End of Watch

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Judas Carmichael hated rain. He also hated the orc that stood in groups across the street from him. It didn't help that his partner belonged to the same social class as they did. It also didn't help that the orc group hated his partner. 
They were throwing up gang signs behind the other man's back, pretending to shoot at him and it wasn't the first or the last time they would do it. 
"Hey, Ruvik!" He barked, finally tired of standing in one place while the other man decided whether he wanted an orc burger or a bronto thigh. Both smelled like death. "Today, please! Geez, I swear four elves have died in the time it's taking you to decide on that garbage."

“What?!” Viola squeaked that one word, her back suddenly pressed to the wall as though trying to climb right inside of it. Her chest rose and fell rapidly with the sudden onset of what could quickly become a panic attack. “He comes here?!” She wheezed, terrified that it meant her mother came here too, and knew that her daughter now spent most days here.

Darbok crouched down in front of Molly, his hands resting gently on her knees as he looked up at her. “You think maybe you want to tell me the truth now?” He asked softly.

"He hasn't been here in almost a year. Why? Do you know him?" He wanted to point out that seeing as she was an elf she probably did. But instead he simply looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Molly told him about Ruvik and her realtionship, telling him about the fact that the orc she'd loved had been murdered by a man claiming to be a magic fed. She told Darbok that the child she carried was a part orc. It could be nothing else.

The way that Viola’s eyes looked past Talon made it clear she was considering just bolting for the door. “I have to go.” She finally gasped, making a beeline for her sketchbook and her bag that was on the ground next to the table. She knew she had put Talon in danger the moment he took her in. Viola had known she should never have stayed so long, and now Molly was here... two brights together would be simply too hard to ignore.

Darbok took this new information in, and simply nodded, though didn’t yet stand up or remove his hands. He seemed to accept what she had told him I simply because the ‘official’ story of the roc officers death had just tasted wrong to him. “Alright, so we’re in the middle of a war, only no one seems to even know it.” He agreed. “What do you need from your apartment? Because you won’t be going back there, you’re coming home with me until I can find you somewhere safer.”

Talon knew she would leave. He just didn't think it would hurt so much. He turned his back on it, swallowing hard. It was because of this that he missed the sight of the blue haired elf, blocking the little elf's exit.

"I don't need anything. All of my money is here in my purse." Molly whispered. "You're going to hate me but Ivy is acting strange. I don't want her to know anything..."

Viola had been terrified just at the mere mention of Kandomere’s name, the second she slammed into his hard chest she thought she may well just throw up right there. The small woman bounced back with such force she landed on her behind, staring up at the blue haired man with a tangible fear. Her sketchbook had landed on the ground behind her, falling open at a drawing of herself and Talon locked in the same kind of passionate kiss they had shared a week ago. If Kandomere snatched his missing bright here and now, there would be no one to stop him.

Darbok nodded once more, again accepting this information. “There’s every chance she isn’t who we thought she was.” He agreed. “Let me guess, she’s been more excited than you are about the baby?” He added, unable to shake the feeling that he should be trying to smuggle the heavily pregnant woman out the back window.

Kandomere bent over Viola and picked up the drawing. "What is it with you and humans, little one?" He purred. "I suppose another vial of human blood won't hurt me. Did you know you pass on magical properties to those you entertain? Neither did I. At least not until your mother had me bathe in the blood of that cop. What was his name?"

Molly nodded. "I shouldn't have told her." She admitted. "I wasn't going to tell you until she started acting so strange but...I'm so alone and..." Molly couldn't meet his eyes again. She was the monster not the elf. She was afraid of giving birth. What kind of mother was she?

Viola scooted back across the polished tiles of the floor as Kandomere leaned over her. She was surprised to find that news of Judas’ death did actually create an emotion within her. She simply wanted to scream, having never been able to prove to him that she was not the worthless creature he had dumped in the rain. “It was Judas, the least you could do is remember that!” She hissed rather bravely, even if she didn’t feel brave.

Darbok was quick to pull Molly into his arms and hug her gently. “Forget about that for now. You’re not alone, you have an entire family now.” He assured her, meaning the rest of the gang he controlled.

"Screw that human. They are lower than the orcs as far as I'm concerned." Kandomere hissed, stepping toward her again. "Why we're you trying to hide, child? Surely you knew hiding in the arms of a soldier of light would only draw my attention. Not to mention get him killed." The elder man chuckled.

Molly was again shaking her head. "I'm not going to get anyone else killed. It's just asking for trouble. I just want safety for Ruvik's child. He deserves it. I don't."

