Love the Way You Lie

[Fiona Hathaway]

Fiona had done a lot of things in the past few months, but none of it had involved Lewis. She had been avoiding him like the plague and yet… at this very moment all she could think about was him as she sat at the bar her index finger circling the lip of her scotch glass. Her other hand idly spun her mobile on the slick countertop as she debated whether to call him or not. A hundred times she punched in his number and then changed her mind and never made the call. She couldn’t do that to him.

Next Fiona texted Derek: ‘Want to grab a beer?’ She knew it was wrong on so many levels, but was it more wrong than using Lewis? But was she using Lewis if she loved him? Fiona still couldn’t answer that question. She knew she loved Derek, the way a little part of her would never stop loving him, but it wasn’t the same kind of Lois Lane and Superman love she felt with Lewis. The connection between them was palpable, static electricity. Love, lust, whatever she felt for Lewis scared her. Fiona had never liked the unknown, too many variables she couldn’t account for, and that was Lewis and her. Derek she knew, their relationship was the same, they fell back into the same patterns, in and out of love, sex, fight, make-up sex, fight, angry sex.

It’s like a volcano and a tornado she thought with a smirk as she took another sip from her scotch and made a face. She wasn’t really much of a scotch drinker unless she had a bad day. Fiona had done everything to make herself a different person, to distance herself from the woman she had been before she had been captured by Deatheaters and the person she had become during her captivity. She had even cut her hair short, its choppy layers now brushed her shoulders, and yet her new appearance didn’t make her a new woman or erase the past. Her left hand shook as she thought about what happened and she shoved her hand into her black pea coat pocket.

((ooc: Anyone? Sorry this is very poorly written but Fiona needed to be written!))

[Derek MacKinnon]

((ooc: I couldn't help it, I just had the perfect response to her text message for Derek and it went from there haha.))

Already in the bar, sheltered in one of the smoky corners and nursing a bottle of beer, Derek dug in his pocket for his mobile as the new message alerted sounded, giving the old witch next to him a fright. Muggle technology, eh, you couldn't beat it for scaring elderly witches. His eyebrows shot up as he read the message from Fiona, deliberating for all of a second before a careless glance around the bar itself revealed said woman was already there and had been for some time, sitting alone at the bar. How he'd missed her he didn't know but it was a fortuitous coincidence. Vacating his seat he made his way across the bar, deftly tapping out a reply to Fiona's text as he went though his thumb hesitated over the 'send' button. Catching himself he rolled his eyes and in one swift movement, pressed 'send' on the smartphone's screen and sidled up beside Fiona, sitting on the barstool beside hers. Whilst his presence was still unnoticed he quickly clocked her demeanour and drink of choice (uncharacteristic, unless she'd been having a particularly hellish day) - well he was still an Auror after all, he was trained to do this kind of thing in a split-second. But he couldn't disguise his smirking smile as she momentarily ignored him/the person who'd sat down next to her in order to check her new text message which simply read: 'I'm way ahead of you, love. Or should I say- I'm way ahead and sat beside you, love?'.

When the penny had dropped and Fiona looked sideways at him, his smile broadened, "Now, do you want an actual beer?" he asked, flagging down the barman, "Just... that scotch don't look like it's going down too well," he commented lightly, turning momentarily to the barman to order himself another bottle of beer and getting Fiona one too. While the man turned away to fulfil Derek's order the man in question eyed her drink choice, "Alright, you've never been one for scotch... so what's up then?" he asked her, thanking the other bloke and taking a large swig of his beer as he waited for her answer. It would probably be mostly false, he reckoned, only he'd sort of got the feeling Fiona was trying to distance herself from what had gone on in the past year... i.e. never speaking to Lewis. Derek wasn't thick, he knew Lewis was probably Fiona's preferred bloke, in the end, and he also knew that she was probably just scared. To sum up, he knew Fiona.

[Fiona Hathaway]

As her mobile began to blink at her, (it was pretty much a guarantee that Fiona always had her mobile on silent, she had never been one for technology and her phone amongst other appliances in her life tended to have a life of their own and start bleeping whenever they felt like it) she stopped it’s spinning motion momentarily to read the text. It was from Derek. She had opened her mouth to tell the lowlife beside her currently looking her up and down to shove off but reading the text her frown soon turned into a smirk mirroring his own.

