Get me off this rollercoaster

Location: Upstairs in Jack's apartment.
Date: Beginning of May
Time: Noon
Outfit: Link
Topic for: @Elena Ahlers xx
_________

---

Things were changing around the academy, to his liking. Alison had brought new colors to the entire place, and with Lucas to help her there as well - it was a perfect team up, and they had his full support in ruling the schoolboard. Jack had finally made it off the clock a bit early today, and he parked his bike outside the club as he got in and greeted the members he met on his way upstairs. He sighed a bit as he caught her scent, but if anything a brighter smile lighted up on his lips only few seconds after. Then he opened the door and his chocolate brown eyes searched the entire space till they landed on her. Jack closed the door with his foot and chuckled softly to himself. "I didn't know you would be here," he addressed as she dropped his bag on the floor and walked towards her. It seemed like another time, another year that she had come into his life again - in reality it was months ago only, and it still felt unreal and yet he had gotten used to this reality. Victoria was still giving him shit, but not as much on the fact that it was Elena - the shapeshifter had seemed to accept it, what she hadn't accepted was the fact that Jack still playing around like someone who didn't know what he wanted. It had at least forced Jack to reflect on his behavior, Elena was still the closest thing he ever had to a serious relationship - and along with Grace but she was always making him so confused, then again, all these feelings and thoughts were just confusing all together. But he knew he had to make up his mind, she deserved better than having him not being clear about what he wanted.

It was odd, every single time he doubted if they worked he stood in front of her and all he could think about was how much he cared for her. And as she jumped into his arms and welcomed him with a kiss, everything seemed to become far more clear in his mind as he deepened the kiss shortly. He took a deeper breath in by the next comment about him not deserving it and where he had been. "Vic got into some trouble last month, kinda iced my phone," he confessed in a smaller sigh. April seemed to have passed him by so quickly like he just blinked and it was gone. Victoria trying to figure out more about Tidus was beyond the most stupid thing the shapeshifter had tried to do on her own. "But I will go buy a new one, sorry if you tried to get a hold on me," he added and took a sharper breath in. Then he had been busy taking over almost all Lucas' martial arts classes till Alison at least got a hold of how the different classes worked best. But it was already better. The energy was much better now, than before after Levi was gone. "I've missed you too, I can't believe we actually have been so busy," he snorted a bit by that remark. Life was busy, and he did have a lot to take care off. When not working he had his gang, his family to look out for and have a social circle. It was ages since the core four had time to just sit and chill, have a few beers.

She didn't get mad, not that he had expected her too. Then again, he wasn't always the best at reading the room. Her chuckle made him laugh a little, as he shook his head. "Not unless it can magical put iced splinters of metal back together, then no." Jack took a deeper breath in, as she explained that the whole conversation with Victoria had been hectic. Even Victoria had seemed way less grounded than she normally did, then again, after Rafael accidently had attacked her, then the whole conflict with her father - he understood why she at some point just needed a break. The fact Elena hadn't been there, had been the first month harsh. Mostly because he had been head over heels for trying to find out more about this person who had taken her back then. If he was a part of Southside he would be able to find out more, he needed to do that. He didn't like people like that walked around making the streets unsafe. Jack felt at least she could have told him that she was going away for a while, because all of april he had just expected her to be gone with the wind. Until Victoria at least had confessed meeting her. It reminded him shortly he still had yet to make up his mind about this so called sister that had found him. The loud one.

He wondered shortly what she meant by a lot had happened. But he wasn't the type to ask people out about stuff, he trusted they would tell him. Because he didn't know when to ask and not to ask, the few times he had tried - Victoria had basically slapped him, oh well, that was a long time ago and her mother had just died. Asking about it had been everything but right. He wanted to believe he had more sense of situation now. The small peck on his lips made him chuckle a bit, completely forgetting where he had been in his thoughts. Jack watched her while he took a deeper breath in. He walked to the kitchen that was connected to the apartment, and put the kettle on to get some coffee. Jack took a deeper breath in and moved his head towards her. He took a deeper breath in and sighed a bit. It was odd, or not really, he was not good with words not always. But compared to whenever he was sitting with Victoria, Lucas and Rafael - you couldn't get him to shut up. Perhaps he was just worried about saying the wrong thing.  Jack took once again a sharper breath in, and scratched the back of his head for a short second.

