There is blood in the water

Eric looked a little sorry at Jack as he mentioned an early transformation. He knew it wasn’t comfortable, but Eric appreciated that he agreed, and went with it. As soon as the door had been shut behind Jack, he looked back at Victoria licking his lips a little. He exhaled when she tried to assure him that it wasn’t because she was trying to backstab any of them. “I know,” he spoke with a soft voice. “That is what’s most important to me,” he added and nodded a little. He drank a bit of his beer, hearing how she opened another beer. He had been too shocked by the news to drink, so he was behind, compared to Victoria. He sighed when he put the beer down and licked his lips thinking about how he should open the topic. “You don’t feel at home, do you?” he wondered, looking at his interlocked fingers for a moment before he looked towards her. She acted like a cat without a place to live, trying to find comfort wherever. She knew she could always go to Rafael and was confused why she couldn’t go back to her usual spot at any cost. Her home. Their home.

Home, everyone spoke about home. "What is the definition of home even?" She asked shaking her head a little bit. Maybe she was just searching for a way, something that was a little bit familiar about the whole situation. "It took me years to move out of that hell hole of a trailerpark, and only because the thing exploded I hadn't run back to it a long time ago, and now we can't even go back there, it's not fair," she licked her lips a little bit and shook her head, "it's not fucking fair." Victoria took a sharper breath in, and rushed her right hand through her hair in a sigh, "I guess I'm also just a bit jealous on top of it, you all look like you have it all figured out, living away from Southside, and I just don't get it. I don't feel like I belong here, anywhere," she confessed and exhaled, it felt somewhat good getting off her chest. She belonged behind the bar in Southside, talking day and nights with strangers and her friends, being around her people, her family - now what did she do, she was teaching, feeling like an imposter just trying to play the part everyone was convinced she should be playing.

Eric licked his lips a little as Victoria asked what the definition of home was. He wanted to say that home was where the heart is, but he didn’t really want to say that she didn’t love Rafael, but she loved the fights and the jealousy. That couldn’t be a home. She felt home in southside, and she knew trouble, worse than usual, would follow if she went there. That was where her heart was. Eric knew it very well, and it must feel awful not to be able to go home. He understood her as she explained how she felt it was unfair. He moved closer to her as she complained how she didn’t think it was fair. He wanted to comfort her. He could almost remember how they had comforted each other back in the day. It was something that made him feel safe. “I understand,” he mumbled and pulled on a small smile. “But don’t be jealous of us,” he spoke softly, “I’ve just found somewhere, where I feel contempt. I don’t feel at home,” he explained. Even though it tore his heart a little to say such a thing. But his home would most likely always be in southside. “I know you might not like it… But I don’t think you are contempt with Rafael…” he said while lowering his head a little, showing that he didn’t try to be rude.

Victoria took a sharper breath in as Eric said he understood. But that she shouldn't be jealous of them, closing her eyes for a few seconds longer than the usual blink of an eye to just take in the words she had managed to let out like a bomb. Victoria opened her eyes again and listened to Eric still as he added about himself not feeling at home but he was contempt. The next thing ached her heart to hear, but the truth had never been known to not hurt. And it did hurt. Victoria folded her lips a little bit. Her and Rafael had been a twist and uncommitted turn of events ever since they had met, it was only just last year their endless on and off affair had turned to be serious. But then he had went out to hunt Alicia down, and while he was their the things with Anthony had set things off - the fighting and arguing had increased. Mostly because they were both processing and finding out how to deal what had happened over the past months, but everything simply went worse every single time they argued. "So what do I do?" She asked almost completely hopeless and exhausted. Because she was. She looked for answers but everywhere she turned, Victoria only seemed to find more un answered questions.

Eric could immediately see how Victoria felt hurt. She had lived on this pink sky of sweet love, and forgotten to see the reality, that Rafael and her really didn’t match that well. Telling her the truth hurt, because she had never seen it through the right set of glasses.
“Probably not stay with him,” he said looking at her, giving her a short nod. Now, he wasn’t really the one to tell someone to break up with their significant other, but Victoria was acting out and seemingly needed help with taking the right decisions, and even though she had plenty of friends to ask, he believed it might be something different when it came from family.

Probably not stay with him, it stung to hear. It really did. But she couldn't just leave, she was too deep in, wasn't she? After all the on and off, never committing fully to each other, then suddenly they did and now everything was falling apart. Victoria let out a sigh, in hopes off that she would figure it out at some point.