“Hey yourself,” she swiveled on her stool to look at Derek. She pushed her glass of scotch away from her, “Nothing, I was just trying it out again, you know see if my taste buds had changed or something… still can’t stand the stuff, but on the upside it does get me royally pissed quickly,” she smiled lazily over at Derek as he ordered them both a beer, “And can I have two shots of patrón with a wedge of lime and salt,” she called after the bartender. Fiona had always liked patrón in its pretty bottle, she watched as the bartender poured her two shots and then set them between the two of them with a small bowl of lime wedges and a salt shaker. Sipping her beer they stayed silent for a while as Fiona snuck fleeting glances over at Derek. Then a smile slowly crept over her features. “Why do you have to know me so well,” she sighed as if reading his mind. That was the thing about Derek she knew him better than he knew himself and he knew her just the same. She didn’t want to talk about it. But then why had she called him over? She knew it would come out sooner or later, she was hoping for later.

((ooc: Aww I love Derek and Fiona’s interactions, almost as much as I love Lewis and Fiona’s interactions, actually I like them equally well but in different ways!))

[Derek MacKinnon]

Derek’s smirk only deepened as Fiona matched his smile with her own upon realising the creepy bloke sat next to her was in fact just him. “You were worried you were gonna have to tell a pervert to shove off, eh?” he joked easily, his own manner of saying ‘hi’ in a way. He looked at her, utterly unconvinced judging by his expression, as she claimed she was just seeing if she could handle scotch all of a sudden. “Darl, there are many ways to get pissed and still vaguely enjoy the taste that’s left in your mouth,” he commented at last, deciding to just leave it at that for now; it was plainly obvious she didn’t want to discuss the real reason she’d turned to harder liquor. He merely raised an eyebrow quizzically at the tequila – as far as her drink choices went this one wasn’t top of the list for setting off the alarm bells of an impending mental breakdown. Not quite anyway.

He sat easily in the companionable silence that had fell over them, his gaze boring into the various coloured spirit bottles lining the back of the bar, although he was acutely aware of her sneaking glances over at him. How? Because he was doing the same to her. Upon just such a glance he noticed a smile and swivelled around on the stool to face her, “Hmmm?” he murmured, his half-raised beer bottle falling to the top of the bar once more as he considered her words carefully. “Probably because I knew you extremely well years ago, when you were less… guarded about who you really are,” he said simply as if that really was that.

Sighing lightly he admitted, “It doesn’t make up for the years of you I missed, I know that, and I’ll never ever forgive myself for that… and I know you won’t either,” he added with a soft exhalation and a shake of his head. “But the point is, I figure you’ve got me pretty well pegged down too and you know me so well that you know I’m here, I always am. Not in a wanky, ‘oh I’m here for you, let’s hug and cry’ way but genuinely, this is me, right here. And you know you can tell me anything so… how about I just wait until you get round to it, whether it’s now or in five drinks time, I’m still gonna be here, Hathaway,” Derek remarked seriously. There was something so unguardedly honest, and simple at that, to his demeanour; that’s what made it less what he’d consider ‘wanky’ and more genuine.

((ooc: Aww me too, I like writing Derek so it’s nice to have a reason to again! I need to get Lewis active again, suppose you could assume he’s been following Fiona's lead and avoiding her, since he thinks it's painfully obvious she doesn’t want to be around him any more at all? Have any thoughts on their future btw?))

[Fiona Hathaway]

((ooc: I couldn’t remember the name of the Deatheater who Fiona loved so I just renamed him Damon lol! Oh and I think I remember Fiona telling Derek all about the truth of what happened to her and how she sort of fell for Damon right? Or am I just imagining? Sorry again this is rubbish but I am writing so woohoo! Btw yes I want Lewis and Fiona to end up together!! Dunno what we planed I have forgotten by now but if you have any ideas I am all for whatever you want to do!))

It was true; Fiona was punishing herself in some small way by drinking an abhorrent taste to get drunk. She have a half smile part sigh as she gazed down into her unwanted glass of scotch again not answering him, he knew he was right.

“I wasn’t less guarded, you were just extremely persistent,” she argued taking another swig from her beer bottle.

