Unsettling news - Boadicea

“The fear that I’m really just the kind of father to leave when things get hard?” He asked, even though he wasnt trying to be hurtful with his words. He could agree that it had seemed like he had been fleeing from having to deal with the problems, but he still wasnt sure why he had acted as he did - He just knew he hadnt been fleeing. “I’d never run. I guess I just couldnt stay idle any longer. I needed answers,” he said with a small smile, stopping as Dinah seemed to need a break.
“Never. It’s tiresome at times, but I’d rather worry than not care at all,” he explained as he supported himself up against the wall with his arm. He knew that he was very good at worrying fast, but this time it felt different. The hound yelped as Baal gritted his teeth, touching a burn mark far too close to the artifact, “Had she known where to hit, I wouldnt be standing here,” he mumbled quietly to himself as he took in a deep breath with his eyes closed. He hadnt even fought her in any way, he had let her hurt him in the hopes that she would have seen his passive approach to her attack as him not wanting a fight. He straightened his back as he looked at Dinah, grabbing her arm as he pulled it over his back for her to support herself against him for a while. His legs were fine, it was just the burning feeling of the holy power in the handmarks that weakened him. “I know it wont change our past. But I should have been easier on the relationship that you and Eaden shared,” he suddenly said as he walked, a slow pace, but it was forward at least. “I have come to terms with Eaden’s everburning wrath. At least there’s some comfort in him sticking around for Buffy and Nessa,” he said as he made a small scoff, shaking his head a little at how he had seen Eaden be so kind around his little sister. He wondered if that was just how he was when he wasnt near to anger him. “I thought I was keeping you both safe by keeping you apart. Because of the way things were back then. But I was wrong,” he said before he stopped to catch a break from walking. He leaned against the wall taking in a deep breath.

Jake pulled his other hand out of his pocket as Nessa wrapped her arms around him, keeping his hand on the back of her head as the other closely wrapped itself around her. Her whisper made him smile as he looked down at her, stroking her scalp gently as he felt calmer than he had been in a long while. The exercises with Kyle were tiresome, even more when the wolf didnt seem to want to connect in that way. It was like it was waiting, keeping Jake locked out till the time would come where it would take over and dictate the body. It wasnt really surprising that Jake didnt want that for himself, but as Nessa had said she wouldnt live to see spring, he knew he had to do something fast. Her question pulled him out of his mind as he looked down at her, making a sad yet not kind smile, “It’s hard with the wolf. He’s like a voice in the back of my head, judging, whispering about everything I do. I just wanted to get it under control before seeing you again,” he explained, thinking he sounded a little silly, but he meant it. “When you look at me, I feel like most times, you see me for something that I’m not,” he added as he looked down at her with a more serious expression, shifting between her eyes. “But I want to be that person that you see me as,” he finally said, frowning a little as he stroked her hair ever so gently.

Leona sat there listening to Buffy explain what had occured to her. It all seemed like a hasty half savored memory, but Leona knew it was what it was like - Hell she barely remembered dying hadnt she felt her own awakening so strongly when she came back to life. Buffy spoke of a demon, which Leona assuned to be the one she intended to marry, quite curious as to why she wasnt saying his name when she had had no problem in introducing Vanessa. But it was also weird to hear her niece speak so fondly of someone who would have been of evil origin, a demon that would go out of it’s way to save a human? Why was that so? The question was intriguing to explore, but Leona would never tread those waters, knowing how well the family had recieved Buffy for her curiousities in the past. Sticking to viewing demons as wholly evil was all that Leona could stick to - For now. She looked at Vanessa as the demon girl was mentioned, frowning a little as Buffy went on, yet she wasnt angry. She nodded as Buffy finished, smiling gratefully at Vanessa, “Even though I dont understand, it’s nice to know that my niece hasnt been all alone in her struggles were I was absent,” she said before she reached her hand out for Vanessa to take, “Thank you,” she said in a sincere tone, which wasnt going to stick around. Vanessa raised her eyebrows at the hand, but took it to give it a solid squeeze. Leona let go after the squeeze, placing her hand on her lap as she looked at Buffy. “I must admit, it’s all very new and odd to me. I have yet to understand,” she admitted, hoping Buffy would understand.

The door opened as Eaden seemed to almost barge in through the door, grabbing the door frame as he was trying to catch his breath. “Buffy... Father told me to....” he stopped as he frowned a little, looking up as he looked at Leona’s hand, feeling the hairs on his neck rise as the holy power underneath the skin wasnt to be mistaken of. “Someone that looked like her,” he mumbled. Leona frowned in confusion, moving her eyes around like she was calculating whether she had to fight or not.

