InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Won't you be my neighbor?"

Jess Van der berg (insolentia_) wrote in nevermore_logs,
@ 2017-09-17 15:45:00

Current mood:	distressed
Entry tags:	jameson kemp, jess van der berg, jesse delacroix, victor brannigan

Who: Jess van der Berg, Victor Brannigan, and open to their friends and families
What: Hospital aftertimes
When: Saturday late night/Sunday early morning
Where: Hospital
Warnings/Notes: Aftermath of torture, maybe descriptions

While Victor required a lot more medical attention that JJ herself did, now that she was safe she felt like something had snapped inside her. She didn't want to be out of Victor's sight for a second and, thankfully, it seemed like he felt the same way. And so they had been given a room together, and she had watched while the doctors and nurses patched him up and did what they could to address his physical wounds. She felt like she was half his watchdog and half like she needed him to protect her still. To stand between herself and everything bad.

Had he broken at the last second? Yes. Did she blame him for even a moment? No.

"Hey," she said to him, when they were finally alone. She knew the waiting room would be full of their people and the onslaught of them was about to begin. She was so pleased she was about to see them again, but for this last second alone, there was something she needed to say. "It's okay."

"It's not," Victor sniffed hard as he ran the fingers of his one good hand over the bandage on the other. "I told them- I told them to hurt you."

"You couldn't take any more," JJ said with feeling. "I know. I know you couldn't. It's okay. They didn't hurt me, Michael got there in time. And even if they had, it's not your fault. Victor. It's not your fault." She could be strong for him here, in this place of safety. How strong had he been for her when the circumstances were so much worse. "You reached your limit."

Victor just covered his face with his good hand, and waited for the door to open, admitting the people they loved into the room.

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sciomachy
2017-09-17 10:15 am UTC (link)

The moment Jesse was int he room, Nicholas right behind him, JJ felt like she was going to burst into tears. She reached for the both of them, pulling them close. "My boys," she finally sobbed out against Nicholas' chest.

Nicholas had noted that the only mark on JJ looked to be two angry red circles around her wrists where she had clearly been chained. As for Victor- The man looked like he had been through a meat grinder and only just made it out alive. He was covered in bandages and Nicholas could only guess at what lay underneath. So it was true? "JJ," he breathed, planting a kiss on her hair. "Did they touch you?"

"No," JJ promised the both of them. "Not hardly at all. Victor. Victor kept me safe."

Victor, for his part, refused to look at them, his eyes firmly staring at the wall. So apparently they were just going to pretend he hadn't given in and told the demons to hurt her, now?

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	jdelacroix 2017-09-17 10:36 am UTC (link)
	Jesse went more than willingly, relief flooding through him waves so fast, it almost made him dizzy. He kissed JJ's head, then turned to look at Victor. "I don't even know how to thank you," he told him. "I just wish you didn't have to go through hell before you got here." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sciomachy
2017-09-17 10:41 am UTC (link)

Nicholas was still focused on JJ, at least until he knew, "and the baby?"

"She's fine," JJ assured him. "She's strong. She was kicking and dancing the whole time. They checked and gave me the all clear, she wasn't affected at all."

Now Nicholas could truly turn to Victor as well. "You kept my family safe," he said gently. "Thank you."

Victor shook his head slightly, still refusing to look at them. "That's not what happened."

"Bullshit it isn't," JJ shot back, which was the thing which finally made Victor look over at them. "Every time the demons were there, they made him choose. Who got water? Who got food? Who got tortured? He always chose in favour of me."

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jdelacroix
2017-09-17 11:01 am UTC (link)

And really, what could Jesse say to that? 'Thank you' didn't even begin to cover it. JJ was alive and mostly intact, while Victor looked like he'd gone 10 rounds with de la Hoya, then met Jigsaw for some more pain. Jesse was going to get him the best Christmas present he could think of for the rest of his life.

"Motherfuckers," he spat. "That is a shitty position to put someone in."

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sciomachy
2017-09-17 11:09 am UTC (link)

"'was what they wanted," Victor finally joined in the conversation. "To see how far they could push me."

