Who: Peter and Katherine What: Checking on her brother after Lucien's assassination attempt When: The day after the attempt Where: Peter's place Rating: G, mentions of the assassination
After everything that had been happening lately, Katherine was all too eager to get away from it all and visit her brother. It had been a bit since she had seen him, and though she had sent him a letter not that long ago, she missed him. He was really the only one that understood her, and maybe even understood what she was going through. Since she was in London already, she thought that this would be the perfect time to come and visit. The Lewis children were with their parents for the day, but she would have to go back that evening to stay with them for a while.
She left the Lewis’ London place, and went to Peter’s. Thankfully this time she didn’t get as lost as she had before. London was still quite a place to maneuver through, especially as an unaccompanied woman. Too many brutes on the street, she supposed. Still it didn’t take long to reach his door, and so she knocked. Hopefully he was home. It would be something if she came all this way, and he wasn’t at home. She longed to see someone that she actually cared about.
Peter was lounging around in his small apartment, his mind on Lucien. He wondered how his old friend and alpha were doing, though the paper said that he was expected to be okay. He felt horrible about what had happened. Guilty. And he knew that it was time, now, to tell Damian to back off. They couldn’t do this any more. Peter was done.
He had just reread the article in the newspaper when the knock at the door came. He put the paper down and moved to the door. Not bothering to look through the peephole, he could smell his sister, he pulled the door open with a big grin and felt himself relax. He loved his sister. They had always been extremely close and he swore there were times he could feel her when they weren’t together.
“Katherine,” he said and moved to let her come in. “It’s so good to see you. Everything is okay, isn’t it?”
It was a little odd. If the attack on Lucien had happened at any other time, she would have been right there by his side, completely worried. Instead she was there with her brother. Sure she was glad that he wasn't dead, but she didn't feel the need to go and see him. Some part of her thought that she wouldn't care if he actually was dead, but that was just her anger speaking. There was a lot of anger inside of her, but she was doing a good job of containing it. Thankfully she didn't need to pretend not to be angry in front of Peter.
As he answered the door, she was relieved to see that he was quite all right. She'd read about what happened in the paper, but hadn't bothered to find out any more than that. She smiled back at him, and slipped inside. "Hi Peter. Oh yes, I'm all right. I had some time off, and I came to make sure that you were alright. I read what happened in the paper and I just.. realized that maybe I should come and check up on you, I guess." She shrugged a little, not wanting him to worry that she was worried.
"How are you? Did you receive my letter a while ago?" she asked, removing her gloves and setting them aside.
Peter smiled and gave a chuckle. “Yes, yes, dear sister, I’m alright,” he assured her as he shut the door. “I read what happened as well,” he told her, though he left out the bit about having been close enough to watch from a distance and that it was because of him that the attack had happened. “I was thinking of reaching out to you, or at least going out to the Black Park and checking on you and our family, but...here you are. Why are you in London?” he said and gestured her to take a seat.
“I did get your letter, yes,” he frowned. “Lucien has asked someone else to marry him, you said,” he shook his head. “That angered me,” he admitted. “And you told me about the party. Was his fiance there? Were you there or brothers and sisters?”
Grateful to hear that her brother was all right, she followed him inside the house. It was different, them being on their own like this. Of course 89 years was probably just enough time for them to live on their own anyway. Even if they were young by werewolf standards. “I’m here to watch over the Lewis’ children. They’ve hired me on to look after them. I go with them back and forth, they have a house here in London. And I’ve .. well I’ve been looking into getting a place of my own, for when I’m here.” Instead of living with the Lewis’. She liked them all right, and she adored the children, but she needed space.
“I looked in on Mother and Father and the rest. They were there when it happened. Ian wanted to go after the man who attacked Lucien.” She gave a small sigh. “Lucien prevented it though, thankfully.” That was all they needed, their brother to get caught up in other things and put his life on the line for all of them. “I didn’t go to the party though.. I.. I can’t.. I can’t face him. Not any more. He’s made it perfectly clear how he views me. I know.. I know I shouldn’t be upset, but I can’t help but feel as if he just took us both for granted, and threw us both away.”