He had always known that Dinah had blamed herself for him not allowing Eaden near her, but hearing her finally speak of it made him feel like he was right to believe that his decision to keep them apart had done more harm than good. He let her speak, even though he still wasnt too fond of thinking about it in the sense that it was - But he wanted to accept them for what they were, not stay in his old beliefs that he could change them. “I can never mend what’s broken between Eaden and I, never fully at least. He doesnt want my love, and I dont blame him. I wasnt a good father to him, not like I was with you” he said with a sad look in his eyes as he exhaled deeply, “But it seems that he doesnt need me, not like he needs you, Buffy and Nessa. I can live with that,” he said as he made a little sad smile, it wasnt that pleasant to know that Eaden would resent him for all eternity if needed be, but there was some comfort in knowing that he didnt aim it towards anyone else anymore. Dinah’s words were true, so he couldnt blame her for the shame he felt at them. He pushed himself off the wall as he placed Dinah’s arm back around him. “Shouldnt be that far now,” he said as he looked ahead. His mind seemed to wander back into his worries and he scoffed before he chuckled softly, “I hope I havent passed on my tendency to worry,” he said as he looked at his daughter.

Jake scoffed in a emotion-ridden chuckle at her words, he just couldnt really believe that it was so. He didnt feel like the person she seemed to see him as, how could he be? He was just a young, dumb boy who screwed up the garden and had some holy kind of werewolf blood in his veins. How could she look at him with such gentle eyes, make him feel so precious with just the way she was looking at him? “It’s hard to believe. I know who I am. I am most definitely not this guy that you seem to see,” he said, shaking his head as he felt her hand caress him so calmingly. He swallowed hard, wondering why she seemed to make his hands feel a little damp and his heart in some state of out of rhytm? She spoke again and he shifted between her eyes as he listened. Frankly he wished for that too as he found it so hard to understand. She moved her hand and he felt that soft skin to skin contact like a shiver running down his spine. She closed her eyes but he kept his open as he looked at her. “I’ll stop telling you that I’m busy all the time,” he said rather seriously as he placed his hand over hers, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. He knew he was just making promises now to feel less like he was just taking and taking her comfort and care, but he did mean his words in a way too. “But I cant believe that you can see me for who I am and love that,” he narrowed his eyes, knowing he was speaking lowly of himself, but he had always been that way when it came to his self worth.

Leona smiled at Buffy’s hopeful words, nodding as she looked at her niece, “Of course. I’ll always trust you before anyone else. You are my sister’s daughter and legacy,” she said, feeling her voice sadden a little at her own words about her sister. It was no secret that Leona had always been close with her sister, that the two had been like best friends till Leona had disappeared, only to come back and find out that her sister was no more. It was a wound that simply never would heal fully, but there was some comfort in staying close to Buffy. But as soon as she had spoken, the demon had barged in, making all her inner alerts ring as she felt that dark energy in him. Eaden looked to Buffy as she walked up to him, taking in a few hasty breaths as he searched his mind at an incredible speed, trying to find the answers to her questions, “He’ll manage,” he said, as he swallowed, feeling like his heart could burst from the strain he had gotten from pushing himself like this. “Dinah’s with him. They’re coming here,” he said rather quickly to her next question, but her hand was slowly seeming to calm him down. He turned his eyes to the angel, frowning a little as he kept looking at her hand. He noticed the bandage hidden under her sleeve as he then looked up at her face. “What’s bit you?” He asked with hasty breaths that gradually to a more controlled and calm breathing. Leona glanced down at her arm, “A beast,” she said truthfully as Eaden then frowned. “Thought so,” he said as he ran his hand through his hair, sending Buffy a subtle warning look. Leona’s look seemed rather neutral as she looked at them before she rose from the couch, “I met a demon in the other part of town. He came directly from hell, the evil energy flowing around him like a fog. I was just trying to do my duty,” she said with a stern voice looking at the demon close to Buffy.

