Chapter Text
June 14th
7:57 AM - Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, Kentucky
Reese had no real reason to be more afraid of planes than trans-dimensional travel, but he was.
It probably had something to do with the fact that, even after all this time, he didn't know the in's and out's of the latter. He'd willfully neglected to ask his girlfriend how any of that worked because he knew learning anything about the process would make him more nervous. It probably wasn't a big deal. Some portal or something that they had to step through, in all likelihood. The worst part would probably be some vague, accompanying tingling sensation that would subside shortly after. He didn't need to catastrophize about how every molecule in his body was going to be incinerated and remade inside another world (or whatever). Anyone who didn't know him better may not have figured that Reese Darrow was the type of guy to look up how likely you were to die in a plane crash immediately before setting foot on said plane for the first time-but he absolutely was.
He found sources of varying repute while using a search engine on his phone, but he'd narrowed it down to a definitive figure.
0.00000909%
He stared at the number for an indeterminate amount of time. Was that bigger than he thought? Smaller?
How much of what had happened to him over the course of the last year had been even less likely than that statistic?
Victoria was in the bathroom as they waited to board their flight. She'd done him the favor of arranging all of the proper paperwork to facilitate international travel. At this point, she was uncannily good at making use of her hypnotism skills. It was a fairly advanced technique that required a not-insignificant amount of aura, but after nearly two centuries, she had plenty of time to master it. It's usage in the last ten months in particular had been a godsend when it came to maintaining cover stories, getting her enrolled in school with the others, and, of course, convincing everyone's parents that they were all going away to some university overseas. The integrity of lie didn't always matter. You could tell them all that they were headed to Narnia and it would've worked, but it was best to be specific in case a third party had questions they couldn't account for. Using it to obtain a passport and bypass any of the personal information she lacked at the Post Office was only difficult because Victoria had an aversion to using her abilities in a public setting-for obvious reasons. Thankfully, she was skilled enough to keep such things quiet.
Reese looked out the large glass-pane windows of the lobby within the terminal. He carried with him a small suitcase he'd had since he was a kid, and barely ever needed to use. At least it was good for something now, though it still didn’t fit all of his clothes which needed to be separate from his carry-on luggage. The whole process of getting there and going through TSA was as complicated and tedious as he’d envisioned it to be.
He took out his phone, clicking the side button to look at his notifications. More than a few days-old unanswered texts. Nothing from Joey.
Figures.
The fact of the matter was, as much as he didn't want to admit it, Reese would've bailed on the flight had Joey messaged him. It would've entailed a lot of groveling, a lot of apologizing, and various other forms of self-flagellation, but he knew it would've been worth it. He also wanted to give his girlfriend credit, she absolutely would've understood. Hell, she may have even encouraged it, seeing as she was still beating herself up over what happened last October.
Hell broke loose when a demon by the name of Thanatos had begun terrorizing them, just shortly after their duties as newly-appointed guardians of their hometown began. It entailed a lot of surveillance, a lot of being careful, just as much recklessness, and it all culminated in the single most bloody and painful experience of their lives. Considering how their previous summer started? That was no small feat.
Ever since then, Joey had been a mess. A flaky, withdrawn, sullen mess who seemed to have no interest in his friends anymore. Over Christmas break, he'd told Reese that he was done. In no uncertain terms.
Reese just wanted to know why-why he wasn't worth sticking around for.
Joey wasn't going to go with them. He wasn't ready to make that choice. None of them really were, because how could you be? How could anyone be ready to sign their lives away to fight in a war most people didn't even know was being waged? They weren't 'Hunters'-not really. They were soldiers. Soldiers meant to hold the line between this world and another. One with dangerous, intelligent adversaries who were making it their mission to shatter the barrier and overrun Earth as a whole.
So, you know, no big deal, right?
