And Hell Was Following

[Our Hell] This is the morning of Thursday, February 3rd.

Chinese New Year.

They say some days are auspicious.

After a long night of scrying, a location was finally narrowed down. This was what brought the assembled Traditionalists to Back-of-the-Yards early in the morning, just after sunrise. The location was a broken-down and abandoned warehouse in the shipping district. The building was large, and the brick walls held despite years of abandonment, but from the looks of the now-ruined second story, the roof had collapsed at some point. No one was here this early in the morning, and so soon after the huge snowfall.

No one except the people inside.

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley marks the Chinese New Year. This year, it's a day on which she has a few quiet moments and says a few words that aren't meant for anyone else to hear. No one living, at any rate.

After a long night of scrying - with Molly and Ben's help, thankfully - she's weary. This isn't the first time a matter has been time sensitive, but it's the first time in a while. Ashley's been quick. There's a sense of urgency following her, in spite of however she professes to feel about others and their welfare. Maybe it's just that there's a child involved.

She doesn't notice how the snow looks today.

Elizabeth and Thomas have been acquired. Emily, who she'd spoken to, is not here. Ashley'd hoped to have Kage, but the Orphan is not here either; Ashley tries not to notice the absence of her stabilizing presence. She hasn't even admitted to herself that Kage's presence is a stabilizing factor in her life, really. It doesn't matter. She's here with the others.

She waits. Better not to just charge in ahead.

[Ellizabeth Zhao] She looks the building over her expression calm and serene. She is without her usual backpack, with only a small bag, maybe a foot in length, at her waist. It contains her foci. She is in simple, utilitarian clothing. A blood red shirt, loose-fitting pants, sneakers. No one who looks at her would accuse her of being a slave to fashion, and that's exactly the way she prefers it.

The significance of the day is not lost on her. The first Chinese New Year involved a fight against the Nian, who devoured livestone, crops and children. What they are facing may not eat a child, but the metaphor is by no means lost on her. She did her own private ceremony to kick off of the holiday before she met with the others; the only sign of her observance of the holiday is the color of her clothes. The Nian was scared away by a young child wearing red, and while she doubted Anya would be frightened away by a shirt, she is not one to discount any myth. The similarities of "Nian" and "Anya" are also not lost on her.

She waits, looking to the others. She knows them all, but only in passing. She is the stranger here, and as such, she is following their lead. "What is the plan?"

[Ellizabeth Zhao] [[liveSTOCK]]

[Molly Quincannon] Molly hasn't had time to change clothes or redo her hair, so she still looks different - so very, very different, with the plain brown contact lenses and the slicked-back brown hair and the tattoo-hiding turtleneck and the sensible clothes. Ellizabeth doesn't know her well enough to be surprised at this, perhaps. Thomas ... might be in for a shock. In any case, the only thing that marks Molly (Maudlin today, she'd have asked Ashley to convey; Thomas is welcome to keep using 'Info' if he so desires) as a little off the norm appearance-wise is the staff she carries, which ostensibly could be a really odd walking stick to hack through all the snow.

But Anya's pissed at her specifically and like hell she's going in unarmed.

To Ellizabeth's question, she looks over at the building and says, "Two options, I guess. Straight-up confrontation - quick but potentially fatal to the wrong people - or we try to find a way to sneak in. Or two-pronged attack doing both, I guess. I make great bait right now." Wry, self-deprecating grin. Trust Molly to put herself in the line of fire first. But at least this time she's got good reason for the overconfidence.

[Thomas Black] Thomas looks...normal like he would any other day he meets with any of them. The Hollow Ones gaze is laced with black rings around the eyes and a paleness most light. Tracksuit top, the long tan overcoat, jeans and converse (These ones at least look like they might survive the trip to hell and back).

Cigarette in his lips, he only had a quick update but what has happened does not surprise him, he told Ashley how he knew Anya would react, her passion to succeed how this seemed personnel to her. To hear her go to this level didn't surprise him in the least. A boy's life hung in the balance and though the Hollow One knew what had been done was wrong he really was struggling to care about it. He would have struggled when not affected by Jhor, now all he could imagine was the boys fear over losing his mother and being held captive threatened with death.

The fear....

He was brought together with two women he had never worked with, and one he had only done a handful of times and each time they had very different ideas on how things should be accomplished. This was obvious going to go either really well, or really badly.


He puts his hand up "I vote sneak."

[Our Hell] After doing her part to assist in the tracking of her cabal-mate (Nora didn't have the ability to scry over distances, but she had Anya's blood, and that had helped to tie them to her more easily) the Verbena had departed to find the rest of her cabal - Gabriel in particular. She'd seemed anxious and worried. He hadn't be answering his phone.

Ben had stayed with the group, of course, and this morning he looked haggard. He hadn't slept. He'd been very quiet on the way over here, and now that he could feel the sleepy pulse of his son inside the building in front of him, there was an intense, focused expression on his face. One might also call it a touch volatile. As if his calm might break away and turn to rage at any moment. (And Benjamin Roberts was not a person who was prone to rage.)

They stopped outside, hidden behind the corner of the building next door, to discuss a game-plan. Ben hardly paid attention. He was looking out at the warehouse.

"If she catches you sneaking up on her, she'll hurt my son. If she gets desperate at all... she'll hurt my son." He sighed. "I'm going in. Stay or come with me... but don't get in the way. Don't spook her."

He looked back at the group, and judging by the look on his face, they'd need to physically restrain him to stop him from going in to meet her.

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley...doesn't look like she'd be the stealthiest of people. She has the frame for it, quick and light, and she moves with a kind of nimble surety, but it would probably be safe to assume that most physical pursuits are not her forte. (Still, she can surprise people - Thomas has seen her do it.)

"Wait," she says to Ben before the man can go in. "Let's at least talk about what we're going to say, or plan for contingencies. If all of us go in at once it might intimidate her into doing something rash. Someone should be ready to shield your son."

A beat. "I'm going to check for placement and see what she's doing."

