Who: Peter, Lucien, Katherine What: Time for Peter to pay the fiddler When: August 4, 1888 - after This Where: Peter's apartment Warning: PG
The hansom cab ride over to Peter’s was spent in grim silence, Lucien glancing over at Katherine occasionally with a look of worry on his face as the late afternoon sun streaming through the window showed her looking pale and worn, the bruises already fading, but still worrisome.
They’d managed to scribble some hasty notes to the Night Watch and Dex, and once they were within a block of Peter’s place, Lucien knocked on the front of the cab.
The cab driver was satisfied enough with the rather enormous tip to take the messages where they needed to go, and Lucien exited from the cab, offering Katherine a hand down.
Katherine was pretty quiet on the ride over to Peter's, except to tell the hansom cab where to go. After all she was the one who knew, and that's why Lucien had come to find her. She didn't really want to talk about things, and to be honest she felt pretty bad. Her head was still swimming, it hurt and she was still seeing double. Everything else was slowly clearing up though. The bruises were fading which was a good thing, and the egg on her head was going down too but it still hurt.
Normally she wouldn't take Lucien's hand, but she was quite sure that if she tried without it, she would have fallen on her face. So she took his hand and stepped down onto the ground. Then she lead the way over to where Peter's place was and knocked on the door.
"Peter.. it's Katherine.. please open up. If you're in there.. something's happened.. I need you to open up."
Peter was not the happiest of people. He’d gone home and was giving Jean time to get Katherine back to him, if he didn’t then Peter was going to go looking for her. While he waited, he paced his small apartment and thought about everything that happened. Damian was dead and whatever had been going on was way bigger than what he’d imagined. There was, apparently, a group behind Damian that he had taken his orders from. Now, that group wanted him to lead in Damian’s spot. And if he didn’t, then his family would be used against him to keep him line.
He was in trouble and there was no way out.
When the knock came at the door and then Katherine’s voice, he turned on his heel and rushed to pull the door open. “Kath….” he stopped as his eyes moved from his sister, to Lucien. Sweet Jesus, why had she brought Lucien here? “You can’t be here,” he said to Lucien and then looked both ways down the hall before looking at his sister. “Are you alright?”
Lucien hadn’t known quite what to expect upon seeing Peter for the first time -- but his reaction was more wary (and frightened) than bloodthirsty, which helped his own temper considerably.
“She has recently been injured, and has been through an ordeal” he said, flatly, “and I believe that it would attract less notice if we were to both come inside. Are you alone?” He asked, working to keep his voice low and calm.
Katherine was giving him a pointed look already as he opened the door. She gave a sigh, "Can we come in first before the Night Watch arrives and bad things happen?" And since she wasn't interested in asking if it was okay, she basically pushed her brother back and went inside. She clearly wasn't having any of this 'you can't be here' stuff. She waited until they were sure they were alone. "No, I'm not alright. Your.. friend.. " she said, as she shut the door behind them alll. "Decided to hit me and cut me with silver and I had to escape by giving myself a concussion." Yeah. She was a little annoyed.
"I'm here to make sure that you both don't kill each other. And I'm really not in the mood to get in the middle of another fight, so please both be on your best behavior. We're here before you get arrested and executed.." She wanted to ask him why he would do such a thing, and what the hell had happened, but maybe that was better said when Lucien wasn't around. "What the hell happened?"
Peter’s eyes launched to Lucien when he spoke. “She can answer for herself,” he said sharply, perhaps too sharply, but the stress he’d been under it was amazing he hadn’t just snapped. He then was looking back at his sister, his eyes narrowing at the mention of Night Watch and wanting to question what in the hell was going on when she shoved right past him and into his apartment. He let out a sigh and looked at Lucien before stepping aside and allowing him entrance. “No one else is here,” he said.
He winced as she explained what had happened, his eyes dropping to the floor as he shoved a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry,” he muttered and then moved into the kitchen and pulled down his whiskey and three glasses.
“What in the hell happened?” He barked out a laugh and poured them each a glass of the whiskey. “You were used as leverage against me,” he stated. “That is what happened. To make sure I continued playing by the rules,” he shook his head and offered them each a glass before downing his.