It made sense that Joey wouldn't go. He probably couldn't even if he wanted to. He looked... sickly. Pale, thin, permanent bags under his eyes whenever his friends caught a glimpse of him at school. They would text him every once in a while to no avail, and somewhere along the way, they got the message.
That didn't change the fact that Reese was missing one of the single most important people in his life. Wasn't he worth more than being ignored?
Thankfully, at the very least, the other most important person in his life was there to try and do what she could. When she left the bathroom and made her way over to the lobby, she carefully approached him from behind as he stared through his reflection in the glass. She hoped he'd see or hear her coming, because in this state, if she tapped him on the shoulder, he was liable to jump a foot in the air. He'd always been high strung, but the last few months had him wound tighter than a watch.
It was why she invited him to do this. Getting away from everything before they had to leave, potentially forever. She knew better than most that closure was a luxury the Hunters were almost never afforded. She knew what it felt like, lugging around that open wound. That incomplete sentence that would never be finished. She couldn't hope to be the person to complete it for him, so to speak, but she could try and let him experience some form of closure. Some kind of catharsis.
Thankfully, he caught her approaching silhouette in the window, and turned around. Her vision focused on his absent, neutral stare in the glass, which became a mildly forced, meager grin. The relief that reassured her that she did seem to ease his nerves just by being around was broadcasted not by his smile, but by his eyes.
They were big and brown. Just like her partner's, but he was gone now.
As if on cue, over the speakers just above them, muffled voice announced that their flight was boarding.
"-to London is now boarding, please proceed to the gate and follow any given instructions provided by TSA staff. Thank you, and have a pleasant flight."
Victoria looked to their right, seeing a legion of people already crowd around the entrance. She turned back to see Reese's already slight grin had vanished, and was replaced with a wide-eyed contained panic.
She reached down, lacing her fingers in with his own.
"You ready, darling?" she asked, her accent as sing-song-y as ever.
Reese took a deep breath.
"As much as I'll ever be."
0.00000909%
Wonder what the percentage chance of finding out you and all your friends have fuckin' superpowers is.
"Let's head on then," she said giving his hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze.
Victoria figured it best to fly first-class when they returned. Neither of them were snobbish enough to even consider it beforehand, but after an hour straight of a crying baby three rows down from them, she figured using her abilities to pursue something mostly for luxury's sake could be forgiven this one time.
After all, she was a Lieutenant now. She had more authority. More freedom. It was the type of minor infraction that a lesser Field Hunter would be scolded for if caught. They were only to use their aura in situations that completely necessitated it. Every Hunter's beaconing stone 'logged' whenever the user it was bound to used their abilities, and when returning from a mission either out in the 'field' or back on Earth, it was carefully examined by a third-party mediator with Sight. She couldn't help but recall the time Stephen had been summoned by their battalion Captain, Fiona, about how he was strictly forbidden from using his aura to get free food on Earth when they had last visited Vaughn. It was a small price to pay to share a final meal with their friend. If only at the time they had known it would be the last.
Reese sat by the window, eyes firmly fixed on the back of the seat in front of him with his headphones in. He was not a fan of the view, it seemed.
Victoria didn't mind the plane. It was her first time on a flight as well, but at that point in her life, she'd done far more dangerous things and came out relatively unscathed. The marvels of modern technology, even though they were known to her, remained marvelous to actually experience. The odd turbulence here and there wasn't preferable, but it was child's play considering what they'd accomplished over the last year.
Saving the world came at a high cost. She hated thinking about it in those terms--terms that made her sound like she had delusions of grandeur-but it was true. If Thanatos had opened the barrier permanently, that would be it. Game over. The demonic horde would overtake the Earth in a matter of months, if not weeks. Granted, had there not been various slip-ups on their end, things would have been more manageable. It was the cost of being up against an unpredictable enemy, one that could change its face and appearance at will. It took both a combined collective effort, and Joey having a very literal nervous breakdown that resulted in a surge of power the likes of which she'd never seen before to beat him. It was still far from absolute victory.
