still streaking her cheeks. Unable to bear seeing her upset like that, knowing I've caused it, I turn to survey the damage to the fence and gazebo.
Swallowing reflexively, I stare at my hands and realize just how out of control I was, and without having all the facts. How could I have gotten so damned reckless? I know enough of the dark secrets of my family's "abilities" to know that they should never be used. Ever. Under any circumstances. And yet, here I've uncorked that genie, supposedly to save my daughter. Why does no one understand why these damned powers need to be kept under lock and key? I can't deviate from keeping my family safe from those powers and anyone or anything else that might try to hurt them.
But I can't have my family angry with me either. I turn to reach for Kat, but she pulls away. "Kat, please."
"Save it, Mom. I'm really too pissed to talk to you right now," she says and runs off toward our bungalow.
Her words cut like a knife to my heart, and I realize I may have just completely destroyed my relationship with her. One glance at Alex holding a crying Rose and I'm ready to throw in the towel. If I'm not careful, I'll lose all three of them. I can't do that. My family is all I have left. I'd blame the Legacy, but that would be the easy way out. With a heavy sigh, I move to sit in what's left of the gazebo. Thankfully, it looks like only part of the railing was taken out. The fence, on the other hand, isn't as pretty. Closer inspection shows me that my little burst sent Dace through a support beam. I'm impressed she's even moving around.
"Rachel?" Alex's soft voice twists that knife in my heart a little more, and I feel even worse.
"Go home, Alex," I murmur, not looking at her. "I think I've done enough damage for one day."
"Rachel, please, look at me."
I shake my head and swallow past the lump in my throat. "I need to be alone, okay? I have some things I need to think about. I'll be home eventually. And I don't have any keys, so it's not like I can go very far from the complex. Just go, okay?"
I can sense her hesitation, but know she'll still do as I've asked. She pulls me close with one arm, resting her chin on the crown of my head. "I still love you, Rachel," she whispers. "That's not going to change."
"Thank you." I barely breathe the words.
She continues as if I hadn't said anything. "And I'll support you, no matter what, but Kat's right. You trusted me to help train your daughter. Am I so different from Dace in that respect? She's got experiences that will only help Kat in the long run, and you, if you'll just give her a chance. Give all of us a chance in this new life, or it's going to be very uncomfortable for everyone."
I nod, unable to speak against the onslaught of emotions at her words. She leans down to press a loving kiss to my temple, lets Rose press a sloppy kiss to my cheek, before she heads off to leave me to my thoughts.
