defenderofdesmoines | Jack Ruby's Nightclub

So this was where Luther worked. To say Annie wouldn't have seen this coming was kind of an understatement, and based on the looks she could feel herself getting, this wasn't really a great place for most women who weren't...you know. Working here.

She kind of dug the feather thing the girl on stage was doing, anyway. Like, Annie could never pull any of that off.

But more importantly, she wasn't so distracted by her surroundings or the woman gyrating seductively up there that she didn't immediately clock her guy.

"Hey, Luther." It helped that he was pretty hard to miss.

Luther	"Annie?" Of course Five neglected to mention that she had somehow ended up back in the 60's as well. But he looked much happier to see her than his brother, immediately going in for a hug that pretty much only Annie could take without being in any pain. "I didn't know you were here!"
Annie	Finally, someone actually acting appropriately about all of this. Annie found herself hugging Luther back just as hard, because -- well. They'd been looking for the other Hargreeves for a long time. She'd almost given up hope on seeing any of them again. "I came with Five. Sorry you got him first," she said a little ruefully, clearing her throat as she pulled back a moment later. "It's such a mess, Luther." A mess he wanted to be part of, though, right? It was the Hargreeves way!
Luther	"I gathered," Luther said. "Five sent you after me, huh? I told him I didn't want any part of this."
Annie	"Any part of what?" Annie asked gently, genuinely kind of curious what Five had told him. "Finding the rest of your siblings? The -- thing in a little over a week?" One seemed like it might kind of lead to the other, really.
Luther	"Both," Luther said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't have a great track record with either of them."
Annie	"Would it help if I tell you it's real?" Annie asked, worrying her lower lip a little. "Five and I accidentally ended up -- there. It was bad, Luther. And like...this is what we do. We can't just let it happen." Especially since if it just happened, Luther and this nightclub and everyone in it would be as dead as everyone else.
Luther	"Look, I wish you and Five the best of luck with that, but I'm staying out of it," Luther said with a shake of his head. "I'm done with the heroic crap. I'm happy being Mr. Ruby's bouncer." He held up a hand. "Yes, I know the Jack Ruby thing is weird. But he's a nice guy."
Annie	"We have Diego, too." Call it a Hail Mary, but Annie wondered if that might help. Maybe? Probably not. "Luther, listen to me -- I get being done. Believe me, I so get you -- but can we try and figure this shit out and...like, then retire? We don't have much time, and if we don't -- like, Vanya already destroyed one Earth. Ignoring this isn't really going to be an option for long."
Luther	Luther shook his head. "I'm sorry, Annie. I'm done." He mostly didn't want anything to do with Five again. If it had just been her and Diego, he might have thought about it. "There is something though," Luther said, pulling a wallet out of his pocket. "I threw this guy out of the club last night, and he left his wallet here by accident. Not overly surprising. But you wouldn't believe who picked up his drunk ass."
Annie	"Klaus?" Annie asked hopefully, leaning in to peer at the wallet. It seemed like a really sound guess to her, honestly, given that there was a pretty limited group of people Annie could guess from here. (Unless it was, like, the Queen of England. That would also be surprising.)
Luther	"Vanya. Just picking this guy up from the club like it was nothing," Luther said. "She looked...normal. Not all pale white with glowy eyes like last time I saw her."
Annie	"Holy shit." Yeah, no, Annie would not have guessed that, and despite herself, she felt a little bolt of panic pass through her at just the idea of seeing Vanya again after -- well, after everything. "Did you talk to her? Are you okay?" It was going to take Annie awhile to not see Vanya as a threat, no matter how much she wanted to forgive and help her.
Luther	"There was no time to stop her," Luther said, shaking his head. "But I was thinking...should probably give the guy his wallet back." And if he saw Vanya at the same time, well... "You wanna come with?"
Annie	"Of course I will." The pair of them had the best chance of subduing Vanya together, if needed, but Annie didn't need to bring up the last time the three of them had hung out, okay. "You think Mr. Wallet is, like, her boyfriend or something?" Vanya did not seem to have, like, a great track record there, either.
Luther	"Oh, god, I hope not," Luther said, pulling his car keys out of his pocket and nodding towards the door. "He was a real jackass."
Annie	"So was the last guy," Annie pointed out grimly as she started heading towards the door. Not that she'd ever had the pleasure of chatting with Harold-Leonard-whoever, but she was pretty sure that his actions filed him under 'jackass.' Probably kind of a gentle term for the dude, really.
Luther	Luther had been in the area long enough that he didn't get too lost trying to find the address on the guy's (Carl, apparently) driver's license. He still had to double check that they were at the right place when they pulled up to a farm, of all places. The Hargreeves were pure city kids, the fact one of them ended up at a farm was...not right. "Hey, look--" Luther pointed in the direction of the barn, where a Vanya-shaped person was letting herself inside.