Chris had been another victim of instability, one that very nearly spelled disaster for everyone and everything-but Victoria couldn't dare blame the poor guy.
She blamed herself instead.
She had always been tough on herself, but when Chris's girlfriend Layla had been killed, she found herself spiraling. She had lied to her superior officers about how she and the others were all holding up, mainly because she was near-certain they'd determine them not to be worth the risk. Their circumstances were unheard of. Seven kids, all from the same town, all of which had the potential to utilize aura. It was mathematically impossible-or at least, it should've been. The reality was undeniable, though. This friend group that she now found herself within was their own mini-battalion. It meant that trusting her with their care was a sign that the Hunters had faith in her. It led her to a seated position, effectively making her two degrees of separation from the headhuntress herself. Little did they know, all the while, two of them were harboring unstable auras. Chris and Joey were walking bundles of unstable potential energy, and had a powerful demon gotten ahold of them, it would've been the end of the war. The Hunters were supposed to be sentinels, guardians of the protectorate of mankind. Invisible warriors who performed an unfathomable duty. That said, virtues like 'altruism' or even just the concept of 'ethics' were foreign to them. This was not life or death, it was so much more important than that. It meant that if they got wind that there were unstable auras on Earth, a phenomenon that simply did not happen anymore, they would've ordered those kids to be executed. She knew Anna. She wouldn't have liked doing it, but she had an image to maintain as their leader. It would've been a political stunt. A way of showing those who weren't confident in her leadership that she could make tough calls when things got difficult. When Victoria and her temporarily assigned partner, Ace, chose to keep a lid on everything to protect the others, they were risking being outright labeled as traitors and potentially even facing execution.
Whenever she looked at Reese, she reminded herself that even though she didn't make the moral choice, she made the right one. Whatever that really meant.
She tugged at his sleeve, earning his attention.
"Now that the chorus of infants is done wailing, you mind splitting?" she asked, gesturing to his earbuds.
It took a moment for the wherewithal to fully return to him. His expression brightened a little as he popped out the right earbud and gingerly presented it to her. She smiled, took it, and placed it in her ear.
The song played for a few measures, and as it did, she narrowed her eyes as she attempted to place the sound. There was a bed of ambient electric piano swells, but the song had no structure or even lyrics she could identify or latch onto. It sounded peaceful.
"Don't think I know this. Jazz?" she asked, legitimately curious.
Reese nodded.
"Miles Davis," he answered. "Helps me relax."
Listening to music together was one of their favorite joint activities. As a hunter, spending the vast majority of your life in the Twilight Realm meant no access to virtually any modern amenities that had complex mechanisms or electricity. The aura in the atmosphere destabilized and corroded it, supposedly. This meant that once they began hanging out, it was only a matter of time until Victoria became a snob like the rest of them. She couldn't help but recall that the day they told each other they had feelings for one another, it had been largely spurred on by them dancing in the living room after putting a record on. One of those precious, microscopic memories that she spent most of her almost two-hundred years thinking she'd never get to experience. If the last year had been good for anything, it wasn't her promotion or the respect of her peers, it was getting as many of those tiny moments as she possibly could and holding on to them as tightly as possible.
"It's lovely," she said, embracing the gentle soundscape. "Is there anything I can do? To help, I mean. I know you're anxious."
Reese pursed his lips, giving the question at least a modicum of thought.
"Take off my shoe, and beat me over the head until I'm unconscious? I think that'll do the trick," he finally answered.
Victoria rolled her eyes, but kept her smile.
"Incorrigible," she said under her breath. "Any reason we never listened to any Jazz before? This is quite lovely."
When he stopped to think this time, she could tell it came from a more authentic place. Talking about music was his natural state, from what she could gather. Izzy, Chris, and Reese were all in Chris's band together, so on some level it was a given. However, his most frequent verbal sparrings were with Joey about any given artist or band. Or Nadia, on occasion, who was always willing to tell someone their favorite band didn't have shit on Black Sabbath.