[Life 1, sight. -1 for focus.]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 4, 5, 5, 8 (Success x 4 at target 3)

[Ellizabeth Zhao] She looks at Thomas and nods in agreement. "I agree. A frontal assault will only cause problems. The best chance of success involves her attention directed elsewhere, while a group gets into position and extracts Brandon. Once he is safe, we can proceed in an appropriate manner."

She doesn't clarify 'appropriate manner,' but the tone in her voice does not indicate that she is just going to forgive and forget. What was done was unacceptable, and went way beyond Elizabeth's opinion of allowing someone to follow their own path.

When Ben moves forward, she steps forward. "Walking in blindly is not wise. Allow us to get some information and figure this out first." She makes no move to restrain him...yet. But if he starts to walk, she will.

[Ashley McGowen] "There's a third person in there. I think it might be Gabriel."

[Molly Quincannon] Molly raises the hand not holding her staff at that point. "Hence the dual-pronged thing. I'm not much of a sneaker, but I know Thomas can be when he has to be, and Ellizabeth, maybe? If we three go in and ... talk to her, whatever ends up happening, she'll be distracted enough from Brandon to let you two get him out of harm's way. At least that way he's out of any ... mess that might ensue."

She doesn't want to say 'crossfire', for the sake of the fraying rein Ben has on his rage and panic. But let's face it; that's what it's going to be.

"Besides," she adds with a sigh, "I don't like the idea of trying to restrain anybody out here in the open." She tilts her head Ben's way to illustrate what she means. "We do that, bang goes the element of surprise anyway. But let's at least wait for Ashley to tell us what the situation is before we do any of that?"

[Thomas Black] He looks to Ben and rolls his eyes as the smoke pours from his nose like dragon fire. "Calvin mate, the sins of the father sudn't be the sins of the son." He wasn't aware what Ben had done to Anya and her cabal not really, Anya had taken this two far but there were two sides to every story and Thomas was not one to mince words.

He plucks the cigarette between fore and middle finger. He looks over to Elizabeth then flicks back to Molly and Ashley "Only one sud go in subtle if thats yer plan, two folks sudn't try an do wat one can simple matter of left and isle, the left don't know what the isle is doin' an..." He brings his hands together with a bang the end of the cigarette cherry goes flying and ash fills the air around his hands.

[Our Hell] [Awareness]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 5, 5, 7, 8, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Our Hell] "If I go in first, she'll be distracted with me. I can talk to her, or..." his voice trailed off. "...Let her hurt me. It's what she wants. It's what she'll do when she sees me. As soon as Brandon isn't in her direct line of fire, someone can shield him... take him... whatever you can do. Alright? So get yourselves set up how you need to, and be careful. Don't worry about me. Just focus on Brandon and getting him out of there."

Ashley said that she thought Gabriel might have been inside with her. Ben tightened his jaw, and looked back at the building.

Suddenly he frowned.

"It is Gabriel. And he's got a field in place around the building. We need to get that down - now."

Ben jogged over to the warehouse and reached out, as if to touch some invisible thing. But whatever he thought had been there... he was able to push through it without any trouble. He took a step forward. Reached out to touch the door. Again, nothing stopped him.

When he came back, he shook his head. "It's letting me in. I'm willing to bet that it's there to stop you, not me."

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley frowns when Ben bounds forward for the door, through the shield. She doesn't say anything more to him yet - if he wants to martyr himself needlessly, it's his own business, as far as she's concerned.

But then he comes back with his information, and she glances once more toward the building. "I can take it down, but if I do, I'm sure they're going to notice," she says. "And I doubt they can be lured out here without putting your son in danger. So if I'm going to do that, we'll have to be ready."

[Our Hell] [Gabriel - ?]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 2, 4, 10 (Success x 2 at target 3)

[Ellizabeth Zhao] She looks at Thomas and shakes her head. "It is a more balanced team if two go quietly. Too many people may be reacted to harsly. A feeling of being surrounded. Two going with Benjamin and two going another direction minimizes those odds, and two is still a small group. It also improves the odds of success in case of an ambush."

She frowns when she hears Gabriel is inside, and Ben saying he's keeping everyone but Benjamin out. Clearly, there are dynamics in this situation that she is still not aware of; the specifics of the Horsemen are a complete mystery to her beside the fact that Anya is over the edge. She lets it go, however. Now is not the time for such questions. "We do not have another option," she says to Ashley, and then she looks around.

"That more may eliminate the point of a stealth group. If Gabriel and Anya know someone is out here, they are likely to do reconnaissance and learn who else is."

[Molly Quincannon] "Oh, the freakin' zealot can't be on her side..." Molly shakes her head. I'm going to have to tell Solomon about this. And he is going to go quiet and scary and if Gabriel gets out of this alive, Solomon is going to do bad things. It was bad enough when he just thought Gabriel let it happen; if he's abetting it...

Not the time, Quincannon; not the time.

Ben gets a shake of her head. "That's not the way she'd hurt you first, Ben," she tells him, hating to say it this way, but ... she saw the video. She can't bear to tell him what happened to Tessa directly, but she does say, "She wants to take everything from you, and she'll hit you where it hurts most. She sees you, she'll incapacitate you - or let Gabriel do it - and hurt him and make you watch. She's rabid." And she doesn't know whether that's his fault or not, but ... it's not the time for that either. "So don't go running in and let yourself and him in for that, okay?"

Then she turns to Elizabeth and Ashley with a nod. "We're just going to have to make ready. S'all we can do. They could be reconning now, for all we know. So if someone's going to find a back entrance to try a rescue while they're distracted, now's probably a good time. Otherwise we're more or less stuck with full frontal assault."

[Thomas Black] He snorts, looks like they were winging it, he cannot say he is disappointed nor surprised. He places the cigarette back in his lips and pulls out the zippo lighting it to finish it off as he looks up to Ben and what he has found. Eyes flicks to Ashley when she says she can bring it down.

So many different people, so many different opinions on how they should get this done. Still as more and more came to light Elizabeth was right the course of possible actions also diminished.

