Warren Kepler

Indie. Warren Kepler from Wolf 359 || Under Construction || sideblog to gloriaxstellarumpenned || by Toast

[longstoryshcrt]

a-a-alva​:

It was as if he had told her her father was coming. Alva’s whole face lit up, and she shrieked excitedly, bounding forward so enthusiastically, she nearly dropped the pot. She was about half a second away from wrapping her arms around the colonel, when his words sent her skidding to an abrupt halt. Her burgeoning smile faltered, and suddenly, she looked shy, even apprehensive.

“I…”

‘Don’t lie to me.’

The colonel’s one rule hung in the air between them. Alva shifted, and stared down at the floor. “I mostly… did it on my own,” she admitted slowly. “I found him in my room… and… I asked Dr. Faustus how to take care of a plant. She might have helped a little… But it’s not her fault! She didn’t know at first, when she started helping me!” She met the colonel’s gaze and did her best to hold it. “I… I mostly did it on my own. She wasn’t-… It’s not Andi’s fault… sir…”

“ She made the conscious decision to help you after finding out, that is her fault.” Warren sighed deeply. Of course that’s who it was: Hilbert’s little pet. No, that wasn’t quite right was it from his observations it was the other way around not that The Hephestus crew had figured that out yet, that was fine with Kepler all it did was keep them from being completely unified. The colonel should have know that is had been Dr. Faustus especially after finding out just what type of plant Alva had gotten a hold of. The look of anger she had given him rivaled only Eiffel’s but she hadn’t backed down until Warren had sprained her wrist- he was almost sure that she wouldn’t have backed down until he had broken it, maybe even not then, if she hadn’t noticed the same brief flash of emotion on Hilbert’s face that Kepler had noticed.

Warren had read her file, with his clearance it revealed a lot more about what she really was than her normal crew file, he had also met her ‘father’ on a few occasions and he, just like Cutter, set Warren on edge.

A small scuffling sound broke Kepler from his thoughts and his attention brought back to Alva and that plant. If Dr. Faustus assisted with the plant she was willing to look past the fact that Alva was associated with The Urania’s Crew, although if he was being honest with himself he wasn’t sure what her opinions on his crew were, beyond that anger on the first day, her relationship with Hlbert and her antagonistic relationship with Lovelace and sometimes it seemed Eiffel, Dr. Faustus was perfectly neutral to them all. This connection with Alva if he let it grow could prove beneficial to him- he eyed the small wriggling plant in Alva’s arms- he wouldn’t hold his breath.

“Now we know who will be joining you in the air lock if you don’t find it.”

[a-a-alva]

Alva paled slightly, and stared down at the pot in her arms, frowning. She shifted uncomfortably, suddenly wanting to be anywhere else but here. It wasn’t Andi’s fault, but she knew enough about the colonel by this point to know that arguing with him would only make him turn his wrath onto Andi, and that was the last thing the doctor deserved.

“Will you help me? Please?” Alva asked, looking back up at Kepler. “Maxwell said I shouldn’t spend too much time on the Haephestus by myself. And Lieutenant Minkowski said I can’t go down to engineering by myself… Plus, two eyes are better than one! And… maybe… I could tell you about my experiments!” she added, looking hopeful. “I could show you how I’ve trained Demetrius!”

[longstoryshcrt]

Warren froze. Demetrius... they named the damn thing Demetrius. Of course- of course that was... that’s it he was going to have to limit the amount of time Alva spent with Doctor Ariadne Faustus, that was the only solution. He really didn’t need any more unknown variables interrupting this mission. He would need to speak to both Maxwell and Jacobi about keeping Alva entertained in between their duties and during menial tasks. This sort of thing could become a habit and both Alva and Andi (specifically her relationship with Hilbert) were unknown variables alone but together... 

“You will find it on your own, but Maxwell is correct you do not need to spend time on The Hephaestus.” Warren stood straightening his uniform. “Let’s go.” 

[longstoryshcrt]

a-a-alva​:

It was as if he had told her her father was coming. Alva’s whole face lit up, and she shrieked excitedly, bounding forward so enthusiastically, she nearly dropped the pot. She was about half a second away from wrapping her arms around the colonel, when his words sent her skidding to an abrupt halt. Her burgeoning smile faltered, and suddenly, she looked shy, even apprehensive.

“I…”

‘Don’t lie to me.’

The colonel’s one rule hung in the air between them. Alva shifted, and stared down at the floor. “I mostly… did it on my own,” she admitted slowly. “I found him in my room… and… I asked Dr. Faustus how to take care of a plant. She might have helped a little… But it’s not her fault! She didn’t know at first, when she started helping me!” She met the colonel’s gaze and did her best to hold it. “I… I mostly did it on my own. She wasn’t-… It’s not Andi’s fault… sir…”

“ She made the conscious decision to help you after finding out, that is her fault.” Warren sighed deeply. Of course that’s who it was: Hilbert’s little pet. No, that wasn’t quite right was it from his observations it was the other way around not that The Hephestus crew had figured that out yet, that was fine with Kepler all it did was keep them from being completely unified. The colonel should have know that is had been Dr. Faustus especially after finding out just what type of plant Alva had gotten a hold of. The look of anger she had given him rivaled only Eiffel’s but she hadn’t backed down until Warren had sprained her wrist- he was almost sure that she wouldn’t have backed down until he had broken it, maybe even not then, if she hadn’t noticed the same brief flash of emotion on Hilbert’s face that Kepler had noticed.

Warren had read her file, with his clearance it revealed a lot more about what she really was than her normal crew file, he had also met her ‘father’ on a few occasions and he, just like Cutter, set Warren on edge.

A small scuffling sound broke Kepler from his thoughts and his attention brought back to Alva and that plant. If Dr. Faustus assisted with the plant she was willing to look past the fact that Alva was associated with The Urania’s Crew, although if he was being honest with himself he wasn’t sure what her opinions on his crew were, beyond that anger on the first day, her relationship with Hlbert and her antagonistic relationship with Lovelace and sometimes it seemed Eiffel, Dr. Faustus was perfectly neutral to them all. This connection with Alva if he let it grow could prove beneficial to him- he eyed the small wriggling plant in Alva’s arms- he wouldn’t hold his breath.