“And what is this about the Night Watch. What actually did happen?” He asked and looked at Lucien for information. It hurt to look at his old friend, to know that he had betrayed him for years now as well as his sister. Peter had done nothing but hurt the two of them, he knew. “Damian gave you my name, didn’t he?” It was all he could think.
“As he died,” Lucien replied shortly, “in front of several witnesses, including a member of the Night Watch who was acting as security. He claimed you to be wholly responsible.” He swallowed the drink. “I was walking around Iver with my mate when he attacked. My aide managed to shoot him before he hurt any of us.” Lucien looked over at Peter, a flash of anger in his eyes. “I’ve managed to buy a little time to keep reports out of the papers. I am here on behalf of your family, as most of them are still my responsibility, and if you’re hung for treason, it’ll be their ruin.” His voice was a low rumble as he looked at Peter, and it took effort to prevent it from sliding into a growl. “I need answers -- what you’ve done, how you got involved in all of this. Good god, man,” he swore, setting his glass down before he broke it in his fist. “Did you want this?” He asked. “Did you want me dead?”
"Don't laugh, this isn't funny, Peter." She couldn't tell if her brother was actually sorry or not. Since she didn't know what actually happened, Katherine was mostly quiet as Lucien explained what had gone on. She didn't know what her brother could have been thinking, or what the hell was going to happen now that Damian was dead. She was glad that he was dead, truth be told. Still everything had rather fallen apart very quickly.
"We have to figure out a way to keep you safe," she told her brother. Though if Lucien wanted him to pay for what he had done, they didn't quite have that much choice in the matter. But still she was going to try as she might, not to let him go to his death because of this stupidity.
“Of course he pointed the finger at me,” Peter said, his words dripping with sarcasm. “He went on his own crusade, took my sister and held her hostage so neither of us would interfere and as he lay dying, he gave you my fucking name,” he ground out.
Peter snorted to hear that Lucien was here on behalf of his family. No, Peter thought, Lucien was here to make sure nothing fell back on the pack. It was the pack image and his own that he worried about. “My family? You’ve always been quick to overlook my family. What’s changed?” He shook his head. “What you need to do, Lord Swinton, is go back to your pack and watch your back,” he stated. “Did you even heed the flowers and note that was sent to you?” He poured more whiskey but drank this one slower. “I might have wanted you gone in the beginning, when the hurt was still fresh, but now? No. It’s why I tried to warn you, to keep you from going out or doing something where they could get to you alone,” he sighed.
“Do I look like it’s funny, Kate?” He looked at his sister. “Keeping me safe isn’t the deal here. It’s keeping everyone I love safe as well as the precious alpha of Black Park,” he sipped at his drink and turned to look at Lucien.
“Damn it all, Peter,” Lucien snapped, “can we please save the bellyaching about how badly you think I’ve treated your family for after we sort out how you got involved with people who tried to kill me?” he paced. “Regardless of what you think of my motives, regardless of what you two think of me as a person, if I leave right now, you’re a dead man, and your family will never recover. With my word, you have some chance of not taking everyone you care about down with you. So excuse my unwanted assistance -- I’m not the one who walks out on my responsibilities.” He tossed his hands. “And how touching. You did want to kill me, but don’t any more. I suppose I ought to be grateful. Yes, I got the flowers. I assumed they were a threat, as I’d just had an attempt on my life, and I’ve been under guard ever since the first attack. You need to tell me how badly you’ve fucked up, so that I might try to see if there’s something I can do to help you and yours, because believe it or not, I don’t want to see you dead. So tell me, Peter, how exactly did you end up wrapped up in all of this?”
Katherine sighed and put her hands up. “Please quit sniping at each other. Just for the moment. Look, we’re all going to keep everyone safe here. Because if you go down for this Peter, then I probably will too. I was the one who wrote you those letters. And even if you and I both say I didn’t know that I was passing along information at the time, there’s not really any proof of that. Only proof that I wrote to you. I don’t particularly want to go to jail, or be hung. I know our parents wouldn’t want that either. Please.. We have to figure this out. All of us.”
