House of cards

She wasn’t a fool, even though by the look of her youngest son’s eyes, he thought her as such. Her eyes glided towards Aria as she announced that she was going to check on her father. Letha took her hand and gave it a small squeeze “thank you for the help today, I appreciate it” she whispered, before letting go so she could head up to the room where Oscar was sleeping. Then she turned her gaze back towards Ace, letting out a small sigh before she got up and walked over to sit by the table. “I know you think this is foolish, and that you don’t believe in the fact that I’m not the woman I used to be” she started, putting down the flask of wine, before walking towards the cupboards. For a moment she had to stop, as the events of what had happened before welled in up her as her feet touched the place she had been lying and almost dying because of what Oscar had done to her. Clearing her throat, she pushed it a way as she took a glass and walked back and sat down. At least the table was new and didn’t bring up the things that Edward had done to her as well. “I know it might be an uphill battle as of right now, but I’ll take care of it, okay? It’s not the first time I made sure that the Radclyffee wouldn’t hurt my family” she whispered, not really thinking about what she was telling him, as it had been a story that not many knew much about.

Ace could almost see how Aria was worried for a split second when Letha grabbed her hand, though every bit of worry disappeared as Letha thanked her. It was incredible how much Aria feared each family member. She such a scaredy-cat. She even fleet when the conversation got a little uncomfortable.
Ace kept his eyes at his mother as she explained how she had seen his perspective. He believed it was funny how the two of them could agree on something, and in another topic completely disagree or talk past each other.
The dark eyes picked up how Letha stopped shortly, and he thought about what it could be that froze her for that second, before he figured that it was where he had found her. He would have to tell his father that the tiles had to go. He would set up Aria to make sure that the things were actually completed. He furrowed his brows when she mentioned how she had made sure the Radclyfee’s didn’t hurt her family before. “Are you talking about the time where you killed Melanie and got locked up?” he spoke quite calmly. Now, she might believe she had made sure that the Addams backs were clear, but he was so certain that it had only made things worse.  “Do you-” he stopped his sentence when he heard a neck crack. He took a deeper breath in even though he knew it wasn’t necessary. “He’s awake,” Ace mumbled and was about to walked towards the bedroom to help Aria get better quicker when she was levitated out of the room. Ace stopped walking and covered his eyes with a sigh, almost giving up on the causal drama. He picked up the bleached blonde vampire and healed her neck, just in time for Oscar to step out. He looked from the stairs and down on them.
“I will take another nap,” he growled before he turned to walk back to bed.
The little sister groaned a she woke up in the hands of Ace. “I guess he didn’t want to cuddle,” she mumbled. Ace shook his head a little.
“That’s probably because you’re not your mom,” he almost hissed at her.

“It’s more complicated than that” she managed to get in before Ace stopped midsentence. She heard it as well, a neck that cracked and her eyes slowly closed. An exhausted sigh left her, as her fingers glided over her forehead. Why was everyone in this family so brutal? Now, she could answer that question herself, which was why she didn’t say it out loud. As Ace got up, so did she, walking a little behind him seeing how Oscar made Aria float down the stairs so Ace could take her. Another sigh left her, as she looked up at Oscar as he growled that he was taking another nap then looking down at her daughter that was mumbling something about her father not wanting to cuddle. “I need more wine” she mumbled, turning around walking back to where she had been sitting and took the flask of wine and poured her glass only to empty it and pour another one. This day, she didn’t even know what to think about it anymore. Normally one would think that they just wanted to sleep so it would be over. But, she was quite sure that her troubles wouldn’t end when she woke up again.

Ace looked up at Letha as she announced that she needed more wine. He wanted to explain just how much trouble Aria usually caused, and that he would almost be worried if Oscar hadn’t done it. Ace had foreseen it coming, but had hoped that Aria wouldn’t have gone that close. But he said nothing. She had decided for more wine, so be it. He whispered to his older sister that they probably should head home soon, where to she nodded. He helped Aria onto her legs, and as soon as she seemed steady, he let go of her. It was quite rare that one would see Ace help Aria. “I’ll make sure she gets home,” he told Letha and moved over to stand next to her. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s not easy to correct a nine-thousand-year-old dysfunctional family,” he told her with almost a caring voice. “Is there anything I can do for you?” he wondered.

