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."

Viola stowed herself in the back, like always, then Lillian folded her long legs into the front passenger seat. The watched the other woman turn her head to Talon and smile as she rested her fingers over his against the wheel. “Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s just overreacting.” She purred, catching Viola’s eyes in the rear view mirror.

That instantly had Celia’s hackles up. “Here?!” She hissed, looking around the tattoo parlour for any sign her daughter had even set foot there. It only took her a moment to find the sketchbook and flip through the pages. “That little whore...”

"You guys hungry?" Talon asked. He wasn't going to mention it but his arm was aching and that meant going home right now was a bad idea. He needed to stay close to his store and see what was going on. It was his duty to locate the source of the magick after all.

"Exactly." Kandomere nodded, wipping blood out of his eyes. "Come. Those orc are trying to move the child. The foolish woman got smart..."

Viola nodded her head, though she looked so tiny in the back seat of Talon’s large car. It’s was something he would no doubt have come to notice over the last six months; Viola could eat. For such a small woman, she certainly loved copious amounts of nachos and chilli dogs washed down with beer. Nothing at all like Lillian and her taste for nothing but salad and wine. 
“Sure, honey.” Lillian purred, leaning across and kissing his cheek lightly.

Celia nodded in agreement. “If not for the human spy you put in place, we would have no idea where to find her.” She replied, smiling thinly. “I can find the woman and have her take us to the orc’s home, if it pleases you?” She added, the last part merely said with irony.

"Chilli dogs it is!" Talon said with a gruff laugh, turning the car up the side street. He caught a glimpse of the blue haired elf and knew instantly what he was dealing with. He was no fool when it came to Kandomere. Though his father was a monster, he'd left his son with one thing, there was always a bigger threat to deal with. 

Kandomere nodded, still wiping away blood. "I need that child. I forced the birth to attain the spine of the infant. I can't afford to lose it now. We'll kill all the Fogteeth to get it if we must."

Viola had grinned happily at the choice of food, until she too saw Kandomere and slid all the way down in her seat.
Lillian watched the blue haired elf with interest when she heard the leather of the seat behind her creak  as the small woman seemingly tried to sink right inside of it. “You’re supposed to be in a diet.” She simply told Talln rather haughtily.

Celia once again nodded in agreement. “Sitting on my thumbs like this has been so infuriating!” She confessed. “And that girl... as annoying as her father!” She insisted in reference to her own flesh.

"Then I'll eat a half dog." Talon said, giving her a wink. He parked on the street in front of the shop and got out, opening the door for Viola first. The balance had indeed shifted.

"I agree." Kandomere said. "Make your call and then take out the soldier."

Viola’s entire face seemed to light up when Talon opened the door and helped her out. It would be clear to anyone with eyes in their head how much the little elf adored her rescuer. 
Unfortunately, it hadn always been obvious to Lillian, after all... who could resist a man like Talon? The car door suddenly slammed as Lillian stepped onto the street, rather angry at being left in the car while her fiancée fawned over the little bit.

“You just want to see Ivy.” Celia snorted as she pulled out her phone and sent a message to the human, instructing her to meet them outside the tattoo parlour.

Talon stopped and opened the door for the two women, though he placed his hand on Viola's lower back as he followed them in. The orc owner greeted them, knowing Talon very well. He then greeted Viola but said nothing to Lillian.

"Stop stalling." Kandomere hissed, heading toward his car.

Viola was sure an electric volt had traveled up her spine the second Talon’s hand pressed against her back. The small woman smiled up at the orc owner, clearly she was as much of a regular here as Talon was. “I hope you have plenty of nachos!” Viola asked with an adorable grin as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear. 

“Asshole...” Celia muttered as she pushed her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. 
It didn’t take Ivy long to show. The glasses she usually wore were nowhere in sight, and the hair that was usually pulled into a messy bun was now hanging in loose silken waves around her bare shoulders. The human greeted the dark lord with a bow of her head, though didn’t glance in Celia’s direction. “It won’t take long to get there, he has a thing for the girl, so will no doubt take her to his own home. The fool thinks it safe there.”

"I always have some for you!" The orc said cheerfully. He came around the counter to hug her and slap talon on the back. He continued to ignore Lillian even when he dropped a wilted salad in front of her. 

"Considering it's in the heart of Fogteeth village he's almost right. But he's never gone against the dark lord has he? Give him a call, Ivy. You're worried about your roommate."

