InsaneJournal

Current mood:	angry
Entry tags:	alec reed, au inquisiton plot, jenny lowe, kris michaels, toby bryson

Last Stand
OOC: Takes place during the big AU plot and totally backdated to then.

The final showdown was something to behold, but in all the motion and movement, two of the women became separated from the rest, the sound of heavy boots on the ground after them as they found a corner to hide in.

Neither Jennifer or Kris were particularly physically strong, and Jennifer's mind was still trying to recover from having used her powers, so the trembles were wracking her body and she needed as much support as any injured person.

"Stop!" Tobias shouted, his weapon drawn and raised as he chased them, shooting two electric bullets after the women. Against his other leg rested his pistol that fired brass stakes with a silver tip, effective on the human and were enemies they had. He flicked his wrist to recharge his gun and pulled the other. "Submit and be purged or I will shoot!"

He was one of the best marksmen in this unit. Not the best, but one of them.

"Run, Kris!"

Jennifer was panicking, her heart hammering and she stumbled, falling to her knees as she let out a startled cry, unconsciously letting out a mental cry for help too, palms getting grazed on the asphalt.

"I said STOP!" It was a roared command, impatient and righteous.

The other gun was drawn and the shot was lined up, Tobias taking aim at the brunette on her hands and knees who was trying to get to her feet again.

Kris was mid run when she realised Jenny wasn't following her and she turned on her heel, unable and unwilling to leave her friend to the less than merciful attention of that bastard.

"I can't do that," she muttered to Jenny before she turned back around and immediately lashed out at Tobias. Her first punch caught him in the jaw and her next move was to drive her shoulders into his midsection, meaning to slam him into the nearby wall.

She might not be the strongest of people, but she was certainly going to give it her all, for the good of both herself and Jenny.

"Kris!" Jennifer yelled, getting to her feet again and stumbling forwards, feeling blinded by the nausea and dizziness from the use of her powers, trying to lash out with them as best she could, though it was ineffective and Tobias barely lifted an eyebrow.

Instead, he was far more interested in making sure that Kris did him no harm. He was angry that the impudent human sympathiser had made him miss his shot. He could have taken down the mind-reader for good. He hit the wall and twisted his upper body, slamming his elbow into the side of her face and striking her temple. "You had better hope I can get clean," he growled, levelling his gun at her, finger on the trigger.

Kris grunted as his elbow struck her and it left her dizzy and disoriented, opening up a small cut and causing blood to creep over her already sweat dampened skin. She felt a surge of fear when she found herself at the mercy of his gun, his finger already poised over the trigger. She'd always thought that if she found herself in this position then her whole life might flash before her eyes, but as it was, it didn't, all she saw was Tobias' face and those cold eyes.

"I hope you burn in Hell," she muttered in a low pitch before she was struck in the stomach by the first bullet, causing her to let out a sound of pain that was abruptly halted by the force that she hit the nearby wall with.

Jenny screamed, a long and high sound that made the Inquisitor barely flinch as he approached Kris, lifting his gun to press the barrel against her chest. He swatted Jenny away, his attention barely turning from Kris to strike her across the temple with the barrel of his gun. The force made a sickening cracking sound and she fell to the floor, dazed, stars exploding over her vision.

Tobias, knowing that at least for now, the mind-reader was stunned - though he was unaware that she was calling out - desperately - for help - turned back to Kris, the barrel against her chest. It pressed between her breasts and he looked at her, watching the blood staining her shirt from the wound to her stomach. The stake would pin her to the wall when he pulled the trigger.

"The only way you will survive this," he said coldly, "if if you repent now. Any last words, Heathen?" He barely waited for her answer, finger tight on the trigger again, "May God have mercy on your soul."

It was in the midst of the chaotic scene that Alec was suddenly struck by the sharp sound of Jenny's voice in his head and he quickly cast his gaze over the scene, more aware now than ever that both Jenny and Kris were missing. He wet his lower lip and made a conscious decision, he broke left and made a concentrated effort to look for both women.

Kris shouted Jenny's name when she was swatted away then turned her dark eyes back to Tobias, giving a small disbelieving laugh that rattled her chest and caused the stomach wound to pump fresh new blood. "Last words?" She repeated, lifting an eyebrow. "I don't want your God's mercy, not now and not ever." She gathered enough strength and spat at him, letting her lips quirk in the corners as she awaited her fate. "Try cleaning that off you bastard."

Tobias' eyes darkened and he backhanded Kris sharply. "Then may you spend the rest of time paying for the sins of your life," he growled, pulling the trigger with barely another look in her direction. The stake left the barrel and the silver tip pounded through her heart before embedding itself in the wall. He watched her go limp before he reached out and took hold of her chin, disgust on his features, wiping his face with his other hand. "Disgusting."

