Kids in the dark

“Vic,” Eric said. Not that he really felt it was too much, but he knew that too much information might make the scene worse.
“He did nothing?” she looked towards Victoria, and then over her shoulder to look at Lauren who had been pulled back into traumatizing memories. She pulled a slightly wicked smile before she looked toward her former father-in-law. “Such a caring father you are,” she stepped closer, keeping her eyes on James.
“Reina,” Eric said, hoping to get into the mind of the other dame. They knew how to light a fight. “Scorpio, can you please show James out,” he said looking at demon.
“No, no,” Reina said with a wider smile. “I think he should join us,” she blinked innocently, but clearly with wicked plans underneath. As soon as Cyrus had made sure that Landon and Lauren were alright, he walked up with his beer to the gathering with the thought of deescalating the situation.
“Honestly, James-” he didn’t get to say more before Reina gabbed his beer hand and threw the drink at her former father-in-law. “Reina!” Cyrus raised his voice and pulled in her shoulder to turn her to face him, but instead of an angered look, he received a fist in the face. Confused by her own actions she looked back towards the soaked James.

To this Victoria had no sense of remorse for what could happen to the person who had supposed to be her father, not really. She crossed her arms. Then Cyrus got up from his seat, Noa almost close to begging him to just keep seated not to make everything else heat up - but it was too late, and Reina grabbed Cyrus beer and threw the drink in Eric's father's face. Noa blinked a little bit, just sipping her own beer a little bit, trying not to catch too much attention.

Then thins happened so fast and Raina ended up throwing her fist in Cyrus face, "Reina that's enough," Victoria raised her brow a little bit, able to see that Reina clearly just had lost control in the heated moment. "It's enough," mostly because she didn't want it to be taken out on Cyrus. "I bet its enough," Scorpio let a sigh, "normally I would love a good-" before Scorpio got to finish his lovely speech James launched towards Reina with the means to grab onto her, however, Scorpio threw a fist at the human knocking him out by one hit and whistled a little bit, "I'm going to drive him to the outskirts of town and drop him by the border, count on he knows what's good for him and not come back," Scorpio bended a bit down and picked the human up from the ground, threw him over his shoulder, then left the headquarters.

Jack entered in that moment, "what the fuck just happened?" He asked looking at his former crew wondering what had just went on.

Reina looked at the friend she had punched in the face. Now, that wasn’t supposed to happen. She could almost feel the blaming eyes that surrounded her. She had lost herself in the heat. Reina could almost hear how James was about to launch towards her, which made her turn, simply to fuck up his moral compass and make him doubt himself, but before she got to do much, he had been knocked out. “Thanks,” Reina said with a low voice, before Scorpio explained what he was going to do with the man they had just knocked out.
Reina’s eyes followed as Scorpio left with the man and Jack entered. She put her hand up a little be, “I happened,” she said, giving the man with the red hair a smile before she approached him. She could feel how her hand was hurting from having hit Cyrus, but she let it pass. “It’s good to see you,” she spoke with a soft voice about to give him a firm handshake and a short hug. It wasn’t as soft and fluffy at the hug she had given Noa and Eric. Cyrus walked back and got a back of ice from Clint who stood behind the bar and put it against his cheek.
Lauren slowly pulled out of Landon's embrace, giving him a short smile and dried her cheeks with the back of her good hand. “Clint, can I get some fucking painkillers?” she spoke softly and let her hand hug the very short middle finger, squeezing it, almost hoping that the pain would go away if she did so. A couple of painkillers were handed to her. She kept her eyes on them for a second, wondering if she would rather take them or use some of the weed she had. She wasn't even certain that she would be able to handle herself if she took a pill - how likely would she be to take too many pills to numb the pain in her hand?
Eric could slowly exhale and walked over to give Victoria a soft squeeze on the shoulder. “You okay?” he almost whispered to her.

Jack looked so confused, but pushed it aside as Reina approached him, "If it isn't the one and only ReRe," he mused a little bit giving the fallen angel a short hug back. He looked towards Cyrus, "come on man, let me fix that up -" he walked over and absorbed all the coldness from the bag of ice, then used it to heal the soreness the hit on his face might have caused. Jack noticed Lauren ask for pills, not that he actually knew a lot of what was going on with her, but he knew it wasn't a good idea. "I can put it on ice make the pain lessen a little," he suggested with a small smile. Landon didn't really say anything just really couldn't believe James had showed himself here, or that Reina had pissed him off - for now he wondered what Scorpio actually would do with the body.