Viola seemed such a different creature to the one Judas had known. It had taken true misery to have her rising up from the ashes of her old life, and settling into her new one. The young woman was wasting no time in tucking into her cheese covered nachos, even slapping at Talon’s hand when he tried to steal some.
Lillian had yet to say a single word. She didn’t like how different Talon was with Viola. Ever since she had known him he was always trying to charm Lillian, make her feel special with grand gestures. But Viola... it’s like he didn’t even have to try, just being with her brought out the best in him. It sickened her. 

Ivy’s deep pink lips curled into a smile and she nodded. “Oh Darbok! Thank god you answered!” She gushed, again sounding like the meek librarian Molly and the orc thought her to be. “It’s Molly... I can’t find her and I’m so worried!”
On the other end of the line Darbok was sitting beside Molly, a hand pressed to the swell of her belly. He had brought her to his own house, then sent for a doctor, having been convinced it was too dangerous to take her to the hospital. “It’s Ivy...” he whispered, his eyes silently asking if he should tell her what was happening.

Talon didn't pay any attention to Lillian's rage. He continued to tease Viola by telling her to look at the Centar out the window and stealing a cheese loaded chip.

Molly shook her head wildly. She didn't trust the other woman. Through her pain she pressed her fingers over his, pleading with him not to tell her now former roommate.

“Hey Vi...” A young man paused by their table as he collected dirty plates from the other booths. His green eyes twinkled as he looked at her, clearly smitten. 
Violet’s head whipped round from where Talon had told her to look and she grinned up at the young elf. “Hi Jared.” She replied with a friendly wave. 
The young man was an anomaly. An elf working such a menial job, and in an orc run restaurant no less. “New socks?” He asked with a grin as he glanced down to where her slender legs were peeking out from under the table. 
Lillian was watching the exchange with a curious expression before returning her attention to Talon.

Darbok nodded and patted Molly’s fingers. “Sorry, ain’t seen her since I left your apartment the last time.” He lied.
From the look on Ivy’s face, it was clear she would have known he was lying, even if she didn’t know for a fact Molly was with him. Ivy was good at what she did, and like Darbok was an expert at reading people. “Well that’s awful... I heard there was some madman in the loose!” She gushed. “If something were to happen to her...”
Darbok had set his phone down after switching it over to speakerphone so Molly could hear everything.

Talon was aware of Jared and he didn't really care for him. But if Viola felt something for him what could he say? He looked away, frowning at Lillian's plate.

Molly gave Darbook a look, all but telling him she didn't believe a word of it.

“I told you green would look good on you.” Jared replied with a grin.
Viola ducked her head, a pretty blush rising to her pale cheeks. “Stoppit, you know I hate it when you tease me.” 
Jared laughed and leaned down a little. “Guess I’ve been doing it wrong then, huh?” He asked with a smile before turning to return to his work.
Though Lillian was looking at Talon, she had heard everything said between Viola and Jared. “What? What’s that look for?” She asked her lover with a snort, though she agreed with him; the salad was terrible.

Darbok nodded. “Alright, I’ll go and look for her myself, how does that sound?”
“Good, tell me where you are and I’ll come help you.” Ivy insisted, her gaze holding Kandomere’ as she spoke.

"Kadrey was never known for his health." Talon muttered, getting up from the table. It was time to go outside and search for the source of the magick he was sensing.

Molly again shook her head. The orc doctor next to her shook his as well. He didn't know why but he didn't like the idea of having another human here. One was bad enough, especially since he wasn't trained to deal with their health.

Talon rose to his feet so suddenly that the table wobbled, sending Viola’s beer tumbling into her lap, which earned a startled squeak from the small woman. 
Lillian smirked, easily able to see her lover was jealous of the attention his pet had just gotten from another man.

“No, you start near your apartment, I’ll take the more dangerous parts of town.” Darbok confirmed before hanging up abruptly. “We need to move this along.” He told the doctor, apparently not understanding that this wasn’t something that could be set to a time frame.

Talking didn't even seem like he'd heard Viola as he kept walking outside. He pushed open the doors and kept walking, the draw to the magick unavoidable. He hated this part. It made his stomach churn.

"You stupid boy." The doctor said, speaking in orcish. "I can't force the child out. It will come when it comes. This is made worse by the fact that she has had no doctor's care at all throughout her pregnancy. I wish we had a human doctor here. Why bring a human here to give birth anyway? Give her back to her people."

Viola said nothing to Lillian as she too got up from the table, bolting after Talon. He wasn’t alone, the magick sang to her, something the elf despised. She had felt first hand what magic was capable of, and wanted Talon far away from that. Little bit didn’t say a word as she ran up behind Talon, throwing her arms around his waist and pressing her face to his back. 

