Walk through fire

Dedicated to @Killian and @Oliver
Also for @Mary-Jane and @Iris

DATE | 1th of September 2021
WEATHER | Its getting colder, windy at a light drizzle
TIME | School is ending around 3pm
SURRONDINGS | A lot of students coming from classes as well as teachers
ATTIRE | Eris & Iris

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Mary-Jane closed her eyes, exhausted, as she felt her sisters arm wrap around her shoulder. She opened her eyes as she replied, “Yeah, sure,” she exhaled. This year in general had been so weird and she honestly didn’t really know where to place herself anymore, though many would wonder if she had ever known where to put herself. “I just have to make sure Starla is alright, okay?” she said not really thinking about the fact that her sister had suggested to make the scones herself. Mary-Jane was currently quite aloof and actually just hoped that Starla was feeling alright, so she could check if Artemis was home. Mary-Jane had found comfort in Artemis, even though they now looked like their mother. It was easier to accept her than her own dad. She were more likely to be accessible than her dad and when he finally was available. It was always about gifts, illusions and whatever he could give her. She just wanted his undivided attention, and he simply didn’t understand that.

Killian parked the car he had chosen to drive in today and got out of it. It didn’t take more than a moment before he had eyed his daughters who he was supposed to pick up for today. The eldest of his daughters calling his title and running towards him. He spread his arms out to greet her as she almost jumped into his arms in a big hug. He lifted her up a little, twirling her around before he put her down. He laughed while he hugged her, being so glad to see his daughter, even though it had only been a couple of hours. He let his hand run over her hair, kissed her forehead before he looked towards his younger daughter Mary-Jane. She looked like someone who was imitating a zombie the way she walked, except her arms were down by her side. She had rolled her eyes of her family’s ‘reunion’. As she finally got close enough, Killian quickly pulled her in for a hug, almost making Mary-Jane trip over her own feet. “I’ve missed you too, Jane,” he said and felt how she tried to push herself out of the hug with grunts of frustration. “Can we please just go home?” she asked before she moved towards the backseat to sit in peace – hopefully.
Killian looked at Iris. It seemed to be another off day for Mary-Jane, “The usual?” he wondered just wanting to be sure it wasn’t because something specifically had happened this day. He looked up from his daughter once and recognized two faces. Paisley and Oliver.

Oliver had a few papers in his hand and looked a little through them as he walked out of the building. As his name had been yelled, he looked up, seeing his mother getting up from her motorcycle. “Mom,” he gladly called back with a wide smile and approached her instead of his car. Even thought they hadn’t seen each other for way too long, he couldn’t keep a smile from his lips. “Definitely not getting too old for this,” he said and swung his arms around her in a tight hug. “What are you doing here?” he wondered, releasing his grip a little, pulling a bit on his smile.

Killian who stood with one of his daughters, glanced into the car where the last daughter sat before he looked back at Iris, “I’m just going to greet someone I haven’t seen in forever; do you want to keep your sister company or tag along?” he wondered with a slight smile.

Killian frowned a little as his daughter explained how Mary-Jane had had a long day, along with some drama. It did sound like her friends getting into trouble, but Killian never really thought that Mary-Jane got herself involved. He nodded a little as Iris explained her sister wanted to go home and check up on their grandma.

Something about the way that Oliver acted, was purely taught from his father, watching how he had cared for his mother. Picking loved ones up and spiraling around. Oliver frowned a little as he heard that it wasn’t just for a happy reunion. It made him aware that something was going on, that wouldn’t be described as happy. Darn it. He listened as she was about to ask him something and tilted his head a little as she stopped her wording and looked in the same direction as her, realizing that his father stood on the other side of the parking lot. Even though he was glad to see him, and a slight smile appeared on his lips, he had still felt like his father had abandoned them so many years ago.