“Now we know who will be joining you in the air lock if you don’t find it.”

[longstoryshcrt]

“Go get her you idiot. Go comfort your kid,” Jacobi mumbled tiredly from his position on the bed, Warren turned and looked at him sharply.

“I’m not her-” Warren began but was interrupted by Jacobi raising himself onto his elbows and actually scoffing.

“Scared little kid comes to your room in the middle of the ‘night’ and the first thing you do is ask if she want’s to sleep in your bed... yeah, okay ‘not dad’.” Warren knew what Daniel was doing trying to defuse the situation with humor. Warren glared at him in the dark but Jacobi just shrugged. “Or you can let her go and pretend it never happened and you can both feel ‘not guilty’ in the morning.”

“You’re lucky you’re pretty,” Warren growled kissing Jacobi lightly before slipping out of bed and pulling on a shirt. One way or another his crew was going to drive him over the edge but for now he had a scared little kid to find.

@a-a-alva

[a-a-alva]

“Before you get mad… I didn’t TECHNICALLY at any point lie to you! And you never said I COULDN’T have a pet! Or a plant! And it’s not even really the same plant monster, he’s just a baby! And I’ve proven I can take care of him without him infesting the air vents like the last time! Except… I may have lost a piece of him in engineering, but I swear I’ll find him!!! So… can I keep him?”

Kepler sat- leaning on his desk, fingers interlaced under his chin- eyes closed listening as Alva rambled. The vein in his temple twitched and he could feel a headache coming on. When Alva finished rambling Warren opened his eyes and sat back in his chair, jaw clenched. He looked from the girl to the potted mini-monstrosity and back again his expression unreadable. When Warren calmed down enough to speak without yelling his words were as final and steely as his gaze.

“You have twenty-four hours or I will blow you both out of the air lock. Do you understand me?”

Alva’s hesitant smile shattered. She stared at Kepler uncomprehendingly for a moment, then looked down at the small potted plant clutched in her arms.

“But… he’s alive…” she said, her voice small, and fragile. She looked back up at the colonel, her dark eyes wide, willing him to understand. “I didn’t lie!” she insisted, hugging her plant closer to her chest. “I didn’t! And he’s been good! It’s not like the last time! He didn’t hurt anybody! A-and I only didn’t tell you because… because I thought you’d make me get rid of him… But if you’d just let me show you-… I can PROVE he’s good this time! He won’t bother you, he won’t bother anybody! Colonel, please!”

@longstoryshcrt

[longstoryshcrt]

Kepler braced himself the second she opened her mouth and he realized that no, she was just as stupid as the rest of his crew.

“Twenty-four hours to. Find. It.” he practically growled through gritted teeth, pointing at the door.

“Now, get out of my office, before I change my mind.” Warren began massaging his temple, he needed a drink... or the whole damn bottle. No one had better bother him with anything idiotic for the next twelve hours or he might actually shoot someone. Something struck him, there was no way Alva did this alone- she wouldn’t have even known where to get any of the items for the plant. “Don’t move, who helped you?”

[longstoryshcrt]

“Before you get mad... I didn’t TECHNICALLY at any point lie to you! And you never said I COULDN’T have a pet! Or a plant! And it’s not even really the same plant monster, he’s just a baby! And I’ve proven I can take care of him without him infesting the air vents like the last time! Except... I may have lost a piece of him in engineering, but I swear I’ll find him!!! So... can I keep him?” -Alva

Kepler sat- leaning on his desk, fingers interlaced under his chin- eyes closed listening as Alva rambled. The vein in his temple twitched and he could feel a headache coming on. When Alva finished rambling Warren opened his eyes and sat back in his chair, jaw clenched. He looked from the girl to the potted mini-monstrosity and back again his expression unreadable. When Warren calmed down enough to speak without yelling his words were as final and steely as his gaze.

“You have twenty-four hours or I will blow you both out of the air lock. Do you understand me?”

[longstoryshcrt]

“ we’re gonna see each other again, right? right? ” ~a-a-alva

@a-a-alva

Warren looked at the girl expression as guarded as ever, he didn’t quite understand why he wanted to lie- to reassure Alva that this was only a temporary departure and not a permanent one would be most beneficial to all parties involved. He didn’t want to give her false hope

“Of course, don’t be stupid.” he could practically feel the varying reactions around the room. Jacobi’s resigned disappointment about the whole situation and Maxwell’s concealed anger, giving away briefly to surprise. “Why would I lie to you?”

Warren knew she didn’t believe what he was implying, he could see it in her eyes, she knew enough about him to know he was avoiding making any promises, saying anything concrete because, he didn’t make idle threats or promises. Warren could see that she understood in some level after all she was a bright girl but she was still just a child and couldn’t fully comprehend it.

Tears finally slipping down her face Alva wrapped her arms around Kepler’s middle, her tears soaking through his shirt Warren once more shocked his crew by wrapping his arms around the small girl. She was dwarfed in his arms, his expression remained neutral as he bowed his head a whispered something in her ear.

“I’m sorry.”

[longstoryshcrt]

bxmbsbxy:

He wrapped his arms around Warren’s neck, grinning and pressed a kiss to the bigger man’s cheek. “Oh please. You like me for my biting sarcasm, toned muscles, and because I know what to do with my tongue. Pretty’s got… well… something to do with it, but not a whole lot.”

He released his hold on Kepler and moved to get his coat.

“So, what’s the occasion?” Jacobi glanced over his shoulder, frowning slightly as he did so. “This isn’t your really nice way of telling me Cutter’s sending you out of town again, is it? Because I will make a scene in a public arena, you know that, don’t you?”

“If that’s what it was, believe me, going out would be the last thing we would be doing.” Warren glanced at the wall mirror making sure there was no lipstick transfer before grabbing his own coat. “Don’t overthink this Jacobi, just enjoy this evening. Not everything has to be a part of some master plot, normal people do it all the time. Let’s just be normal for one night, then you can go back to being paranoid about my motives for doing things.”