Victoria looked towards Eric and nodded, "I'm fine. Just got pissed off," she exhaled a little, not that she was the one who had acted out the most. Or she had pushed him, but he had also almost tried to take a hit at her - it was almost as if James blamed her for her mother Lydia's death. The way he had kicked her out an all back then.

Reina laughed lovingly as she used the nickname. It made things just seem a little bit more like home. Cyrus looked up as Jack walked over and took the ice bag away. “Thanks, man,” he spoke softly to him, sending Jack a kind smile. He truly just hoped that he wouldn’t be sore when he was going to visit Delphine. He wouldn’t want her to get worried just because Reina had gotten caught in the moment and had been ready to defend with everything she had. At least she hadn’t been so out of it that she had used some power on him.

Lauren looked up with slightly red eyes as he spoke about how he could put it on ice. She clenched her teeth a little before she nodded and handed him her hand. Sometimes she still got that disgusting feeling of being incorrect when she had lost a finger. She felt so… Wrong. “Clint, please take away the pills,” she spoke softly. She didn't wan the temptation. She could barely get herself to let go of her finger. The simple touch when she held around it almost made it feel like it was still there, but simply hurt as if she had had her hand between a door.

Eric held his eyes on Victoria for a moment. He knew that Lauren had someone to lean against, and Reina, well she had her own ways of getting things off her chest. Some people, like Victoria, just bottled up. “I get you. He’s a dick,” he agreed with her and pulled a kind smile. “You’re ready to join then?” he wondered letting his arm find her opposite shoulder, inviting her to either find comfort or turn around with him and return to the bar. If they turned around, he would let go of her by the bar, and walk over to Noa, giving her a gentle kiss by the temple, only to ask if she was okay. After all, the gang life could be a little tough sometimes.

Jack looked around the bar afterwards, it was weird standing here knowing he had nothing to do with the place anymore. He didn't even have his Serpent tattoo anymore, Anthony had cut it off him after all. "I like what they've done with the place," he took a sharper breath in, it was still tough to be back. The last time he had been here after all had been when Anthony had showed up and almost killed him. "Yeah ain't it, then? I'm still sorry man, right, but it's good ter spot yer again," Landon expressed and gave Jack's shoulder a little squeeze. It had to be weird, Victoria had gotten used to it by now. But for Jack it was something else too, it was accepting someone else was the leaders of this place.

"He really is," she shook her head a little bit. Hoping to convince Linus and Francis that he was no good, just like Lauren said, he took and took but never gave anything back. No matter her relation to the man, it wasn't like they could use that in the gang. "Yeah, lets," she nodded to the side before walking over to get a hug from Jack. It was nice, having the whole family being here together. Or at least most of it. The Serpent family. "Okay, right, cheers ter yer tossers, I'm bloody well right thankful for every each one o' yer, and may we 'ave a wonderful night wivout more surprises, right?" Landon grabbed his flask of beer, and raised it. Noa gave Eric a smaller smile, placing her hand against his chest while he kissed her temple, now she didn't really liked violence in any shapes, but it wasn't like she started crying by the sight of it anymore. Victoria let out a chuckle, "Clint a whisky on the rocks please."

Reina pulled a small smile as he complimented the place. She walked over and patted Jack gently on the cheek, “It feels more like home when you’re here,” she said giving him a short smile before she moved over to her older brother and squeezed the muscles between the neck and shoulders. Even though she had been gone for so long, she had gotten used to it. Lauren however not yet.
A gentle smile spread on Lauren’s lips as Landon started to cheer. She took her lemonade from before and raised it. Eric caressed Noa’s shoulder a little before he grabbed his beer again. “Cheers!” he said as he watched. His family.
Reina got Cyrus to hand her, her drink and she raised it with the others. “So, Jackie-man,” she said with a calm smile. “What are you doing at the moment? I heard you found another family?” she said, raising a brow kindly and interested.

Jack turned his eyes towards Reina as she asked about what he was doing now: or more so that he had found a different family. He chuckled a little bit, "bullshit, the serpents will always and foremost be my family. But the rumors however aren't untrue," he took a sip of his beer then licked his lips a little bit placing the bottle on the counter. "I met my brothers on my father's side of my family, and then I live with my girl in Aston - so, yeah," he explained also giving Landon a bit more of a perspective on what was going on in Jack's life.

