Eric Draven (i_bringdeath) wrote in we_coexist, @ 2015-01-05 08:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | eric draven, leeloo, peter petrelli, zz:status complete |
Strange Friendships (RC!Eric/Peter log; TBC in threads; RC!Leeloo)
This definitely wasn't Detroit, but Eric knew that already. For one, there was no smell of ash in the air for anyone to inhale. No scent of burning buildings or gasoline. No police sirens. And there wasn't any unstoppable rain.
It was a better alternative than what they had before this place. That broken city with broken people in it. At least this city looked like it could function on its own without breaking apart.
Eric left his apartment, the one from Detroit that has surprisingly been there to greet him upon arrival. As if they were old friends long lost. Hey, remember me? Remember your old life? Do you remember before? Do you....
It was still, technically, a crime scene. The yellow tape still stuck to the front door.
On the street Eric took a moment to look up at it.
He was cleaned up now, bathed and dressed in better clothes. The ones he had before from Detroit, in fact. The ones that allowed him to move like a shadow, or silhouette. Minus the paint of course. He didn't need it now.
Bran cawed and landed on his shoulder.
"I know. Thanks for reminding me," Eric breathed, though by his tone he didn't appreciate whatever it was the bird had told him.
Silently they both wondered if anyone else from that broken world had come here, or if they had been the only ones. He supposed he would find the answer soon enough.
--
The walk had been meant to clear his head a bit, though it was still packed with questions and confusion. Flight was preferable, but Peter felt the need for physical exertion, movement without power. And it gave him a chance to really see this City instead of simply soaring overhead. Though he soon realized that such a view might be beneficial - the streets seemed to shift and move, and he wondered what it might look like from above.
There would be time for that later. For now, his hands were tucked into the pockets of his long black coat, head down and focused on nothing but the sound of his soles against the pavement. There was enough that he simply didn't understand yet, but Peter had been through enough in the last few years to know that some things he simply would not understand. Like how he was moving from one world to another. Like that enormous consciousness he had sensed upon his arrival here. Like why Evey had been duplicated, while he, Peter, had not.
He wondered who else he might run across in this City. And, as though in answer, heard the familiar caw of a crow.
He lifted his head enough to make out a familiar form. Eric was recognizable by his lean and graceful silhouette, even without the shape of Bran on his shoulder. He smiled to see his friend again. "Eric," he said, pleased. "Glad to see you made it here, too."
--
Bran turned before Eric did, not that the man needed to. The corvid cawed, rustling its feathers in distaste. Silently Bran pushed himself from Eric's shoulder and flew upward, landing on the edge of the roof to peer down at the both of them.
Peter. Wonderful.
Nodding, Eric finally turned and glanced at the approaching man. With Peter here and docile, Eric knew instantly that Lee was here too. Which also meant she was safe. Peter was calm. Eric would fine Lee later and make sure she was alright for himself.
"Thanks." It was offered with a bit of curiosity considering neither of them were cordial with the other unless Leeloo was around.
"Do you have any idea where we are?" Peter seemed like he might have a better idea of their surroundings. He knew it was a large city, and that there was a wall around it. That was what Bran had seen.
He held his ground, waiting to see what Peter had to say.
--
Despite the two Eveys, Peter did not immediately realize that this was not the Eric he had become steadfast friends with. In truth, he barely remembered when things between him and the Dark Avenger had been bitter. So it puzzled him when the crow ruffled its feathers and flew off, as well as Eric's short responses. They were cordial enough, but Peter could sense the curiosity and standoffishness.
Huh.
Frowning, he answered as much as he could. "Apparently, it's called The City. I don't remember if you were around when we had some visitors from here back in die Festung. Best I can tell, it's decided to take us in. It's... kind of alive."
Peter didn't know if Lee was here or not - he'd been keeping those thoughts away for a while now, distracting himself from considering it. He hadn't tried to probe for her again. There was enough confusion in his head already.
--
The City. That was an odd name for a place, but of course what hadn't been odd in his life since he had left Detroit? Everyone he met was odd. Effie, Damon, Lee....Peter...
"Now that you mention it, I think I remember." He could recall hearing about the City before now. Now that Peter mentioned it.
"I know it's alive. Bran can feel it."
Peter was acting oddly, and Eric didn't quite know why. A cant of his head and Eric watched the other man with sharp eyes, "Have you seen Lee yet? I need to find her." Peter would know where she'd ended up. Or if he didn't know, Eric would send Bran to find her. Bran could always find the brunette.
--
Have you seen Lee yet?
The words struck Peter with the force of a blow. The easy smile fell away as color drained from his face. He could see it again - the way the growth and life surged through the planet surrounding Leeloo's too-still form, barely visible through a tear through space... the way her chest rose and fell... rose... fell... and then moved no more.
It clicked. He looked at Eric, and he understood. This man was no ally of his, no firm friend, forged in their shared grief. This was the cold-eyed stranger that had wondered if Peter was ever good enough for the woman he knew as Lee.
"She...." Peter's voice broke on the word, and he struggled to regain his breath. "Sh...she's here?" There was agony in his voice, fresh pain from the death he remembered so vividly, thanks to the curse of his perfect recall.
He didn't know how he ended up on the ground, but he didn't care enough to get back to his feet. Leeloo. There... oh god, were there two of them? His love, his soul, his living heart. They were individuals, each one, both at their core, they were both Leeloo.
--
Eric blinked.
That was not the reaction he had been expecting. Of course she was here. She had to be!
Eric glanced over his shoulder at the bird on the roof, and even before his eyes found it Bran was pushing from the edge and taking to the sky.
Find her. Find Lee. Make sure she is safe.
Bran knew his task. He had done it before.
With that done, Eric looked at Peter as the man lay curled in the grass. He made no move to help him, felt no need to touch him or help him. And then he sighed knowing Lee would have wanted him to at least try to help.
Thinking of Lee, the way her eyes lit up, the way she smiled at him...his heart fluttered and Eric pushed it away and stepped through the grass to Peter. He paused at the man's form in the grass and offered a hand, "We can find her together. Bran has already gone to look."
--
Peter looked at the offered hand for a moment, without quite seeing what it was. Lee. Leeloo. If he was brutally, painfully honest with himself, he knew that he hadn't gotten over her death. He'd held the doppelganger at arm's length because of it, never seeking the same intimacy he had shared with the first one he had met. It still hurt. "I burn, I pine, I perish," he murmured, words of some half-forgotten memory.
He blinked again, and saw the hand. Understood. He realized then that he was on the ground, and took the aid the hand offered. Peter got to his feet, still feeling unsteady. He had no presence of mind to even fake stability. "I... we..." He shook his head hard, trying to find the words that would explain what he'd seen, what he remembered. "She died. Saving the world. I... I saw her."
--
Eric helped Peter to his feet, but didn't offer to steady the man. There wouldn't be any steadying because Peter was unsettled and would have to sort that out for himself.
The connection was broken, a soft unclasping of hands, and Eric took a step backward.
And the next minute Peter floored him.
Dead? Dead?!
She couldn't be dead!
Eric's eyes widened, and then narrowed as he watched the other man carefully. There was a quick assessment, considering if Peter had anything to do with her demise. Eric doubted it, especially with the reactions he was getting, but just the same....
A caw and Bran swept towards the pair, but this bird was not the one that was friends with the Eric standing before Peter. This bird knew the man, knew Peter, and so did the man connected with it.
Bran flew and circled Peter, swooping a careful orbit of comfort around its hybrids friend. It was the least it could do.
Eric tilted his head. He watched the bird, unsure as to why it looked like Bran but didn't seem to act or be the same.