It sounded like he was having a mid-life crisis or something but that didn’t matter, what mattered was moving this night a long. Warren was a patient man but there were limits.

“La Cage Aux Folles by the way, since you didn’t ask. Now let’s go before we’re late.”

[bxmbsbxy]

Jacobi snorted, loud enough for Kepler to hear, and rolled his eyes good naturedly. “I WILL scream,” he warned the colonel, pulling on his jacket and sauntering past him and out of the door. “You don’t DO ‘normal,’ or ‘no master plots.’ You’re up to something, and I promise you now, I WILL scream.”

Grinning, he looped his arm through Kepler’s as soon as the bigger man was out of the door, and leaned his head against his shoulder. “Mmm… La Cage… You know I’ll be singing that for a month, don’t you? You’re SURE you want to do another musical?” he teased.

[longstoryshcrt]

“I can do perfectly fucking normal, and you can save your screaming for later this evening.” Warren side eyed Daniel, he was unsure when withholding information had ever been this much fun- not since beginning this relationships don’t even then it had been just business. “Have you ever known me to not do anything I wasn’t sure about?”

La Cage was perhaps Warren’s favorite musical, he was pretty sure he even had the dvd floating around somewhere. He was twelve the first time he had seen it, a touring company had brought it to his hometown. It had been one of the few things he had done with his mother- they had of course kept it secret from his father, he would have hit the ceiling among other things had he known.

“My mother took me to see this musical when I was twelve, you know.”

[longstoryshcrt]

“You’re not serious. ...Warren, you can’t let her go through with it. She’s a child.” ~Jacobi

“And why exactly is that Jacobi? Because you and Maxwell have concocted this fantasy world where she’s more than just an accident that fell into our lives? We have no control over her actions and she is Cutter’s child not mine- and she never was no matter how much you two projected the idea.” Kepler’s voice was cold and final, his expression like marble. She was Cutter’s child, not his. She wasn’t his responsibility, hadn’t been the second Marcus Cutter had arrived and took it from him.

“You- Warr-” Daniel began his face coloring in frustration.

“That’s enough, you have a job to do. I suggest you get to it.” Kepler was icy, there would be no arguments- not now. There was nothing they could do. She was Cutter’s child, not his.

“Yes, Colonel.” Jacobi spat out before turning on his heel and leaving.

There was a slow clapping coming from the doorway moments after Daniel disappeared.

“A very good show Warren,” Cutter purred smiling darkly, a shark eyeing it’s prey. “Even I almost believed you didn’t care- but you did have one thing right.”

Cutter approached Kepler who simply tightened his jaw and waited.

“Alva is my daughter, not yours.”

[longstoryshcrt]

a-a-alva‌:

Instinctively her hands flew up as she felt his arms around her. How strange — she thought — to find herself here again, after all this time. How strange that he could still encircle her. That she still fit. The same warmth. The same solidity. There was no world but him. There never had been. Her hands felt so small… one laid against his chest, the other reaching up to run along his jaw… his lower lip… Her eyes were locked on his, intent, mouth open in a silent prayer. Hopeful, just for an instant. A child again, the universe open before her. And if he would just let her go-…

“Dad.”

But then she was on the ground again. Safe. Disappointingly so. And there was gravity, and responsibility, and a mountain of years pushing her back down again. Alva-… no. Allie. Clenched her jaw tightly. Bit down on her traitor tongue until the blood filled her mouth, turned, and spat it out into the dark, empty space.

“So be it.” She turned back to face Kepler with a bloodstained smile. Her father’s daughter. “My turn to be selfish then. I own you.” There was a hard cruelty to her words, and something merciless living in her eyes. “No need to check with father dearest, it’s already been decided. You can keep your little friends, but I don’t have any use for them. You, on the other hand, stay by my side. From now until the day my father murders me. There’s a war on, colonel, and you’re on my side. Til I’m dead or done with you. Marcus Cutter is going to be moving up in the universe. Fast. And you and I are going to be moving right alongside him. But we’ll be adding a few new steps to this dance… The Administration has taken a little too much of my life for me to sit back and make this easy for them. My father wins. But he’s going to have to walk over my corpse to do so. It’s the oldest story in the book… every child in the Unification knows it… So I suggest you start believing in fairy tales again, colonel. We have an origin story to write.”

“As you wish,” Warren said sill not looking at her, he took a step forward and peered over the edge- a long way down- he flicked the imaginary cigarette into the abyss. She had given him something just then, something he had been after even if neither one of them realized it- perhaps there was a part of him that would have pushed her, a part that had existed far before Alva had stumbled into his life. His loyalty was never in question- he was a dog waiting for a command- but preservation, the preservation of the small family he had secretly carved out for himself- the ones who didn’t know how important they were to him, the one he didn’t even know how important they were to him- that trumped everything.

Warren turned away from the city his expression as calm and unreadable as ever. She wanted an origin story… oh little girl don’t you see you’ve already had one. He didn’t speak again as he walked past her and back towards the building, back towards the party, back towards the big game. He would need to brief Maxwell and Jacobi, changes were coming and they were coming fast.

“You could have jumped- still could,” Warren turned back briefly as he spoke before continuing inside. “But that would be getting you hands dirty.”

Once upon a time there was a little girl…

[a-a-alva]

“I tried,” she smirked, bitterly. She took one last look around the rooftop, wondering vaguely if she’d ever be allowed access up here ever again. Knowing her father, the exit up here would be sealed by the end of the night.

Allie stepped inside, letting the rooftop door close slowly behind her. “Warren,” she frowned, unsure if she liked the sound of his first name when she said it… she’d never said it before — but she needed his undivided attention. “Be a love. I think the back of my dress is still undone.”