Reese quietly cleared his throat.
"I mostly listen to it when I'm anxious, honestly," he casually said. "With you I'm usually... not."
Victoria couldn't help but blush. He was being entirely sincere, not even truly attempting a compliment, which was exactly why it made her feel good.
The rest of their flight was, at least from an auditory perspective, rather pleasant. Even more so when Victoria rested her head on Reese's shoulder, not to sleep, but just for the wanton comfort of closeness.
June 14th
9:12 PM - London Heathrow Airport, London
Immediately upon landing, everything was loud and fast.
Under normal circumstances, Victoria would have been able to at least partially guide Reese from one end of the airport to the other, and a little bit beyond that. The trouble was that these were not normal circumstances. Victoria was older than the damn airport, after all. When she'd gotten sick and frail as a child, she belonged to an affluent family with horse-drawn carriages and corsets and shit. If anything, it was Reese who would've had a better idea how to navigate a building with more modern architecture. The sheer volume of people and general unfamiliarity was more than enough to dash that hope. Instead, they blitzed through the building to arrive far later than expected to collect their luggage. Thankfully, it was all unceremoniously drifting along the sizable, perpetually-moving belt of the baggage claim area. Before either of them had time to be grateful they hadn't lost anything in the shuffle, Reese took Victoria's hand and held on tight as he bobbed and weaved through the crowd of people in front of the entrance to the airport.
"What the fuck?" Reese exclaimed the moment they step foot outside. "It's nine-thirty at night? This jet lag is gonna put me under. Better cremate me so you have something to take back to my Mom."
Victoria snickered, but abruptly stopped when the mental image of her telling Ms. Darrow that her son was gone popped into her head. Even if it was a joke, she couldn't help it when her brain was so accustomed to the morbidity of being a Hunter. If Reese died, his parents wouldn't ever know. They'd have their memories altered and it would be like it never happened in the first place. They didn't even get to mourn. Taking his ashes back would've been a nicer treatment than any Hunter who'd died in the line of duty in the last century had received. Hell, probably longer than that, even.
She shook her head free of the scenario. One of Reese's many virtues was his humor, she couldn't let that be sullied.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him check his phone again. She knew why.
"At least it'll eventually be morning here?" she offered haphazardly. "Not always a luxury you're afforded in our line of work."
Our.
Victoria stood on her tiptoes, trying to get a better view of the curbside traffic.
"So... ever hailed a cab, before?" she asked Reese expectantly.
He snorted.
"You remember seeing many of those back at the hollow? The only places I've ever seen taxis are in movies," he said decisively.
Her eyes widened at him, a faint smile rested on her face as she waited for him to recall that she had also only ever seen taxis in movies. In fact, the entire reason she knew what 'hail a cab' even meant was because, alongside music listening, their most frequent activity as a couple was watching films.
Victoria remembered vividly the crisp morning not too long ago when Reese confessed that his plan was to go to film school with Joey. He talked about the dream as though he already mourned it. She hadn't forgotten that.
"Right," Reese said with a nod. "Even still, you may wanna be the one to do the talking. I have a feeling people are gonna look at me funny for my accent."
Victoria, who'd spent the vast majority of her life in The Twilight Realm, took a second to register that such a thing was even relevant to them. Hunters came from anywhere and everywhere. She'd been accustomed to hearing accents of all sorts since she was a child. She forgot how deeply entrenched the notion of a 'culture clash' was in the modern world. Then again...
"I think we might be on an even playing field," she said as they approached the curb. "I've been away so long my accent sounds... different. I'm not even sure how, but I wasn't old enough to have it set in stone. I'm sure plenty of people around here will think I'm Welsh... if I'm even remembering that correctly."
Thankfully, the taxi wasn't exactly far off. They didn't have to wait long.