Fiona stayed silent for a long while, her jaw clenched together as he brought up old wounds. They didn’t seem to hurt as much, not in the way they used to, but they did bring about new wounds that seemed to be all her fault this time. Then he made her laugh. The ‘wanky’ comment was too much, and spot on for the two of them. They could always talk, sometimes about deep things, but it was never uncomfortable or followed by uncontrollable sobbing. She shook her shook and then grabbed the shot closest to her, sprinkled salt between her thumb and index finger, licked it, drank the shot and washed it down by biting on a wedge of lime.

“First of all, I have forgiven you,” she sighed, “I’m too tired to keep grudges forever,” that was a first. But Fiona had been genuine in her words, she had forgiven Derek. It seemed pointless; after all she’d been through and after everything she had put others through to hold such a grudge which now seemed absurd. “And second,” she repeated with the second shot before saying, “I don’t have a second,” she sighed again glancing momentarily at the countertop as she absentmindedly made condensation rings with her bottle of beer.

“I left something out of a report today,” she said finally, “The mission was shit mission to begin with, everything that wasn’t supposed to went wrong. To make a long story short we were in this abandoned building, Amos, Barnett, and me, I ended up chasing this one deatheater leading me away from the others. He wasn’t that important, but he was a snitch, and snitches are always good to have caged up, their more likely to talk, so I ran,” she took another sip of beer, “I ran into another Deatheater… we reached this massive dining room with high ceilings, the building was falling down by this point and…” she shook her head, “The other Deatheater killed my guy, the guy I was pursuing, and I pointed my wand at him but…” she paused, “I couldn’t kill him. It was Damon…” her voice trailed off, “He was standing right there staring at me with that stupid grin on his face and I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t even stun him I just let him go.” She said of the Deatheater who had held her captive for the course of a few months, the same man she had found herself having feelings for. Damon was the exact same man who almost hated Eoin as much as she did. “I wrote that the guy got hit by a falling piece of debris and was instantly killed,” she said concentrating very hard on her bottle of beer for a moment before looking over at Derek.

[Derek MacKinnon]

((ooc: I think his name was Robert? Or else that name has sprung to mind really randomly, lol. Ah, are we assuming she literally told him everything about what happened when she went missing? Okay, cool, it makes sense that she feels she could tell it all to Derek of all people. Well I think it’s certainly not rubbish, for what it’s worth, it’s nice to see some action around here again and have something to write for, I’m a bit rusty haha. So do I, I can’t remember what we planned at all. I think at some point he was going to find out the Ministry had caught Robert, I think? Or was it Eoin? And he was going to go a little bit mad and beat the crap out of him before someone, Starbuck (?), comes to his rescue and stops him from killing the guy. That could be… something to propel it forward, if Fee hears about it?))

“Oh, so it was my fault for being doggedly persistent, was it?” Derek asked challengingly before agreeing with a laugh and a nod of his head, “Perhaps, I have been told I’m admirably, or was it annoyingly, persistent.” He was fairly sure it was the latter, and it hadn’t been intended as a compliment.

Glad to hear her laughter as he claimed he wasn’t gonna be ‘wanky’, Derek smiled warmly at Fiona, knowing she agreed on their method of ‘talking about stuff’ – it was never a big deal, never resulted in a breakdown, and was brutally honest at times. But that was the joy of it – she was just as brutally honest with him as he was with her, he didn’t see the point of beating around the bush and tiptoeing around people’s feelings. Sometimes the hard thing needed to be said, and he often volunteered himself as the person to say it when it came to Fiona. Thinking on this as he absently watched her take the shot, he was taken aback as she told him she’d forgiven him. “Wait… what?” he asked quietly, “Well, I… uh…” for once he was truly speechless, but he just about managed to get out, “Thanks, that’s unbelievably generous of you considering I can’t really forgive myself for it yet. Not that I’m complaining that you’ve forgiven me, mind,” he added the last part to add some levity back to the conversation momentarily, a levity which faded with her next sentence.

Derek’s expression darkening at her words he nodded, “Go on,” he urged encouragingly as she explained about her mission and less-than-honest report on it. “It was him?” he repeated, trying to get her to look at him instead of engaging in a staring contest with her beer bottle. Sighing heavily he shook his head in disbelief, “Fee,” he breathed out sadly, meeting her eyes with his own then, “I know I’m not exactly a goody-two-shoes meself when it comes to the department but you can’t do this to yourself. You can’t carry on deceiving the department and… more importantly… deceiving yourself. There’s a simple question, it has a yes or no answer, and I’d like you to be honest with me now: do you love that bloke? Could you ever bring yourself to take him down?” he asked.