It wasn’t. Still, she turned her back to him, and lifted the dark, curly curtain of her hair away from her shoulders, exposing the back of her neck. The scars at the base of her skull were wide, ugly white marks from an impromptu surgery as a child that had left her beyond broken… her father’s handiwork; the removal of her old Administration compliance chip, so he could press thumbdrives full of war crimes and dirty secrets into the malleable flesh of her still growing child’s brain. He had ruined her. Kepler already knew that, those scars would be nothing new. What was new was the small round metal disk digging in at the base of her skull. Thin wires webbed through it and into the surrounding flesh like little black veins, throbbing and humming faintly. The primitive compliance chip winked in the fluorescent lighting.

“Help me?”

He would understand. It was the only thing still holding her together… the desperate hope that he would understand. But then… what if he did? What if he already knew? Or worse, what if he simply didn’t care? Perhaps she’d waited too long… perhaps there was too much of her birth father in her now… But then, what other choice did she have? So she stood at the top of the stairs… and waited. Maybe he refused to push her… but there was still a chance he might still be willing to catch her…

[longstoryshcrt]

The use of his first name was the only thing that had gotten him to stop, it felt wrong coming from her mouth- he didn’t like it. He was very conscious about the security cameras now that they were inside the building, the ones on the roof didn’t have sound due to the usual amount of wind making sound capture impossible.

Warren didn’t know what to expect from her but he wished he was able to say he was surprised, wished he could say he didn’t think Cutter would do such a thing. Something white hot and dangerous boiled up from his core as he pantomimed fixing the back of her dress, they were angled in such a way towards the cameras that as far as they were concerned that was what he was doing. This changed things, complicated matters- he kept his expression neutral.

“It’s pretty but the dress doesn’t really suit you,” Warren took a step back and held out his hand, to security he was simply offering Alva help down the stairs. It was all he could give her in this moment, in this place where the walls had eyes and ears. He understood now, it took too long but he finally understood- all she had to do was take his hand.

“Always happy to be of assistance.”

[a-a-alva]

The faintest ghost of a smile crossed Allie’s face, but her eyes lit up at his words. Love, relief, wordless gratitude – it was all there, but only for an instant. She took his hand, giving it the faintest squeeze as she allowed him to walk her down the stairs.

“Father dearest doesn’t approve of pants. Especially not at an event like this. A little old fashioned, perhaps… but I’m not a little girl anymore. And I’m an executive, not an engineer. It isn’t… appropriate. So, no more dirty hands and scuffed up shoes… One must always look the part. We used to argue about it, but he can be quite persuasive. It’s shocking, really. I cried so hard the first time he told me I’d be allowed out to one of these things, but that I had to wear the dress or else stay home… A painful transition… I didn’t think I could ever give it up… But he’s reframed my thinking since then. I was such a child. He knew best, even then. Knew what I was meant to be, and was so patient… took the time and care to raise me properly, even though I was a brat, fighting him every step of the way… Now, it just feels like second nature. We want to go out, we must dress up.”

[longstoryshcrt]

“Parents usually do know best, even if their children don’t appreciate it at the time.” Warren said coolly, her plays on words… he felt something stinging in his chest, she’d been making these for years and it just slipped right over his head. Two could play at that, saying everything without saying anything at all.

Daniel knew of where Warren came from, as did Maxwell to an extent and she understood too after all her own family wasn’t anything to write about, but he had never shared it with anyone else it wasn’t important- but something felt right to let Alva in she wasn’t alone in the shitty father club, no one knew exactly what anyone went through but it bonded people together enough. It was one of the reasons he was drawn to Maxwell in a similar but different way to Jacobi.

“Lessons beat into your head like a drum line, you never appreciate it until you’re out on your own making your own choices.” Some lessons you don’t even realize you internalized.

[a-a-alva]

She looked at him, studying the lines of his face, and inclined her head slightly. “We wouldn’t be the people we are today, if it weren’t for our parents.”

They moved back into the main hall, where the festivities were still in full swing. The heat of everyone’s attention was like a laser, suddenly focused on them again. Allie’s smile switched on like a lightbulb – radiant enough to fill the room. She stood up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Kepler’s jaw, lightly and for show.

“You should go talk to your friends. Before my father’s speech starts, so you’ll be able to listen. Give him your full attention. I’ll be needed on stage… Save another slot on your dance card for me. I’m sure I’ll be stuck mingling with the big wigs and boring board for the rest of the night, and I’ll need rescue.”

[longstoryshcrt]

Warren nodded and made his way back to Daniel and Alana- she had used that word again ‘friends’ he supposed in present company that was the best phrase although ‘team’ would have been much more appropriate and appreciated, it didn’t feel right though but he supposed when there wasn’t really a name for what your relationship is nothing ever really sounds right. Or perhaps she had simply forgotten or had never really understood...

“So she decide to breakup with you yet? Should we expect some new guy sitting in your seat soon?” Alana grinned as he reached them, she didn’t care about rumors anymore that Warren did but she also enjoyed stirring up the rumor mills. The people around them stilled at her words until a glare from Warren sent them scurrying back to their conversations.

“That’s not funny Alana,” Daniel didn’t look at either of them instead watched, as Warren knew he would, Alva as she made her way back to Cutter. He spoke softer than Maxwell had not wanting to be over heard by anyone around them. “Should we though?”

Warren knew what he was worried about, it had been the same thing he had been worried about when Alva and Warren had stepped outside. Warren wanted to comfort him but in the given environment... he simply laid a hand on Jacobi’s shoulder, he felt the demolition expert relax slightly.

“Things are going to be changing... for the time being it will be strictly ‘need to know’.” Warren emphasized the words ‘need to know’, it had been their signal for quite some time now- not here, we’ll discuss it later. Both of his team members nodded their understanding.

[longstoryshcrt]

a-a-alva‌:

Instinctively her hands flew up as she felt his arms around her. How strange — she thought — to find herself here again, after all this time. How strange that he could still encircle her. That she still fit. The same warmth. The same solidity. There was no world but him. There never had been. Her hands felt so small… one laid against his chest, the other reaching up to run along his jaw… his lower lip… Her eyes were locked on his, intent, mouth open in a silent prayer. Hopeful, just for an instant. A child again, the universe open before her. And if he would just let her go-…

“Dad.”