He looks to Molly as he blinks, thanking about his child and how it breaks both rule 1 and rule 2 and last time that happened....well he met Henry.

Thomas laws:
1 - 'Whats in it for me?.'
2 - 'Always look out for number one, if in doubt refer to rule one.''

He curses as he throws his cigarette away "I'll go for a hat entrance, I don't need a door, I got a funky rote for this sort of thing, Wat's up Doc...you know 'ow in cartoons they put a black circle on a wall an can jump through it..." He shrugs as he pulls his coat around him.

"Bring that shield down an I'll get the kid, promise." He looks to Ben with that last bit.

[Thomas Black] ((thanking=thinking))

[Our Hell] [Ben - telepathic communication - target Gabriel, diff 6 -1(focus) -1(practiced) -1(slow)]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 4, 7, 10 (Success x 4 at target 3) [WP]

[Our Hell] "I think they already know that we're here," Ben said, a touch fatalistically. Nihilism aside though, there was a fair chance that he was right, given the people that they were dealing with and the fact that a Ban had already been put in place around the building.

They were dealing with a Disciple Cultist, after all. Perhaps she'd known who would be there from the beginning. Perhaps she already knew how this would end.

He reached up to touch something behind his ear. Slid his finger across it and closed his eyes.

Seconds ticked by.

Then his eyes opened, and there was a panicked expression in them. "He's not helping her. He's trying to keep things under control - or so he thinks. She says if I don't come in now she's going to shoot him. I have to go. Do what you can - quickly, please. I'll try to convince him to bring the field down."

And with that, he was gone again, running to the door and pulling it open. It creaked shut behind him, and then he was gone.

[Ashley McGowen] "Fuck," Ashley says, as Ben dashes off. And, well, they have no choice but to attempt to bring the field down. Element of surprise lost. Then again, Elizabeth is right - there really weren't many other options.

"Okay, Tom, go around back," she tells the Hollow One. "Molly, can you help me with the shield?"

And then she doesn't waste any more time.

[Forces countermagic. Forces 1. Spending WP.]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 2, 3, 6, 7 (Success x 1 at target 8) [WP]

[Ellizabeth Zhao] Thomas' comment draws her attention, and she tilts her head. That he can get in on his own draws a little nod of acknowledgment from her. And then Ben runs off. Ashley gives directions that include the Cultist and the Hollow One, but not her. Since Thomas can get in alone, she devotes her attention to helping Molly take down the sphere as she settles into a Do stance to center herself and undo the shield.

[[Go Go Gadget Countermagic!]]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 3, 9 (Success x 2 at target 8) [WP]

[Molly Quincannon] Anya might know who was coming, but no one knew how this was going to end, not really. Truths foreseen are not always Truths is one of the first things Anya should have learned. It's perhaps time she got a reminder of that.

Molly takes a breath, sets her teeth, and doesn't answer Ashley directly. Instead, she taps her ear even as she moves as close to the Ban as she can to be in position when it comes down even as she murmurs, "Load ForceFeed. AnotherBrick. Hack the bitch."

[[Countermagic! Spending WP.]]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 6, 7 (Success x 1 at target 8) [WP]

[Thomas Black] Thomas pushes off from the wall and starts moving quickly around the side of the building while the others work to bring down the ban, he focuses as he does. First he will need a little help to find the right spot

["There is no Spoon" rote, Matter 1 = Diff 4, Foci-1, Practised-1, Diff 3, Threshold 2, one for effect other for duration]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 2, 4 (Success x 2 at target 3) [WP]

[Our Hell] The Hollow One volunteered to find a back way in, and so he left to move around to the other side of the warehouse as the three women approached the building and began to work together to counter Gabriel's effect. When they touched it, a bright glow of white flared up before them, like the wings of an angel spreading out to block their path.

But that light... it started to fade. To flicker, as the combined Wills of three people bombarded it, taking it apart.

Inside the warehouse, a shot echoed.

And then, moments later, a piercing scream of anguish. The sound was a woman's voice.

[Our Hell] And then the Ban faded away completely.

[Ashley McGowen] A shot. A scream. Anya?

It would be better to know exactly what's going on. It would be better to have the full story, to be fully informed and to know who she could believe in this situation. Instead they're caught in someone else's conflict. It's supposed to be the kind of situation where they're positioned to win, where they're best able to come out on top.

Except there's nothing to win, and no real victory to be had.

Ashley starts toward the door, trusting the other two will follow. Briefly, there was a nod to Elizabeth. She doesn't know where the Akashic's strengths lie - she doesn't know the Akashic very well - but after this she'll have a more thorough measure of her. She can't help but.

"...Gabriel's dead," Ashley tells the others, preparing to push inside. If either of them want to go in ahead of her, well, she won't stop them.

[Ellizabeth Zhao] Her eyes snap open at the sound of that shot. Her eyes narrow, and she...closes her eyes. No, she's not running her ass in that direction; she's not trying to see into the room, or stop time, or bring lighting down on the building or anything incredibly active like that. She meditates, driving her focus inward so she can travel along the Akashakarma and access the memories of one of her previous incarnations. The one she is closest with...Cheng Li. She needs his martial skills before she leaps into action.

[[Past Lives roll for Brawl.]]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 3, 3, 4, 10 (Success x 2 at target 8) [WP]

[Molly Quincannon] No hesitation whatsoever - Molly just barges headlong in through the front door. She can take a few shots without even really feeling it right now; she just wants to know what the hell is going on in there. Curiosity and Overconfidence - together, they are a combination to make one look downright suicidal.

...But she's not completely stupid. Even as she rushes in (where angels fear to tread?), the back of her brain is working the odds of whether she's going to get shot at, and at what point, and from what angle. It's intuition by the imaginary numbers, a forward look just a second or two into the future that, tucked into that partitioned sector of the hard drive that is her head, can be ignored for simplicity until it's a thing that might save her life - or someone else's - in combat.