JJ gave him a tired smile. "You're my hero. I've been thinking for days- Pretty sure I want to name the baby Victoria. You guys okay with that?" she asked Jesse and Nicholas. Nicholas nodded immediately, unable to think of anything better.

Victor blinked at her in confusion and then he swallowed roughly, "really?"

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	jdelacroix 2017-09-17 11:20 am UTC (link)
	"Sounds perfect to me," Jesse added, squeezing her hand again. "And seriously Victor, if you need anything, let one of us know, OK? I know I'll be here for a couple of days, at least until they release JJ." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	insolentia_ 2017-09-17 11:28 am UTC (link)
	JJ's head snapped towards Jesse then, and the first sign that she wasn't completely okay was when she started to look panicked. "I'm not leaving," she hissed then, and Nicholas looked at her worriedly. "JJ-?" "No. No, I'm not leaving without- I- I don't want to be anywhere without Victor. I'm not leaving without Victor." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	jdelacroix 2017-09-17 11:45 am UTC (link)
	"We could have you stay with us while you recuperate?" Jesse suggested. "It's not like we don't have the space. Would that help, JJ? I mean, once he gets the OK to leave and we don't have to check him out AMA, or something." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sciomachy
2017-09-17 11:56 am UTC (link)

JJ breathed out again, relieved that they weren't going to separate them. Victor, actually looked relieved too.

"I don't want to be anywhere without her either," he admitted, his voice low. "Thank you."

Victor had been about to say something else...perhaps to admit to them he had broken and tried to throw their girlfriend under the bus before he welcomed him into their home, but Kat burst through the doors.

"They kept making me sign things," she growled, though all the bluster went out of her at the horrific state of Victor. She swallowed down several curses in Greek, and then she climbed straight up onto the bed beside Victor and curled up at his side.

Victor, for his part, barely knew what to say. The sight of the woman he loved was like fresh air, but he was still fairly sure he was drowning anyway. He glanced down at her, but her eyes were squeezed shut. "I love you," she whispered, but didn't seem keen to say anything else. It was like she hadn't even noticed there were others in the room.

"Deirdre?" he asked softly, needing to know their daughter was okay. He had been taken from their home, leaving Deirdre on her own at just four years old. Anything could have happened.

"She's outside with Claire and Robert," Kat explained, and Victor should have known his late wife's parents would be there. Of course they would. "I didn't want her in here until I saw you, so I could-"

"So you could see if I looked scary?" he asked, finishing up for her.

"Mmm. Lena, Jamie and Thomas are right behind me as well."

JJ perked up at that, glancing towards the door. She loved Lena so much.

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flare_star
2017-09-17 12:12 pm UTC (link)

"And when she says 'right behind', she isn't kidding," Jamie said, coming into the room. "Dad said we should probably let Kat go in first, and honestly she probably would've knocked me down to get in here herself." He refrained from asking, 'how are you doing?' because the answer was obviously 'shitty', judging by the state of Victor's...everything.

"Well we won't separate y'all, then," Jesse decided. "Now where's Lena, I'm going to get us some hugs."

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sat_by_the_fire
2017-09-17 12:37 pm UTC (link)

Thomas was terrified to see the state his best friend was in, and he hung around the doorway, trying not to look crushed. Victor had always seemed so strong and good, and now he looked shattered and Thomas honestly didn't know what to do with it. Realising you sort of hero-worshipped your best friend at the exact moment that hero-worship was shattered was some kind of emotional whiplash.

Kat just reached out for Jamie's hand, and Victor nodded at both Jamie and Thomas. "Hey. You're here."

Lena made a beeline for JJ, moving in to hug her friend. "Joey is coming too," she promised over JJ's shoulder. "He's just...well he was holding Bastian and then he sort of needed a minute." Joey had been held at the mercy of Lucifer for nearly a month and he had been in worse shape than Victor at the end of it all. It was understandable he needed to compose himself before seeing his sister after she had been at the mercy of Lucifer's son.

Lena went to hug Jesse and Nicholas as well. "So Michael found you?"

"He was...kind of terrifying," JJ told them all. "All wings and fire and flaming eyes. I uhm...I had to look away." She glanced at Jesse and Nicholas. "I've never seen anything like it."