After Victoria gave the polite driver the address, the long drive granted both of them the opportunity to get their first real look at the place. Reese eagerly put his phone in his pocket, and his eyes remained attentive far past the windows in front of them. He looked on with a mild amount of awe that Victoria couldn't help but find infinitely appealing. Hunters were typically so jaded they lost their appreciation for the simple stuff.
But nothing about London was simple.
The skyline was absolutely littered with lights, buildings as old as a century were surrounded by modern architecture. None of them were nearly as tall as even the ones they'd seen in the meager cities back in Kentucky, but it was more horizontally crowded, rather than vertically. A lot more people seemed to be walking about, even this late into the evening, and you couldn't go ten feet without seeing at least two buses whiz past you. There seemed to be far less people who owned their own vehicles, which was offset by the sheer volume and density of the traffic. One you got onto one of the major roads, everything slowed to a crawl until you turned somewhere less densely packed.
It was... nice. It was big. It was intimidating.
She wasn't prepared for just how different it would be. Baron's Hollow was fairly run-down, even by Eastern Kentucky standards. Seeing as it was a hop, skip, and a jump away from the notorious Harlan County, it had all the hallmarks of a coal mining town that felt frozen in time. Infrastructure was laughable, homes varied drastically in quality depending on where you lived, and dense forests covered nearly half the town. There was a kind of rustic charm to it, but there was also a natural, idyllic, verdant beauty in fits and starts around the county. Reese had shown her more than a few such places. Every building back there was a half-century old, making the place look like a colorized old photograph. In many ways, the London she remembered resembled Baron's Hollow more than this did. Kentucky certainly seemed to get the lion's share of all the horses that used to be there, that was for certain.
It was easy to get overwhelmed when you looked at it for too long. At least, it was if you were Victoria.
She refocused her attention to tend to a few rogue strands of hair that escaped the messy bun her obsidian hair was currently tied into. She didn't have the time to get ready since she overslept, so her more typical single-braid ponytail was a bit beyond her capabilities. That said, when she was a little more unkempt, she looked more 'modern' in a way that granted her security.
She carefully examined her face after tucking the strands away. A face that hadn't changed since she received the Hunter's Blessing. Indefinite immortality, provided you didn't get your head torn off or your heart ripped out. It sounded pretty foolproof, having what amounted to an army of near-immortal warriors. Unfortunately, all it led to was homogenizing the ways she'd seen dozens of her friends and comrades die over the years.
Victoria looked... different. It was just the kind of thing you became aware of after being alive for so long without changing. Subtleties in bone structure, select rare (or common) phenotypes, even musculature varied drastically when you went far enough back in time. She was immune to the feeling of seeing old photographs and thinking 'Why don't people look like that anymore?'-because to her they always had. It wasn't as obvious with her as it was for some, but then again, she was older than the vast majority of non-first generation Hunters. To her, it mattered less and less by the decade. If you looked carefully or if you had a particularly scrutinous eye, you could tell that Victoria looked like she was plucked right out of those old paintings you might find in a museum.
Reese was still looking out the window, eyes scanning the strange street layouts and various structures and statues that became more common the closer they got to their destination.
She looked at him, and immediately something odd stirred inside her. His youthful gaze still had a good deal of life in it, even if he still considered himself a cynic.
"You're still my sunrise," she had said to him just before they confronted Thanatos, all those months ago.
He was. But, for the first time, the thought didn't bring her much comfort. Once they returned, and once the solstice passed, they'd be in The Twilight Realm, far away from here. He'd probably receive the Blessing by the end of the calendar year if training went as smoothly as she suspected it might.
She didn't want this was to take the toll on him that it did her, and so many like her. She didn't want the light behind his eyes to wane like that.
Victoria sighed, thankfully undetected.
Stephen was gone. Everyone was gone. She had one or two surviving acquaintances from her former 'class' of Hunters. None of them were in her battalion, though, so it wasn't like she ever got to see them.