Annie	A farm. This was rural even for Annie's standards, and the idea of Vanya living here was -- Well. Actually. If Annie had destroyed the world and ended up stranded a quarter-century before her own birth, she could see wanting to kind of...slow things down. Take in the idyllic countryside or whatever. But still. There was time for idyll (or playing bodyguard for Jack Ruby -- which, like, side note: was it just not possible to end up in the 60s and not somehow attach oneself to the whole JFK thing? Seriously?) once the apocalypse was dealt with. Again. "I'm thinking we want to be sneaky about this?" she suggested, getting out of the car and taking care not to slam the door.
Luther	"In my experience sneaking up on Vanya is a good way to get picked up by energy tentacles." Luther waited until Annie had shut the car door before leaning over to open up the glove compartment. He wasn't intending to use the gun he had in there but still...better safe than sorry. He tried to be casual about hiding the gun in his waistband. "Let's just try to have a civil conversation, figure out what she's up to."
Annie	Well. That sucked. Like, good approach, but the look Annie was shooting over at Luther was tinged with nothing short of pity. She felt bad enough about the entire Vanya...thing as it was. It must be impossibly hard when it was one's own sister. "You got it. I mean, maybe she's been here awhile?" Annie suggested, keeping her eyes firmly on Luther's face and not at all looking at the gun. "Had time to...like, mellow?" But the gun was a good idea. And Annie herself would be on something of a hair trigger until they'd established where they stood with her.
Luther	"Let's hope so," Luther said, heading in the direction of the barn. So far it didn't look like anybody else was around. Which was good. If Vanya got all explodey it'd just be them in danger. That was good, right? He slowly pushed open the door to the barn, and saw Vanya wandering around like she was looking for something. "Vanya?"
Vanya	Vanya whipped around at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. She looked a little confused to see two strangers standing there in the barn, but didn't look scared or anything. "Wait--you know who I am?"
Annie	Annie, who had her hands slightly lifted out from her sides in case she needed to act fast -- as it was, she wasn't a hundred percent sure there was anything around here she could use for power if it came down to it, considering they were a ways from the house -- stopped in her tracks at the question. "What?" She'd been prepared to treat Vanya gently as it was (you know, until...not, if it came down to it), but that question had her softening a little in confusion. "Vanya, of course we know you."
Luther	Luther was, just, so confused. Vanya had started approaching them excitedly, and he immediately reached around to put his hand on the handle of his gun but didn't draw it out. "Just, wait, stay back--"
Vanya	"Oh my god, I've been putting ads in the paper, hoping somebody would--" Vanya took a breath, trying to process what was happening. "How do you guys know me?"
Annie	"Vanya, it's okay." Annie shook her head in confusion, reaching a hand out towards the other woman in a placating gesture (that could be turned on the offensive if this was just an act.) "It's all right. You don't -- we're not mad at you." That was the answer Annie's mind was supplying here: that Vanya was pretending she didn't know them after what had happened last time. How could she blame her? The last time the three of them had been together, Annie and Luther had conspired to throw her in a prison cell.
Luther	"Yeah, please, just stop," Luther said. "Whatever this is, just stop."
Vanya	"Stop what?" Vanya asked, looking between the two of them. "I'm not..I'm not lying. I had an accident and it affected my memory."
Annie	That actually seemed believable. And if Annie wasn't looking at someone who had thrown her through a solid wall and destroyed the world just a few months prior, she would have believed Vanya wholeheartedly, without question. As it was, Annie wanted to believe her. Starting from scratch with Vanya seemed -- easier, after everything. Maybe too easy, though. "You don't recognize us at all?" she asked softly, searching Vanya's face for any recognition. "Not even him?" Annie she'd only known for a couple of weeks, but Vanya had grown up with the man next to her.
Luther	Luther wasn't sure if he wanted to believe Vanya or not. Sure it made things easier in some ways but...he hadn't told Annie, but he hadn't really come here to make sure Vanya wasn't ending the world. "Okay, this is now even more complicated."
Vanya	"Did I do something wrong?" Vanya asked, looking between Luther and Annie. "If I hurt you, I'm--I'm sorry."
Annie	Annie's bruises had long faded -- hopefully wherever Allison was, she was okay, too -- but Annie couldn't help but feel that apology as an almost-physical reminder, all the same. Especially since Vanya wasn't the one who should be apologizing, after everything. Annie still thought they'd done the only thing they could have, in the moment, but that didn't mean it had ever been the right/i> thing. "Stop," she said quietly, that hand she was holding out shaking just a little bit as she glanced up at Luther. "Vanya, stop. You don't...you don't need to apologize." Annie was reminded again of how much easier it was to consider Vanya an enemy when she wasn't right there in front of you, all...small and helpless-looking.
