knightsoflegend | chapter five ♔ it'll be a day like this one when the sky falls down

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chapter five ♔ it'll be a day like this one when the sky falls down

the blues - switchfoot

WHO || The Knights
WHAT || Failboat returns from the disaster in LA as the Knighthood goes on lockdown
WHERE || The castle, London
WHEN || Directly after this, Fall 2017
HOW || Actionspam

Hasmed's announcement does not brook any rebuttal: all Knights are recalled to the Castle, where they must remain until the Section Heads and Jack Chessing have spoken about the events in Los Angeles that have left the Knighthood without their usual leader.

The entire Los Angeles area is now covered with a dark miasma that has interfered with any signals that might be sent out from phones, etc., leaving the whole world wondering what exactly is happening down there. Final images showed horrendous monsters, a panic of citizens, looting and violence from humans and Shadowkind alike.

Hasmed has warned of extra magical wards on the castle, and anyone arriving will immediately take notice of one very prominent one: above the entire roof of the excessively large building hovers a black and red sigil in the air, a pentagram in a circle surrounded by runes or words in an unknown language, stretching for miles.

[ This is the social log for post-LA lockdown. Failboat must complete the top log before being allowed to tag outside of it. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He looks almost incredulous.]

No.

[He stands up as abruptly as he sat down, walking over to her until there's barely any space between them, and he looks down at her with the expression of a man consumed by guilt.]

I'm mad that I was stupid enough to trust anything she said in the first place. I'm mad that I put my brother in a position where he couldn't tell me what was going on. He was onto Elena and Des the whole time and he had to cut me out because I was part of the problem.

[His voice starts to waver from anger to just stressed; he has all this leftover anger and nowhere to put it because he can't go after the source. At least, the part of the source that isn't him.]

And I'm mad I got you involved. She would have never even known you existed if it weren't for me and we're both leaving and I have no way to make sure that you're safe. [He bends down slightly, resting his arms against her shoulders.] I was afraid of myself and I made the wrong call. I'm just...

[His voice breaks slightly.]

I'm so sorry.

[ there's still some trust to be rebuilt, and he's emotional. but the speech that comes softens her up. he really does feel terrible about this, doesn't he? like, good. he needs to. this is serious shit. but also, he very obviously needs Someone. ]

I'd rather be in danger and know what the hell is going on than the alternative.

[ she reaches up to cover one of his hands with hers. ]

And hey, newsflash? I got myself involved. I was the one poking my nose where it didn't belong. [ she sighs. ] Don't get me wrong, if you're whipping yourself right now, it's for good reason. But not for that. Not because of me.

[He'd needed someone back then, too. What he'd probably needed was Dean to knock some sense into him, but with the older Winchester off doing his own deals, he hadn't been in the best state of mind.

When it had come down to a choice of someone else, he'd picked the wrong one. Hard.

He shakes his head.]

You poked in on something I shouldn't have been doing in the first place.

[She doesn't need to give him any kind of emotional out here. He's owning this, because that makes it easier to break away from something that's also, on some levels, physically addictive.]

[ this is a compelling argument and gets her to take a minute to just ... stop. and process. she looks him over, then nods, biting down on her lip in a way that shows her hesitation but also commits to some real resolve. ]

I'm glad you stopped.

[ which is the important part here, really, and deserves space. ]

And I'm glad you told me.

Yeah. Me too.

[It could have gotten so much worse. It's hard to know how much his relationships might have been twisted in his head until he'd done something irredeemable.

He wouldn't have gotten a second chance, then.]

You deserved to know. It just...it sucks that it had to be like this. That any of this had to happen in the first place.

[They're both leaving. He doesn't know that hers doesn't intend to be permanent.]

I'm leaving with Rose and my brother. We're going to stop this.

Stop this? What is—

[ no. wait. ]

... Sam, you can't be serious. The Knights are going to stop this. You can't seriously be thinking about going up against something like Hell without back-up.

We're not going up against Hell, and neither are the Knights. I'm talking about Blade.

[He doesn't know if going rogue and doing it themselves is the right call yet, but it's what's happening either way.]

They're benching Rose and Dean if they stay here, and I'm not letting them go out there without me. I can't do it. I won't.