[Fiona Hathaway]

((ooc: Oh, right, I hope it’s alright but I like the name Damon better so I’ve changed it hehe, besides Damon & Derek they sound a wee bit similar (alright so they both start with a D, that is the only thing similar about it) and I am going to have Fiona become a bit conflicted, a conflicted Fiona is a fun Fiona, not fun for her but interesting to write. I’ve sent you a message btw. Also if you don’t get it, Fiona is sort of flashing back/recalling what Damon said to her when he was training/manipulating her while she was captured while she is preparing to lie to Derek. She’s having a few crazy illusions/becoming conflicted evil turning point moments here, lol. Also I know this doesn’t matter but I was listening to ‘running up that hill’ by placebo as I wrote this and I think it’s rather fitting for Fiona for some reason.))

Fiona’s lips curled and she gritted her teeth like she was snarling but no sound came out. Her chest rose and fell as her breath quickened at his words. Do you love him? The question resonated in her head like the unforgiving toll of an ominous bell that meant something is coming.

This was just the beginning. “I don’t have time for this!” she spat, slamming her beer bottle down onto the countertop with so much force that a few people around them looked up from what they were doing before minding their own business again.

She jerked around on the stool deciding to leave and then she stopped. Not facing Derek she paused. She knew if she left now Derek could and probably would report her. He had to, it was his job to keep others around him and himself protected in the department, it was every Auror’s job. From what Fiona had told him she was a liability, a risk they couldn’t take. Fiona sucked in a breath as she glanced sidelong at the mirrors which lined the back wall of the bar and stared at her reflection being distorted between two panes of glass. For a moment, it was only a second she saw Damon’s face looming over one half of her face as though he were standing behind her shoulder. His dark green eyes gleaming beneath a mane of ebony hair which fell into his face and that crooked smile etching his perfect features, like her little dark angel who was going to help her do what she must do next.

Fiona turned back to Derek, “I know,” she sighed thinking of how she was lying to the department, every little lie was beginning to build up into one massive mess, “To be honest, I don’t know,” she knew the answer to both questions. The first was: yes, it’s complicated, but yes. And the second was: no, it’s also complicated, but no she couldn’t kill Damon no matter what he did. She didn’t want to think of the implications of what that meant, but when she was around Damon she felt as equally powerless as she did powerful, and she liked the latter sensation. It overrode every other instinct she had to run.

She cleared her throat and leaned in to whisper once again, “Damon and I, we, we had something…” she paused not really sure if Derek wanted to hear this, “It was fiery and passionate, everything was fire and ice, when things were good they were really good, but when they were bad…” her voice drifted off, and she glanced down at her high heeled boots for a moment. Make it convincing Fee she could hear Damon’s voice echo in her head, Make it convincing otherwise he will know she could picture Damon bending over her sat in a chair facing a lengthwise mirror in his bedroom whispering these very words into her ear as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ears, Now, lie to me again. With that she looked up and without a hint or a single tell she lied to Derek’s face, “What he did to me… I could kill him,” she sighed slightly, “But I might need your help, I seem to be a bit rusty with my trigger finger,” she tapped her wand and gave Derek a small smile which fell almost as easily as it had appeared, Derek always did hate seeing her sad, it was a weakness and as much as she hated it she was using it. If it took a few practice sessions to make Derek think he was helping her and that she was fine she would do it. “Truth is I haven’t really been able to stun anyone lately, but talking to that head case of a shrink,” she meant Amy, “Really isn’t going to help things, it will just get me another two weeks suspension and I can’t stand waiting around and doing nothing again, it drove mad the first time around,” this bit was true. She bit her bottom lip as she looked at Derek almost pleadingly, this was a sure sign that Fiona was desperate. Every lie comes with a grain of truth Fiona, you simply have to choose one and make everything else you say sound just as convincing. His voice echoed in her ears as she gazed at Derek hopefully with a small cheeky smile, “So, how ‘bout it?”