[[Mind/Time/Entropy - Early Warning System. Coincidental so diff 5, -1 practiced, -1 focus (mental maths) so diff 3]]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 4, 8 (Success x 2 at target 3)

[Thomas Black] "Stupid Singer..." Mutters Thomas as he starts to run, not to the back left where the door was, no that was not his target instead he heads to the back right next to the smaller target, Ben's son. The fact that he was right next to the wall was a blessing in disguise. He did have a soft spot for kids, especially ones that had gone through trauma...he could relate. He blinks as he is running and he feels something that had for so long ago been very alien. He shakes his head "Stay focused Tommy, now not the lemon to flip."

For a smoker when he wanted to Thomas could fucking move. He skids to a stop by the wall dropping to his knees while still in motion as the ban drops, his knees scraping against the hard floor. Luck was on their side he wouldn't even need to get in the building, he could just pull the kid out. He was fortunate this was a wall, his 'bricks and mortar' always worked best against buildings. He places a finger against the wall and draws an imaginary hole, about the size of a pot hole as he pulls on reality.


["Wats up Doc?" rote, Correspondence 2, Matter 2, Diff 6, Practised Rote-1, Foci-1, Resonance-2 (Consuming the Matter) maximum minus only 3 Diff 3, 3 Sux needed]

[Thomas Black]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 4, 4 (Success x 3 at target 3) [WP]

[Thomas Black] ((Paradox!))
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 1, 1, 9 (Failure at target 6)

[Ashley McGowen] [Kinetic shield on Brandon. Forces 2, -1 for practiced rote, -1 for focus.]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 3)

[Our Hell] [Anya - Distort Time - speeding it up - vulgar diff 7 -1(focus) -1(practiced) -1(resonance)]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 5, 8, 9 (Success x 4 at target 4) [WP]

[Our Hell] As was often the case with these situations... everything happened at once.

The Ban broke.

Gabriel died.

Molly opened the door.

Elizabeth called upon the skills of her past life to help guide her.

Thomas found the boy and began to create a magical loop-hole in the brick wall so as to pull the kid through.

When the door opened, Ashley, Elizabeth and Molly would be able to see what was happening inside. In here, the ground was covered in snow from a gaping hole in the collapsed roof and floor above. Old wooden boxes were scattered across the warehouse floor, partly buried in white, along with litter and scrap metal. At the far end of the building was where the others now stood, with Anya crouched over Gabriel's body. She had something around her wrist that she pulled at, tightening, and blood colored the snow around them.

The boy was laid out on the floor in the corner. Ben was running to get between him and Anya.

[Inits!]

[Ashley McGowen] [+7]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 7

[Ellizabeth Zhao] [[I R TEH FAST REAKTING PURSON? +6]]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 10

[Molly Quincannon] [[Initiative! +5]]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1

[Our Hell] [Ben +6]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1

[Our Hell] [Anya +8]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5

[Thomas Black] [+5]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 9

[Thomas Black] ((15, + 6 not 5)

[Our Hell] And the Order is:

Elizabeth - 16
Thomas - 15
Ashley - 14
Anya - 13
Ben - 7
Molly - 6

Declare in reverse order please. :)

[Molly Quincannon] [[Declare: Same trick as yesterday - let's take Anya's kinetic energy down as many pegs as humanly possible, shall we?]]

[Our Hell] [Ben - tackle Anya - yeah this is so going to work]

[Our Hell] [Anya:

1: Shoot Ben - called shot to the knee
2: Split Punch Ben with barbed-wire-wrapped-fist / punch him again]

[Ashley McGowen] [Extending the shield on Brandon.]

[Thomas Black] [Grabbing the kid and pulling him out!]

[Molly Quincannon] [[Reflexive Awareness - can I tell what Anya's up to? She's from my Trad so I should understand her magic okay; is she using any Sphere I know?]]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 8 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Ellizabeth Zhao] [[Split actions:

1: get to Anya
2: kick gun out of anya's hand]]

[Ellizabeth Zhao] [[Runrunrunrunrun! -2 for split]]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 7, 8 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Ellizabeth Zhao] [[kick de gun hand hard! -3 for split]]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 3, 5 (Success x 1 at target 6) [WP]

[Our Hell] [Anya changes to defensive action - dodging the kick]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 3, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 5 at target 7) Re-rolls: 1

[Our Hell] Brandon = successfully pulled through the wall

[Thomas Black] As much as he would like to be in there swinging away letting the hooligan loose, to prove he could take Anya break the stalemate they had set before with their previous brawl. He had a kid to save...still his mind lingers on that night and he sighs wistfully, almost romantically at the way the story had gone.

Thomas, even now when being rather more knightly he was still a thief, this time he was stealing a child...he chuckles dryly at that irony as his hands reach in grab the kid and pull him out very much like Bugs Bunny would do Daffy in classic Technocolour!

[Dex & Alt to grab the kid and pull him out of the hole]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 4, 4, 6, 6, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Ashley McGowen] [Moot point now but extending, +1]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 2, 5, 5, 6 (Success x 3 at target 4)

[Our Hell] [Anya - punching -2, +1 diff (off-hand)]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 7) [WP] Re-rolls: 1

[Our Hell] [Str+1(barbed wire)+1]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 2, 4, 6, 7 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Our Hell] [Ben soak!]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 1, 10 (Failure at target 6)

[Our Hell] [Punching again! -3 +1 diff]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 7) Re-rolls: 1

[Our Hell] [Str+1+1]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Our Hell] [Soak?]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 5, 5 (Failure at target 6)

[Our Hell] [Ben - grapple - Str+Brawl -2(injuries), hahaha, oh well...]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 10 (Success x 2 at target 6) [WP]

[Molly Quincannon] It was going to be ForceFeed but what she sees of what will be makes her shift gears. She knows Time; lives it, breathes it, feels every tick and breath and heartbeat of it. She always knows what time it is. Anya, though, isn't (hasn't, won't; verb tenses are a bitch when you're seeing Now and In-A-Second all at once) following the rules.

Molly can make her. Molly will make her. Her staff taps the floor, marking off the seconds. "Eat metaphysical data-spike, bitch."