"KRIS!" Jenny's voice broke on the shout, feeling the woman die and the sensation took her breath away, dizzyingly painful. God, what was to happen now? Kris was- Jenny had not felt anyone die for such a long time. There was blood dripping down the side of her face from the cut to her temple and she scrabbled backwards. Tobias approached as she got to her feet, backhanding her again. She stumbled backwards, still feeling so disoriented that she couldn't do much but stumble and try to escape, but it was pretty hopeless.

He had the gun raised again, looking like he was going to shoot her but deciding to indulge in the masochistic side of himself. These tainted souls deserved no compassion, and therefore they did not deserve a quick death either. This one, in particular, had caused him a lot of trouble in the past. The butt of the gun struck her stomach, causing her to double over before he smacked her with it again, hard enough to send her sprawling to the floor, hair everywhere.

She hit the floor hard and didn't get up again.

Alec was moving as quickly as he could in the direction his gut was telling him to go, long legs covering the distance easily enough and chest straining with the effort he was putting into moving as quickly as he could. His head turned sharply as he heard Jenny's voice, high pitched and grief stricken.

He rounded the corner and he felt something in his chest give when he caught sight of Kris staked to the wall like some sort of... animal before his attention quickly turned to the Inquisitor looming over Jenny.

Alec growled deep in his chest and then closed the distance, lifting his voice. "Hey!"

Tobias' hand was lifted to strike her again before he stilled and turned. He recognised the sound of the voice as that of one of the other fugitives. His weapon turned with him, that cold gaze locking onto Alec. "Back off, fugitive." he warned, voice a low growl.

Jenny didn't move, still, prone behind him.

Alec's eyes were a different shade and there was no hesitation in the way he stepped closer, lifting his left hand to close it around Tobias' neck. There was no need for the way in which his hand tightened, but it did, closing sharply around the other man's throat.

It was as his fingertips pressed in that the pain begun, small shivers at first before larger more crippling pains racked Tobias' central nervous system. It was as if Alec had injected the other man with a lethal dose of poison and it was steadily working its way through, destroying precious white blood cells and slipping through otherwise healthy veins in its pursuit of the heart. He wanted the Inquisitor to suffer the same way he had made countless of other people suffer.

He deserved it.

Tobias' colour drained and his hands grasped for Alec's wrist, the touch weak and failing as he gasped for air, feeling his body shutting down around him and desperately scrabbling for something, some kind of purchase before the life drained from him completely. His eyes fluttered, rolling back in his head as his body tensed and twitched, legs giving as his knees buckled.

He was clearly suffering, breath coming in half gasps of desperation as he tried to free himself from the man's death grip.

It would be useless and fruitless, Alec's grip was unrelenting. It was the grip of a man possessed, spurred on by the absolute hatred he felt for the other man and all he stood for and the fact that this no matter how messed up it was felt good, way too good. He used this side of his gift as sparingly as he could, afraid of how quickly it might pull him under and turn whatever good intentions he had to bad, pave his way to hell.

He simply pressed his fingers in deeper, willing the process along. He took pleasure in the fact that Tobias was suffering, he'd wanted that. It didn't take very long for the pain to triple and build in its intensity, finally closing around the struggling heart.

Alec tightened his jaw as he focused all of his attention on the faltering heartbeat.

Tobias was on his knees, gasping and shuddering, twitching for air and desperate for some kind of reprieve as his heart slowly started slowing down, slower and slower until it was nothing but a weak flutter and then after that, nothing. Tobias went limp and slumped to the floor, held up only by the bruising grip against his throat.

Jenny was slowly coming round, fingers twitching on the ground as she very slowly moved, curling onto her side and drawing her knees up to her chest. Her movements were slow and sluggish and she didn't know what to do, the world was spinning and she felt sick.

Alec held on for a few more moments, until he was sure Tobias was dead, completely and utterly, before he finally released. The man's limp body now slumped to the ground and Alec stumbled back under the weight of what had just happened and the way in fact his entire body tingled. He even felt a little lightheaded. It was a lot like a high a junkie got the moment after that first hit.

"Jenny?" He managed after he rested against the nearby wall, trying desperately not to look at Kris. He wet his lower lip and forced himself to break away from the wall, stepping over Tobias to help Jenny to her feet. "Are you okay?"

Jenny looked at him, wide-eyed and she clutched desperately at his wrists, using him to regain her balance. She swallowed, feeling sick. Blood was trickling down her temple and it was smeared over her cheek. Her eyes wandered to where Kris was pinned against the wall and the corners of her lips turned down.

"He- he killed Kris," she whispered, like he hadn't already seen the body. "He- he was going to kill me." She looked up at him, spotting the dilated pupils and slight flush that accompanied the use of the other side of his powers. "Alec, I-"

"I know," Alec muttered sadly. "I saw." He pulled a sleeve over his fingers and cleaned up some of that blood. "I couldn't let him kill you." So he killed Tobias instead.