His eyes placed on her as she walked closer to him, and he took a slightly sharper breath in, as she placed her arms around his waist making his deep eyes stay locked on hers. Jack slightly narrowed his eyes as she started to speak, feeling his heart slowly skip a beat. He listened to what she had to say, every single word, and his jaw tensed a bit while he seemed to just be taking a deeper breath in to hold his breath. Emotions, feelings and everything that belonged there was a subject that made him uncomfortable. He had never been able to put words on what he was feeling. Mostly because he was never taught what his feelings meant, it made it difficult. Jack didn't even know what it would say to commit to a relationship, other than what he saw with his friends. He envied them for that. He wished he just easily could give all his love to someone like Lucas gave his to Cecilia, even Rafael and Victora - as complicated, forth and back those two could be, there was still something. Jack just wanted to be able to make sense of it all, and it was like it was impossible for him. "It's not that," he frowned a bit and took a deeper breath in, as he placed his hands gently on her arms pushing them a bit down, he needed a bit of space to think. So, he took a few steps closer to the living room and walked over to the window where he could see some of the Serpents outside. "I don't know how to feel," he confessed frustrated and didn't remove his eyes from the backyard. His hands running frustrated through his hair as she took a deeper breath in. I can wait either way, that sentence echoed in his head, making him close his eyes for a short second.

Finally he opened his eyes again while exhaling, trying to figure out what was going on inside his head. Slowly he moved his head to the side to her last words, he frowned a bit. "That is not fair to anyone," he pointed out as his body followed the head's movements carefully. Jack could live in the reality where he didn't have to connect with whatever was going on between them, if it was just the feeling of being around someone that made you comfortable - someone that cared for you. Jack couldn't explain whatever that was going on between them, yet put words onto it. When it came into the light, he had never learned to use his heart, so him to understand what it wanted from him was impossible.

Jack took a sharper breath in, feeling his entire body tense up. "That is not what I am saying," he pointed out and kept his gaze at her, "what I am saying is. I'm not even sure I ever will figure it out Elena," he added and took another deep breath in. What pained him the most was the fact that she was looking for something to hold onto, and he couldn't give her that. He wasn't a safety net, there was nothing about him that could provide the emotional connection she was seeking. Jack stood there in silence for a short moment, looking confused as she started to grab her jacket and her bag. Why was she leaving? Weren't they just talking? "Hold on," he tried to speak up, but his voice so silent he almost couldn't even hear it himself. What was happening around him?

I love you Jack Robin.
Jack went silent for a second, how unfair and cruel the world was. He didn't even know how to respond. Because, what was love? He knew he loved Victoria, she was like a sister to him, he was driven to protect her and then there was his family - the serpents, he knew he would die for them, like he knew he would die for Lucas and Rafael. "How can you say that?" He wondered, not realizing at first he spoke out loud. Jack clicked his tongue, and looked towards her on her way towards the door. It would be easier if she walked out. Then he didn't have to deal with whatever her love for him meant, he didn't have to make it play a part in anything. Elena had been the first to make him feel something, feel somewhat alive, but then she had also left, leaving him with a black hole in his heart that just never really could be fixed again. Whatever twisted idea he had about love, or what it should be like was buried so deep into the darkness that he had given up on it many years ago. "If you walk out that door -" he didn't even dare finish the sentence, because he didn't even know how to find his own words. "Then, it's over." He tensed his jaw. Jack didn't want her to leave, but he also didn't want to be overwhelmed by his emotions. It was like he had a rope around his neck and it tightened, just waiting for him to fall of the chair.

He couldn't tell her what he wanted from her, how could he when he didn't even know the answer to the question himself? Jack's brows made a slight frown by her pained expression, he knew his actions and words hurt her - and he wanted to fight, but he didn't even know how to fight not when his hands was broken. She cried, making him tense even more and he held his breath, while his fingers folded into a fist making him tense the motion in his hands. Jack exhaled, but his hands remained in a fist so tight his knuckles started to turn white. He looked at her, how unsteady she was and he reached out for the parts of him that just wanted to reach out for her, apologize and hold her - but it wasn't there, it wasn't a part of him. Here he thought he had gotten over the past, maybe he hadn't. The tension in his body didn't fade, if anything it was fed by her words. No one had ever said that to him, and he still just stood there, paralyzed and unable to navigate in the words she hit him with. As lost for words as he was, the mentioning of Pearl and Grace made him frown a bit more, why even to the lengths to mention them, when he didn't know their stories. It was so many words smashed into his face at once and it was like they all just washed over his head, it was too much too fast. Jack couldn't even form a sentence in his head before she spoke again, how did she expect him to come up with an answer when she lashed out with so many words that held so many decisions about what he didn't know anything about?