If the two of them couldn’t stop bickering with each other, this was going to go nowhere fast. “The Night Watch is likely on their way here. So let’s get our stories straight, shall we?”
If Katherine wasn’t there, there would be a whole lot more yelling between the two men, he was sure. He gave a sigh and pulled out a chair, falling into it and taking a drink of his whiskey. He motioned to the other chairs around the table for them to sit at if they were so inclined to do so; as for him, he was tired of standing. He was tired of life and it showed on his face, in his eyes.
“I never actually wanted you dead, Lucien,” he said, his voice low. He raked fingers through his hair once more and looked at his old friend. “Damian is the one that got me to go against you and go to Cornwall,” he started to explain. “I was drunk, out having a night of it as I tried to soothe the hurt I had felt when you chose your beta,” he admitted, his eyes now looking into his whiskey glass. “His words sounded good in the moment when I was at my weakest. Go to Cornwall, win the war, be on the winning side of the war,” he continued. “Then I could challenge for Alpha,” he forced out a strangled laugh and shook his head. “I’m sure that even then I knew it was a horrible idea, but I felt useless and wanted to do something,” he swallowed back the rest of his whiskey and poured another glass.
“After we lost, I couldn’t go back. Pride, mostly. But I was pulled into something else, something deeper and darker and I couldn’t climb out of it. Damian had it out for you,” he looked back at Lucien, “and I never understood why. His vendetta seemed personal, but I’m not sure if it really was. I was forced to tell him any information I got from Katherine’s letters and if I didn’t I’d end up the scapegoat and take the fall for anything done against you,” he ran a hand over his tired face. “I tried to get out, but he threatened treason since the attack at the Lewis’ had been an attack on your life. And threatened my family. And when I had nothing to give him, since Katherine is no longer with the pack, he went after her to get his information,” he looked at his sister for a moment. “I thought it was just Damian that had something against you, but…” he frowned and looked back to Lucien. I learned tonight that this goes way deeper than just me or Damian.” Lucien sat at that, the blood draining from his face. “A conspiracy?” He asked, trying to wrap his brain around it. This, combined with the news of his father, was more than suggestive.
Part of him was relieved -- deeply -- to see Peter’s misery. The break in friendship between the three of them had been hard enough, but he’d been carrying around the shock of a deeper betrayal since Damian had shouted his dying words. Peter had turned to a stranger offering an impossible future in a moment of weakness, and had gotten in over his head -- something that was a touch easier to swallow.
“I wrote the Amnesty Act with you in mind, you know,” he added, his voice low. “I thought…” his voice trailed off. Rehashing the past wouldn’t do any good -- what was done was done. He cleared his throat. “You say it goes deeper,” he said, regaining his focus. “Tell me more.”
A conspiracy. That was exactly what this was and Peter had no idea how big or deep it went. Or the why. Jean had given him nothing in the way of information or the reason of what they were doing. “Yes,” he answered Lucien. “I didn’t know until just recently that it is one,” he said.
At the mention of the Amnesty Act and what Lucien started to say, he rose an eyebrow but then let it drop when Lucien didn’t go on. Probably best not to dig into old wounds just yet, not until he saved his backend anyway. If he could save himself. The end of a short rope was what was in his future in the moment.
“I don’t know anything,” he said, his tone defeated. “I was summoned shortly after Damian was dead, at the time I didn’t know he was, and met with someone I had never met before,” he explained. “All I’ve been told is that I am...promoted to Damian’s place and that I am removed from Black Park and put on something else,” he said. “He didn’t give me a name, only that he was Damian’s handler and he will now be mine I guess,” he scratched at his eyebrow. “He said he would get me specifics later,” he explained. “I told them I was done. Out. That I didn’t care what they were up to, that I was just going to go on my way. He held my family over my head, even mentioned Ana’s name. I had to agree to be loyal to him to keep my family safe,” he swallowed past a lump in his throat. “And he gave me this,” he took the list of names from his back pocket and shoved it across the table to Lucien. “These are all the names of wolves that served beneath Damian; they will now serve beneath me,” he gave a sigh and set back in his chair. “That’s all I know.”