What was the time even by now? Midday, she had wandered mindlessly around for hours since she had left the cabin, left Rafael. It seemed so odd, so wrong, so right and overall she was exhausted from staying out all night. But it had been worth it, pulled just all the right directions of what she wanted. Victoria had felt free and unburdened for the first time in so long. Then of course the heart break of the argument that had led her to walk this path. She was okay. She just needed a job and a place to crash for the next few days. So, she picked up her phone that almost was out of battery, but managed to call Eric, "hey are you nearby?" She knew she sounded sleepy, perhaps like she was having a cold - but it was just the sobbing from earlier.

Eric picked up his phone almost the second it rung. “Hey,” he greeted furrowing his brows a little. He looked at Noa and formed a V with his fingers before he pointed towards the nearest exit so he could talk with Victoria in peace. “Uh, no… But where are you? I can be there,” he said feeling how his ability was ready to go as soon as he had closed the door. As soon as she explained where she was, he told her that he would be there in a second, and true enough, he stood by her a few seconds after he had hung up. As soon as he saw her, he could see that she certainly didn’t feel well, and that things had been rough. Without a word, he let his arms wrap around her, with one hand behind her head. “I’m here,” he spoke softly to her.

She explained where she was based on a few signs around her with names of the roads, because she had honestly walked so much around she barely knew where she actually was. Victoria then hung up, not even up to argue more today if Eric should come or not. And she was just looking at him for second, taking a sharper breath in. Almost having met defeat if he was trying to argue with her too, but if anything Victoria never stopped arguing if she found herself wronged. But the second Eric just wrapped his arms around her she felt like she could exhale, and everything for that moment was okay. It was alright. "I left Rafael," she exhaled closing her eyes shut for a second, because even if it was and could be the right thing to do, it didn't mean it didn't and hadn't hurt like hell. But the more she had walked around here thinking she had come to the conclusion that it had been overdue. Because she was torturing him. Making him upset. She had overstayed her welcome, or at least so it felt like once she pulled the conversations apart.

She spoke words that he believed that she would never say. It had only been a couple of days since Eric had tried to convince Victoria that Rafael wasn’t the best man out there, and that she would feel more contempt somewhere else. “Have you been sleeping at all?” he wondered with a low whisper, knowing very much how she probably had been spiraling whether or not it had been the right thing to do, and probably been close to run back to him a couple of hundred times. Or, maybe it was just because that was what he was used to, their relationship being something that was constantly on and off. “It’s going to be alright, even though it hurts,” he assured her, caressing her gently.

Victoria couldn't help but laugh a little, even if she was standing in a situation that really wasn't fun at all, "that obvious huh?" She took a sharper breath in then pulling out of the embrace after a short moment, moving a couple of tears away with her left hand, then shook her head. "I just got back there around seven this morning, and things just went down the rails from there - but I was out last night, and it was incredible -" despite the sadness it was clear that there had been something last night that had been the major reason for the switch, like she had found the missing piece of the puzzle. "I don't know where to go," she took a sharper breath in, or well she knew where to go, just not where to sleep, giving Eric a sad and tired smile.

Eric hummed a little as she asked if it was that obvious. It was very, very obvious to him. He let her pull out of the embrace but didn’t step away. He kept his spot and watched how she dried her tears. ”What happened last night?” he wondered pulling a soft smile, hoping the incredible thing could cheer her up a little.
He let a hand caress her hair. “You don’t have to worry,” he told her with a caring smile and squeezed her shoulders shortly. He was tempted to tell her that he could steal some money for her to live on, but there was this small voice that told him that there was a better solution than criminal activities. “We’ll find you a place to live, and I know it’ll take time, but in the meanwhile, you can live with Noa and me, okay?” he told her and let his index finger hook under her chin to pull her chin a little up, in a very friendly way, “Chin up, right?” he said with a gentle smile.

"I was just snooping around in a dead rich dude's house, only  with the intention of looking when I got a visit from an old friend of ours. Linus and Francis are in town," she announced, knowing that Eric knew she always had been very intrigued by the Phoenix brother's - or well at least one of them. "So, we just hung out," she could get into details about her meeting with Linus and Eris after she had gotten some sleep. Victoria exhaled a little bit and nodded when he said she shouldn't worry. Oddly enough, there wasn't a flinch of worry in her about making it. She always found a way, this time she would too. Victoria took a sharper breath in an redirected her eyes to Eric as he lifted her chin a bit up, then nodded, not even in the mood to argue with him whether or not it was a good idea. Once Lucas got involved, he didn't want Noa to be the one having to stand between to people or feeling like she had to voice an option against her brother - because if Lucas found out what she had been walking around doing - he would be furious with Victoria. "Always."

