Harry's Angels (Molly/Murphy, tbc in comments)
York was a strange experience, to say the least. Murphy didn’t quite know what to make of being able to walk to most places from her motel. It was tiny, and everyone seemed to know everyone. This was almost Stepford creepy to her. She was not keen to stick around long enough to have the townspeople learn her life story, but if things were as bad as they seemed, she might have to.
Or the world would come to an end, which was possibly more cheerful than ending up a local.
No, Murphy knew full well that Harry wouldn’t let the world come to an end. And there was no way in hell she would let that happen without putting up a damn good fight for that matter. So, staying in York it was. She had already located an apartment that offered a month to month lease. It seemed that newcomers to the town never stayed long. For that matter, she had a feeling that some of the locals were trying to get out too.
She walked back to her room at the Phoenix, glad that she would be out of the place soon. She had personally checked to make sure that the new apartment had steaming hot water instead of just a spluttering shower with lukewarm water.
----
Molly had a pocketful of cash! She had no idea how it got there or where it came from. Okay she had an inkling of an idea. She loved the boss man! Right now what sounded best was one of those packs of peanut M&Ms from the vending machine which was where she was right now, arguing with it. “Take the stupid dollar! It isn’t that wrinkled!”
----
Murphy had almost walked by the girl in front of the vending machine. She hadn’t recognized Molly out of her ragged lady clothes. Not until she heard the voice. Harry had mentioned that Molly was staying in town as well. She had just been glad to hear that Molly was no longer living on the streets. At least for the time being.
Murphy stopped just behind Molly, not wanting to startle her. Startling someone who was as jumpy as Molly had become and with her power was tantamount to a death wish. All the same, she couldn’t think of a good way to announce herself. She stepped around to Molly’s side, hopefully in her peripheral vision and prepared herself to duck if any magic was sent flying her way.
“Hi Molly,” she said gently.
----
That voice made Molly freeze, her dollar sticking out of the intake like the machine was sticking its tongue at her. Her eyes widened as she slowly turned her head to confirm that yes, that was Murphy standing right beside her. Gleep! She knew Murphy was here. Harry had told her, but Molly had wanted to avoid the ex-cop. There were issues.
“Hi.” She sounded meek an uncertain.
----
Her relationship with Molly had been strained, to say the least. She wasn’t always sure whether or not she trusted Molly and she was certainly concerned about the Ragged Lady’s methods. All the same, she still cared about Molly’s well-being. And if Harry still trusted her, than that was good enough for Murphy for now. She would still keep an eye out for anything that looked like a concern, but she wanted to help Molly get back on the right path.
“Harry told me you were here,” she said. “Guess you and I agree that the Hellmouth is a must-see tourist attraction.” She cracked a small smile.
----
Molly didn’t move, her expression never changing from that somewhat frightened and uncertain look she trained right on the ex-cop. She didn’t know how this confrontation was going to play out and that got the memories bubbling.
“He told me you were here too.” BUT NOT IN THE SAME DAMN PLACE! “I had to come. The Wardens were going to kill me.”
----
Murphy frowned. Harry had explained the way the wardens worked to her to a point, but she didn’t know all of the particulars. For that matter, there were a few reasons that she could think of for the wardens to be after Molly. From what she knew of the council and it’s politics, she didn’t think a whole lot of their policies. That said, she also thought that there did need to be someone around to police wizards. After all, with all their power they were outside of police jurisdiction.
But unfortunately, just like some of the corruption that she’d had to deal with in the CPD, it seemed to her that the Wardens had a lot of the same issues and that didn’t sit well with her.
“So you think that hiding out at the Hellmouth will keep the Wardens away?” she asked.
It was an honest question, and she hoped the answer was yes. Because if they came for Molly, she knew Harry would lay down his life to protect her. For that matter, she would be right there by his side. She might not have been comfortable with Molly’s use of power lately, but she didn’t believe Molly deserved to die either.
----
Murphy was hard one to read even when your head wasn’t a bit scrambled with a whole lot of vampire deaths and raging personalities. Molly had never thought she’d figure her out. She did know that Murphy cared a whole lot about Harry and other people, but mostly Harry. That put her in the good people list even if it did kind of blend with the competition list. Not that Molly stood a chance with Harry, but a girl has to cling to what nice dreams she has left.
She finally moved, stepping back a pace or two with a weebling step as she fidgeted her fingers together. “Too much clean up going on. Carlos said. And I can help. Harry said if he were here the Wardens wouldn’t be and I’m his apprentice again so back to status quo. Probation again. Guess he’s my P.O. so you could ask him.”