But then she was on the ground again. Safe. Disappointingly so. And there was gravity, and responsibility, and a mountain of years pushing her back down again. Alva-… no. Allie. Clenched her jaw tightly. Bit down on her traitor tongue until the blood filled her mouth, turned, and spat it out into the dark, empty space.

“So be it.” She turned back to face Kepler with a bloodstained smile. Her father’s daughter. “My turn to be selfish then. I own you.” There was a hard cruelty to her words, and something merciless living in her eyes. “No need to check with father dearest, it’s already been decided. You can keep your little friends, but I don’t have any use for them. You, on the other hand, stay by my side. From now until the day my father murders me. There’s a war on, colonel, and you’re on my side. Til I’m dead or done with you. Marcus Cutter is going to be moving up in the universe. Fast. And you and I are going to be moving right alongside him. But we’ll be adding a few new steps to this dance… The Administration has taken a little too much of my life for me to sit back and make this easy for them. My father wins. But he’s going to have to walk over my corpse to do so. It’s the oldest story in the book… every child in the Unification knows it… So I suggest you start believing in fairy tales again, colonel. We have an origin story to write.”

“As you wish,” Warren said sill not looking at her, he took a step forward and peered over the edge- a long way down- he flicked the imaginary cigarette into the abyss. She had given him something just then, something he had been after even if neither one of them realized it- perhaps there was a part of him that would have pushed her, a part that had existed far before Alva had stumbled into his life. His loyalty was never in question- he was a dog waiting for a command- but preservation, the preservation of the small family he had secretly carved out for himself- the ones who didn’t know how important they were to him, the one he didn’t even know how important they were to him- that trumped everything.

Warren turned away from the city his expression as calm and unreadable as ever. She wanted an origin story… oh little girl don’t you see you’ve already had one. He didn’t speak again as he walked past her and back towards the building, back towards the party, back towards the big game. He would need to brief Maxwell and Jacobi, changes were coming and they were coming fast.

“You could have jumped- still could,” Warren turned back briefly as he spoke before continuing inside. “But that would be getting you hands dirty.”

Once upon a time there was a little girl…

[a-a-alva]

“I tried,” she smirked, bitterly. She took one last look around the rooftop, wondering vaguely if she’d ever be allowed access up here ever again. Knowing her father, the exit up here would be sealed by the end of the night.

Allie stepped inside, letting the rooftop door close slowly behind her. “Warren,” she frowned, unsure if she liked the sound of his first name when she said it… she’d never said it before — but she needed his undivided attention. “Be a love. I think the back of my dress is still undone.”

It wasn’t. Still, she turned her back to him, and lifted the dark, curly curtain of her hair away from her shoulders, exposing the back of her neck. The scars at the base of her skull were wide, ugly white marks from an impromptu surgery as a child that had left her beyond broken… her father’s handiwork; the removal of her old Administration compliance chip, so he could press thumbdrives full of war crimes and dirty secrets into the malleable flesh of her still growing child’s brain. He had ruined her. Kepler already knew that, those scars would be nothing new. What was new was the small round metal disk digging in at the base of her skull. Thin wires webbed through it and into the surrounding flesh like little black veins, throbbing and humming faintly. The primitive compliance chip winked in the fluorescent lighting.

“Help me?”

He would understand. It was the only thing still holding her together… the desperate hope that he would understand. But then… what if he did? What if he already knew? Or worse, what if he simply didn’t care? Perhaps she’d waited too long… perhaps there was too much of her birth father in her now… But then, what other choice did she have? So she stood at the top of the stairs… and waited. Maybe he refused to push her… but there was still a chance he might still be willing to catch her…

[longstoryshcrt]

The use of his first name was the only thing that had gotten him to stop, it felt wrong coming from her mouth- he didn’t like it. He was very conscious about the security cameras now that they were inside the building, the ones on the roof didn’t have sound due to the usual amount of wind making sound capture impossible.

Warren didn’t know what to expect from her but he wished he was able to say he was surprised, wished he could say he didn’t think Cutter would do such a thing. Something white hot and dangerous boiled up from his core as he pantomimed fixing the back of her dress, they were angled in such a way towards the cameras that as far as they were concerned that was what he was doing. This changed things, complicated matters- he kept his expression neutral.

“It’s pretty but the dress doesn’t really suit you,” Warren took a step back and held out his hand, to security he was simply offering Alva help down the stairs. It was all he could give her in this moment, in this place where the walls had eyes and ears. He understood now, it took too long but he finally understood- all she had to do was take his hand.

“Always happy to be of assistance.”

[a-a-alva]

The faintest ghost of a smile crossed Allie’s face, but her eyes lit up at his words. Love, relief, wordless gratitude – it was all there, but only for an instant. She took his hand, giving it the faintest squeeze as she allowed him to walk her down the stairs.

“Father dearest doesn’t approve of pants. Especially not at an event like this. A little old fashioned, perhaps… but I’m not a little girl anymore. And I’m an executive, not an engineer. It isn’t… appropriate. So, no more dirty hands and scuffed up shoes… One must always look the part. We used to argue about it, but he can be quite persuasive. It’s shocking, really. I cried so hard the first time he told me I’d be allowed out to one of these things, but that I had to wear the dress or else stay home… A painful transition… I didn’t think I could ever give it up… But he’s reframed my thinking since then. I was such a child. He knew best, even then. Knew what I was meant to be, and was so patient… took the time and care to raise me properly, even though I was a brat, fighting him every step of the way… Now, it just feels like second nature. We want to go out, we must dress up.”

[longstoryshcrt]

“Parents usually do know best, even if their children don’t appreciate it at the time.” Warren said coolly, her plays on words... he felt something stinging in his chest, she’d been making these for years and it just slipped right over his head. Two could play at that, saying everything without saying anything at all.