Suddenly, a wave of crestfallen nostalgia hit her. One of her few long-lasting core memories from her few short years on Earth as a mortal girl. The night the Hunters found her as she lay in bed, sick from tuberculosis and on the verge of unconsciousness. She remembered a pair of earthen eyes and a face with caramel skin kindly smiling at her, asking if she wanted to feel better again. Asking that she come with her. She didn't even know she was dying, just that she was sick. Her fever kept her so out-of-sorts that she was shocked she remembered any of it.
It felt like that sickness followed her forever, or maybe it was more than that. Maybe she was the sickness. The plague that spelled doom for all who came into contact with her. Anyone who dared get close would ultimately be consumed by the disease that was violence and horror. She had a good head on her shoulders most days, and she could reason that it was war who had taken her loved ones from her. In those few moments when her better faculties left her, though? It felt like it was her fault. Stephen still felt like her fault. Layla was her fault, too. Even what happened to Joey, it all stemmed from her not being good enough to prevent what should have been an avoidable outcome.
She had to hold onto the fact that these things still bothered her. She grasped the pain tightly and held it close to her chest to remind herself that she was still human on some level, because even Hunters half her age lost their sense of perspective. Some of the more recent recruits didn't even make it a full decade before they became flippant, antisocial, and uncaring. She didn't want to be those people. She didn't want to be numb.
But what did that mean for Reese? In some strange, wraparound way, did she hope he felt that pain one day too? So they could both know that he was still the same person who worked up the courage to comfort her the night Stephen died?
Fuck. I need to talk to him.
June 14th
10:32 PM - The Hastings Estate & Hotel
Victoria felt a lump in her throat that she immediately swallowed upon seeing her family's name emblazoned on a very posh, handcrafted, wooden sign in front of the massive property. Last names weren't something Hunters had to worry themselves about. They were almost never pertinent to anything they did, so just seeing the name felt wrong. it was hers, but she felt zero ownership over it.
Kind of like the house itself.
'House' was probably selling it short. She pulled out the brochure from her front suitcase pocket as they got their things out of the cab and walked up the gravel walkway. With the exception of the current blanket of night changing the misé en scene of the whole place, it was exactly as advertised. Victoria had been the sole heir to this place, all her siblings passed away before she was even born, so in the wake of her absence, it was seized by another wealthy family. It was sold, bought again, and then sold almost a dozen times over, and had now been 'refurbished' by the present owners into a hotel that was ostensibly a tourist trap. In the name of 'historical preservation'- very little of the interior was changed. Though, now that she was truly thinking about it, she supposed any number of things within the home had probably been worn down and replaced with something identical, showing zero sign of wearing with age. It just wasn't as nice to put 'partially preserved' on a brochure.
The outdoor area, however, was different. There'd been no gravel path, no central fountain in the large, circular driveway roundabout, and the greenery and landscaping had never looked this neat or well-maintained.
She remembered more than she thought she did.
The front of the estate was massive. An intimidating, elegant architectural style masked the exterior. Some parts of it had been touched up and painted, the trim for instance was no longer the white it had previously been. It had been a rather persistent thorn in her mother's side, as it was easily stained by dirt and general wear and tear from the elements.
It was odd, recalling her mother. She didn't really have a face to put to the moniker anymore. She just sort of filled in the blanks with herself, even though she'd been told she favored her father since she was a baby.
Reese dragged his suitcase a few feet, abruptly ceasing to pick it up and hold it seeing as the gravel path made rolling it both loud and deeply inconvenient. He paid the cab, carefully approaching Victoria as he saw her standing in place, gazing up at the building.
What was he supposed to say? Had this been a good idea to begin with?
"Is it like you remember?" was all he could manage.
He felt immediate regret. He probably should've waited for her to bring it up. This was the kind of thing you usually wanted to talk about on your own terms.
She seemed unbothered by the query.
"Yes and no," she answered honestly. "I guess I just hope the beds are comfortable. I'm exhausted."