Peter thought about making tea, but then he had a feeling that tea was not going to help. Instead he reached for his bourbon and two glasses and poured them each one. He then was handing Kat her glass as he sat down and listened to her.
“I see,” he nodded of her watching over the Lewis’ children. It seemed as if his sister was on the way out, she too upset with Lucien about the engagement. He frowned and gave a soft sigh. How had everything become a mess? How could Lucien continue to overlook his family, a family that had been there from the beginning, a family that had always had his back. He didn’t understand it at all. Maybe Lucien did deserve to die, but then he felt entirely guilty for that thought.
“How he views you? It better be as a friend and not anything less than that,” he nearly growled. If Lucien thought worse of her, he’d go find the man right now and set him straight. “I don’t get it, Kat,” he shook his head. “I just don’t get how he continues to overlook us. Are we just...nothing? Is there something wrong with us that we don’t know about?”
Katherine was glad for the drink, she hadn’t really had one to soothe her nerves, unless the beer that she shared with Zipporah counted. And speaking of her, she was going to have to bring that up sooner or later. Maybe later though. She felt guilty for that thought too, but she couldn’t help herself. She was just so angry and tired of being overlooked all the time. Not just by Lucien but by everyone who wasn’t her immediate family.
She shook her head, “To be honest, I don’t think I can be his friend. I don’t think I can be.. Anything. I don’t want to see him again. I know I have to, because he’s my Alpha. But.. the thought of having to be there and smile when he’s with her.. It makes my blood boil. It makes me want to cry. It makes me .. “ she trailed off, trying not to cry at even the thought of it. She hated crying and being weak. “I can’t be around him any more. I just can’t.. I wish I knew, Peter. I don’t understand. Mother and father tried everything to match me with someone nice. Every single bachelor in the pack, and they all turned me down. Then even all the humans they tried.. That didn’t work either.” Admitting that the woman they were trying to pawn off on you couldn’t give you children put a nip on all of that.
“Maybe we are.. Maybe we are nothing. Born to bad luck, the pair of us.”
“I’m sorry,” Peter said softly, reaching over to take one of her hands. He hurt him to know that no one would be with is sister, that no one wanted to marry her. He didn’t understand it. She was gorgeous, smart, witty… Maybe that was the problem, maybe she was too smart, too something, but he had a feeling it was something else. “It’s my fault,” he shook his head. “If I hadn’t have left, if I hadn’t stayed away. I’m a disgrace, and because you are part of me maybe they think that too,” he told her.
He took a sip of his drink and closed his eyes. “Born to bad luck, bad life, bad something,” he said, letting his head hang. How did things get to be this way. He couldn’t figure it out, but now it was to the point that there now hits out on Lucien.
“Maybe…If you are wanting out of the pack, then maybe you can move in here,” he sighed. “It’s not much and one bedroom so I would sleep on the couch.”
Katherine shook her head. “It’s not your fault,” she said putting her hands into his. “This happened long before you left. And your leaving has nothing to do with the men that are in the pack. Not every werewolf has a mate. It’s just not my time, this go around. Maybe in another life.” She could still have a good life, on her own. She just had to figure out what to do with it, even if it meant just continuing to write. “You’re not a disgrace. And if they think that, then I don’t want anything to do with them anyway.”
She wouldn’t want to be with anyone who didn’t care for her twin brother. He was her other half. They came as a package, in a weird way.
“I might take you up on that, though I have found my own place. But.. maybe. I don’t want you to sleep on the couch though. That wouldn’t help either of us. I’d hate to stop watching the Lewis children, but I know there are plenty of people looking for a governess.” And she could find something else. “But I am starting to think that leaving the pack is probably a good thing. I don’t want all of this to fall on mother and father, and I’m afraid it will.”
Plus she was a laughing stock, by now. Surely. She couldn’t look at anyone.