[[Countermagic GO! +WP]]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 1, 5 (Failure at target 8) [WP]

[Molly Quincannon] [[Fuck it; this is taking too long. Bee-yotch is getting kinetic-energy backhanded into the nearest wall. Let's see her pull the Neo Bullet-Dodge action when she's sporting concussion.]]

[Molly Quincannon] [[Revised declare for information - still Forces, but she's going to increase gravity's pull on Anya. She's down; she can stay that way.]]

[Our Hell] [Ben - Hold on for dear life!]

[Our Hell] [Anya:

1: Break grapple/dodge Elizabeth
2: Shoot Elizabeth/Shoot Elizabeth]

[Ashley McGowen] [Mind bullets on Anya.]

[Thomas Black] ((Teleporting the gun from A]nya to Thomas

[Ellizabeth Zhao] [[Full-on defensive for round]]

[Our Hell] [Breaking grapple - Str+Brawl -2]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 5, 5, 6, 8 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Our Hell] [Nothing to dodge, so moving to second split:

Dex+Firearms -2]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 4, 4, 5, 7, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Our Hell] [Str+Brawl -2]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 2 (Failure at target 6)

[Ellizabeth Zhao]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 3, 5, 10 (Success x 2 at target 8) [WP]

[Our Hell] [Heavy Pistol damage - 5 + 0(successes mitigated by dodge)]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Ellizabeth Zhao]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 5, 9 (Success x 1 at target 8)

[Our Hell] [Dex+Firearms -3]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 1, 6, 9, 9 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Thomas Black] Thomas pulls the kid out and lays him by the wall, he had little time to check the kid over, and even if he did his medical skills were as advanced as putting a plaster on it or in the worst case putting an iron to it if you needed the wound closed but just couldn't call 911.

Still Anya was doing her best Wally West Impression. As Thomas pulls reality to him, he could see all matter, it was beautiful but Anya had one matter pattern he desired, he puts his hand into his inside jacket pocket as if he was grabbing a gun...

Her gun...

["I 'hope' that’s something in your pocket" rote, Correspondence 2, Matter 2, vulgar without witness Diff = 6, Foci - 1 (his pocket), Practised -1, Resonance -1 (Wandering hands specifically) Diff 3, threshold 2]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 2, 2, 8 (Success x 2 at target 3) [WP]

[Thomas Black] Okay thats totally wrong, this is more like it
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 7, 10 (Success x 3 at target 3) [WP]

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley, for all intents and purposes, is Hidden today in shadow. Scentless, the touch of her Will wiped clean and slick of any prints. So Hunger does not announce itself when she gathers her (admittedly low at the moment) reserves of Will about her and brings it slamming shut around Anya's own. It's like feeling a pair of jaws close, tighten, out of nowhere.

[Mind 2, -1 for practiced effect, -1 for focus, -2 for applicable resonance Entropic: Hungry. Will extend.]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 3, 4, 7, 9 (Success x 4 at target 3)

[Thomas Black] [Paradox!]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 3, 5, 9 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Thomas Black] [Soak!]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 6, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Our Hell] [Ben - grapple again?]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1 (Botch x 1 at target 6)

[Molly Quincannon] Countermagic is taking (will take) too long. That much is obvious. So Molly taps her ear and then sticks a hand in her pocket for a bit of tissue with a bit of Anya's blood collected from under Nora's fingernails on it. Focusing objects are good.

"Load ForceFeed. EarthSuck." Short list of coordinates from which a bit of gravity could be spared for awhile. Periphery spots where no one's likely to walk for awhile. "Target: disgrace-to-my-Trad. Engage." Yes, sometimes the earth sucks. It should just suck for Anya more than usual, right now.

[[Forces - redirect gravity onto Anya. Vulgar as all hell but no witnesses so diff 6, -1 practiced, -1 focus, -1 item belonging to target so diff 3, +WP and she is going to be SO tired after all this.]]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 2, 8 (Success x 2 at target 3) [WP]

[Molly Quincannon] [[Perc + Awareness...]]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 1, 5 (Botch x 1 at target 8)

[Our Hell] Ben - 4 bashing and on the ground from falling (botch)
Liz - 3 lethal
Gabriel - dead

Everyone else - peachy!

[Our Hell] [Anya +8]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 3

[Our Hell] [Ben + 3]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 6

[Thomas Black] [Thomas + 6]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 2

[Ashley McGowen] [+7]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1

[Molly Quincannon] [[+5]]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 8

[Ellizabeth Zhao] [[Owie. +5]]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 3

[Our Hell] And the new order is!

Molly - 13
Anya - 11
Ben - 9
Ashley - 8
Thomas - 8
Liz - 8

[Thomas Black] [Yo Anya possession is 9/10th! Shooting her!]

[Ellizabeth Zhao] [[Do kick to the chest of an Anya]]

[Ashley McGowen] [Extending mind attack.]

[Our Hell] [Ben - melt/reform on the rest of Anya's guns - yes she has more]

[Our Hell] [Anya:

1: Dodge kick
2: Shoot Ben/Shoot Molly]

[Our Hell] [Oh wait, I'm an idiot, changing that...

1: Dodge
2: Pull gun / shoot Ben]

[Molly Quincannon] Anya's going to shoot Molly.

Well, it's about fucking time. Give it your best.

That's of no consequence, the knowing she's about to get shot at. It'll heal. The rote's the important thing.

[[Extending, diff up to 4.]]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 1, 10 (Failure at target 4)

[Our Hell] [Dex+Dodge]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 4, 7, 8, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1

[Our Hell] [Pulling weapon, Dex+Firearms -3]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 1, 4, 5, 8 (Failure at target 6) [WP]

[Our Hell] [Make that 2 success! 5+1]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 5, 7, 9 (Failure at target 6)

[Ashley McGowen] [Extending, still diff 3 from the resonance modifier]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 7, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 3)

[Our Hell] [Anya's shield is apparently only 3, as per me being notified of a restriction, so that'll do 8 bashing at the beginning of next round!]

[Thomas Black] Thomas was not a big fan of guns, oh he has used one, once or twice. No he was of a more romantic type (Hollow One...never!) with idea's of swords, and fists of fights that raged through buildings, through fields in stories read and told...Then again

Thomas law 33 -"Wen in Rome."

