girlsolo | [Powers Plot] Sept. 16: With all my shields and protection, it's only me I deceive

Magnus's words you could be lovely together are ringing in Kate's ears when she wakes in Declan's hut before him and before the sunrise. In Declan's arms, wrapped as firmly around him as Will's stupid sloth and smiling as stupidly in her sleep.

She doesn't want to "be lovely" with anyone. It's too much responsibility. Too much for her to take on. She has to focus on getting them out of here and on getting better. Being better. Declan needs someone who isn't her. Someone who won't just break his heart a million times. If he even wants her.

There's no reluctance to leave his bed or his arms today. She's not even sure why she came here last night since they're not fucking and she shouldn't have, even though she's grateful he lets her. Kate lifts his arm and squirms out from under it, murmuring, "Be right back," when he rouses.

She grabs her clothes and her boots without stopping to put them on, steals off into the trees to do what he probably thinks she's doing, then quickly dresses and stows her knives. Not three minutes have passed before Kate's racing across the island toward the Compound for coffee and information.

It's not long before she realizes something is very wrong on the island. Something is very very wrong.

*
Title and lj-cut lyrics from Melissa Etheridge's Dance Without Sleeping.

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"He'll want her somewhere alone, won't he?" Declan suggests, even though it pains him to do so. He doesn't want Magnus hurt as much as anyone and he knows it's probably hard on Will.

"Jungle's pretty vast. Maybe the caves, first?"

"Yeah." Will's reply was shorter than he meant but Magnus disappearing like that scared the crap out of him, given the possibilities. "Let's try there first."

After she left the hut, Kate had run into a lot of weird shit. People getting powers. People complaining they didn't get powers. People misusing their powers. People nearly killing themselves or other people with their powers. And on.

By the time she got to the showers, she'd had pretty much every emotion in her personal range about the whole thing and spent way longer in the shower than someone with her training should be doing when there was a crisis. She'd spent some time on the beach, too, playing catch with a nice guy who seemed to know a few thing and he'd steadied her out enough that she felt up to doing her job.

Now, she's stalking away from the Compound looking for Magnus, or Declan, or Will, or even Tesla, whoever she finds first, to round them up into a team, figure out what they need to do, and then split up again to do it. She's got on leather, knives, and a game face, and she dares anyone (anyone who doesn't know her as well as her team) to say she's not completely ready to deal with this.

...but she'll be really glad, really fucking glad if Will isn't a Cillobar.

Will was relieved to see Kate, both because that meant she was okay and because it meant they had another pair of eyes and hands to help with the search. "Hey," he said, taking in the guns and leather and wondering why she looked out to kill someone. "Magnus is missing. Just teleported away just like Druitt does. We're going to start a search."

"Thought we might head to the caves. Figured if he's up to something...dastardly that'd be the most secluded place to work." Declan doesn't like mentioning that in front of Will, knowing that Magnus isn't the boss, she's the girlfriend, but it needs to be said.

"Glad to see you're not missing in action," he says to Kate, taking her in. "Thought you were coming back earlier, though."

Declan being there gives Kate the steadiness not to grab Will and hug him for like a year when she sees him and he's talking normal and not a Cillobar. But it still takes her a second to hear what they're saying about Magnus. It does give her an excuse to hedge with Declan even though she .

"I'll tell you about that later," she says and it's obvious she's talking to Declan, but Will's probably picking up the fact she's not freaking out about Druitt so she hurries on to, "Any reason you're sure it's Druitt? Because the entire island's kind of freaking out right now. People getting special powers or changing forms. I was coming to look for you guys. No lizard fingers, Will?" she asks, trying to keep her voice light.

"No lizard fingers," he said, holding up his hands, though he wondered why she'd ask that particular thing, but he didn't give it much thought because he was worried about Magnus. "When she disappeared it was that same kind of red light and little sound he makes when he teleports. Exactly like that." The news that something funky was going on around the island was a little bit of a relief, but it looked way too much like Druitt for his comfort and he wouldn't stop worrying until they found her and she said she was okay.

"We'll find her, mate," Declan says, clapping Will on the shoulder lightly to impart a little comfort. "Maybe she's just got the teleportation herself and she can't control it."

He looks to Kate, since she's been around more of the people with powers. "Seen anyone with teleportation up at the Compound?"

"Not yet, no." Kate bites her lip and then just walks over to Will and hugs him around the waist. He probably needs it as much as she does. "Declan's right. We'll find her and she'll be okay, you'll see. Druitt doesn't have anything to do with this. I'm sure of it."

She steps back, but keeps an arm around Will for a minute when she glances over at Declan. With Will upset and Magnus missing, Kate won't say it, but her eyes go hard and she knows Declan knows what she's thinking. Which is that if it is Druitt and he's hurt her, they're going to kill him. Whether Magnus wants them to or not. And if he doesn't agree, well, then he's going to have to stop her.

It was kind of a surprise, that physical kind of "we're here for you" from both of them, but Will really appreciated it. A lot. And that look in Kate's eyes--he recognized it because he felt it. If it was Druitt...well. They'd deal with that when they got to it.

"Okay," he said. "Let's go find her."

Kate glances at Declan again, then looks up at Will. She's not sure this is right, but it feels right to her. "Listen, I'm like 95% sure Druitt has nothing to do with this, and Magnus just got some powers she can't control. The learning curve on them seems pretty steep, but if I was her and I was freaking out, the first thing I'd do when I got things under control would be to look for you, Will."

She frowns a little, because he's not used to trusting her for tactical stuff and she really thinks it's important. "You should go wherever she's most likely to look for you. The hut, the psych office, if you've got some sort of safety check-in--" Which reminds her that she really wants to establish that for her and Declan at least and probably all of them. "Go there."

Again, she looks to Declan for confirmation. "If I'm wrong and Druitt's here, we're all screwed unless we can lure him into Rapture probably, so we're safer split up. I know the caves." Now's not the time to discuss how. "Declan, you take the beach? And, um, let's agree to meet back at the Winchester at sunset. Magnus might head there if we haven't found her by then. Yeah?"

Declan watches her, not surprised she's taken some action in the situation. She'd been brilliant in Carentan and while this is an earlier Kate, she's not that much earlier.

"We'll find her, mate," he says to Will, giving him a quick flash of a smile. "Bet she's waiting at home for you."

[Powers Plot] Sept. 16: With all my shields and protection, it's only me I deceive

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