...or you let me go Jack, it seemed like the most fair option to be fair, but was it what he wanted? To let her go? Jack had spent so many years in rage and fury over her, only to fall back to wanted to protect her. Mostly because of the things she had told him, the scars he had healed. He had wanted to keep her safe, and now he was the one going the damage. But if she left, then he couldn't keep her safe, but perhaps it wasn't his job anymore and he just took it to make himself feel better? You have to make a choice, he turned his eyes away from her and the room remained silent. He needed silence to think. Yes, he was a leader of a gang he was good at making a calculated call when it came to the benefit of his people. Making a choice regarding himself and his emotions, that was another story. But perhaps he could be a friend, a business partner - but he couldn't give her what she needed, and would it be fair for her to stay when he couldn't give her that? She had just lashed out all her feelings, and even someone so cold hearted and unemotional as Jack knew that it wasn't fair to anyone. "I- " he took a slightly deeper breath in and tried not to choke on his own words as he finally looked at her again, "I have to let you go." His eyes pained by the fact that he came to that. But it wasn't fair to her that he didn't know how to feel. And if she couldn't accept he couldn't understand his feelings or had time to learn what they were about - then it was like they moved in two different directions and unable to find common ground. But who knew, they had a lifetime and their story was far from over. "I don't want to. But - it's the right thing to do."

Can I go now, or? He took a sharper breath in. He didn't want to hurt her further, but it was what he did. How they both had hurt each other. It was just something they did, without realizing it. Jack was about to reply, when he felt waves of fear spread all around him, something was going on, and then the scent. Blood. The smell of blood hang around everywhere, he couldn't even figure out what direction the source came from, making him realize that perhaps it was from more than one place. Using his improved hearing he tried to locate what was going on, then hearing a silent gun being fired, also making him realize someone was on their way up here. Jack quickly walked over to Elena and pulled her towards him, not saying a thing. His eyes iced up, making her aware that something was off. He listened carefully, while listening to whatever went on, hearing how the gun was reloaded. Then just before the door got kicked in he push himself and Elena to the floor behind the couch, making them just avoid getting hit by the first shot. "Bloody hell," the cyrobird mumbled and moved his eyes shortly to Elena. He did indeed have problems with one of the other gangs here in town, and the Whisper of Death, as they lovely called themselves - were an all demon gang Jack had dealt with way too many times. But this was the first time they dared stepped inside his bar - which only made him fear what had happened downstairs. The scent of Victoria's blood reached him, also making his own blood boil. "Stay down," he whispered looking Elena in the eye, as he sat a bit up, trying to move a little to the side, getting an idea how many people there actually had stepped into the room. His head only sticking a bit out from the back, when another shot fired almost managing to hit him, but missed by a few inches. Jack pulled his head back. The room already feeling colder and colder by the second.

Jack took a deeper breath in before he then formed a shield of ice and got up, the shield blocking the next round of shots. This was his area, they shouldn't come here and he was about to make sure they understood that. Jack moved closer to them, managing to grab one of them by the throat, and with an ice-bite to critical the entire body of the demon in front of him froze. Yet, he flinched as the other managed to fire shots at Jack. The shield no longer being there to protect him. The animal taking over and hissing at the other demon, making the sky outside ache. Jack let go of the already dead demon in his hand, and turned to the other one. His body tense from the pain that burned, but the ice already healed the injuries before they did something rash. The demon had used up all his shots, trying to reach out for another magasin, but Jack hit him with a clenched fist on the side of his head, making sure the demon was knocked out. "There are more downstairs," he informed Elena and looked back at her. "I don't know how many.. but people are hurt," he added with a lower voice, he could feel sorry for himself over not being able to protect them later.

Jack watched as she picked up the gun and he took a deeper breath in, letting the ice heal the last of the injury before he made more moves. Elena disintegrated in smoke, making him sigh a bit - only because he then heard more shots being fired, also making Jack almost tumble down the stairs to get a look what was going around. It looked like a bomb had exploded with blood, painted up over all the walls, making it the perfect crime scene. Jack scanned the room, making a spear of ice that was thrown towards the closest demon, hitting the man fight through the heart, pulling him back making him hang like a perfect decoration on the wall. Jack took a step further into the room looking shortly at Elena with blood painted all over her face, her frowned for a second, but didn't question her actions. He trusted she knew what she did, besides it looked like she got things handled. Jack moved his eyes from her again, to the movement of yet another demon. "Sean should really think twice before sending you scum here," he hissed in a low voice mostly to himself as he walked towards the demon, both of them collided with the floor within seconds. Jack felt a sharp pain in his lower abdominal from a pocket knife carried by his opponent. It only made Jack ice out, making everything in one to two meters from him completely ice. Luckily the only living being around him was the demon that now fell down next to him. Jack moved his arm out ot his stomach and felt the cold blood on his finger tips. Great.