Killian smiled at Iris having some trouble not keeping his eye on Paisley to make sure she didn’t disappear out of the blue. “That sounds like a brilliant idea, love,” he said and handed her the keys to the car. He didn’t need them right now. He leaned a little down, letting Iris get to reach his cheek with a slight smile and a little laughter. He quickly kissed her forehead before he left to approach Paisley. It was also only in time for him to realize that she shortly after ran towards him resulting in him speeding up and when she jumped he caught her in his arms, laughing very happily and spiraled her around. If she had been wearing a dress, it would’ve been swirling beautifully around by the speed. He put her down with an extremely wide smile on his lips as she recalled his name. “To your service, Paisley Priest,” he said gladly with his hands on her hips, bent slightly forward. She hadn’t grown an inch since they had met, which made the 29 centimeters still be quite the height difference. He had to tighten his own reins to not just lean down and kiss her, after all, it had been quite the years since he had been with her, so something might've happened while he had been gone. Oliver approached right after the sweet reunion, to blast the pink bubble they had gotten themselves into. “Good to see you, dad,” he said with his hands in his pockets. “Live’s thriving?” he wondered making Killian look up from Paisley, meaning he let go with one of his hands on her hips, to see his son with a still wide smile, “Live is busy,” he breathed out. “You’re both a little too old to attend the academy; what are you doing here?” he wondered and looked at Paisley, his son and back at Paisley.

Killian still believed that Paisley was such a lovely lady, and he was certain that nothing would ever be able to change his mind, not even knowing how she had felt the last couple of years. The only thing that really broke up the mood and tension was Oliver approaching and greeting. He looked towards Paisley as she informed that her boyfriend worked at the school, “Oh, okay,” he said and nodded a little, he still had the same smile on his lips, but he couldn’t help but feel a little defeated. He glanced towards Oliver as Paisley informed that he worked there, “Good job,” he praised his son, who simply waved his hand about it, and it seemed like it had been the best solution, to just quit the praising since Paisley had more to say. Had Oliver heard anything about Hanna? Killian frowned confused, what was happening to his little bean? “What’s with Hannah?”
Paisley excused herself and walked away to talk to someone on the phone. Oliver looked towards Killian, “Well, as far as I know, Norah contacted me a year ago for borrow some money because she had trouble paying of her loans in France,” he said and licked his lips thoughtfully. It was approximately what Oliver got to say before Paisley rejoined.
“No, worries,” Killian assured her, even though he was slightly suspicious about the conversation. What had happened to her? How could she actually be standing there and smile like nothing had happened? It was bothering, even though he appreciated seeing her again and wanting her to be happy.
Oliver frowned as his mother said his sister had been gone sine January, he shook his head a little, “She haven’t reached out since January… I cut her off hoping she would get her things in order,” He felt so bad for not having been there for his sister.
“How do you know she’s missing?” Killian wondered looking towards his former fiancé.

Killian didn’t really understand how she knew where Oliver worked either, so her reply didn’t really work for him. I only have three kids to keep track on. “Ha, ha,” he laughed quite dry, but with clear sarcasm so they knew he didn’t take it seriously – but then it hit him. “Wait did you say three?” he asked and looked directly towards her.
“Oh yeah, Charles never got to meet dad,” Oliver barged in with a slight chuckle and shook his head.
“Charles?” he looked from Oliver to Paisley. “You- We have three?” he asked feeling quite blow away from the information. It was clear that he was happy about the news, but deep down, he wished he had known... But of course, he could've just gone back to her.

They went back to Norah being missing, and she explained that she had contacts which knew where she had been. “What? Do you just want to let it slide like that?” he asked while she was texting someone. “I can try and track her,” he looked from his former fiancé to Oliver, “You can try and track her,” he said almost ordering. Oliver raised his eyebrows knowing he had a couple of spells he could try and track her with, but did they even have any DNA or what all the other things they needed for those spells? It was clear that Killian cared for his daughter’s wellbeing and wanted her to be found, he didn’t mind taking this task onto his shoulders.

Oliver smiled kindly to his mother as she asked how he was and apologized for what had happened with Gemma. Of course, he had mourned after so many years and her being his fiancé, but most often he forgot about it, because now he had Madelaine. “Don’t worry about it,” he said calmly, “I’m doing quite fine actually. It’s been a little rough sometimes, but I actually got Madelaine as my mate,” he said and nodded a bit. After all, they had been having a relationship some time ago and had really loved each other, only splitting up because of her family wouldn’t accept him. “She got turned, so while I’m teaching things here, I’m also trying to teach her some things,” he said nodding a bit.