Daniel knew of where Warren came from, as did Maxwell to an extent and she understood too after all her own family wasn’t anything to write about, but he had never shared it with anyone else it wasn’t important- but something felt right to let Alva in she wasn’t alone in the shitty father club, no one knew exactly what anyone went through but it bonded people together enough. It was one of the reasons he was drawn to Maxwell in a similar but different way to Jacobi.

“Lessons beat into your head like a drum line, you never appreciate it until you’re out on your own making your own choices.” Some lessons you don’t even realize you internalized.

[longstoryshcrt]

a-a-alva‌:

Instinctively her hands flew up as she felt his arms around her. How strange — she thought — to find herself here again, after all this time. How strange that he could still encircle her. That she still fit. The same warmth. The same solidity. There was no world but him. There never had been. Her hands felt so small… one laid against his chest, the other reaching up to run along his jaw… his lower lip… Her eyes were locked on his, intent, mouth open in a silent prayer. Hopeful, just for an instant. A child again, the universe open before her. And if he would just let her go-…

“Dad.”

But then she was on the ground again. Safe. Disappointingly so. And there was gravity, and responsibility, and a mountain of years pushing her back down again. Alva-… no. Allie. Clenched her jaw tightly. Bit down on her traitor tongue until the blood filled her mouth, turned, and spat it out into the dark, empty space.

“So be it.” She turned back to face Kepler with a bloodstained smile. Her father’s daughter. “My turn to be selfish then. I own you.” There was a hard cruelty to her words, and something merciless living in her eyes. “No need to check with father dearest, it’s already been decided. You can keep your little friends, but I don’t have any use for them. You, on the other hand, stay by my side. From now until the day my father murders me. There’s a war on, colonel, and you’re on my side. Til I’m dead or done with you. Marcus Cutter is going to be moving up in the universe. Fast. And you and I are going to be moving right alongside him. But we’ll be adding a few new steps to this dance… The Administration has taken a little too much of my life for me to sit back and make this easy for them. My father wins. But he’s going to have to walk over my corpse to do so. It’s the oldest story in the book… every child in the Unification knows it… So I suggest you start believing in fairy tales again, colonel. We have an origin story to write.”

“As you wish,” Warren said sill not looking at her, he took a step forward and peered over the edge- a long way down- he flicked the imaginary cigarette into the abyss. She had given him something just then, something he had been after even if neither one of them realized it- perhaps there was a part of him that would have pushed her, a part that had existed far before Alva had stumbled into his life. His loyalty was never in question- he was a dog waiting for a command- but preservation, the preservation of the small family he had secretly carved out for himself- the ones who didn’t know how important they were to him, the one he didn’t even know how important they were to him- that trumped everything.

Warren turned away from the city his expression as calm and unreadable as ever. She wanted an origin story… oh little girl don’t you see you’ve already had one. He didn’t speak again as he walked past her and back towards the building, back towards the party, back towards the big game. He would need to brief Maxwell and Jacobi, changes were coming and they were coming fast.

“You could have jumped- still could,” Warren turned back briefly as he spoke before continuing inside. “But that would be getting you hands dirty.”

Once upon a time there was a little girl…

[a-a-alva]

“I tried,” she smirked, bitterly. She took one last look around the rooftop, wondering vaguely if she’d ever be allowed access up here ever again. Knowing her father, the exit up here would be sealed by the end of the night.

Allie stepped inside, letting the rooftop door close slowly behind her. “Warren,” she frowned, unsure if she liked the sound of his first name when she said it… she’d never said it before — but she needed his undivided attention. “Be a love. I think the back of my dress is still undone.”

It wasn’t. Still, she turned her back to him, and lifted the dark, curly curtain of her hair away from her shoulders, exposing the back of her neck. The scars at the base of her skull were wide, ugly white marks from an impromptu surgery as a child that had left her beyond broken… her father’s handiwork; the removal of her old Administration compliance chip, so he could press thumbdrives full of war crimes and dirty secrets into the malleable flesh of her still growing child’s brain. He had ruined her. Kepler already knew that, those scars would be nothing new. What was new was the small round metal disk digging in at the base of her skull. Thin wires webbed through it and into the surrounding flesh like little black veins, throbbing and humming faintly. The primitive compliance chip winked in the fluorescent lighting.

“Help me?”

He would understand. It was the only thing still holding her together… the desperate hope that he would understand. But then… what if he did? What if he already knew? Or worse, what if he simply didn’t care? Perhaps she’d waited too long… perhaps there was too much of her birth father in her now… But then, what other choice did she have? So she stood at the top of the stairs… and waited. Maybe he refused to push her… but there was still a chance he might still be willing to catch her…

[longstoryshcrt]

The use of his first name was the only thing that had gotten him to stop, it felt wrong coming from her mouth- he didn’t like it. He was very conscious about the security cameras now that they were inside the building, the ones on the roof didn’t have sound due to the usual amount of wind making sound capture impossible.

Warren didn’t know what to expect from her but he wished he was able to say he was surprised, wished he could say he didn’t think Cutter would do such a thing. Something white hot and dangerous boiled up from his core as he pantomimed fixing the back of her dress, they were angled in such a way towards the cameras that as far as they were concerned that was what he was doing. This changed things, complicated matters- he kept his expression neutral.

“It’s pretty but the dress doesn’t really suit you,” Warren took a step back and held out his hand, to security he was simply offering Alva help down the stairs. It was all he could give her in this moment, in this place where the walls had eyes and ears. He understood now, it took too long but he finally understood- all she had to do was take his hand.

“Always happy to be of assistance.”

[longstoryshcrt]

a-a-alva‌:

Instinctively her hands flew up as she felt his arms around her. How strange — she thought — to find herself here again, after all this time. How strange that he could still encircle her. That she still fit. The same warmth. The same solidity. There was no world but him. There never had been. Her hands felt so small… one laid against his chest, the other reaching up to run along his jaw… his lower lip… Her eyes were locked on his, intent, mouth open in a silent prayer. Hopeful, just for an instant. A child again, the universe open before her. And if he would just let her go-…

“Dad.”