He wet his lower lip. "We need to get moving."

Jenny tipped her hand into the soft touch of his sleeve, eyes sliding half-shut before she looked up at him. Her hands moved to his chest, flexing in the fabric of his shirt. They were close, standing almost toe-to-toe. "Yes, we do..."

She looked up at him, the light from a nearby street-lamp catching in her eyes. One hand lifted to touch his cheek, fingertip and touch barely there before she stood up on her tiptoes and - in a moment that was entirely inspired by the morals of this world rather than their home one - pressed her lips against his in a soft kiss.

Alec's eyebrows lifted at the unexpected kiss and without really thinking it through he closed his hand around the back of Jenny's neck, returning the soft kiss in much the same way. Their world's morals forgotten for the moment.

He pulled away when he felt he should, even though he didn't really want to, and gave Jenny a small smile. "Been wanting to do that for a while."

Jenny's hands had slid up and she had curled her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck, playing with the strands idly. Her eyes stayed closed for a moment, even though Alec had pulled away and she lingered in his space before she finally looked up at him.

Her lips pulled into a small smile and she swallowed, wetting her lower lip. "Me too," she admitted quietly, wishing she could make more of this moment. She stole another kiss before she stood down on her heels and rested her forehead against his chest, eyes closing again. They really should leave, but Kris...

Alec curled his arm around her and lifted his hand to cradle the back of her head, turning his own to look at Kris. "God," he muttered softly. "Poor Kris." He swallowed hard and dropped a kiss on Jenny's temple, pulling away from her to cross over to where their fallen friend was. "I'm sorry I wasn't quick enough to save you as well."

He closed the other woman's eyes and then leaned in, closing his hand around the stake. It took all his upper body strength to yank it out from where it had been rammed through her chest, catching the heavy weight of her body when gravity finally pulled it forward.

Jenny followed quietly and touched Kris' head when Alec caught the woman's body. She brushed her hand over her hair and then kissed Kris' head, feeling tears burning in her eyes. "We should have run faster," she said quietly, her chest and stomach burning from where she had been hit and with a hot anger that had her wanting to hurt someone, to use her powers until their brains turned inside out and to mush inside their skulls.

"I'm so sorry, Kris," she whispered, voice shaking a little. She stepped back once she had touched Alec's arm gently before she curled her arms around herself, rubbing her palm against her upper arm. "What should we do with her body?" She looked over at Tobias' broken form on the floor, the blotchiness on his skin and the unnatural position he had fallen in making her stomach twist too. What if they could never escape?

"We're not leaving her here," Alec said with a shake of his head. "He can rot here for all I care, but not her." He nodded at Tobias' body. "Grab his portal generator, we're leaving this place behind and getting as far away as we can. I don't even care where we go, just as long as it's away from them. Hopefully they won't follow."

He shifted the way he was holding Kris so he could better carry her dead weight, swallowing hard at the realisation that she was never waking up again.

Jenny ran over to Tobias' body, looking down at it and she hesitated before bending to get his individual portal generator. She chewed on her lower lip as she released it and curled her fingers around it.

She reached out and closed Tobias' eyes. "Godspeed," she whispered to him, getting to her feet and running back over to Alec, curling her fingers in the back of his shirt, not tugging, just making sure that she knew he was there and he knew she was there.

"Hopefully not." She felt bad about doing this without the others, but she was sure they would be alright. She opened the top of the leather-bound generator and looked at it before she moved a little closer. "I could do with sleeping," she murmured, pressing her lips against his shoulder. "You know how to use this thing?"

She had not really had much of an education, having been on the run for most of her life, and the mass of buttons was confusing, symbols she knew but did not understand.

Before he had become a fugitive on the run Alec had been pretty well to do and thankfully had been fortunate enough to have more of an education than Jenny. "I have a rough idea," he shared with a small smile. "Anywhere is better than here though, right?"

Alec strapped the portal generator around his wrist and then glanced at Jenny. "You holding on tight?"

Jenny chewed her lower lip and stood up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. She curled beside him, pressing against his side and curling one hand around his upper arm. Her other hand rested on Kris's limp - cool - form too and she looked up at him.

"I am," she muttered, tightening her grip a little. "I-" she turned her head and kissed his shoulder, mumbling something that could have been - and probably was - love you before she pressed her forehead against his shoulder. It needed to be said, just in case. "I'm ready. Let's get out of here."

Alec glanced over his shoulder at her and nodded his head with a small and hopefully reassuring smile. "Here goes nothing." He tapped a couple buttons and the next thing that happened was something to see: a portal opened up right there and then, allowing the three bodies through it and to whatever world awaited their arrival.

Hopefully this time there would be no Inquisitors on the other side.