The door opened up again and another demon appeared through the door, "pardon me, is this the Serpents?" she asked taking her sunglasses. Of course Ivy however knew what this place was, and she knew who she was speaking to, but that wasn't important, not as of this moment. "It is, what can I help you with?" Victoria asked, wondering if the beautiful demon was looking for perhaps Francis or Linus, either way there was something about her that made Victoria react - and she didn't like it."I was just looking for the owners - but perhaps you can deliver them a message for me," she mused a little walking closer to the group, she looked harmless - many people had made the sense of thinking that Ivy was harmless. "That she could, but I do for one like to discuss business outside of the bar - so, how about you just tag along with me," Francis came down from his study upstairs and looked towards the shorter demon who gave him a bright charming smile. "If you insist - another time perhaps," she chuckled a little bit delighted before she turned to follow Francis outside the bar again.

Reina pulled an appreciative smile. She liked what he said about Serpens always being family. “Tell more,” she mused as he said that the rumors were true. “Damn, Jackie,” she said, keeping herself from pushing Landon of the barstool and instead put her forearm against the bar and looked from behind Landon toward Jack.

The door opened, and Lauren immediately looked towards the demon who entered. There was something off about it, looking so fine. Now, she knew that Noa could look overdressed, but this… Even Reina straightened a bit up again looking at the stranger. A message for the owners. Reina moved away from Landon and over to Victoria. Why was Reina always ready to pick a fight? Even though this woman could look harmless, she never really judged a book on it’s cover. There were plenty of rich people out there who should be feared – and this woman might just be one of them.
Cyrus let his gaze end on Francis as he appeared and wanted to talk with the woman outside. “Okay, not to sound judging or anything, but that was just… So secretive, and I don’t like it,” he said and straightened a little. Hopefully he wasn’t the only one?
“Yeah, no, I agree Cyrus. Who was she?”

Victoria pressed her brows together, it was so weird, there was something familiar about the woman - and yet not the slightest. "I have no idea," she mumbled in response not really knowing what to say or think about the woman. No one showed up in Southside without having a plan, at least not at the Serpent headquarters. Maybe it was a friend of Linus and Francis, it wouldn't surprise Victoria if the two brothers had plenty of people whom they could pull some strings with, and yet: wouldn't they have mentioned if someone would show up? "I think I've seen her before," Noa then spoke, making everyone turn their heads towards her, not the sort of attention Noa really liked, but even though it was only Eric and Victoria who knew about her past, Noa had been in some pretty dark shit too - people just had a habit of forgetting it. "I've seen her work with Locan before," she looked towards Eric with a glance of fear in her eyes. If they were trying to get Locan out of Eichen house again, this time he would for sure come for her.  "I will make sure to warn Linus about her, make him aware if she might pose a threat or if she is just out to cover her own ass, okay?" Victoria gave Noa a small nod waiting for her to confirm. Locan wasn't a good guy, but who were the good guys even in a place like this? Everyone was a villain in someone's story after all. "Anyone who cares ter share wiv the group, squire?" Landon asked a little annoyed that he didn't know who Locan or what the fuck they were talking about.

Everyone’s eyes ended up at Noa as she spoke. When she mentioned it Eric clenched his teeth. If she worked with Locan, this could be a massive trouble. He let a hand caress her softly as she looked at him. He knew very well that it couldn’t comfort her much, but the fact that he was right next to her might be making a difference. Eric gave Victoria a nod as she explained that she would be speaking to Linus. They better figure out how the puzzle pieces were. Now, it wasn’t like Eric was going to be pointing fingers, but those brothers now had a little less respect in his books if they were working with her and in the end with Locan.
“What he said!” Reina pointed at her brother with slightly bigger eyes that were locked at the Fogerty siblings and Noa. Eric looked up at the siblings who had complained about the secrecy.
“Hey if they don’t wanna share it, that’s okay,” Cyrus butted in, hoping that the angels would calm down a little.
“Hey no. Not to be picking sides or anything, but it seems like quite a big deal,” Lauren interfered with a slightly hoarse voice. She cleared her throat a little, “Like, the fear in your eyes, guys,” she said pointing at the trio, “This Locan and that woman, they seem like quite the threat, so please spit out. I don’t wanna lose a toe too,” she said with wider eyes, hoping that people understood why she wanted to know. Safety measures or something. Eric sank a lump in his throat before he looked at Noa for a form of confirmation.
“Locan is in Eichen House,” he replied, but looked down at Noa again, it was her story to tell after all.