Lucien had growled a little when Ana’s name was mentioned -- the thought that these people would stoop so low was chilling -- and as Peter finished, Luce leaned back in his chair, still pale.
“So it’s not just focused on me, then,” he said, quietly. “When you say he told you that you were ‘removed’ from Black Park, what does that mean, exactly? Will the attacks stop?”
He looked at the list, still taking a while to process what, exactly he was hearing. “Peter,” he said, looking over at his former packmate, “this…” he shook his head and cleared his throat, forcing himself to concentrate.
“Right. The way I see it, there are a few options. The first, you and your family go abroad. Immediately. Australia or the States. It’d be… well. It’d be difficult to start anew, but not impossible. With a signed statement of what you’ve just told me handed over to the Night Watch, I might be able to keep the circumstances quiet, and would help with the financial burden of relocating regardless, and for the love of all that is holy, Peter, I’d really rather not have a pissing contest about that right now.”
He paused. “The second is harder for you, no doubt, and I can’t yet guarantee it, but if it’s conspiracy of that scale...” he said, catching his former packmate’s gaze with his own, “it’ll keep happening. They’ll just find someone else. And your family’s safety and reputation would still be at a decided risk, even if they left. If I could…” he paused, chewing it over. “If I could assure your immunity, would you turn over evidence about this? Learn more about the extent of it, help us put a stop to it?” He frowned. “You’d be working for the Crown, then, albeit in secret -- but your family would be assured protection I couldn’t provide on my own, and the Night Watch would work to keep any reports of your involvement in this out of the papers to keep your cover.” He frowned. “It’d clear your name,” he said, quietly.
“No, it’s not just you, but I don’t know who else they are targeting. I’d assume people with power,” he stated. “They don’t want me on Black Park because it’s...too hot,” he said. “A third attempt gone awry? They’ll let Damian take the fall for going against you and the crown for whatever reasons,” he said. “A dead man can tell no tales,” he gave a grim smile.
Peter made a face about going abroad. His whole family having to leave because of his screw ups didn’t settle well with him, then again it would make Lucien’s life a little easier, maybe. If anything, his family would shun him, as they should, and no matter where he went, he was going to be alone. He would have told Lucien that he’d go, but let his family stay, he’d do whatever he had to to take the heat off his family.
But then Lucien was speaking of another option and it had him going still as he listened. What Lucien was asking was danger. A double-cross for lack of a better word. He wanted him to turn on the people who were behind the conspiracy, to be a spy. It could jeopardize not only his life, which meant little right now, but his families and people he may care about, like Zipporah. It could also save them all and clear his name of anything and everything, not that he would deserve it.
He was quiet for a few long minutes as he thought about it all. Really, the easiest would be to just flee, but that wouldn’t help his family and he did care about them. “If you can at least have my family’s name cleared from my wrong-doings, I’ll take that much. I know, with what I’ve done, the Crown isn’t going to be happy to overlook me. If you can get me immunity, good, but I’ll settle for just my family coming out on top of all this, clean. You give me that, and I’ll give you everything I can get.”
Katherine had remained mostly silent, letting the two talk it out instead of yelling at each other. Thank goodness for that. She really didn't want to break up a fight, not with the way she was feeling. She was fighting to stay awake, truth be told. Not because they were boring, but because her head hurt so much and if she had a concussion, it most assuredly wanted her to take a nap. Which she shouldn't do. The thought of leaving the country made her make a weird face. She clearly didn't like that option, but she would defer to Peter. After all it was him that would be doing all of this spying.
She cleared her throat after a moment. "Peter.. if you'd rather leave.. we'll all go with you. You know that. I can't.. be without you. You're.. the other half of me. I couldn't be here and you be there or vice versa. But I know how hard this is going to be. It's up to you. We'll make do, whatever we can." The thing was that a new residence in the Americas was different and challenging, some part of her thought she might have a better chance there. Still this was her home, where she wanted to stay. She just didn't want to force his hand. "Are you absolutely sure?"
Lucien was looking down at the table. “Third attempt?” He said, his voice low.