"Lets see if yer faster than a speedin' bullet eh" He fires at Anya.

[Dex & Firearms]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 5, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6) [WP]

[Thomas Black] [Damage 5 +1 Sux]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 4, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Our Hell] [No, she is not faster than a speeding bullet. Unfortunately, she does have a forces dampening effect and level 1 body armor - soak!]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 3, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Ellizabeth Zhao] [[Do Kick Like a Rock Star; -1 diff due to Do]]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 6, 6, 7 (Success x 4 at target 6) [WP]

[Ellizabeth Zhao] [[lLethal Damage]]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 6, 7, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Our Hell] [Ouch. Soak from Forces Shield and armor!]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 3, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Our Hell] [Matter 2 - vulgar - diff 6 -1(focus) -1(practiced) -1(quint)]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 4, 5, 10 (Success x 4 at target 3) [WP]

[Our Hell] [Sweet! Both remaining guns melt next round]

[Our Hell] Ben - 4 Bashing, still on floor
Liz - 3 Lethal
Anya - 2 Lethal

Molly and Ash - Ok!

[Inits again! (last round? maybe maybe?)]

[Thomas Black] [Init, +6]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 4

[Our Hell] [Oh right, Ben's dox!]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 4, 6, 7 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Ellizabeth Zhao] [[+5]]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 2

[Ashley McGowen] [+7]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 9

[Our Hell] [soak]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 3, 8 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Our Hell] [Ben +3]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 3

[Our Hell] [Anya +7]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 8

[Our Hell] [Mysterious unknown person +8]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 8

[Molly Quincannon] [+5]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5

[Our Hell] Order up!

Mystery - 16
Ashley - 16
Anya - 15
Thomas - 10
Molly - 10
Liz - 7
Ben - 6

[Our Hell] [Get up off the floor!]

[Ellizabeth Zhao] [[Kick again]]

[Molly Quincannon] [[Fuck it. I've started so I'll finish. Finish the stupid gravity rote.]]

[Thomas Black] [Shoot Anya, again]

[Our Hell] [Anya ow!!! Stunned, incapped, falling over...]

[Our Hell] [Mystery - split shoot Anya point blank to the back of the head / Shoot Ben in the head]

[Ashley McGowen] [Okay, mind bullets don't work...let's try eating away at his pattern. Prime 2 (effectively Holy Stroke.)]

[Our Hell] [Rolling for effects done earlier (cause I'm sneaky like that) - Entropy 1 - locate disorder and weakness, diff 4 -1]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 2, 10 (Success x 2 at target 3) [WP]

[Our Hell] [extending (using quint)...]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 7, 8 (Success x 2 at target 3)

[Our Hell] [Aimed for 3 rounds]

[Our Hell] [Dex+Firearms -2(split) +3(aiming) - diff 6 + 1 (called shot)]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 6 at target 7) [WP] Re-rolls: 2

[Our Hell] [Auto-kill. Shooting Ben - Dex+Firearms -3, diff 7 (called shot again)]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 5, 7, 8, 8, 8 (Success x 4 at target 7)

[Our Hell] [Auto-kill again. :( Ben is dead.]

[Molly Quincannon] [[Right. Fine. Okay. You just killed my last chance at answers, you idiot! Diff holding at 4, -1 for quint this time so back down to 3, and WP. STAND STILL! I WANT ANSWERS!]]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 2, 9 (Success x 2 at target 3) [WP]

[Thomas Black] [Wp to Change Action]

Bullets get fired from guns not on their side, he can see the matter as it is fired, and they came from directions not from the home team, Anya falls, Ben falls. Thomas briefly looks to the kid by his side. an innocent...Thomas use to be innocent.

"Sorry squire"

He cancels his effect, the hole vanishes and with it any chance of them getting to the kid without leaving via a more traditional exit which bought Thomas time. He puts the gun away in his pocket and reaches for the kid...

"Lemon to go"

[Molly Quincannon] [[And the Paradox, Arete + 1 + 2 for extensions, this is gonna hurt...]]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 4, 6, 8, 8, 8 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Molly Quincannon] [[Soak even a little?]]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 3, 5 (Failure at target 6)

[Our Hell] It was five against one, but even so... the Cultist put up a fight. War, as expected, lived up to her title. But in the end, not even she could stand up to the combined forces of a handful of powerful Willworkers. It was inevitable, as the man who'd just shot her might have said.

And the question was... had she known that it would be? No one was likely to find out, now.

Elizabeth played her role well, managing to distract the Cultist and pull some of the fire away from its intended target. Most importantly, Thomas got the sleeping preteen safely away from immediate harm. All things considered, that alone would mark the mission a success. But it wasn't as cut and dry as successes and failures. Today, it wasn't even easy to tell who was "good" and who was "bad." Life... wasn't always so simple. In the end, Anya was taken down by a massive mind-blast from the Adept, and then killed by a bullet that seemed to come... out of nowhere. it burst through the front of her forehead with the precision of a sniper bullet, killing her instantly, and only a half-second later, a second bullet - just as well-aimed - exploded in the forehead of the wounded technocrat.

They both fell. Dead, alongside the Singer who had saved the child's life only moments before.

Its rider was named Death, and Hell was following close behind him.

And then they'd all see who it was that had shot them, because he dropped the thing that had masked him, and the others would see - for the first time - not a shadowy, anonymous figure - but Evan. A 21 year old man with blond hair and bright blue eyes, and a face whose details were finally clear.

He stepped out into the light that poured down from the broken ceiling and put his gun in his pocket, holding up his hands to indicate peace. Molly's effect went off then, pinning him effectively into place. Even if he wanted to run, he wasn't going to be able to.

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley probably isn't as angry as Molly is at the moment, but judging by the look she's giving Evan, she's unhappy with this turn of events. She, too, wanted answers; perhaps she just wanted to assuage her curiosity, or maybe she does have a conscience (a heart) after all - there wasn't a way to control Anya, not anymore, but they'll never know about Ben. And now the decision has been taken from them.