----
Probation was probably a good thing for Molly. Being Harry’s apprentice again was definitely a good thing. Murphy knew that Harry’s death had hit Molly hard, and she could only hope that having him back would help her find her own way back on the right track. For all of their sakes.
“Are you staying here too?” she asked.
She certainly hoped Molly was staying here and not living on the streets over the freaking Hellmouth. Not that a seedy motel with no threshold to speak of was much of an improvement when it came to protection from the things that were most likely lurking here. Which was why she was glad to be getting into something more homelike soon.
----
“Yeah.” Molly sighed and looked around, gesturing vaguely. “Be it ever so ridden with venereal disease.” She shrugged. It really was better than the streets of Chicago or squatting right next to an entrance to Undertown. “I blew out the phone already but the water heater isn’t in my room so I still have hot water. I haven’t even tried the tv yet. I keep scanning the tv guides in the newstands. I figure I’ll give it a try when there’s something I want to catch part of.”
Molly turned back to look at Murphy a bit nervously. “How come you aren’t staying with Harry?” She’d known there was tension between her boss and Murphy, the kind that can only be cured with oh faces and sweat. Now that he was back from the dead Molly figured they would get on with it already.
----
“With Harry?” Murphy asked, looking at Molly. “I could ask you the same question. I’m actually surprised he didn’t insist you stay with him instead of the motel.”
After all, Molly was Harry’s apprentice. And though he might have been clueless about her feelings for him, he had always tried to watch out for her. Like a big brother type, Murphy supposed. She certainly felt for Molly though. Harry tended to be clueless when it came to the women in his life and their feelings.
Though she would assume that the vampire houseguest of Harry’s had something to do with him not extending an invitation to let Molly stay.
“Actually, I found an apartment. Month to month lease. I’m supposed to be moving in tomorrow. You know, if you needed a place to stay, I do have an extra bedroom.” she gave a small smile. “And I’m pretty sure there’s no VD lurking in the apartment.”
For that matter, the hot water heater would be in the basement and hopefully safe from Molly.
----
Molly made a face and shifted from foot to foot uncomfortable. “I don’t like his pet this time.” No. Molly being around a vampire would be bad. Kind of like asking Magneto to have a casual drink with Himmler. But mention of Harry’s pet reminded Molly of something and her brows lifted. “Hey. What’d you do with Mister?!” If she head the invitation she already forgot about it for thinking about Harry’s monster tom cat.
----
Murphy wasn’t sure what to make of Molly completely ignoring her question. Then again, she wasn’t sure what to make of Molly these days. Something had definitely broken in that moment when the Red Court had died out. She just wished she knew how to help Molly put the pieces back together.
“I don’t like the idea of him living with a vampire myself,” she agreed.
Whether she liked it or not, Harry had changed. In many ways, he was still the same Harry and she still trusted him. But taking up the role of Winter Knight had changed him. The fact that he was living with a vampire whom he’d hired as a bodyguard was evidence enough of this. It might not have been his first choice and it certainly had been the lesser of two evils, but that he’d had to make the choice at all and that he seemed to be at peace with his decision was an indication of just one of the many things that had likely changed now that he was in Mab’s employ.
“Mister followed us through the Way. He’s staying at Harry’s, though he’s been around to visit a few times.”
After all, Mister most likely believed that he had custody of Harry, not the other way around. And as he’d lived at Murphy’s after Harry’s... near-death, she was pretty sure he believed he still had custody of her as well.
“How are you doing now that Harry’s back, Molly?” she asked gently. It was a question she’d been wondering about ever since Harry had mentioned that Molly was in York as well.
----
Molly was glad to her Mister was around. She hadn’t seen the beast at Harry’s but that wasn’t surprising. Days could go by without seeing the cat. She had always been of the silent opinion that Mister was Harry’s familiar. “I’ll have to keep an eye out for him. Keep some cheese on me.”
She shrugged a shoulder with her head tilting for the question. “The same I suppose. Nightmares come and go. The bad moments when I can’t remember who I am. I’m glad though because he promised the Wardens couldn’t have my head.”
She honestly had forgotten the offer Murphy had given her. Today was an easily distracted day. Those were the good days to Molly’s opinion. It meant her remembering was taking a break.
----
Murphy frowned at the discussion of the nightmares and the ‘bad moments.’
“Well, you have friends here, Molly,” she said softly. “Now that Harry’s back, you don’t have to stay away from us.”