But then she was on the ground again. Safe. Disappointingly so. And there was gravity, and responsibility, and a mountain of years pushing her back down again. Alva-… no. Allie. Clenched her jaw tightly. Bit down on her traitor tongue until the blood filled her mouth, turned, and spat it out into the dark, empty space.

“So be it.” She turned back to face Kepler with a bloodstained smile. Her father’s daughter. “My turn to be selfish then. I own you.” There was a hard cruelty to her words, and something merciless living in her eyes. “No need to check with father dearest, it’s already been decided. You can keep your little friends, but I don’t have any use for them. You, on the other hand, stay by my side. From now until the day my father murders me. There’s a war on, colonel, and you’re on my side. Til I’m dead or done with you. Marcus Cutter is going to be moving up in the universe. Fast. And you and I are going to be moving right alongside him. But we’ll be adding a few new steps to this dance… The Administration has taken a little too much of my life for me to sit back and make this easy for them. My father wins. But he’s going to have to walk over my corpse to do so. It’s the oldest story in the book… every child in the Unification knows it… So I suggest you start believing in fairy tales again, colonel. We have an origin story to write.”

“As you wish,” Warren said sill not looking at her, he took a step forward and peered over the edge- a long way down- he flicked the imaginary cigarette into the abyss. She had given him something just then, something he had been after even if neither one of them realized it- perhaps there was a part of him that would have pushed her, a part that had existed far before Alva had stumbled into his life. His loyalty was never in question- he was a dog waiting for a command- but preservation, the preservation of the small family he had secretly carved out for himself- the ones who didn’t know how important they were to him, the one he didn’t even know how important they were to him- that trumped everything.

Warren turned away from the city his expression as calm and unreadable as ever. She wanted an origin story... oh little girl don’t you see you’ve already had one. He didn’t speak again as he walked past her and back towards the building, back towards the party, back towards the big game. He would need to brief Maxwell and Jacobi, changes were coming and they were coming fast.

“You could have jumped- still could,” Warren turned back briefly as he spoke before continuing inside. “But that would be getting you hands dirty.”

Once upon a time there was a little girl...

[longstoryshcrt]

a-a-alva‌:

“We work with a lot of idiots. I know my reputation.” And she did. She did have a tendency to chew lovers up and spit them out again… and then those lovers had a nasty habit of disappearing a few months later. It was the only respite she had left anymore… the only time the world seemed to stop, and the only time she could be sure no one was watching her. Unless she wanted them to.

And it was the least of her reputations. Whispers ceased to bother her. When false friends called you a cunt in the ‘safety’ of private group chats, and you sent underlings and coworkers skittering for cover, and your nickname among the board of directors was The Wicked Bitch of the West, being a whore and a black widow was the least of what people were saying about you. She honestly didn’t know if it bothered her anymore.

Allie lead Kepler up to the roof. The night was bitterly cold, and she gasped faintly as the wind brushed her skin. She moved to the edge of the rooftop, letting her toes dangle over the abyss — a dangerous tightrope given she was wearing heels — and closed her eyes, breathing deeply.

“Do you remember the last time we stood up here?” she asked, trusting that the colonel was somewhere at her back. Her dress whipped around her, like ineffective wings. “I was just a baby back then… I asked you to push me. Do you remember? ‘Make it look like an accident.’ … you went back inside. That’s when I knew… nobody was coming to rescue me. That I’d been abandoned… You were my knight in shining armor… pity, isn’t it? Those little things that get us to stop believing in fairy tales…” She glanced back over her shoulder, smiling. “I wonder if you’d push me now…”

Warren was silent as he approached her, his heart had dropped in his chest when she reached the edge much like it had when she had done it all that time ago. He let her words sink in, he didn’t really have an appropriate response that didn’t sound empty and forced.

“Fairy tales don’t exist, and the people who believe in them are blind or wind up dead.” He used to believe in fairy stories but his mother and father quickly showed him the errors of his ways. Warren stared out at the city skyline, he didn’t smoke but he felt a cigarette wouldn’t be out of place in the scene they found themselves in.

In one swift move Warren had Alva in his arms once more in a dip, this one much more precarious, the only thing keeping her from completely losing balance and falling was his control. 

“Being able to do something and being able to do something are two different things.” He gazed into her eyes, steady but allowing the faintest hint of an unknown emotion shine through. The problem with his loyalty to Cutter was that there was a wall- a limit to how far he would go for that man, it may not have been a visible limit but they were both aware that it existed- had existed since the revelation of Alva’s relationship to him. There was an unspoken loyalty he felt towards Alva no one even knew it was there but the problem with it was there was no limit with her. He had known her as a child, broken and terrified but still so full of life and he had felt- such a dangerous thing to do- things for her he had no business feeling, she wasn’t his to feel those things for. She was Marcus Cutter’s child not his.

He was trapped, if she was aware of it or not Alva had laid a pretty snare and he had walked right into it open eyed and fully aware. He didn’t like it but there really was nothing he could do about it- not then and not now.

“Perhaps I was just being selfish then,” Warren brought her out of the dip and purposefully moved her away from the edge of the roof. He turned his back to her and stared at the skyline once more hands in his pockets. “and it might even be selfish now.”

[longstoryshcrt]

bxmbsbxy‌:

Daniel froze, suddenly hesitant. This was not at all where he’d expected the conversation to turn. Not entirely what he thought he wanted. No longer in the realm of Need To Know.

“No,” he said, slowly. He could have said, ‘No, because we never talk about your family. Never talk about your past. And broaching the delicate issue of Daddy Issues goes badly with little girls like Stephanie in HR, so broaching it with a hardened military vet seemed like a bad idea, Colonel, sir.’ but he didn’t.

Instead he gave Warren’s hand a small squeeze and absently started rubbing the back of the older man’s palm with his thumb. “And you don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”

“I know.” Warren gave Daniel a look, he didn’t have to explain anything- say anything, do anything but he found in this case he wanted to- felt his partner almost deserved it. A little piece that helped shape the puzzle that was Warren Kepler.