In two days, it'll have been a year since the Euthanatos blew open a Marauder three feet in front of her, a man she'd been fighting to save. Perhaps the similarity is what gives her face the bitter cast as she eyes the young man.

"Fuck you," is what Ashley has to say to him, but the Hermetic doesn't linger long. Molly can question the man; Ashley is going to nurse her rage. She's going to go look for the boy and see what can be done for him.

She doesn't go too far, though. Evan still has his weapons, and if anything, this entire episode has driven home nothing so much as the fact that one has to be wary even of fellow Traditionalists.

Ellizabeth Zhao] Elizabeth just kind of stands there for a couple of moments after the bullet emerges from Anya's forehead, spraying the Akashic in the face with blood and brains. She doesn't pay much attention to the man who just shot the Cultist, though she's probably right in his view point at this point. She's more or less in shock. After a few moments she turns and starts to walk toward the exit with a blank expression.

[Molly Quincannon] Well, Molly technically can question the Euthanatos in front of her. Fine, it will be through as-yet unshed tears of pain and frustration and a weird kind of grief, and through the nosebleed reality just smacked her with, and the sort of blurred vision that means headache combined with 'shit-I-think-I-lost-a-contact-lens', but she can, and she will. At first, though, all she can manage is, "...Why?"

Then, after a blink or two to catch her mental balance, she continues. "Why did you have to shoot him too? There was a chance the Rogue Council gave you data that ... twisted things up. They give wrong information sometimes! He ... there was a chance for him; at least, there might have been! Unless you know something we don't - and can prove it, objectively - we're never going to know the truth." Deep breath, and then, "Yeah. First, one-word question works fine. Why?"

[Our Hell] There was a sound at the front door. Soft, skidding footsteps on the snow-dusted cement. Then Nora rushed in, sending up small sprays of white powder in her wake as she crossed the open section of floor. She surveyed the scene that was laid out in front of her, pulling in tight, exhausted breaths.

And there was the technocrat - dead.

And there was Anya - dead.

And there was Gabriel...

The Verbena looked as if she'd just been hit in the stomach with a brick. She rushed forward to kneel by the fallen Singer's side, as if she might help him somehow, but his life had been taken from him in an instant, and it was too late to heal his body now. Instead she rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes. Her voice was half-whisper and half-sob. "No..."

Fuck You, Ashley growled, and Evan merely glanced at the ground, then back at his cabal-mate.

Then Molly asked him why.

Why?

At the same moment that Nora looked up and shouted at him. "Why didn't you stop this!?"

The young Euthanatos looked sad for a moment. His jaw tightened and his eyebrows pulled together. There was a flash of guilt there. "I'm sorry," he said... to Nora and Molly both. "There wasn't anything I could do."

Nora put her head back against Gabriel's chest and wrapped an arm around him, silent.

"Nora," Evan spoke softly - his voice gentle. "The Akashic was shot. She needs your help."

The Verbena didn't respond at first, but ultimately she did pull away from the dead body of her cabal-mate and begin to walk after Elizabeth. "Wait..." She pulled out a small jar of what looked like some kind of herbal salve from the pocket of her coat. "I have a charm left."

And this left Evan looking at Molly - being confronted about the choice he'd made. For what it was worth, he answered her calmly, but he couldn't entirely hide his emotions. He'd just shot and killed his own cabal-mate, after watching her kill another cabal-mate. Apparently that was enough to rattle even Death.

"It isn't because of the Council. It was... for her." And here he glanced at Anya's lifeless body.

[Ashley McGowen] At Nora's entrance, Ashley looks back over her shoulder toward the two remaining Horsemen. Toward Nora, crying against Gabriel's chest. Maybe it reminds her of sitting out on the lawn in front of the White Fence House this August, inconsolable. Maybe she gets it.

There's nothing she can say to Nora, and no answers they could give that would satisfy her. Not right now. So whether she gets it or not, there's a parting stare at Evan before she steps out around back to go and see to Thomas and the boy. To talk with the Hollow One, who will doubtlessly dash off now that his good deed is done, leaving Ashley with the kid.

[Ellizabeth Zhao] She stops at the door, turning to face the Verbena when she comes up. She's been shot before. Hell, she's been shot to death before. Another life, but still. She's just not used to moisturizing with innards. She blinks a couple times, looking at the Verbena coming up with the salve, and nods a bit.

"Yes...of course." She looks down to the gunshot wound, and frowns. "I got shot."

[Molly Quincannon] With her head a little clearer (and a hankie coming out to wipe her nose), Molly can manage more or less a question. "He did something to her, then. Her or someone close to her. And it drove her crazy. And you didn't notice how off the deep end she was going until ... what, she finally started attacking Sleepers and nabbing innocent kids? You decided it was ... what, to honour her somehow, to finish the revenge she tainted the whole concept of justice for? Or was it to make up for the fact that you basically let her go crazy to the point where you had to put her down like a rabid animal?"

Then she shakes her head. "Okay, no. I'm frankly not even interested in anything you have to say anymore. He could have been helped. If you'd wanted to honour her at all, you would have honoured the beliefs she would have held before the madness turned her into ... into this. Even a tree rent by lightning may yet bear fruit. Benjamin Roberts could have been an asset; an ally. If nothing else? He could have been a father. A father to a traumatised boy who now has no immediate family and who might have seen his mother get shot through the head. But we'll never know. Because you..."

She makes a disgusted sound and bends to the floor to feel for her contact lens. No, she has not let the Euthanatos go yet. Gravity still has him. She finds her contact lens, sticks it in a pocket, and sort of half-staggers over to Evan. She looks like she wants to slap him, frankly ... but she hurts too badly and there's frankly no point bar a certain amount of satisfaction it might give her. So instead she takes a deep breath and says, "You've done what you came to do. Will you clean up the mess and just ... go? We'll try to find Brandon some kind of family, but ... you don't need to be here anymore."