Killian frowned a little as she said that they would figure something out and combine the resources to find her quickly. He tried to relax a little, but he was worried. Hanna had to be found and even though he didn’t rest already, he certainly wouldn’t rest before he knew she was well. Once again Paisley turned her attention to her phone, but this time handing it to Killian. He looked at the picture of his son. Even though she hadn’t directly told him, he was so certain. This had to be his son. He looked back up at her as she explained when she had given birth to him. Gosh, she had figured out she was pregnant right after he had gone to war, and he hadn’t even received a letter about it. Even if he had gotten back to her immediately, Charles would still have grown up without Killian. He felt quite awful about it. If he had known, he would’ve tried to meditate an illusion of himself into the place to greet all of them. After all, he couldn’t really sleep in the army either. She took the phone back and he smiled a slight sad smile to her. He felt so sorry that she had to do things alone and that she had gone through so many awful things. “I would love to meet him,” he said softly. He savored the moment, looking into her eyes. After just about a second of silence he frowned a little. “Can we talk? Just the two of us?” he asked and then looked over at Oliver to check if he was alright with it. Oliver simply lifted his hand and waved it off. He wasn’t busy yet.

They walked a little away from Oliver, so it hopefully only were their ears. He had been so worried for all the things that had happened to her and was curious of how she could keep such a happy smile on her lips. Had she somehow forgotten what had happened to her? No matter what, he wished to know if she had forgotten or what had been going on.
And she pulled up a whole other topic. He frowned a little. She blamed herself for not contacting him, which made him shake his head a little. He could have made a greater effort himself, and just like her, it was quite visible that the topic was difficult. “It’s okay,” he said and went to caress her cheek. “We can’t change the past and the mistakes that were made,” he tried to assure her. “We could both have done differently, but,” he licked his lips looking into her eyes, “That wasn’t what I wanted to talk about,” he said and let his hand find her shoulder. “How are you? How have you been?” he wondered with a frown of worry, “And don’t lie to me,” he interrupted before she could say she was doing well.

Better. It didn’t give him much to calm down on, because it was clear that things still weighed on her. He tried to pull a smile as she said how she handled things by not looking back. Well, she did look well for not looking back at the things that had just happened within the last year. Killian on the other hand was looking well even though his mind – against his will – looked back at the wars he had attended. It was incredible how people coped differently. He felt her gentle hand on his cheek and felt like his legs were melting. He closed his eyes and pulled on a smile as she asked about his sleep. He took a deeper breath thinking, before he looked at her again, “More than two weeks ago. Approximately four hours total,” he responded and pulled on a sad smile. The hand on her shoulder took her hand on his cheek. “I really hope you’re going to at least try and stay out of trouble…” he said and gave her hand a simple squeeze. His free hand found its way into a pocket and grabbed a card. “I know you’re probably able to find the information yourself but if you need me, just call, okay?” he said and handed her the small card. Maybe she could also use him for whatever work she was doing.

Killian couldn’t help himself to raise his brows as she mentioned her career path and press his lips against each other. She certainly had gone a whole other way than when he was with her. Things had changed, and he knew that. She commented on the way he looked at her, which made him nod once before he let the raised brows fall and the lips ease their pressure.
He pressed his brows a little together as she said it was her painting skills she had put to good use. It didn’t really seem like it at all when she talked about stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. She even mentioned how trouble seemed to find her anyway. He wanted to reply and tell her more, but she grabbed his chin and wiggled it, making him chuckle a little, pulling on a smile. He licked his lips trying to process the information. She didn’t want his card. He smiled a little as she asked for his phone. He put the card back where it came from and found his phone only to hand it to her. The home screen was a picture of his youngest daughters and one of their male friends who was playing with their new dog. He watched how she typed on his phone and if there was anything she was unsure about, she guided her to how things were done, though he knew she was quite smart.
He took his phone back and packed it away looking up at her. “Paisley,” he said to make sure she looked at him. He took her hands. And gave them a gentle and loving squeeze. “Please don’t get hurt,” He cared a lot of her wellbeing and didn’t want her to get hurt – not only because he felt it, but because he couldn’t bear the thought of her getting hurt. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, even though every part of his body was screaming for more.