[Derek MacKinnon]

Derek noted Fiona’s expression, it was scary almost, the way her lip curled and she fiercely gritted her teeth as though his question had prompted nothing but anger in her. He just sighed heavily as she slammed her bottle down on the bar, attracting attention to them both, “Don’t have time to face an uncomfortable truth?” he asked, knowing this was likely to irritate her more but, frankly, not particularly caring about this reaction. It was Fiona, no matter if she threw his words, advice, concern, hell everything, back in his face, he’d still give it to her. Even if he had to say something which she then despised him for saying aloud, because that made it all the more real. What he couldn’t face, however, was the uncomfortable truth that if Fiona had done this kind of thing, he really ought to notify the department before she got out of control and did something to endanger not only herself but the Aurors around her. He wouldn’t though, he couldn’t have reported her even if he’d wanted to, there was something nagging at him that wouldn’t let him do the sensible thing and turn her in. Maybe it was arrogance, maybe Derek thought he could save her from herself all by himself, who needed the department to stick its nose in when he could handle it, could handle her?

With all this crashing through his mind as he absently chugged down his beer and waited for her to either storm off or continue their discussion, it took a moment for Derek to realise she’d agreed with him. Abandoning his bottle of beer he turned properly to face her and scrutinised her expression as she continued to speak, “Don’t you? Fee, don’t patronise me please, I’m almost offended you think you can just say ‘dunno’ to me and get away with it. I know the answer, even if you don’t, darl. You were looking for, and in this order, the answers ‘yes’ and then ‘no, probably not’.” He was softened, and taken aback momentarily, though as she explained about her and Damon’s relationship. He probably should have found it hard to hear Fiona talking about a bloke like that, when they had so much history between them, but it was just that… it was history and he’d made his peace with that fact. “Sounds like a destructive relationship, Hathaway, if you were telling me this kinda thing about a guy you were dating I’d be telling you to get the hell of out there,” he commented simply with a slight shake of his head. She never could just pick the uncomplicated relationships, could she?

Raising an eyebrow critically as Fiona claimed steadily that she could kill Damon he merely looked at her solemnly for many minutes, utterly silently as he considered her words and whether there was any truth in them. Finally, and yes mostly because he hated seeing a weak, sad Fiona, Derek nodded slowly, “Okay. But only ‘cause I love ya, you crazy woman,” he said lightly with a chuckle. “When it comes down to it, it’s probably not gonna be you, you know? That has to kill him,” he added, almost as an afterthought, before his expression returned once more to merriment as though he’d never even said it.

[Fiona Hathaway]

Fiona laughed, “I sure can pick ‘em can’t I?” she sighed wearily. At that very moment Fiona was more confused than ever. The memories of what had happened to her came rushing back. Piece by piece they began fitting together like a really horrific puzzle, and she wasn’t quite sure if she had really loved Damon or if it was something else entirely. It was a destructive relationship, one she should have avoided, but if she hadn’t would that mean that she would be dead? She thought the only thing that really saved her back there in that hell whole was Damon; otherwise Eoin probably would have killed her long before Lewis had ever found her. Lewis she thought gazing at her beer bottle before she took another sip. Her heart ached as she thought of him, she had loved him so deeply so greatly for so long… she still loved him. It hurt to think about and so she pushed him out of her mind momentarily.

“Really?” she asked Derek hopefully. “Thanks,” to be honest she really did need to practice using her wand again. Her hand shook every time she tried to use it. There was no use talking to Amy about it, and the only other person who could really understand was Lewis, but she wasn’t talking to him, in fact she had been avoiding him altogether. “Yeah,” she nodded taking another swig of her beer, “But what if it is?” she whispered quietly, almost more to herself with a forlorn expression. There was no lying to Derek, he knew her too well. She opened her mouth a few times and then shut it. Taking a deep breath she decided to be truthful, “I don’t know if I could do it.” She shook her head, “Maybe if…” she didn’t want to think about it, the end of that sentence maybe if Lewis or you were in danger, maybe I could, but taking someone’s life… she didn’t know if she could ever do such a thing.

