Group Hang // Many People
persistenceofmendez:
thelastlansing:
mortech-ceo:
Morgan shrugged at Lauren. Marcus and her were relatively well-known because of their tech that helped the Paladins find all the hunter bases around the world, but the way this man spoke to her wasn’t as a fan, but as someone who knew her personally. She couldn’t explain why. “I have no idea. I’ve never seen this guy in my life.” And she had no explanation for the sense of familiarity the man gave off. Maybe she was just overthinking it like she normally did. She decided not to focus too much on it right now. She was still trying to process that Kara was really here right now.
She turned to Kara. Her hand reached up and resting lightly on the girl’s back. “First of all, if you were actually a ghost that would be pretty cool and I’d definitely want to be around that,” she smiled. “Second of all, the last thing any of us would want after we thought you were dead for months is to have you by yourself in some random hotel room. Lauren’s right, you’re safe here with her and Zach. And if not, I’m just a portal away in Tokyo. It’s the safest penthouse on that side of the Pacific. Not to brag,” she joked. Her hand dropped to her side. “Give yourself a little time to settle in. As far as your pal Andrew is concerned, you’re still six feet under. And when you feel like you’re ready, we’ll go together to the Paladins to tell them what happened.”
Unfortunately for the group, Kara wasn’t ready or prepared for what came next. When she could see things coming, or initiate contact herself, it was fine. While Morgan talked it was fine. She flinched when a hand pressed against her back but she ignored it. Or at least, as long as she could. But the second Morgan finished her thought and let her hand drift away to rest back on her side, Kara reacted wrong. The touch was too similar of Andrew’s last few touches to her face as he shot her and that was what sent her over the edge. Instantaneously she turned around, hand gripping tightly to Morgan’s throat with her other finger turning sharp circles. Her eyes were wide and crazed, fear plaguing her face as she gripped Morgan tighter by the throat. It wasn’t until she heard everyone’s screams and saw Morgan’s eyes bulging slightly that she realized what was even happening. Zach quickly slammed her against the wall, holding her wrists down at either side.
“Kara. Kara!”
That was enough to get her out of her stupor, looking down at her now shaking hands. It wasn’t safe for them to be around her, that much was clear. She looked at Morgan helplessly and wanted to say that she was sorry but the words just weren’t coming out. All she could do was look on helplessly like some sort of caged animal. Something felt different but she couldn’t quite put a pin in it. She just felt… Off. Maybe that was what came with dying. Or maybe the people that had rescued hadn’t just rescued her. Either way, she knew that she needed to get away from these people before she hurt them again. “I… I can’t… You shouldn’t be near me.”
Being a witch was worthless if you could not figure out how to help the people that made life better. Instead of doing something, Cristina just felt something threaten to come up the back of her throat. It was too surreal and terrifying to watch Morgan being hurt- by Kara, no less. Consciously, she was sure it hurt Morgan more, but there seemed to be a very clear solution to stop being choked. She felt worse once the violence stopped. When had she started trying to hug a wall for security, anyway?
“I need to go home, but Kara has to stay here,” Cristina said in a small voice. She could not exactly talk now, but she could do things. And she could do things fast. So fast. If it got her out of this nightmarish situation faster, then she would go so fucking fast that her thoughts would be so occupied with speed to consider much else. Get your things together, she told herself. Gather them up. Get the dog. Go home, and take the off-brand nighttime cold medicine that’s about to expire so you don’t have to think too hard for too long.
Cristina feared that she would make things worse by sticking around. Lauren and Morgan were so good with words, and even they could not talk their ways out of this… all of this. If she had the willpower to give better advice, then she would. “Thanks for… night…” She had no idea if that actually meant anything, but she hoped that it might be interpreted as a semblance of common courtesy after visiting and then skittering around the house like it was on fire, and then out the door.
Lauren was trying to remember everything that the people on the computer had said in order to write it all down. She was already stuck on the names when she heard the gasping and looked up only to see Kara choking Morgan and she physically could not move herself from the spot. She yelled her sister’s name as a fleeting moment of something near exhaustion overwhelmed her -- if life ever needed a pause button, it was right now. The grief and relief and fear and confusion were too much to handle, and if Zach hadn’t stopped Kara then Lauren didn't know what would’ve happened.
She rushed over as soon as Morgan was released in order to wrap an arm around the older woman and support her. “Are you okay? Come on, come sit back down...” Lauren led Morgan to the chair where Kara had been, and muttered something about getting water when Cristina said she was leaving. “Cris, please, you don’t--” The other girl was already gathering her things in a rush, and Lauren couldn’t keep them all there and take care of them all individually at once, so she had to let Cristina go. “Let me know when you get home -- I’ll call you tomorrow.” She didn’t know if Cristina heard her.
She turned back to the scene in front of her. To her hand on Morgan’s shoulder and catching her breath, and her fiancé pinning her sister to a wall. Her sister. What the hell had happened to her? “Kara,” she began slowly. “We love you. You’ll stay here, and we’ll keep you as safe and as warm and as okay as possible. Please. It’s us -- it’s me...” Her eyes pleaded with Kara’s. “We’ll figure this out together.”