“I was sever or nearly when it started, I never noticed just how quiet the house was when my father was back from his trips, how my mother would find excuses to get my out of the house- to a friends or out with my aunt and uncle. I was home alone with my father- I had done something I don’t quite remember what it was but my father entered to room a bottle of beer or whatever it was he had been drinking in his hand and the first thing I did was apologize, and that seemed to  set him off even worse than my original transgression.

“‘Real men don’t apologize,’ he yelled and threw the bottle at my head. It missed and my mother arrived home almost as if the bottle shattering against the wall summoned her. They got into an argument that night I heard him screaming at her that she ‘was done raising his son to be a sissy.’” 

Warren gave a scornful laugh and pulled Daniel closer towards him- he wasn’t really aware of what he was doing lost in memories he strived to keep buried in the depths of his subconscious.

“Everyday after that if I was in the eye line of my father whatever was in his hand or close by that wasn’t too expensive found itself hurdling through the air towards me- once I learned how to duck we graduated to fists and then I learned to avoid. Once I had learned that my father would actively seek me out for ‘lessons’- it might have been better if he was drunk but most of the time he was stone cold sober it didn’t seem to matter, school was always in session.

“I was eighteen the last time he tried to hit me, I had already enlisted in the military and was on my way out of there, it was my last day in fact. He swung and I dodged and instead of walking away I swung back. I felt his nose give away under my fist, felt the blood. You know what he said then... he laughed. Standing there with a broken nose, dripping blood he laughed and said ‘that’s my boy.’“

[longstoryshcrt]

a-a-alva‌:

She laughed, the smile touching her eyes for just a fraction of a second as the world around her flipped. The words stung, as of course he must’ve known they would, but there was an odd exhilaration to it… to know there were words that could still hurt. Only her father held that power. Or so she’d thought.

“You’ll be staying quite close to me from now on,” she informed the colonel, once she was right side up again. “It’ll be like old times again. Except this time you’ll be working for me… I won’t be getting my hands dirty.”

She glanced around the room. God, she did hate them all. The bright lights and gaudy colors… sycophants everywhere… her father… Allie pursed her lips, then turned her eyes back to the colonel.

“I’m bored of this,” the girl said flatly. “Come. I want to talk to you. Like real people. Now.” And she extracted herself from his arms, moving towards the door, knowing he had little choice but to follow like the hound he was. “Don’t worry. They’ll only think we’re fucking. And only father dearest will miss you.”

“Those at the top never do,” Kepler muttered following after her, there was no other choice. Like old times. Warren held back a scoff- he lived in the real world you didn’t get to go back, you didn’t get to try harder to stop someone from- there would be no ‘like old times’ it didn’t exist. 

He passed Alana and Daniel on the way out, Jacobi looked positively terrified when they locked eyes but Warren gave him a slight nod- it would be okay. He saw Alana place a comforting hand on Daniel’s shoulder, thank god for Alana Maxwell-  that was a phrase that Warren found himself using more and more as the years went on.

“Only the idiots would think that.” And Warren didn’t have time for idiots and their murmerings.

[longstoryshcrt]

a-a-alva‌:

“Somebody has to keep you little delinquents in line,” Allie smirked. She laid her head on Kepler’s broad chest, forcing closed the distance between them, and smiled sweetly up at him. She could feel her father’s eyes on the back of her neck — sharp, intensely cold. She could feel all their eyes, but that was nothing new. She’d always been one for rumors. “Father dearest has new toys to play with. Bigger fish to fry. So I get to keep all his tin soldiers. Very generous, don’t you think?”

She watched his face intently. Curious. He never seemed to age… he looked the same as when she’d been a child… it was only that he seemed to smile less. But, she told herself, that was just the way she wanted it. “We’ll be seeing one another much more often. Your… department is about to go through quite a bit of restructuring. I should congratulate you on your promotion, Colonel. Though maybe we should wait until the official announcement. Father dearest will be making… some sort of speech by the end of the night… my new position, revealing The Administration’s new emblem… big changes are coming. Though I’m sure you know all about that.”

Warren was very aware of everyone’s eyes on them, especially Cutter’s- the man was aware of how Warren had felt towards Alva as a child, not as much as he thought he did but enough that early on Cutter had used ‘my daughter’ more than necessary with talking about Alva. If the woman in question was aware of this Warren was unsure but it didn’t really matter now anyways. Anyone elses eyes were unimportant and their opinions even less so.

“Quite generous, but it is always good to get fresh eyes on something, finding all the little bugs and glitches. Down.” The one word was the only warning Warren gave before dipping Alva, partly as a way to dislodge her from his chest without being obvious about it. “It seems congratulations will be due all around then.”

[a-a-alva]

“Colonel. Care to dance?”

The young woman held out a hand and flashed the older man a smile that might have been friendly, if it had reached her dark, cruel eyes. She knew he wouldn’t refuse. He couldn’t. Not here, at a company gathering. Not with her father watching her every move — and thereby, his. She knew how uncomfortable she made him. But she wanted to watch him squirm; and he WAS squirming — her father had taught her all the signs. She could read them all like books now… and he was still the only one who held her attention.

@longstoryshcrt

[longstoryshcrt]

No, I would care to not be here. I would care for you to go away. Of course Warren said none of these things and simply turned away from Jacobi- who had been the first to see Alva’s approach and promptly choked on his drink- and Maxwell- who was patting Daniel on the back- and gave Alva his trademark half-grin and took her offered hand. 

“As you wish.” he lead her to where others were already dancing. (As they were moving away he could hear Alana try and make a joke ”Jeez, Daniel learn how to swallow.” -a pause- “That’s what he said.”) “I hear congratulations are in order: the new face of Goddard Futuristics Administration.”

To an outsider like many people here Warren’s demeanor wouldn’t seem any less than how he normally acted, cool and aloof not too interested in his dance partner but not disinterested enough to cause offence- he walked a line and was spectacular at never losing his balance.. To the trained observer however his movements were more rigid than normal though even then not by much- he was adept at not letting anyone know just what was going on inside his head.