Saying that felt strange. It wasn't untrue, not exactly, but it was also pretty damn rich coming from one of them. They moonlighted as demon hunters, how did a day full of sitting wear both of them out?
Reese just nodded, hoping the same.
Truth be told, he wasn't sure what this was. This trip. This distraction. Calling it a 'vacation' felt a bit too strange, but it was one. Of sorts. He was just certain that enjoying it was probably going to be unexpectedly troublesome, considering they'd come with far more baggage than the suitcases they were carrying.
"Be sure to pull up the reservations on your phone for the receptionist," she said as they continued their approach towards the enormous set of double doors that sat idly behind doorman who looked to be somewhere between 'just barely awake' and 'comatose' judging by the way his eyelids fluttered about.
Reese did just that, trying not to focus on the fact that there were still no notifications from Joey.
She pulled out her own phone, immediately greeted to a group text message from the others that took a while to come through because of the plane, no doubt.
Nadia: Hope you guys landed okay! If Reese bugs you during the flight, shove him out the window!
Leo: something something fish n' chips
Nadia: Shut up, dumbass
Izzy: As you can see, nothing unusual here, stay safe over there!
Nova: I don't know what they do or don't allow on planes these days, but you better bring back a bunch of cool stuff!
Leo: they're on an american flight post-9/11, they can't bring back shit, dude
Nova: :(
Izzy: As usual, the real terrorist is inconvenience
Nova: Then take lots of pictures!
Leo: and dont say 'bomb' on the plane
Nadia: I am within driving distance of your home, Marshall
Leo: :)
It was hard not to crack a smile.
She hoped none of them changed. Not a single bit.
They hoisted up their suitcases to clear the stairs to the large front porch area, getting a partial glimpse of the gold light housed inside. From what Victoria could glean, it.... certainly did look like a hotel lobby in there. She couldn't quite remember what the foyer used to look like, but clearly it had been the victim of some serious renovations.
Victoria took a step forward, noting that Reese was still behind her. She spun around, looking at him and trying her best to seem like nothing was wrong.
"Is something wrong?" he asked in a shushed tone, wanting to keep their conversation limited to just the two of them, and not the doorman.
Victoria hastily nodded, trying to allow enthusiastic motion to do the real convincing for her.
He squinted. Unfortunately, he did know her better than that.
"Does it feel weird? Being back?" he asked, his tone softening to that specific tenor he only seemed to use around her. "It's okay if it is, ya know. You don't gotta put on a brave face for me. I'd feel weird, too."
She let the sentiment settle with her, and let out a deflated sigh.
Victoria presently felt weird about a lot of different things. It was a good thing they had a lot of time on their hands.
"I think it'll be easier to articulate myself after a night of sleep and a look around. I'm sorry I've been so... out of sorts. Strange day," she commented bluntly.
Reese knew he'd gotten the truth out of her that time, just not all of it. He may have been kinda nosy, but when it came to Victoria, he had the patience of a saint. Maybe a couple of them.
Reese shook his head, brushing it off like it was nothing. Mainly because to him, it was nothing. Getting to let her do things at her own speed was a privilege he took comfort in witnessing. Victoria's life was about as demanding of her as any set of circumstances any sentient being was born into. He frequently thought himself inadequate and ill-prepared to be a friend, a partner, and a hunter, but he could at least allow her subterfuge when they were alone by not being one of those demanding things.
"I haven't really been myself, either," he confessed. "So... don't sweat it, okay? We're in this together, aren't we?"
She side eye'd the building behind her in her peripheral vision, immediately returning her gaze to something far more agreeable. A pair of deep brown eyes.
I really do miss you, Stephen.
"Yes, I think we are," she said, turning back around so he didn't see her obviously telegraphed hesitancy.
She scanned the exterior one last time.
It was almost unbelievable. Coming back to the house where she was born. Coming back to the house where she died.
She had no real reason to be afraid of it, but she was.