defenderofdesmoines | At the Corner of Unicorn Street and Black Swan Drive

Entry tags:

At the Corner of Unicorn Street and Black Swan Drive | Late Morning

So, Annie had never been teleported unexpectedly before, but now she knew for sure that it was an experience she did not enjoy.

As was clearly evidenced by how she'd staggered over to throw up the contents of her stomach (mostly coffee, gross) into a gutter as soon as her legs were steady enough under her to move.

"Damn it, Five!" she yelled, wiping a hand across her mouth and leaning her hands on her knees to try to get her vision clear again. While that had been initially disorienting, it was a relatively quick mystery in terms of what had actually just happened to her. "I wasn't going to hurt him!"

That was...optimistic. She had definitely thought about hurting him.

[for he who is being yelled at, or anyone else who'd like to catch this little show outside the trooper station!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Debatable," Five replied. As the resident expert in homicidal rage.

"Your dad is an asshole." And water was wet and the sky was blue, but like, she really had not grasped how much of an asshole.

Or, really, how much it would bother her. She was used to dealing with jerks, but everything about Sir Reginald had just gotten right under her skin.

"Yes, he is," Five agreed easily. Which was a total accomplishment, Annie! "But he's still our father."

"Yeah, well, that doesn't give him license to treat you guys however he wants," Annie insisted, shoving some hair off her forehead. "That's not how a father acts."

Not that Annie was exactly a dad expert. But still.

"That was actually pretty complimentary of Diego," Five had to admit.

"You shouldn't accept his low standards," Annie replied, shaking her head. "Those weren't compliments. They were shitty, passive-aggressive comments that weren't actively insulting."

"I don't accept his 'low standards,'" Five said, totally doing the quotation marks for it. "I've just had more time away from the man to not let them bother me. Diego was handling it just fine."

He even sounded a little proud of Diego! Don't you dare tell Diego that.

"He was," Annie agreed, totally registering that pride even if she wouldn't pass it along. (And if Diego had not been handling it fine, she wouldn't have aimed for the chips.) "But your dad has just apparently felt allowed to be a bully for so long. I just -- he makes me very angry."

No kidding.

"You put up with me just fine, you can tolerate him for the short period he's here for," Five suggested. But he, at least, was able to demonstrate that he cared for his family from time to time.

She had also tried to blast a coffee mug out of Five's hand in recent memory, so. There was that. Though the occasional glimpses of familial affection really did help a lot.

"That is remarkably self-aware of you," Annie noted dryly. "You also didn't rampantly abuse seven children, as far as I'm aware. That helps."

"Of course I didn't. I don't ever plan on having children for that very reason." Again, pretty self aware there, Five. "I think my siblings will all be better suited to parenthood. They can just use our father as a What Not To Do."

That actually got a teeny little smile out of Annie. "You don't think you could do that, too?"

What about Tim?

Tim was a terrifying and weird fluke!

"Not with the life I've lived."

All that murder and all. Again, he was telling this to someone who wasn't related to him, so it was all okay.

Annie considered that for a moment, thoughtful and quiet. "That bad?"

She'd figured it had mostly been bleak wastland-wandering and sadness. You know, the kind of years-long scenario that would drive someone to form an emotional attachment to a mannequin.

(That all made it easier to like Five, too. Or at least to try.)

Well there was that too. That had been the part that nearly drove him insane.

"I've done a lot of things to get back here." Killed a looooot of people. Would probably kill a lot more to get the job done.

Wait, was this... was this Five opening up a little bit?

Shh, no sudden movements.

"Because you needed to," Annie replied gently. Naturally, it was easy to say that without knowing the details, but she also thought it was probably true.

It couldn't last for long, right?

Five's eyes went distant for a moment as he contemplated that. Thankfully he wouldn't ever have to see The Handler again, right? Certainly not this weekend!

He noticed Diego had escaped their father and was heading over to check on his girlfriend at that moment. Which caused him to take a step back and smooth his fancy-boy suit. "I'll keep him occupied for a bit," he said before emotions could infect him or something, teleporting back into the station to do just that.

Diego had ditched his father as soon as Annie disappeared. It really didn't take him long to find her, what with the yelling and the puking.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I'll keep an eye on him," Five said. Because out of the two of them, Five was the best suited to it.

Also, this was almost nice of him to even offer.

"Good luck." That was Diego for 'thank you for offering, I appreciate it'.

Sir Reginald really brought the siblings together.

Five glanced from Annie, back to Diego and nodded, teleporting back inside to let Diego do the damage control thing.