Victoria was more or less hiding in the bar, holding a firm grib on her left side where the gun had been fired. Luckily the bullet wasn't stuck inside, but it still hurt like shit by now. Along with that she had stumbled back into the bar, causing a lot of bottles to fall down and crash on the floor. Only making it worse when she had fallen to the scare of fired shots all around them. Making her arm cut up from the shoulder and almost all the way down to her wrist. She felt lightheaded at this point, but thanks to the small mirror in the bar, she could spot Elena. Even though the shot Elena fired made Victoria jumped and curl more up behind the bar, so far in the corner that she hoped the enemy wouldn't find her. She stayed, but looked in the mirror seeing someone sneak up behind Elena. "Elena behind you," the voice sounded from behind the bar, as a warning.

Help Victoria. The cyrobird rushed on his feet faster than anyone often managed to see him move, and without thinking he followed the location of Victoria's blood, sliding down close to her. She looked so scared, it stung in his stomach and with a confirmed nod she removed her hands from her side. Victoria grunted in pain as his ice cold hands touched her skin, even though she knew it was only to heal the founds on her skin, the cold was still brutal. Jack was lightly distracted by the conversation from the other side of the bar. Luckily it didn't seem like the demon had seen Jack sitting down there with Victoria. Therefor he also kept still, still the cyrobird had no scent to him, only Victoria's from her blood. He lifted a finger up in front of his lips to remind Victoria that they needed to remain quite. Victoria and Jack sat there looking just as confused by the conversation between the demons' as the demon themselves were  - or Elena at least was. The strong you, made Jack frown for a second, and as much as he wanted to make a move - the smartest thing was to remain unseen. Or at least he made the choice to wait in silence till he heard Elena scream up as she jumped at the demon. Jack got up on his feet and placed his palm of his hands on the bar as he with ease jumped over the bar. He walked up and pulled them apart, only to punch Elrik in the face. He grabbed the guy by the collar with both hands and threw him through the window. Sean hadn't send many more than this round, but they had made chaos to more than what Jack found acceptable. "Landon," Jack raised his voice having the fallen angel show up from his hiding spot, with blood on his hands after holding one of the other members from bleeding out. "Give him a little taste of how generous we are," he added with a nod. Landon did just that, walked out and sat beside the demon, placing his hands on the chest of the demon.

Jack looked at Elena and moved his eyes over her to find the source to her injury. He didn't wait for her to ask or answer whether or not she wanted to be healed. But he placed his hand on the injury and let the cold take over. Leaving no healing power left for his own wound, from the knife that had stabbed him earlier. But at least did the lower temperature slow it down. "Vic.." He shook his head a little bit and let go of Elena. "V- Victoria will you -" he took a sharper breath in, and looked down at the source of pain. He had already healed from the bullets, but this remained. His eyes turned to its brown color as he looked outside, at least it seemed like Landon managed to put Elrik under his sleeping spell.

"Hey, this is my stab wound not yours," he pointed out as she cursed at him for healing her instead of himself. He would heal at some point, a good cold ice bath and he would be fine once his powers returned. Luckily his blood was cold like most of him, making the wound less fatal than it would have been on most people. He looked down at her hands as the got pressed towards the wound. Before he even had a say in the matter, she pushed him towards the chair and demanded for him to sit down. So he did. "Seriously it's fine," he mumbled a bit and sighed as Elena turned her eyes to Victoria. Victoria took a few steps forward till she was standing next to Elena. "Just get him upstairs into a cold bath," the shapeshifter crossed her arms and looked around. "I have to check up on the rest - hopefully no one is in need for a hospital ride," she sighed a bit still shaking slightly on her hands as she looked around. Victoria knew she could call Rafael, even Lucas for help, perhaps Lucas could get Cecilia to help - or she could call Mono. She recalled he had healing abilities as well. Frustration raced through her shortly as she started walking towards some of the others injured members. Some of them had their species in favor, the two werewolf members would heal quicker and therefor be able to help take the pain from some of the others.