She pulled away, covered her mouth and told him it wasn’t fair. He straightened back up and took a smaller breath as she turned around. “I’m sorry,” he said and was about to follow her, when Oliver interfered and let a lamppost bend in front of his father, stopping him from following. Oliver then hurried towards his mother, on his way he passed his father. “Well done, dad,” he hissed and continued towards his mother. He threw the cigarette he had been smoking away. “Mom,” he called calmly and when he finally got up to her he grabbed her shoulder to make her turn around, so he could close his arms around her. He had never seen his mother cry, even though he had seen so much. ”That wasn’t your doing,” he whispered and caressed the back of her head. “I don’t know what’s going on, but that was definitely not fair, nor respectful,” he continued with a low voice and noticed how his father was on his way. He hugged his mother a little tighter to let her know that at least he was there for her.
“Please… I can explain,” Killian said and stopped as his son lifted his palm towards him. It was something Killian always did to stop someone, and Oliver himself only ever used it when Killian needed some of his own medicine. He loosened his grip around his mother slowly and leaned down to look into her eyes. “Do you want him to come over and explain his actions?” he asked and removed some of his mothers tears with the back of his fingers.

She looked towards him, but he waited for his sons gaze and some sign of approval before he approached. He stopped with a little greater distance to her this time. “This is going to sound like a bad excuse,” he exhaled, Oliver rolling his eyes behind his mother, quite visible to Killian. His son had clearly gotten enough of bad excuses. “I couldn’t stop myself, because you’re my mate,” he said quite quickly. Oliver had to blink slowly to process the information. “That’s why I knew about the things which has happened to you,” he tried to prove it. “It’s the name you were born with,” he said and swallowed a lump in his throat. She had seen the name on his collarbone multiple of times., so she knew very well what name that was written. Atarah. He drew a sharper breath in.
Oliver placed himself next to his mother, looking at her, “You don’t have to deal with this right now,” he informed her. It was a lot of information to take in.

Being such an old warlock did something to you when you suddenly met your mate. It had been so scary to know that it was her that for a long time he didn’t even want to tell her that she was it and burden her with the weight it could carry. Back then, he had been judging it to bee too much to know. Besides from that, she had rejected his proposal so many times, that he wouldn’t even dare to know how she would react if she knew she was his mate. Would she had been the one who had left?

He noticed how his son was ready to take his mother somewhere else, but Killian himself noticed how Eris didn’t break eye contact with him. This really did mean they had to have a serious talk. This had been too much information. Killian approached as soon as she said she begged him. Oliver caressed his mother’s shoulder shortly, “Take care till then,” he said.
His son saw how Killian wrapped an arm around his mother and picked up a piece of paper. She knew the drill with this. It had been a technique he had used for so many years and it had only gotten better. With his arms around her, he ripped the paper, and the next second they were in his office at work. With a flick of his finger the phone was turned off, so no one could call and interfere. Besides, he was supposed to be working at home, while his daughters were doing their homework. “I’m sorry I never told you. I should have,” he spoke ever so softly as he slowly unraveled his arms from around her.

She smiled at him and explained that she understood why he hadn’t told her. He could almost feel how the muscles around his shoulders lost tension and he relaxed a bit more. He watched her as she walked around in his office. She had after all never seen how this place looked. He relaxed himself and leaned against his table. He didn’t want to interrupt her as she inspected the room and toured herself around. As she sat down, his gaze followed her, and shortly after his body as she asked him to join her. He took the hand that she reached up to him and was pulled down. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been thinking about sitting down next to her, but now she was sure of where she got him. “What freaked you out, then?” she spoke calmly and adored her light eyes.