Letha let out a small breath of air, then gave them both a small smile as she nodded. “Sounds like a good idea” she agreed with the fact that it might be time for Ace to get Aria home. Not that she minded having her here, but she had no idea what would be going down when Oscar would wake up the second time. There was still the matter of all the blood that was around the house. Not that it would take her much effort to clean it up. Or it would. She was exhausted and absolutely spent. But she rather be doing it the manual way then, because there was no way she would be able to fall asleep now.  
A small chuckle left Letha, as Ace told her that she shouldn’t be too hard on herself. Her eyes looked towards her children giving them both a soft small, feeling her heart swell for a moment. She knew that it wasn’t easy to correct nine-thousand years of mistakes. She wasn’t sure if it was ever something that would be able to be fixed. She was trying, but sometimes it felt like she was just doing more harm than she was doing good.
Letha shook her head “No, you’ve done more than enough for today, more than you were expected too really” she said with a soft smile on her lips nodding towards both of them “Both of you, thank you for the help today” she said, raising from the seat she had sat down in. “Go home, rest, I’ll make sure to figure out just how deep in waters things are with Radclyffee’s and that it at least isn’t something that is going to be a problem of yours” she said, walking with them towards the front door to say goodbye to them both.

Ace heard her chuckle and understood that she was probably going to try and blame herself a lot anyway. Which was understandable, she and Oscar hadn’t been the best parents. One could look at River and Aria and think, why didn’t they stop? Did they only stop because Ace was somewhat sane? Ace appreciated that she thanked them for the help they had given. He followed Aria to the door before he turned to Letha again. “Remember that you can always ask for help,” he said with a light smile, “And remember to tell  Oscar what tiles he should have changed,” he said and looked at her with a serious gaze. The kids then said their goodbyes and left.

Oscar laid up in his room and couldn’t sleep anymore but simply laid in his bed, staring at the bedroom ceiling. It was incredible how misunderstood one could feel. It simply hurt so deep down, and he knew that it hurt others that they didn’t understand why he acted like he did. It was difficult to understand how things were about to change for the better, but you couldn’t truly see yourself in it. After a while, where he was certain that the kids actually had left, he rolled out of bed and moved downstairs. “Let me,” he spoke softly, wanting to help with all of the mess.

“I will” she promised when Ace told her, that she could always ask for help. Something she was sure; he would never have offered if not for the recent events that he had seen her in a different light. Maybe it had been for the fact, that she hadn’t reverted back to her old ways, that she stayed somewhat the same each time they met. The tongue glided over her lips as she closed the door, leaning her forehead against the door closing her eyes for a second. She had to recollect herself. Not really knowing what to do with everything that had been pressed into her mind today. “Alright Letha” she whispered, pushing herself away from the door, giving her a mental pep talk about what she was about to do. Walking back into the kitchen she clicked her tongue and pulled one side of the lip backwards. “What a mess” she mumbled, talking to herself as she walked over and drowned the last glass of wine, wondering if she needed to open one more. As her eyes glided back to the blood that was all over the tiles, she decided that it was very much needed.
Finding another flask she poured yet another glass, then she started filling a bucket of water and started to scrub away her blood. That was when she heard footsteps and Oscar telling her that he would do it. Looking up she gave him a small smile, for a moment she was about to argue against it. But handed him the brush and leaned back on her heals, using the back of her hand to glide over her forehead as her hands were already covered in the blood she was trying to clean up. “You didn’t get a lot of sleep, I’m sorry” she whispered, letting on a soft sigh looking at how he started to work on cleaning up the mess that had been made.

He was handed the brush and got down on all fours. He wasn’t going to use his powers for this, it seemed to be less of a struggle to do it by hand. Was that why she had done it by hand too? He glanced up towards her as she apologized for him not getting enough sleep. “It’s okay,” he mumbled back and continued scrubbing. “I’m sorry if I was a little too harsh on Aria,” he mumbled. It was the only thing that he seemingly could remember clearly that he had done that had been reckless. He had just really believed in getting a good night’s sleep with Letha by his side, and her being there when he woke up. So when he had been woken up by his daughter who almost forced herself onto him, he had been a little too tired to simply ask her to leave. But it was a story for another day. He had just been a little sad that Letha hadn’t been by his side, but she had probably needed some fresh air. “Is… Is there any tiles that has to go anyway?” he wondered, not wanting to clean tiles that had to be thrown out anyway.