Noa knew the moment she had mentioned she knew something that there was no turning back, and it twirled around in her stomach enough to make her actually just run out of the bar  - but she didn't. Her heart hammered against her chest with such a force she theorized the ribcage would break. But if Locan was coming back, it was safe to say that it didn't make anything easier. Far from, and if he would come for her, then there was a chance he would come for everyone - the thing was, now she didn't fear it as much, because the people she was around now was far stronger than Locan knew. "Locan is a sociopath who takes pleasure in creating monsters, by taking pure souls and break them" Noa took a sharper breath in, "if he is out, we are all in danger, because he doesn't stop. And he doesn't care who gets hurt, I know this - because I was a victim of his for years," she nodded a little swallowing a lump in her throat and looked around, and for the first time possibly she didn't cry telling parts of the story - even if she could feel it upsetting her. "He also trains people in their abilities for his own little army," she added licking her lips then exhaling, keeping herself close to Eric.

Victoria knew parts of the story, mostly from Lucas as he had been frustrated and worried about not having been there to keep her safe back then. She had to tell him this. She needed to. No matter if her and Lucas didn't see eye to eye right now, some things were just not hers to keep to herself. "These can indeed be very dangerous people," Noa looked at Victoria, meaning she needed to take action regarding them fast. Noa wanted to tell Howie about this too, because this was not just the chance of Locan getting out, this was a chance of hell rising.

Eric kept by Noa’s side as she explained how Locan was as a person and what he did. Lauren was just about to spit out that none of them was going to be in danger because none of them were pure, but on the other hand, they had people around them who were. Noa was also quick to tell that they were all in danger, which made Lauren swallow a big lump. Cyrus was already planning where he should take Delphine to get out of the place if that Locan guy got out. He didn’t wish for Delphine to be broken.
Eric was incredibly proud of how well Noa had done, being able to explain it all. She had grown, just like himself. And they would continue to grow. As she announced that Locan trained people to get his own little army Cyrus chose to stand up, “Okay, I’m terribly sorry, but I have somewhere to be,” He didn’t get very far before Reina caught onto the neck of his collar and pulled him back in his chair.
“You are not going anywhere, Mister.” Cyrus massaged his throat from the short but strong pull back in the chair.

Eric looked up from Noa to the others when she announced that they were dangerous people. “That means that every one of you has to be strong. You have to test your abilities capabilities and boundaries,” Eric announced. There was a power in his voice that may have roots to the lion in him, “If Locan and his followers get to us, they are going to force us to harm the people we love,” he gave Noa a small squeeze knowing it was difficult. It had been so rough. “I’ll make sure we get some identification on Locan and the people who work for him, so all of you know who you absolutely cannot trust. You have to be on guard because any stranger could have a connection to him,” He didn’t mean to make them paranoid, but this was a serious matter, and no one wished to harm their dearest people. Lauren could feel how all of it seemed a little heavy and she wondered just how she was going to handle the situation. Maybe it would be best just to take distance from everyone. The way Eric announced it with power and control in his voice simply made it sink in so much deeper.

Noa could feel how hard her heart was beating against her chest, but with her arm around Eric, she felt like she could survive pretty much anything. Which was both a powerful and very addicting feeling to have. But where Noa stopped, Eric kept the conversation going, making even Victoria raise her brow a little bit. She had heard stories from Lucas about what Noa had been through, especially around the time where Locan almost had gotten out.  But if he got out and this was just another round. It sounded dangerous. "I'm sure I can ask Imogen to get some information about him as well," Victoria gave Eric a small nod, also knowing in this he would want to keep Noa safe. "We also stand stronger now than we ever had, we have people who holds lots of power. We just make sure Locan knows if he messes with one of us, he messes with all of us," she pointed out and Landon nodded and jumped down from his chair, "in unite there is strength," he gave his twin sister a small smirk. "I think its time I ask those Phoenix brothers then if I can officially rejoin the Serpents then," Jack pulled a little smirk. As if he would let his family face threats such as these alone. Noa looked up to Eric and exhaled a little, believing that this time if Locan attacked them, she wouldn't have to face him alone they could beat him.