“I’ll try my best. I dont hate your brother, I never have,” he said, feeling like he had to clarify that he hadnt ever harboured ill feelings towards his son. It was true that he might have favored Dinah over him and he wished that he hadnt been so obvious in his selfish acts towards his children. But done was done. He nodded at her words about Eaden needing him. It was hard to believe, but it didnt seem impossible to be true. He chuckled at her words about her mother, nodding as he thought so. “She was the glue that kept the family together,” he said, a little sadder in the tones as he thought about it for a bit. How she had always kept him on track and so delicately kept him from doing things he would come to regret. He frowned a little, feeling like it was a lifetime ago, which it frankly was. Dinah’s question made him sigh as he had given it some thought. “I think I always will, in a way. But not as the love of my life, not anymore. As the mother of my children, as the person that took a part of my life to keep always,” he explained as he looked at Dinah, hoping it made sense, as it did to him. He scratched his neck, giving it some more thought. “I’m enamored by Buffy and her being. It’s hard to describe in any other way,” he said as he shook his head, feeling like words couldnt do what he felt for the hybrid any justice. “It’s similar to what I once felt for you mother, yet completely different, with it’s own set of hardships and complications,” he said as he turned down a street, knowing they were close.

He wanted to believe, truly and wholly he wanted to, but he couldnt. Maybe it was the lingering remains of the heartbreak forcing his mind to think of all sorts of reasons why he wasnt good enough, and he knew the enhancement on his own selfdoubt was a passing thing. He bit the inside of his lower lip as she spoke of going back, wanting to tell her that she wanted her to stay just a little longer. The wolf wasnt shy of demanding, but Jake knew that family was important. She had to go back so they could see her be fine and not like the state she had left them in. She was listening to his heart, pounding a little as he felt the insides of his palms still be a little damp from having her so close. “I probably wouldnt be. But sometimes it has to be that way. We’ll see each other more often now, alright? It’ll work out in the end,” he said with a small smile, trying to be as comforting to her as she had been to him. He had seen his father be comforting to the people he loved and how he seemed to do it with ease, yet Jake didnt find it easy at all - Being neevous he said the wrong thing or something that wasnt quite enough.

Eaden knew Buffy would catch on eventually hadnt Leona started to explain ahead. He frowned a little, not because he didnt think that his father wasnt deserving of a little pain, but because he knew it hurt Buffy more. Her whisper made him clench his jaw but it didnt seem like her aunt caught up on her words as it was just a whisper. Leona saw how Buffy leaned onto Vanessa, frowning a little as she seemed to understand, “I didnt mean to hurt your fiancé, if that’s what you’re thinking Boadicea. You know me,” she said with a serious tone just as the tall demon stepped in with a young looking woman under his arm. Leona stared at him as she lifted her hand to grasp around her bandage. Baal couldnt finish the conversation with Dinah before they walked in, looking at his attacker in a half-surprise half-expectation as he wasnt sure what to say. He sighed in relief as he saw Buffy in front of him, smiling as she inspected his wounds. “It’s alright,” he whispered to her with an assuring voice, not wanting her to worry about it. Eaden went to Dinah, wrapping his arms around her as he held her close to him. “Ahuvati shelli,” he mumbled in her hair as he felt like he had been reunited with his missing piece.

As the dark angel turned her attention to her, Leona just kept her eyes on her in silence as the angel spoke. As soon as she had seen the demon walk in, she knew what they knew. She crossed her arms as she looked at the girl, “I did what I’ve vowed to do my whole life. What good would there be in a demon who’s returning from hell?” She asked with a tone just as stern as the angel’s. She looked to where Buffy had gone, sighing as she ran a hand through her hair, “I acted on behalf of every slayer. Should I had spared him? Trust that his intentions wouldnt be ending innocent lives?” She shook her head with a deep frown. She didnt believe it. “You cant just make a judgement based on assumption,” Eaden scorned her, but she just turned her face with a calm demeanor to greet his angry eyes, “I have to,” she said before she turned to Dinah again.
Vanessa just kept a little in the background, seeing how Leona seemed to be clashing with the twins made the young demon turn her face to the bedroom as she was worried what would happen if Buffy were to see this. She had felt like she was on guard ever since the angel arrived, but it was just the way the angel seemed to look at everyone but Buffy, like she wouldnt mind killing them in cold blood right here and now.

Baal smiled a little at Buffy as she laid him down, placing a hand on her cheek as he looked at her face, “You can thank Spot for me being here. I wouldnt have been if he hadnt pulled her away,” he said as he pushed himself up on his elbow, gritting his teeth a little as it hurt, yet he didnt want to just lie down and feel useless. “It was my own fault, I went to hell to talk to my father, trying to figure out what this all means,” he said, not wanting to keep anything hidden from the woman he loved with all his heart. “But I didnt end up in hell at first,” he said as he frowned a little, moving his thumb along her cheekbone, “I met Ivory in limbo. I dont know how I managed to get there, it doesnt make sense to me, but she was there. She told me that she’ll come back to be among the living,” he added as he shifted between her green eyes, knowing it probably wasnt pleasant to hear if she still had her fears. “She knows about you and what you mean to me,” he said before he exhaled deeply and removed his hand from her cheek.

Jake smiled a little at her words, knowing had she been any other girl, he’d think that it wouldnt be just a innocent sleepover. But he liked that about Nessa, how everything was simple and out in the open, so when she said sleepover, it was what it was. He had a hopeful smile on his lips, as his eyes met hers. “I dont think that would be wise,” he then said as he shook his head a little, knowing that even though she was simple, he was still a young man with the mindset of one to match - The wolf might had sped up certain things in his mind, but he wasnt all that changed. And the way his palms felt so sweaty at her being near assured him that his body had another idea. But Nessa just seemed to certain that it could work, how could he not let her have her way and just follow? He swallowed hard as he gave it some thought, as the last thing he wanted was to make her feel rejected or hurt. “I’ll be sleeping on the floor. We can hold hands, but not risk any teenage dumb-foolery,” he said, a necesserity more than a suggestion.

Her words rendered him speechless for a bit, mostly because he hadnt expected her fears to be in that sort of way. He knew she needed to say it, so he waited, letting her say what she needed to say. When she finished, he moved a little on his elbow to get more comfortable as he looked at her face for a bit. “I’ll give you nothing but honesty. I cant tell you what the future may bring, but what I do know is that I would fight for us with all my might,” he said as he felt her lips on his, feeling the tiny tingles in his core at the gentle way her lips moved over his. He closed his eyes as he felt her forehead shortly before she moved away. He laid back down, sighing as he just wanted her to stay and forget the world. Yet it was just his selfish thoughts getting the best of him. He nodded as she left, closing his eyes even though he was sure he couldnt sleep. He closed his eyes and clenched the mark in his hand as he placed his arm over his eyes. The hound lifted it’s head in the livingroom, sitting down as it seemed to idly observe was what going on.

Leona scoffed at Dinah’s words, “I follow the orders I’m given. They point and I oblige,” she said with a frown, feeling like the angel saw her as someone who enjoyed killing. As she kept staring at her, Leona kept her eyes on her as well as if a staredown was happening in this very room. Eaden held Dinah’s hand, pulling a little at it as he felt a worry grow. He was sure Dinah could handle the angel, but if she were to get hurt in even the slightest, he was sure he would lose it. Vanessa nodded at Dinah’s words, stepping a little back as she subtly cut her palm with a sharp nail, feeling the blood slowly form in her hand. She lookef at Leona as she kept her distance, yet her face didnt show any signs of her distrust, but she did feel angry that this angel might have hurt Baal as she considered him a good friend. Leona looked at Dinah with a frown as she seemed to recognize her, only that it didnt seem to faze the blonde angel. But the notion that she had been right in assuming Dinah thought she liked it made her angry. Eaden eyed Leona as he started shaking his head slightly while he begged in his mind for her to keep her mouth shut, like he knew her next words would be pissing him off. “You can think what you want, I dont have to explain myself to you,” she said in a distasteful tone, her dislike for the dark energy in Dinah shining through her words. Eaden sighed deeply as he lifted a hand to freeze Leona’s bones in place, letting go of Dinah as he walked up to her, “If you ever speak of my sister in that tone again,” he said in a low calm tone as he removed a blonde string of hair from her shoulder. He looked back at her, rolling the strand between his fingers, “I’ll make sure you’ll never speak again,” he then said in a serious tone, keeping his hand in control of her bones. He walked back to Dinah, yet Leona didnt seem to mind not having control over her body. “Dont you have your own orders to follow?” She asked with a  cold tone. Buffy came back into the room and Leona would have turned her face to look at her, had she been able to. Eaden was grinding his teeth a little as Buffy asked her question, frowning as he let go of her bones to let her move again. Leona looked at Buffy with sad eyes, as she knew she couldnt lie. “Boadicea. You know the code,” she said with sad eyes as she looked at her niece. She sighed deeply, “I hurt him,” she admitted, making Vanessa frown as she felt her blood boil. But instead of doing something rash, she kept her calm, though the blood was still moving around in her hand, ready to solidify at any time.