For a short moment he got slightly concerned as she mentioned that she was snooping around in a estate of a deceased, but when she mentioned Linus and Francis his brows raised in surprise and a small smile grew on his lips, “Really?” he asked surprised.  He narrowed his eyes a little as she mentioned they had just hung out. Now, he didn’t want to dig into exactly what that meant, but let it slide for now. He just had to remember himself that he wanted to chat with them. Catch up.
Even though Victoria didn’t say anything about living shortly by Noa and Eric, he knew there was something about it. But no matter what, Victoria was his sister, and he would make sure that she had a roof over her head until she got her own place, and for now, that place could be where Noa and Eric lived. “That’s it, champ,” he said with a slightly crooked smile, glad that she seemed to be feeling better. “Want to go home?” he wondered tilting his head a little, ready to give Victoria what he would categorize as a ‘slow’ ride home. She really needed some rest, now that she had used all of her time hanging out with the phoenix brothers.

Really?, "Really - or at least I hung out with Linus." Nothing more needed to say about that, but it had been a rather epic night, and one that somewhat seemed to have been final in her figuring out what had been missing in her life.
Then there was that word again, home, wanting to go home. Knowing what he meant, but it hit somewhere different. Yet, she did make a small nod, knowing she couldn't keep using her powers to keep herself awake, even if she could keep doing so for a while longer. "Let's," she replied knowing that Eric could get them away from the open street rather fast.

Eric folded his lips and nodded slowly, “Hanging out with Linus, of course,” he added with a very hinting tone almost as if he knew that it wasn’t just hanging out. He was almost teasing her.
As soon as he had asked if they should go home, he knew that he had said something wrong, but there was nothing more to do. It had been said. He wrapped his arms around her, asked her once if she was ready before he set off to get home to Noa so he could explain everything to her and so they could fix a spot for her to sleep on. She really needed some sleep, and he wouldn't even mind if she fell asleep on the way. The only difference there would be would be whether or not he let her walk in herself or not.

She had forced herself to sleep after last night. After all the information that had filled up her head to a point where she just waited for it to explode. Everything was so dark and twisted, even her dreams she only heard the screams from Mono as Anthony had killed him. She remembered every single detail about it, the crooked smile, Anthony's need to feel powerful - you could see it in the smile of this, the spark in his eyes. "Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" Daisy had asked standing in the door looking at Victoria. Victoria had nodded, "I will be just across the street, I just want him to know - Eric deserves to know," Daisy didn't argue against it and just tugged a lock of hair behind Victoria's ear before Victoria walked out the door and to the small park area across the streets.

It was around lunch time so she knew she wasn't ruining another morning for Eric and Noa, more so she knew Noa most likely was a work, so Eric had nothing better to do. So, she texted him her coordinates and texted him to be here as soon as he saw the message, ending with a heart emoji, just so he knew it wasn't life or dead. Even so it sort of was. Victoria just sat down on a bench waiting for Eric.

Eric received a message just after he had run through a class for thunderbird history, which had made all papers fly up in the air – just to do something and to possibly gain a conversation with Jack at some point. Eric was incredibly bored now that he couldn’t go to southside. He already knew every part of sweet Aston, because for him, no exploring took that much time, except of course if he had to go into details. And going into details was something he did when he took his trips with Noa. He loved those, but when she was at work, he couldn’t really get himself to dig deep into exploration.
Therefore he was relived when he got a text from Victoria. He hadn’t heard from her for a while and believed she had been busy. He simply texted her a running emoji to tell her that he was on his way. The found ended in his pocket and he looked through the glass in the door to Jack’s classroom before he waved to the seemingly annoyed Jack.

He arrived at the park and jogged a few slow steps before he picked up where she was. He walked towards her with a somewhat relived smile, only to have it lessened as he came closer. “What’s up?” he wondered, almost sounding worried. Even though her message had seemed to sound relaxed, he figured that she had just tried to calm him down, because there was certainly something going on.

What's up? How was even going to become easy to say? Where did she even start, and for once she was maybe regretting not having Daisy or Cassian with her to help her get the words to form over her lips. "A lot," she replied with a slightly shaken voice, and ran her hand frustrated over her dark brown curls. "I died few nights ago," she started folding her lips, "and - Mono is dead," she took a sharper breath in feeling how her vision already got blurred from the tears forming, from the ache her heart was experiencing. Victoria at this point didn't really think of how the words effected the people she told, well she hadn't told anyone else at this point other than the ones that already knew, but she just needed it off her chest. "Anthony - it was Anthony," she shook her head a little bit and exhaled, while her tears just started to run down her cheeks. She hadn't even been in Southside, Anthony had dragged her there, making it seem more like her own fault than his that she had stepped onto the land. But it was just the top of the iceberg really. Just the top.