Viola managed to scoot far enough away that she had enough room to drag herself to her feet. One of the long stripy socks that usually came mid way up her thighs had slouched all the way down now, revealing one of the scars she always tried so hard to hide. “I have been in no ones arms.” Viola told her abuser firmly. “He doesn’t even know I’m an elf, thanks to the mutilation your precious Celia left me with!” 

“I shall be the judge of that.” Darbok replied, usual get a single digit to tilt Molly’s chin up. “Elves can’t be trusted, just as you can’t trust the terrible things they may have said to you in the past to make you feel this way.”

"Good. Then you will feel nothing when I kill him." Kandomere hissed, crumpling the her drawing in his hand.

"I don't need an elf to tell me I'm a murderer." Molly breathed, large tears streaking down her cheeks.

“What?! Why do you need to kill him?!” Viola shrieked. “Please, I’ll do whatever you want, just... don’t hurt him!” Talon would have no idea just how hard it was for her to make that deal after everything that had been done to her.

“No, but one can use your emotions and twist them against you until you don’t know up from down.” Darbok breached, a rough thumb gently wiping the tear on her cheek.

Kandomere smiled, turning to look through the window at Talon and the dark haired woman he was kissing gently. "Ever heard the story of the little mermaid? She fell for a man she couldn't have. The sea witch gave her sisters a knife and told them to give it to the girl. If she killed the man, she would go free. She stupidly refused to kill him and in the end died herself. You realize that is the fate you face. Don't you child?" 

Darbok's gentle touch broke the damn she'd fought so hard to keep in check. Molly sobbed openly, burrying her face in his shoulder until she could barely breathe. She'd never allowed herself the time to cry for anything. Not Ruvik or even herself. It was exhausting.

Viola had followed Kandomere’s gaze, feeling her chest grow tight when she saw Talon and Lillian. The young woman knew she had no right to feel jealous, after all, he did belong to the other woman. “What reason do I have to want freedom?” She asked quietly, though was unable to tear her gaze from Talon. “You killed my father... corruption my mother and destroyed the man I did love... tell me, Mr Sea witch, what possible reason would I have for wanting to betray the human who dared to help me?”

Darbok sat with Molly in his lap, holding her as she sobbed and gently stroking her hair. “Things will get better, I promise.” He told her. “We will honour your Ruvik, and find you a safe place for the child.”

Kandomere simply smiled at her. "What kind of evil would I be if I gave away all my secrets at once? I'm not the only darkness that poor man needs to worry about. The woman in there plans to kill him and all because of you. Her darkness rivals my own. It's delicious." Kandomere purred. "I can't believe you missed it."

"I let them drag his name through the mud. What is there left to honor?" Molly asked wearily.

Viola couldn’t keep her fingers from pressing to her lips as she tried to suppress a startled gasp. Her eyes were wide as she watched Lillian now, the gentle way she was smiling at Talon and whispering something against his ear. She simply couldn’t believe one kiss from her could cause a rift so vast. She was a nobody, Lillian was beautiful and didn’t need someone to constantly save her. 

“Does it matter?” Darbok asked softly. “Should you care what others think? It only matters that you honour his memory.”

Talon ran his fingers through Lillian's hair, whispering heated things in her ear that had her grinning up at him. 
Kandomere was grinning as well. "She plays her part so well. Pretending to care for him. Humans are so fickle. I can see murder in her eyes."

"I do...but..." Molly could barely breathe now, her sobs threatening to come again. "I left him there...I'm a monster. And then I let them tell the world he tried to kill an elf..."

Viola finally tore her gaze away when she saw Talon return his lips to Lillian’s. “what do you want from me? Why does he deserve to die, just to torment me? You can have my mother do that all by herself...”

“Maybe that’s what was needed?” Darbok suggested softly. “Elves need to feel the fear the rest of us do.”

"Because he is Sheild of light. His kind is dangeous to all of us. You wouldn't understand." Kandomere hissed. 

Molly nodded. She agreed. She hated elves. All of them.

“He isn’t!” Viola insisted firmly. “He thinks it sounds stupid and won’t even talk about them!” She added, recalling all her attempts to ask about his tattoo. Inside her sketchbook there was a drawing of what seemed to be herself and Talon, though the man in the drawing carried a sword and a shield with the same symbol on it. It was another one of her dreams, and in it his sole job had been protecting her from someone else’s magick.

Darbok was glad they finally agreed on something. “I’m not leaving this room, but just wait there, okay?” He asked as he sat Molly on the plastic covered table where Viola would have done Darbok’s piercing. The orc didn’t like the feeling he had in the pit of his stomach and cracked the door open only very slightly. He instantly understood the feeling when he saw the blue haired elf towering over a rather terrified looking Viola.