As much as Katherine would say and try to make him believe it wasn’t his fault, he knew that it was. Peter knew that had he not gone against Lucien’s wishes, had not gone to Cornwall, that things would be different for Katherine. For them both. But he had and his sister hurt because of it. “I can always find you a man to marry,” he said with a chuckle, to lighten up his mood slightly. “Might be rough around the edges though,” he then grinned.
“Sleeping on the couch isn’t the worst place I’ve slept,” he then said. “If anything, you can stay until you find yourself something better. You know my door is always open to you.” He thought about his parents and then gave a small shake of the head. “Maybe I need to have a chat with Lucien,” he said. “Maybe kick his ass to get him to see what he’s doing.”
Even if Peter had never gone, that wouldn’t have made Lucien look at her any differently. She was mostly upset for looking like a fool, constantly over and over again. She laughed and rolled her eyes at him. “Yes, I’m sure that’s going to work splendidly. Here, have my twin sister, she needs someone to take care of her.” Rough around the edges. Right. “I’m not that desperate.. Just barely, but still.” She’d be fine with taking care of herself for the rest of her life. All those hundreds of years were just going to fly by, when she didn’t have a family.
“Thank you, I know. If I need to come stay with you, I will. I think I’ll be okay though.” She was torn about leaving her mother and father, and the rest of their siblings. She wanted to look after them, but it just didn’t seem possible. The thought of having to be there, watching the two of them all happy and in love made her sick to her stomach. She’d rather be alone for the hundreds of years than watch that. Her only hope was that Lucien wouldn’t take it out on the rest of their family, when she left.
Katherine shook her head. “No, please don’t. If anyone is going to fight their own battles, it’s me. I need to stick up for myself. I don’t need you to do it. I already look like an idiot, I need to do this myself. If you did it.. It would just make things worse, okay?” Though she was truthfully just going to avoid him as much as possible.
“No, no,” Peter shook his head. “It’s more like, here is my twin sister she just needs a man that can keep his mouth closed and warm her bed at night,” he chuckled, teasing her. “I know that you don’t need anyone to take care of you,” he then said in a more serious tone. “You’re like me. We’re...loners. We like to be able to do our own thing without strings attached.” He knew marriage was not in the cards for him, but he would like to see his sister settled and happy.
“You know, Kat, if you could find a mate that wasn’t Lucien, you’d be much happier and not so worried about running away from them all,” he pointed out. “I think we might both be unlucky in that, but maybe one day you’ll find a mate. For me? I’m… just me,” he gave a small chuckle.
He frowned when she said she needed to fight her own battles. “The thing is, Kat, Lucien and I have a battle of our own, grievances shared, but I won’t go looking for him,” he then promised. “I’ll stay hidden from him like always, but I can’t promise to keep my mouth shut if we do come face to face and things get heated.”
“While that is quite true, it is entirely inappropriate for you to say that to any man,” she pointed out with a laugh. “But you’re right, we’re loners. I’m you, and you’re me.. Though speaking of strings attached..” she figured this might be a good place to bring all of this up. “I ran into a lovely young woman named Zipporah. She was very talkative about you, wants to know how you’re doing.” She gave Peter a pointed look about it all.
“Maybe I’d be much happier, but we both know that getting to choose someone that you love isn’t always possible, and mates don’t always work out. I think by now, if everyone in the pack has rejected me, even old Mr. Whittecomb who’s been widowed several times over, doesn’t want me, I don’t think it’s going to happen. We’re both the same. It’s just that as a girl, I’m supposed to get married. You can not and have it not impact your life, the way it does mine.” She shrugged. “I look forward to being an old maid.”
Her shoulders shrugged a bit. “I know you do. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for you getting your say when it comes to how he treated the both of us. I just know that I have to do it as well. If and when you see him again, you’re more than welcome to tell him what you think.”
“Fine, fine, I won’t set you up with anyone,” Peter said, laughing. The laugh turned to silence when Zipporah’s name was mentioned and he wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. “You met Zipporah?” He asked, rather lamely. “She’s a friend,” he then said. “How’d you meet her?” He’d slept with Zipporah after she’d helped him get silver out of his body so he could heal after a dirty fight. He hoped that he would see her again, though he’d also kept his distance since then, too.