With that, she crouches between Ben and Anya. She closes her eyes. She's not a praying woman as most people understand it, but she does pray, to a point. So she touches Ben's hand, and (perhaps surprisingly) Anya's, and just takes a moment. "To the next great adventure. Hope it's fun and exciting and awesome. For all three of you."

[Our Hell] I got shot, Elizabeth said, as if noticing it for the first time. Nora nodded silently and twisted the lid off the jar, dipping a finger into the greenish salve. The wound was on the Akashic's stomach, but close enough to the side that it had missed vital organs. Blood seeped down from the wound, but at the Verbena applied the thick paste (it smelled vaguely of peppermint) the wound knitted itself closed, pushing the bullet back out of her body.

And when it was over, she was whole again.

Meanwhile, Molly unleashed her anger on the Euthanatos, and he remained silent throughout, listening to her patiently. There was no anger in his eyes - no passionate claim as to the wrongness of her words. Perhaps he didn't believe she was wrong. Perhaps he didn't think that there was any point in trying to defend himself.

Instead he let her vent, and waited until silence had settled in once more to pull (slowly - the effects of gravity were still weighing him down) a smartphone out of his pocket. After searching through the videos, he started one playing, then held it out for Molly to see.

It was a teenage girl - one that looked very much like a younger, softer version of Anya - naked, in an empty white cell. A handful of men were in the room with her. They injected her with something, then took turns beating her. She was quiet throughout, enduring the pain stoically, but then they grabbed her and chained her to a table, flipping her on her side so that they could stick needles in her spine.

Then she screamed, and one of the men grabbed her face and looked into her eyes for a long, cold, silent moment. That man was Benjamin Roberts. (Or at least, it looked like him.)

Evan shut off the video. If it got worse from there, he probably wasn't inclined to show it.

"What kind of a father do you think that man would have been?"

[Our Hell] Outside, Ashley met with Thomas, and the two of them spoke briefly before the Hollow One left her with his prize. He'd saved a twelve year old boy. All things considered, his part in this had been played. So once the kid was safely out of his hands, he turned to go.

And now Ashley was standing in the snow, holding onto the still-unconscious body of a boy who had no parents.

[Ashley McGowen] Ben is about Ashley's size. It's possible that he's a little bit bigger. Ashley can't hold up the (orphaned) boy for very long. So once she's made sure it's safe outside, she moves over into cover with him - dragging him - and sets him down in the snow, kneeling next to him.

He's not hurt; she can see that. Of course, there's no way to know what he's witnessed, if he saw his mother die. There's no way to know when, exactly, he's going to wake up. But what she does know, or at least suspect on some instinctive level, is that he'll be shaken and traumatized from being carried away if nothing else.

Ashley smooths some of his hair back with her fingertips. The gesture is oddly tender. Protective. A temporary claim. Which happens to be necessary, when one is lending one's Will to another. He'll probably need it.

[Mind 1, Prime 1. Giving Brandon some temp WP for when he wakes up. -1 for focus, -1 for practiced rote. 1 sux for effect, 1 to target, 3 for duration, rest goes to boost. 9 needed total.]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 3, 5, 6, 7 (Success x 4 at target 3)

[Ashley McGowen] [Extending. +1 from extension canceled out by -1 practiced rote.]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 3, 4, 4, 5 (Success x 4 at target 3)

[Ashley McGowen] [And once more!]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 3, 5, 7, 10 (Success x 4 at target 3)

[Ellizabeth Zhao] Once the wound is healed, she smiles slightly, oddly to Nora. Which is probably pretty disturbing, considering the red spackle covering her face. "Thank you, Miss." A little bow, and she turns to exit.

[Molly Quincannon] She has to blink out her other contact lens and put her glasses back on to watch the video properly, and they come off in a hurry. There are things she just can't stand to look at for very long, but likely for different reasons than Evan thinks. He thinks he's sparing her; instead, she's just trying not to think I've been through worse, because she knows she hasn't seen everything that was done to Anya, or for how long.

Instead, she puts her glasses back on and says, "I could fake that - swap in his face where someone else's might go. I'm not saying they did. I'm saying we'll never know. It still holds, though. My request. Please. Just ... clean up and go. And ... try to be decent about Ben's remains, would you? Or leave it with someone who will be? Nora said that monsters were made, not born." (She's wrong of course; Molly has met Widderslainte. But now is not the time.) "Ask yourselves - who made him?"

Then she exits. She lets Evan go as she reaches the door, but she's not interested in any more from him. Instead, she goes to find Ashley, Elizabeth and Brandon.

[Our Hell] "She doesn't know, Evan." Nora looked tired when she walked back. "And neither do you. He was a gear in the machine, and he did horrible things because he believed it was for the greater good. Just like you. Just like me." She looked at Anya. "Just like her."

For a moment, the Euthanatos looked uncertain, but if the events of the day - and his cabal-mate's words - had caused him to question his convictions, he kept it to himself. One thing was certain though - he didn't look proud of what he'd done. He looked tired. He looked sad. He looked... resigned.

He looked like someone who'd done something awful that he'd honestly thought he'd needed to do. For better or worse. Like all of them, he was only human. And what Molly said to him wasn't wrong. Evan didn't believe the video was a fake. He didn't believe that Anya had lied to them about any of it. (Her own behavior was fairly strong evidence.) But the truth was... none of them would ever really know for sure.

"I will," he said, to Molly. And then, "I'm sorry. We should have known. We didn't."

How easily would she have believed a close friend capable of atrocities? No one ever wanted to believe that.

And now a child was left without parents. And who was to say, really, if that was the best thing. Certainly he'd be scarred by this. Perhaps they all would be, at least a little. (In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.)

But for a few more hours at least, Brandon would remain unaware that he'd lost both of his parents. And in that span of time, the bodies and the mess in the warehouse would be cleaned up. So would any evidence linking them to the deaths of Ben and Brandon's mother. (And Anya and Gabriel... they would most likely be brought home to be buried.) That job, at least, they could do.

There’s a pattern in the system
There’s a bullet in the gun
That’s why I tried to save you
But it can’t be done

It can't be done