He furrowed his brows a little and sat down next to her as she had replied that a lot was up. He could clearly see that something was going on. He was about to budge in as she said she had died a few nights ago. What did she mean by that? But he stopped when he noticed how it wasn’t the only thing that was her. Mono was dead. It all clung to his heart and tried to pull him down, but he stayed strong. He took one of her hands as he noticed how her eyes glistened a bit more. She revealed who was behind it all and he didn’t hesitate to pull her into a hug. “I’m so sorry…” he mumbled to her and slowly caressed her. “But…” he furrowed his brows a little, “How are you here?” he wondered still wanting to keep her close. He couldn’t really believe that she died a few days ago and nobody had told him? Who knew about this?

She knew it had to sound crazy, actually she wasn't even sure what she just had said. All the words were up in a bit mix of thoughts, raining over her along with her emotions and thoughts. Then he hugged her, and her arms closed around her brother, just holding him close. It was first when he ask how she was here, that she pulled back. Victoria ran her hands over her face and further through her hair, "I respawned, self-resurrection Daisy calls it. I've stayed with Cassian and Daisy since, it's all very complicated," her voice got lower and lower for every sentence. Mostly in attempt to figure out what to say and what not to say. Then there was the whole thing about her having found her biological mother, not having known she was adopted till now - seemly because her actual brother Mateo had found her along with their mother. Victoria tilted her head a little analyzing her little brother's facial expression while he processed all of it; "I wanted to tell you myself, Jack knows mostly because of Scarlett feeling I died. Daisy too -" she gestured to the bigger house on the other side of the road with perhaps the biggest garden of all.

The way she run her hands through her hair, he could almost see immediately how she clearly wasn’t feeling alright. “Very complicated,” he agreed with worried, furrowed brows. So, seemingly she had an ability or a gift of some sort to respawn or self-resurrect. When she explained who knew about it, he nodded a little. He could complain all that he wanted about not getting the information earlier, but to him, the most important thing was that she was alive. He went in to hug her again. “I’m glad you did,” he mumbled and stroked her hair a little. “I’m just so glad you’re still here,” he whispered to her. God, he felt that it was overwhelming. If she hadn’t had her ability, he wouldn’t have her here anymore.

The second embrace nearly made her crumble again, even if she was so happy that she hadn't died. Mono had still died, knowing that in a few years time his curse would make him come back, but not as himself - but looking like a ghost from her past coming back to haunt her. "Yeah me too," she whispered. Victoria wanted to tell him about the other things that kept her from finding peace at the moment. Sophia and how she was her biological mother, that she had met Mateo who was her half brother by blood - how everything that night had just been one big rollercoaster ride that never seemed to stop ending. "There is more," she whispered in a half choked sob.

There’s more.
He slowly pulled away, from the hug but not completely, his hands were on her shoulder, and looked at her. One of his hands caressed her cheek as he looked at her. “What else, Victoria?” he wondered with a soft voice, almost whispering. “What has happened?” he added. His eyes shifted from looking from one of her eyes to the other. He understood that it had been quite a rollercoaster, and to help her the best, he had to know as much as possible. She knew that. His hand that had caressed her cheek removed a strand of hair, knowing that too many special events might blow the card tower and she would have to retreat a little to put things back together. No matter how much it was ruined, and how long it would take, he would always be there to help and pick her up. He wasn’t going to let her walk in shit to the neck alone.

Where did she even start? It wasn't like she knew much about Sophia and Mateo. She knew very little actually. Or Daisy happened to know a little about Sophia, so had Cassian - but it wasn't like she had asked. Her mind had been elsewhere. "I'm adopted," she let those words run over her cheek, she perhaps found the comfort in knowing Eric too was taken in by James. And it was always weird the day you realized you weren't related to your family by blood. "I met my biological mother when I woke up after I died, and my half brother - they took care of me till Cassian and Daisy showed up," she explained taking a deeper breath in. Learning her mother had been raped by Victoria's own father, that she was a product of such a violent act, she wondered if that was what her birth mother would see every time she looked into her eyes. A reminder of that time.

Her words made him feel like his heart suddenly disappeared. As if he was never supposed to feel anything about her words. He felt empty somehow. As if she was becoming more distant from him. It was almost to be compared to the feeling when you, as a child suddenly figured that you were adopted, and it had been kept a secret all of your life. Suddenly you just felt like you weren’t even the person you believed you were. “What?” he whispered. She elaborated a second later. “Are-” he hesitated for a moment, “Are they nice?” he wondered softly, pulling a small smile even though the news had him quite speechless. Eric got this, small nagging feeling that he was more alone, because their father hadn’t really been a father to them the last many years, and now, all of a sudden, she was less family than she was from the start, and he didn’t even know where he came from. Wasn’t it great to know where she came from?