Kandomere threw back his head and laughed, the sound as wicked and evil as he was. "How are you still so naive? After everything you've been through you'd think you would have learned. The apple never falls far from the tree."

"What is it?" One of his guards wasn't far behind him, looking over his shoulder as best he could.

Viola’s eyes glanced to her bag, trying to judge if she would have time to grab it and make another sprint for the door. Talon had taught her a little bit about fighting, thinking it was simply in case a man tried to take advantage. Little did he know she had begged him to teach her to fight in case her mother and Kandomere showed up again. “And what tree did you fall from?” She sneered.

Darbok sighed heavily, the window suddenly seeming the only option to get Molly to safety now. “He knows something...” he murmured, wondering why Kandomere would be wasting his time with a tiny little human like Viola.

Kandomere simply smiled at her, though his eyes were narrowed to slits. "You either run or die here. It is no concern to me. Today I am here for something different." He turned his head toward the back door, making it clear he could sense where Molly was. 

"Darbok..." Molly breathed. There was a terror in her voice that surpassed the one she'd come in with.

It only took Viola a split second to finally make her decision. The young woman grabbed her her bag, hurling it at Kandomere’s head before shouting for Molly to run. To hell with pretending they didn’t know each other. Once those seconds had played out, the small woman ran for the door, intent on now getting Talon away from imminent death.

Darbok heard Talon’s ‘little bit’ scream Molly’s name, and knew things were about to get real bad real fast. He slammed the door shut, then jammed a chair under the door handle. That done he marched to the window, smashing all the glass out before turning back to Molly. “Sorry love, no time for an explanation.” He breathed, extending his hand out to her.

Talon turned when Viola burst through the door, surprised by the pure fear in her eyes. "Little bit? What's wrong?" 

"My water broke..." Molly told him, making their problems that much worse.

“Bad man!” Viola blurted, something she would be incredibly embarrassed about later, if they survived. “Uh... I mean...” her eyes were flicking between Talon and Lillian, desperately wanting to tell him to just stay away from her... from his own fiancé. “I thought I saw Judas.” She finally breathing, thinking it enough that he would believe her. “I couldn’t stay in there, but I was too scared to walk home...”

“Of course it did...” Darbok breathed, knowing the fates wouldn’t make this easy for him. He also knew, from what Molly had told him, that it was a little early for a human baby to be forcing itself free. He hoped it was because it was indeed part orc. “I’ll get you to a doctor, I promise. But for now... you have to trust me, okay?”

"Okay...you stay in here with Lil where it's safe. I'll go out there and kick his ass while you two call the cops." Talon instructed, already heading for the door.

Molly nodded. "Just protect the baby. I don't care what happens to me." She whispered, finally placing her tiny fingers in his large ones.

“No!” Even though Lillian was right there, Viola hooked her slender arms around Talon’s much larger one and buried her face against the warm flesh as she tried to keep him from leaving. “Please, it’s dangerous, I just want to leave!”
Lillian was watching the scene with narrowed grey eyes. She wasn’t surprised by Viola’s little performance, only that it had taken six months for it to happen. Of course, she didn’t know that her fiancé and his ‘pet’ had already betrayed her. 

Darbok nodded and hoisted Molly up before lifting her into his arms. He held her as though she weighed nothing, even as he swung them both through the window and onto the darkened street outside. The orc was soon sliding Molly into his own car and tearing away from Kandomere and the tattoo parlour. 
Unfortunately his getaway wasn’t as clean as he believed; Ivy had seen it and was already letting Celia know.

"Okay. We'll go out the back." Talon said, running his fingers over her hair. "It's going to be okay." He had no idea the danger he was in. He was simply trying to help the woman he'd come to adore.

Kandomere stomped toward the back door, blood streaming down his face. He was furious. He'd kill anyone who got in his way.

Viola turned her face ever so slightly, one bright blue eye watching Lillian through the veil of her hair. The taller woman would instantly know that the balance had shifted; Viola knew. 
The only thing keeping the elf from telling Talon everything, was her aching desire not to hurt him. She still felt she had wounded Judas by simply not being strong enough. 

Celia had received Ivy’s message, and had told the human spy to return home, she would handle this. “You look like shit.” Over the months she had apparently dropped all pretence of bowing down to the dark lord. “You said you were here for the bright, what happened?” She asked Kandomere as she joined him, not yet knowing her daughter was nearby.

Talon missed the exchange as he told the last of his customers he had to close early. Then he guided the two women out to the street and to his car.

"Your daughter." Kandomere hissed. His temper was at it's worst.