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flare_star
2017-09-17 12:50 pm UTC (link)

"We wouldn't be anywhere else," Jamie promised. "We crammed so many people into the car, I'm pretty sure we broke a few laws. Whatever, we didn't get stopped, so it doesn't matter."

"Hopefully he comes back soon, I have this sudden urge to hug Bastian and make sure I can see where he is every day for the rest of forever," Jesse said. "Which I don't think will abate any time soon. Though I understand him needing a minute."

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sciomachy
2017-10-07 08:26 am UTC (link)

Jess lasped into silence, since no one responded to what she said. Lena held her a bit more tightly to that, and kissed her hair.

Victor watched all of them mill around, trying to be kind and supportive. They seemed so happy to be reunited with him, but they didn't know what a terrible person he was. He couldn't stand it.

"I told them to hurt her!" he blurted out so suddenly that Thomas, who had just tried to moved closed to hug him, dropped to the floor in shock. He stood right afterwards, looking sheepish and his ears turning red. Thomas didn't like yelling.

And now everyone was staring at Victor, even despite Thomas' little performance. Now JJ's loved ones knew he had broken and tried to use her to distract the demons. They would never let him in their home now.

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jdelacroix
2017-10-07 10:05 am UTC (link)

Jesse couldn't help but jump when Victor yelled, and he turned to face him. He squeezed JJ's hand once before getting up and going over to Victor's bed. He sat himself down gently next to the other man, doing his best not to startle him further.

"Victor," he began gently. "Everyone has a breaking point. From what JJ's said, hell, from what I can see just looking at you, you held out a hell of a lot longer than most people ever would. Being tortured is hell. Being asked to choose? I can't imagine how much that screws with your brain. You took the brunt of it so she could be safe. You brought her and our daughter back to us safely, and you know what, man? You're only human. To want the pain to stop is the most natural thing in the world. I'm happy that Michael arrived before anything happened to JJ, but if you're expecting me to rant and rave and call you a terrible person, I'm afraid you'll be waiting for a very long time."

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amending
2017-10-07 10:37 am UTC (link)

"That's what I told him," JJ said, shooting Victor an 'I told you' look he couldn't even get angry about. "You kept me safe for weeks. That's longer than I would have lasted."

Nicholas gently stepped across the room and offered a hand to Victor, who took it because what else was he supposed to do? "That bastard had me for over a month," he said quietly, but as he spoke it seemed like the room got quieter. The evidence of Nicholas' torture was still written all over his body as he struggled to put the weight back on that Joshua had forced him to lose. "I like to think of myself as strong and protective, but I can't honestly say whether or not I would have let any one of you go hungry so I could have- fuck, even a sandwich. Half a sandwich. I was starved out of my mind, and that made me desperate. Pretty sure you were in the same place. Even if they had hurt JJ, which I am going to send Michael a cookie bouquet every week for the rest of my life because his arrival meant that didn't happen, it wouldn't have been your fault. You're still coming to our house. We'll feed you up and look after you."

There wasn't much Victor could really say to that, and then Kat leaned up to kiss the corner of his mouth and Victor burst into tears.

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jdelacroix
2017-11-10 07:41 am UTC (link)

"And for that we owe you our thanks," Jesse agreed.

He sat silently as Nicholas started to talk, because even though he'd heard it before, that didn't make it any easier to bear. He nodded as Nicholas finished, turning to smile gently at Victor. "I'll cook you so much Cajun food," he promised. "We'll make sure you're feeling more like yourself before you go back home."

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sciomachy
2017-11-10 08:00 am UTC (link)

Victor sniffed hard and he gave both Nicholas and Jesse grateful looks as he cried. "I don't even know what to say," he wailed.

"You don't have to say anything," JJ assured him. "You're my hero."

"Mine too," Kat informed him quietly. "Deirdre and I can go with you anywhere you want. Whatever makes you feel better."

Victor nodded and even though he was still slightly crying, he did feel a bit better. "Alright. Yes. Yes I would like to come home with you."

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	jdelacroix 2017-12-04 04:42 am UTC (link)
	Jesse just smiled and patted Victor's hand. "You don't have to say anything," he echoed JJ. "We've got the space, and you're always welcome in our house. Now more than ever." (Reply to this) (Parent)

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