Luther	"You shouldn't be the one to apologize," Luther agreed. "I let you down. I did horrible things that I'm not proud of when I could've just tried helping you. I thought it was my job to keep everyone safe, and I just...I just made it all worse. I never wanted to be the bad guy." He looked over at Annie for a moment. Because, yeah, he no longer thought they had done the right thing locking her up either. "I don't care if you're bullshitting us," he said. "If you're hiding out here and don't want to be found, I understand."
Annie	"I would," Annie offered, managing a little half-smile over at Vanya and reaching a hesitant hand over to Luther before dropping it. "I mean, I wouldn't blame you. I would hide, too." Which was different from saying Vanya had reason to hide, and she hoped it didn't sound like an implicit threat. She actually did understand. It was peaceful here. No one was trying to lock her up. Maybe this was the best way this could've gone. She didn't know what the hell she was going to tell Diego and Five about this, though. (And -- Vanya had been there, in next week's future. Maybe Vanya couldn't hide? But if that was what this was, then Annie didn't want to be the reason Vanya had to come out of hiding.)
Vanya	Vanya didn't know how to respond to that right away. It was a lot of information to get at once and she still had no idea who these people were. Luckily that was when a little boy came out of hiding to cut the awkwardness. Vanya immediately ran up to put her arms around him. "Harlan, Harlan, hey."
Luther	Well that was new. "Who's the kid?"
Annie	"Oh! Oh, hey, sweetie." Was Annie surprised to see Vanya with a child? Of course she was, but Annie had also always been good with kids. This little stranger gave her something new to focus on, and his presence made it easy for a smile to find its way onto her face in spite of everything. "Were you hiding?" This time, it was a playful question, as Annie glanced back to where the boy had emerged from. Blame her distraction for how she should have probably noticed that the kid wasn't the only one who'd found them.
Sissy	"That's my son." And there was a woman with a shotgun at the barn entry. "And you've got about ten seconds to explain your business here." Welcome to Texas.
Luther	Luther wisely let go of the gun and instead reached into his pocket for the wallet. "I found it on the floor of the Carousel Club. Belongs to your husband."
Annie	Good assumption, there, Luther. Though how Vanya fit into this dynamic was still a question for Annie -- Shotgun Lady, Hide-and-Seek Kid, and Wallet Jackass seemed to add up to a little family, and Vanya was just...hanging out? Whatever. There was a gun out now, so Annie was gonna focus on that. Don't mind how she was just sort of changing her stance so she could jump in front of Luther if necessary, her hands up in what was clearly a gesture of submission if you didn't know Annie's hands could produce explosions. "We were just going, ma'am," she offered. "Apologies for trespassing."
Sissy	Sissy kept the gun held up for a few moments longer before lowering it. "Next time use the front door."
Luther	Okay, good, crisis averted. Luther mumbled a "yes, ma'am" before quickly leaving the barn to get back to the car. "So...good luck explaining that one to Five." Nice, Luther.
Annie	"God, I don't even know if I should tell him," Annie sighed, feeling so much more tired than she had when they'd exited this car a few minutes ago. She would tell Five, of course. But it wasn't going to go over well, especially since she was coming back from her little hunting trip without the big lug she'd set out for in the first place. "Do you believe her?" Annie did. That was going to be hard to explain, too.
Luther	"I don't know," Luther admitted. "Part of me wants to. But on the other hand, what's going to happen when she discovers she has superpowers? I mean, the barn's still standing, she obviously doesn't know."
Annie	"We get a redo, then," Annie suggested, and this time she went through with it and reached over to pat his arm gently. "We get to help her, instead of just...react to her." And they'd do it without fucking mind control or soundproofed rooms. "And at least we know where she is." Because really, Vanya had been the one Annie had worried for the most, these last few months. And if she really did have amnesia, then it was a really good thing they'd found her.
Luther	"Yeah," he said with a nod. "But I meant what I said, Annie. I don't want anything to do with this. I'm dropping you off, and then I want to be left alone."
Annie	"I understand." And she did, but she also knew the other part of what she had to say was completely true. "But you know Five won't." And while Good Cop here was willing to throw in the towel and respect that call (even if, like, give her a couple more days to get real desperate and she'd probably be less understanding), Feral Cop was probably not going to be as willing to do that.
Luther	Luther huffed. "It's been awhile but I used to be well versed in ignoring Five." "Thank you. For understanding. Means a lot." Annie was the only one in the family that actually seemed to like him.