She turned her legs around, so she could sit on her behind and placed her arms around her legs. Leaning her chin against her knees. “She really does means well, she just, hasn’t learn who to express her love in a more healthy way” she whispered, looking at how he worked, letting some of her powers grab the blood that had landed on her hands and glide down into the pocket.
Then he asked if there was any tiles that needed to go. A small sigh left her, “It’s mostly my blood, you threw Aria through the window” she nodded towards the giant window that needed to be fixed as well “the countertop too” because she could see how he had kept her there while she had tried to talk some sense into him.
“You want to talk about why you got so upset with seeing Melanie?” she asked, not really sure she wanted to talk about it herself. But, well, she wanted to be there for him. Even when it was breaking her own heart in the process.

Oscar looked up as Letha explained how Aria expressed her love. “Yeah,” he exhaled and continued to scrub. He nodded a little when she explained that it was mostly her blood that was a problem. Then there was no need for new tiles, as far as he understood. Of course, Letha could change her mind anytime and he would change the tiles for her. He glanced towards the window as she mentioned that he had thrown Aria through it. Her licked his lips a little before he shook his head of himself. So much work he had put on himself. It was always a good thing that these things happened so rarely. He looked up at she mentioned the countertop. He was about to ask what had happened, but he chose to keep his mouth shut. He preferred the memory to stay as blurry as possible.
He looked up from the brush as she asked about why he had gotten upset when he had talked with Melanie. “It wasn’t seeing her that upset me,” he mumbled and cleaned the brush a little before he started to scrub again. He did that for a little while, collecting his thoughts and trying to figure out what it had been that had been way too much for him. “It was…” he furrowed his brows while thinking. “We talked about hunters who… Suddenly change their minds about the supernatural,” he said with an exhale. “I was hurt because I thought they should know better, since she and I had been hurt by being together,” he explained and slowly stopped scrubbing. He looked up at Letha, “She tried to comfort me…” His eyes got teary, and he let go of the brush and moved over to wrap his arms around Letha, even though it was more her legs  than anything else. He leaned against them, and  small sob left him. “She got me so confused,” he mumbled feeling how everything was whirling around. It was first now that he had realized how she hadn’t spoken the three words back to him. Interesting. Now to him, it didn’t have to be a romantic relationship for someone to say that they loved someone, but lately, it was the only kind of love he knew. There were few that he knew that he loved without it having to be romantic. Sad, correct? No friends that he believed he could turn to. Lonely. “It’s just a lot…” he mumbled.

It was hard not to let the words he spoke get underneath her skin. Provoke a sense of pain in her chest, spreading all the way down to her fingers. They had talked about hunters changing their minds. That he was hurt because they should have known better, and they had been hurt while being together. Did that mean that they had talked about giving it another change? She had tried to comfort him. The pain was at this point, almost too much to bear. Which was also why she was happy that she didn’t need to breathe, because she completely forgot to.
Even though all of these emotions were whirling through her, she started letting her fingers glide over his hair. How had she ended up consulting him, after everything he had put her through. “What is a lot?” she asked softly, surprised that her voice didn’t reveal just how much pain he was putting her through at this very moment.

He felt how she let her fingers glide through his hair. It felt grounding and he felt at so much ease when she did that. “Emotions,” he mumbled. “I didn’t feel like I could think clearly,” he continued and shook his head a little, looking up towards her. “Everything came rushing to my head,” he mumbled, and as he spoke so, he was sad that he might have caused her a feeling similar to the one he had been experiencing. “It was just… Overwhelming to talk about how I have been,” he let a hand caress her cheek. “I hadn’t really felt the best after all,” he reminded her, keeping his eyes on hers. “I’m glad you’re here,” he spoke, “Even after all the horrible things I’ve done,” he whispered, even though he knew that she had done a whole lot of things that was much worse than what he had done, but could she look past it, like he had done with her?