He was assuming Peter meant the attack in France two years’ previous -- the one that had killed Charles, and turned Maggie. After all, his father’s death had been a rousing success.
He looked over at Peter, keeping his hands from clenching, trying his best to keep his mind clear, but his gaze was sharp and focused. “If you choose to work for the Crown, I will work to obtain assurances of your family’s safety, and that their reputations remain untarnished,” he said, “and I will do what I can to get you immunity, damn you,” he added.
“I’m not going to run, Kate,” Peter looked at his sister and shook his head. “If I can atone for some of my sins and have the safety of the family looked after, then that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve been….” he trailed off and shook his head. He’d been a coward for far too long, all of this because he’d gotten hurt by Lucien. He was going to do his best to make things right, and in the end if they still called for his head, he would give it, as long as his family was safe.
“Think about it Lucien? How many times have you been attacked, whether it was a botched burglary attempt to a full on attack?” He looked at Lucien. “Anything that’s come against you has been because of them...me,” he looked away. Yes, that meant the attack in France was on his shoulders as well, but he doubted he had to say as much.
She didn't know if running would be a better option, but a decision had to be made and both of them had to abide by it. But she was glad that he wasn't trying to run any more. Both of them had a very bad habit of doing just that, and she didn't want to run any more either. Of course she still had to figure out what to do about her newest employer. But that would be handled later on. "Good, then that's settled. Everyone will do their very best not to let anger cloud their judgment. For everyone's sake." She looked pointedly at the two of them, even if she had her own anger bubbling inside of her. Though right now most of it was directed at her brother.
Her eyes shut for a moment and she took a deep breath. "I need to get to a doctor. Sooner rather than later. Perhaps we should go to the Night Watch, instead of them storming the building and taking us out in the process?" She didn't know if that would actually happen, but she wanted to safe, not sorry.
Lucien bit back a snarl, immediate concerns replacing past hurts -- Katherine’s color didn’t look good. “Kat, let’s get you to St Thomas,” he said, firmly. “I’m inclined to have the two of us go straight to the Lionhart after,” he added, looking over at Peter. “It’s neutral ground, we can meet in the back room in private, and Conall will be able to move far faster on securing immunity than I could.” He paused. “The fewer people who know of this, the better -- for your sake, and the sake of your family,” he said.
Peter was up and putting an arm around his sister's shoulders, concerned for her wellbeing. “Lucien’s right. Let’s get you to see the doctor,” he said. He glanced over at Lucien and gave him a nod of his head. “However you want to do it,” he said to the man. “But I can’t be seen leaving with you. If they have someone on me, watching me…” he shook his head. “It won’t be good for anyone. “Take my sister to the hospital, I’ll show up at the Lionhart.”
As Peter put his arm around her, Katherine leaned into him. "That sounds like a very good idea. You two can work out the specifics later, right? After I've been seen." She winced slightly. Damn this headache. Note to self: Don't headbutt someone. She glanced over at her brother. "If you don't show up, I will absolutely come and find you and if I have to do that? You will not like me. Understand. I'm still severely angry with you, and I will absolutely be yelling at you later when I don't feel like I might die." Hmph.
She glanced at Lucien. "Shall we? The sooner this is over with, the better." he could drop her off, and she would be fine if he left straight afterward.
He nodded, getting up and offering her his arm. “We’ll take care on our way out to keep from being easily identified,” he said stiffly to Peter. “I’ll meet you at the Lionhart as soon as I am able. Kat, we can send word to your parents so they might know where you are.” He paused. “You can tell them whatever you wish of this -- I wouldn’t presume to make that particular judgement call.”
Peter passed Katherine on to Lucien, giving her a kiss on the forehead before he did so. “Take care,” he whispered to her. “You can yell at me all you want when you feel better,” he promised. He looked at Lucien and gave a small nod. “Be careful out there,” he said. “I’ll leave here in fifteen minutes and will make my way to the Lionhart.” He walked them to the door and opened it for them, watching them go. When he was alone again, he slumped against the closed door and ran a hand over his face and then through his hair. His life was entirely messed up.