Jack sighed a bit and looked around the chaos. The walls pained with blood, them painted in blood. "I can do it myself," he mumbled a bit stubborn and looked at Elena. "I don't want her down here alone," he added with a lower voice, clearly showing concern for Victoria. A lot had happened lately, and he didn't like leaving her alone - not after being shot and all. Even through Elena didn't know of the latest events happening to them, or Victoria's past he just didn't want Victoria to be alone right now. So, he pressed his right hand on the wound as he got back up. He made his way towards the stairs and started walking slowly up. Besides, all he needed was a cold bath and his natural healing would get triggered from the coldness. There was little she could do till then anyways.

She watched Jack go upstairs before looking around starting to pick up some of the thrown around furniture. Looking down at her blood coated shirt for a second, as she shook the flashes of the event out of her head. Victoria noticed the tension between Elena and Jack, then again when was the last time the two of them had spoken before today? She hadn't kept track, and it wasn't her job to keep track on what Jack did. Victoria breathed out happy to see that most of the members had made it with few scratches or wounds there were easily treated. Victoria was thrown back to reality as Elena walked next to her and handed her a glass, the shapeshifter gladly took it and downed it. It was well needed. "Better than to expected, I think most got out of it with all limbs intact," she sighed feeling most of the worry lift from her shoulders. Victoria walked a little around scanning the area, making sure no one hurt was untreated. Luckily, the serpents were quite strong, and they could withstand a lot. Her brown eyes looked down at her soaking shirt again, and she squeezed her nose a little bit by the sight. "Don't take anything he says at the moment too serious. He is not in his right mind," she took a deeper breath in. She turned her head to Elena and licked her lips shortly. "Last month his biological sister stormed in here, and like Jack does most when he doesn't know what to do. He shuts down. Other than work and here at the bar, I have barely seen him other than busy," she informed. It didn't excuse his behavior, or it did in some way - at least it explained it.

Victoria didn't really live that close by anymore, seeing she had moved in at Rafael's cabin, mansion really, it was an upgrade from her trailer. The shapeshifter spun around and grabbed the bottle to fill her glass up. "I'm sorry If I threw you off last time we spoke," she confessed and tilted her head a little bit to the side. Perhaps it was for the fact that she herself had placed herself in a situation where she had gone against all her morals. Victoria did somewhat feel like she finally understood where Elena was coming from - or at least parts of it. "I shouldn't have spoken to you the way that I did, and for that I'm sorry."

I’ll take that in mind. Victoria knew it wasn't her place to talk about Jack like this, and if it wasn't because she had so much on her plate. But what Jack was doing whenever he felt conflicted wasn't good for anyone, and she was worried. And she had no idea what was going on between them, but she knew Jack. Better than Jack perhaps even knew himself time to time.
Victoria took a sharper breath in, and chuckled a bit as Elena reminded her not to apologize to her. "Perhaps, but there was a lot of different ways to say it. And I chose one of the most nasty," she added with a small shrug. Victoria was perhaps not violent but when it came to hurt other's with words, she could be like a snake - ironically enough.

I need to figure out what the hell went down ten years ago, something isn’t right. The shapeshifter frowned a bit before crossing her arms. "What do you mean?" she asked before turning her eyes outside where the demon was knocked out cold. "Do you think we can get some information out of that guy?" Victoria asked a bit bluntly. It was what anyone would do, if a serpent was caught on someone's territory without permission - they would likely be questioned as well. Not that they were likely to tell a lot, everyone had a set of rules and morals. Something in Victoria had snapped after her argument with her father, and it had been taken out on Tivo - for better or for worse.

Landon gave Elena a nod then looked at Victoria to get confirmed that he should do it, when Victoria nodded as well he started to drag the demon inside and all the way to the back. Victoria ran a hand over her hair and looked toward two of the other members. "We close the bar for the rest of the day, make sure no one else gets in here unless either Jack or I allow it," she instructed and when she got the noods she needed she followed Elena to the back of the room.

Victoria looked to Elena, as she stated that no one should be in the room with her, but also needed Victoria ability wise. Victoria took a deeper breath in looking into Elena's blue eyes. Can you do that? The shapeshifter exhaled and replied: "Of course I can." Now was not the time to question things, they needed information and if Elena could provide them what they needed - so be it. Victoria had already gotten confirmed with herself that she was no master in torture - and even if she was able to provide with some useful powers to cause it, she still had a bitter taste in her mouth from last time.

"Otherwise, we will figure it out. In the worst case scenario, we are all here," Jack stood in the door frame looking at Victoria and Elena. Shirtless and only wearing his joggers as usual, he looked at the demon who still was out cold. "Landon, you can go now," he instructed to the fallen angel who didn't waste any time leaving the room. "Do you need me to wake him up, or how do we got this?" Victoria asked and looked at Elena.