[Derek MacKinnon]

Derek couldn’t help but laugh heartily, “You sure can, love,” he shook his head at this. Any relationships she’d been in had never been simple, maybe she preferred it that way? “Have you ever thought you should maybe just settle down with a nice, polite, mummy’s boy accountant or something… someone less volatile, or in a dangerous profession, you know?” he suggested lightly. He couldn’t see anyone like that ever appealing to Fiona’s taste in men.

“Course, I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it,” he enthused, “You can spend hours talking to the shrink but, in the end, maybe what you need is just to stop talking and start doing something pro-active to combat the issue, yeah? And if you prefer that method then I’m your guy,” he promised with a smile.

Taking in her forlorn expression he could have offered sympathetic, quiet words to brush over it but he wasn’t that kind of person, that wasn’t how they conversed, and she knew he’d be direct with her. “Don’t start thinking on it. You don’t know it will be you,” Derek shot back quickly and then sighed, “I’m sorry I ever asked you the question about whether you could do it, alright? Just think you need to be honest with yourself, darl, if you love him, you love him, at least admit it to yourself and then stay off missions that might involve him showing up. Then you definitely won’t have to do it,” he said with an air of finality about it as he took another long swig from his bottle.

Looking sideways at her as she started speaking once more, her hesitation suggesting her words were more truthful somehow, though they were hard to speak aloud, Derek nodded, “If you don’t know, don’t think about it and don’t wait until the moment you need to kill him to test the theory. The department will definitely be royally pissed with you if they find out about it all and you don’t need them bugging you even more, trust me. ‘Maybe if’… what?” he prompted.

[Fiona Hathaway]

Fiona laughed, a real laugh this time, throwing her head back in complete and utter amusement, “Could you really picture me with an accountant. I think I might eat him for breakfast, or get so utterly bored at the dinner table that I should find myself fallen asleep with my face in my supper?” Lewis on the other hand was nice and polite, but he sure as hell was not boring. Merlin she loved him! Fiona pushed that thought out of her mind as quickly as it had entered her mind and took another swig of her beer.

She smiled over at Derek and placed a hand on his momentarily, “Thanks,” she said genuinely grateful for his help. She needed help and it wasn’t often or at all really that she asked for it.

She scoffed, “Yeah, try every mission.” She took another swallow of her drink to distract herself for a moment, “I learned a lot when I was captured. The Deatheaters… they are a lot better prepared than we think they are. Something big is coming, I can feel it, too many people want power and too many of those people don’t have it. Something tells me some of them,” she could hardly say his name and spat it out in a low growl, “Eoin, like others, would do anything to get it.” She took another long drink wondering vaguely if Damon would do the same. He was the right hand man along with Eoin to ‘The Big Bad’ whoever that was, she had never had the pleasure of meeting him. Fiona knew who she wanted to kill. It wasn’t Damon she wanted to kill, it was Eoin. She had missed her chance and she wanted another. She could do it this time she was sure of it. She tried to overlook the love topic of discussion and pretended not to hear it.

Fiona’s jaw tightened, and she exhaled with an almost half laugh and a shake of her head, “If Damon was going to hurt you or… Lewis,” she said his name a bit more quietly, “Then it would be no question,” she said, “We protect our own right?” she added light heartedly clinking his bottle and taking another swig of hers trying to act like what she had just revealed was not quite so significant.

((ooc: Sorry this is rubbish but it’s quite late, writing papers at the last minute and such as usual keeping me up. hehe.))

[Derek MacKinnon]

Fiona’s laugh caused Derek’s smile to deepen and he shook his head at her suggestion, “Nah, not really, an accountant is about the opposite of who I’d expect you to end up with. You can never just pick nice, level-headed, subdued blokes though can you? They always have to have some kind of fatal flaw, you know?” he suggested teasingly. As she became more serious and thanked him he shrugged it off, “No need for thanks, Hathaway, you know I’m here, you don’t even need to ask really,” he said sincerely with a tight smile at her.

He placed his bottle back down on the bar with a heavy sigh, “True, if you want to make absolute sure you won’t have to kill him you need to quit being an Auror. But we know you’re not gonna do that so let’s not even consider that eventuality,” he brushed the idea away as quickly as it came to him. He listened, elbow resting against the bar, chin in his right hand as he looked at her as she explained about what she’d learnt from her time in captivity. “Eoin’s a dick of the highest order, a selfish, power-hungry, narcissistic, quite probably masochistic, twat, plain and simple,” he cursed. “When you have nutters like that clinging onto any scrap of power they can have, you know it’s gonna end in disaster sooner rather than later. We just have to be prepared for that fact.”