“If you being an old maid means you’re happy, then I’m all for it,” he stated. “I mean it. I don’t want you to be alone, but if that’s what you want, you know I’ll be there for you.” He understood his sister than anyone else, understood that she was stubborn and had an idea of how things should be done and knew what it was she wanted in life, and when things didn’t work out the way she wanted, like him, she walked away and tried for something else.
He nodded about Lucien. He wouldn’t go looking for the wolf, but if the two ever crossed paths he wouldn’t be holding back.
“I did meet Zipporah. She was in the store, and we were both getting things. Looking at books. She’s a friend. Uh huh.” She gave him another pointed look. “Well I am here to make sure that your friend.. Zipporah, is treated as such. Don’t go breaking her heart or anything. Make your feelings clear, no matter what. If I hear you’ve toyed with her, you’ll have to answer to me.” She liked the girl well enough and she just wanted to make sure that both of them were on the same page, whatever page that might be.
Katherine shrugged, “I’m willing to just see where it goes. I don’t want to be alone either, but I don’t think I’m going to go looking for it.” She’d tried that and it hadn’t worked. “Mostly I just want to stop being in love with Lucien. That comes first. To get over him.” And whatever happened after that, happened. They were both stubborn, that was true. She had a lot of thoughts about how her behavior and her life affected her parents. That was such a motivating factor for her. She hated that her inability to do what a woman was ‘supposed to do’ was going to put shame upon them.
“Aren’t you suppose to be protective of me?” Peter asked with an amused look. “Zip and I, we just recently met, okay?” He gave her a pointed look this time. “She’s great. I like her and I think she’s got moxy,” he then said. “But, now that you two seem to be such great friends, I’ll try my best not to break her heart or anything,” he rolled his eyes and laughed lightly. Now that he knew the two women knew each other, he wasn’t sure what would happen. Messing around with a woman that knew his sister, well, that could be awkward maybe.
“Everything will work out,” he said and sipped at his drink. “You’ll get over Lucien soon enough,” he then said. “Just as I did, our friendship,” he gave a shrug. “Eventually, what you need and want in your life will come your way.”
“Yes of course I’m protective of you. Don’t you think I already gave her the same talking to? Because I did. I told her not to break your heart.” Maybe she hadn’t put it exactly like that, but she had made sure that Zipporah was going to treat her brother with respect. “I’m just trying to keep an eye out on both of you. That’s all. Just trying to keep the both of you from ever feeling like I feel.” She wanted him to avoid that at all costs.
Yeah she got that it might be weird, now that they knew each other, but still. It wasn’t like she was going to hang out with her all the time though. “Just have fun.” she smirked a bit. “I know. I will. It’ll be nice. I look forward to that day.”
“Break my heart?” Peter laughed. “Kat, you forget that I don’t have a heart to break,” he chuckled. No one ever got close to him for that, anyway. In fact, he was the one that was the breaker of hearts. Sleeping with women and then leaving them when they got too clingy was how he liked to do things. “Don’t worry, Katherine. Something like what happened to you won’t happen to me. I’m damaged and I couldn’t provide for a family if I wanted to.”
Katherine laughed again and shook her head. “You’re as bad as I am with all of that talk. I guess that’s why we’re twins.” Twins who clearly didn’t have a whole lot of self esteem when it came to things like that. “I guess that’s true for the both of us. Too damaged and looked over by the people who were supposed to love us the most.” Maybe that was both their faults. She got up to her feet. “I should go back to mother and see if I can help. I’ll be in touch though.”
Peter stood when his sister did and walked her to the door. “Yes,” he nodded. “Make sure you send letters or come see me,” he said with a smile. He had information he needed to get, things about Lucien, so they could all be done and over with this plot of Damian’s. At the door he pulled her into a hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Be careful, okay? Whoever is out for Lucien, I don’t want you or other family members in the middle of it.”