Bated Breath

"Bloody hell, Broen," Zora said in a harsh whisper flinching at what he said, "You don't think I know that?" she asked pained at this.

"I also know that you came into this world thinking it was your own, possessed by that evil being, probably disoriented and even scared, and just reacted... and I know that you were not the person back then that you are now." she told him, trying very hard not to get upset or cry or lose it.

"Fine," Zora said shortly, curtly, as she sat back and crossed her legs and arms and stared hard at Broen, indignant and slightly put out by the fact that he thought she was being permissive with him.

"If you want me to wash my hands of things and walk away, that's not going to happen," she told him coolly. "If you want me to scream at you, what would that achieve? Do you want me to act all horrified? Because I am not..." she countered.

"I am furious that you didn't tell me though, and that Jude knew but what would that have achieved except make a scene in front of Jude?" she asked as she continued to stare at him without a flicker of emotion, just letting him have his temper tantrum.

When Broen was finished swearing, Zora stood up and walked over to him. "What do you want to do?" she asked calmly, "Do you want to tell him off? Talk to him? What? All I know is that you have been on edge for a while now. And I have stood back and not said anything til now, but no more. You need to decide one way or another. Either talk to him, or walk away. But this inaction is killing you," she told him.

Zora relented somewhat. Deciding to at least try to let him in on how she saw things, "It's not that at all, giving a pass to something, not really," she said quietly, "It's all about time, distance, perspective and circumstance."

"Like.." here she hesitated, "Would you turn your back on me if I suddenly told you that when I was 15, I took a gun and shot my brother three weeks after he pushed me down some stairs when I was pregnant and threatened to kill my son?" she asked him pointedly. "Would you not, knowing the person I am now, not at least question why I did such a thing, and would you yell or hold me accountable for it today?" she asked Broen very carefully, measuring her words.

When Broen stopped pacing, and removed his hairband, letting his hair fall into his eyes, Zora reached up and gently pushed it to one side. "I get that, we never quite grow up, do we?" she murmured gently as she searched his face with an understanding look.

"I won't and can't tell you what to do, amor..." Zora told him gently, "All I can say is that if you let your father have power over you like this, it's going to tear you up and drive you crazy. And I don't want to see you hurt or upset or flickering away into your pocket dimension because that man is making your life miserable," she told him very honestly as she touched his arm.

"No, we have not,".Zora said as she glanced at Jude with concern. "Broen is still undecided whether he wants to talk to Crawford or not, or just walk away," she told him, looking extremely stressed about everything as he approached.

Zora looked at Jude extremely grateful for his idea and suggestion to go with him. As much as she had wanted to say that to Broen, it probably would have come off as nagging and ended up in some sort of impasse.

"I think Jude has a really good idea and I do agree with him," she said agreeing wholeheartedly with him. "The more you try to ignore him and hope this goes away, the worse it becomes. It sort of builds up in your mind and becomes bigger of an issue than it really is."

"Besides, even if your father chooses not to listen to you or believe you, you have had your say, made your peace with yourself," she said as she reached out and put a comforting hand on Broen's arm. "He cannot hurt you anymore, and if he tries anything, Jude will clock him for you," she said with a tiny grin, trying to lighten the mood somewhat.