"I'm fine," Annie replied, looking more embarrassed than anything. (And a little nauseated. She was still working on that.) "I'm sorry for making a scene."

That was the closest she'd come to apologizing: sorry for making a scene, sorry for possibly making Diego uncomfortable, sorry for losing her temper....

But she was not sorry for threatening a man who had bullied people younger and weaker than him for decades, no. And she would remain not sorry for that.

"Are you kidding?" Diego asked. "That was the most badass thing I've ever seen."

He got a little smile for that, even if Annie was still a bit sheepish. "I shouldn't have done it," she admitted. "But I did warn him."

Didn't really make it right, but. Maybe Annie just wanted to show that asshole what it felt like to be on the wrong end of an abuse of power, for once.

"You did," he said, moving to put his arms around her. "I'm sorry, I should have been more specific when I warned you."

"I mean. I still would have come," Annie admitted, leaning into him a little. "Even if you'd told me what was up." Especially if he had, really. "I was not prepared for him, though."

Or, really, for how much it was going to upset her to hear him talk to Diego like that. Even if that was complimentary, apparently. (Honestly, that defense just made her angrier, so she wasn't going to dwell there.)

"Few people are prepared for Sir Reginald Hargreeves," he said, kissing her cheek. "Thank you for defending me."

He had told his father off before, but it had been in defense of his siblings and right after Ben's death. This was...this was just weird. It was definitely throwing him off.

"I could have been a little more cool about all of that," Annie acknowledged with a little sigh. "I just -- he made me really mad."

And again, protective, in a way she actually hadn't really experienced before. It was different from how terrified she had felt seeing Diego with Homelander, or Stormfront. This wasn't about danger so much as...pain.

"Like, honestly, that was a lot less than what I've thought about doing to him, if we ever met." There had been so many punch-him-through-a-window fantasies she'd entertained entirely because she hadn't ever actually expected to meet Reginald.

Edited 2021-08-21 19:06 (UTC)

Diego laughed softly. "I was very impressed by what you did. Those chips had it coming."

"Poor chips," Annie sighed. "Poor Danny's desk."

She had not had time to check whether she'd singed it or anything.

"Are you okay?" While Annie had certainly found all of that quite upsetting, she was calming down enough to focus on how incredibly weird this had to be for Diego. That abusive jackass was his estranged dad, after all.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Diego said, giving her a smile that didn't entirely reach his eyes. "He's actually being pretty nice right now, it's weird."

Annie was kind of mentally kicking herself for making this into a whole thing when Diego probably could have used her as a more calm presence for this visit. He needed support, not a reactionary attack dog.

"Do you know how long he's staying? It's so weird how he just...turned up," she said, moving to gently run her hands along his arms in a comforting, light gesture.

"It's super weird," he agreed. "He won't be here for long, he thinks this place is the sticks."

"I mean, we have cell phones here," Annie pointed out, trying to find a little levity for both their benefits. "And reception for them, so. But I'm glad he's not planning on sticking around."

And if her little stunt had shaved any hours off this visit, that was a win for Annie.

"God, me too. Honestly if I had a head's up that he was coming I would have fled town," Diego said. "I would have taken you with me too, of course."

"We still could," Annie offered. "Go stay in New York or -- like, anywhere. Though we probably shouldn't leave Five to deal with him."

Also Ms. Stillwell's ghost or whatever was here, still. Again, Reginald, super convenient timing on your part for a totally random visit, thanks a lot.

"I'll be okay," he assured her. "And I love you. I'd kiss you right now if I hadn't seen you puking a few minutes ago."

"I love you, and you'll get make-up kisses later after I've spent some time with my toothbrush," Annie promised. "And like...whatever you need. Anything."

She'd keep her distance from the station for the rest of the day, because that had not really been her best showing, but -- she could make their home a nice place for him to come to after, and she could make sure they had beer, and she could just be there. That seemed like it might be more needed than, you know. Threats.

"You're the best," he said, kissing her forehead. That'll do until toothbrushes are involved. "I better get back. And I'm sure Ms. Stillwell probably has some words of wisdom to impart or whatever."

"Or like, more truth bombs to casually drop, at least." So many murders, Homelander! A genuinely surprising amount of murder! "Text me if you need anything? I can totally call you with a fake emergency if you need an escape."

Or create a real one, depending on what was needed.

"I will," he promised. "I've got it handled, trust me."

It's not like the guy died and kickstarted the apocalypse. He totally had this handled.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

At the Corner of Unicorn Street and Black Swan Drive | Late Morning

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject