I want it all... no... I want the world (TW)

Cassandra, a somewhat brutal being herself, enjoyed how the demon screamed as she closed her jaws on his finger, severing it from his hand. The scream was like music to her, after what he had done to her. One finger for five nails - a bargain for him!
With a hiss, the demon disappeared as his boss decided to finally leave Tidus alone for a moment and focus on the other witch in the room. As Cassandra and Collin were forced to look at Tidus, she felt how her stomach churned and nausea grew in her throat. A Devil’s tra. She grinded her teeth, as they returned to normal human-form. She wanted to cry, scream and yell at the same time - feelings she had forgotten excited now roamed freely in her mind. A snap with his fingers, and she witnessed how her brother - the true love of her life - was being assaulted just as she had been all those times. She stopped breathing, as her eyes remained focused on Tidus’ face. She was livid. Her voice, as she spoke, had changed. Now, it was as dominant as an alpha to his beta. The words, however, was unrecognizable. Why? She was speaking in her father’s native tongue; draconian. As she spoke, the collar around her neck shattered as her neck had grown several inches and was covered by cobber-colored scaled. As soon as the collar had lost its effect, she turned her head and looked at the witch whom she was inches from killing with her bare hands. She wanted it to stop - and she had no idea how to. She was seeing red. She was ready to strangle him, for ever touching her brother.

She got up from the chair, breaking out of her chains like they were nothing. ‘’Stop using my name as if we know each other,’’ she warned him. ‘’Make it stop. Now.’’ She demanded. Had they forgotten that she had survived Jasper? Her mother? Jonathan? Had they forgotten she wasn’t going to cave? Or, were they just stupid enough to think that she would ever bow down to acknowledge them as superior to her? With a whip of her arm, blood ran from her hand and down to the pool of her own blood mixed with Lazy’s on the floor. The mixed blood shot across the floor, impaling one of the demons that was attacking Tidus, right up through the rear end and up through the demon’s throat. It was hard to survive something like that, usually. Collin looked at Cassandra with fear painted across his face. He had seen her mad - but not like this. Who was she even?

Cassandra didn’t break off eye contact with the witch. ‘’I won’t bother threatening you. Let them walk out. You’ve had your fun, at least for tonight.’’ She said, trying to act all tough. In reality, she needed to make sure nothing happened to Tidus. She needed to protect him, not only as her brother but as her Don. She had sworn to give her life to protect him - although she had never told him that. Was she scared of Darius? Oh yes. Terrified. But she needed to remain somewhat fearless in appearance. ‘’You can have me to have your fun with, for now.’’ She said, smiling challenging at him. Would he accept her challenge? Breaking her? ‘’Put him in the chair and have your fun with me. Let me see what you are capable off, instead of flexing your men.’’ She then dared him. Was he more powerful than her? Probably. Was it a risk worth taking if it could save Tidus? Yes.

Collin didn’t agree. He tried to say something, but Cass silenced him with a single word; ‘’Quiet.’’. Collin didn’t dare go against her when she was like this. She wasn’t going to take rejection well. Reject her offer - her challenge - and she would let hell loose of the Dark Angels.

Darius admits... He was surprised. He always knew what to do. But now… now he was a little dumbfounded. Something there wasn’t clear to see on his face. Instead a smile of impressed wonder appeared on his lips. To give the dragon some space, he took a step back and turned his head, only to see how blood was thrown through the room. Like a knife, it pierced one of his men, trough the ass and out of his mouth. Like a pig on a stick. It made Darius smile. He was impressed by her abilities.
The pierced demon on the other hand, landed on top of Tidus, which made the other men back away with disgust and just a tiny bit of fear. In rather confusion, they looked over at their Don. Their Don on the other hand, had his attention turned on the witch/dragon in front of him. Tidus laid beneath the demon and immediately saw his chance, to kick it away, with a sound of disgust.
One raised hand from Darius later, and the 2 men had gone from Tidus side, to stand next to their Don.
“I´m not tempted in having fun with you Cassandra,” he said and let his hand fall next to his side. “I respect you too much. A fellow witch. And clearly… a dragon too.” He nodded with a smile and made a hand signal, for his men to leave. The men left, not even bothered to take the corpse of their friend with them.
Tidus was quick to put on his pants. His humiliation could wait. Right now, he was too fascinated about Cassandra, not to mention worried. His wounds stung a little as he got up on his legs.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Darius noticed how Tidus got up on his legs, which made him grew a smirk. That well knowing smirk.
“It´s done. How about you and I get a drink? Then we can leave your brother´s alone.” His voice purred. It was almost scary how calm he was in the situation. “I promise not to touch them more for now.”
With one snap, he removed the devil´s tra and Tidus could move again. With a blink of an Eye, Tidus had placed himself in front of Darius, in between him and Cassandra.
“This is between you and me. Let them go. Now.”
“I know.” sharp and short he spitted. “You´re bleeding. Maybe you should take it easy. Those wounds aren´t gonna heal you know.”
He now looked over at Collin. “Once again. If you want. You can leave with your sister.” with that, he snapped his finger´s once again and Collin was free.
This made Tidus look over at Collin. His blue eyes almost pleaded for the werewolf to grab Cassandra and just get out of here. He knew Cassandra would be so pissed. But Tidus was on the edge of a breakdown. A breakdown he didn’t want her to see.
“That… or we could all go grab a cocktail?”

She had been used to Jasper taking her offer without hesitation - her body instead of being a menace to his son. She didn’t expect this witch to do the same, no. She expected him to attack her the moment her offer had been exclaimed. Instead, he stepped back a bit as she stood in front of him, and in a look of amusement he watched as she killed one of his members without even looking at the fellow. Collin, who knew Cassandra to be reckless and often fearful, now saw who sh had become. He didn’t like it one bit!

She listened as the don spoke, telling her how he respected her. It didn’t look like that, considering her hand was missing her nails. The smirk grew on his lips, as he saw Tidus get up. Once again, she was ready to fight, as she straightened her back. Then, the offer of a drink presented itself, making her look at the don with a warning expression on her face. He promised to let her brothers be for now, which was a deal she was just about to accept, when Tidus stepped in between them.

The moment Tidus spoke, Cassandra placed herself next to him, facing Darius. With a hand on her brother’s shoulder, trying to show him that she wasn’t scared of staying behind with the don, she looked at Darius. “Stop offering my brother to leave with me as if I was an object to be transported.” She said, as Collin got up from his chair, rubbing his neck and chin. Profanities left his lips in a mumble. Cassandra looked shortly at Tidus. “He is right, Tidus. You need to take it easy... go home.” She said, clearly not allowing a discussion there. “I want to see how this fraud thinks respect is shown - as a fellow witch.” She said, looking at the don once more. “One drink - and you allow my brothers to return home without further harm.” She said, raising an eyebrow as a challenge to the don. She wasn’t sure he even considered her something remotely equal to him, but she knew that if their magic had to determine their worth, she was a weapon as much as he. Collin walked up to his sister, almost pulling her away from the situation as he grabbed her arm once more. “Don’t.” She warned Collin in a low voice. “You were ready to leave him behind. You get him back home, safe, or we’re done. For good.” She said, clearly furious that Collin had tried to leave Tidus behind. She looked back at Darius, as Collin backed away slowly, hands in the air to signal that he would do as told.

“One drink. Deal or no deal?” She said, tilting her head slightly. She needed to know more about Darius, and this was a great opportunity to do so.

Darius wanted to say something, but, he didn’t even get the chance, before Tidus growled loudly and stood in front of Cass. The eyes of sapphire blue were lid up in anger. “NO! enough with you putting yourself in my place! Enough, enough, enough!”
He hated feeling vulnerable like this. And just like her, his voice was a low warning, of this was not up to a discussion.
This scenery made the witch laugh loudly. Even loud enough to make it sound like a maniac. He put a hand on Tidus shoulder and felt how the blonde twitched underneath the touch. “Don´t worry blondie, I wasn´t going to say yes. I´m not interested in her, the same way Jasper was. She´s not even the one I´m interested in…” he got so rudely interrupted, by a sudden force, pushing him away and horrible pain on his face. He could taste the blood on his lips before he even realized he was bleeding. Surprised, the strong witch took a hand up to his face. Blood was now running down his fingers.
As he looked in front of him, Tidus stood there, with his demon claws out and a mixed look of pain and anger. “STEP. BACK. NOW.”
Darius chuckled. Low, like a maniac. “My. My. My.”
Tidus skin slowly turned from pale to dark grey, his claws getting longer and sharper. “STEP BACK!” He screamed loudly and demonic. A scream almost loud enough to break the windows.
This shook Darius out of context, as he put his hands up to his ears and fell on one knee. With the witch distracted, Tidus quickly took Cass hand and ran out of the chambers. As long, as the explosion collar was around their necks, he couldn’t use his portals or his mind reading. Something that really could have been in handy now.
He assumed Collin ran after them.
Running through their headquarters, Tidus had no idea where to go, he just needed to get away. The way Darius members laughed so hysterically, when they noticed them, made it ran cold down his spine. Their laughter made him remember their touches on his skin. It made him close his eyes and try to lock out their voices.

The way Tidus reacted make her step back a bit - not because she was scared of him, but because she had to respect her don's wish.
Cassandra had never offered herself to Darius in the way Jasper had taken her. He had misunderstood her offer completely. She was offering him to torture her, instead of Tidus. Cassandra had gone through torture more than once and survived. Tidus, on the other hand... She wasn't sure he would be able to survive such a thing spiritually.

Tidus' scream had the exact same effect on Cassandra as it had on Darius - only, she didn't get a chance to react before he has grabbed her hand and was storming off with her. Her ears stung, feeling like the eardrum would burst anytime. The laughter of the Dark Angels was easily fixed, if she had been able to regain her composure. Collin, only a few meters behind them, smiled a gruesome smile as he finally saw an opportunity to do something himself. As Tidus was storming off with Cassandra, Collin remained behind, enjoying the feast of corpses he would be able to devour later. In a swift movement his hands has changed, almost mimicking those claws Tidus had. With the power of a polar bear and the claws of a wolf, he easily mangled those members that approached them, until they finally was out of the Dark Angels Headquarters. All of a sudden, she felt the pain in her hand, as she pulled it from Tidus' grip, only to see the blood still dripping from her hand. Lazy had been a bit too loose when removing her nails, making sure that the healing process would be painful as well... Collin, now soaked in blood, looked at Tidus cautiously as he placed himself next to Cassandra.
"That was what you were doing the whole time...? Taking his place?" he sighed at Cassandra, looking at her with something resembling pain in his eyes.
"I am not going to apologize for trying to spare someone I love from harm. You thought me that. If all I am going to hear is you guys blaming me, you guys better just remain silent." she said, not even looking at them - instead, she was looking at her bloody hand.
Then, she opened her mouth and with one of the remaining nails on her unscathed hand, she dug out a long piece of flesh from between her teeth." he could at least have washed his hands before rummaging around it my mouth," the witch sighed, flicking the flesh from her finger onto the floor.
"well, you didn't have to chew off his finger, sweetheart! You could have settled for a single joint?" Collin chuckled at her knowing that she would be hopelessly aggressive towards anyone that tried to lecture her now.

He didn’t even notice that they had escaped the headquarters, before Cass pulled her hand to her, in pure pain. A bit apologizing, he looked back at her, now only to see how Collin came up beside her. His muscular body soaked in blood. And no longer could Tidus hear the laughter of the dark angels.
worried the demon looked around. Frightened to see Darius face appear out of the blue again. Cassandra and Collin´s voices were a low whisper to him. His focus was on the surroundings. This made him put a hand up to his neck. The collar… they were still wearing the collar!
In pure terror, he looked over at Collin and Cassandra. They were still wearing the collar. In any minute, Darius could press the button on the remote and they would be blown into a million pieces.
“The collars,” he said, starring into nothing. The blue eyes so empty. “One press on a button and we´re toast.” Slowly he started to move. Only to find himself starting to walk back to the headquarters. “I have to get back… I have to make him remove it…”
He looked back at Cassandra. “I know… it´s a bad idea. But I… I don´t know what else to do.” His voice was so empty. He knew he should be commenting on her flesh between her teeth, the blood running from her nails, but he just couldn’t keep his focus now. He did try to find some sanity though, as he looked at them both, still with a hand on the collar. “Unless… you got a better idea?”
The crosses on his skin started to sting more and more.

She noticed the demon’s fright in his eyes as soon as he touched his collar. He started to back away - back to Darius - and all of a sudden, she saw herself walking back to Jasper. She grinded her teeth, as she reached out with her aching hand and grabbed Tidus on his wrist. ‘’Come on… Let me try first,’’ she said, stopping him from returning to the rival-don.
Collin reached out to her, a silent way of him to beg her to be careful, but she ignored him. Gentle, Cassandra allowed the bleeding hand to move up to the collar. The lukewarm blood dripped on his skin, but instead of running down due to gravity, it moved up underneath the collar. In the hinge, the blood soaked inside the collar, drowning the internal mechanism that could - and would - explode, if some remote was activated. A gurgling sound could be heard as the mechanism died, turning off the collar; activating the function that opened the collar. It fell to the ground; her blood returning to her hand in a slight hiss. She didn’t look at him; she didn’t want to show him how much it drained her to use this type of magic. Collin backed away, trying to show her that she shouldn’t be using that type of magic on him.

‘’Grow some balls and let’s get it done before that idiot thinks it is time to fire you off!’’ Cassandra sighed, slightly frustrated at her brother. He nodded, knowing that she wasn’t going to let him get anywhere without that damn collar off his neck. She did the same thing to Collin as she had done to Tidus. With the collar joining the one that had belonged to Tidus, Cassandra looked down at her hand, only to see how the tip of her fingers had turned blueish. She was cold, tired and very frustrated about what she had just witnessed. The thought of what she had seen happening to Tidus, it made her dizzy. It made her think back to when she had been raped by Jasper, when Tidus and Bienvenido had found her…

Right now, he knew he was pathetic. He knew that he was no more than a shadow of himself, standing there, holding a hand up to the collar and wanting to go back to Darius. The collar felt like it was cutting its way through his skin.
But, right now, Cass took the wheel and acted like the one with sanity. She removed the collars. It took hard on her. In front of them now stood a drained Cassandra. And on the ground laid two collars. As Cassandra looked at her fingers, Tidus noticed how they have turned blueish, which made his heart beat of fear. He stepped closer to her, only to stop a bit from her and realizing there was nothing he could do. Nothing but to get her home. Her and Collin.
“Thank you. Let´s get you guys home,” he said in a low mumbling.
Shortly, he looked over at the werewolf, before making a swing with his arm. A portal, orange and shinning like fire, stood now a few meters from them. The portal was placed in Tidus living room.
He made a nod with his head. A way for him to say: “follow me.”

With steps so cold and robotic, he stepped in through the portal and waited for the others to come through. As soon they were through, he closed the portal behind them. The sounds of paws running down the stairs, made him chuckle and immediately fall on his knees, to pick of his lovely little queen. Her tail was wagging like crazy.
As it seemed that neither Emory or Rhae was there, he sighed and stood up, pet his Queen a last time on the head. He went to get the first aid kid. With the box in his hands, he went over to Cassandra, to give her the box. “Here… I´ll be back in a minute.”
with those words, he went out to the bathroom and behind the closed doors, he sat down. In frustration, he hid himself behind his hand, bit down into them and just felt like tearing his own skin of. He felt so disgusting, useless and out of place.
after what felt like hours, he dropped his clothes, stepped into the shower and just washed his skin, until it was feeling dry as a desert. But even after standing under the water in 10 minutes, he still felt dirty and worthless, so he decided that in the end that it didn’t matter.
He dried himself of, put on his night pants and shirt, before walking out to Cassandra and Collin again.
“Any of you who wants a shower?” he asked as casually he could.

He would never be pathetic in her eyes. Although he was a mere shadow of the brother she loved, she would never think lesser of him. least of all after what had just happened to him. His mate wanted him dead. The thought made her sick to her stomach. What if Dorian sought her dead as well? It would be… Horrible.
Her slightly bluish fingers ached after removing the collars, simply because the blood she had used to disengage the collars had been her own - directly tapped from her on bleeding fingers. She noticed how Tidus stepped closer to her, and in the moment he changed his mind, she had looked at him with a slightly apologetic expression. Collin stepped closer to her sister, only to listen to the demon mumbling something. That poor guy seemed more out of it than Collin had expected. Had he never been confronted like that before? Tidus made the portal, and in a determined walk Collin guided his sister over there; supporting her by the waist. ’’You should tell him, you know,’’ Collin whispered to his sister, only making her shake her head slightly. If Bienvenido had not told their boss about their relationship, then it wasn’t something for her to tell.

As they ended up in the demon’s living room, Cassandra simply sat down on the couch immediately. She heard the claws against the floor, and looked shortly at Collin. He had locked eyes with the dog for a moment, before he placed himself next to Cassandra on the couch. Tidus fetched the first-aid kit and handed it to the witch, only to disappear into the bathroom. She knew that trick far to well, and so did Collin. He had seen her do it many times in the few days she had been staying with him before he shipped her off to Gaia. Therefore, the moment Collin had wrapped a contemporary bandage on her hand, she got up. Due to blood loss, her vision darkened and she sat down again, sighing frustrated at herself. ’’So… How long have you been using your magic?’’ Collin asked, making her shake her head. ‘’Every day. Every moment.. Every second. The blood? That’s nothing new. But I guess you’re referring to the metamorphosis? I learned it recently. It just takes damn much to manage it. So, I don’t use it. Not unless I feel like a have to.’’ She explained, looking shortly at the werewolf next to her. ’’And you had to bite off that guy’s finger?’’ Collin then asked, slightly condemning. Cassandra scoffed. ‘’No, of course not. That one was for funsies.’’ She said, sarcastically, before she heard the water being shut off on the bathroom. She got up from the couch once more - slowly, so that she wouldn’t faint - and walked over there. The last time she had been there, she had been looking for her bra after a night out… how things had changed since then.

As Tidus emerged from the bathroom, he tried to act casual - the same façade she had used far too often. She shook her head; looking straight at him. she didn’t say anything, as she opened her arms and pulled him into an embrace; hiding her head in the nook of his neck. ‘’Please, forgive me…’’ she begged in a whisper; her voice so brittle that it might crumble any second. She could handle anyone being vexed with her; just not him. she needed him in her life; she needed him to be there for her when she was about to fall - just as she wanted to be there for him.

Tidus could have been made of glass. That was how easy Cass saw through him. He emerged from the bathroom and immediately was pulled into mama bear´s arms. Her little whisper confused him. What was she asking for forgiveness for? Her voice sounded like on the edge of breaking. This little breaking moment made his heart ache.
He swung his arms around her and placed his chin on the top of her head. He could hear her beating heart. It drummed so loudly in his ears.
“You have nothing to ask for forgiveness for,” he said. And he meant it. Every word.
Back with the dark morons he had gotten a bit mad at her yes. But only for putting herself in danger. An action he knew he would have done too. Which… probably was why he wasn’t mad at her now. He understood why she had done that.
Here he backed out of the embrace and looked down at her. He smiled as comforting he could to her. Assuring her that it was fine. Even though he still felt like escaping from himself.
softly he caressed her cheek, before nodding towards the bathroom. “You want a shower… oh…” he now looked down, at her hands, there was in their bandage. “How are your fingers?”

He had never understood her pleadings. It had been the same every time; she begged him to forgive her and he saw nothing to forgive her for. In this moment, he still didn’t understand. “I have everything to ask forgiveness for, love...” she whimpered as they just stood their, embracing each other. “I should never have tried to take your place. I should never have done anything without your permission. All of this could have been prevented, if only I had not let my damned love for you cloud my already poor judgement...” she whispered. She knew that he had been angry with her before, many times. Her leaving, her sacrifice to protect him, her lies to avoid the confrontation... she knew he had been mad.

As he escaped their embrace, he was about to ask if she wanted a shower, only to notice her hands. His question made her shake her head. “They’re fine. They’ll grow out soon enough.” She said, before she looked st Collin. Collin knew that look in her eyes far too well, but he knew she had no energy left to fight right now. In a soft voice, Collin warned her not to, but she snarled loudly at him. Collin then looked at Tidus, as the non verbal conversation between the two siblings had ended. ”I’ll stay here for a bit. You and I need a beer, blondie. Cassandra needs some air,” Collin said, only to let Cassandra look apologetic at Tidus. “I... I need to go see someone about something... I’ll be back before you know it, okay?” She said, promising something she might not be able to keep.

As she started to talk about her wrong doings, he kindly shook his head and just silently wished for her to silent. Right now, he had forgiven her, and that was the end of it. All he needed now, was for her to stay by his side and maybe drown their sorrows in bear. Or vodka. Purr vodka.
“Okay okay, yeah… it got me mad… but the thing is…” he said lowly and smiled weakly at her. “I would have done the same… so believe me, you´re forgiven.”
He walked a bit away, tried to shake the feeling of the illusions of her, that Darius had planted in his head. She blamed him for everything. Everything with Jasper… everything about her pain.
With that thought in his dark mind, he smiled warmly, at her explaining that her fingers were alright. It would grow back. He nodded with that optimistic smile of his and was about to ask for them to join him for a drink, only for Cassandra to explain, that she needed to go.
This time, he could not hide his shock, as he looked at her. “You… You need to go?” a bit confused, he looked over at Collin, before running a hand through his hair and making a grimace, showing his confusion. “Well… okay… yeah…” he said and shrugged. “Okay… I guess… I´ll… see you… later?”
He had no idea what to say to her. Because everything he wanted to say, would made him sound like a spoiled child, there couldn’t handle himself. Therefore, he let her go, to see whoever the fuck she needed to see right now in this moment.
He didn’t need her comfort anyway. Hell. He didn’t need anyone. The negative thoughts captured by Darius words, kept running around in circles in his mind.
Fuck. He needed to drown himself in vodka.
Without looking back, he turned his back to her and Collin, walking to the kitchen. If his kitchen hadn’t been in their vision, he would have smacked the fridge door and growl lowly. But now… As long as he was in their eyesight, he had to keep this façade. A façade there slowly felt like flaking.
He grabbed the beer for him and Collin. By now he had expected Cassandra had left. But… his eyes were stocked on the kitchen counter. He had a feeling that if he looked up and saw her still standing there, looking down at him, like he was some pathetic lost puppy, he would take his golden gun and blast his head off.

The facade she had watch him put up way too many times now seemed glued to his face. Before, the confusion and shock had taken him aback, but now it seemed like he actually wanted her to leave. She would explain later, but right now she needed to go talk to someone that wasn’t going to agree with her that Darius needed to die. She needed Michael to talk her to her senses. Collin knew that, but she had not explained why. She couldn’t. Therefor, as Tidus turned his back on her, she sighed silently before she looked shortly at her brother. He mimed the word ‘go’ rather frustrated at his sister before Cassandra look back at Tidus as he left for the kitchen. By the time he returned, she was gone, leaving a trail of blood behind her.

Collin, on the other hand, still sat On the couch, waiting for Tidus. “She’ll be back soon,” he promised the demon, but that promise was relatively subjective based. For Collin, soon could be up to a year. For Tidus, forever might be two minutes.
“Ya know... it’s alright to be upset. I get it.” He said, before looking at Queen shortly. “She was upset too. If she hadn’t gone to see that bloody angel, she might have gone straight to that Darius-guy and tried to kill him.” He said, looking back at Tidus. “I’m glad she has learned some restraint at least.” He then sighed, knowing that it was no comfort for the demon that a person he trusted had left him with a complete stranger.
“So.... you can either ask me something you want to know about me or her, or you can sit here and listen to my boring ass stories about who we once were. Your choice,” he said with a little crooked smile before winking at him. “I don’t bite.”

As Collin spoke and cut the silence in half, Tidus finally removed his eyes from the counter and looked at the werewolf. With an eyebrow raised, the young don sighed and opened the beer by hammering it down on the counter. Here he pushed the beer over to Collin. It didn’t even spill a single drop.
“Good. Because I´m hella upset,” he said under his breathe and hammered another beer down on the counter. This time it spilled over his hand, which made him sigh and then chuckle. “You got dragged into this… your precious Porsche got destroyed.” He dried of his hand with a towel before taking a huge sip of the beer. “I´ll buy you a new one btw.”
The minute Colling looked at Queen, the cute beagle wagged her tail, still staying put in her basket
Tidus jumped up on the counter and looked at Collin with a weak smile. “You don´t bite? I don´t believe that… Tivo once said he didn´t bite… then I got in a fight with him and that motherfucker bit me.” He told with a chuckle and took another sip of the beer. “But… yeah, tell me… did you know her as a little girl? Some embarrassing stuff you can tell me?”
All of sudden he realized that Collin had said something about an angel. “Wait… she´s going to have a talk with mr. Goody toe shoe? Coooome oooon.” He growled lowly and jumped down from the counter. Here he went over to his dog and sat down by her basket. Queen immediately placed herself in his lap. “what is he gonna tell her? Ohhh… God weren´t with you… I´m so sorry… maybe he was having a brunch!” He tried to mimic Michael´s holy talk.
A bit frustrated he caressed his child´s head. Queen felt Tidus sorrow and anger, she therefore stayed put, as a comforting pillow.

Collin simply looked at the beer as Tidus opened it by hammering it against the counter. His words had little effect on the alpha, as he calmly grabbed his beer and took at sip. This was his sister’s mess, yet he was trapped in it once more. She knew so little of that things he had done to keep her safe, yet she kept putting herself in line of danger. It was frustrating, at best.
“My precious Porsche? Nah, don’t bother. It was a payment for getting Cassandra away from Jonathan - something I seem to have failed.” He said with a shrug. It had been right before her grandfather had died. He had been the only one to care for Cassandra even a tiny bit.

“TiVo? You mean the rogue that’s been dating my sister? - I’m not surprised that the bastard bites. Playing fair doesn’t seem to be his reserve.” Collin sighed, before looking back at Tidus. In honesty, he knew far too much about her, but he wasn’t sure if she wanted it out. Tidus seemed to be the one person that should know it all, but if she had remained secretive about it, then there must have been a reason.
“I met her when she was nineteen, so no little kid. She was far to grownup for her age back then,” he said with a little crooked smile. “Back when she arrived in Dublin, her boyfriend made a lot of trouble for my pack. Werewolves and vampires doesn’t mix well.” He explained before he took a sip of his beer. “She started studying at the evening classes I taught. Soon, people thought we were dating or something. She needed someone to talk to, and I needed a suitable Luna. Unfortunately, Cassandra showed to be far to wild to be a Luna I could work with.” He said, shrugging slightly. “Then she became pregnant and Jonathan became the worst boyfriend ever. He would beat her, force her to use her magic when she was drained beyond compare... once, I even found her in a ditch, freezing cold and passed out.” Collin said, shaking his head.

“I shipped her off to Gaia after she had been hiding out with me for a couple of days. But there’s a lot of stories between me meeting her and her getting pregnant. She was a wild animal, specially when she had a drink.” He chuckled, taking another sip of his beer.

Tidus’ reaction to Cassandra seeking out Michael was something that made Collin snicker slightly. “I know, I know.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “But, the way I see it, I would rather she visited that bloody angel than tried to take on a witch herself. She is only partially witch, and vulnerable enough as it is right now. Sometimes, we need the friends that keep us from doing the dumb stuff, instead of the friends that encourage us to be who we are.” He said, calmly. He then sighed, knowing it was little comfort for the demon. “I’m not saying that Michael is better for her in this scenario. I’m just saying that she is far too used to be encouraged to be who she is, when she doesn’t even know who and what that is... Michael gives her a place to soak in her feelings and figure things out without having to explain. I think she’s been needing that. With the rogue friend of yours always trying to protect her from everything and you denying her to protect you in the way she sees fit, it might be the best bet for her to simply go to someone where she can shut off.” He then sighed, knowing that not even Collin himself understood Cassandra fully.

“I do, however, have a story of how she stole my beta’s kitten at declared it her own during a house party,” Collin then said to lighten the mood - something he wasn’t sure would even work.

His Porsche had been a payment for… what? He wasn’t sure he got that right. Which was clear in the glim of his confused blue eyes. Collin and Cassandra clearly had a story far back. A story he wasn’t sure if he was in the mood for. Yes… he loved her, and he wanted to know everything about her, but right now, he was so god damn lost and angry, that he wasn’t in the mood to hear about her. Or anyone else for that matter. He just wanted to lay under his cover and stay there for years.
But… he listened with an open mind and a weak smile. He kept caressing Queen´s head. Her fur felt like therapy. And so did Collin´s voice. It was nice and calming.
“What is a luna?” he asked curiously and looked away from his therapy pillow. A little distracting from the story of his sister. Although… he needed to know what a Luna was and why she had been far to wild to be one.
He smiled weakly and took a sip of his beer. It had been placed next to himself on the floor. “It doesn’t surprise me… I hate that Jasper has…” as the name left his lips, he realized what else have happened on that day. Jasper, his father, had died… and the illusion. The illusion showed a Cassandra that blamed Tidus for his father´s actions.
maybe that was the reason why she had left him now. Had Darius shown her illusions too?
“Has…” he tried to continue his sentence, only to shake his head and take another big sip of the beer, almost emptying it. He gave up on what he was trying to say right then and there.
Collin´s words didn’t help him at all. She needed to talk to Michael, more than she needed to stay here, with him… being there for him. Which probably was her way of punishing him.
“okay…” he mumbled lowly and cold. “You don´t need to defend her.” Carefully he removed Queen from his lap. “She ran. It´s fair. She needed to talk to one of god´s puppies.” A bit shaky, he went out to the bathroom, mumbling he´ll be back in a minute.

Behind the closed door, he threw water in his face and once again tried to wash away all the negative thoughts… but… for once in his life… it didn’t help. Not even close. With a last look in the mirror, he picked of his mask and went out to Collin again, going straight for the vodka this time.
With swift motion, he opened the bottle and took a large sip of the burning alcohol. It felt his throat in a painful way… but it felt oddly good.
“Tell me about the stolen kitten,” he mumbled and once again sat down on the floor. Still with the vodka bottle hanging from his hand.
All this wasn’t Collin´s fault. And it would be awfully rude of Tidus to keep being an asshole towards the wolf. So he smiled to him and tried to keep the negative thoughts behind his mask.

It hadn’t been easy for the witch to leave. All the way, she stumbled, mumbled in incoherent sentences and tried to make sense of it all. All she could remember was hos Darius had tried to hurt Tidus, and how he knew things that even her boyfriend had only learned about a few weeks prior to the event. Still, it burned in the back of her mind - how could he know? How could anyone outside the Techniques know about the abuse she went through? How could he know about Josiah?... Her mind ached, and with those questions buzzing in her head, she had no room for empathy. She had no room for thinking about her brothers’ feelings. All she thought about was to get answers, and that getting answers in this state of mind and injuries would most likely get her killed. She needed to go to someone who knew how to stop her, if she decided to seek out Darius; she needed Michael.

Back in Tidus’ apartment, Collin was sitting on the couch; feeling sorry for the demon his sister had left to suffer. He had not asked to be left alone, yet it made it painfully clear that he felt abandoned by her. As he had explained that he had tried to make Cassandra his luna, he noticed that the demon seemed less interested in hearing about Cassandra. Vexed, the demon tried to talk about something else; the luna.
‘’In my pack, the alpha picks a partner for life. Not necessarily a mate, spouse or breeding-opportunity, but a person to walk with through life who never leaves your side. That, we called a luna. It differs from pack to pack, what a luna is described as, though.’’ He said, looking at his beer. ‘’when I had to send her to Gaia, I realized she wouldn’t be fit to be a luna. She can’t stay in one place for too long without causing chaos.’’ He admitted, taking a rather large gulp of his beer. As Tidus started speaking again, it was about Jasper - his late father. Collin looked at him, only to notice how the demon lost track of what he was saying. ‘’Jasper has what, Tidus? Don’t be sorry for anything that man did. You couldn’t be blamed for whatever happened. I’m just glad that you protected Cassandra back there.’’ Collin said, trying to remain calm when all he wanted was to rip out the tongue of the man who what hurt his beloved sister.

‘’I do need to defend her though, don’t I? Because right now, you’re pissed and hurt that she needed someone else than you. Hurt over the fact that when you needed her to be there and take care of you, she needed someone else to do the same for her.’’ He said, as he stood up. The cold tone in Tidus’ voice made the werewolf look directly at him with a steel-gaze. ‘’She didn’t run, Tidus. But had she stayed; she would have broken your heart.’’ The werewolf walked closer to him, only for the demon to say that he would be right back, before leaving for the bathroom once again. Collin sighed as he looked at the beagle. ‘’Sometimes, I wonder if Cass couldn’t just be contained with a leash or something!’’ he mumbled before scratching the beagle behind the ear. He sat down again, only for the demon to join in. ‘’My beta, Alexander, had a Norwegian Woodland cat. They get massively big; larger than Queen here,’’ he said, looking at the beagle for a moment. ‘’Cassandra loves cats for some reason. Alexander’s cat, Ollie, tried to get free, but Cass clinged onto it like she was a two-year old with a teddy bear. My beta tried to tell her that the cat didn’t liked to be forced cuddled but she didn’t listen, only to have her entire face scratched up. We decided to go home, only to find out that she had stuffed the poor thing into her duffel bag and smuggled it back with her to the flat. Needless to say, neither Alex, Ollie nor I was very happy with a massive feline wreaking havoc in my flat, or the fact that she had stolen my beta’s pet. She was forced to deliver it back to Alexander the next morning, while she was so hungover that she could bare look at the cat without vomiting all over the poor thing.’’ Collin explained, snickering every once in a while as he remembered hos Cassandra had welled up with tears as she had to return the cat to its owner.

‘’Do you want to talk about what happed, Tidus?’’ he then asked, looking straight at the demon. ‘’I mean… you were inches from getting, you know… I won’t ask if you’re okay, I just… Yeah…’’ he then said, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘’You want me to call Tivo?’, he then asked, simply because he thought the rogue would be a much greater comfort to the demon than he could ever be himself.

To Tidus, every race was fascinating to listen about. So, when Collin told him about the werewolves, he listened curiously. It didn’t surprise Tidus, that Cassandra couldn’t stand still. Just like him, she was an adventure seeker. “No… she wants adventure.” He smiled by the thought.
They reminded a whole lot about each other. Sometimes so much that you could believe they were siblings. So… werewolves found a partner for life. That sounded cute… but at the same time terrifying. What If the partner you chose, turned out to be the wrong one… the not so called soulmate?
Soulmate. Tidus did not believe in it. But, some people did… but how could you be sure that you had found your soulmate… all these question ran around in his head.
Thoughts he quickly forgot as soon Collin mentioned Jasper.
“Her spirit… her trust… everything… he broke… everything,” he finally said as he looked down in the ground. His blue eyes getting darker and darker by the negative thoughts. “and now he´s… he´s…”
dead.

She needed someone else than him. The Barenaked truth. Collin´s words were true and therefore had Tidus left. Left to go splash some water in his face. If she had stayed, she would have broken her heart. She did so anyway by leaving. Right now, he was selfish, he knew… but for once in his life, maybe he just needed to be. After he had some water thrown in his face, he calmed down and joined Collin back in the living room. Not without his vodka of course.
The story of how Cass had stolen the kitten, made Tidus smile and chuckle lovingly. “Oh my god, such a story… I will remember to tease her about that one.” He said and took a sip of the vodka. “Do you have more?” stories were always good to get distracted by.

As Collin asked to the incident, he froze a little, before sighing. He then looked at Collin and smiled weakly. The werewolf tried to comfort him, and it weren’t easy. Tidus had been in that situation himself. you never knew what to say. “One of them… actually… he…” the memory made him tremble. “I could feel his… in my…”
He shoke his head and took a big sip of the vodka. It burned down his throat and it felt amazing. “No… No don´t call Tivo… right now I just… I… I have no idea to end my sentences anymore….” He chuckled. “This is so ridiculous.”

‘’Jasper didn’t break her, Tidus.’’ Collin said, as they were sitting there, sharing truths. He looked at Tidus; his steel-grey eyes focused on the demon. Had he decided to use his power on Tidus and forced him to tell the truth, then it would have been easier for Collin to know what he felt - but in this moment, he only knew the truth from Cassandra’s point of view. He had only seen her side of it. The cat-story had been fun, but Collin needed to Tidus to know the truth. ‘’Hey man… It’s alright. You can tell me, but only if you want to.’’ He said in a calm voice as he turned to face the demon straight on. He understood how it felt to not be able to speak.
Calmly, Collin started to explain. He took a deep breath. ‘’You know what did break her? What ruined her completely?’’ he asked, but he didn’t allow Tidus to answer. ‘’Love did. She loved too hard, Tidus. She fell in love with a man that died in her arms. A man that left her in a bar when she confessed the terror she faced after losing her mate. A man that pierced her chest, leaving her with scars.’’ He said; his voice remaining calm but his eyes changing slightly as he explained.
‘’She loves you. Seeing you hurt breaks her heart. Right now, all she can think about is that if she haven’t fought back, Darius wouldn’t have ordered them to attack you. Every second of watching you suffer, it breaks her. She falls to pieces, and all she can do is pretend that she is okay. She even tries to protect you even more by offering herself to be raped repeatedly.’’ He said, as he looked down at the table. ‘’She asked you to forgive her, because she was terrified that you would leave her behind.’’ He said, closing his eyes, only to see her sufferings flash before his eyes.
‘’Her talent - I’m sure you’ve experienced her ability to share memories - can be a real… Bitch.’’ He said, trying to hint that she had not shown it to her brother willingly. He took a deep breath. ‘’She showed me what you did for her in that cell… I… Thank you for protecting her.’’ He said, looking down again at the table.

Love broke her.
His words made Tidus open his eyes in shock. She had loved him. Or… she did love him. But… he never knew she had loved him in that kind of matter and that it had been the source for her suffering. Every time he hurts… she hurts as well. But… he had never understood what it had caused her.
Just like the time back with Adannya. Every time Tidus had coursed harm on himself, it ended up hurting someone else.
he looked down, completely lost in memories of when he could have hurt her elsewhere. She felt guilty for what have happened to him. That’s why she had asked for forgiveness.
“I… I don´t know… what… I…” he sighed. “I would never… leave her behind… I still feel so bad for leaving her behind on the bar…” he started to let the vodka bottle hang near the ground. Carefully he swung it from side to side. “and yeah… I have experienced her ability… it´s quite powerful… even though it can be a pain to her… to share all those memories.”
As Collin thanked him for saving Cass, he looked up at Collin, only to see how the werewolf looked down at the table. Cass that showed how Tidus had shot his father to protect her.
“Don´t thank me. I love her. With all my heart. And I want the best for her too… even tho… it doesn´t always seems so…” he said and placed a hand on Collin´s shoulder.
His father´s death had been worth it for Cassandra´s safety.
he quickly removed his hand and took another sip of the vodka. Here he placed it on the table, laying back on the couch, placing his legs on Collins lap. “So… have you ever been in love with Cassandra?”
now he was the one who tried to lighten up the mood.

It wasn't because he wanted Tidus to suffer even more. He knew how Cassandra's love caused harm to everyone around her, making him look directly at Tidus as the demon reacted to the words that left the werewolf's lips.
"she doesn't blame you. Neither do I... Leaving her back then. You left her as well, back then. It's not because you guys doesn't love each other, but loving someone makes you do crazy things." Collin answered.
"I know you love her." he said, softly. He felt the hand on his shoulder, and even though it was only for a moment, he felt the relief of knowing that Tidus wasn't terrified of touching someone.

The mood tried to change as Tidus removed his hand quickly and placed his legs on the werewolf's lap. The question made him chuckle. "haven't we all?" he asked, jokingly. Then he shook his head. "I... It's a long story. Loving her is easy being in love with her, that's hard as heck." he said, looking at Tidus as he placed a hand on the demon's leg and softly caressed his shin.
"I'm gay. Always has been. I consider her family, but... Once upon a time, I thought I was in love with her." he said, looking at Tidus with a soft smile. "what about you? Ever been in love with her?" he asked, trying to joke with the demon.

Loving someone made you crazy. Yeah… and that wasn´t an understatement. He smiled softly and nodded to the werewolf. The werewolf who clearly didn’t mind Tidus rude behavior, as he let his legs dangle over Collin, in a way of showing comfort and relaxation.
He now just laid there, listen to what Collin had to answer about his love for Cassandra. A love there had always been in the sibling’s area. Tidus chuckled lovingly, as the werewolf described that he thought, that he one time had been in love with her.
although, his biggest surprise, was when Collin said he was gay. Tidus didn’t even know why it surprised him so much. They were in 2019. You couldn’t always just assume the gay vibes from someone.
He smiled politely at him and then shook his head. “No… I haven´t been in love with her. I have always her loved her as a sister… in the beginning just a friend, but… I soon realized that I couldn´t imagine a life without her.” As he felt the softy touch on his shin, he closed his eyes peacefully and leaned his head back. “Tell another story… please…” he mumbled softly.

He was used to this kind of conversation; Cassandra had broken someone’s heart - nothing new there. It would get better, once people started accepting that she was like a leaf in the wind; she didn’t stay in one place for long, and when it rained she wouldn’t be able to fly freely.
‘’A life without chaos would be a life without passion.’’ He said, looking shortly at the demon, as he said that he couldn’t imagine a life without Cassandra. The witch had her way of enchanting people; she was a proper witch, making men fall for her with no care for the consequences. Collin knew that better than most.
Then, the demon leaned back with closed eyes as he softly mumbled a plead for yet another story. Collin chuckled softly at the demon, as he looked at him from the corner of his eye. ‘’Well, I can tell you about the first time I met her? She was even more broken than now, if you can imagine it. She was underweight, bruised and beaten on every inch of her body almost. The only way you could tell if she was alive or not was the way she would look at you. Those eyes, they could haunt the dead. Like molten gold, looking right through every lie and secret; right to your core.’’ He said, as he closed his eyes. She had been like a baby bird back then, scrawled and terrified of every movement strangers made.
‘’She joined my class in Gaelic folklore. I haven’t seen anyone be more invested in folklore before - she was like a little girl, starving for someone to tell her a fairytale. It wasn’t before she confined in me that I knew what she came from; how her mother had treated her and why she had chosen to run away. How some bloody needy mosquito had stolen her away from Edinburgh, only to marry her the moment she was old enough.’’ Collin said, looking at the demon’s leg as he still caressed it gently, as if it was his way of dealing with the negative thoughts running through his head. ‘’One day, she told me she was pregnant… then, she disappeared for months. Her so-called husband had locked her away. I had no idea, until I got a text from her, telling me everything. She was off to a midwife-appointment when I sought out Jonathan and… Well, I tried to tear his tongue from his mouth. I ended up with a nasty scar on my chest for that. Cassandra came home early and, for some stupid reason, she tried to help that bastard… She lost the baby that night.’’ He said, not looking at Tidus’ face, as he felt the remorse grow. ‘’She doesn’t know it was me who attacked him. I don’t have the balls to tell her that I’m the reason she lost her son.’’ Collin said, sighing.
‘’Then, she decided to leave Jonathan. She sought me out, and although I wanted to keep her with me in Dublin, she needed to get away. Gaia seemed like the best bet back then. I didn’t know he wanted to follow her.’’ Collin then said, looking straight ahead for a moment.
‘’You guys are more alike than either of you want to admit. She did the same thing when the world got to cruel for her; hiding out in the bathroom; drowning her tears in alcohol and lying about being alright when you’re clearly not.’’ Collin then said, turning his head to finally look at Tidus properly. ‘’But I understand why she loves you. She needs you in her life to feel needed and loved. When you deny her to protect you… You take away her purpose in life.’’ He then said, taking a sip of his beer to wet his throat after the little speech he had delivered.

The story. It was one hell of a story. The last of it he already knew… but… the one with Cassandra being fragile as a baby bird… he just couldn’t imagine it. To him… Cassandra had always been strong, even in her darkest time, she was the wisest and the strongest. Which probably was one hell of a pressure to put on her. But… at least it wasn’t a pressure she knew about.
As he listened to the sound of Collin´s soothing voice, he had leaned his head back, closed his eyes and took the uppotunity to just relax.
Cassandra used to be a girl, starving to knowing about the world outside her own. Something he could recognize more than anything.
That Jonathan came and took her life away… made the anger bubble inside of him. If it hadn’t been for Jonathan. What would Cassandra had been now? Would she have been happier in life? Found her future somewhere else?
when it sounded like Collin was done with the story and now taking directly to Tidus, the blonde lifted his head and looked softly at the wolf. His blue eyes were a bit in daze.
“Yeah? Well… you guys are alike too… she can also see through me like glass,” he answered and sat up a bit. He let his upper body he lifted by placing his arms behind himself. With a warm smile, he tilted his head and looked straight at the wolf. “She´s allowed to protect me… just like I wanna protect her… but… You do understand why I don´t want her to put herself in my place? Don´t you? You… you wouldn´t let her do that either? Would you?”
A holy cross scared into his chest was visible as he leaned forward again, to grab his vodka bottle and take another huge sip of it.

Tidus didn’t understand, which was clear from the way he answered. It was clear, that he thought that the comment comparing him to his sister was meant to tell him that whatever he did was something Collin considered anything but acceptable. The warm smile from the demon told Collin that whatever Tidus was about to say would need to be a confirmation on some ideology that the demon had. As he asked if Collin understood, Collin shook his head.
‘’No, I don’t understand, Tidus.’’ He answered and took another sip of the beer in his hand. ‘’I don’t understand why you think you have a say-so in how she is allowed to protect you. You act like you can determine precisely what she is going to suffer through or not. She joined your father out of fear, but she stayed to protect you. She was beaten, humiliated and raped, to protect you. She was assaulted, kidnapped, tortured and molested… All to protect you. How do you think it feels for her to stand there, offering her body and soul to keep you safe, and you deny her that act of love, after all she has done for you? Is it love you try to express, by sheltering her? She went through hell for you - she considered taking her own life to be with you, and you think it is fair of you to decide how she is allowed to protect you? That isn’t love - that is a man, telling his dog to go to its cage when it’s always been right by your side. Its cruel.’’ Collin answered. Why did he care? Because Cassandra was in pain. That was all that mattered; if Cassandra was in pain, Collin would be there to make things better.
‘’Cassandra would never even consider sacrificing herself for me. If I was the one getting beaten or raped, and she was told to get you out of there, she would do just that; she would leave. She never loved me like she loves you. Why do you think she left? You can call her right now, and all you’ll hear is her mumbling manically to herself that she must not seek out Darius and kill him on the spot, or that she must not defy your order. You’re her master; her sole purpose in life. Don’t act like that’s nothing, because the moment you tell her to stop being there for you in every way she can, she will wither and die.’’ Collin then said. It was rough, admitting that Cassandra never loved Collin like she loved a guy like Tidus. It pained him to explain that his sister was ready to give her life for a somewhat stranger but not her own brother. Tidus had asked, and Collin had answered.