“Oh.” Derek was quite lost for the moment as she said she could kill Damon if he was going to hurt him or Lewis, and then tried to make it into something of a light-hearted admission. “If it will at all help you to want to kill him, love, I think he has indirectly hurt Lewis-” he paused, adding with a shrug, “-by changing you. Sure he saved you from Eoin, but look what Damon’s done to you. You’re conflicted, potentially in love with a nutcase, so much so that you’d just let him flee. But most importantly, you can’t even talk to Lewis anymore, don’t think I haven’t noticed... so you see, like it or not, Damon’s actions have probably hurt Michalka already. He misses you.”

[Fiona Hathaway]

“Says the man I dated for how many years?” Fiona teased through her laughter. She smiled at him in the same tight manner before returning to her beer bottle and taking another sip.

Fiona chuckled at the absurdity of it, “Tried that already,” she joked nudging him playfully in the shoulder before taking another sip of her beer. The alcohol was slowly starting to sink in; she began to feel that warm fuzzy feeling. It seemed to fizzle however in a cold streak as Derek began cursing Eoin. She tried to hide the terrible gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach by taking another swig of her beer. Finishing up the last of her beer she turned the empty bottle upside down and made a rather adorable expression at Derek as if trying to convince him to get her another, “Aw, all gone.”

Fiona tried to laugh it off but it came out all wrong. It was more true than laughable, and Fiona managed only a smile before stealing the last of Derek’s beer. After chugging the rest of his she was able to laugh about the idea, it was rather hilarious what Damon had done to her. It was ridiculous. “I’m in love with a psychopath, and have abandoned one of my best friends,” she said the effects of the alcohol making her hand gestures a bit wider than usual, “Probably the only one who could really understand any of this if I just let him in, but I can’t,” she made an pompous haughty expression, “Because I am the ice princess I can’t let anybody in,” she said making fun of herself. Then she sighed. “How was it that I ever let you in anyways?” she asked honestly curious, “You were so bloody annoying, and frankly quite an arse,” she teased.

[Derek MacKinnon]

“True,” he admitted with a grin, “My fatal flaw would probably be jumping into action or saying something truthful without thinking about its implications enough, tends to get you on the wrong side of people really,” Derek shrugged easily. He was more than willing to admit he wasn’t exactly the most balanced, sensible person either – he was laid-back and did what he liked, enjoyed his life, so sue him.

“Mmmm and it didn’t go very well now, did it?” Derek pointed out simply with a slightly sad smile at this. He merely watched absently as she finished her beer and then cutely noted it was all gone. “I get the hint, love,” he rolled his eyes dramatically, catching the barman’s eye and holding up two fingers to indicate he wanted another two of the same. As the bloke nodded and moved to get the order he focused his attention back on Fiona, especially when her laugh seemed… wrong somehow, considering what they were discussing. “You are… you have…” he agreed simply, noting her more over-the-top hand gestures (a side effect of her drinking alcohol) and manner of speaking, and becoming concerned about her. “You let Lewis in, you’ll feel a million times better about all the shit that happened to you, seriously. He’s been through hard times too, alright so he didn’t fall in love with a psychopath, unless you count yourself as one-?” he trailed off jokingly then, sneaking a smile her way, before he became serious once more, “-He’s all sympathetic and empathetic and shit, he’s a lot better at it than me. You let him in, even just a little bit, you don’t have to tell him about letting Damon go if you don’t wanna, and you might just get your friendship back on track. But if you’re gonna consider it, can you do it sooner rather than later though? ‘Cause, frankly, I’m getting sick of seeing his wounded puppy dog look when he thinks no one is watching him, it makes me feel bad for the bloke and really I ought to dislike him still,” he managed to add the last part in a jokingly teasing way though when he met her eyes then, his own impressed upon her the sincerity of what he was suggesting.

“Oh and Fee? You let me in because I was so bloody annoying and an arse,” Derek countered with a devilish smirk, “Because if you let me in, what would be the danger? Nada, my dear. You let him in, you might just have a future, you might just have love… what a chilling prospect!” he exclaimed sarcastically.