She wanted to ask him, if he had really thought the solution to that would be shutting off his feelings completely. Did he even know what had happened after? He had sounded so surprised when she told him, that he had almost killed her. She wouldn’t even dare to think if Aria hadn’t been home and what would have happened then. If Oscar one day came back home with his emotions turned back on and found her lying in the kitchen.
A small smile formed over her lips, when he looked up and his hand found her cheek. For a moment she dared herself to close her eyes and just let him caress the soft skin. “It’s what I promised” she whispered, when he told her that he was happy that she was here. She had after all told him that she wasn’t going anywhere, even if it meant that she wouldn’t be the centre of his.
“Do you remember what happened with Melanie after you turned them off?” she asked softly as she opened her eyes looking at him with a sad expression. “Because I think, you might need to smooth things over with her, especially with your shared children, they don’t deserve to be caught in all of this” she whispered, letting her hand glide over his curls before she took her hand back. “I think you bit her, and she you – because you were delirious when you came back from your trip out” she explained further.

“You did,” he whispered, pulling a very small smile. Promises were nothing, unless you kept them, and Letha kept proving to him how much he could actually trust her, how much she was going to be loyal and stand by her words.
Difficult questions. Questions that he didn’t want to ponder over. His jaw tensed and he shook his head very lightly. It wasn’t really that often that he got to the point where he turned of his emotions, and he was certain that this time was nothing like the others. He felt like he had buried himself, and right now, he was trying to uncover himself from the grave he had put himself in. Letha explained how things might have gone down, and how he might have done something that would be troublesome for the kids they had. Her mention of this made him picture Simone and just how ruined she would be if she knew what he had done, if what Letha had said was true. “Fuck,” he mumbled and let his hand leave her cheek to cover his eyes shortly, massing right under his brows. “I just remember that everything felt like an obstacle… I didn’t want anything to slow me down and-” he shook his head, “Details are not there. I’m sorry that I saw you as such a big obstacle,” he said, removing his hand to look at her he sat up, being on eyelevel with Letha. “I’ll figure it out,” he mumbled and wanted to rest his forehead against hers and to caress her neck.

Once again, she listened. Let him speak what he wanted to say without interrupting him. Mostly because she used the time to deal with her own emotions. How it felt like they were trying to tear her heart apart. She wasn’t even sure what she should feel like this very moment. There were just so many different things that she needed to take in. The consequences of her actions, that wouldn’t only hurt her, but her own children as well. Which had been why she was here, why she had followed him and brought him back. Because of them, and the fact that they would end up in trouble if Oscar continued this rampage. Or at least, this was what she was sure off.
Her hand fell from his hair when he sat up and looked into his eyes. It was clear that she was exhausted, and as he leaned and placed his forehead against hers, it took all she had to not completely come undone in that very moment.
Letha swallowed hard and then pulled away. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were going to meet with her?” she whispered, feeling and hearing how her voice slowly broke “are you guys getting back together, or was it to tell her that you had me under control now? Because I wouldn’t think you told her that we were seeing each other, because -- that is what we are, right? Or, or have I miss understood something along the way?” she asked, first noticing the tears as they ran down her cheeks.

She pulled away and he looked up at her, feeling how things slowed down. “What?” he whispered while she collected more words to spill. Did she want to know why he had met up with Melanie? He didn’t really understand why, but maybe it was because he didn’t see the problem that Letha was convinced there was. He furrowed his brows ever so lightly as she asked if they were back together, continuing and asking if was because he wanted to tell Melanie that he had her under control. Tears ran down her cheeks, and if it wasn’t because he was already cold and empty, he felt it even more now. “You didn’t misunderstand anything,” he spoke softly, letting both of his hands find the floor, letting them take in the texture. “I think we’re seeing each other,” he confessed, wanting to move closer, but on the other hand didn’t want to push her emotions. “I didn’t tell you, because I thought it didn’t matter and I just told her that she didn’t have to worry about you, just as she explained that I didn’t have to worry about her brother,” he said keeping his eyes on her. It was difficult to reply to everything, challenging even. “I didn’t want them to come after you, and I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t coming to us either,” he explained with a sharper breath.