Are you crazy? He's a god! You can't just charge in half-cocked against a god! If you don't want them to be benched, stay here and fight their decision.

That's just it. They guys in charge right now have no idea what they're dealing with, and they're not going to change their minds. They already benched the only Dragon's Claw left with the rest of them. They're going in totally blind.

[And probably get a lot of people killed in the process.]

We're gonna try to find another way. A better way. No half-cocked charging involved, alright?

A better way. With three of you? And what about the rest of us? You're just going to shut us out?

No, not just the three of us. That would be...even more suicidal than this already feels. As far as I know, nearly the entire team that went to LA is all thinking the same thing.

[Including the Dragon's Claw.]

They're not of any use to anyone sitting here. I think we're all hoping that there's some people back here that won't shut us out.

[He was hoping he might be able to count her among that number but, again, she's packing to leave....a second time?]

I thought you weren't staying?

I left to get the Knighthood help. From SHIELD. [ so much for not telling anyone about that, but at this point, she feels pretty confident sam isn't going to spread it around in a way that gets back to the section heads. ] And the only reason I'm leaving is because now that I did, there's no guarantee they'll trust me to stick around. This isn't a choice for me, Sam.

[And with a terrible knowledge roll, Sam has no idea what she's talking about.]

SHIELD?

The intelligence agency. [ she goes back to stuffing her bag full. ] That I work for.

[Oh.

Oh.

Welp.]

You work for an intelligence agency. [Aka, not the knights. The mice are sprinting upstairs, so at least he puts two and two together quickly enough.] No wonder you weren't sure what was gonna happen when you got back.

[He's not...entirely sure how to feel about this. At all.]

Don't get the wrong idea. [ she holds up her hands. ] SHIELD was interested in vetting the Knighthood as potential allies.

Look, we need all the help we can get. How we get it at this point is the least of our worries.

If you wanted to take us down or something, exposing yourself to become our allies wouldn't exactly make a whole lot of sense. Besides, if they hire people like you, this SHIELD has to be better than who we're already allying with, right?

[ she relaxes visibly. for a minute, it presents simply as her hands falling at her sides, her shoulders slumping, and the tension leaving her face.

then she rushes forward, throwing her arms around him — it's hard to do. he's very tall and she's very smol. but she does it, burying her face against his neck. tears sting her eyes but she pulls them back. she's never been a good crier. but she feels like it, now.

kali had been horrified by the ambiguity of her choice. val'drin, inconvenienced. alex, accepting in the way he might accept any unsavory decision. but sam embraces it, lauds it even. ]

[He almost isn't ready for it, the movement of him bring his arms up to wrap around her midsection to keep her from slipping only slightly delayed, his grip tight.

He doesn't know what anyone else said to her, but he knows what he'd expect to hear if he told them what he'd done behind people's backs. Her intentions were far nobler than his own, and everyone had their secrets.

Two secret organizations getting to know each other? How else were they going to do it? From the outside, the knights themselves didn't always look like the good guys, and he knows Skye has done plenty of good during her time here.

It all felt like something of a fresh slate in both directions.

His exhale is shaky as he squeezes her briefly in what's supposed to be comfort, but it's for him just as much as it is for her. He'd been dreading this conversation, worried about her reaction but knowing she deserved to feel whatever she wanted, and now that they've ended up here his relief is nearly overwhelming.]

Thank you.

For what? [ she takes her time to get around to asking, savoring the small comfort that the embrace provides. when the words come, she draws back slightly to look up at him. ]

Talking to me. Listening. Not giving up on me.

[He looks down at her quietly, searching her eyes.]

All of it.

I think we've all made some bad calls at one time or another. [ she shrugs one shoulder, letting the gratitude roll off her back rather than reflect in her. ] I'm glad you pulled out of yours. I was really worried about you.

[He's pretty sure most people wouldn't necessarily make that bad of a call, but he'll go with it.]

It shouldn't have taken what it did, but I can't change it now. I just have to do what I can to make up for it.

And you think leaving is gonna do that?

[ that's not judgment in her voice. just ... a desire to understand. and maybe a wistful regret that they had only made this right in time for him to disappear. ]

[He shakes his head.]

My brother needs me.

[As if that explains everything. For what it's worth, it doesn't sound like he really wants to leave. He just doesn't see another option.]

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