“Her people can’t be trusted.” Darbok replied simply. “You see the way the humans bow to the elves... and believe me, an elf wants this baby so very badly.”

"Viola...what's the matter?" Talon stopped moving. Her hands on his waist the only thing that seemed to wake him up. "What in the world..."

"Why would an elf want..." The doctor wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. "I need a list of things for them. Who should I send for them?" He asked, finally deciding his boss wasn't going to give in.

“Don’t.” Viola whispered, trying so hard not to leave a damp patch on the back of Talon’s shirt. “Don’t follow it.” She whispered, knowing he would understand exactly what she meant. The small woman still held onto her protector, like she could somehow physically stop him from moving if she chose to.

Darbok sighed heavily as he ran his fingers over his head. He couldn’t leave her, and he couldn’t trust anyone else. “Give me the list.” He finally breathed, knowing he would need to find a way around this.

"I have to, Little bit." Talking whispered back, still looking ahead. "I can't let someone else get hurt like my mother did. I've sworn to stop it." 

The doctor handed it to him, jumping slightly when Molly cried out in pain. "The medicine for pain is most important." He said gently, reaching to smooth the hair from the human woman's face. "This is pure agony for the poor girl."

“You can’t.” Viola whispered, the wet patch spreading now despite her best efforts. “Do you want to destroy all magick?”

Darbok growled low in his throat, knowing he had no choice but to go himself now. “Damn Ruvik! What was he thinking knocking a human up?!”

"This magick is not the same." Talon said woodenly. "Viola, go back inside. I don't want you to get hurt. Please listen to me."

"This was...my fault...not his...don't you speak bad of him too..." Molly wheezed, glaring at Darbok.

“No!” Viola let go to stand in front of Talon now, her azure eyes staring up at him defiantly. “It’s too late for avoiding hurt! You once called me a liar... you let me kiss you, then just walked away. What if I told you I lied, to keep you safe? Would that make you any less likely to go walking ass first into danger?”

“Babe... takes two to do... this...” Darbok chuckled, smoothing a large hand gently over her swollen belly. “But he should have known better, hell, he should have known to be safe!”

"Lied?" Talon echoed, trying to process what she was saying. "Why would you lie? Viola... You're scareing me."

Molly shoved his hand off and tried to turn her back on him. She failed miserably. "Don't you have somewhere to go? She wheezed.

Viola stared up at Talon for a long moment, her teeth biting down on her lower lip as she internally battled with how much she should tell him. The young woman finally realised that losing him was much better than him dying. Slowly she reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. The ear she always kept covered. Her pointed elven ear. She didn’t say anything just yet, needing to gauge his reaction to know if he needed her to tell him what else she was, other than an elf.

“You’re right, princess.” Darbok agreed. “I have to get pain relief because your boyfriend decided to go bareback.” He snorted. “I’m not leaving though. I made a promise, and despite what outsiders think, fogteeth keep their promises.”

Talking simply nodded as if he'd know all along. He didn't seem surprised at all. "Okay...now what did you lie about?" He asked gently, reaching out to tuck the wifts if hair into place behind her pointed ear. "Did you think I was as stupid as the cop?"

"I made this choice...this is my fault...humans and orcs...aren't supposed to be able to....this shouldn't be a problem at all." 
"Is she saying this thing is half orc?!" The doctor hissed, grabbing the gang leader by the back of his shirt.

There was a flash of pain there in her blue eyes. He was mad. Why was he mad? She wasn’t his, just as he wasn’t hers, so why was he so mad at being compared to the only lover she had ever had? Viola lifted her fingers, running them once again along the tattoo on Talon’s arm. It was here, in the dirty back alley behind an orc restaurant that Viola’s secrets would finally be stripped bare. “In your shop... when I asked you to drive me home just now... it wasn’t Judas I thought I saw... it was the elf who was hunting me, who kidnapped me and had my own mother torture me. He needs me... he needs... a bright.”

Darbok sighed and slowly turned back around. He had hoped this wouldn’t have been an issue. “We don’t know that, not for certain.” He lied, firmly pushing the doctor back a few steps. “All I need from you, is to do your job and keep her and the baby alive while I’m gone, got it?”

Talon had known all along but for some reason the truth hurt. He tried hard to hide it but it was there in his eyes. Slowly he pulled his arm away from her. "You're talking about Kandomere. Right? The elf guy you freaked out about when I mentioned him before." He pointed out. "Why does he need a bright?"

The doctor nodded with an uncertain look, not sure he could accomplish this. The stakes just raised themselves that much higher. 
"Darbok...I'm sorry." Molly whispered. "I should never have come here. But I didn't know where else to go..."