“That it didn’t matter?” she pulled her legs up and hugged them towards her chest shaking her head a little, almost in disbelief. Even if it wasn’t because she was jealous then because she could take care of herself and her own battles. And if he had gone because he wanted to make sure that she was safe, then why not tell her? Why do it in secret, that, she couldn’t understand.
Swallowing hard she closed her eyes, letting her fingers glide over the bridge of her nose.
“How couldn’t it matter? If you went there because of me, and if something happened to you and I didn’t know?” she opened them and tried to look at him, but right now everything felt so incredible dangerous. “And I don’t understand, then why did it become too much? If we are on the same page, with you and me, then why” it was like her whole throat was curling together “what aren’t you telling me?” the last words were almost like a whisper as it glided over her tongue. Hanging in the air while it waited for his respons.  

She pulled her legs up, almost as if she tried to barricade herself from his words. It weighed heavy on him to see her do that again. He didn’t wish for her to curl up and pull herself into some dark place. She started to explain why she didn’t like that he thought it didn’t matter. She explained her insecurities and how she didn’t understand what was going on. “There’s nothing I’m keeping from you,” he assured her, “I’ve told you my intentions and what happened before everything shut off,” he said and scooted closer to her. “Please, I just wanted to keep you safe,” he whispered. “It…” His jaw tensed a little, “It got too much because I was reminded that I wanted to die,” he said, not noticing how he hissed, almost choking on his own words. “I forget that when you’re here... You make me want to stay alive,” he mumbled trying to find her eyes, even though he was pulling strings and a pressuring feeling spread in his chest.

But if there wasn’t anything he was keeping from her, why did it feel like there was. She could of course just find out herself, if anything she was maybe one of the best people in the world to find out things that other people were hiding. Especially with the ability that she had.
But she sat there in silence, feeling how his words sliced through the blanket it tried to place around them. She just couldn’t comprehend why they had gotten to a part where he had been reminded that he wanted to die, what he had been talking with Melanie about that brought it all back?
Letha slowly let go of her legs as he explained that she made him forget that he wanted to die, that she was the reason why he wanted to stay alive. Those words weighed so heavily on her shoulders. Because what would he do next time she wasn’t there when he felt like everything became too much? She turned her legs, so they ended up underneath her, as she crawled towards him letting her hands find his cheeks seeing that she had caught some of the blood from the floor on her way towards him. Smearing it over his cheeks. She would take care of that later, “you need to remember that all the time, because I don’t want to live in a world without you, Oscar, you stupid man, I love you, always will” she whispered before she placed a soft kiss against his lips.

A silence spread over them for a moment, and it was so heavy around them, that it almost felt like an elephant trying to step on him. The silence was uncomfortable, but he had to stay. He knew thoughts and sentences were being brewed in the back of her forehead. She crawled over to him, and he wanted to hold his breath, even though there was no point in it. She grabbed his cheeks, and it was like he could breathe again. His lips quivered a little as she told him to remember that. As she kissed him, he leaned into the kiss, letting his hands find her cheeks, his arms over hers. “I love you too,” he whispered before he continued to kiss her, only pulling his lips away from hers shortly. His thumb found her lips and let in run over her lips. “I promise, I won’t do it,” he whispered to her, of course meaning that he wouldn’t seek out suicidal activities like he had done before hand. “I will stay, and I will love you” he whispered against her lips, and let his nose caress hers shortly, “Till death do us part,” he spoke quietly and with his eyes half open, with the only distance between their lips being his thumb. “And even if death do us part, I will make sure to crawl out of hell to be with you,” he continued.

A small, chocked laugh almost masking as a sob, left her. Her eyes still closed she couldn’t help herself from shaking her head a little. She really hoped there wouldn’t come a time where he needed to crawl out of hell for her or with her. She wanted them to have a life where they could be happy and find happiness together. Not an encore.
“We’ll figure things out together” she whispered, letting her teeth find his thumb a little playfully before she let go and turned her head away from it so she could place her lips against his again. “But no more running around where I at least don’t know where you gone off to, I don’t care whom you are seeing, I just want to know where to look if you don’t come back” she whispered, this wasn’t about putting a leash on him. And if he wanted to patch things up with Melanie again, she wouldn’t make him stop.
Her eyes looked towards the blood and then back at him. “I really could just use a bath and then going back to bed, I’m exhausted” she whispered, leaning her head against his closing her eyes. Now that things were somewhat resolved, she couldn’t find the energy to keep herself from falling asleep.