Eric nodded toward Victoria who would get some information about Locan and possibly the team too. It could give them a possible advantage if they knew who they were up against and their backgrounds. That was something Imogen was so great at. A smile spread on Erics lips as Victoria continued and explained that Locan would mess with all of them. “In unity, there is strength,” Reina chimed in with her twin brother, almost as if it was planned, or maybe it was just the twin-bond. She winked at her brother before the smirk appeared on her lips.
“It’ll be good to have you officially back in,” Lauren said with a smaller smile. Eric noticed how Noa looked up at him, which made him look at her, before he kissed the top of her forehead, tugging her just a little tighter, knowing very well how she knew she wasn’t alone.“So, is there anything we can do for now?” Lauren spoke with a softer voice than those who had been preaching about strategy. She for one felt just a little out of touch with everything, and by the way Cyrus had acted, he might just need to know how he should be acting in the future so he wouldn’t accidentally stand alone in front of that man. Reina wandered behind Cyrus and wrapped her arms around him, almost laying over him.
“Yeah, I think this mechanic is about to make his own plans if he doesn’t get something else on his mind,” Reina purred, teasing the poor man.
“Shut up,” Cyrus groaned at her, slouching because Reina put weight in.

"I think we should take it up with Francis and Linus first, see if they see it as a threat we need to worry about. And if not, you know a few other people who might be able to work some magic," Jack nodded towards Victoria who nodded a little bit. "Yeah, I'm sure River and his crew wouldn't mind taking an eye out, Orion has pretty good contacts as well -" she nodded then looking to Reina who teased Cyrus. Victoria nodded a little. She understood he was worried about Delphine as well, knowing the two were involved in some sort of way. "First and most important fact we don't act before we know more, so I suggest we just take a step back. Observe and report, trying to remind ourselves that we aren't the ones calling the big shots anymore," Victoria nodded a little to everyone. Eric had been the right hand of Alexander Lodge when he had been leader. Jack had been right hand to Veronica and leader after. Lauren briefly been right hand to Jack before Victoria took over. And with Victoria's newly found beta status it was hard not to act on it, but she had to remind herself of not overstepping.

Lauren nodded as it seemed like there was a plan. It eased her to know that there was something going on, and they weren’t just waiting for the war to happen. Cyrus on the other hand didn’t get eased as Victoria explained who she could contact. He truly didn’t want any of this to get closer to Delphine. They just needed a break - both of them.
When Victoria announced that they should keep calm and observe, for now, Reina shook Cyrus a little and gave him a quick smooch on his cheek “Chillax, boy,” she said before she clapped his cheek a couple of times. “Well, no serpent stands alone,” she said with a smirk. “I think we all can think a little for ourselves and determine what a shot is or not, and how big it is,” she said and moved away from the poor Cyrus and over to the bar. “And now that we’re talking about shots… I think we should forget that dame and have some shots!” she announced, picking up a bottle of shots and raising it up above her head. Reina was definitely going to cause some chaos if she believed things were going too slow.

No serpent stands alone. Important words, words that made Landon nod. Landon didn't like another war, he had been in plenty and on the front lines here in Southside with Cyrus stuck here, while Anthony had tried to twist it all. "Shots, shots, shots," Landon hammered in the counter table with a smile, trying to lighten up the mood that had been killed slightly from all the serious talk. Noa blinked a little, not used to the fast pace that Reina was going in, it was rather chaotic, and she did believe that they needed to take a step back and rethink rather than going into drinking mood. So, she nervously ran a hand through her hair, not saying anything because she also wanted Eric to be able to hang out with his friends without her worry getting in the way - but then again, she had also perhaps just used most of her strength on telling them about Locan.

"One round of shots, but only because I need to swallow these news down with something," she leaned over the bar counter to trap some shots glasses so Reina could pour up for the crowd.

A wide smile spread on Reina as Landon cheered. The quick turn of the topic eased Cyrus. Nothing was going to happen now anyway. So, he chimed in with Landon. Hammering on the table, cheering for shots, and sometimes, almost barking. Victoria agreed to the shots, but only one round. “Bu-hu,” she mocked in a joking manner. Soon a set of shot glasses were on the table and Reina started pouring glass after glass. Lauren took one of the empty shot glasses away from the line. She wasn’t going to risk anything, and would rather take a ginger shot, which she found in a fridge.

Eric cheered once to let the others know that he was in for a shot. On the other hand, he wasn’t blind to how Noa still felt anxious. He understood why. She had been in the middle of everything and seen how it could tear everything down. The others had only heard the story shortly. They hadn’t seen what it could do to a person. He gave her shoulder a small squeeze and leaned down to her. “Nothing is going to happen the next hour,” he couldn’t help but let his nose shortly caress against her temple. “We’ll figure it out,” he promised her, hoping that it could ease her, just a little until they could go back to planning what they were going to do, despite laying low and getting information.