Private Finished It ended with a bullet

Sarrain

Sarrain

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Rory hummed. "I saw her when I came in. She's waiting in the hallway. Seems nervous, but looked just fine. I can call her in if you like?"

Rory wanted to sit, really, but she couldn't relax. She only just stooped herself from pacing. "Guess it depends on the way you look at it. It sucks right now, but it could have gone a hell of a lot worse."

She stopped and eyed Broen. "This might be the best case scenario."
 
Romi

Romi

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Jude had more than a sneaking suspicion that Broen would not consider the complete and total loss of his powers to be the best case scenario. He wasn't even sure if Broen knew. Maybe he was distracted.

But it was hard in another way. Jude didn't know what he was dealing with. He knew himself. He knew what he'd been like before. But Broen? The damage done to Broen by the school had been far greater, and he had no idea what Broen had been like before.

"Everyone's fine on our side," Jude said, not mentioning the two in the alley. "Zora's not even bruised. I've got minor stuff, but I'll be fine. We were really lucky."

Things could have been worse. There were a dozen things the Black Wings could have done that would have made things a very, very different story.

"How're you feeling, though?"

Technically speaking, no one had told Jude that Broen had been shot. But he had a more-than-sneaking suspicion that the injury on his side was a bullethole, considering what had happened.
 
Kada

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"Well, getting shot sucks. And..." Did he say it? Would saying it make it more real? He was pretty sure Jude knew. Jude could sense powers. And Broen's eyes weren't gold anymore. He looked at them, his fear catching in his throat and making him gag on the words even as he spoke them.

"I, uh... I don't have my..." he stopped, clamping his mouth shut. Oh god. No, don't cry, he told himself. It was no use. He was tearing up. "FUCK!" He shouted, slamming his fists onto either side of himself on the bed.
 
Sarrain

Sarrain

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Rory didn't call Zora in yet. Not with Broen crying. He wouldn't want anyone seeing that. He didn't want them seeing it.

She sat on the other side of the bed than Jude. She was quiet when he cried, doing nothing more than grabbing a box of tissues and setting it on the table beside the hospital bed.
 
Romi

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So he knew. Hard not to know. He had an intuitive understanding of the powers he stole, and suddenly he had none. They'd gone out of him the same time the headmaster had.

He didn't know why. He wasn't sure he wanted to.

The discomfort in the room was palpable, and Jude averted his eyes as Broen started to cry. There was no use pretending it wasn't happening, but he didn't want to look either. It felt... gross. Like he was spying on some kind of intimate, private moment.

They were on shaky ground, new, untrodden territory.

"We fixed them before. We can do it again," Jude said quietly.

He didn't sound sure. You couldn't fix what wasn't there.
 
Kada

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"Don't fucking patronize me! I'm-" Broen choked back, his breath hitching as he tried to get control of emotions that he wasn't sure how to even begin processing.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry you don't deserve... fuck. Every time. Every fucking time I do something good, I get fucked over!"
 
Sarrain

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Rory should her head and gave Broen some space. "No. This could be good. There's almost nothing you can't turn around." She rubbed her jaw, trying to ease some of the tension when she clenched it.

"Fuck. Okay. Now isn't the time for that. I'm going to step outside. Give you a little space." She looked for the time on the clock on the wall. "I'll come back in about fifteen to twenty minutes. Give you some time to let everything out. Zora's going to want to see you, and while I'm sure I could convince her to leave, I don't think you want to put this off."

She met Broen's eyes, pursed her lips. It was a meaningful look, but even Rory couldn't say what she was feeling or thinking other than 'damage control' or 'leader mode.' She was prepared to be yelled at. But later. Not right now.

She strode out of the room and hesitated before approaching Zora. "You feeling okay?"

 
Romi

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Things were awkward. Things were awkward and then Rory had to leave, abandoning him with Broen.

Well, things were really awkward right then.

Because Broen was right, in a way. He'd gone like, two good things in his entire life, and he'd suffered terribly for both of them. He'd saved them all from Zantibayra and nearly lost his powers. He'd given up his teleportation to save Zora and the people in the office, and... he had lost his powers.

Maybe for good. Because even with Zora, whose powers were failing, Jude could still feel them. He still knew they were there. They were just clunky.

Broen had nothing. His powers were a blank. You couldn't repair something that wasn't there. And that wasn't even going into the mess of... what, emotions? Compassion? Empathy? Jude didn't even know. He knew enough, but he didn't know.

It felt weird to have him apologize for yelling, and Jude clenched his fist on instinct, grimacing and releasing it the moment the pain hit. Bad plan.

"You saved the people in the building," Jude said. "Zora. Me. But also all the workers too." The odds without Broen were... not good. Jude was under no illusions about that.
 
Zora

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Sitting in a chair, Zora stood when she saw Rory approaching her. At her question, Zora shook her head slowly, "No, not really...I feel overwhelmed and slightly lost honestly," she answered truthfully.

"How is Broen?" Zora asked her face full of concern as her gaze moved down the hall to his hospital room.

@Sarrain
 
Kada

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"I did my job, Jude. I did what I needed to do because I-" he hadn't really thought about it. But he'd killed those guys. They were piece of shit gang bangers working for a psychopath who could've been straight out of Halcyon City. But they were people. He hadn't even thought twice about just putting bullets in their heads.

"Oh fuck I killed those guys... Jude I fucking killed them. What the fuck?"
@Romi
 
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