He chuckled a little with her as she did, though he wasn’t really joking. He would crawl out of hell if that was the case. Of course, he would wish that he would never have to crawl out of somewhere to find her. “Yes,” he whispered agreeing with her. “Ow,” he whispered before their lips met, his with upturned corners of his mouth. Security and a feeling of home spread in his chest. Then she told him that she wanted to know where he was, mostly to know where to go if he wasn’t coming back, “Okay,” he mumbled and nodded a little. “I’ll make sure to at least text you,” he mumbled and let his nose stroke hers shortly before she looked from one place to another. He closed his eyes as she leaned her forehead towards his. “Let’s take a bath,” he then told her, caressing the back of her neck a little. “We should really get some rest,” he said and even though he felt tired, he helped her get her to her feet with his abilities and wrapped pulled her closer, to let his forehead rest against hers for another second, before he would find her hand, interlocking their hands and then turn around to walk towards the bathroom so they both could get a well-deserved bath.

She was happy that he agreed with her. At least a good night’s sleep would put everything into perspective. They were both tired and exhausted, emotions out on the clothes and heart on the sleeve. Things could easily have gone much worse, if it wasn’t for the fact that she had no wish to leave him. Even if her world had been turned upside down and then back, all in one day.
A small, yet tired, smile formed over her lips as he used his powers to get her back up. And did nothing to resist when their fingers interlocked with each other.
“To think how different things would have been, if I had just known the things I know now back then” she whispered as they walked up the stairs. It was thoughts that had haunted her so many times over the past couple of weeks. Maybe that had been the reason why she had also pulled away from him. Because she hadn’t known how to deal with the knowledge that she could have changed back then, but she hadn’t found the strength to. What if she had never done anything to Melanie, would she had Oscar live happily together now? Or would someone else had found them and tore them apart. They would never know, and even if she knew that it wouldn’t bring anything good with her. She couldn’t let go of the thought entirely. Mostly because she only wished good things for Oscar, that he was happy no matter what she needed to do to achive it.

He didn’t even turn his head as she whispered something to him. He simply pulled a little at the corner of his mouth. “Things would have been different, yes,” he spoke back softly and turned towards the bathroom still holding her hands, stroking the back of it gently. “Who would know how any of us would have been,” he said letting his thoughts walk in thousands of directions. He turned towards her and walked backwards into the bathroom, using his powers to open the door, and close it as soon as they were both inside. “Maybe our kids would have been acting differently,” he said and let his hand find her cheek and let it find its way into her hair. “Who knows, maybe Jones would have something else to compete on than weapons,” he said letting his eyes take her in. He wouldn’t even dare to imagine how many kids the two of them could’ve gotten together, nor where they would be in the world, and whether they would be living a civil life or be royals. Who knew? There were so many things that could’ve changed. He wouldn’t have been interested in Iris; she wouldn’t have been interested in Zadkiel. If Letha had known the things, she knew now compared to what she knew back then, well, who knew if Oscar and Melanie would have ever been a thing? “Not that I’m saying that I would compete in number of children,” he furrowed his brows a little by that thought, “But I do like to see what our genetics create,” he said softly, letting his hand, find behind her ear and to the back of her neck.

There were many scenarios in all of this, and you could get a headache if you tried to go through all of the different outcomes if something had happened or didn’t. Maybe it was all for the best, that it was only just know that they had found each other, even though it could have saved them both for a heap of pain and heart sorrows to go through. But when it came down to it, it was still something that made them, them. The persons that they were now, so even if Letha had been different when she had been Revna, she might not know what to do with the knowledge that she had now. If anything, she was just happy that he wanted to be with her now. That they were able to somewhat talk about things, and get out on the other side, without too much drama, yelling and shouting. Even if there was a whole lot of tears invovled now.
Her lips curled into a small smile, when he commented on the fact that he didn’t want to compete in the number of children that they had in the Jones family, knowing that he spoke mainly about Killian Jones. She praised herself for the fact that she had only gotten four children.
“First something that sounded like a proposal, and now something that sounds like you want to have more children with me?” she teased him, leaning her head against his hand as her eyes locked with his. “Maybe first we’ll see if I actually can manage to get you that kingdom that you so wanted to get today” she hummed, letting her fingers catch his chin, knowing that there was a possibility that he couldn’t even remember that part either.